"You're not a gourmet chef! You're not even a regular chef! You're just a growth mage, and a stunted one at that," Wen-ci's mother, Saltha-ci Rhine shouted, her face contorted from its usual placid state.
Wen-ci winced away from her, glancing at her brother, Drak-ci for help. He, however, crossed his arms, returning a glare.
"I can defend myself. I don't need to be a chef to go research things," Wen-ci protested.
"No, and that's final," Saltha-ci Rhine said, slamming her hand on the heavy table that dominated the dining area of the Ci clan house's main living area.
Unlike the Ye clan house, the Ci clan house's main area was devoted to the display and devourment of food. It was to be expected since most of the family was involved in the food industry as chefs and food researchers. The Ye's were mainly in the procurement and production business with a new branching into cafes and quick bite places.
That was due to the marriage of several Cis to various Yes. The new blending tended towards serving food to the public, a perfect use of both sets of connections. It was what tended to happen when a Ci married into another family, no matter the business. There was even one distant cousin who ran a dessert parlor that specialized in intricate little confections that resembled the jewelry her new husband's family sold.
"I wasn't asking permission," Wen-ci replied, outraged. "And you're not helping, Drak-ci! What happened to you supporting me in my endeavors?"
"Not when the endeavors are stupid," Drak-ci said with a blink of his eyes that had Wen-ci's eyes narrowing.
"And what's stupid about going on a research journey?" Wen-ci demanded.
"You're going to the hinterlands of nowhere! That's what!" Her mother interrupted. "Don't make me drag your father into this!"
"You wouldn't dare," Wen-ci shot back.
"Oh, I wouldn't dare? What nerves you've cultivated, missy," Saltha-ci Rhine snarled at her third eldest child. "You've always been a thorn, Wen-ci! A sharp, unhappy thorn!"
Wen-ci gasped, eyes catching fire. Drak-ci flinched, shaking his head.
"Isn't that a bit much, Mother?" Drak-ci said. "She's not a thorn."
"Oh, yes, she is! A thorn in my happy little garden, right there!" Saltha-ci Rhine protested. She gestured angrily at Wen-ci. "Where are my grandchildren from her? Not even experimentals to be seen! You, at least, gave me an experimental before taking forever to make it official."
"We were busy," Drak-ci protested back. "Building a new restaurant is time consuming."
"And why are we talking about Drak-ci when we should be talking about me?" Wen-ci asked. She flounced into a chair and picked up an apple. She examined it critically. "Who bought the Water Apples? There's something wrong with this one."
"What do you mean 'wrong?'" Drak-ci asked, attention immediately diverted.
Saltha-ci Rhine beat him to the punch by plucking the apple from Wen-ci's hand. She ignored Wen-ci's exclamation of surprised protest to rotate the apple in her fingers.
With a disgusted cry, she threw it towards the wall, following it with a fireball honed by years of culinary use. The apple vaporized mid-air, releasing a dark gas that was immolated almost immediately.
"How many of those things are there?" Saltha-ci Rhine asked, her face pale.
Wen-ci and Drak-ci silently went through the fruit bowls set around the main dining room. Family members as well as servants would wander through during the day, scooping up snacks from either the fruit bowls or dessert displays scattered around the dining tables. To have tampered fruit was akin to declaring war on the clan.
"I think this is all the Water Apples," Wen-ci said, looking around the room to see if there were any she'd missed.
"I think we should check the rest of the fruit as well," Drak-ci muttered. "What about the fruit supplies for the rest of the residence?"
Saltha-ci Rhine paused, a fireball dancing in her palm. She frowned at her two middle children.
"Wen-ci, just what were you going to look into to?" Saltha-ci Rhine tossed the fireball towards the small pile of apples on the floor. She conjured another one for a follow up as the pile steamed and sputtered.
"The Yes got their hands on a cob of Blood Corn," Wen-ci admitted. "I was going to see the collective that supplied it to find out more information."
