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Devi wasn’t unused to the gnawing pain of hunger – she had spent more of her young life with the feeling of being hungry, instead of the rare sensation of a full belly. Every urchin who grew up on the streets of Baldur’s Gate knew that food was a rare and valuable commodity, and one’s next meal was never guaranteed.
It had been a rough couple of days for Devi, even before the nautiloid scooped her up. She hadn’t eaten in two days, and her stomach was scolding her for it. At least, before her abduction, she’d been planning on going to the Elfsong and seeing if she could beg a bowl of soup from the cook. What hope had she of finding anything to eat in this wilderness, leagues away from any sort of civilization?
Fortunately, the smugglers who had accosted Devi and her party of fellow abductees had been prepared with supplies. As the sun started to set over the western horizon, Gale studied the foodstuffs that had been gathered, and nodded. “It won’t be extravagant,” he started with an apologetic tone of voice, “but I can prepare a meal for us out of this.”
“You cook?” Devi asked, studying the wizard in surprise. “I thought wizards just conjured food out of thin air when they were hungry.”
Gale snorted. “The Weave doesn’t quite work like that. But yes, to answer your question – I can cook. And I’m not a bad hand at it, if I do say so myself. My mother taught me to master a kitchen around the same time that I was beginning to master the Weave as a child.” He gathered up the food and tutted at the makeshift kitchen in the ruins that the smugglers had been using. “There probably isn’t a salt shaker to be seen anywhere in here, or a single leaf of rosemary or basil…”
Leaving Gale to putter, Devi made her way back to where the bedrolls had been set up around a campfire that Lae’zel had managed to build and ignite. A ferocious growl from her stomach made her wince before she could hide her facial expression. Sitting down on the bedroll that she had claimed as her own, she drew one of her daggers from her boots and started examining the blade. The blade appeared undamaged, much to her relief. This was one of the knives Jehn had given her before he’d disappeared; she would have been devastated to lose or harm the weapons.
It wasn’t long before her stomach growled again, cramping as Devi got a whiff of the vegetable stew Gale seemed to be making. She groaned softly at the smell of food drifting across the camp, her shaking hands barely hanging onto her knives. It was a mercy when Gale seemed to decide that the food was palatable enough, and made use of the bowls left around the camp to dish up the stew. A hand appeared in Devi’s vision, holding a wooden bowl full of food. “It’s certainly not up to my normal standards,” Gale started, “but for a lack of herbs and spices, it will do for now. Gods know we don’t need anyone wasting away from hunger before we find a healer.”
Devi gratefully accepted the bowl, all but snatching it out of Gale’s hand. “Thanks,” she remembered to say as she took the offered spoon and shoveled the first bite of a hot tuber into her mouth. It was fresh off the fire, hot enough to burn her mouth; she hissed in air in a vain effort to cool the potato down.
It might have just been her hunger, but Devi quickly decided that this stew was the best thing she’d eaten in months. Even the addition of mushrooms (normally a hated food) didn’t deter the half-elf from devouring her bowlful of stew. It was a disappointment when she found the bottom of the bowl with her spoon; she licked up the last few drops of broth from the wooden utensil and looked around.
She appeared to be the first one done, although Shadowheart was getting close to finishing her own bowl. Astarion was picking at his stew, although considering how scrawny he was, Devi didn’t think he was in any position to be picky about his food. Lae’zel and Gale seemed to be the only two eating like properly civilised people, taking their time with the contents of their bowls. Noticing Devi’s gaze, Gale swallowed the bite of stew in his mouth and smiled. “Still hungry? There’s plenty more in the pot – help yourself.”
More food? Devi certainly wasn’t going to say no to extra food, when she had no way of knowing when her next meal after this would be. She nodded and got up, filling her bowl again from the pot still suspended over the fire. It didn’t take her long to finish this second helping of food, although she did finally start to slow down with the last few bites. She felt much better, her stomach no longer gnawing away at her insides.
Still… she eyed the stew pot contemplatively, then got back up, intent on getting a third bowl of stew.
“Three bowls?” Gale raised a brow as he met Devi at the pot, back for a second helping of his own. “I didn’t realise you were so hungry.”
Devi flushed, but shrugged. “Not sure when we’re gonna eat again,” she said as though it were obvious as she loaded up her bowl again, then offered the ladle to Gale. “May as well eat up while I can, right?”
