'Til Kingdom Comes - The Banished Prince Vol 2: Here Comes The Witches

Biscuits That Melt In Your Mouth

I pondered for a while and finally supplicate, "So what do you Pagan Witches and Sorcerers actually do?" I turned to Heather and saw that she had her sheets of paper in front of her, ready to take down important notes that would soon be sketched out by the Pagan Witches.

I myself have the census population book in front of me, with my quill inside the inkpot but had kept the cover closed because of several reasons.

Firstly, would the citizens accept these Witches? Secondly, would the Witches be able to accept living in the community here? And thirdly, what are the special abilities they were mentioning about?

By this time, a baker brought in a platter filled with biscuits with a jug of strawberry milk. The witches and sorcerers couldn't help but twitch their noses when they smelled the biscuits and the strawberry milk.

They knew that strawberry and milk was a drink only for the wealthy and famous but right now, the refreshments were served to them instead...!

"Your Majesty, would you and the Ministers like to have a set of biscuit as well?" the Baker proposed since we would normally get our own snacks and refreshments if we need to as we would prefer no special treatment given to us.

By looking at the assorted biscuits before the visitors, I simply nodded my head. Besides, work is going to end soon for the citizens and they would be resting or be helping out around the town.

The baker saw me nod the reply, went back to the bakery and prepared the refreshments for us.

"This biscuits belonged to Gracehaven's Finest Bakery. Our bread, even if it was made from rye, barley and oats were the softest and scrumptious meal you ever have sunk your teeth in."

"Go on, don't be shy. Don't worry about us, we don't regard ourselves as special and be treated levels higher than our citizens. We are all equals here."

I motioned the visitors to have their light refreshments as they shyly took one in the hands, cupped them up and smelled. "Waah... The smell of these biscuits is so different...! What I know about biscuits is that you could throw against someone and knock the person out cold. Hehehe."

A young witch articulated while she held the piece of round biscuit with a bit of chopped cherries on it. It was the butterscotch biscuit and was the first one Jennings had shown how it was made using the biscuit shaper and dispenser.

Penelope who was sitting a bit too far for her foot to reach out and kick the young witch that was captivated by the biscuit, just glared at her instead. The young witch just raised her biscuit and then she plopped the whole piece right inside her mouth.

"Ooooo... Hwa Hwa Hwa... Twis wiscuit wis willy swunptous. Ooo.. Wu whud twy wid wiwelda... Hwa hwa hwa...! Swowwy Wor Wawesty... Twis wis wevvy wise..." the young witch that had just popped the biscuit whole inside her mouth was practically forgetting her table manners and forgets who was sitting before them.

The delightfulness of consuming such snacks was beyond their wildest dreams. They never knew that such biscuit exists before them as they knew biscuits were practically like hockey pucks...!

"Hahaha... Enjoy your biscuits first. It is customary here not to talk when there's food before you." I prompted to the visitors as they slowly bite and munch into their biscuits before them.

Every one of them had crescent moon eyes on their faces and they were sort of being in a euphoric state of mind. Even the fierce Penelope was nodding her head while closing her eyes as she slowly munched.

The laddie had taken an OTAP and was intrigued by its flaky texture and light texture and when he bit into it, it simply crumbles and he have to cup his hand below it to not let those crumbs fell on the table.

The burst of flavours and sweetness caused him to have a lockjaw as he held the sides of his jaw with sparkling eyes.

After everyone had cleared the biscuits off the table, moist fruit and Nutty Cakes were served and everyone had 2 slices each. I waved my hands indicating that we do not wish to have those cakes but saved it for later as we do have an assortment of those up in our chamber to munch when we are poring over our books or accounts.

When the cakes were served on individual clay saucers, they can't help but peer at them at close proximity. They looked like a scientist who had just seen such a specimen for the first time as they brought the saucers up close to their eye level.

They peered at it, sniffed it and even poked at it to find its density and sponginess? They peered at each other's saucers and discovered that it came with an assortment of fruits and nuts and the outlook of the cake was like an ant's nest cake.

It was a mellow yellowish in colour, due to the orange extract and zest, and had a burst of colours within that had been filled with assorted dried fruits and nuts.

They pinched the sides of the cake and brought it to their lips and the sweetness, tanginess, as well as the sweet aroma of liqueur, permeated their taste buds as once again it made them salivate as to welcome the new taste into their mouths.

Once again, the Witches and Sorcerers, as well as the civilian lad, were taken for a roller coaster ride of new taste and experiences they had never had in their lifetime before and would only hear or see them through the window sills of the bakers before.

But now, it's different as the cake that was normally found during the festive seasons was readily available at any time.

