Chapter 3

There was a bang on the table and Lana jerked up.

She had been sitting on a bench in the additional kitchen she'd taken to sitting in between work.

Breakfast had gone smoothly by which Lana meant she hadn't directly messed up anyone's work. No one had poured boiling hot soup on her like the day before when she'd almost burnt her arm before another quick cook had shoved her out of the way. All of the eggs she'd scrambled had turned out perfectly and she'd only burnt one plate of the onions she was to caramelize.

Looking up now, she saw Steven relaxing.

He thrown the last of the vessels he'd washed over upside down on the long table to dry off.

"Good job," Lana smiled brightly, hoping to establish a deeper connect with the boy.

He was one of the men who helped out with jobs other than cooking in the kitchen and seemed rather quiet.

He looked over at her and nodded before taking a seat opposite her at the table.

There was silence between them.

The cooks of the royal kitchen had retired to get their rest before the time came to get lunch ready.

There were no special banquets of any kind scheduled for the day so there was no constant work in the kitchen.

The royal kitchen served many purposes. Their main job was to put the kingdom's most delicious dishes on the royal dining table of the castle. They had several more uses one of which was cooking for the top knights or sending food for the top officials. It was a secondary job that a smaller team of cooks were employed for.

They took less time and effort than the primary team of cooks who cooked exclusively for the king, queen and their children and special acquaintances.

A third team cooked for the other cooks, maids, butlers and other staff of the castle.

Lana knew special strings had been pulled to get her recommended to be a part of the primary team in the royal kitchen.

She took a deep breath.

This would be hard to keep up and avoid Ms. Heigreene's suspicions.

She had to start doing better at group activities. 

Baking for the royal siblings had not been what she had expected but she was relieved it secured a special place in the kitchen for her and kept her secure enough to help her other spies.

Lana took a deep breath.

She blinked, realizing as she kept her eyes trained on the table, that Steven was watching her closely.

Her body had tensed.

It was difficult for her to not imagine that he'd somehow found out about her secret and was ready to suddenly tattle.

Swallowing slowly, she hesitated before raising her eyes ever so slowly before she met his.

He stared at her without any indication of unease.

Lana opened her mouth slowly, wondering if she should ask him why he was looking at her.

"You bake well."

Lana blinked in surprise.

Steven had just spoken to her and his voice was rather calm. He didn't sound suspicious, neither did he sound angry.

Realising she'd just received a compliment, Lana nodded quickly before she smiled, "Th-Thank you…"

She smiled some more before dropping her gaze to the floor.

There was an awkward silence between them and Lana raked her brains for something to say.

There was a scraping of the leg of the bench on the floor and Lana looked up to see Steven had stood.

He nodded at her before turning away and heading out of the kitchen.

Lana let out a slow breath, 'he's nice… nicer than I though'.

She sighed.

Where was Briar?

Lana had walked into this kitchen seven months ago and although it was part of her job to keep a low profile, it was still bizarre how she had only managed to make only one friend in her time there.

Then again, Lana realized, it was for the best.

She was a traitor in the kitchen.

The fewer the people she cheated, the better she would sleep at night when all was said and done.

Besides, there were two other spies she was supposed to aid and she had only met one of them.

It was not Briar.

Briar was a cheerful young girl who worked at the royal stables. She was the daughter of one of the men who worked with the horses and was the first friend Lana had made when she'd come in to work seven months before.

It pained Lana's heart sometimes thinking of how she'd have to leave Briar behind one day and even help her own kingdom against Briar.

Briar had stepped in and chattered on and on, establishing a good friendship with Lana in a matter of minutes and still poked around the kitchen for the occasional cookie or bread from Lana.

Lana sighed.

How beautiful would it have been if Briar was the other agent.

But of course, Lana could not be sure and could definitely not ask.

She'd only met the other spy she was to aid once.

The lady had been cold to her and passed on a letter that she was to keep hidden until they left. The lady spy had also not known the identity of the other spy but only mentioned that it was a male.

Lana watched the drops of water dripping down onto the table from the drying dishes.

Who could the other male be?

She wouldn't know who he was until he revealed himself to her.

Lana bit her lip thinking of one of the tiny cottages she had at the fringe of the castle lands where she'd stuck the letter under the lumpy mattress of her bed.

What if someone slipped in when she wasn't around?

Would she just run straight from the castle?

Wouldn't she have to find the spy lady first to inform her?

What if they had already detained the spy lady?

Did she risk her own identity also being found by going to save her or would she have to return to her own kingdom to hurriedly report to them of being found out.

Biting her lip, Lana concentrated on what she would do before jumping almost completely out of her skin when the back door of the additional kitchen was thrown open.