Gale’s brow furrowed. “Are you used to going hungry, then?”
“It’s not a big deal,” Devi shrugged again. “I’m used to it. Grew up poor and all.” No point in telling Gale that she was still wretchedly impoverished, and she could count her ribs under her skin when she took her shirt off, and she was more used to the feeling of hunger than she was to a full belly, and she was used to the uncomfortable feeling of being shaky and weak. It wasn’t the wizard’s business. “Besides, no guarantee we’ll find anything edible tomorrow.”
“I suppose not,” Gale admitted. “Eat up, then. Gods know you look like you could use the food.” He filled up his own bowl, then returned to his spot by the fire.
You’re not one to talk, Devi thought, watching the wizard. He looked skinny himself, and not the lithe build of someone with slender combat-ready muscles. Still, she sat down and ate her bowl of stew, pushing past the feeling of uncomfortable fullness to finish the serving. What she’d said to Gale was true – there was no guarantee she’d get food again tomorrow. Better to load up on food now while she could.
And if a few pieces of food (mostly bread and dried meat) disappeared into Devi’s pack… well. She was just taking precautions to look after herself.
The next day saw the party taking shelter in the Emerald Grove for the night, with a new addition to their ranks in the form of Wyll. The tieflings had had little to spare, but they’d been willing to share what they could with Gale, and the druids had (if begrudgingly) traded for supplies with the party.
So perhaps Devi’s fears of not eating again today were unfounded – and from the looks of it, Gale had managed to accumulate enough supplies for the party for a couple of days. But still, it was better to have some foresight for the future food situation. Devi had no wish to be surprised by a day of non-existent rations. And with Wyll in the party now, it was another mouth to feed, spreading the food out a little more. She thought of the food she’d managed to squirrel away and hide in her pack – even if Gale opted to not feed her or the others, she would be okay for a day, at least until she could find or steal more food. But it seemed that denying the rest of the party a hot dinner was not on the wizard’s agenda today.
Today’s meal seemed to be another stew, this time with meat added to the vegetables (thanks to a trade with the halfling druid). Wyll had offered to help Gale cook, but had been politely yet firmly told to go away – the wizard apparently didn’t share his kitchen space with anyone, as ramshackle as said kitchen space was. Trying to ignore the feeling of her stomach growling, Devi sat by the fire, alternating her gaze between Gale hovering over the cookpot and the arrows she was examining. For having been found in an abandoned crypt, they were in surprisingly good condition.
She eagerly put the arrows aside when Gale approached her with a bowl of stew – this one heaped higher than last night’s first helping. “Here you go,” he brightly said as he handed the bowl over, along with the wooden spoon. “One large helping for the saviour of wayward wizards from unstable portals.”
“If rescuing wizards means I get fed, I’ll take that up as my new job,” Devi laughed as she accepted the bowl. “Thanks!”
Gale smiled as Devi took the bowl from him. “You’re very welcome. As you said yesterday, best to enjoy the food while we have it, yes?” He turned back to the pot to dish out more helpings of the stew for the rest of the party.
Devi certainly wasn’t going to argue that point. She gratefully tucked into the stew, marvelling at how surprisingly good Gale could make the food taste, even while complaining about a poor larder and no herbs. Two days in a row of hot food, and as much as she could eat? This was all but unheard of!
She still got up to fetch a second helping for herself, but was comfortable enough to eat it slowly, as her stomach rumbled its contentment. For a moment, she considered forcing a third helping of the food down – but no, Gale had enough supplies for at least a couple of days, and he hadn’t made any sign that he would hold this over Devi’s head or demand a favour from her in exchange for feeding her. And it would be a shame if she forced herself to eat more, just to make herself sick later that night.
Devi couldn’t remember the last time she had stopped eating at “comfortably full”. But it was a good feeling.
Within two days, Astarion had been outed as a vampire who needed blood more than mortal food to sustain himself, and Karlach had joined the party. Gale scowled whenever he looked at the vampire; the scowl faded into a look of worry when his gaze shifted to Devi. Astarion had bargained with her to feed when he needed to, when he couldn’t hunt, and Gale apparently had opinions about that little arrangement.
