"My Lady, how am I to protect you if you don't stay behind me!"

"But you were there to protect me, right?"

"Lady Sera, the King doesn't even want me, the Captain of the Guard to accompany you too long. Any man, for that matter." Sighing in defeat, Icaros finally releases his grip on his sword handle.

"Especially Dorne"

As a couple, the King and Queen were practically professionals at dragging him into situations Icaros didn't want to be in. Like what happened just now. Icaros rubs at his temples, already feeling the beginnings of a headache coming on. When Lucien got wind of what happened just now...Icaros digs his knuckles harder into his scalp. At the very least, it was more training and vegetable-only meals.

Sera rolls her eyes at Icaros' theatrics. He was supposed to be the dashing Captain of the Guard, for goodness' sake. He didn't need to worry over her like some kind old grandmother. 

Nodding out to the servants that continued to pass them in the hall, she smiles back at them when they curtsy to her in greeting.

"Dorne's not the type to do something so blatant in public. He wants to be noble. Or at least, appear noble." Sera had noticed that, aside from the challenge, Dorne had done all his evil deeds in secret. He'd never raised a hand to her in public.

"Even so.."

Exasperated, Icaros opens the doors to the kitchens for Sera.

"Thank you."

Sera's face was bathed in a blast of heat as she entered the kitchens. The whole kitchen was practically vibrating with sound as cooks shouted over each other, pots and pans clanged together, and meat sizzling as they were spun on spits over large fireplaces.

One portly cook stirring a large pot of soup looks up and meets her gaze, freezing.

Another cook, arms full of vegetables and other ingredients bustles up next to him"Ald! Is the soup done!? I need the fire next for my vegetables-" they too, freeze when they see Sera. It was a domino-effect, of one person freezing, and then the next, as all eyes focus upon her.

Or was it a strange game of freeze tag? Soap slides down the arms of a kitchen maid, elbows deep in a tub washing dishes, while another cook was stuck mid-slice, chopping up some carrots.

Well, this was quite awkward..

"Uhhhh..."

Sera sniffs the air. At this rate, something was going to get burned. Yet, no one moved when she spoke, frozen in place by the sudden appearance of the former Queen-maid-mistress-Queen? From the confusion and anxiety on their faces, Sera could tell they didn't know what to do with her.

Icaros stands in one corner, busy sending winks to the nearest kitchen maids. Sera doesn't bother to look back at him for help. It was obvious he had no intention of helping her out. That was fine. She was a big girl. Sera could handle things on her own.

Sera looks out over the people frozen in various positions in the kitchens. Who should she ask? Every person she looked at did their best to avoid meeting her gaze, sweat trailing down their foreheads in the warm kitchens.

Now, it was only the sound of food sizzling over the fire as Sera shifts on her feet. The last time she'd been here, she'd been in the cafeteria area out past the kitchens, eating lunch as a maid.

The wood door behind Sera creaks open as another servant enters. They wouldn't be able to see Sera, but it must be strange enough for the kitchens to be this quiet.

"Why is it so quiet in here? Did Mr. Ald's wife finally divorce him?" A young boy comes in, holding a wood tray piled high with dirtied plates. 

The boy's joke riles out a response from one person among the group of kitchen worker statues.

"Why I outta-!" The round chef's reddened jowls jiggle as he roars in fury, shaking his fist at the boy. That brings out a round of laughter out of everyone.

It was enough to break the silence. Sera smiles as everyone goes back to work, while she turns to ask the boy: "May I know where the Head Chef is?"

Plates clatter as the boy jerks, finally realizing the cause of everyone's freezing spell. "Yes, Milady!! I'll take you to Mr. Ald right away!"

He leads her to the cook who stood in place, arms locked over a large cauldron that bubbled with a savory meat soup.

Sera tilts her head up at the man, giving him a sweet smile. "Um.. Hello. May I borrow a corner of the kitchen?" 

