Sophie POV

I left Alaric standing. His face was full of regret.

I could feel his eyes on me as I walked away. My heart hammered. Three days.

He had given me three days for a battle that needed weeks. I did not have time to cry or argue. I had to build a kitchen that could survive this.

I headed for the royal kitchen. The hallways felt longer than usual. The smell of grease met me at the door.

I called all the chefs. I clapped my hands to get their attention. The kitchen staff stopped their work. They looked at me with a mix of fear and curiosity.

"Assemble, everyone." I commanded.

"The competition themes are set. We have three days to prepare for this competition. Listen carefully to my instructions."

I stood by the wooden prep table.

I looked at their faces. Silas looked skeptical. Martha looked terrified. Damien stood in the back. His eyes were cold.

"For the unknown dish, we will make what I call peppered beef." I announced.

"Our special ingredient will be the pepper."

The room went silent. Silas and Martha exchanged looks of horror.

"Pe... pe..." Silas struggled with the word.

"Pepper? That is poison, Chef. It is a weed from the swamps. No one uses it to cook. It burns the tongue. It makes the eyes bleed. It is used for torture, not to make food." Silas stated.

"It is not poison, Silas." I said.

I kept my voice firm.

"I know this ingredient well. In my time, it is a staple. It provides heat. It provides flavor. If you prepare it correctly, it enhances the meat. It will be our secret weapon because the northern chefs will not know how to counter the heat."

"I will not be part of this." Silas said.

He stepped back.

"You will grind it." I said.

I looked him in the eye.

"I am the Chief Royal Chef. I take the risk. Grind the dried peppers into a fine powder. Do not touch your eyes while you do it."

I turned to Martha.

"For the second dish, we must make the Pek Duckling. It is a meal owned by the Moon Crescent Pack. We must beat them at their own game."

Martha gasped. She leaned against the wall.

"Pek Duckling is one of the hardest meals of the northern clans. Even their best chefs fail at it. The skin must be like glass. The meat must be like silk. If the humidity is wrong, the dish is ruined. We do not have the climate for it here." Martha started her concerns.

"We will make our own climate." I said.

"Prep eight ducks. Clean them thoroughly. Pour papaya stock water over them. The enzymes in the papaya will soften the skin. Then, leave them in the sun to dry. We need the skin to become tight and translucent."

"Papaya water?" Martha asked.

"That is not how the northerners do it."

"Exactly." I said.

"My method is faster. Everything will be fine. Trust my process."

I looked at the third theme. Duck soup. This was the most dangerous round.

A slow broth usually takes six to eight hours to draw out the marrow and the essence of the herbs. I did not have that kind of time on the day of the competition.

"For the third dish, the duck soup, I need something special." I said.

"I need a pressure cooker."

"Pre... ture cooker?" Silas asked. He tilted his head.

"No. A pressure cooker." I replied.

I picked up a piece of charcoal. I drew a diagram on a parchment paper. I showed them a heavy pot with a sealed lid and a small valve on top.

"It is a sealed vessel." I explained.

"It traps steam inside. The pressure rises. This heat forces its way into the food. It can cook something that usually takes three hours within one hour. It will help us cook both the duck and the tough wild herbs at the same time. The meat will be soft. The herbs will release their medicine quickly."

"So how do we get the pre... sture cooker?" Martha asked.

I thought about the history books I had read in the library. I remembered a name. A man who experimented with steam and iron.

"We need a blacksmith." I said.

"Specifically, Blacksmith Kaelen."

Silas let out a short, dry laugh.

"Oh. The one who made the iron pipe that went boom in the military quarters? The elders sent him away. They called his work devilry. Nobody knows where he stays now. Some people say he is dead. Some say he lives in the caves of the Silent Peak."

"Dead?" I whispered.

My stomach twisted. If he was dead, my plan for the soup was gone.

"If he is dead, we cannot build the cooker. The pot needs to be constructed by someone with experience." I said

"So what if we do not get the pres... cooker?" Martha asked.

"Then we use Plan B." I said.

I looked at the old iron pots hanging from the ceiling.

