Free Magic Banquet by A.E. Marling Page B

us?”
    The melon had a yellow rind. Aja peered at
it. An inner glow sloshed within. She jerked her head back. Was the
Chef trying to serve them a flood?
    He gave no explanation. He stomped to the
next glass alter. “The Dragonfruit of Maturity.”
    The Chef moved on. Aja couldn’t look away.
The dragonfruit dazzled with the colors of a fireball, a magenta
shell trailing green leaves. She thought this might be a better
choice than the plum. The beautiful were gossiped about on the
rooftops. People should take Aja seriously.
    An itching sensation spread down her back.
The lord leaned behind her in his crimson coat.
    “Maturity is appealing at first blush.” He
nodded to the dragonfruit. “But it’s sure to be dry and
unsatisfying.”
    She pressed a strand of her hair against her
lips. “Maybe I should choose the Plum of Beauty. But a scholar told
me, ‘Beauty is but the rind of the mind.’”
    “Beauty is the only virtue,” the lord said.
“When you’re beautiful, you are also wise, kind, and soulful.
Everyone will be quick to tell you so.”
    His face gave no sign of teasing, not that
she could see. Aja looked back to the plum, and her fingers
clenched with her hunger. She decided she was already more mature
than the empress and Old Janny anyway. This is my one chance to
be beautiful.
    She caught up with the Chef in time to hear
about the next fruits.
    “The Blueberries of Muse.
    “The Apple of Youth.”
    “That’s for me!” Old Janny engulfed the case
with her arms. Kissing it, she said, “You’ve waited so long for me,
you rake, but shush now. Momma’s here.”
    “A treasure indeed,” the lord said. “The one
thing that doesn’t improve with age is everything.”
    “Go eat the killer pepper, you well-dressed
leech.” Old Janny slapped a hand over the glass handle, a sculpture
of an apple tree. Her arm tensed. Adding a second hand to the grip,
she strained. The case did not budge.
    “You must wait your turn,” the Chef said.
“The first choice goes to Lord Tethiel.”
    “A man should never go first,” Old Janny
said. “That’s as fair as drunk-wrestling a buttered dwarf. I’m a
lady.”
    The Chef said, “This Banquet grants due
respect to elders.”
    Old Janny’s wrinkles told of a long life
spent smiling. The lord’s face was smooth as a mask. He didn’t look
older, but he smelled faintly of stone tombs, gnarled trees, and
other ancient things.
    A sudden pain bowed Aja over. I’m the
youngest here. Or, even if she wasn’t, they would never let her
choose before the empress.
    Aja would pick last.
    Her gaze snapped back to the Plum of Beauty.
She had to touch its dark smoothness, to taste its power. It looked
so exposed, covered only by glass. Someone else would take it. They
would eat it in front of her, and she would have to watch its red
juices dribbling down a beautiful face.

Fifth Course, Part II:
    Choices, Choices
    The Apple of Youth filled its crystal case
with a glittering mist. Beads of condensation clung to its gold
skin. The lord caressed its transparent cage, and his fingers left
etching scrawls.
    He withdrew his hand. “No, I’m a man of
moderation and will allow myself only one unforgivable excess.”
    Old Janny twitched as if stung by hope.
    “I choose none.” The lord stepped away from
the table. To Old Janny he said, “Your apple if you wish it, my
dumpling.”
    Aja cupped the back of her head. How could
anyone walk away from food so precious? He had to have magic of his
own.
    Old Janny trundled forward and touched the
glass handle. The case floated upward in her hand. Her breath came
in ragged bursts while the Chef spoke in a solemn voice.
    “The Apple of Youth, plucked by the hand of
a goddess from a garden of frost. Eat only the sweet flesh of this
fruit, and with the reverence due….”
    Old Janny slammed the apple in her mouth and
chomped in gushy bites. Her tears mixed with the apple juice
rolling down her chin. The gusto in devouring the fruit