“Where have you been?” Katerina asked with her hands in the dough.

  “In the bathroom.” Aria replied.

  The noblewoman immediately got to work taking the molds and beating the eggs and adding the sugar. What they were creating were actual cakes and accompanying sweets.

  “Good thing the head waiter didn’t ask questions, or you would have been fired on the spot.”

  “Is he that strict?”

  “Yes, a girl was fired last week because her cake didn’t weigh exactly the plumbs listed in the instructions… by the way, read this.”

  Katerina handed her a piece of paper and Aria read it, squinting. On it were listed the ingredients to use to prepare the cakes and also the quantities of them. So far, nothing to object to, except that the cake should weigh four hundred and eighty plumbs, not one less or one more. To help themselves, the waitresses each had a scale, and there they could adjust the doses.

  “For many waitresses, this is where the real test comes in.” said Katerina.

  “I’ll be careful, then.” Aria smiled, but then remembered that she was wearing a mask. All she could see of Katerina was her short brown hair and nothing else. Who knows what she looked like, what her eyes were like, her face. It was awful to talk to a mask, but she had gotten used to it quickly. After all, it was the mask that allowed her to remain anonymous.

  So, after mixing all the ingredients, she put the cake in the oven and waited about twenty hourglasses. In the meantime, she devoted herself to making the sweets, much simpler to make but just as good in taste. Aria especially liked the chocolate ones, but they created different types, including strawberry, cherry, and apricot. The fruits were rare in Korotsk, so they had to be imported from other regions, and for this reason, only the richest could afford to eat them.

  The oven jingled and the girl took out the cake. She weighed it and it weighed four hundred and eighty-two plumbs, a good two more than the recipe said. She then decided to take a teaspoon and fillet a layer on one side to make it weigh less.

  Four hundred and seventy-five plumbs.

  “That’s no good.” she said to herself, and then she took part of the layer and tried to fit it inside the cake somehow.

  The aesthetics weren’t perfect, but what was important was that the weight was.

  “Four hundred and eighty plumbs,” she said to Katerina, “just like in the recipe.”

  “You did very well! Now take the cake to the head waiter for inspection, and then you can take it to one of the tables.”

  Aria did as she was told, and after a quick scan by the head waiter, she was sent over to deliver the cake to one of the tables. Since the waitress had to stay near the table for the entire dessert, Aria decided to deliver it to the table where her father was, so she could hear the King’s speech.

  “Well, I have an announcement to make.” the king began to speak when all the nobles had their portions on their plates, “You all know, because it was discussed in the council the day before yesterday and, despite my efforts to keep quiet, the information has spread among the citizens. The attack on the temple had a big impact, but I won’t dwell on it any further.”

  He paused to rinse his mouth.

  “The attacks are intensifying, in the last three nights alone we’ve had five civilians killed and a guard injured in a clash. Several vampires also tried to cross the border into the village of Ledenor, but luckily for us the regiment repelled them with their new silver bayonets. The total number of dead in that battle was seven guards and two vampires.”

  “Damned!” came from the back of the room.

  “As I was saying,” continued the King, “the above events have led me to reflect and make a decision. I do not yet know when it will be implemented because there are still some points to be resolved, but by next week I hope to have concluded them. The solution is to close Korotsk, that no citizen, nobles included, can travel from the inside to the outside and vice versa. No one will go out. No one will come in.”

  There was silence in the room. Then, a group of nobles stood up to speak.

  “And what will we do, since our trade is based on wood and we trade with the neighboring cities?”

  “It is true!” said another noble from another table, “My wagons go back and forth four times a day to supply the villages, Ledenor first of all, do you think they must starve?”

  “Calm down, calm down.” the King put his hands up, “I know it may be an inconvenience for many of you, but it is the right price to pay. Do you prefer money to your life?”

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  After those words, a row broke out in the room. A small group of nobles began to argue with the one next to them, throwing food and cutlery.

  “You trade furs, we trade wine. Wine is better than those stupid furs.”

  “Damned ingrate, how dare you? The inhabitants can drink water, but they will freeze to death if we don’t give them furs!”

  Other nobles, the most daring or perhaps the highest-ranking, went to protest directly under the King’s table, trying to make him see reason and not continue with this kind of isolation policy.

  Aria remained still. She didn’t know exactly how to react and the head waiter hadn’t given her any other orders. She tried to look where Katerina had sat and saw her at a table far away from her, who was also still. Her gaze then slid to the King, where most of the action was concentrated, lingering on his gestures and words to explain her decision to those next to her.

  She saw the prince who continued to look at her and she nodded in return. The prince didn’t seem to be paying attention to those speeches and, despite his position, it seemed like he didn’t care that much about politics.

  What about her father, Ungern Zotova?

