Chapter 708: A Breakfast Interlude
Isabell’s musings were interrupted by a gentle knock at the door followed by the entrance of the largest man the engineer had ever seen. More shocking than his bulk, however, were the furry claws with which he carried a serving tray and the bearish face that smiled broadly when he entered her sitting room.
"Master Isabell," Heila said, standing to help take the tray from the pot bellied cook who looked like he’d come directly from the kitchens. "Let me introduce you to another of Ashlynn’s good friends here. This is Georg, and he’s the Master of Kitchens here."
"Master Georg," Isabell said as she struggled to suppress the bone-deep reflex to run from the ’claw demon’ who came bearing her breakfast. She’d heard, of course, about the Clan of the Great Claw and that they stood head and shoulders taller than most men. She’d even noticed how the ancient fortress seemed to have been built for people who were larger than any human, with door frames that were extra wide and tall.
But hearing about the size, strength, and power of the bearish Eldritch people and being in the same room as one was a very different feeling!
"Master Isabell, I, um, I hope you don’t mind that I’ve taken liberties to come in person," the tall chef said awkwardly as he gestured to the serving tray and two polished metal domes that covered the food underneath.
"I did exactly as you asked," he said, reaching out to pull the cover off the first plate, revealing a fairly simple and ordinary breakfast. "One boiled egg, warm bread with butter, and a slice of cooked ham," he said, listing off the components of the simple breakfast that Isabell had requested. His expression as he did, however, seemed deeply concerned.
"Is something the matter?" Isabell asked, looking at the bearish man and his drooping ears and wondering if she’d committed some kind of Eldritch sacrilege when she told Heila what she wanted for breakfast. The poor man looked like he’d been told to leave a puppy out in the rain for the night when he presented her breakfast!
"Master Isabell," Georg said as he shifted nervously from foot to foot. "I’m always delighted to make food that makes people happy. If you want something simple because it’s what you prefer, then I’m happy to do that for you. But... I thought, perhaps you might not know about how food is made here in Lady Nyrielle’s fortress," he said awkwardly.
"I learned from Sir Ollie and Lady Ashlynn that kitchens in human castles often cook in large batches and serve lavish meals to noblemen and women where people pick and choose from platters filled with dishes," he explained. "I thought, maybe you were trying to spare me some work by keeping your request simple."
"Are things not done that way here?" Isabell said, raising an eyebrow in surprise. "You can’t mean to say that you prepare individual dishes for everyone in this entire castle! The work that would take..."
"Meals for the staff are like that," Georg admitted. "But cooking for vampires is different because they don’t really need to eat to sustain themselves. Lady Nyrielle and her progeny prefer small morsels with unique flavors so they can enjoy tasting many different things without needing to gorge themselves."
"So that’s why Marcel, I mean, Sir Marcel, always seemed like he was picking at his food without eating much," Isabell said as she recalled her meal with the man she hadn’t known was a vampire until the night before.