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Dinnertime was always Hornet’s favourite point of the day when she would stay at the White Palace. The little bug was absolutely ravenous, and would pretty much eat every single thing that was put in front of her. The White Palace’s chefs cooked the finest meals, which made the young princess even more ravenous than she would be if she was just eating a regular meal. When she would stay, the chefs had to make sure to cook extra for the royal family as Hornet could and would eat everything they made if they were underprepared.
Sitting at the dining room table with the Pale King and the White Lady, Hornet bounced in her seat as the chefs worked on the food in the kitchen. She was tapping her fingers on the table erratically when the White Lady took notice of her hyperactivity.
“Hornet, dear, calm down. The food will be ready soon.” she said warmly.
“But I want it noooooooooooooooooow!” Hornet indignantly shouted, and the Pale King and White Lady groaned and giggled respectively at the child’s antics.
After a minute that Hornet could swear lasted a lifetime, the servers came into the room with delicious meals on large platters. One of the servers went next to Hornet and gently placed her meal in front of her, being extra cautious as the young spider would swipe at him in an attempt to get her food faster. Once it was placed on the table, Hornet admired the food in front of her. It was a massive Crawlid steak, steaming hot. In Deepnest, most, if not all of the food Hornet ate was raw, having just been retrieved from a hunt, however in the palace, they used fire to make meat even tastier somehow. Just as Hornet was about to eviscerate the steak in front of her, one of the servers placed a strange glass container with a white granular powder inside. Entranced by this new object, Hornet immediately inquired about it.
“Papa, what’s this?” she asked.
“That is a salt shaker. It lets you sprinkle salt onto food.” the king replied.
“What’s salt?” she asked again, and the White Lady chimed in.
“It’s a seasoning that can make food taste better.”
Just as Hornet was about to ask what a seasoning was, the White Lady picked up the salt shaker with one of her roots and gently sprinkled some salt onto the steak. Hornet stared intently as the little white flakes landed on top of the meat, supposedly making it taste better. She was very excited at the prospect of this.
“There you go. Dig in!” the White Lady cheerfully exclaimed.
Hornet wasted no time to take a bite out of the steak, abstaining from using the utensils and instead picking it up with her claws and biting in. Immediately upon getting a taste, her eyes widened at the flavour. It was certainly different than usual, slightly tangy, but in a good way. After setting the steak down, she reached for the container of her new favourite thing in the world to add more of it to her meal.
“Hornet!” the Pale King scolded, but the young spider was not dissuaded.
“Don’t worry about it, my Wyrm.” the White Lady interjected, “She can add a little more salt if she wants.”
Hornet certainly took these words to heart as she added more salt to the steak. After finishing sprinkling the salt, she set the shaker down and took another bite of the steak. It tasted even better. She let out a satisfied hum as she took another chomp of her meal. Setting her steak down again, she had an idea. While the king and queen were busy with their meals, she grabbed the salt shaker again and twisted off the cap of the shaker, then dumped all of the salt onto the steak. It was absolutely covered in the stuff, and while any other bug would’ve been revolted at the sheer amount of salt, Hornet’s mouth began to water at the sight. She threw the shaker behind her which drew the attention of the king and queen. Picking up the steak again, the excess salt slid off of it, and the king and queen, both noticing what Hornet had done, reached out in an attempt to stop her.
“Hornet, no!” they both shouted, but Hornet didn’t stop and took a huge bite out of the salt-covered steak.
Immediately gagging at the overwhelming saltiness, she spit the piece of steak back onto the plate.
“Blehhh! Blehhhhhhh!” she choked out, and the Pale King got up from his seat to hug the child.
“Hornet! That was way too much salt! You need to be careful.” he cautioned as Hornet continued to make noises of disgust.
It took a moment (and a glass of water) before Hornet calmed down. She let out a few sniffles and the king gave her a big hug as the queen looked on in worry.
“How are you feeling?” he inquired.
“Better.” Hornet said quietly.
“Good. Have you learned your lesson?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, good. I’ll ask the chefs to make another steak.”
“Thanks, papa.”