A Slice of Humble Pie [Attn: Bella]

[Jenny]

It wasn’t her fault that the pie had been left unwatched. Like a purse full of coin left on the streets, who could blame her for picking it up when its blueberry filling smelled so nice and enticing? And it certainly wasn’t stealing if the pie was meant to be eaten for dinner by the learning ranks anyways. It didn’t matter which learning ranks, right? Kaira gently covered with pie with a scrap of cheesecloth. Then she tucked it under her arm and left the kitchens.

Later that day, after dinner had been served, Kaira went into the kitchens during chore time and rolled up her sleeves. Then she immersed her forearms in the hot, soapy water and set to work. She hummed tunelessly as she scrubbed at the pots and pans. Dinner had been delicious, as well as that blueberry pie. Johan hadn’t seemed to appreciate having dessert fall out of the sky - the boy was entirely too serious - but at least he had been gracious about sharing.

A middle-aged cook stormed through the kitchen. Kaira kept her head down. The speed of her scrubbing increased.

“Where’s my pie?” he growled.

His pie? What a crabby old cook. Kaira peered through the corners of her eyes at the man’s belly and snorted. The last thing he needed was more pie.

“Hey you! What do you think is so funny?”

Kaira froze. Then with great relief, she realized that he was not speaking to her. Instead, he was looming over another novice. Andraste was a petite, dark-haired woman who had only just arrived at the Tower. Kaira frowned. Oh dear, she thought. That particular cook liked to pick on new novices. He had made the last three girls cry.

The cook snarled.

“Did you take my pie, hm?”

[Bella]

Even though she had been "fortunate" enough to be assigned to drying the dishes to be put away instead of actually submerging her hands in the steaming, particle-filled water, Andraste could still feel the skin of her fingertips shriveling against the coarse, cheap cloth of the towel. It was to be expected, of course, for a place with this volume of...everything, but that didn't make it pleasant.

The room was filled with other learning ranks, even one ostensibly set to the task of drying although she had no idea where that one had vanished to in the interim between the words "do this" and the actual doing of it. She wasn't going to fuss too much about the disappearing act since she had her own task to see to and didn't feel like causing trouble today.

Things never go to plan, do they?

“Did you take my pie, hm?”

Andra's dark eyes widened slightly as she turned to see the portly, angry chef barreling towards her. She had no idea what he was talking about, and even less idea as to what had drawn his ire in her direction. All she had been doing was drying a bowl from the morning meal, which she had to pick off some porridge bits the washers had missed.

"Why in the name of the Creator would I take a pie?" she asked with a trace of haughtiness. The white of her Novice dress was put aside, as was the insistence on order and discipline here. While she did not think either was overrated on its own, she found them vaguely insulting here, after the life she had led. "Do I look like one who is in the habit of stealing sweets?"

One dark brow arched and her eyes flickered over him as she pursed her lips slightly to stop speaking.

[Jenny]

Uh-oh. The novice was - gasp - standing up for herself! Kaira silently cheered. She was sick of hearing other novices break willy-nilly into tears and seeing that stupid cook's smug smile. What a bully! However, she also cringed and ducked her head. The resulting explosion would not be pretty. She didn't have to turn around to visualize the cook's face growing redder and redder with every word, or the fat hanging from his cheeks quivering in rage.

"I won't stand for this! You're a novice," the cook shouted. "And in this kitchen, novices do not ask questions! You are to shut up and obey and answer my questions. And I think that you look like a thief. Just like all of your lying, snivelling, white-clad brethren! Your very insolence and rudeness declares you guilty. I am reporting you to the Mistress of Novices. Hm, but perhaps I will give you one more chance to tell me the truth. And if you do, then perhaps my report will be... kinder. So. Where is my pie?"

Kaira kept her eyes firmly focused on the soapy water before her and tried to make as little noise as possible. She was almost done. Just two more pots and one more stack of plates to go. Maybe she could sneak away while this cook was otherwise occupied.

[Bella]

Andraste didn't like being threatened, and she didn't like bullies. She never had, but flashing memories of...that moment rose in her mind and she just barely stopped herself from doing something that would be potentially catastrophic.