Even if its the highest priced foodstuff in Gracehaven, but it doesn't stop the citizens to purchase them weekly at 1s per pound.

"We are sorry, your Majesty. We are simply captivated with this town's biscuit and cake. We had never ever tasted such fine food in our lives before. Are there nobles here in this town that consumes these?" Penelope expressed in words about the pleasures that were derived from just having these teatime snacks.

"Not to worry... This is expected to those who had just experienced such rich foods. Besides, the answer to your question is no. There are no other nobles here in this town except for us two. The rest are all hard-working citizens of Gracehaven."

"Oh... You mean that these biscuits and cakes can be bought and consumed by the local citizens here despite their social status?"

I nodded my head and this surprised the visitors since they thought that there was a restriction on the level differences between the commoners and the upper-classmen.

They heard that the commoners were not able to wear luxurious clothing and also to consume food that was fit for the nobles. The differences that were set by some of these higher-ups were truly nonsensical.

If one is a commoner and he could afford these, why can't he choose to purchase them? It's a bill or a law that was passed down and it was utter horse s**t.

They somewhat have a notion that Gracehaven Town was actually a town different from the others, as they never expected a territorial king to be ruling over this small piece of land with minimal defences but with maximum benefits.

Penelope recalled that I had asked the group a question but was distracted by one of the young Witches who was tasting the biscuit earlier. "Your Majesty, pardon us for the delay in replying to you for the question that you had asked much earlier."

"We are considered as White Witches and what we do is that we are able to perform blessings to infertile lands, locate a well deep inside the ground for the farmlands and livestock, we also help to find precious minerals and also gems and many more."

"What we do would be just a simple incantation and that's it. We're done. Not like those Black Witches that were like half-crazed women. *shudder* I would run away from them as far as possible if I were to meet them."

"But alas, we also have a perception of how to detect an aura of a person if its negative or positive or even if the person was a normal or one with special abilities."

Penelope concluded about the general overview of the Pagan Witches and Sorcerers so that I would not get the wrong perception about Witches anymore.

"What specific abilities do you possess? Maybe each one of you could narrate to us so our Queen here could note it down for future references?"

"It's interesting to know about special abilities and believe me, we are not even a bit afraid of such powers." I requested from the leader of the group as they looked at each other, with smiles carved up in their faces, visibly delighted that they, for the first time in their lives, knew of someone who was interested in their special abilities and not regards it as a curse.

They somehow felt very blessed being able to sit together on a single table and discuss with the royalty before them. Never did they imagine that their fate would come along in the most favourable manner.

The group was simply elated as they looked at Penelope to begin narrating her part first and followed by the rest. They felt accepted and appreciated by this royalty before them along with the group of people sitting with them.

The royalty and the group of people around them were simply looking forward to hearing what the Witches and Sorcerers could do.

So, Penelope began to narrate her special abilities and what she could do, followed by the rest of the ladies first and then by the men. Lastly, it was Andy's turn to speak and he said that his special abilities were as a gong farmer, an arrowsmith, a Fletcher as well as a salesperson for the arrows and quivers.

Taking it as a joke coming from Andy, we all laughed heartily and asked, "Laddie, how much does it costs for these fine arrows? There are 50 of them inside each quiver right?"

The lad nodded his head and soon replied, "It costs 1s per quiver of arrows, Your Majesty. These arrows were mainly bought by militiamen and also bowmen who served in the battlefront. There are another 2 variations but it was not being produced because I do not have a proper working place to work on it. You can have them if you'd like, Your Majesty."

I nodded my head and signalled to Heather who fetched her petty cash box from our Chambers. I whispered to her to hand over 10 silvers to Eagle and she did so. She handed the money to Eagle where he promptly pressed it into the palms of the laddie.

"Eeehhh... This is too much, Your Majesty. It only costs 5 silvers and there's an additional 5 more here." the lad spoke up to highlight about the extra he got. I nodded at his honesty and beamed a smile at him.

"The five is for your quivers and arrows, and the balance is for you to share with the rest of the group. I am sure you would like to spend some of it here in this town, wouldn't you?"

The lad smiled as he placed the 10 silver coins before him and thanked us profusely. The group saw the 10 silvers before them and were soon filled with gratification since they were being treated as so.

"So, this comes with the next questions that I had asked earlier and had totally forgotten about it. What are your aim and purpose here in Gracehaven Town? Are you here on a visit? Are you here seeking employment? Or are you here seeking shelter and protection as well as to serve the Majesty and be employed in certain areas? "

The group blinked in astonishment at the questions that were shot at them and it took a while before they regained their composure and began to answer them.