Salt Fat Acid Magic [Nom-Fiction | Food Fights | Culinary Academy]

"Eat." Hollyhock held a truffle shaving in front of Flambé's half-opened mouth. At times, he couldn't close the left side of his mouth completely without great effort, but today, he could barely hold his mouth closed at all.

Some days, Flambé seemed like a man still in his prime. A contradiction of his greying hair and wrinkled eyes. Other days he acted like a child. In a weird way, he seemed older on those days. And then on a few days that were becoming more frequent by the week, he seemed old beyond his years. His wrinkles deepened, and the spots on his skin showed. His arms contracted, his hands always slightly bent and hovering near his chest. Groans preceded his words, and he often lost track of his sentences.

Today was worse than even those days.

"Oh," he groaned. "Too much makes me sick."

"Eat. Eat or I'll postpone the dinner."

"You can't postpone a birthday," Flambé protested weakly. He winced and leaned his whole body forward so that the shaving would go into his mouth. It took one of his hands to keep it there while he chewed.

Nori rubbed Flambé's back. "You'll feel better soon. And you'll feel even better than that once you've had Julienne's cooking."

"Yeah?" Flambé looked at her with hopeful, glazed eyes.

"Yeah. He's improved a lot. And this year you won't have me cooking for you, so it'll definitely be better this time around." Nori laughed and hoped Flambé would too.

Instead, he frowned. "Oh, but I love your cooking. Reminds me of home."

"Well, if you eat your dinner tonight, tomorrow I'll make you your mango sticky rice."

Flambé smiled weakly at Hollyhock. "Well let's go, then."

Hollyhock crossed her arms.

"Alright, do your tests." Flambé groaned.

"You are?"

"Flambé Puttick."

"I am?"

"Hollyhock the Great Tormentor."

"She is?"

"Nori Harper."

"Your wife is?"

"Unable to join us." Flambé did his best to give Nori a grin. Nori didn't laugh for fear of Hollyhock's retribution.

"Good husbands don't relish the immobility of their spouses," Hollyhock scolded. "You should be remiss that she is too unwell to travel."

"Yes, yes, next question."

"Your child is?"

"Unfortunately in attendance."

"Flambé." Hollyhock kicked his chair. There was something in her stern expression that Nori hadn't seen before. This wasn't a motherly scolding. This was fear of consequence. "You do not have the strength to belittle him today."

A raspy wheeze started deep in Flambé's belly and bounced up his throat and out in a pained laugh. He looked at Nori. "Belittle."

Nori sucked in her bottom lip to keep herself from laughing.

"You know what one slip-up could mean, Flambé. I ask again. Your child is?"

"Wally."

"You are in?"

"Ambrosia City."

"You are going to?"

"Be a guest of Cafe Julienne. On account of the birthday of the youngest. Nori's classmate. The boy that got me that truffle."

"You don't mention the truffle. Not in front of Waldorf."

"Right, right."

"We need to walk you to the carriage. Can you manage?"

Flambé's hips popped as he stood. "Don't coddle me, now."

With Nori serving as a walking cane, they made their way to the royal carriage. Flambé and Hollyhock sat on one side, leaving Nori to sit on a massive bench that had been dug into the floor to accommodate Grand Queen Crosnee. The carriage rumbled slowly into the streets of the Crown and out toward Labruscella. Acorn Guards walked along them with quiet stoicism. Up ahead, Nori could hear the sounds of less well-mannered guards.

"Out of the way! Move or be moved!"

Feet scuffled around. Someone fell.

"Hey! He's just a kid!" a man yelled from a window.

"I said get back! Or you can be next! Clear! Out!"

A sour smell trickled into the carriage, making Nori's mouth water. The smell intensified as more people yelled up ahead. Nori's lips puckered involuntarily, and she could barely keep her eyes open. Flambé started coughing.

"What is that?" Nori coughed. Her stomach bubbled and contracted. Flambé doubled over.

"That would be one of Waldorf's personal guards escalating the situation. One moment." Hollyhock rubbed circles into her jaw and let out a controlled breath.

