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The little girl really didn’t like the palace. Too cold, to white, too quiet. But what she did like, was the food.
They always cooked her meat just right (few restaurants cooked meat as raw as she likes it), and they have the BEST toast, which was— in her opinion —delectable. Her preferred cuisine was rather… odd, considering the palette of most bugs, but they make it work.
So, when given the unspoken bargain of the royal supper that would be served afterwards, she decided to bear through the relentless trainings and teachings of Dryya and her parents (which were either exhausting or mind-numbingly boring). The reminder of tonight’s meal was the only thing forcing her to push through as blades collided, ink on feather-pens went dry and automatons whirred to life.
Eventually, finally, after 3 sparring sessions with the fierce warrior Dryya while internally begging for rest, and a writing lesson from her mother and a mechanical engineering lesson from her father where she was internally begging for movement in-between, a pause. A royal advisor knocking on the archway to get the warrior’s and the child’s attention, the little one was called for supper. She nearly bolted off without a word before remembering manners, thanking the advisor, bowing to Dryya and sheathing her tiny blade before she sprinted to the dining hall.
As she approached she slowed and quieted her footsteps, hopping into her chair just a right angle from her father, restraining herself from salivating at the near-to-raw meat laid in front of her. Once words of wisdom and appreciation for the meal and the well-being of the kingdom were spoken by her father she immediately tore into the meat, though still maintaining enough poise to not receive a glare from the Pale King.
Once the meal was finished (the little one much faster than others and left to shuffle restlessly in her seat), desert was served. Whether by knowledge or pure luck alone, Hornet lit up even more than she had before when she saw the dish in front of her; Strawberry Scones!!! The pastry was her all-time favorite desert, and she found it particularly delightful with tea. Just as she opened her maw to chomp into the dough, she was received a pointed throat-clearing from her father and straightened herself up a bit before devouring the bread in a slightly less messy manner. At the end of the day as the plates were cleared and the little one was free to return to her home, she was thoroughly satisfied with the day—
So worth it.