Page 2 of Crowned A Traitor
"Better get started," Gino raised an eyebrow as Klara pushed through the swing doors. Least she didn't have to worry about being recognised. Anytime she did venture out behind the Queens’ back, she kept to the shadows.
Klara fastened the apron around her neat waist and got to work under Silvia's curious eye.
“You can do this,” she chanted under her breath, twisting her pen between her fingers as she approached the first table.
"What can I get you?" Klara asked a table of Pixies as they giggled about the mischief they had been up to earlier in the evening.
"Two slug worms on thin crust baked till burnt and hold the pickled eyes," a Pixie with blue scales around her eyes rattled off while the others ignored Klara.
"Coming right up," Klara smiled. She had never encountered a Pixie before. They were bigger than she imagined, but it was their magic that made them small enough to torment the Human World. The older Pixie with traces of grey in her delicate wings noticed Klara staring and tossed the menu at her. "Want to take a picture," the Pixie snapped, and Klara kept her eyes down as she took the rest of the menus.
"Making friends everywhere you go," Klara sighed as she made her way to the kitchen stepping over the tail of a Gryphon. Silvia was busy with another table, so she decided to give in the order herself.
"Two slug worms on thin crust baked until burnt and no pickled eyes." Lucius grunted smacking his fist into the dough, "Pixies have no taste for fine pizza. No pickled eyes what will bring out the sweet in the slug worms!"
Dario waved Klara out of the kitchen as he entered the salter. Witches, Dark Fae, Warlocks and a few Minotaurs came and went, and it wasn't long before Silvia called the last order.
"Why did the last waiter quit? Much easier to work here than it is in the potion factories?' Klara asked Dario. She took a bite out of her pizza, curious about why they had chosen to hire an outsider. Klara couldn't resist the itch left behind from overhearing Gino and his sons' earlier conversation.
Dario's eyes lit up. "They couldn't stomach the job." There was something metallic about the sauce, but Klara couldn't place it.
"What is in the sauce?" Klara asked and Silvia smiled, exposing her browning teeth, "family secret."
Gino appeared carrying a crate of dirty glasses, "but you'll get plenty of iron," he said looking to his wife who slapped him playfully on the arm.
Unsettled by the taste, Klara left the rest of the pizza to clear the empty booths. Once the tables were clear, and the last customers had portalled out, Klara started to count the tipped gems and stones when Silvia came in flustered, complaining about losing her binding ring. "I'll help you look!" Klara insisted, wanting to be useful.
"How did we get so lucky? Most Creatures wouldn't lift a claw," Silvia said, looking under the counter.
"Where was the last place you remember having it?" Klara asked, searching under the tables and down the backs of the booths. "Delivery was brought into the salter…" Silvia muttered her head still under the counter.
"I'll check it!" Klara said, rushing through the swing doors.
"Don't go in there!"
Klara heard the faint shout from Silvia. "Why not?" Klara pulled on the handle, and the smell of copper rushed out. Bile rose in her throat as Klara saw the Human limbs hanging from hooks. Bodies of all shapes and sizes piled on top of one and other.
"I warned her not to look," Silvia tutted with Gino at her side.
"What is this?" Klara stammered. "Food," Gino hissed licking his thin lips. Klara struggled to suppress the urge to gag.
"What are you thinking?" Klara said as she watched Lucius and Dario block the doors from the kitchen.
"That Human flesh is both slimy and satisfying," Dario smiled exposing rows of yellow teeth. "This is forbidden." Klara felt ridiculous saying it, but she needed to buy some time to figure a way out. “Consuming Human flesh and blood turns Dark Creatures senseless. The desire only grows, and they will end up hunting in the Human World. The Queens forbid it.”
"Humans are lesser beings, and those Queens have no power over us," Gino ranted on while Klara prepared herself for a fight. "You will answer for this," Klara spat knowing precisely what they were. Ghouls. Most Ghouls were created after the Demonic possession of a Human. Demons would force the Human to consume Human meat to drive them over the edge. Breaking the Human's mind meant the Demon could remain longer in the body. Once the Human died, the Demon left, and a Ghoul was born.
Cannibals are considered the lowest form of Creature, which said a lot in Malum.
"Are you going to report us?" Gino said smugly, but Silvia silenced her husband looking at the glowing purple crystal at the base of Klara's throat. The last time it had shone was in the company of Lycaons when Klara had ventured towards their caves. Klara's eye met Silvia's. Most Creatures wouldn't recognise such a weapon.
"Human flesh is toxic to those not meant to consume it. The Queens will have your heads." Klara was relieved she hadn't added the toppings to her pizza.
"The Queens take everything for themselves," Gino spat. Klara knew he had a point. At lavish banquets, the Queens liked to boast how the Port of Malum brought them the freshest foods from the Human World while the Creatures of Malum, their subjects were left to hunt for themselves or visit the grossly overtaxed markets.
"Our customers are hungry. We merely satisfy their needs," Gino replied.
"You will expose our world, Humans going missing… there is a balance to maintain," Klara muttered hating how much she sounded like her mentors. Malum and Kalos may exist on an alternate plane to the Humans, but there was a level of respect between the Creatures and Humans that kept each world running smoothly. Klara sidestepped to the ovens putting space between herself and the Ghouls.
