From: prauda@dol-guldur.hut.fi (Kristiina Prauda)
Subject: Castle (Kathrea): Girls in the kitchen...
Organization: Helsinki University, Finland
Date: 9 Sep 92 13:42:04


...I'm back... Sorry for being a bit undependable lately, I was
out of touch for a week (teaching English in Senior High... an
exhausting experience... and THAT's what I'm supposed to do for
the rest of my life??? I'm beginning to doubt my own sanity - 
I mean, doubt it even more than before...)

But here goes again: preludes to what is going to happen soon, 
very soon... 


Kristiina
Official Firedancer of the RFA
prauda@dol-guldur.hut.fi

*******************************************************************
(continued straight from my last post)


"...And so he left?"

They were walking down the kitchen stairs, and there was already a
mouthwatering smell of cooking rising towards them from the kitchen.
That ensured them that Lady Elaine was indeed at one of her favorite
pastimes, and the results would probably be as spectacular as ever. 
At the moment the girls were not so much in search of Elaine's food
as her comforting company and the privateness of the kitchens.

"Yes... but he will be back."

"I don't doubt it for a second", Kathrea said emphatically, looking
at Brianna's glowing face, so full of certainty and calm. If only she 
could ever experience that kind of certainty about anything anymore... 
She doubted it, though - she had had her chance for it and had chosen 
otherwise, and what she had chosen she just had to pay for. 

She wished from all her heart that Brianna would have the kind of
happiness she herself had lost - if she ever had had one. 

"But whatever happened to Nyrak?" she asked teasingly.

"Oh, he left even earlier, just after the war. Besides, there really
wasn't anything there", Brianna added, blushing. 

"Maybe not then - but I did see how he looked at you when you were
brought to the Castle unconscious and he got you to wake up." 
Kathrea smiled. "There you see, it's just like I said - all the
free men in the Castle on their knees in front of your pretty eyes."

Brianna almost gave a teasing answer from her part - for there 
certainly was someone about whom she could tease Kathrea - but then 
she remembered how Kathrea had reacted to Silverwind's outburst on 
the courtyard and kept silent. 

They stepped from the corridor to the warm golden light of the 
kitchen. Lady Elaine was mixing something in a big cauldron, as they 
had expected, and there were various smaller pots and pans cooking 
on the stove. On the huge wooden table in the middle of the large 
low room were even more pots, bundles of herbs, and something that 
looked like a pie dough. Elotheria, the elven healer, was sitting on 
a low stool, eating a piece she had snatched from the dough. 

"Aaahhh, how delicious it smells here!" Kathrea exclaimed, inhaling
deeply. 

Elotheria seemed surprised in seeing her, but Elaine only turned
from the stew in the cauldron, nodded at them both and returned to 
her dough. 

"So you're back, my girl", she said softly. "And are you feeling
better now?"

"Yes, thank you", Kathrea said, smiling embarrassedly. "You all
seem so concerned with my well-being, even though I've been so bad-
mannered lately, just leaving without any words... "

"Oh, that's all right", Elaine said reassuringly. "We knew you 
would be back when you were ready for it."

"You did? Well, that was more than I myself knew, then", Kathrea
said, her eyes clouding momentarily. Then she jumped back to 
cheerfulness again. "The kitchens seem to have survived the 
attack unscathed - how marvellous! And I'm sure you have taken
advantage of the fact during these weeks that I've been away!"

"Oh YES", Elotheria laughed. "You should have seen the banquets
we've had! Marvellous is exactly the right word to describe them, 
and everybody's heaped praise on Elaine, until she's been totally
confused, poor thing - and then she's gone on and outdone herself
again at the next dinner."

"Aww, and I've missed all those", Kathrea pouted. "I always miss
all the good things, one way or another!"

"Well, you didn't miss *this*", Elo said, reaching up and quickly
snatching a bowl from the table, right from Lady Elaine's hands. 
The elf grinned at Elaine mischievously while she held the bowl out
to Kathrea. "Here, have a taste at Elaine's newest wonder dough!"

"You're a wicked girl, Elo", Elaine said, shaking her finger at Elo
in mock-severity. 

"I know; isn't it wonderful?"

They all laughed and then proceeded to have a taste of everything: 
fresh fruit pie here, wonderfully seasoned stews there, sugared
cakes somewhere else. For a while everything was just sighs and
exclamations of delight. 

"Yummm!"

"I love these!"

"Elaine, has anyone ever told you that you're an absolute miracle?!"

"No, a miraclemaker! Or a magic-user, even! If this isn't magic, 
then I don't know what is!"

"Perhaps we should get another brand of magic into the books: 
enchanting people through their tastebuds... "

"I guess there is something on that subject already?"

"Oh, please", Elaine smiled. "I'm glad you like my food, but that
is going a bit far."