"Blood Corn?" Drak-ci asked, intrigued. "You say that the Yes have it?"
"Enough," Saltha-ci Rhine said, finishing her disposal of the tainted apples. "First, Blood Corn and now tainted Water Apples."
"They might be entirely unrelated," Wen-ci said hesitantly. She stared at the spot the apples had been. Her mother had used so much power that the stones had blackened and cracked.
"And just how likely is that supposed to be?" Saltha-ci Rhine huffed. "This provocation is clear to see. If you hadn't been arguing with me, would you even have taken the moment to examine the apple instead of just eating it?"
Both Drak-ci and Wen-ci shook their heads. It was a habit ingrained from when they were mere sprouts that safe snacks were available in the main living area. Everything in the living area catered to the specialty of the Cis which was cooking. There were displays of tiny desserts and fruits scattered in bowls and platters everywhere.
There were even little tables against the walls that held snacks and covered glass pitchers of drinks.
"Do you think anything else is tainted?" Wen-ci asked, her throat dry as she glanced around the spacious room.
"We won't know unless we test," Saltha-ci Rhine frowned, her lips compressing into a thin, unhappy line.
Drak-ci heaved a sigh.
"You still know the cantrips, right?" He asked Wen-ci who glared at him in indignation. "Well, you've been holed up in research for so long. How am I to know?"
"Children," Saltha-ci Rhine chided. "Drak-ci, you take the left side. Wen-ci, you do the right. I'm going to sweep the rest of the bowls in the first floor."
The two siblings exchanged resigned looks as their mother swept out towards the entrance.
"Do you really think it's a targeted thing?" Wen-ci asked.
"I think that it's not a coincidence that the Blood Corn popped up right before this happened." Drak-ci replied. "While it's a good thing that the Blood Corn has reappeared after so long, the fact that our Water Apples were tainted shows that someone doesn't want us to look into it."
"Because we'd be the first to expand the offerings?" Wen-ci held her hand over a platter of tea cakes. With a mental shrug, the cantrip was activated. "There's nothing in this one."
"Nor this one, thankfully," Drak-ci called back. "The one thing that is well known is our love for apples. We have so many uses of them on our menus, so it might not just be the Water Apples." He held up a Fire Apple. "This one is tainted as well."
Wen-ci watched as he incinerated the apple in his hand. She felt uneasy as her eyes swept over a plate of apple tarts, especially since one of the tiny pastries was missing, leaving behind only eleven on the plate. She cast her cantrip, frowning as the tarts started to glow with a dull red color.
"Someone's eaten one of these," Wen-ci said as Drak-ci came to stand next to her.
"Search. I'll take care of scanning the rest," Drak-ci said. He looked around the room, his eyes landing on an ornate clock sitting on the mantle over the main doorway. "It's not lunchtime yet. It's most likely one of the younger servants since school is in session."
"Then we're talking the babies." Wen-ci's stomach churned.
The babies weren't supposed to do anything other than act as couriers. Once old enough, they were sent to school along with the rest of the clan children. Both she and Drak-ci had had their own servants who'd mostly followed them and helped carry books and supplies.
As far as she knew, Lali had married one of her younger brothers, turning her into Lali-ci, and they ran one of the cafes the family owned in a nearby town.
"They should be gathered in the kitchens right now, prepping for the lunch gather." Drak-ci jerked his head at his sister.
Wen-ci nodded and departed. If that was the case, she didn't have long. The lunch gather would send the babies in several different directions to locate the foodstuffs needed. Some would go to the orchards, some to the farms and some of the older ones to town to buy whatever last minute items were needed.
Her fears were realized when she reached the kitchen. Her aunt, Winna-ci was leaning over a crying baby, the child's face streaked with tears as she clutched her stomach.
"Wen-ci!" Winna-ci exclaimed in relief at seeing her niece enter. "You know a cantrip for stomach aches, right?"
