Chapter 62

62 Burnt Offering

When Pen returned to her room, the girls were still up waiting for her. The room door slammed open the instant her knock came on it.

Sarah, the girl who opened it, looked at her hands; and when she did not see any box in them, she exclaimed;

“You returned it? Seriously Pen?” Well, she had said she was returning the gift, but a small part of them had prayed that she was just joking.

When she came back with nothing in her hands, their faces fell.

Pen was not in the mood for their discussion, so she just walked to her bed;

“Sleep, we have a very long day tomorrow.” She said and she got into her bed and faced the wall. The girls looked at her in awe as they wondered what evil spirit had gotten into her because she was definitely not okay.

...

In the early hours of the next morning, the servants of the castle, scurried around as they arranged the canopies in the large feild and set the ingredients for the snack making.

Lyra watched them from her window, a sigh leaving her lips. She had spent the whole night trying to make a snack and in the end, she could not even make something worthwhile.

.....

Now, it was morning and her eyes were swollen and she barely caught any sleep the previous night. The test had not begun, but she was already sure that she would fail.

“Princess, your bath water is ready.” Sarah called and Lyra turned from the window and walked to the bathroom. She hated this test. Well at least, she was not the only one in trouble.

...

In a few hours, the Princesses walked to the fields, each going to the canopies with their names written in front of it.

A few nobles came to watch, while the maids and servants stood behind in groups.

Lady Beatrice and Lady Weslee climbed the poduim after they had all gotten to their canopies and they addressed them.

“Welcome to the first test of the bridal selection. The test would last for a maximum of an hour and thirty minutes and at the end of this test, the Princesses would walk to the poduim with their snacks.

Every ingredient that was listed by the Princesses were provided on each table, please check if there is a missing ingredient now before the test begins, because after now, no additional time would be added to bring an ingredient to you. Remember to clean up after making your snacks as it would be part of the scoring.”

Last Beatrice spoke, and she waited to see if the princesses had any question. When she saw that they were fine, she said;

“The time starts now!”

Lyra looked at the ingredients in front of her and she sighed; she did not even know what to make. Her eyes scanned the other canopies and the other princesses looked busy like they knew what they were doing; she panicked and quickly picked something up and pretended as though she knew what she was doing.

Kitana stared at her table as she wondered what to make. The easiest bet was to go for something simple, the more complicated what she was making was, the easier it was to make mistakes. Her eyes brightened when a thought came to her mind and she picked a bowl and poured flour into it.

...

An hour passed and Lady Weslee walked up to the poduim and announced;

“Your Highnesses, you have thirty minutes more. I suggest you begin to round up the beautiful snacks you’re making.”

Alicia looked at her pan of oil boiling on the stove and she panicked. She wanted to make doughnuts but she was not sure what this was turning into.

Sweat broke out from her forehead when she turned the doughnuts over and saw that they were burning without being cooked in the middle.

Emma who was on the next canopy noticed the black things swimming in Alicia’s pan of oil and she burst out in a fit of laughter;

“Oh dear, what are those?” She asked, tears nearly falling from her eyes.

“Mind your business, Emma!” Alicia cursed through her teeth as she tried to hide what she was cooking, all to no avail.

“You could have just diced sweet fruits; it’s a snack, any light thing can be eaten for a snack, see?”

Emma smiled, showing Alicia her tray. She had diced watermelon, pineapples, cucumbers, apples and a few other sweet fruits and made a beautiful plate of fruit salad.

When she saw her tray, all color drained from Alicia’s face. Emma smiled;

“Oh don’t worry, this is just the first test. You can do well in the other ones. Remember to clean up your table, at least you can make some marks from that.” Emma chuckled and turned back to her table.

Alicia turned to her pan which was still burning the doughnuts that were trying their best not to break into pieces, and she nearly cried.

Jasmine used a rag to bring out the pan of cake from the oven and placed it on the table; her mouth opened when she saw what it looked like;

She had made a coconut cake but all the coconuts she had grated on top of the cake, had been burnt beyong recognition. Using a knife she pushed it into the cake and she gasped when the knife could not pass through, it was as hard as a rock.

Not only had she burnt it, she did not use enough water in the mixture so it got very hard. Sweat broke out in her hands as panic set in. How would she present this to the king?

Her eyes looked on the next canopy and her eyes widened when she noticed Zelda’s tray.

Zelda was humming a song and on her tray sat six sweetly baked muffins and biscuits. Jasmine had not tasted it, but even from where she stood, she knew it would taste nice. Where did Zelda learn how to make those? She thought.

Her eyes looked back at her pan of cake and then at Zelda’s tray and she couldn’t help but laugh at herself.

“Okay! The time is up!” Lady Weslee walked to the podium and announced.

“The Princesses should step forward with their snacks, immediately!”

Lady Weslee announced and one after the other, they walked out carrying their trays.