Quinn
It was ten by the time Aldric and I returned to the penthouse, and since it was already late, I knew Aldric wouldn't be heading off to do more work, or training and studying. As we walked in through the door, I was both nervous and anxious. Tonight would be the first since we've arrived in Norsewood that we'd be going to bed at the same time, together, and despite my keen enthusiasm before, now I just didn't know what to expect or how to behave due to the mixed signals I had been receiving from Aldric.
Normal. I decided that I'd just act normally, like I usually did. That was the easiest way, and as tired as I was, I was in no mood to worry too much.
We were just coming into the living area when I spotted Jonah sitting on the barstool by the countertop, drinking something. I suspected it was hot cocoa.
Aldric said, "Jonah, why are you not in bed?"
The boy said, "I got hungry, so I made myself a hot cocoa. I'll go to bed again when I finish."
Jonah was hungry, eh? I touched my own tummy and felt it rumbling a little. It seemed I was, too. It was probably because of all that talking at the meeting.
Strolling toward him, I said, "Have you ever had a midnight snack before, Jonah?"
He perked up and asked, "What's a midnight snack?"
"It's a snack you eat around midnight." I tapped my finger on my cheek as I tilted my head to one side. "Come to think of it, I have the notorious habit of having a midnight snack, especially when I'm up most nights cramming for exams."
He frowned. "Why would you be cramming? And what's an exam?"
I said, "Don't you know, Jonah, when you grow up and study at university, you have exams. They're tests and are horribly hard, as in tearing your hair out, crying, and begging for mercy hard, so you have to lock yourself in a tiny prison cell that is your room and study all day and night before the important dates until your eyes bleed and you're nearly dying from exhaustion; that's called cramming for exams. And once you've done your tests, you just collapse and never wake up again until three or four days later." I was exaggerating, of course.
He stared at me, horrified. "Cramming for exams sounds barbaric."
I chuckled. "It is, isn't it?"
"You went to university, Quinn?" Aldric asked, his eyes on me.
I grinned. "Of course. Six years in total, and I got myself a master's."
"You're a master?" Jonah asked, his eyes wide. "That's on par of a high priest." He turned to Aldric. "Isn't that right, Papa?"
Aldric nodded. "Mm-hmm."
"And you're not even old," the boy continued. "You must be very talented and blessed by many deities, more than me."
"Uh, high priest?" I asked, confused.
"They're blessed individuals with powerful magic. They're the highest tier of priests working closely with the saints and the royalties. They also have their own religion, too. It usually takes a priest many years, around twenty to thirty, to become a master priest."
Jonah nodded, his large sparkling eyes still on me, and to say he looked stunned was an understatement.
Oh dear, it looked like Jonah was jumping to conclusions here, thinking I was a divine being or something. It appeared he and Aldric were getting it all wrong. My master's degree and this master of priest thing were two very different entities.
I said, chuckling nervously, "Oh, no, no, no. I'm nothing like that, for sure. It didn't take me anywhere near twenty or thirty years to get my master's. It only took me four years of undergraduate study and then another two to get my master's and—"
"Only six years in total?" Jonah shouted. "That's..." He turned to Aldric. "Papa! She's a saint, I'm sure of it. That's why she can do all those amazing things and..." He looked dazed. "My papa married a saint. My new mother is a saint!"
Did... Jonah just refer to me as his new mother?
I flicked my gaze to Aldric, expecting him to calm his son down and explain the misunderstanding, but of course, I didn't get that. Instead, what I got was Aldric watching me, his eyes twinkling. He looked... proud? Why?
"Aldric," I said. "Please explain to him properly."
"Explain?" he asked. "That you're a master?"
I was, naturally, dumbfounded. He wasn't going to explain to his son that...
Wait. How did I expect Aldric to explain the misunderstanding to his son when he himself didn't even know what a master's degree was.
I sighed, giving up altogether. I was tired, after all, and I turned on my heel, intending to head upstairs and clean up and go to bed.
"Wait!" Jonah called out. "Midnight snack. I'm still hungry. Won't you please use your magic to make food?"