---------

Sera surveys the cleaned off countertop she'd borrowed, proud of her work. Using fresh vegetables and some of the meat smoking on the spit, she'd made some sandwiches and a tomato soup. This should be enough for Leo, Bea, and Sera, and the other maids too, if they wanted it. Yep. Everything looked delicious!

It was all the fruit of Ma's intense cooking training, one of the ways she'd tried to get Sera's mind off the pain when she'd returned to her own world.

"My Queen, I must say, when you first came in, I wasn't sure if I was supposed to welcome you or ask you kindly to leave. I'm glad I went with neither!"

Hahaha! The Head Chef, Ald, slaps his round belly as he laughs heartily, waving his chef's hat goodbye to Sera.

"I'm just glad you lent me the kitchen. Thank you so much, Mr. Ald!" Sera smiles back in response.

"Well you're welcome here anytime! Though I'm begging you, please, leave the clean up to us." Mr. Ald shakes his head. He was usually a jolly man, but he'd been quite serious when Sera first introduced herself to him. After the night the crooked nobles had been gathered together, the rumors of Lady Sera and the King had spread like wildfire. She was so much more than just a mistress if she'd been escorted by him into the Throne Room. It was clear to them all that she was returning to her role as Queen. But to have her appear in the kitchens!

The Head Chef, Ald, wipes the back of his neck with a clean cloth. It was common enough for a chef to sweat, when the environment they worked in kept them baking in heat all day long. However, it was the first time he'd ever had a cold sweat.

Cooking was fine. It was rare, but some noblewomen he knew of did enjoy the past-time of cooking. But how was he going to explain that the King's beloved woman had washed the dishes she'd used? ...And washed the dirty plates from the knight's barracks to boot!

"I'll leave the cleanup to you if you try and eat more vegetables, Mr. Ald." Sera winks at him cheekily. While experimenting with various recipes, Sera had become close with the kitchen staff. It hadn't taken her long to hear the story of Mr. Ald and his wife. 

"I might just have to take you up on the offer. " Crossing his arms over his belly, Ald nods his head, the chef's hat waving atop his head.

Apparently, Mr. Ald's wife had been the daughter of a renowned inn's cook. Her father had been known for not just his cooking, but for the large, round belly he had. Sadly he passed away early, right as he'd been stirring a pot of his famous pork fat soup. Now, everyone knew that Mr. Ald's greatest worry right now was that his wife was growing colder as he too, gained weight as he aged. Poor Mr. Ald would sometimes sleep in the kitchens to spare himself of seeing his wife's sadness at his ever increasing waistline.

"In the meantime, I'll have the ice sent up to the cottage from the cellars. Please feel free to request anything else from the kitchens, Lady Sera."

Head Chef Ald looks around before he leans closer.

"It may be presumptuous of me, but may I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"What do you need the ice for? It's still too chilly to be of any use for you right now."

With a mischievous wink, Sera whispers back. "It's a secret. A small present for the King and my baby."

"I-I see." His large shoulders sag at her words. It was clear how badly Chef Ald wanted to know what Sera was going to do with the ice and the ingredients he'd given her.

A pang of guilt makes Sera try her best to cheer him up. "Don't worry, Mr. Ald. I'll share the recipe with you if it turns out well" 

"A recipe?!" Chef Ald's round face perks up at her words. It was unheard of for any chef to share a recipe. Recipes in Thornmere were precious. Any good chef would protect their own recipes at any cost, to raise their own value. Recipes were either passed down through generations or through discipleships.  Oftentimes, many a good food would disappear when its chef died, as the chef was unwilling to give up the recipes to an outsider.

"Mhm, sorry if it takes a while, I want to make sure the portions are just right."

Chef Ald shakes his head hard, making his jowls wag as he humbly refuses her apology.

"N-No, I don't mind at all. Thank you, thank you so much! I'll be waiting, My Queen!" 

"Thank you!" Chef Ald calls out to her again, waving his hat above his head.

Waving, the kitchen staff all watch Sera go,  holding the lunch she'd made in a large basket, while Icaros followed behind her with another basket.

Sera beams a wide smile, waving back.