Her Unwanted Mate On The Throne
Chapter 84

Chapter 84 At least you finally found a way to make yourself useful.

The main kitchen in the camp looked like any other regular kitchen she would expect in a home. Itwas good enough sized and homey, but she had to admit it was a little hard to imagine how thecooks managed to feed the whole village with such a small space. They were truly talented-sincethere was always an endless amount of food being passed around. The room was hot enough forDoris to strip off her jacket after only seconds of standing in the entryway. An older man turned tolook at her with a curious lift of his brow but said nothing as she hung her coat. The ovens were on,but it appeared that nothing was inside them yet. It made her wonder if they were always left on,just in case. A large pot on the stove was filled to the brim with some sort of warm soup that madeher long to curl up by the fire with the largest bowl possible. “Hello, sir.” Doris stepped further inand held out her hand. He glanced down at it before he seemed to decide to oblige her. “I waswondering if I could use some of your ingredients and ovens to bake something small. I promise toclean up after myself and replace whatever I use.” “Oh, you like to cook?” The man asked. He had athick accent that she wasn't familiar with, but it was lovely and went along with his kind face. “Yessir, I love to bake. I've missed being in the kitchen, it's been a long time.” Doris glanced around andfelt her head spin with all of the delicious scents. It was so calm in here. The kitchens at the palacewere always so loud and busy. It was hard to replace any sense of peace there without a string ofanxiety to follow. She wasn't sure if there were more cooks that helped, but for the moment it wasjust him. “Hmm, I see.” The old man crossed his arms. “What did you have in mind?” “I was thinkingsomething simple. A chocolate cake and frosting.” Doris brushed her hair behind her ears. “I'mDoris, by the way.” “I know who you are, my dear. You can call me Poe.” He turned his back on herto pull down a glass bowl. “You may use my kitchen and ingredients on two conditions.” “Of course,anything.” “You have to keep an eye on my soup, and you have to clean up after yourself.” Heturned and placed the bowl in her hands. He smiled a little and winked. “Stay for as long as youneed and have someone come replace me when you're done.” “Oh! That's so kind of you. Thank you,Poe.” Doris smiled widely. Poe went to the coat rack to pull on his jacket. This village was full ofsome of the kindest people. Each day that passed only made it harder when she realized they wouldsoon leave this place and she would have to go back to her old life where she had no choices.“You'll replace everything you need for sweets in the lower cabinets.” He pointed.” Maybe leave me aslice, eh?” He said and smiled.

Doris laughed a little. “Absolutely.” Once he was gone, Doris searched through all of the cabinets topull out everything she needed and got to work. Her wolf remained silent the entire time, most ofher was thrilled to have the silence. Her head could get so loud, but baking always centered her andreminded her how to keep a bit of clarity. There was nothing to stress over, only getting the reciperight. She missed those sort of simple worries. She couldn't help but think of the times her largestworries were replaceing misplaced books and removing all the cobwebs around the shelves. Now sheworried if she would witness another murder almost daily. She moved around the kitchen as if it washer own. It felt like an old dance as she placed the cake pans in the ovens and spun around to cleanup the mess she made. By the time she wiped the counters clean, she was pulling out the hot pansand starting the frosting. She set the blazing pans by the cold window and had them cooled in notime. She cut the cake into pieces and left one on the counters before she carried the rest of it out.She was almost sad to be finished so soon. Time always seemed to fly faster when she was enjoyingherself—but at least she had a taste of what it was like to feel lighter. At least for a little while. 1Each step towards William's cabin filled her with a heavy weight once more as her unease andnerves came rushing back in. What if he turned her away? He hadn't spoken to her once since hespat at her feet. The memory burned worse than any fire ever could. She swallowed her pride beforeshe knocked on his door. His deep grumbled beyond it. “What?” “It's me.” Doris leaned closer as if itwould make him hear her better. She glanced around and was glad to see no one was around tosee her pathetic attempt at civility with a grumpy prince. There was a pause that lasted hours in hermind. She cleared her throat and took a small step back as if to prepare herself to run as fast aspossible away from this door. It wasn't worth it, she knew it was an awful idea “Come in.” He said.Doris released a breath and opened his door slowly. Her eyes found him instantly by the dimmingfire. His eyes lit up beautifully against the light. What a curse it must be to have such beautiful eyeslike that. His dark lashes raised and suddenly they were on her without a warning. She closed thedoor behind her and lifted the plate in her hands. “I made you some dessert.” “It's not even dinnertime.” He said blandly. Doris felt her cheeks heat instantly, she took a step back towards the door."Yes, right. I meant for later-of course.” Doris looked around for an area to put it so she could leave.“I'll leave it over here—" “Come here.” He said. His words rooted her in place and she hated he hadthat sort of power over her. He leaned forward n his seat and gestured to the chair next to his . ownand her feet had no choice but to obey. She gently placed the plate of cake slices on the table infront of him before she sat. She shifted uncomfortably in her bulky coat. William looked over theslices as if he'd never seen such a dish before. “Did you already have some?” “Oh! No, of course not.The nice old man in the kitchen asked for a piece if I used his things.” Doris pulled her arms free ofher constricting coat. Why did she always feel as if she was about to suffocate in his presence?William brushed his thumb across his lower lip. She wished her eyes hadn't seen that, now shecouldn't look away from his mouth. “Have some with me now, then.” He said. Doris almost thoughtshe imagined it. Her wolf woke up a little and made a sound of approval. “Are you sure? I can havedinner brought for you first if you—". “No.” He said and grabbed a slice with his bare hands. Dorislaughed in surprise when he took a large bite. His eyes snapped to her and took in the sight of hersmile as if he was drinking it in. Doris clamped her lips shut and brushed har hair behind her ear. “Iwasn't sure of your favorite so I made chocolate.” She cleared her throat and leaned forward to wipea bit of frosting off the plate with her finger to have a taste. “Oh,” Doris moaned a little. “I've missedthe taste of chocolate.” William watched her with such intensity, she felt as if a fire erupted insideher chest. His blue eyes trailed across her face and along her lips with a different sort of heat shewasn't used to. “It's good.” He finally said. His large hand gripped the edge of her chair and broughther seat closer to him. She held her breath as he used his thumb to wipe a bit of chocolate near herlips. He was so close to her, she knew he could hear how loud her heart pounded. “Why did youmake me this?” He asked with a voice that was meant just for her. “I... I just thought you would likeit.” The air felt thicker when he looked at her like that. His eyes watched her mouth whenever shespoke and had a hard time looking anywhere else. He shoved the rest of the piece in his mouth andleaned back away from her. “You were right.” He stood and brushed the crumbs off his shirt. “Atleast you finally found a way to make yourself useful.” 7