Chapter fifteen
Song recommendation . Train wreck by James Arthur . You never know by blackpink
The chatter reduced to a light murmur as they all waited in anticipation . Two of the carriage approached them with a great speed . Greater than that of a tortoise .
Niverea shook her head and sighed . If only she was able to afford the private carriage instead ,she would be free of little worries like this .
The private carriage that she had seen a few times when she's coming from the market , looked a lot better than this .
Madvil was having a hard time ,trying to loosen the Kno on the cow's neck . Niverea resisted the urge to stay put ,and keep looking forward like everyone was doing and went to help madvil out of the predicament .
The carriage reached them at last and they all formed a straight line , each waiting for their turn to board the carriage .
The two talkative women are now quiet and they eyed the left carriage .
Seems like everyone is very much interested in.
Good riddance.
After half an hour it finally got to Niverea's turn and she almost let out a squeal . Being in the sun for too long can turn one into a sudden romantic , glad to see their long lost lover .
She pointed to the left carriage and tried to smile at the scrawny looking man who eyed her with a bit of disdain .
Niverea knew why .
The slave bond on her neck was made visible in the potato sack excuse of a clothes that she wore . He gave her a once over ,spat out and pointed to the carriage on the right .
The one with a shaky roof .
What? No ! She must have made a mistake . So she tried again.
She tried to act coy as she have seen a few women do whenever they're demanding for a discount from a male trader . She used her index finger to pull her hair beneath her ear and smiled at the man , the scowl on his face disarmed her but she smiled anyways .
Like her life depended on it . Wider and wider till her lips couldn't possibly take more . The man raised a bushy brow at her attempt , grinned and shook his head .
As if meaning to tell her that " no ! Your little trick won't work on me , you dummy . "
Niverea rolled her eyes and hissed . No need to pretend to be sweet again , since her little sweeting trick didn't work .
She was shoved to the carriage and watched from the little window as madvil was bargaining with the man .
After a few argument , madvil thrusted a few coin into his hand and the cow was placed on the back .
It was a very little space that probably would be too small for the huge creature , but they've all got to manage .
Niverea thought , as the carriage door closed and they all sat still ,waiting for their departure .
Madvil still managed to send a few glares along Niverea's way and some meaningful stared to remind her of what she's going there for.
She's expected to be back within three or four days at most . But the weather is said to be forever Changing so there's no certainty .
All Niverea wished for what simply that there would be no rain .
She placed her palms on her laps as the carriage begin to move . Everyone minded their business for some minutes untill they were out of sight from the carriage park .
Niverea felt someone tapping her legs , she kicked the hand away . Her skin crawled in disgust .
Then another attempt .
Niverea turned to the side , to give whoever was it a few deserved lashing. To her suprise , she was met by a grinning woman , who looked strangely familiar .
She tried to recall where she had seen the face before , the woman flashed her a yellow smile and she instantly remembered .
The dàâ woman !
But where was her gossip partner ,??
She managed a small smile at the woman and fervently hoped she'll leave her alone after this . But seems like she'll definitely have a tough luck with that as a hand was tapping her again.
"Ah barka ! . " Niverea muttered a curse as she glared at the woman .
She gave her an apologetic smile and shook her head .
"Barka girl ? Those are some foul words you've gotten there . " The woman said .
Niverea said nothing and simply turned her head and continue staring out .
"Want some ??. " She held out some mashed potato ball at her .
Though it looked good , the woman was far from good . Her eyes carried mischief and something .
"No , thank you . " She spoke through clenched teeth . Is there a way to throw someone out of the carriage without causing a fuss ,? She sincerely wished there was .
"You're going to sell that cow , no ? " The woman spoke again . I'm between mouthfuls of potato .
Niverea wished the woman would swallow first before speaking .
Niverea nodded her head and tried to concentrate on the flip flops of the carriage on the stony road instead of the irritating mashed potatoes and it's surprisingly wafting delicious smell .
Barka !
The woman took notes of her discomfort and stopped talking for a minute and swallowed . She grinned again , showing that stained teeth. She opened her box and brought out two more ball of fried potatoes .
Niverea gulped and even tried to cover her nose . It looked totally delicious .