The sweet smell of vanilla drove the sourness out of the air and let Nori breathe fully again. She closed her eyes, and the strange, delirious dreams of an impromptu slumber bubbled up from her subconscious. She was babysitting Chandler, but Chandler was Flambé, and they were hoping they wouldn't run into Waldorf even though they were back in Uroko.

A bump in the road woke her. Flambé smiled. "I'm sorry for making you accompany me. You must be very tired from your schoolwork."

"Stop. It's not a bother. Besides, I'm eating at Cafe Julienne and you're paying for it. That's not worth complaining about." Nori smiled and rubbed her eyes. "I just didn't sleep well last night, that's all."

The nightly whispers of the girls' room had been replaced by the sounds of crying muffled by pillows. But after a few days, Blanche's crying had finally started subsiding—or Nori had just learned to stay asleep through it. But on some nights—last night in particular—Blanche would have multiple bouts that would wake Nori. The one time she had tried to comfort her, Blanche had just cried more and said, "he's all yours."

Any plan Nori had of comforting Archie had disappeared with that sentence. Now, she was just thankful that he seemed to be doing alright and didn't need to talk about it. Nori didn't know how she would manage the subject.

The procession came to a stop.

"We must be at the gates to Labruscella," Hollyhock said.

"This is your stop, then," Flambé replied.

Hollyhock scoffed. "You can't be serious."

"I don't want them to see me as weak."

"Everyone at this dinner knows your condition."

"I'll be fine. My memory isn't foggy at all."

"Your memory? I'm worried about your body."

"Oh, I won't die. I don't want to ruin the boy's birthday. If I feel the need to die, I'll wait until tomorrow." Flambé smiled at Nori.

But Nori was mortified. Being Flambé's lone caretaker in the comfort of the keep with Hollyhock just a room away wasn't too bad, but taking care of him alone this far away? In the presence of Waldorf and his atrocious entourage? And with his current state?

Up ahead, the gruff voices of Waldorf's guards clashed with the Labruscellan guards over whether they'd be allowed entry.

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"The girl is terrified," Hollyhock said.

"Don't infantilize her."

"You call Julienne the boy."

"Well, there are three of them. Have to tell them apart somehow."

The carriages started rolling again. Nori butted in. "What if you ate at another table?"

Hollyhock and Flambé stared at each other in silent argument until the carriage door opened up to show the steps of Cafe Julienne.

"Fine," Flambé said. "But if I start coughing, don't come running over to me until I'm dead."

"I hope your sick sense of humor goes before you do. Come on."

Flambé exited the carriage with the assistance of a guard, but he waved everyone off and took the stairs on his own. The three Juliennes stood in wait at the top step. Lined up, they seemed even more distinct from the common person. A trio of ethereal beings ready to foster passage to a higher plane of cuisine. From inside Cafe Julienne, someone exclaimed, "look at all of these scones!"

Nori followed closely behind Flambé in case he fell backwards. Halfway up the stairs, his feet started scraping against the lip of each step. His breathing grew ragged. He slowed. But he made it.

"Grand King Flambé. It's a pleasure to see you again." Julienne bowed his head. Flambé nodded at him. Then Uncle Julienne and Flambé repeated the greeting. But when it was Great Aunt Julienne's turn, she hopped down the step and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"I didn't expect to see you here," Flambé said.

"I was just over with my bees in the garden. Thought I'd pop in for a quick hello."

"You should join me for dinner."

"Oh, I can't tonight. Too many things to do."

"No, I mean some other night. At the keep."

"I'd love that."

Nori and Julienne stared at each other through the exchange. Once Flambé finally moved on, they exchanged awkward smiles.

"Good luck," Nori whispered.

"You're the one in there with them."

And he was right. Nori remembered how there had been mostly Gluttons in attendance last year, but she had not anticipated that things had only gotten worse. In the far corner of the room, the king's council sat, counting two when there had once been four. The grand treasurer had been ousted for embezzlement—as discovered by one of Waldorf's friends—and the grand marshall was off in Kuutsu Nuna to coordinate a defense against some increasingly antagonistic cult.