Devi looked up as Gale approached her during a rest under the early afternoon sun in the abandoned village. “Here,” he murmured, handing her a wedge of cheese and an apple. “Eat up.”
“Thanks,” Devi gratefully said, accepting the food. She looked up at the wizard and tilted her head. “Everything okay?”
Gale’s eyes darted to the bite marks on the side of Devi’s neck before returning to meet her own eyes. “If our resident vampire is going to be feeding from you, then you’ll need extra food,” he said with a little shrug. “And you’re so thin as it is. We can’t have you swooning from hunger on the road now, can we?”
“I’ve been hungry more times than not,” Devi admitted. “But… I’m definitely not gonna say no to extra food when there’s a vampire hanging off my neck. Do all vampires look as scrawny as he does?” She nodded to Astarion, who sat in a patch of sunlight a few metres away, basking in the warm glow.
“I’ve encountered the odd vampire in my journeys,” Gale admitted. “And none were as scrawny as him. Truth be told, he probably needs to feed more than he already does. Though I hope he picks other people to feed from and not just you.”
Devi nodded and took a bite of the cheese. “I think he must be,” she said. “Or hunting more animals. He does look a little less skinny than he did on the first day.”
Gale nodded, then surprised Devi with a chuckle. “So do you. Regular meals look good on you.” He coughed and shook his head, his cheeks flaring red. “I’ll, uh… just leave you to your snack then? Make sure you drink water too – having a vampire regularly feeding from you will dehydrate you.” He turned back to his own spot in the clearing where the party had stopped to rest, absently rubbing at his chest as though it pained him.
Devi watched him go, then took another bite of cheese. Had she started to gain some weight with regular meals cooked by Gale? She would have to investigate later.
That night, Devi slipped away from camp with a mirror scavenged from the abandoned village. Under the moonlight, she studied her face contemplatively. She wasn’t usually the type to spend hours studying her reflection, but she knew what she looked like.
Gale was right. Her face did look a little less drawn and narrow than it had a tenday ago. She lifted her shirt and ran a hand over her ribs; she could still feel the bones, but she thought that maybe there was a little more flesh over them and not just a thin layer of skin. And her hands hadn’t shaken from hunger since the first day the party had been together.
Devi smiled and lowered her shirt again, then studied her face a moment longer before she returned to her bedroll.
The next night saw potato soup and bread being doled out to the party members. Devi accepted a large bowl of soup and piece of bread from Gale, then gave him a worried frown. “Are you okay?” she asked, looking up at him. The revelation he’d made that day of his relationship with Mystra and his current curse still made her mind hurt to try and understand.
“As well as I can be.” Gale smiled wanly, then surprised Devi by squeezing her shoulder. “Eat up. Don’t worry about me. With the amulet you gave me earlier, the orb is satiated for now.”
Devi slowly nodded, then watched as Gale moved to hand out bowls of soup to everyone else in the party. Was it just her imagination, or had Gale given her a larger portion than anyone else?
The next night saw Gale doing an inventory of foodstuffs. “Hmmm. You’re still fine,” he mumbled as he examined a handful of potatoes. “Still fine…” he ruled on some dried sausage. He picked up a loaf of bread and frowned. “Hmmph. Stale,” he muttered, tossing the loaf aside. It hit the ground with a dry-sounding crunch and not a soft thump.
“I’m sure it’s still okay,” Devi quickly spoke up as she rescued the stale loaf. “A little stale can’t be that bad.”
“A little stale?” Gale’s brow furrowed. “My dear, that’s so stale, it’s a small rock. I’m certainly not going to serve that to anyone in camp – I like you all too much.”
Devi frowned as she examined the bread. “I’ve eaten bread this stale before,” she said with a shrug. “It’s not that bad.”
Gale blinked before a concerned frown appeared on his face. “Devi…. When you said you grew up poor…”
“When you’re hungry, stale bread is a feast,” Devi quietly said. “I’ve eaten way worse shit than this. As long as it’s reasonably clean and doesn’t make me gag when I smell it, it’s fine.”
“Oh, darling…” Shaking his head and seemingly unaware of how the term of endearment made Devi’s heart skip a beat, Gale plucked the stale bread out of the thief’s hands. “Your standards with food desperately need help.”
