Magic Banquet Read Online Free

eat,” the
Chef said. “But you’ll never have a second chance at any of them in
this lifetime.”
    “Chef…” The lord picked up a faceted wing
from the rim of a plate. It flashed green. “…are these what I think
they are?”
    “Yes, faerie wings,” the Chef said.
    The lord arranged a wing on either side of
his frog as though it could fly. “Are they to be eaten?”
    The Chef shook his head. “They are a
lustrous garnish.”
    Old Janny grasped her face and squeezed the
folds of her cheeks forward. “But there’re hundreds of them.”
    The Chef shrugged. “I’ve found no better use
for faeries.”
    “Nor is there one.” The lord raised his
glass to drink.
    Aja had never heard of a faerie, or a golem.
Two discoveries, and the Banquet had only begun. All the newness
purred through her. Soon she would get to eat a fruit-sweetened
frog, bright as paint. How many people could say they had done
that?
    The empress chose a green frog with black
spots. “He’s prettier than my jewels. I couldn’t eat him.”
    “Good.” The swordsman lifted a red-speckled
frog to his lips. “You should let me taste mine first.”
    She shoved the frog beneath her veil.
    “Ryn!”
    When the plate came at last to Aja, only two
frogs remained. One blue frog looked like he had hopped under a
scribe’s quill, and ink had dribbled down its back. The other had
black stripes and yellow sleeves and pants. Aja would’ve hesitated
to eat anything so beautiful, except for their delicious scent.
    She lifted the speckled blue one to her nose
and inhaled its perfume. “What is that smell?”
    “The truffle,” the Chef said.
    “Like a yummy cheese.” The empress crunched
triumphantly.
    “The smell of rainforest soil,” the man with
the crutches said.
    “A basket full of mushrooms.” Old Janny
smacked her lips.
    The lord inhaled. He had not yet eaten his
frog. “Decadence and mystery.”
    Aja showed her frog to the empress. “Look at
the one I picked.”
    “Oh! I’d trade you, but it’s too late.” The
empress patted her belly. She turned to the swordsman. “Any
prophecy bubbling up in you yet?”
    Friends traded with each other, didn’t they?
They ate the same food together. Yes, by the end of the Banquet,
Aja thought she could be best friends with the empress.
    Aja’s mouth still burned from the roc egg.
Her throat was parched from avoiding the elixir for so long. The
frog’s color was the blue of oasis water, and it smelled soothing.
She stuck out her tongue and dropped the frog on top.
    The world washed away under the power of
flavors.
    When she blinked back to alertness, the Chef
had gone. The empress lay with her head on the swordsman’s knee. He
slid her onto the pillow, and she didn’t seem to notice. Her eyes
were glassy.
    “What are you seeing?” Aja asked her.
    No one answered. The empress’s eyelids
closed and opened again. Her hands trembled and clenched her
midsection.
    Aja did the same. Something stabbed inside
her, and her chest lurched. Her fingertips tingled. Had they gone
numb? She couldn’t feel the carpet when she ran her hand over it.
Something was wrong. She had to get away, had to hide.
    Aja crawled off the carpet. Her muscles
slackened. She sagged and splayed across the floor. The stone
drained her warmth and left her cold.
    Aja saw nothing. Then light crashed over
her. The visions began with thunder.
    Wind flowed through her, gusting, chilling,
thrilling. Her robes rippled as she lounged in front of glass
statues of kings. Glistening men were lit by moonlight.
    Stars above and crackling lightning below.
Aja guessed she was on top of a mountain because she went as high
as a thundercloud. No, she flew. She soared on winds of joy.
    This was no dream. Most of her nights were
full of emptiness and hunger. This flying was new, this wonder, if
only it could last forever. The thundercloud rumbled as she lifted
a blue star to her mouth. She ate it, and the storm roared.
    A grinding ache of death. Her