"We use the normal palace pots. But it will not give us the depth of flavor we want. The duck will be tough. The judges will notice. I must talk to the Alpha."

"Thank the Moon Goddess we have a plan B." Silas said.

I left the kitchen. I headed for Alaric's chamber. The palace felt like a ticking clock. Every second I spent walking was a second I was not planning.

I reached his doors. The guards let me through.

I saw Alaric sitting by his fireplace. He was not reading. He was not drinking. He was staring into the flames. His mood suggested he was not happy. He looked like a man carrying the weight of a mountain.

"Sophie." He said.

He stood up.

"Will you be able to prepare in three days?"

The urgency in his voice was sharp. He was looking for hope.

"I already discussed the menu with the cooks." I answered.

"I have a plan for the beef and the duck. I only need to get a few ingredients across the palace border. And I need a pressure cooker."

"Pr... e... ture?" Alaric asked.

He looked surprised.

"Pressure cooker." I repeated.

I explained the science of steam. I explained why it was the only way to win the third round. I told him about the time saved. I told him about the texture of the meat.

"Where can we get this device?" He asked.

"I need the blacksmith." I said.

"Kaelen. The one the military quarters dismissed."

Alaric shook his head.

"I do not know anyone by that name. I was young when the military labs had their accidents."

He called for Cassian. Cassian entered the room quickly.

"Cassian, do we have a blacksmith named Kaelen?" Alaric asked.

"There was someone like that, Sire." Cassian confirmed.

"But since he was pursued from the military quarters, he vanished. No one knows his whereabouts. He was accused of wasting royal iron on toys that exploded."

"We must find him." I said.

"Without that pot, the soup will fail."

"We will ask from where he lived before." Alaric said to me.

"People in the lower town usually keep track of their own. We will find him. That is settled."

He stepped closer to me. He looked at my face. He seemed to be studying the dark circles under my eyes.

"So, who did you pick to assist you in the competition?" He asked.

"Cook Silas and Cook Damien." I responded.

"They are the most experienced in the royal kitchen. They are agile. They know the equipment."

"That is good." Alaric said.

He reached out as if to touch my shoulder, then stopped.

"I know you can do this, Sophie. But even if you fail, I won't blame you."

His words were meant to be kind. But to me, they sounded like a funeral.

He was already preparing for my failure.

Sophie POV

I looked at Alaric. He stood tall in the dimly lit chamber.

He was ready to take responsibility if I failed. He was ready to bare the consequences of a loss that could cost him his crown. His eyes held a weight I had not seen before. He was no longer just a king. He was a partner in this gamble.

"We don't have much time, Sophie." Alaric said.

He paced the floor.

"We would begin the journey to get the device you talked about very early tomorrow morning."

"We?" Cassian asked.

He leaned against the door. His brow arched in surprise.

"Yes. I am going with her." Alaric said.

He did not look at Cassian. He kept his focus on me.

"Alpha, you don't have to go." Cassian stated.

He stepped forward.

"The northern envoy are here. They are watching your every move. Don't let them think the Alpha King is not concerned about the affairs of his kingdom. Your absence will signal a lack of control."

"Is going to get a device for the competition not an affair of the kingdom?" Alaric asked.

His voice dropped an octave. It was a warning.

"I can go with her." Cassian said.

"Roland and Thomas would follow for maximum protection. We can handle a blacksmith."

"It is too dangerous." Alaric replied.

He shook his head.

"I want to go on that journey to show the people of Blackwood how much I care for this kingdom. Also, if I am there, the blacksmith won't be able to say no. He would do it well if he knows who is watching."

"Really? Is that it, Alaric?" Cassian teased him.

A small smile played on his lips.

Alaric made a face. It was the face of the Alpha King. It told Cassian that questioning his decision was a mistake.

Cassian let out a dry laugh. He shook his head.

"I know what is going on here, Alaric." Cassian mocked.

"Never mind. I will handle everything like always while you go on a journey that is so important to the kingdom."

"That is what I expected to hear from you." Alaric said.

Cassian had a vicious smile on his face.