  He had put a napkin on his legs and one on his neck so as not to get dirty and, after a first taste, he finished the cake in two large bites and immediately asked for another slice.

  “You, cut me another.” the order was directed at Aria and she cut a slice and put it on his plate.

  “Now, please, go get me some wine. It’s in that jug over there.”

  Somehow, her father was much more friendly than the other nobles and that pleased her. She then started walking towards the central tables, the ones in front of the table where the King was sitting.

  The problem was that those tables were surrounded by the crowd of nobles who were rushing to protest or to receive more information.

  “The rule should not apply to my caravans!” one exclaimed.

  “Do you want everything for yourself, Zimovkov?”

  “I don’t want anything for myself, or rather, of course I want for myself, but if you can’t have it, then I can’t have it either. I meant, if I don’t have it, you don’t have it, right? So if you have it, I can have it. Do you understand?”

  “Speak as you eat, peasant, you bought the title of count but you can’t even form a meaningful sentence.”

  “Come on, don’t be so unhealthy. The caravans can’t leave, nor can Korotsk receive them, it’s a matter of public defense.” the King explained, “What if there’s a vampire inside them? What if ghouls pretend to be ordinary peasants? Do we want a peasant to be the cause of a disaster?”

  Aria, meanwhile, made her way through the nobles and managed to reach the table, where she took the jug and poured a drink into a glass.

  “Or perhaps you would rather succumb to the vampires, eh? Tell me, because if that is what you want, I will not trust you with protection.”

  “And what is that protection?” asked a nobleman who was a sword away from Aria. He had a cigar in his mouth and his face was marked by years of battle.

  “All of you and your family members will be forbidden from leaving your home unless accompanied by a guard. There will be no exceptions. If the vampires break in, we cannot-“

  “This is unacceptable!” the nobleman with the cigar interrupted the King’s speech, “This is unheard of, do you agree with me, colleagues? Do you think the King can decide without first calling a council, especially on such important issues? This is crazy.”

  Silence fell in the room. Aria was finishing pouring the drink and for the next few seconds all that could be heard was the wine falling into the glass. Then, all sound ceased.

  The King took a few steps closer and had one of the guards light a cigar.

  “Crazy? You say I am?”

  Then, with great speed, the King drew his sword and, with a violent but precise blow, cut off the nobleman’s head, who fell backwards, staining Aria’s dress.

  The girl almost screamed, but she managed to contain her voice even though her hands began to shake. A little wine mixed with the blood on the ground.

  The King continued: “Perhaps, yes, I am. But let no one dare question my words!” he shouted, “And let no one think of leaving the city, or betraying me, or doing anything in their power to sabotage the operation… or you will end up like Gromarev.”

  Silence continued to reign inside the palace. The nobles who were standing returned to their places, while those who stopped eating finished their plates. Aria also returned to her place, but not before handing the carafe to her father.

  Many hourglasses passed and the girl’s legs began to hurt. She was not used to standing for so long, especially if it meant standing still and doing nothing. By now the nobles were talking about their private business and the waiters had only been entrusted with the task of clearing the table.

  Then, the dinner ended. The first nobles began to leave and the King left Gromarev’s body exactly where it was.

  “Let it serve as a warning for the future.” he repeated several times.

  “The time has come, colleagues.” Aria’s father also stood up and had a nearby countess put his coat on him.

  “I enjoyed the dinner, I hope we’ll see each other again soon.”

  “I hope so too.” the countess said.

  “See you, Ungern,” said the countess’s husband, “As soon as we can, we’ll go hunting together, it’s been a long time since we’ve done it.”

  “I can’t wait, Albert, I should still have that gun somewhere.”

  So, the countess and her husband also packed up and Aria took the opportunity to take the plates and silverware to the kitchen. Her father immediately stopped her.

  “Didn’t they teach you that you have to wait until the table is completely empty?” Ungern scolded her.

  Aria said nothing and didn’t move, leaving the plates balanced on her arms.

  “Baron Ungern, we haven’t had a chance to talk.” the prince came to support Aria, “As for this maid… she’s new, it will take her some time to get used to it, but don’t worry, we know how to take care of them.”

  “I’m glad, Prince Leonid.”

  The two of them started talking about this and that and Aria took that time to go back to the kitchen and deliver the dishes to the dishwashers. Once the last piece of cutlery was removed from the noble table, Aria was about to leave through the wooden door, but was stopped by a hand that bit her arm.

  “See you tomorrow, Aria, it was a pleasure meeting you.” Katerina said with her mask still on.

  “See you tomorrow.” Aria replied, even though she knew she would never set foot in that place again.

  So she returned to the carriage, taking off her mask and climbing in a hurry. It had stopped raining, but tears began to roll down Aria’s face, who looked at the huntress and hugged her.

  “Liza, they want to kill you.”