The trip to Appleridge didn’t take that long, and soon I could see the result of the ice storm. Many of the trees were like pincushions, and the orchard would need some work come spring. I landed and headed over to the door and knocked. A few moments later it opened, and Alder poked his head out. “Oh, Morgana, how good to see you.”

  He didn’t seem any worse for wear, so that was good. “Hi, Alder, just checking in on you all after the storm.” Alder looked over the area. “Yeah, I figured we’d see you after this mess. The orchards busted up and a few of the cows got a few minor wounds, but nothing we couldn’t handle. I will say though, it could have been worse if not for Milnair.”Milnair? Now I was curious. “Oh?”

  Alder nodded. “She and that hound of hers came in here about an hour before the storm hit and told us to get everyone and everything indoors. She seemed completely out of sorts and out of breath too. As far as I can tell, she must have run here all the way from Nekkal. I’m pretty sure we’d have lost more than a few our animals and likely taken injuries ourselves if not for the warning.” Ah, Milnair must have gotten the news from town and rushed here.

  “Glad to hear it, the damn storm was nasty.” Alder blinked in surprise. “It hit your home as well?” I shook my head. “I was on my way to Winter Glen for the Winter Feast, damn storm hit us as we were crossing The Three Teeth. Spent some time huddled up in a cave until it passed.”

  Alder nodded. “In any rate, Morgana, it’s freezing outside. Come in and have a cup of tea.” I would not say no to that. “Sure, I’ll take you up on the offer.” I stomped the snow off my boots and placed them in the entryway. Then entered the hallway leading to the living room and kitchen. I could hear crying from upstairs, the little ones throwing a fit, no doubt. As Alder opened the door, I nearly collided with Gwen.

  “Oh, hi Morgana! How good to see you, all well I hope?” I stepped aside so that she could pass. “All is well on my end, Gwen, thanks for asking. I see you still have your hands full with the kids.” Her expression broke into a wide and warm smile. “Yes, they are a handful, but I wouldn’t trade them for anything. Speaking of which, I should go check on them, talk to you later, Morgana.” She disappeared up the stairs, and I could hear a door open and close.

  Alder and I entered the kitchen, and he grabbed a pair of teacups from a cupboard and placed them on the table. Then he walked over to the stove and pulled the kettle off and filled both cups with water. “The storm itself didn’t last very long, thankfully, but as you can see, it still did a number on the farm. Those poor fruit trees will need some heavy pruning, so the usual fruit deliveries might be late come spring.” I waved him off. “That is fully understandable. Take your time and get things up and running again properly. Don’t rush things and ruin the fruit or injure yourselves.”

  Alder nodded. “I figured you would say that.” He took a sip of his tea. We continued to drink our tea and spoke about various simple topics. The type of topics two friends would discuss when having tea. Then, after finishing my second cup the door opened and Gwen looked inside. “Alder dear, not to pull you away from your tea, but I could use your help with the lil’ ones.” She gave me an apologetic smile. I rose from my chair. “It’s all good, I should be getting home anyway. If you see Milnair, tell her I said good work. Take care you two.”

  I gave them both a friendly nod as I finished my cup and then gave them both a cheery wave as I followed them into the hallway and then turned for the entrance. A minute later, and I was in the air and on my way home. The flight itself was relatively quick, though I needed to pause for a moment to refresh the heating enchantment halfway there.

  Once I got back, I noticed that the giant tower from the training ground was gone, so Meleri’s lessons must be over for today. I landed and headed inside. Jaira and Bahruun were playing chess, but I didn’t see Meleri anywhere, which meant she was likely in the library. Millid was watching the game while chewing on a cracker. Midnight was napping on Jaira’s lap. “Hey guys, where’s Soot and Winter?”

  Midnight opened an eye and looked at me with a lazy, half-asleep expression. “They decided to stretch their wings since the temperature and weather’s nice.” Ah, that’s good to hear. “I see, hope they enjoy their trip. So, who's winning?” Midnight gave a lazy shrug. “I don’t know, I have been sleeping through half of it. Besides, these two are so engrossed I doubt they have even noticed your return, Meowstress.” Millid looked up at me. “I can confirm that, Boss even let his coffee get cold.” Well, no point in trying to get a word with them then. “Well, in that case, Millid want to help me bake a little something to surprise them with when they are done?”

  Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

  Millid perked up. “Watcha planning?” I walked towards the kitchen. “Just a Beltaine Spiced Honey Cake. I know you’ve probably never heard of that, but I assure you it’s a pretty good one. Who knows, the enticing scent alone might snap those two back to reality.” Millid nodded and followed me into the kitchen, and soon the baking was in full swing.