Wen-ci contained the impulse to roll her eyes. When she was younger, she did tend to overindulge, so learning cantrips for stomach troubles had been necessary. Her entire family still teased her about it.
"Let me see." Wen-ci knelt beside her aunt, flashing the baby a reassuring smile.
She glanced around. The other babies were standing in a semi-circle around the pair. Their ages ranged from four to eight, the eight-year-olds frowning at the crying child, clearly uneasy.
"So, have any of you eaten any tasty apples today?" Wen-ci asked, taking the child from her aunt's arm. Winna-ci shot her a sharp look at the question.
"Mala ate an apple tart when we went through Main," one of the six-year-olds volunteered.
"Is that so," Wen-ci murmured. "Apples sure are tasty, huh?"
"Of course, they are," one of the eight-year-olds replied gravely. "Lady Wen-ci, is Mala going to be alright?"
"Why, yes," Wen-ci said, holding up her hand and flashily casting the cantrip. She caught her aunt's eye and shook her head slightly.
"Well, we're not going to have apples today. How about we do fresh strawberry tarts," Winna-ci said in a voice thick with relish.
She instantly had the other children's attention, though the grave eight-year-old glanced at Wen-ci before nodding thoughtfully. Wen-ci made a mental note. The clan needed more fresh blood, though the child might already be one of the clan's. There weren't really distinctions made before schooling.
"Strawberry tarts sound delicious, Aunt Winna-ci," Wen-ci said, rubbing Mala's little tummy. Mala sniffled in her ear, her head resting on Wen-ci's shoulder. "How about you guys get going? A bushel should do for the day's bake."
"Yes, Lady Wen-ci," the children chorused.
They scooped up their discarded tablets and baskets, shuffling out of the backdoor of the kitchen.
"Want to tell me what's going on?" Winna-ci asked as the last of them toddled away.
"Not just yet," Wen-ci said, snapping her fingers at a basin sitting on a nearby table.
One of the remaining kitchen staff hurried over, bringing her the basin. Wen-ci held it in front of Mala, sweeping the girl's pigtails behind her shoulder.
"One more time, okay?" Wen-ci said in an encouraging tone.
Mala nodded. She leaned forward. Wen-ci cast her cantrip once more, rubbing the little one's back.
With a weird hiccupping cough, Mala vomited. What came out was a thick, black slurry that smelled faintly of apple.
"Burn it," Wen-ci said, engulfing the girl in a hug.
"Of course," Winna-ci said, taking the bowl. Her face was pale. "The apples?"
"We're clearing the house," Wen-ci said, listening to Mala's sniffling tears. "It's okay. The nasty stuff is out of your stomach, and no harm done, okay, sweetie?"
"'Kay," Mala whispered.
"How about some clotted cream and muffins?" One of the kitchen staff prompted, putting words to actions.
Both Mala and Wen-ci perked up.
"Not you," Winna-ci chided as she took Mala from Wen-ci's arms.
"But I'm traumatized, too!" Wen-ci protested.
"And I'm thinking you also need to talk to your mother," Winna-ci shot back. "I'm not going to court the Rhine's displeasure so you can stuff your face."
"Stingy," Wen-ci pouted as she stood up. She watched as the basin was tossed into the main kitchen fire. "The whole thing?"
"And who's going to use it now?" Winna-ci asked as she set Mala on a stool in front of a bowl of clotted cream. "Do you want some water berries on that?"
Mala happily nodded, her eyes never leaving the bowl.
"A potential water mage?" Wen-ci asked, pausing in her exit from the kitchen.
"A potential growth mage," Winna-ci corrected with a smug smile. "Unlike you, she actually likes plants."
"I like plants!"
"You like eating plants."
"Same thing," Wen-ci protested.
"Not," Mala piped up, picking up a carved stone spoon. Water berries had been generously sprinkled over the top of the clotted cream.
"Even children are bullying me," Wen-ci joked as she left with a laugh.