Page 35 of The Chef

“Your kidnappers weren’t as hidden as they thought, not when we know the back ways better than them. They kept having to stop to check a map,” Karl added, derision coloring his voice.

Ralph shared a snicker with Karl, before sobering. “Okay. I should be back soon, although I expect the commander will want to be here too. Stay safe,” Ralph finished. He climbed back out of the cellar, waited for Shan to follow, and shut the door firmly. He would be back soon with help, and until then, Char just had to breathe and believe he was safe again.

Chapter Twenty

CHAR JOINED KARL, sitting on the floor next to the lamp. Emily giggled as she burrowed into the nest of blankets, then rolled over and went straight to sleep.

“Beds are still an amazing novelty to her,” Karl admitted, smiling fondly at Emily. “She was too young when our foster parents died to remember.”

“Foster parents?” Char asked. He hadn’t wanted to question Karl about his past before, not when it was clearly a difficult subject. Besides, Karl had always been reserved, always cognizant of the fact that he was in trouble. Even when he snuck Emily and Shan into the military compound, he had been careful and polite, and so hopeful, and Char hadn’t felt right interrogating him. Perhaps Fen had, but he hadn’t shared any of that with Char.

Karl slumped, sighing. “It’s a quiet service nobles like to use. I have no idea if it’s legal, but no one’s stopped them. Any embarrassing children—bastards from affairs, children from unmarried mothers, or just general embarrassments—this service takes them all. Raises them as comfortable peasants. We’re not supposed to know our origins, but we figure it out pretty quickly, especially when we learn we can’t attend any ofthe crown schools to learn how to use our powers because we might be recognized.” He paused to shake his head. “One of the big gangs figured out our foster parents had a lot more money than they should and tried to rob them. They died in the attack, and we were forced onto the streets. Now you know everything.”

Karl had then attempted to pick Jensen’s pocket and was sentenced to work off his crime, after which he successfully conned the royal guard into taking all three of them.

“Is Emily really your sister?” Char asked.

Karl nodded. “I’m pretty sure we had the same father but different mothers. The same servant came with money every month for us both, although I have no idea which noble our father actually is.”

Char couldn’t promise anything he couldn’t follow through with, but he wanted to tell Karl he wouldn’t have to worry any longer. Captain Zain had clearly adopted Emily, and Char wasn’t about to give up Karl or Shan. He had a feeling Fen was on the same page, but he needed Fen’s permission before he could offer the kids anything permanent.

For now, he simply smiled at Karl and said, “I’m certainly glad to have met you, and not just for what you did today. You’re becoming very good at making bread, you know.”

Karl grinned, and then his smile faded into a grimace. “I’m cheating a bit. My magic tells me whether the yeast is blooming and lets me help it grow if it’s struggling.”

Char blinked, surprised. He knew red magic was used to help things grow, which was why farmers were the primary—legal—users. Char had never considered things like yeast could also be manipulated that way.

“I wonder if you can take a sprouted onion that’s gotten too tough to cook with and make it regress to simply being ripe?”

Karl shrugged. “Red magic isn’t understood all that well, and even if I could have gone to one of the crown schools, I would have been stuffed into either farming or killing. I was considering making fake papers for Emily when she’s older to get her into a school, and for Shan too, but my magic is too narrow so I’ve been ignoring it until now.”

“Tell you what. When we get back to the military compound, we’re going to set aside some onions and potatoes to let them get really overgrown and see what your magic can do. Yes, there are limitations, and yes, there are certain expectations for each type of magic, but in my experience your magic is only constrained by your imagination. Let’s find out just what you can actually do.”

This time Karl’s smile didn’t fade, and he let out a laugh. “Okay. Let’s do that!”

They lapsed into silence as they waited, the long minutes passing achingly slow. Char tried not to jump at every creak and crack, but half expected the door to fly open and the dark stranger to descend on them again. He didn’t know how much time had passed, but he put his inner chef’s clock to good use and estimated it was at least two hours before he heard voices and the clop and jingle of horses in the alley outside.

Someone knocked on the door, followed by Ralph’s far too welcome voice. “Hey, we’re coming in!”

The door opened and Ralph appeared in the space. He stepped aside and Fen replaced him. Char didn’t know what noise he made, only that he dashed forward, and within seconds, Fen’s warm, strong arms were around him, holding him close and rocking him side to side as Char buried his face into Fen’s shoulder.

At some point, Char realized Fen was whispering a repeated litany of comfort into his ear, “It’s okay. I’ve got you. You’re safe.”

When Char eventually pulled away, he only went as far as arm’s length, still glad to be wrapped in Fen’s embrace. Fen freed one hand to gently run his thumb under Char’s eyes, wiping away any evidence Char had been crying.

“Did they hurt you? Do you need a healer?” Fen asked, his eyes focused on Char, searching Char’s face as if a minute change in expression could provide all the answers he wanted.

Char shook his head. “No, they only tied me up and threatened me. They got distracted and left for a bit, which is when the kids came to the rescue.”

Ralph let out a heavy sigh. “Yeah, you won’t believe who had come to their door. Apparently, a group of guards was assigned to every neighborhood to conduct a search of each house, and the one for that particular noble’s house was out front while we were climbing out a back window. Had we used the main roads in our escape, we would have seen them and been rescued hours ago.”

“I was supervising the groups searching the warehouse district,” Fen explained. “Ralph and Shan found Jensen, who sent someone to find me while he led the raid on the house you escaped from. Ralph and I came straight here.”

“Do you think Jensen was able to catch them?” Char asked, hopeful the dark stranger was arrested and all his terrible threats neutralized.

Unfortunately, both Ralph and Fen shook their heads. “Too much time went by after you all escaped,” Fen explained. “They probably had more than enough time to find you gone and then run. Although, if we’re lucky, they won’t have had enough timeto destroy all the evidence, so we’ll hopefully get something out of the raid. I should have a report from Jensen soon.”

The light from inside the cellar went out and Char turned to see Karl carefully closing the door, Emily yawning and rubbing her eyes at his side. A glance upward revealed the sun had set at some point, and the alley was being brightly lit by mage lights. They started walking down the alley, heading to the main road. Char’s arm brushed against Fen’s as they went, sending warmth and comfort with every touch.

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