---
Vel covered her face with both hands and groaned from behind her fingers. "There is no such thing."
"I can invent it," Azhara said. "I am a visionary."
"Do not melt another pot," Vel said.
Azhara lifted the carrot like a dagger and whispered to it. "Be delicious."
Sha reached in from the hall and plucked the carrot out of Azhara's hand. She bit it in half and chewed in four calm bites. Then she handed the other half back. "It is already delicious," she said. "Do not put it in the coffee beans."
Azhara held the half in her hand and looked offended and then resigned. "Very well," she said. "The world is not ready for my genius."
They laughed without teeth and went on working. The kitchen smelled like warm spice and soft bread. The smell moved down the hall into the common room where pallets had been laid out for anyone who was off shift and wanted to sleep near a friend.