Aldric took a seat on a barstool, too, and resting one elbow on countertop and his chin on his hand, he said, "Come to think of it, I'm a little hungry myself. How about it, Quinn? Something out of this world to feed us?"
My goodness but didn't he look absolutely relaxed and hunky sitting there like that. Well, I was hungry, too, so why not?
I went around into the kitchen and facing both father and son across the countertop, I said, "All right, let's have a little family midnight snack party, then. What would you like, Aldric?" Turning to the boy. "Jonah?"
"I don't know, whatever you make, I'll eat," he said.
Aldric stated again, "Something out of this world."
I smirked. By that he meant something I was used to eating back on Earth, of course.
I tilted my head to one side, and suddenly, the image of cup ramen, the spicy ones, came into my mind's eye. Indeed, that was what I had usually eaten as a midnight snack. That or a cold chicken sandwich or rice with egg omelet. But, of course, I didn't think spicy noodles would suit Jonah's tastes because, as the name implied, it was damn spicy. I doubted the people of Norsewood had ever eaten anything hot before. Actually, I doubted anyone in Athol had ever eaten spicy food before. Then again, I could be wrong.
I asked, "Have you ever eaten hot food before?"
"Hot food?" Jonah asked. "We've been eating it all the time. The food at the dining hall is always hot, especially the soup."
I couldn't help myself and burst out laughing.
Jonah frowned. "Why are you laughing? You're a saint; you shouldn't be laughing."
I wiped tears from my eyes and said, "I'm sorry. I don't mean to laugh. It's just..." Ah, damn, but Jonah was so cute. Once I had managed to stop cackling, I said, "I meant spicy."
"What's spicy?" the boy asked.
"I can't really explain it, but it's food that burns your tongue if it's extremely spicy, or hot. Some people can't take it, and they'd sweat and cry and have to drink lots of water or milk to ease the pain."
"You can get pain from eating spicy food?" Jonah asked.
I nodded. "That's right."
"Great! I'm in," he said. "I'm a Norsewood warrior, like Papa, so I can handle anything. If a Norsewood warrior can't handle a little pain, he's not a man." He turned to his father. "Isn't that right, Papa?"
Aldric said, "I don't think eating this spicy food applies, Jonah."
"Really?" the boy said, surprised.
I clasped my hands together and said, "How about I'll make something for you that has a little bit of hotness in it to see if you can handle spice?"
Jonah nodded. "Sounds good."
"All right," I said and summoned my magic circle. Within moments, four packets of mie goreng, Indonesian stir-fry noodles materialized, along with one of spicy Korean noodles, one of frozen prawns and squids, one of mesclun greens, one of bean sprout, and a bunch of spring onion.
"Are you going to cook?" Jonah asked, picking up one of the mie goreng packets and inspecting it.
"It won't take long, I promised," I said.
Turning on my heel, I started by taking out a pot and filling it with tap water. Then I put it on the stove, and while we waited for that to start boiling, I took the cutting board and a knife out and started preparing the spring onion, chopping them into small pieces for garnishing. Meanwhile, both father and son looked intrigued while they examined the packets of noodles.
Jonah whispered to Aldric, "It's red, see? That means it must be hot." He was pointing to the color of the packet of the Korean noodles.
"It's hot due to the chilies," I said.
"What's chilies?" the boy asked.
Goodness, but he was full of questions, just like his aunty Sara.
I said, "It's a type of fruit that gives the spicy or hot property."
"The water is boiling," Jonah said, pointing to the pot on the stove.
"Thank you for telling me," I said.
After tearing four packets of mie goreng open, I put the hard noodles into the pot. Then I did the same with the pack of frozen prawns and squids. While those were cooking away, I took out two serving plates, the large, fancy ones I had always dreamed of having once I had my own place.
"Why two big plates?" Jonah asked.
I winked at him. "You just wait and see."
The noodles, prawns, and squids were cooked now, and I strained them with a colander. Then I placed them on one of the serving plates and added the seasonings that came in little sachets with the packets. After tossing in the mesclun greens, bean sprouts, and spring onion, it was ready to be served.