Two chairs remained at their table, one of which Hollyhock would take, the other belonging to the Chancellor of Culinary Arts, who had gained a considerable amount of weight since Nori had seen him last. He stood near a table of Gluttons, of which there must have been a dozen. Nori noticed large empty platters on each table and no sign of the scones she had heard about.

She kept her eyes low. Better not to draw attention to herself. Flambé made an attempt to pull her seat out for her, but his legs started to wobble and he put himself in his own seat before anyone could notice. Nori finally looked up as she sat.

"Wow, father. Your's is even younger than mine." Waldorf leaned over the table—if it wasn't heavy marble, it might have tipped—and rubbed the arm of the dark-skinned Kuutsa Nunan woman next to him. She couldn't have been more than three years older than Nori, and she shivered at the touch. "You've met my new wife, haven't you? I haven't seen you out of your room in a month."

"I have a kingdom to run, Wally," Flambé stated. Nori was thankful for the firmness in his voice. Maybe they'd make it through this. He smiled at the woman. "Praline, yes? Sorry, I'd get up to properly greet you, but I rolled my ankle."

His voice unfroze Praline and her beautiful smile. "It's great to finally meet you, Grand King Flambé."

Waldorf looked her up and down with disgust and then looked at Nori. "Hm. Maybe my next one will be Urokan."

For as much as Nori had steeled herself in preparation for Waldorf's obscenities, she couldn't help the nausea that struck her. She fought off the impulse to cry by imagining Waldorf choking on his food and turning purple until he was dead. Still, his gaze unnerved her, so she looked away. But in looking away, she saw something more horrifying than even Waldorf.

Sorghum Ackers was staring at her.

There was no mistaking it. His eyes did not move from her. Eyes that he had passed on to Chandler. It was the only bit of her that still resembled her Gluttonous father. Gluttonous by Nori's creation. Looking at him brought back vivid memories of Sorghum devouring kulkida risotto. She remembered the sound of it more than anything else. Wet. Devouring. Animalistic grunts.

"Nori is here as my guest," Flambé explained to his son. "Your mother was unable to come, and I'd hate to see a good chair go to waste."

"She's not dead yet?" Waldorf eyed the empty platter between them and ate the last remaining crumb. "She might outlast you at this rate."

Nori snuck a glance at Sorghum. He was still looking at her. He had never stopped. A small, fluttering confusion played across his eyes. Nori dreaded what she'd have to do if confusion became recognition. She'd have to excuse herself first. Then she'd run to The Gift to tell Rowan to run with Chandler. No, what if someone followed her? She'd go to Archie. He'd go to Rowan. Maybe they'd be okay. Maybe Sorghum would just remember her and not Chandler. Nori didn't know how Rowan's forgetting powder worked. Would it wear off? She looked away and grabbed at the bottom of her hair.

Her hair was shorter now. Not even to her shoulders. Seven or eight inches shorter than the last time Sorghum had seen her. Maybe that would keep her safe.

"Good evening, everyone," Julienne announced. "I—"

"We ran out of scones," a Glutton interrupted. Nori recognized the man sitting next to him as Lord Rathbond. Yet another person who could recognize her if he regained his memory.

Julienne took the interruption in stride. "My Chefs are in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on another batch. While they get those ready, allow me to officially kick off the night. Thank you for coming to my twentieth birthday. It is my honor to share it with some of the most influential people of Ambrosia City—and therefore of the world."

The Gluttons applauded themselves. Nori hoped that statement wasn't true. Were these the people that would take over once Flambé passed? She thought back to Archie's request. There was a knife on the table, essence in her palm, and the only one of Waldorf's personal guards that had been let in, Honovi, was currently leaning on the far wall and staring at the statues that extended over the guests from the central pillars. She could do it. She'd probably die just a few seconds later. The Gluttons would demand her body to be served on their plates. Would it be worth it?

Waldorf looked at Nori with a goading smile. He knew. He was in her head. She turned as quickly as she could, but as Julienne spoke, she could still feel Waldorf's eyes on her. Julienne's words bounced off her troubled mind. Something about scones and summer and winter and Mesan ingredients. Flambé seemed impressed by it. He let himself cough under the cover of the next round of applause.

