Seraphina seemed lost and did not understand what we meant by that. She believed she had regained the upper hand; however, it seemed that she was the one who had been trapped.
"I thought you were smarter and more cunning. It's a shame, I was considering lowering the value of my demand depending on your act of good faith...."
The young woman with blood-red eyes understood exactly what he was saying. It was a test, a test to observe her behavior and her reaction towards him. If she had freed him even before she made her request, Aelion would have been touched by her act and would not have asked for anything alarming, or otherwise would not have made an exorbitant demand. Had she failed?
Aelion had succeeded in his bluff, sure that he had no way of escaping by himself since the bars had been reinforced. He had to feign control of the situation and use a pretext as well as a very simple manipulation of words and phrases to achieve his goal. Seraphina, on the other hand, was now thinking about what she could offer, for now that the man could free himself at any moment, she no longer had any cards to play.
Didn't he affirm that I was a rather beautiful woman? she thought inwardly.
That was unfortunately her only option. According to her, if she negotiated well and, in addition to that, offered him her body, at least in appearance, then perhaps he would accept. After all, he was a man, and he was quite handsome, even if she did not want to admit it to herself.
While she was confronting herself in her mind, Aelion rose spontaneously and walked toward the iron bars that prevented him from leaving. Seraphina, seized with fear, believing he would free himself, used the blood formation with which she had reinforced the bars to tear them off, freeing him of her own accord, hoping that her action would be understood as an act of good faith. Of course, Aelion was not going to free himself; his gesture only served to push her into a corner.
Standing, the young man stretched and looked at Seraphina walking away without a word. Although she was at an impasse, she was dignified and had her pride—for now, at least. She was not going to bow at his feet either. She had to show dignity. A rumbling echoed throughout the prison. Its origin? Aelion's stomach.
"It seems I'm hungry," he said, casting a subtle glance at Seraphina, who turned her head as he finished his sentence.
"There's no way I'm cooking for you!! And keep a minimum distance of 2 to 3 meters from me, I don't want you to use your mysterious power as you did earlier—unless you're looking to flirt with death!!" replied Seraphina, annoyed and slightly angry.
"Who said you had to cook for me? I never said that... As for that power, I apologize, I made a mistake," continued Aelion, ironic.
---
A few moments later, Seraphina was in the castle kitchen, kneading dough with the help of her familiars, summoned earlier, who brought her spices.
Why am I ending up cooking for him when he didn't even ask me? I feel like he manipulates me at his will... him and his damned act of good faith, repeated Seraphina in her mind. Her face betrayed her annoyance; however, she put her heart into the task.
Seraphina did not really want to do it; however, those words, "proof of good faith," echoed in her mind and forced her to please her host and follow his rules. The young woman was not the type to plead or ask for what she wanted—she would take it by force or claim it as a right. Unfortunately, the man she had encountered feared neither death nor torture, and on top of that, he manipulated the place where he was at will. Seraphina was constrained. She still hoped he might make a reasonable request.
Aelion, meanwhile, stood a little farther away to respect her desire for distance. The embers of the fire she had lit earlier were already dying out. She needed someone to rekindle the flames, and only the man was there. Reluctantly, she had to ask for his help. Leaning against the workbench built into the wall where she was working, she closed her eyes for a moment, thinking about what she was going to do, then spoke to him.
"Since I'm going to the trouble of feeding someone in his own home, the least he could do is help and maintain a fire on the verge of going out..." affirmed Seraphina while mistreating the dough, a sign of veiled threat.
The young man raised both arms in surrender and walked toward the oven where the embers lay. He added wood and blew to revive them. The two individuals had stumbled upon the kitchen by accident when leaving the prison. Seraphina believed it was Aelion's doing, but it was pure coincidence.
Finally, outraged, she clenched her fists and went inside. That was when he discovered the kitchen—from the outside, of course, since she had stopped him at the door. The kitchen was rather vast, with a long workbench built into the wall, recesses for kitchen utensils, and spaces for fire. Three traditional stone ovens, cupboards fixed to the wall filled with spices and cooking ingredients, two barbecues, a cold room, and much more.
An apron was available. She put it on quickly, tying her hair back. Seraphina began by peeling potatoes and carrots, which she eventually cut into large pieces. She picked certain plants, which she boiled with the vegetables. Then, she went to the cold room and took a large portion of meat, which she seasoned, cut, and cooked in a large container, adding the potatoes, vegetables, and carrots as well as the herbs and aromatic plants.
Finally, it was at this stage that she began preparing the dough and asked for Aelion's help, who was lost in his olfactory senses when she started cooking. Now that he had managed to keep the fire going, she placed the worked dough in a container with a bit of oil and, with the help of a paddle, placed it in the oven. All that remained was to wait for it to bake.
Seraphina could finally rest a little. She collapsed into one of the chairs next to the dining table, staring at Aelion, who was also watching her from afar. Her arms seemed heavy and tired; yet, she tapped the table twice, indicating that he could come closer and sit near her—but at a certain distance.
"I didn't know you could cook so well."
"Not surprising, we just met."
An awkward silence cut the conversation between the two.
"I have a question... Weren't you supposed to be covered in blood? Why do you seem cleaner than me? Unless you had time to take a bath."
Seraphina rolled her eyes, disappointed. She had expected a more serious question or a discussion about how things would develop.
"Nothing is wasted... What do you think I used to reinforce your cell with? Listen, I really don't have time for a conversation that leads nowhere or aims at us knowing each other better, alright? Once you tell me how to get out of here, you and I will say goodbye. For now, I've got bread in the oven."