“Yeah, well, some of us are so poor that we just eat whatever we can get for cheap or free,” Devi mumbled. She felt bad when Gale flinched slightly. “Honestly, I can still eat this–”
“But you won’t. I’m not going to make you eat stale bread that feels like it could break a tooth.” Gale shook his head and set the bread back down beside him, away from the food that he had deemed acceptable.
“You’re just… gonna throw it away?” Devi asked, feeling anxiety spike in her chest. “When it might not be great, but it’s better than nothing?”
“We’ve done fine enough for rations on this journey,” Gale firmly said. “There is absolutely no reason for any of us to eat stale bread. As it is, I’m reasonably sure we have enough good food for three or four days, without this loaf.”
“What if we don’t find anything when that runs out?” Devi demanded.
Gale sighed. “Then we’ll discuss the stale bread. But trust me, Devi. We have more than enough food for the next few days.” He studied Devi with a frown. “Does it truly make you so anxious to throw out food, even when it’s gone off?”
“There’s no bugs crawling out of it, and it doesn’t reek,” Devi responded. “That means it’s still edible.”
“It’s stale! It would be disgusting to eat, assuming you don’t break a tooth on it!”
“It doesn’t have to be good to be edible!”
Gale shook his head. “Fine, I’ll hang on to the stale bread for a day longer, if it calms your anxiety. But I truly don’t think we need to keep disgusting, inedible bread.”
“Anything’s edible when you’re hungry enough,” Devi mumbled. “There’ve been days when bread that stale is all I could get and…”
“Not on my watch,” Gale firmly said. “If you’re going hungry, then I’ve done something wrong with cooking for our motley group. Trust me to make sure you’re fed, hmm?”
Devi hesitated, but finally nodded as she saw Gale put the stale bread back in the bag with the other foodstuffs he’d deemed acceptable enough to keep on hand. “Thank you,” she quietly said.
“It’s going to be stale crumbs within a day,” Gale muttered as he went back to sorting through the rest of the supplies. He picked up a cut rind of cheese and scowled at the blue spots of fuzzy mold starting to grow on it, then looked at Devi askance. “Please tell me you’ve never been so hungry as to eat moldy cheese…”
Devi shrugged. “Cut the fuzzy bits off and–”
“Absolutely not. I’m putting my foot down on this.” Gale tossed the cheese to the side and frowned at Devi’s protesting whine. “Stale bread is one thing, but moldy cheese will make you so ill! I wouldn’t even feed that to Scratch!”
“But–”
“No buts. Go help Astarion with the arrows.” Standing up with a grunt, Gale set his hands on Devi’s shoulders and gently but firmly turned her around. “Or go work on your next reading lesson. Clearly this is causing you undue stress to watch me sort out inedible items.”
“But I–”
“Or go help Wyll find more firewood. I’ll get Lae’zel to help me sort these out.” Gale squeezed Devi’s shoulders in a way that he probably intended to be comforting. “You won’t go hungry, darling. But trust me when I say that I won’t knowingly serve you any food that will make you sick.”
Recognising that Gale wasn’t going to budge, Devi sighed and slunk away, feeling sick with anxiety over mostly-edible food being thrown away. Clearly Gale had never gone hungry before.
Devi was still upset that night when Gale finished cooking dinner, but she definitely wasn’t so upset that she was going to go on a hunger strike out of protest. She took her spot by the fire, watching as Gale divvied out the soup and fruit he’d assembled for the evening meal. As per usual, he wound up serving her first, a small smile on his lips as he handed her the bowl. “Are you still upset with me?” he quietly asked.
“A little,” Devi admitted. “That cheese would have been okay.” She frowned at the bags that held the party’s food. “How much did you throw out?”
“Very little, you’ll be pleased to know,” Gale assured her. “And I’ve cast preservation spells on the remainder of what we have, so nothing should spoil before we can eat it.” He set his hand on hers and gently squeezed. “I promise, you will not go hungry on my watch, Devi. You’ll be perfectly fine.” With a smile, he turned back to the soup pot as Shadowheart took a seat, eagerly waiting for her own bowl.
Biting her lower lip and trying to not think about the wasted food that Gale had disposed of, Devi studied her bowl of soup, then shot a glance at Shadowheart’s. Gale had definitely given the thief an extra ladleful of soup, and a larger piece of (not stale) bread. So maybe he did mean it when he said he would make sure she wouldn’t starve on their journey.
