If anyone ever told me that catering a royal banquet for the Emperor was the hardest job in the world, I would kindly invite them to cater a wedding where half the guests were carnivores and the other half were vegetarians.
The kitchens of the grand Warlord estate were operating at maximum capacity. Steam rose from massive copper pots, the smell of roasting duck and sweet apricot glaze filling the air. Servants darted back and forth, carrying trays of delicate vegetable tarts and towering displays of spun sugar.
"More heat on the third hearth!" I called out, wiping my forehead with the back of my hand. "The glaze needs to caramelize, not boil! And someone keep Vali away from the meat platters!"
"I am guarding the perimeter!" a small, serious voice announced.
