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“Lyna, do you want to bake something with me?”
Lyna looked up at the half of her grandfather’s face that she could see and frowned. “Grandfather, I remember my cake.”
The Crystal Exarch fumbled with the recipe he had in his hands. “L-Lyna, please, it only looked horrible. Besides, with you helping me, it’s bound to be better than that was, right?”
She brightened considerably at the thought. “Okay, I’ll help! What is it?”
He handed her the recipe and started walking to the kitchen. “They’re called cinnamon rolls, my dear. They’re best served warm, and they taste sweet.”
“This isn’t your handwriting,” she said, confused. Lyna hopped onto the stepstool that she used in the kitchen. “And it’s not Katliss’s either. Did you find it in a book?”
The Crystal Exarch smiled and patted her hair as he kept pulling ingredients out of storage. He had traded and requested gathering missions especially so he could make these with her. When they were finished baking, he would set some aside for the two of them—mostly Lyna, since he didn’t really need to eat—and then give the rest to the markets and the Mean. “I got that recipe from a friend, before the Flood.”
Lyna’s eyes widened in awe. “Before the Flood?”
“That’s right. Her name was Krile, and she was a scholar. She and I shared a few recipes between us.” Even if Sharlayan cuisine was flat and boring, there were moments when they were able to enjoy good food. He paused for a moment, his hands hovering over the mixing bowls. “I know not if she survived the Flood,” he said quietly. “I lost contact with her a few years before it happened.”
Lyna arranged the ingredients, not knowing what to say. “What’s ‘cream cheese,’ Grandfather?” she asked, spotting an unfamiliar ingredient.
“It’s exactly what it sounds like,” he told her, pulling out the butter he’d softened for this and plopping it into a mixing bowl. “It’s not quite cheese, but it is not liquid like cream. I assure you that you’ll love what it does for the recipe.” He checked the recipe one more time and then guided her over to wash their hands together. Once that was done, he clapped his hands and asked, “Now, Lyna, where do you want to start? The dough, the filling, or the icing?”
She looked at the recipe. “This says we should start with the dough,” she told him. “So… the dough?”
He gave her an apron and pulled one on himself. Together they mixed the dough, and he taught her a song to help the time pass. Lyna let out a squeal and then burst into laughter when they covered themselves in flour. “We’re ghosts!” she cried, and then ran away when her grandfather began making ghost noises.
Once he had wrangled her back into the kitchen, gotten the flour off both of them, and finished making the dough, the Exarch put it aside and covered it with a warm towel. “It’s to help the dough rise,” he told Lyna when she gave him a questioning look. “I’m not completely hopeless in the kitchen, my dear.”
“Only mostly hopeless. That’s what Katliss said.”
He put a hand to his face in embarrassment and instead of responding, chose to wipe the counter to prepare for the next step. So far, their dough had turned out well, so he thought Katliss was just exaggerating. Besides, he’d made cinnamon rolls before! Granted, it had been decades, but the steps weren’t unfamiliar. A bit rusty, but not unfamiliar. “Now for the filling,” he declared, and pulled those ingredients in front of them.
As they mixed brown sugar and cinnamon together, Lyna looked up at him. “This is fun! How come we never do this stuff?”
The Exarch chuckled. “I thought you just said I was mostly hopeless at baking, Lyna?”
She shook her head in protest. “Katliss says that, not me!”
He laughed. “Very well. We don’t bake that often because I’m very busy, my dear. The Crystarium constantly needs my guidance. But I still make time for you, because I love you.”
His granddaughter squirmed, both uncomfortable and pleased by it. She was just reaching that age where saying “I love you” was for babies and yet desperately yearned to hear it. She mumbled, “I love you too,” and quickly went back to mixing the filling. “Maybe we should bake more,” she said a bit louder, and peeked at the dough. “When is it going to be ready?”
“Not quite yet.” He pulled her hand away and rearranged the towel. “It’ll be another hour or so. We can wash the dishes while we wait.”
Lyna dragged her stepstool to the sink and once again they were singing to help pass the time washing dishes. When that was done, they still had time left, so he read her a story while they waited. But Lyna was antsy and bounced her knee the whole time, wondering when they’d get to the next step.
At last, it was time to roll out the dough and spread the filling on top. “Carefully, Lyna,” he instructed. “We don’t want the filling to get on the counter.” Once they were satisfied, they curled the dough into its proper shape and Lyna watched him cut the dough.
Suddenly she gasped. “Oh, Grandfather! We forgot to prepare the oven!”
The Exarch smiled knowingly. “No, we didn’t. The rolls have to rise a little more after we cut them, and I was going to use that time to prepare the oven.”
“More waiting?” she complained with a pout.
“It’ll be less waiting as we prepare the oven,” he pointed out, and they arranged the rolls in pans. After that, he covered them up and went to heat the oven. It would take a while for the fire to be the right temperature, so the two of them watched and waited.
“Grandfather, tell me about the Moon again. Please?”
He let out a sigh, like he always did when remembering the moon and the woman who reminded him of it. “Well, as you know, the Moon is very beautiful.”
Lyna nodded sagely. “Beautiful inside and out,” she recited.
“That’s right, my dear. The Moon helps all the other stars in the sky. Even our big, bold Sun loves the Moon.”
“But the Sun is mean,” she protested. “How can the Sun love the Moon?”
He shook his head. “The Light is hiding the Sun, Lyna. He can’t find her, and she can’t find him. But until that day they reunite, she will protect all the stars in the sunless sea, dancing and singing. Her laugh will keep them smiling, and they’ll sleep in peace and safety.”
“And what about the Sun?”
“The Sun will watch over us as he fights back against the Light. It used to be his fight against evil, but the Light overwhelmed him and now, we must wait for the Moon to bring back the night. She will cover us all with a blanket, and someday Lyna, you will see what it’s like to sleep with the Moon in your window, and the stars sparkling above.”
Lyna sighed. “Are you sure, Grandfather? When will that be? Can it be soon?”
He smiled, and under his hood his eyes were full of unshed tears. “It’ll be during your lifetime, Lyna, I promise you. That may not seem very soon, but it will be sooner than you may think.” It wasn’t yet time to pull the Warrior of Light away from the Source. He kept an eye on his home shard at all times, and it would be a while before he could start summoning his old friend.
She huffed and puffed her cheeks. “So you mean forever, like these cinnamon rolls!”
At this, the Crystal Exarch let out a hearty laugh. “Not at all, Lyna! The fire is ready, and so are the rolls. Let’s put them in and then we can mix the topping.” He got to his feet and together they carefully slid the pans into the hot oven.
They had a fine afternoon baking cinnamon rolls, and Lyna decided all the waiting was worth the delicious treats. She was eager to share with the others in the Crystarium, and Katliss even gave the recipe her stamp of approval. And years later, when the Light split open over Lakeland to reveal the stars in the sunless sea, Lyna was reminded of the promise her grandfather made over cinnamon rolls.