Julienne went into the kitchen and came back out with a little cart to serve another helping of scones. Platters for the Gluttons, little plates with single scones for the rest.

"I wouldn't eat more than is on your plate," Julienne told Flambé and Nori as he served them. "Don't want to spoil your appetite."

"Julienne," Waldorf said. "I haven't had the chance to ask you how your trip to Labrusca was."

Julienne smiled. Nori knew what emotions bubbled beneath his polite demeanor. He was certainly better than her at hiding them. "It was a good chance to catch up with family." He tried to move on to the next table, but Waldorf's warbling voice held him still.

"I'm quite fond of King Verjus. Do you two get along?"

Another attack on Julienne's stoicism. Another successful defense. "Famously."

Flambé coughed, breaking Julienne for just a moment. A faint sourness filled the air.

"Good, good. Once I'm grand king, he'll have to come to pay tribute. We'll have to dine here during his visit."

Flambé's coughing swelled and rasped. Hollyhock looked ready to sprint over.

"When that day comes, let me know in advance and I'll reserve a table for you."

Waldorf chuckled and looked at Praline, who nervously mimicked him. "It'll be soon, won't it, father? Maybe today?"

Flambé could only answer with more coughing. Nori swore she saw blood in his palm before he hid it in the folds of his jacket. She had never heard him cough quite like this.

Waldorf paid no mind to his dying father, instead turning back to Julienne. "I do wonder if you understand our dynamic, young Julienne. You've put me off in the past. And I've allowed it. I hope you understand that once I rule, I won't require a reservation."

Nori comforted Flambé with a touch on the back, but she pulled away as soon as she touched him. His essence prickled and shimmered at her touch, puncturing her with a thousand invisible needles as if she had grabbed a cactus. She looked at Hollyhock, who jumped up and rushed to Flambé with a little chunk of truffle in hand. She shoved it into his mouth and moved his jaw to help him chew. The sourness in the air grew.

The rest of the guests stared at the undignified act. Nori's head whipped around as she heard all of their horrible whispers.

"I heard he only has a few weeks left."

"He should step down."

"Is this finally it?"

"I swear I recognize her."

Nori tracked that last whisper to Sorghum. He was in the ear of Lord Rathbond, and they both stared at her. She turned to Hollyhock. "I think we need to leave."

Flambé let out one last blasting cough. And then he was quiet. And still. His eyes stared ahead, unfocused. His mouth hung agape. No breath seemed to be coming from it. His head wobbled. His arms did not raise to stabilize himself. His body went slightly forward, then back, then forward even more. Two or three more times around and he'd end up facefirst in his scone. The room went silent.

Hollyhock gripped his shoulder and he came back to life, gasping as he sat up straight. Whatever strength he regained, Hollyhock lost. She braced herself against the table.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yes, I…I'm sorry." Flambé gasped for air. "I think I swallowed too big…of a piece. Yes, I think we should go."

The guests watched in expressions that ranged from curiosity to horror. And then Waldorf broke their silence with a hearty laugh. He slapped his palm once on the table, making their glassware jump up and clink back down.

"Ah, I thought that was the moment of reckoning." He clicked his tongue. "I'll never stand for anyone that calls you weak, I'll tell you that much. Another time, perhaps."

Nori eyed the knife. Acid dripped from her hand. Sour air made the guests pucker, but it hadn't come from her.

She concentrated her acid into a ball.

For the greater good.

The door slammed open and Gristle looked in.

"Everyone stay seated!" he yelled. Nori froze, the acid falling from her hand and sizzling on the ground. Gristle pointed to the door to the kitchen. "Has that door opened?"

Honovi pointed at Julienne. "They came in to serve food."

"When?"

"Two, three minutes ago?"

The guests looked back and forth between the guards as a sinking feeling infested Nori's stomach.

"And the door hasn't opened since then?"

"No. What's going on?"

"Someone killed Melo."

"What?"

Several of the Gluttons, Waldorf included, jumped to their feet. He roared and demanded an explanation. The other guests held onto each other in fear. Nori looked at Flambé and Hollyhock, both too near to collapse to react properly. She turned back to Gristle.

He ignored all the clamor and looked into each corner of the room.

"I think they're invisible."