30 minutes of writing:
The common's kitchen was Maggie's favorite place to be on crisp fall mornings like these. After Nurse Anne woke her in the morning, she shoved on her most broken-in blue dress, splashed some water on her face, and barely ran a brush through her sleep-tousled, reddish blonde curls before sprinting down the stone steps and across the cobbled courtyard. She could feel the heat from the ovens before she opened the door and it enveloped her like the warm, down coverlet on her bed as she walked into the room. The kitchen was buzzing with the sounds of the busy staff, pots were clanging, whisks whispered against the edges of large metal bowls, and the workers chattered and whistled as they hurried to get the morning breakfast ready for Larkwhite Castle.
Mario was finishing the day's fresh bread, he had been up many hours already mixing, kneading, and waiting for the bread to rise so that he could get it in the oven with just enough time to bake and still be warm for breakfast. The sweet smell of the browning bread made Maggie's stomach gurgle. She waved quickly to Mario, knowing better than to be the distraction that would cause the bread to burn. She scuttled quickly out of the way of a frantic porter looking some lost cup or serving utensil over to Chef Reigna, who, although busy directing traffic and overseeing the final meal preparations, never seemed to have too little time to give Maggie a squeeze and sneak her a little treat or let slip what would be on the dessert menu for the evening.
Well hello, my little princess!" Reigna said, bending down to hug Maggie. "I think there will be a lot of leftover bread today, since the hunting party hasn't come back yet." She winked, knowing that Maggie had a soft spot for bread pudding once the weather started to turn.
Maggie grinned back at her, "I hope they come back soon, Chef, and I hope that they bring a big deer back for you, too!."
"Ahhh, that would be nice now dearie, wouldn't it though? I think if you go over by my books, there may be something there to keep you satisfied until breakfast is served." She gave Maggie a pinch on the cheek and a quick kiss on the forehead before sending her off in the direction of the over-sized, stained leather book that kept all of the Chef's secret recipes and notes. Hidden between the book and wall was a small pile of glazed nuts and dried plums. Maggie snuck them into the pocket of her dress, waved a quick goodbye, and headed out the back door.
The back door of the kitchens led to a sort of Alley where Maggie could sit, in peace, eat her treat and play with Goo, the cat the hung around and kept the mice out of the pantries. She sat on a weathered brown crate, pulled the nuts out of her pocket and laid them on her lap. She was just about to call out for Goo when she overheard Nurse Anne from the corridor above the kitchen that led to the staff quarters, speaking to one of the stable's horse trainers. She decided to keep quiet to eavesdrop on their conversation, as this was the only way to get the best gossip on the comings and goings in the castle.
She picked what she could from their hushed tones, but soon gathered that the children of a distant-relative had been recently been orphaned, and was to come live at Larkwhite! There was a distinct lack of other children to play with, as many of the children of the cooks, stable-hands, and other staff had chores of their own to do, and were thus limited to the amount of time they could play.
...end 30 minutes.
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