Feast for a King

Family nights weren't as familial as they sounded. Aaron was the only person who bothered with me, apart from Laura and Nathan who don't count with them not really being family by blood—they were more chosen family!

Tonight, there was just me, Aaron and Laura. However, it was my turn to cook, so I was banished to the kitchen whilst Aaron and Laura played what sounded like a never-ending game of Uno. All I could hear was Laura groaning and Aaron politely insisting she take another turn—five guesses what card was played!

Shoving my earphones into my ears, I tried to drown them out as I concentrated on experimenting with making something new for a change. My gaze grazed over the ingredients and instructions as I tried to make heads-or-tails of them on my phone. I squinted, scrunching my nose, my head swimming with too much new information.

Clicking my phone off with the music, I shrugged. "I'll do it myself. I don't need any instructions!" I muttered to myself.

Quickly, I rummaged through the kitchen, nabbing any ingredient I could find when the doorbell rang.

"One of you get it, please," I called out to them.

Unceremoniously, I dumped all of the ingredients onto the counter with a great, loud thud!

I cringed, my ears ringing—or was that the reverberations along the blade of the kitchen knife?

Voices from beyond the kitchen wove towards me, their voices growing louder and louder until Skylar burst through the door with Aaron and Laura both close behind. My chest became all bubbly again as I tried to withhold my grin.

"Hi, Skylar," I murmured, hardly able to catch my breath.

Why is it that every time I see him, he looks even cuter?

Skylar bowed his head. "Hello, Eliza," he mimicked my tone. Swiftly, he moved to stand beside me. "What are you making?"

"Something that means I'm not following a recipe. Any dietary requirements that I should know about or any ingredient requests?" I asked, waving a wooden spoon in my hand like I am a fairy godmother—or the fairy godmother of cooking, perhaps!

He chuckled whilst tilting his head at me, his eyes dancing in the light. "Just make sure there's no gluten in it."

I stared down at the ingredients scattered haphazardly across the wooden counter then back up at him. "I don't think there's any gluten here, to be honest!" I giggled.

"Yeah, very gluten-free," he agreed with a hearty laugh.

Aaron hummed, peering over Skylar's shoulder. "Maybe we should leave you both to it."

"Yeah," Laura agreed. "I think Aaron was talking about this fancy new restaurant down the road. Fancy taking me?" She tilted her head, her gaze focused on Aaron.

Pulling at his collar, he nodded, his cheeks becoming rosy as he held out his arm for her. She took it as they waved at us.

I shook my head, beginning to dice and cut the vegetables. My eyes watered, the sting almost making me quit cooking altogether. However, I pressed on, hearing the light trickle of water thrash against the pan as I poured all of the vegetables in. The warmth of the oven emanated against my skin as I placed the pan down, leaving it as I rubbed the heat out of my hands.

Wiping my eyes, I smiled at Skylar. "How've you been?"

"Alright. I finished the book you picked out for me." He paused. "I was going to tell you on the video call—"

I held up my hand. "It's alright. My computer's old. It's no one's fault."

The smell rose from the pan, a mixture of sweetness and the ugly stench of mixed vegetables allowing their juice to filter into the water. I quickly placed the diced chicken into the pot to boil, the splash causing hot water to splash against my hand.

I flinched away, staring at the angry red blotch on my skin.

"Quickly," Skylar said. "Under the tap."

He turned on the cold water tap.

I shook my head, switching to the warm water. "Honestly, I would have thought better of you."

He smiled, holding up his hands. "I will let you take control of the situation."

The water wove down my hand, cooling and warming the mark at the same time before I finally pulled it away. It wasn't long until the food was ready and I poured the mismatched food into two bowls for us.

Skylar hummed, taking a bite. "Not too bad."

I grimaced after pouring it down my gullet. "Not too good either." The aftertaste stung my tongue. "Much like our drawings, I guess."

He laughed, daring to take another bite. The sour taste of the vegetables made him spit it out as he pulled a face.

I couldn't help but laugh!