Word Count » 415
OOC text
Isabella sat at the table she had scavenged early on in her stay in the Thistle Kingdom. Idle nails traced circles and warps in the wooden pattern, ignoring the scorch marks of constant use from ancient owners. There was no fear of putting hot pots or bottles on this table; it was so abused by some old keeper that she did her best to clean it up. It was shiny, coated fresh in the last of her beeswax combs pilfered before the bees set to sleep.
Kaoru was crouched beside the open fire pit, his back to his bored mistress. He had captured a rabbit that morning and had skinned it. The soft pelt was sitting atop the ruins, drying and stretched out with rocks. Isabella looked up to watch him stirring the thinly cut meat in the bottom of the pan, using some sage and salt on it. He had wanted to use pasta or rice, but the woman had turned him down quickly; there was no such thing here. Salsola had no rice paddies and no fields of wheat for such luxuries. What did he think this was, Japan? Instead they would simply use a few wild greens with it. Kaoru had even managed to find a few sweet berries and mushed them into a sauce of sorts. It was the best he could do with the limitations he discovered here.
The young voice startled them both out of their individual reveries. Isabella pushed aside her empty mug and looked over the table at the pup. Kaoru set the wooden spoon on a stone with a serene smile before almost visibly recoiling from what the child offered. Isabella smoothly moved from the stone chair and wooden table to hover behind the white slave as he picked up the rat by the long tail. "Is a rat," he said dumbly, dangling it up for the gypsy woman to peer at. She sniffed audibly, aware that their kind ate rats but it felt more like cat food.
Isabella set a kindly look to her face and crouched in front of the pup, taking the rat from the man's hands. She shooed him back to his cooking, and he obliged, almost relieved. "Ma chere, Kaoru has caught us some nice fat hares." She gestured to the pot where the man continued to stir the sweet-smelling frying meat. "Wouldn't you rather have some of that?" she asked kindly, trying not to upset the pup.
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