He looked at me. He made the I told you look with his eyes. He knew Alaric just wanted to be near me.

He bowed low. He walked out of Alaric's chamber. He looked happy. He looked like he had won a lottery.

I turned back to Alaric. I felt a knot of worry in my stomach.

"Please, when we go there, don't tell the blacksmith you are the Alpha King." I stated.

"But why will I hide a fact that is true?" Alaric asked.

"It is something everyone knows. My face is on the coins."

"I know everyone knows." I responded.

"But just don't mention it. If you act like a king, it will make him nervous. It will make him not want to do it. He was exiled. He hates the crown."

"If he refuses to do it, I will make sure he is tortured until he makes it." Alaric said firmly.

"What if you tortured him and he makes a bad one?" I asked him.

I raised my brow.

"What if it explodes as we cook? I need his skill. Not his fear."

Alaric sighed.

He looked at the floor. He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Okay. I promise to be at my best behavior." Alaric said.

He sounded nonchalant.

"I won't mention I am the Alpha King."

"Let me go have some rest so we can leave early tomorrow morning." I said.

Alaric seemed relieved. He knew I was preparing for the competition.

I headed for my quarters. The palace was quiet. I got to my room. I was so tired. My bones ached. I slept off immediately.

I woke up while the sky was still gray. I got dressed in a thick cloak.

I headed for the palace gate. I saw Alaric already waiting. Roland and Thomas were with him.

They wore plain traveling clothes. No royal crests. No gold trim.

"Oh, here you are." Alaric said.

He looked fresh.

"I figured you would come so I didn't send anyone to disturb you."

"Greetings, Your Majesty." I bowed.

"I am here now. Let us begin the journey."

We walked for miles. The sun rose over the trees. It turned the dew into mist.

Thomas and Roland walked behind us. They kept their hands near their weapons.

I told Alaric about the special ingredient. I told him about the pepper. He trusted me. He did not argue that it was poison.

I explained how science can fasten our work. I told him how science meets food to produce something unique. He listened. He did not judge.

We got to a small town called Oakhaven. It was dusty. The houses were made of gray stone.

"This is where I know he lived before." Thomas said.

He looked around. Thomas was a man of secrets. He knew the history of every exile.

"Let me ask that woman."

Thomas pointed to a woman passing by with a basket of grain. He left to go talk to her. He came back a few minutes later.

"The woman said he no longer lives in this town." Thomas reported.

"She said he lives in the forest close to the borderline. He is at the Silent Peak."

"Do you know the place?" Alaric asked Thomas.

"Yes. I know the Silent Peak." Thomas said.

"From the woman's explanation, I have been able to draft a road map."

Thomas showed a paper he was holding. It had rough lines and marks.

"Let us continue the journey then." Alaric said.

He looked at me. He wanted to see if I was tired. I did not show stress. I continued walking. I felt the burn in my legs.

We walked for another mile. The path grew steep. The air grew thin. Suddenly, Alaric stopped.

"I'm tired!" Alaric yelled.

He wiped his brow.

"Let's find a place to rest before we continue."

"We still have a long way to go, Your Majesty." Roland said.

"We don't have much time."

"I know." Alaric said.

He looked at me.

"But Sophie is tired too. Let her rest a little before we continue."

"I'm not tired." I interrupted.

I looked at the mountain ahead.

"We have to find the blacksmith. He needs to start working on the pressure cooker. We don't have much time."

"True." Alaric said.

He tried to catch his breath.

He stood up straight.

"Let's continue. Maybe I will rest when we get there."

"Journey like this is not for you, Your Majesty." Thomas said.

He was teasing Alaric.

"You should have let Cassian and men like us embark on this journey. We are used to the dirt."

"What do you mean?" Alaric asked.

"I'm not tired. I was just trying to consider you guys. Let's continue."

Thomas and Roland exchanged looks.

They let out a laugh of mockery. They knew the Alpha King was struggling.

We walked for what felt like three more miles. The trees grew thick. The birds stopped singing. We finally reached a clearing.

