Written January 27th 11:05 PM

The interviews had been dragging on for a couple hours. They had seen plenty of worthy candidates – for some reason, people were queuing up to work for them on a mountain top in the ass-end of nowhere. But Ailith’s attention was lagging, her leg shaking with the effort of staying in one spot for so long. The guy in front of them – Dalen, maybe? Ailith couldn’t remember his name – had brought buns into the interview, which had already cemented him as the favourite candidate for the Keep’s cook.

“How are you with vegetarian meals?” Ace asked on Ailith’s behalf.

“Oh, well I don’t have a lot of experience with that sort of thing, but I’d be willing to try…” Dalen’s voice faded as Ailith’s mind drifted, thinking of her favourite meals. Fried onions and mushrooms, creamy tomato soup, vegetable stew – all delicious enough to make her stomach growl. Except, it didn’t. Ailith wasn’t hungry at all, even though it had been hours since breakfast. Had she even eaten breakfast this morning?

Ailith looked down at the bun still sitting on the table in front of her. Sure, it looked pretty damn tasty, but she didn’t feel any real urge to eat it. In fact, casting her mind back, she couldn’t remember when she last felt hungry. The night before the battle with Hostrasz she ate her way through three helpings of the heroes feast, but since then… not much of anything. Huh. That’s new.

Dalen was still talking when Ailith brought her attention back to him, going on about who Ailith could only assume was his wife and her paintings. She felt Feyra lean in close to her, her breath tickling the skin below Ailith’s ear.

“Don’t worry, Ailith. I’ll make sure you eat,” Feyra all but purred, quietly enough that only Ailith heard. The quill in Ailith’s hand snapped clean in two – the only indication that Ailith heard Feyra at all. She felt everyone else’s eyes flick to her briefly, but she remained straight faced, feigning interest in Dalen’s answers.

Feyra moved away and Ailith could practically feel the smirk the redhead was trying to hide. A different kind of hunger grew in Ailith’s belly and she bit back a grin. These interviews couldn’t end fast enough.