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.

Sophie POV

I walked quietly out of the gate. The iron bars clanged behind me. I felt disappointed.

The air was cold. It carried the scent of pine and burnt coal. I saw Alaric pacing the dirt path. He was already trying to find his way in. He must be wondering what I was doing.

He looked at me with sharp eyes.

"What did he say?" Alaric asked.

He stepped toward me. His shadow fell over the grass.

"He said he can't make a pressure cooker." I replied.

I looked back at the gate.

"I know he is lying. He knows the mechanics of the machine. He knows how to seal a vessel. He is just not convinced. We have to look for another way to appease him."

Soon we heard thunder rumbling. The sound rolled across the mountain. Signifying it was about to rain.

The sky turned a bruised purple. Dark clouds moved fast over our heads.

We walked to a small batcher house. It stood just outside the blacksmith's gate.

It was a rough shelter made of wood and thatch. It had firm walls and a leaky roof.

At least we can be covered when the rain starts.

We stood there. I watched the first drops of rain hit the dust.

I thought about Kaelen. A man who lives alone in the Silent Peak does not have many options for food. He eats scraps. He eats bland rice.

I thought about the way his nose twitched. When he smelled the sugar.

"What if I cook something to change the his mind?" I asked to myself.

I looked at the group.

"Who is hungry?" I asked.

Alaric raised his hand first. He did not hesitate. Then Thomas and Roland followed. Their stomachs rumbled.

"We need ingredients to make something." I said.

We all ran into the rain. We headed for a nearby market. It was a small outpost for travelers. We found flour. Oil. And yeast. We found tomatoes. And a ball of hard white cheese.

We returned to the batcher house as the rain began to pour heavily. I saw some leftover wood in the corner. It was dry.

"Roland, please make a fire manually." I pleaded.

Thomas tried first. He used a flint. The sparks flew into the dry leaves. Smoke started coming out.

Alaric sat down away from us. He leaned against a wooden pillar. He was tired. He needed rest. But his eyes never left me.

Roland began to blow the fire. He stayed low to the ground. Thomas joined him.

"Hmmmm. Good. Good." I said to them.

Alaric kept staring at us. He watched Roland and Thomas working near me. He was getting jealous. He stood up. He brushed off dirt from his tunic.

"Move." Alaric commanded.

He stepped between his men.

"I will blow the fire." He said.

He took a large palm fan from the corner. He started blowing the fire with powerful strokes. The flames roared to life.

"Like this?" He asked me.

He looked up. His face was flushed from the heat.

"Yes. Good." I replied.

A quick smile spread across his face. He looked proud.

I began my work. I mixed the flour and water. I added the yeast. I made a dough on a flat piece of wood. I gave Thomas and Roland the tomatoes.

"Grind these into a smooth paste." I said.

Roland and Thomas took a smooth stone.

They washed it with water from the rain. They started grinding the tomatoes.

I complimented them for their work. Alaric saw this. He left the fire immediately. He went to help them grind. He wanted to be the most useful man in the shelter.

I wanted to make pizza. It is a food for comfort. It is hard to resist the smell. Especially the smell of melting cheese. And toasted bread.

I prepped the ingredients. I arranged the dough on a pan. I added tomato paste. I sprinkled the cheese. I added other ingredients. And placed it over the fire to bake.

"Uhmm." Alaric yawned.

He leaned in closer.

"It smells delicious." Thomas said.

He wiped his hands on his tunic.

"What kind of dish is this?" Roland asked.

He looked at the bubbling cheese.

"I have never seen such dish before."

"It is called pizza." I said.

I looked at the smoke. The wind was blowing it toward the gate.

"We should blow the scent toward his gate." I said.

"I want Kaelen to perceive it. A man like him won't have many options. This scent will haunt him."

Thomas and Roland did as I have asked.

Soon the pizza was ready. The crust was golden. The cheese was brown and bubbling.

I brought it down with the pan. There was no plate we could use. We heard the gate open. The wood groaned. I saw Kaelen peeking out. He was sniffing the air.

"Don't act like you see him." I whispered to everyone.

We were all focused on the meal. We acted like we were having the best meal ever.

Kaelen walked slowly to the batcher house. He saw Alaric. He attempted to run away.

"Kaelen, don't run." I said.

I did not look up from the pan.

"No one is angry with you here."

He stood still. He did not say a word. His gaze was fixed on the pizza.

"What is that?" He asked.

His voice was weak.

"Is it the scent I have been hearing inside my house?"

"This is what I call pizza." I explained.

"It is a dish from where I come from. It is warm. It is filling."

"You can join us." I urged him.

He looked at Alaric. He wanted to join us. He feared what Alaric would do. His stomach rumbled.

"Come join us." I urged him again.

I sliced the pizza into six parts using Thomas' dagger.

I took one part. I gestured that he should collect it. He moved swiftly. He took it from my hand. He took a bite.

"Uhmm. Hmmm. Hmmm." He made a sound. His eyes closed.

