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We come to an empty hollow. The stone churns around us, shaping itself to my whim so subtly, I don’t think Arie notices. I draw vertical chutes into the ceiling with a wave as she pivots to look at me, a charming blush coming over the bridge of her nose. “Well, I’ve not been into one of the dark elves’ fine kitchens, but we always had counters to cut saplings and meat –”
As she speaks, I let the stone fashion itself into what she describes.
She looks up at me with such trust, blind to the magic snapping in the air.
“ – and we’d need a stove. Something to hold wood as it burns to cook the meat. They have little chimneys that lead outside so the smoke does not fill the room. And shelves for herbs and a pantry, perhaps. Or maybe it is asking too much…”
I cock my head, allowing an amused smile to find me. “Is that all?”
Arie fiddles with the twine of the package. “Yes, master.”
She misunderstands.
I tilt her chin up with two fingers, making her uncertain gaze meet my fierce one. “I mean, is thatalla kitchen consists of?”
The stone behind her merrily shapes and molds itself in its final touches.
Her breath comes short. “There is always running water. Perhaps a basin to be filled from the rain.” She seems to lament at the intricacy of it all, not aware that I’ve already sourced a deep well and summoned it through a chute, letting the water trickle silently into a widening basin that drains away the excess. A perpetual waterfall of fresh, clean water. “I’m asking too much.”
“Are you?”
She leans into my touch. “It would take years to craft, and some of it would be impossible. I couldn’t expect you to –”
I press my thumb to her lips, silencing her protest. “Turn around,” I say almost too harshly, impatience mingling with a muted excitement.
I turn her by her shoulders, and she gasps at the sight of her new kitchen. I can’t imagine the shelves filled with the herbs she spoke of, but that will come in time.
“But – it was just –”
I lean down to her level, nudging her cheek with mine. “Do you doubt me?”
Her whole body warms at the insinuation, and her next breath is ragged as if I have provoked fear or desire. “No, of course not.”
“Good.” I stand to my full height. “Now, open your gift.”
She has it clutched to her chest like a priceless heirloom. And she doesn’t even know what it contains! Mirth fills me for the first time since I last drove her to the edge of insanity, her delicate fingers tugging at the wrapping, peeking in one side.
Her brow knits together. “It’s meat.”
“Only the finest,” I assure her. “Do you need anything else in your kitchen to prepare it?”
I watch the gears turn in her head as she glances around, taking stock of her new space.Her new space,I muse, waiting for her response. “Yes,” she finally determines. “In fact, I’ll need a number of things.”
“Name them,” I command. “And they’re yours.”
* * *
The smell isredolent as it seeps from her kitchen.
She is mumbling to herself again, working hard so that sweat beads on her forehead. It is a singular pleasure to watch her work, and when she seems finished, she asks me for another favor. “We need chairs and a table.”
Before she even finishes, three columns rise from the stone. Two remain squat, wide enough to sit on, while the other blooms like a mushroom with a flat top. Arie hesitates at the sight with a covered dish in hand, gaping at my mundane power. “How do you do that?”
I take the dish from her and set it on the new table. “I simply desire it, and it is mine.” As I say so, I’m not looking at the stonework but her.
She seems suddenly aware of my attention and ducks away to set the table. I take my seat, enjoying how she burns under my scrutiny.
When she sets an empty plate in front of me, I reach out without thinking and grab her wrist, feeling the hesitation in her pull. It is a carnal desire to possess her that makes me drag her closer, so she licks her lips nervously. “Are you happy?”