A huge wooden door sat in the side of the mountain. It was reinforced with iron bars.

A sign was nailed to the center. It read:

Blacksmith Kaelen. Do not open this door without permission. If you do, whatever you see, you caused it upon yourself.

"This is the right place." my mind whispered.

"What does he mean by this stupid write up?" Alaric roared.

His face turned red.

"The Alpha King should ask for his permission before entering a house in his kingdom?"

"You promised you won't act like this." I said.

I held Alaric's hand. I squeezed it.

"Please don't be like this. We need him."

"But do you see what is at the door?" Alaric yelled.

"After we have walked for miles, only to come see this rubbish?"

"I know it is frustrating." I urged him.

"But please don't do anything harsh. Don't mention you are the Alpha King."

Before I knew what was happening, Roland stepped forward. He kicked the door with all his strength. The door sprung open. The iron hinges groaned.

"Good." Alaric said.

Roland drew out his sword. Thomas drew out his dagger. They stepped into the dark compound.

"What is that smell?" Thomas asked.

He sniffed the air.

"It looks like fire is burning somewhere." Roland said.

He looked forward. His eyes widened.

He saw a machine. It was a primitive mortar. A heavy iron tube mounted on a wooden frame.

It was pointed directly at the entrance. A slow fuse was sparkling at the base.

"Run! Run!" Roland yelled.

"Bomb! It's a bomb!" Roland roared.

The machine was a steam powered projectile launcher. It hissed with a violent pressure.

We all turned to run away. We scrambled back toward the gate. Before we could leave the entrance, the machine fired. A massive sound filled the tunnel.

BOOM!

Sophie POV

So this is how I died. I died because of Alaric's stubbornness. I closed my eyes tight. I waited for the heat. I waited a shrapnel to tear through the air.

The roar of the explosion echoed. It felt like a blow to my chest.

I felt Alaric's arms wrapped around me. He pulled me against his chest. He was like a wall of muscle and heat. He shielded me. He was ready to die for me.

After some minutes. I opened my eyes. The ringing in my ears was already fading off. I looked toward the gate.

Thomas was already outside. He was fast. He moved like a shadow in the wind. Roland stood at our back. His feet were planted firm. His hands were spread out wide. He was ready to collect any bullet or shard of metal.

He was shielding the Alpha. The Alpha was shielding me.

Something began to fall from the sky. It looked like snow. It drifted through the thick smoke.

I looked down. I picked some of it up from the dusty floor. It was light. It was airy. It was rice pops. My eyes widened. I looked at the white grains in my palm.

"Wow. Kaelen is the one who started producing rice pops." I said to myself.

Alaric let go of my hands. After he checked my face for injuries. And he was sure everywhere was safe.

I moved toward the machine. I touched the cold iron barrel. It was a pressure vessel. It used steam and heat to expand the grain instantly. It is exactly what I need.

A machine that uses heat and pressure. That means this man can actually produce a pressure cooker. He already understands the mechanics of steam seals.

My thoughts were disrupted by a loud voice.

"Whoa! It worked!"

Kaelen ran toward the machine. He ignored us completely. He was a man with soot on his face. His hair looked unkempt.

He picked the rice pops off the machine. He started chewing them. He looked at the floor with a grin.

"Uhmm. It worked. Just that it is not sweet. It is bland. It is neither sweet nor bitter." Kaelen said.

He frowned at the white grains.

Alaric's eyes widened. He stepped over a piece of wood. The smoke was still thick around us.

"Can't you apologize for what you just did?" Alaric yelled.

His voice made the walls vibrate.

Kaelen turned to him. He did not look scared. He looked annoyed.

"That's what you get for barging into someone's house without permission." Kaelen answered dismissively.

He turned back to his machine. He adjusted the brass valve.

"Who are you talking to?" Alaric asked.

He stepped closer. I could feel the tension between them. He was ready to devour Kaelen.

"You, of course." Kaelen replied.

He wiped the grease on his pants.

"Who are you? What will you do?"

"I am the Alp..." Alaric started.

"Uuhmm! Uuhmm!" I coughed loudly.