"Oh. I never thought I would taste a meal like this since I was exiled." Kaelen said.

His voice cracked.

"I... I have only been eating scraps. I have been eating bland rice."

He was teary. He devoured the pizza in seconds.

Thomas, Roland, and Alaric took theirs too. They ate in silence.

"Indeed the ghost chef knows how to cook." Thomas said.

"Shhush." Alaric hushed him.

"She is not a ghost." Alaric whispered.

Kaelen finished his slice. He licked his fingers. He looked at the empty pan.

"You have given me a taste of home." Kaelen said.

He looked at me with respect.

"I will consider your request."

"When do you need the cooker?" He asked.

"In two days time." I responded immediately.

"Hmmm. Two days is not enough time for me to make a pressure cooker." Kaelen said.

He shook his head.

"I am the only one here. I don't have enough manpower."

"If you have a man to help. Will you be able to finish it in two days?" I asked him.

"Yes." Kaelen said.

"We would work all night and all day. We can finish it in two days if we don't stop."

"Thomas will stay with you to help." Alaric stated.

He stood up. He looked at Thomas. Thomas nodded.

"Let me have the sketch." Kaelen said.

I gave him the parchment. He took it. He headed back to his gate. Thomas followed him.

I turned to Alaric. He looked relieved. It was as if a weight was lifted from my chest.

"We will go to the southern territory tomorrow." I said.

"We need to get other ingredients and wild herbs."

"That will take about a day and a half. We would go from here and come back for the device." Roland said.

He checked the map.

"Are we going to make it back in time?" Roland asked.

"We would walk fast." I said.

"We will get the herbs quickly. We must return in time."

"We can't start the journey now." I added.

"It is already late. The rain will make the paths slippery. We should go in the morning."

"Come have some rest, Sophie." Alaric said.

I sat on a pile of hay. I was ready to sleep. It was really cold after the rain. The damp air moved through the open walls of the shelter.

Alaric removed his tunic. He placed it across my shoulders to help me feel warm. I leaned back. I slept sound. I could smell him on his tunic.

The next morning. We prepared to start the journey. The sun was just hitting the peaks.

We bade Thomas and Kaelen goodbye.

We had solved a part of the puzzle. We had a manufacturer.

But we still have a long way to go.

Chef Fenris POV

We have known the theme for the competition. We have prepared all our ingredients.

The air in the was thick. Alpha Stone summoned us to his chamber. The walk was short. The stone walls felt like they were closing in. This place is too soft. I missed the sharp bite of the northern winds.

We entered his room. The Alpha sat in a chair carved from black oak.

He did not look at us immediately. He sharpened a small dagger with a whetstone. The scrape of metal on stone filled the silence.

He finally looked up. His eyes were cold.

"Tell me." Alpha Stone said.

His voice a low growl.

"What do you plan to prepare for the three rounds of the competition? I will not accept a loss. The Moon Crescent Pack needs this victory to survive."

I stepped forward. I am the lead for the second round. I know the weight of our hunger.

"Chef Skade will handle the first round." I said.

"Varg and I will be her assistants. She will be making the Glacial Peaked Poultry. It is a chicken dish not known in this time. She will use chilled fats to create a texture that shatters like ice before it gets to the throat."

"For the second round." I continued.

"I will be making the Moss-Crusted Venison. It is a Blackwood dish. I will cook wild herbs with a real kind of liquor. It is called the Blood-Vine Liquor. I will serve the liquor as a side drink. Skade and Varg will assist me."

"And for the third round." I concluded.

"Chef Varg will make the Gilded Pond Soup. He will use the giant golden lettuce flower as the base. He will make a duck soup with a golden color broth. Skade and I will be his assistants."

Alpha Stone stopped sharpening his blade. A dangerous smile spread across his face.

"It is good that you are prepared." He said.

"Do you have all the ingredients ready?"

"I have checked them myself, Alpha." I replied.

"They are secure."

"Perfect." He said.

He stood up. He sheathed his dagger.

"The Blackwood kingdom is not ready for what is to come. Even though we have been assured victory through other means. We would still give them a taste of a dish they would marvel at. I want them to know their best is nothing compared to our skill."

He looked at the window.

"Now, begone. Sharpen your knives. If you fail me, do not bother returning to the pack." Alpha Stone stated.

His dismissal was a threat. Not a gesture.

We headed for our rooms. The hallway was empty.

Skade stopped by a large tapestry. She adjusted the silver pins in her hair.

"I am going for a walk around the palace." Skade said.

Her eyes were bright with a strange hunger.

"I want to see the layout of their defenses. And their stoves."

"This is not our pack, Skade." I warned her.

I gripped her shoulder.

"Be careful not to do anything that will implicate us. We are guests. For now."

"I am always careful, Fenris." She whispered.

She turned. She vanished into the shadows. She was going through the servant's stairs.

Varg did not even look at her. He went to his room. He is a man of few words. He only lives for the fire. And the blade.

