Grabbing a stoneware cup, I added the sweetener and milk to it before I poured in the strong, dark brew. It was similar to coffee without the bitter edge. I already loved it.
I was just taking my first sip when the back door opened, and Masu came in with an armful of wood. “Good morning, Leda,” she greeted me.
“Good morning, Masu.”
“Did you sleep well?”
Something about her tone when she asked made me glance at her. When our eyes met, she winked. With her red eyes and gray skin, the gesture looked strange, but her intent hit me, and I immediately felt heat rising in my cheeks.
“I did,” I answered. “How about you?”
“I did as well.”
I decided to change the subject. “What smells so good?”
She smirked at me as though she knew what I was doing and walked over to the stove. She opened the door on the side and slipped two of the thin logs inside, then tucked the rest into a box on the floor near the sink.
As she washed her hands, she finally answered my question. “I made winterberry porridge. The first winterberries are finally ripe, and it is the master’s favorite breakfast when the cold moves in.”
“It’s going to get colder?” I asked.
She nodded and dried her hands. “Autumn will last a few more weeks, but it will be winter soon.”
Once she was done, she grabbed a bowl and carried it to the huge pot on the stove. When she removed the lid, I got another whiff of whatever she had made.
I watched as she used a ladle to scoop out the porridge. She brought it over to the table with a spoon and set it in front of me. My eyes widened when I saw the rich magenta color of the porridge.
Reading my internal thought, Masu explained, “I cook the winterberries in the porridge with spices. It makes it take on this color.”
“I don’t really care what it looks like because it smells amazing. I just didn’t expect it to be this bright.”
She grinned at me. “Try it and tell me what you think.”
I dipped my spoon in the steaming mixture and took a small bite because it was still hot. A mix of sweet and tart hit mytongue, reminding me a little of cranberries but more floral. There was cinnamon and some other spices mixed in that made it taste like Christmas.
“I lied yesterday,” I said.
She stared at me in confusion.
“The noodles weren’t the best thing you’ve ever made me. This is.”
A wide, fanged grin spread across her face. “The master will eat this every day in the winter if I make it.”
I took another bite and replied with my mouth full. “I don’t blame him.”
I powered through the bowl of porridge and was just scraping the final bite out of the bottom when I heard a roar throughout the house.
“Leda!”
I dropped my spoon on the table, and the porridge splattered all over.
The door to the bedchamber upstairs flew open and smashed into the wall before rapid footsteps thundered down the hall to the stairs. I was on my feet and at the doorway leading from the kitchen to the front of the house when Bokkan hit the last stair. He rounded the corner, naked and with his muscles bulging, and stopped for a split second. Then, he was moving toward me again.
“Leda!”
I hurried out of the kitchen, hoping to intercept him before he walked insidecompletely nakedand gave Masu an eyeful of what I was beginning to consider my personal penis.
“What the hell, Bo?” I asked, coming to a stop a few feet from him.