She pressed her lips together and looked away to find her calmness, and her eyes fell on another Novice who was busily scrubbing away at some dishes in the sink. The intense haste of the task was no surprise, since none would wish to stick around for this, but there was something else about the girl that caught Andra's dark eyes and they narrowed slightly.

There was a trace of blue. It was a stain. It looked like...blueberries. That had been the commonly made pie of late and so it stood to reason that the pie which had been thieved was blueberry.

Andraste should've turned the girl in that moment and threw her to the mercy of the chef. There was more evidence that she was to blame than Andra and she wasn't speaking up now, which spoke of a lack of integrity that normally the Kandori would not be able to abide by. But a teenager who didn't want to get in trouble was less loathsome than a grown man who bullied girls to...compensate for something.

Feeling much cooler inwardly, she turned back to him. She lifted her chin. Not that she could look down on him with the differences in heights, but her demeanor made it seem like she was doing so anyway. "I cannot tell you where your pie is for I did not take it. If you wish to report me to the Mistress of Novices for speaking the truth, that is your right," she said levelly, but her dark eyes flashed.

If only I could have stood up like this to that witch, an inward, seething voice said. Maybe I could have saved them.

[Jenny]

The cook spouted a few more meaningless sentences. Then he stormed away, most likely to complain to the Mistress of Novices. Kaira shuddered as he brushed past her and relaxed when he exited the door.

Today was turning out to be a horrible day. She was still reeling from her argument with Johan. Surely he hated her now. His smile had been mocking - his eyes had been cold. It was just a prank, gone horribly wrong. Why couldn’t he loosen up and enjoy a little fun? She thought of what he had said.

"I’m glad to know you think I’m a hypocrite.”

A swell of bitterness rose up within her and she swallowed hard, trying to force down the lump in her throat. Kaira very rarely cried, a fact that she was rather proud of. She would not cry now over some stupid, silly thing!

She took a deep breath and placed the last clean plate in the next sink over to be rinsed. Her hands were wrinkled and pruned. She wiped them on a nearby towel and turned to leave.

[Bella]

Andraste was sure that she would be hearing from the Mistress of Novices in due course, but at least the bloody, blustering braggart of a chef had left and she didn't need to deal with him anymore. The attitude was enough to put her perilously close to something that could have been very bad, or multiple options for it.

Once he was gone, she turned back to look at the Novice finishing the dishes.

How old was the girl? If Andra had to guess, she would have supposed maybe...ten years junior? Maybe less. Still, it seemed more like a lifetime, after all that Andra had done and been through in the past few years. She narrowed her dark eyes slightly when she saw the girl turn to go, then took a step.

Reaching out, she caught the girl by the upper arm. Just long enough to stop her. "You would let me take the blame for something I hadn't done?" she asked, eyes flashing with her anger in her otherwise impassive face; voice low and flat.

[Jenny]

She was almost free. She was three steps away from escaping the blasted heat of the kitchens, when the novice who had been yelled at by the chef caught her by the arm. Bloody flaming Light! Wasn't her day going poorly enough? She had already fought with one person today, and certainly didn't need the extra stress!

Kaira jerked away. Her lips curled into a snarl. How dared this girl accuse her of such a thing! All of her bottled-up anger began to rise. She wanted to lash out, to hurt anyone or anything so that they too could feel her own hurt. For a moment her body shuddered with barely suppressed fury. Then abruptly her manner became calm. She looked into the woman's flashing eyes without blinking and her mouth thinned to a smirk.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said insolently, pretending innocence.

[Bella]

"You don't, do you?" Andraste asked, her voice dangerously flat. That ball of anger in her stomach simmered.

One dark brow arched slightly as she reached out and tugged slightly on the blue-stained fabric, which now up close she could see traces of the berries still there. "Blue becomes you, girl," she all but hissed. Those dark eyes were practically on fire, sparking so much with her emotion that was otherwise just barely contained.

This child had the nerve to commit theft and then let her roast before that insolent chef! And now she was going to pull this type of adolescent crap? Andra did not get dragged away from the bodies of her beloveds to put up with this.

"I thought the Tower was meant to raise young people with a better sense of integrity than this," she went on, not giving the other Novice a chance to respond to her first comment. "Or did you miss that class while you were busy with your life of crime? You wear the evidence on a place no dish could reach you and yet you think to turn such a face on me?"