"Okay", Kathrea said, sitting down on a stool and arranging all 
the stolen bits of delicacies around her in nice, straight lines. 
"Now tell me everything that has been going on here - though
Brianna did fill me in about the most important details."

She smiled teasingly, and Brianna blushed again. The matter was
still too new for her not to react to the teasing, no matter how
friendly. 

"Oh, we're all more than fine. Everything is going well now that 
the menace of the Dark One is gone", Elaine said. "And since the
war there has definitely been a greater amount of love than usual 
in the air. The Castle is beginning to live up to its name again!"

"How so?"

"Well, in addition to our Brianna here, you should really see 
Eowyn and the Dark Knight... ("Oh yes!" Elo echoed.) Now that all
the fighting and killing and pain is done, they look so happy it
seems almost otherworldly, as if they were shining with the holy
light of the Goddess..."

"And then there's Meghin and her young man, of course!"

"She's the other elf I saw with you in the last days of the battle?
I was wondering where she was, since she's not here."

"Oh, they're out on a picnic. I made Elaine send them", Elo 
grinned. "It seemed like they could do with a bit of outside 
encouragement."

"Really? Why is that?" 

"Meghin's got some silly ideas about some curse that she believes
has been set on her." Elotheria shrugged. "But I'm sure they'll
work it out; it's so clear that they are right for each other."

"That's good to hear." 

Somehow the normally empty phrase was not quite as empty this time,
and there was something unfathomable in Kathrea's expression as she
said it. 

"Elaine could arrange a picnic for you also, couldn't she?" Elo 
continued cheerfully, not noticing the sudden mood change. "A nice 
basket for two; after all, a certain young Knight has been known 
to walk the battlements at nights lately, worried about the absence 
of a certain Lady..."

"Oh no!" Kathrea breathed, before she regained her composure and
seemed to grow even more distant, cold and unfathomable. "Oh come
now, I think these jokes are becoming rather far-fetched. Baron
Silverwind is young and takes his duties as my protector rather
seriously, but that is all. We seem to be on a way to a close
friendship, nothing more."

The other women exchanged quick looks of worry. Brianna would have 
warned the other two of the subject, but now she could not say 
anything any more without irritating Kathrea even further. And 
perhaps it would be better to discuss the matter as soon as
possible, after all...

"I... don't think that is quite all, my dear", Elaine said
carefully. "The Baron seemed *very* upset at your illness, and
even more so when you left so suddenly. I have a strong feeling
that it went beyond duty and friendship."

Kathrea's eyes were full of ice, doubt and something else that
could have been stark terror. 

"I don't believe it. I'm sure you are just imagining things - now
that there is a general feeling of romance in the air, you wish to
see it even where there is none", she said in a voice that ended
any further discussion. 

The others exchanged looks again, but there was really nothing 
they could say or do. It seemed Kathrea had her own reasons for 
not believing or indeed even considering the matter. Besides, it
might be that she was right and they were mistaken, could it not?

"A lot of people have also left the Castle after the battle", 
Brianna said to change the subject. "Now that the Land has peace,
they are going back to their homes to rebuild them and to live an
ordinary life again. There is far more room in the Castle than
a while ago, but it is caused by the right reasons - peace and
safety and new life..."

"And it's still not quiet by all means", Elaine added, taking a
steaming kettle away from the fire and replacing it with another. 
Kathrea used the opportunity to snatch a new piece of dough from
the big table where Elaine had been working. 

"I didn't have any of that left", she explained with an innocent
smile, when Elaine shook her head reprovingly. 

"You're almost as bad as Elotheria", Elaine said, feigning 
exasperation. 

"Almost, but not quite", Kathrea laughed. 

"Kathrea, what is that brooch?" Elo asked, suddenly noticing for
the first time the threefold golden brooch that Kathrea had not
worn before in the Castle. Now it drew everyone's attention, as
the magnificent jewels shone in the soft light of the kitchen 
fires, but Kathrea herself didn't look at it or at them. Her eyes
reflected the fire of the huge fireplace, glittering like dark 
jewels themselves. 

"It's incredibly beautiful! Where have you got it?"
 
"It's just a memory", the wizard-girl said softly, and it seemed 
that her words brought back the feeling of all those centuries
she had lived - no clear images, for there was nothing they knew
of her past, but a feeling of years upon years. It was a feeling
that again discouraged any continuation on the subject.

For a while, they were silent. The only noise came from the 
instruments of cooking: the deep bubbling of the big cauldron, the
faster, higher-pitched babble of the smaller pots and kettles, the
sound of Elaine mixing a seasoning sauce in a wooden bowl. But 
since they were, after all, girls passing time together, they soon
resumed talking, and it did not take long for the giggling to 
resume, either. 

And that evening, the feast was again even more splendid than the
night before.