"Would you like some ? This one is fried . I thought you might not like the boiled one since you rejected it . Why not try this ,? It has some special ingredients . " She winked . She thrusted the food into Niverea's waiting hand and smiled .
"I'll just have a little taste to see how it tastes since you're that confident in your secret ingredient . " Niverea spoke as she munched on it .
Her eyes closed involuntarily as she savoured the taste . She chewed and relished the exquisite taste . Some meats and pepper was in it , it was very flavory and had a smoky taste to it .
Who knew this woman could cook like this ,?? Unbelievable . She almost asked for more but stopped her herself .
"How was it ? What do you think? I make it from my very own recipe . " The woman beamed at her .
Niverea scrunched her nose and nodded .
"It's just , well so-so . " She shrugged and tried to appear nonchalant .
The woman frowned , not liking the fact that her recipe was called so-so by someone . She placed the remaining in Niverea's hand . She looked hopeful as she urged Niverea to try it .
Niverea chewed almost everything at once , she once again fell in love with it . Something which she didn't know what, was placed inside and it melted inside her mouth .
She closed her eyes and let her tongue swell with burst of flavors after flavors . Who knew potatoes could be this sweet ?!
"What is that ?? . " She couldn't help asking . She had never eaten anything as delicious as that .
"You mean what was inside ? It's called cheese . And it's mostly made from milk . I decided to test it to see how it would taste . " The woman looked proud of herself as her eyes shone with self appraisal .
"Did you say milk ? " An idea popped into her head as she asked to confirm . If that's true , that means any way of making money .
"Yes milk . Ohhh . " The woman eyes grew in understanding .
" Well I can help you make more money then . There's this friend of mine that sells things like this . You should take your cos to her as soon as you've gotten to the city . I'll help you. "
Niverea thanked the woman and drank some water from her bottle . This should do for lunch .
The carriage was still moving , but very slowly . Niverea sometimes catch glimpses of the blue sky from the roof of the carriage whenever it shifts .
She could only pray nothing disastrous happens .
The road was very bad , and they often made a few stops, to remove some stumps , to repair the wheel or to feed the horses .
"Is this your first time going to the city ? . " The woman whose name she had learned was Cecilia asked .
"Yes . This is my first time . What about you ? " She titled her head and directed the question to Cecilia.
"Oh no . This isn't my first time . I actually work there . As a chef . "
Again , there was that look of self appraisal as if she was proud of her hard work . Well , Niverea supposed one could be proud of what they gained through their hard work .
"Chef ? What's a chef?? . " The question flew out of her mouth without thinking . She shouldn't have asked that , as she saw Cecilia trying not to laugh . Well she couldn't control her inquisitive mind .
"A chef is someone who cooks for living . " Cecilia answered diligently .
" For a living ? Aren't we supposed to cook and eat so that you can live ? You'll die if you don't eat , no ? . " She was confused . Isn't that just a basic thing to do ?
Cook for a living ?
Cecilia laughed so hard that she almost rolled off to the floor .
Adding more to Niverea's confusion . What's for funny ?
"How should I put it ? Some people in the city , mostly the higher demons and elves can't cook . They deem it as something that's below their level , hence they hire people like me to cook for them . They pay me ,and I'll cook for them . "
"Well why are they eating then ? They should have deemed eating below them too . " Niverea rolled her eyes and hissed .
Cecilia proved to much more than what Niverea had initially thought of her . She was very knowledgeable about the great of civilization and how things work there . Her yellow teeth wasn't just doing it for Niverea .
"Why do you chew dàá ? . " She found herself asking again , another question that's out of the conversation area .
"Hmm . " Cecilia begin thoughtful for a moment . "You see , many people see it as a trend . A fashion and I decided to try it . Only to find myself in it's claws. It's hard to stop after starting . " She looked apologetic
Niverea shuddered as she remembered the bitter as bile taste .
Suddenly the sky darkened , frightening Niverea . She wasn't used to weather changes as this . She clutched her clothes tighter as she watched the clouds turned dark and formed immensely .
"Don't be afraid . It's just rain . " Cecilia said , glancing up to the sky .
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