I did not believe Skade. She had been sneaking out since the competition was announced.

I followed her slowly. I kept my distance. I saw her reach the royal kitchen.

What is she doing in the royal kitchen? I asked myself.

I stood over a stone fence. I peeped through the kitchen window. The smell of roasting meat and old flour drifted out.

I saw Skade move inside. She stood in the center of the room. She looked like a wolf in sheep's clothing.

"Where is the Chief Royal Chef?" Skade asked.

Her voice was loud. It was a challenge.

"She is not available." A young boy replied.

He was chopping carrots. His hands were small.

"A days to the competition and the Chief Royal Chef is not available?" Skade asked.

Mockery dripped from her tongue.

"Is she scared? Is she trying to run away from the competition because she knows she will lose?"

"How dare you talk about our Chief Royal Chef like that!" Chef Silas yelled.

He slammed a wooden spoon on a table.

"Why will she run from you? Even our youngest chef here, Chef Pip, can handle your arrogance."

Silas looked at the boy. Pip looked like he wanted to hide.

"He can?" Skade asked.

She pulled a curved knife from her belt. She began to spin it.

"Let us see. I challenge this child to a knife work match."

"Y... ye... yes." Pip stammered.

He looked at Silas. Silas nodded at him.

"Why would you just come to our royal kitchen and demand a competition?" Martha asked.

She wiped her hands on a dirty apron.

"Are you trying to show off your skills or what? We have work to do."

Skade completely ignored her. She looked only at the boy.

"Don't worry, Martha." Silas said.

"Today the mighty shall fall. Let the challenge begin!"

I watched Skade. She took a full onion from a basket. Her hand became a blur.

The sound of the knife hitting the wood was like a drum.

Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap.

In less than a minutes. The onion was a pile of transparent, even slices.

Pip was still struggling. He had only cut a quarter of his onion. His slices were thick and uneven.

"We won't blame him. He is the youngest chef. If you dare challenge me." Silas challenged.

Skade didn't say a word. She gesture that he come forward.

"My turn." Silas said.

He took a knife.

Skade beat him too. She cut faster than the eye could follow. She finished by slamming her knife into the table. The blade buried itself deep into the wood.

"Tell your ghost chef that I am waiting." Skade said.

She walked out of the kitchen. Her head high.

I watched the Blackwood chefs through the window. They looked defeated.

"I cannot believe she is that fast." Pip said.

He was shaking.

"My hands feel like lead."

"Do not cry, boy." Silas said.

He tried to pull the knife out of the table. But it was stuck.

"We will report this to Sophie when she comes back. We must tell her the northerners are using psychological warfare."

"Look at this blade." Martha said.

She touched the hilt.

"We should leave the knife exactly like this. We will show Sophie that Skade had the nerve to challenge her in her own kitchen. It will stoke her fire."

"Yes." Silas agreed.

"Leave it. Let it be the first thing she sees. She will know we were insulted."

I left the window.

I headed back toward the guest rooms. I took a shortcut through the corridor.

I heard voices coming from a side room. I recognized the deep tone of Alpha Stone. And the drunken voice of Grand Prince Magnus.

I stayed behind a stone pillar.

"The girl must not reach the kitchen on the day of the match." Magnus said.

"You said you had a plan." Alpha Stone replied.

"I do." Magnus said.

"I have men positioned. I will kill the Chief Royal Chef to make sure she is not available for the competition. Blackwood will lose. Alaric will fall. My plans for the throne will finally become a reality."

"Do what you must." Alpha Stone said.

"I only care about the harvest rights."

My heart hammered. This was murder.

This was not the way of a true chef. I waited for them to leave. I waited for the day to get dark.

I needed to warn them. But I could not be seen.

I found a piece of parchment. I crafted a message. I used a cipher that only a high-ranking official like the Beta would know how to read.

To anyone else, it looked like a blank page.

I headed back toward the kitchen area. I saw Silas and Martha walking to their quarters. They were still talking about Skade.

"She moves like a demon, Silas." Martha said.

"How can a human hand move that fast?"

"It is not human." Silas muttered.

"It is northern speed. Sophie will show her. Sophie has a different kind of speed."

I wore a dark cloak. I pulled the hood over my face. I stepped out of the shadows. They both gasped. Martha dropped her basket.

"Please! Do not kill us!" Martha pleaded.

She fell to her knees.

"I'm not here to kill you." I said.

I kept my voice low. A distorted rasp.

I handed Silas the message.

"Give this to the king's trusted friend and Beta." I commanded.

"Why should we give him an empty paper?" Martha asked.

She peeked at it in the moonlight.

"There is nothing here."

"Give it to him." I replied.

I stepped back into the darkness.

"He would know what to do with it. If you value your lives and your chef. Do not lose that paper."

I disappeared into the shadows. I climbed the stone wall back to my room. My arm was shaking.

I am a cook. Not a spy. But I could not let a master of the craft be slaughtered.

The Chief Royal Chef is in danger.