  Melting the butter and mixing it with the honey and sugar was the hardest part of the entire process, though Millid proved quite adept at it. She looked up at me from the chair she was standing on to mix it at the stove. “Believe it or not, but between the two of us, I’m the one handling the cooking back home. Boss is far too easily distracted. I’m honestly not sure how he fed himself before I came around. Is this good?” She showed me the batter. “Is this good?” I looked down at the melted butter, honey, and sugar mixture. “It’s perfect, off the stove with it before it begins to caramelize.”

  I headed over with my mixture of ingredients and began to pour it into the cauldron while Millid kept stirring. “This looks great.” Millid licked her lips. “Smells great, too, and it’s not even baking yet.” I nodded. “Ease up on the stirring, we want it mixed, but not so well as to become a uniform mass, the texture should be light and smooth.” Millid slowed her stirring down a bit and preserved the light texture.

  We continued with the preparations, pouring the mixture into a pair of tins and putting them into the stove. “And now all we need to do is wait.” I cast a simple cleaning spell, and the two of us walked back into the livingroom. The only difference since before we left was that Soot and Winter were back, and both were now napping on their respective roosts. I decided to let them sleep as Millid resumed watching the game. I headed towards the library to get a book to read while I waited for the cake to finish.

  Once I entered, I got a really cute sight. Meleri sitting on the floor, leaned up against a pile of cushions, in her lap was Irane and Irenji’s heads, and all three were sleeping. It was an adorable sight. I grabbed my book and left without making enough noise to wake them. I’d wake them up when the cake was ready to be eaten, but until then there was no way I was disturbing that cute sight. Almost made me wish I had a camera. Eh, I could always use a memory crystal.

  The cake, or rather cakes, as we filled two cake tins with batter, was soon nearing completion, and the sweet scent of it was wafting out from the kitchen. The scent was good enough to finally snap Bahruun and Jaira out of their total focus on their game of chess. “Hmm? Oh, hi Mom, what’s that delicious scent?” I looked over to Bahruun, who licked his lips. “Oh, just a little something me and Millid cooked up. It’s done soon, so if you could keep your wits about you rather than falling back into your total focus on the chess board you’ll get a slice each.”

  Jaira glanced towards the kitchen. “I think we can manage, don’t you think so Bahruun?” He leaned back in his chair. “Oh, we can manage alright. I wouldn’t miss a cake Millid helped bake for anything.” Millid hopped into his lap. Then she looked up at him and gave him a wide grin. “Glad to hear it, Boss. The name of it sounded delicious too, so I can’t wait to get a taste of it myself.”

  Bahruun looked down at her. “Oh, and what is this treat you're cooking up named?” Millid looked up at him for a moment, then glanced at me. I shook my head with a smile. She grinned back. “It’s a surprise, your own fault for not paying attention when we were discussing it before.” Bahruun blinked a few times. Then, after a brief pause of awkward silence, he began to chuckle. “Fair enough. I can’t really argue with that.”

  There was a noise from the kitchen. “Ah, that would be the cooking done, now it just needs to cool.” I walked back into the kitchen and got the cakes out with but a simple gesture, then left them in the tins to cool off. “There we are. It shouldn’t take long now.” As I walked back into the living room, I saw the hopeful expressions on everyone’s faces. “It needs to cool off, as I mentioned. First, it’s about fifteen minutes in the tin to make it set properly. Then it has to cool off entirely after being removed from it. After that, it needs ideally another half an hour of cooling, if not more, for the best taste. So patience.”

  As I spoke, the door to the hallway opened, and Meleri, Irenji, and Irane came inside. “Hi guys, what’s baking?” I gave her a curious glance. She shouldn't have known I was baking any… of wait, few things in this world are as sensitive as a wolf's nose. Make that double for a Great Wolf. “As I told the others it’s a surprise, so no entering the kitchen for now.” Meleri grumbled but sat down on the couch. Irenji hopped up on the seat next to her, his tail wagging up a storm. “Well, whatever it is it smells delicious, doesn’t it, Mistress?” Irane jumped up on the other side. “I concur with Irenji, I can’t wait to get a taste of whatever that is.”

  There was movement from up at Soot and Winter’s roosts, and a few moments later Soot sailed down and landed on my shoulder. “Hmm, I have to agree with the two of you on that one.” I glanced over at him then reached up and scratched him just below the beak. “And you all will, in about half an hour.” Until then, I will once again mandate that you remain patient. I felt the familiar weight of Winter on top of my hat. “Welcome back, Mother.”

  I reached up and scratched her as well. “Thanks Winter, hope your flight and nap were both pleasant.” She nudged her head into my hand with a happy chirp. “It was both great, thanks for asking.” I sat back down in my chair. “Good, now then everyone just relax for a little while longer and I’ll get you all a serving of cake.”