I stepped between them.

"Sorry, Blacksmith Kaelen."

I interrupted the Alpha before he could reveal his identity. I looked at the gate. I looked at the smoking mortar.

"We just came here to see you." I said.

I tried to make my voice soft.

"Is that why you barge into my compound like that?" Kaelen asked.

He pointed to his gate.

"You kicked down my gate. You enter like thieves."

"Will you shut up, you rude wolf?" Roland said.

He gripped his sword.

"Will you apologize to the kin..." Thomas started.

"Ohh! Sorry, sir!" I interrupted again.

I looked at Alaric, Roland, and Thomas. "Let me handle this. Please"

"Why are you begging him?" Alaric yelled.

He looked at me with confusion.

"He almost killed us. Why are you telling him sorry?"

"Who is this one that is acting like he is the king of this kingdom?" Kaelen asked.

He gestured toward Alaric with a dirty wrench.

"So you don't know that I'm the kin..." Alaric started again.

"The King's Beta!" I completed it.

Alaric looked at me with surprise. He opened his mouth to speak. But I gave him a sharp look. I hoped he would remember his promise.

"He is the King's Beta." I said to Kaelen.

"He is very protective of his duties."

"Oh. That guy, the one called Cassian." Kaelen said.

He let out a snort.

"He is too proud. He has no respect for the arts of the forge."

Alaric was already burning with fury. His jaw locked tight. I could feel heat radiating from him.

"Please let me handle this. Please, Lord Cassian." I said to Alaric.

I used the name of his beta to keep the ruse alive.

I turned back to Kaelen.

"Please. We are here to ask for a favor from you. We need a pressure cooker for a competition. The future of the Blackwood Kingdom depends on it."

"I don't know how to make a pressure cooker." Kaelen dismissed me immediately.

He started sweeping the rice pops into a bucket.

"But you made this machine that made rice pops." I argued.

I pointed to the iron vessel.

"It's the same thing as a pressure cooker. It needs heat and pressure to cook the meal. It just needs a different shape and a safety seal."

I brought out the drawing of the pressure cooker. I had spent hours sketching it with the chefs. I opened the parchment paper.

"This is what it looks like." I said.

I showed him the drawing of the pot. The lid. And the regulator valve.

"I don't know what that is." Kaelen said.

He didn't even look at it.

"Will you make it? Or do you want me to torture you before you do it?" Alaric roared.

He had reached his limit.

"You want to torture me? In my own house?" Kaelen asked.

He stood up straight.

"You this glorified Beta."

Kaelen hissed the words.

I moved between them again. I touched Alaric's arm. I looked into his eyes. I whispered.

"You promised. Please."

It seemed that calmed him down. The gold in his eyes faded. Alaric took a deep breath.

I turned back to Kaelen.

"He didn't mean that Sir." I said.

"Even if he didn't mean it, I will not make anything for the royal household." Kaelen said.

His voice was full of regret.

"All they do is use people and dump them. They used my father. They dumped him. My father died miserably even though he invented many things for the royal household. He gave his life to the forge and he was left with nothing."

Kaelen gripped his sweeping broom tight.

"In fact, all of you get out of my house!" Kaelen yelled.

"Please, sir. I am sorry on behalf of the royal household." I begged him.

I felt the clock ticking in my head. We had so little time left.

"Out!" Kaelen roared.

I started bending in a bid to kneel. I wanted to beg him. I wanted him to see that I'm desperate.

"Get out! Or I will do to you what this machine didn't do." Kaelen threatened.

He moved back toward the wall. He grabbed a thick rope. He dragged down a leather curtain. Rows of mechanical cross-bows appeared on the wall. They were all aimed at us.

He placed his hands on what looked like an iron gear.

"I will pull this now. These arrows will kill you all." Kaelen threatened.

Alaric grabbed my arm. He pulled me toward the exit. We went outside the gate.

Roland and Thomas followed us with their weapons drawn. Kaelen slammed his gate shut. He locked it with a heavy bar. We stood outside in the dirt. We were stranded.

"You should have let me torture him." Alaric roared.

