Sword of the Godslayer

IV - Kitchen Maid

Cassana caught herself deep in her thoughts again. It's that noble's fault. She mused, shaking her head and trying to focus on her task at hand. She grabbed the ladle and gave another spin on the frumenty she had boiling. She took a scoop of the porridge and checked the consistency of the grain before hanging the ladle back and returning to the kitchen table. At this point, she already lost count of how many times she heard people come in through the inn's main door.

     She stared at the table, deciding on what to do next. She marked off the checklist in her head one by one: boar meat on the chopping board, string of onions on the side, wheel of cheese, bottles of mustard and vinegar, and a bowl of wild berries. She got everything she needed... so far. Right?

     That had been her morning routine for the past year or so since her mother got sick, but she could never get used to it. More than a year ago, she was at The Tower, and her hands were busy brewing different types of concoctions. Far different. Her workbench was filled with apothecary supplies ranging from chamomile oil, catnip and fennel leaves to pig fat, lizard tails and griffin talons. She had her life planned out: she was going to be a wizard, and she would travel the world. She would offer her services to those in need, while searching for ancient hidden knowledge. She was set out to leave this place behind, and swore to never come back. But then life happened, and there she was, back in her mother's kitchen again.

     She was about to finish slicing the meat when she heard footsteps coming in from outside. "Just a minute!" she shouted, trying to preempt whoever it was that was trying to enter her kitchen.

     "Hey Cass," her head perched up to find Bonnie, one of her neighbors.

     "Bonnie! Look, sorry, I know. But something came up this morning and I wasn't able to prepare early."

     "No, it's fine. Need a hand?"

     "What?" Cassana replied.

     Bonnie didn't need to wait for an answer. She sauntered towards the fire pit to check what was boiling in the large earthenware. "Oh, this smells nice. What'd you put this time? Cinnamon?"

     "Nutmeg."

     "Oh, that's good too. What do you need here?" Bonnie's eyes shifted from the pot to the table, then back to Cassana.

     "Check the grain again then add the berries." Cassana instructed.

     "Alright." Bonnie scooped off from the bowl, then after blowing the heat off, took a sip of the frumenty. After giving an approving nod, Cassana returned to her chopping board, half-confident that the young girl knew what she was doing.

     Cassana was almost done with the meat she was chopping when she was interrupted by a high-pitched noise coming from behind her.

     "What was that?" asked Bonnie.

     Cassana rushed towards the oven and with a wooden pan, pulled the loaves of bread out. "It's my timer." She pointed towards a metallic device in the shape of a unicorn standing by the brick oven.

     "That's a funny looking thing, what is that?"

     "It's an automaton. It tells the time. Well, how much time is left on something."

     "Ohh!" Bonnie leaned down to take a closer look at the device. Its eyes were glowing with a purple light. As soon as it stopped emitting the sound, it returned its four legs down, and idled like a horse on a grassy field. "That's awesome. Is it alive?"

     "Oh, no! Just a bit of magic. I used to use it for brewing potions and such. But now I use it for the bread."

     Bonnie poked the nose of the figurine, and it brushed it's makeshift head against her index finger. "That's cute. It looks real. Your own little pony. With a horn."