Day 37

Zara moved among the tables, clearing away the dirty dishes that adorned 
the surface of some of the tables.  Hearing a slight commotion, she glanced 
up, a strand of long blonde hair falling in front of her face.  There was a 
dragonrider with a group of searchlings who were as eclectic as they could 
get who were going to the serving area of the mess hall.  Raising a slender 
eyebrow, she pitied who ever had the training of that bunch.  Shaking her 
head, she shifted her load to her left hip and went into the kitchens prior.

Depositing the pile of dishes beside the one of the large sinks, she 
noticed Ybini swiftly washing dishes with great vigor.  "Hey, Ybini.  We 
have some new searchlings.  Quite an interesting bunch from what I 
see."  Her lips quirked in a half-smile.  "I pity whoever has the training 
of them."

"Oh.  What kind of interesting are you talking about?  Good interesting or 
bad interesting?"  Ybini's curiosity was piqued by Zara's comment, 
especially about searchlings.

"Um...  Good interesting, I think."  Her brow wrinkled as she attempted to 
make a final decision on whether it actually was a good sort of interesting 
or a bad sort of interesting.  She gave up a moment later when Ybini 
prompted to her continue. "Well, one is a bona-fide farm boy, another is... 
I don't know how to describe her but she is dressed in all black with a 
whole lot of earrings in each ear, there's one who looks like a tomboy, one 
who looks like he's been a warren before but I think he's the baby of the 
bunch, a kind of non-de script lad who's a bit long in the limbs and I 
think he's shy to boot, the last one is the most interesting, she looks as 
if she should be in a palace with servants who wait on her hand and foot 
not here in a warren."

"You're right, they are an interesting group."  She leaned toward Zara as 
if looking for some juicy gossip.  "You know their names?"

"No, but I have some more work to do in the mess hall so I'll see what I 
can do.  I can't promise anything."  Ybini nodded, her short brown hair 
bobbing with the movement.

Grabbing a damp rag, Zara went back into the hall, tucking the stray strand 
of hair back behind her ear.  She had no time to rebraid her hair so it 
would have to do for now.  The young woman began to wipe off the tables, 
watching the searchlings out of the corner of her eye.  They had finally 
sat down and were eating.  From what she could hear of their conversation, 
it was quite lively.  Her deep brown eyes misted over as she heard them 
talking animatedly about the possibility of joining.  Her grief over not 
being joined at the last hatching had slowly numbed to a dull ache, 
something like a sore tooth.  Zara shook her head, banishing the 
tears.  She was supposed to be happy for the group sitting at the table not 
far from her.

Not long after they were seated and eating, a tall handsome young man 
joined them and began sharing their meal.  He wasn't anyone that she'd seen 
around the warren before, so that meant he was new.  Zara continued with 
her work as they finished their meal.  She was wiping off her last table 
when he cursed the lack of chocolate on the dessert table.

"Miss?" the young man called out.  "Miss?"

Zara approached the table where new gentleman, the searcher, and the 
searchlings sat, the remains of their meal lying like carrion on the 
plains.  "Can I help you, sir?" she asked politely.

He shook his head.  "No need to call me sir.  I'm Latnem."

A blush crept up from her collar, coloring her face an interesting shade of 
crimson.  She averted her eyes for a moment before firmly fixing them on 
his deep brown ones.  "My name is Zara.  How can I help you, Latnem?"

"I need something chocolate... for a friend of mine. But there's nothing 
chocolate out on the tables. Do you perhaps have something in kitchen that 
would be suitable?"

Her brow wrinkled in thought.  "Hmm.  I'm not sure.  It is breakfast 
time."  She held up a single finger, signaling him to wait for a 
moment.  "Hold on, let me check.  If nothing else, I can ask Glynda if 
there's anything that's still good from last night or if she can whip 
something up real fast, 'kay?"

He nodded and she moved off, giving one last swipe at the table she had 
been wiping off before going back into the 
kitchens.  "Chocolate.  Chocolate.  My kingdom for some chocolate," she 
muttered distractedly, dropping her rag on the counter by the sink.  She 
looked around the kitchen, trying to sort through the controlled chaos that 
swirled around her.  Glynda would know if there was any chocolate.  Now to 
find the older woman.  She reached out and grabbed the arm of one of the 
passing servers whose name she couldn't remember.  "Where's Glynda?"  The 
older woman pointed toward a particularly chaotic knot of people near one 
of the large spits.  Zara nodded her thanks and headed for the knot of 
cooks and servers that surrounded the appointed spit.

"Glynda?"  she called over the clamor.  "Glynda?"  The elder head cook 
waved her over.  The young woman wove her way through the ever-changing 
throng of people, repeatedly muttering "Excuse me.  Pardon me.  So sorry."

"Yes, Zara?"  The older woman looked at the blonde curiously while issuing 
orders and keeping an eye on the large haunch of pork that was slowly being 
turned on the long iron spit.  "What do you need?"

"Okay, I know that this is going to sound weird but I need to know if there 
is any chocolate or maybe anything with chocolate in it about?"  She held 
up her hands, attempting to absolve herself of any desire for the 
delicacy.  "There's this guy named Latnem who wants some for a friend of 
his."  She waited nervously for the older woman's answer, not wanting to 
keep the gentleman waiting.

<tag Gwen>


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