58 Cooking

Brightise stared at the red flesh incredulously.

"I can't eat that," she said as politely as she could.

"Why not?" asked the Queen. "It's not human flesh, I can promise you that."

That was something that had not crossed Brightise's mind, but the possibility suddenly made her feel worried.

"It's not... cooked," she tried to explain.

"So cook it," the Queen told her simply.

"Okay."

Brightise turned away reluctantly and started looking around for a hearth and some kitchen utensils.

"No." The Queen put a hand on her shoulder and turned her around so she was facing her. "Cook it."

Brightise's eyes widened. "You mean with...?"

The Queen nodded solemnly.

"I don't know how," Brightise stuttered.

"How did you create fire when I left you alone in the dungeons?"

"I screamed my lungs out until my throat started burning, and then..." Brightise paused. "I can't explain it."

The Queen studied her quietly for a minute. "Start screaming then."

"No!"

Brightise felt embarrassed just at the idea of screaming like a little girl before the Amazon Queen.

"Please," the Queen scoffed. "You don't think I've heard my fair share of war cries?"

"I'm not sure it was a war cry." Brightise bit her lip nervously. "I had no control over it. I pretty much thought I was going to die."

"Which is what every Amazon thinks when she goes into battle. We can't control what sound comes out of our mouths either."

Brightise had thought that the Amazons were braver and more confident than that, but she didn't say so to the Queen. Maybe everyone was just as afraid when it came to death after all.

"Scream," the Queen urged her. "That's a good enough start."

Brightise took a deep breath and turned to look at the piece of meat. It helped if she tried to ignore the Queen and imagined she was back in that room again, alone, with no hope of escaping. She could still picture the darkness and feel the desperation that had filled her heart. It hadn't even been half an hour since she had burned that door down herself.

Before she knew it, she had opened her mouth and let out a pained scream. As her scream carried on and echoed around the room, she felt that burning sensation in the back of her throat again.

She instinctively jerked slightly to the left, so when the flame exited her mouth in a hot blast it burned the left part of the red animal flesh and a small part of the counter.

Brightise turned and looked at the Queen nervously.

She thought the Amazon was going to scold her for burning her sister's kitchen, but the Queen looked too stunned to say much. Brightise had forgotten that she hadn't seen her do this in person the first time around. It had to be a strange sight to watch someone shoot flames out of their mouth.

"Aim better next time," the Queen said eventually. It seemed to take great effort on her part.

Brightise looked at the meat disappointedly. Half of it was still raw, and the other half was burned.

"It's still not edible," she murmured.

"Try again," the Queen told her. "Actually, you will be cooking your own meals from now on, as a way to practise. You need to practise as much as possible, so you will be cooking Zelna's meals as well."

"But-" Brightise tried to object.

"No buts. This is part of your punishment. You didn't stay in that room nearly long enough, so I need to find another way to appease her. Try not to burn her meat. She would hate that."