The Knight's Eyes

23: LAUNDRY DAY

Once Kaahiss was gone, she studied him from the corner of her eyes. Her flirtatious smile pressed into a straight line. She pointed a dripping wet finger at the worktable closest to the entrance. A fancy glass plate possessing two hardboiled eggs, a thick slab of fried beef, and a manly sized cinnamon muffin sat on its surface. Expensive tableware and a glass cup sat around it. The set looked highly displaced in the dull messy kitchen.

"Why don't'cha grab a stool and eat. Hiss doesn't play when it comes to time."

Alsin dully chuckled, shaking his head, and lifting a tall stool, "Who'd ever thought a raptor could tell time. Wait until Walta hears this one."

"That's if ye see her again," the woman muttered focusing on her washing task.

"No I will see her again."

"Don't get cocky, boy," Abebe said in a serious tone. "That'll get ye killed."

He cracked an egg and began to peel it, "How many men have died in this castle?"

"Too many to keep count. Most of 'em died from tryin' to escape. Others of...other causes."

He bit into the soft white egg taking note of her every word. Maybe he could befriend her. She seemed like a nice person, his senses told him.

"How long does the lizard expect me to stay here?"

She shrugged and placed her last dish on a rack. Wobbly in slight pain in her legs, she went to the steaming pots to check the contents.

"Why work for the witch?"

"She pays well," she muttered.

"Still. What's with the Iceburn girl? What will she do with her?"

"Ye ask too many questions, bebe," she said walking to the far counter in the left corner. From the array of knives, the bags and piles of vegetation, and the bowls and jars of chopped vegetables and seasonings, the area was a cuttery. "Hiss has cut a man's tongue out once for beggin' too much."

"Begging?"

"Aye. He was a Terran, a knight like ya. Scared to the bones."

"Wow. And here me and those in my kingdom thought men had died before reaching this castle."

"Naw, bebe. Galiathan had rescued some."

The mentioning of the giant made him groan. Alsin cracked the second egg and peeled off its shell.

She plucked out her fat lips, picked up a knife and began to chop an onion at a skilled speed. "I always tell Hiss' servants to relax and obey. Alls y'need t'do. But they let their fear get the best of 'em."

"I'm not surprised. Terra knows no horror story than the witch and her curse. To be in her castle can be quite...eerie."

"Ah, as long as ya stay outta her way, she forgets yer even there. Trust me, bebe, it's Kaahiss ye should worry 'bout. He has a temper that one."

Alsin shrugged nibbling on the slab of meat and moaned at the savory juice invading his mouth. "He doesn't scare me."

She traced the point of her knife across her cheek, "Say's the scar."

"It did hurt," he said gently touching the three large scratches along his right cheek. "Hey, incase when I return home, I'd have a good tale to tell and ladies would love it."

He caught Abebe roll her eyes, cheeks fluffing from a suppressed smile. She continued chopping until someone entered the kitchen carrying a dead lamb across a shoulder. Alsin paused in mid chew, staring openly at the wraith. This one had no armor with slim arms and looked much younger, like a teenager. Like Curl, this one had small circles for his eyes and mouth and for some reason, it had short-cropped hair that blew in the outside breeze.