He paced back and forth in front of the gate.

"People like him deserve to be tortured. He is an exile. He has no right to refuse a royal order."

"Torturing him will only make things worse." I said.

I leaned against a tree.

"The sun is almost setting. We have less than two days to appease the blacksmith so he makes the pressure cooker."

"Appease?" Alaric asked.

He looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language.

"Yes. We have to find a way to appease him." I explained.

"He is refusing to make anything because of his father. He thinks we are users. We have to appease him. We have to assure him that we won't use him and dump him. We have to prove we are different."

"Any idea on how to appease him?" Alaric asked Roland and Thomas.

"No, Your Majesty." They both replied in unison.

"Let me handle this." I said.

"You all should stay here. Hide in the trees. I will go talk to him alone."

"No. I will go with you." Alaric insisted.

"No. Stay here. He is afraid of you." I said.

I walked toward the gate. I felt the cold air.

I knocked on the wooden gate. I waited. After a minute, Kaelen came to the gate. He opened a small hole. He peeped through.

"What do you want?" He asked.

His voice was gruff.

"I know how to make your rice pops sweet." I said.

"Rice pops?" He asked.

"Yes. The thing you made with the machine. It is rice pops." I explained.

"You know how to make it sweet?" Kaelen asked.

He sounded skeptical.

"Yes. I have something you can use to make it sweet." I said.

I put my hand in my pocket. I brought out a leather pouch. It contained sugar. I had carried it from the palace.

On long journeys, sugar is vital. It provides energy. It prevents salt depletion in the heat. It is a rare luxury that keeps the spirits high.

I handed the leather pouch through the hole.

"Add this to the next set of rice pops you make." I said.

"Mix it in while the grain is still warm."

He collected the pouch. He did not say thank you. He just closed the hole.

I walked back to Alaric.

"What did he say?" Alaric asked.

"I have not gotten any response yet." I answered.

"But I will get one soon. Let us just wait a little while."

We waited for a few minutes. The silence was heavy. Then, we heard the sound again.

BOOM!

Alaric shielded me like he did the first time. He threw his cloak over me. Smoke drifted over the wall.

"Yes! It worked!"

We could hear Kaelen's voice shouting from inside the compound.

I walked back to the gate. I opened the small hole. I peeped inside.

"Is it sweet?" I asked.

"Yes! It worked!" Kaelen said.

He ran to the gate.

"What did you give me to add?"

"Let me in so I can explain to you." I said.

He came to the gate. He peeped through the hole.

"Are they gone? Is that proud Beta still there?"

"They won't come in." I said.

He opened the gate a little. He let me in and closed it behind me. He was chewing on a handful of sweetened rice. He looked like a child with a new toy.

"What I gave you is sugar." I stated.

"It makes things sweet?"

"I know sugar." Kaelen said.

"But it is very expensive in the market. It comes from the north. I just want to make something that every wolf in the Blackwood Kingdom can afford. I want to feed the poor."

He looked down at his bucket. His face filled with disappointment.

"If you help us make the pressure cooker and we win the competition, we would no longer pay taxes for imported sugar from the Moon Crescent Pack." I explained.

"We would have sugar in abundance. It will be very cheap. You would be able to use it for your rice pops. You could sell your pops at an affordable rate."

Kaelen paused. He looked at the machine. He looked at the bucket of rice pops.

He was in deep thought. The logic was working.

"Let me see the drawings you made of the cooker." He said.

I felt relieved.

At least he was talking now. I opened the parchment paper again.

He looked at the drawing for a few minutes. He traced the lines of the safety valve with a greasy finger.

"No. I can't do it." He said.

He handed the paper back.

"I don't even know what this is. It is too complex."

"But it is the same as the machine that makes the rice pops!" I argued.

"Look at the seal. Look at the pressure chamber. It is the same science!"

"Please leave." Kaelen said.

He turned his back to me.

"I am an inventor of machines. Not a maker of pots. I can't make a pot like that."

I stood there in the smoke.

The sun was already setting.

We had nothing. No cooker. No plan.

Only two days left.