Devi prided herself on being a quick learner. You didn’t survive life in the alleys of Baldur’s Gate without being adaptable to ever-changing circumstances, after all. Still, she needed a moment of reflection another evening after eating another large bowl of tasty soup. She was almost ashamed to realise that she’d gotten used to going to sleep with a full belly, fully expecting to eat again the next day. Weakness like that would get her killed of hunger when she returned home, she feared. How could she go back to surviving on only one meal every two days or so? She was spoiled now by the regular meals that Gale served up. And this was without getting into the few bits of dried meat and bread that she’d hidden in her pack in the early days of this adventure!
And yet… she couldn’t simply start skipping meals to get used to hunger again, could she? It would be foolish to turn aside food that was freely offered to her, simply because she was afraid of being too used to being full. It already sat oddly with her that Gale had blinked in surprise when she’d only taken one serving of last night’s stew (granted, he had made sure it was a generous serving). He seemed to be single-handedly trying to make Devi gain weight, even while he was struggling with wasting away from the orb.
It was (almost) enough for her to forgive him for doing another critical inventory of the camp supplies a tenday later and throwing out more food that had gone off – his preservation spells extended the lifespan of food, but didn’t make it immortal. Still, she tried to not think about it, or about the food she’d had stashed in her pack. It was decidedly stale now, to the point where even she didn’t want to eat it… but she couldn’t make herself throw it away. Stale food wasn’t pleasant, but it was better than nothing.
It was only when they were in the shadow-cursed lands that she finally took the long-spoiled rations out of her pack. Her hands trembled as she set the food down, her insecurity with food warring with her rational side. She knew she would never eat this – Gale had spoiled her with regular meals. But old instincts died hard.
She felt a pair of hands gently close around hers. “Have you been carrying these in your pack this entire time?” Gale softly asked. He tsked when Devi nodded. “Oh, darling… you know you didn’t need to hoard food?”
Devi shrugged. “Old habits,” she mumbled. “When you grow up always hungry…”
Gale sighed and shook his head. “All right. You aren’t going to eat these and you know it. They aren’t even good for Scratch or Garmus. Do you want me to dispose of them for you?”
Nodding, Devi surrendered the spoiled food to Gale. “Okay,” she quietly said. “I… know they’re not good, but I can’t make myself throw them away. What if I get hungry later and there’s nothing else, or…?”
“Hold that thought.” Gale stepped away and tossed the old food into the fire, making Devi flinch, before he knelt beside the supply stash. He came back to her side a minute later with a handful of apples and dried meat. “Why don’t you hang on to these?” he asked. “Keep them in your pack in case you get peckish.”
Devi’s eyes widened as she looked at Gale, studying his eyes. He seemed to be serious; she accepted the food and stashed it away in her pack. The tight band of anxiety around her chest loosened as the food vanished in her bag. “Thank you,” she mumbled. She had food. Even if Gale stopped feeding the group or got himself killed or something, she would have food for a day.
“Of course.” Gale smiled and squeezed her shoulders. “If you’re going to be stashing food away in your pack, we may as well make sure it’s good food that won’t make you ill, darling.” He bent down and pressed a light kiss to Devi’s forehead. “Now, did you want a cooking lesson tonight?”
With a small smile, Devi got up and followed Gale over to his makeshift kitchen setup.
A year later…
The little family of three settled into a comfortable routine in Gale’s tower. It wasn’t uncommon for all three to be found in the kitchen: Gale cooking, while Devi sat at the table, holding Tiawyn in her arms and watching her husband putter around. She smiled today as she watched him assembling a board of meats and cheeses and fruit for them to consume.
They were no longer adventuring – they had settled comfortably into a domestic life with their baby daughter, and Gale’s books, and Blackstaff Academy or Morena Dekarios a hire-coach ride away. Still, Gale remembered the promises he had made to Devi on the road a year ago, promises to never let her go hungry.
Even after she’d given birth, he insisted on feeding her like she was still carrying their baby. “You’re nursing, after all,” he had wisely pointed out. “You still need to eat for two.”
He finished assembling the tray and poured two glasses of wine, then smiled. “Shall we take this to the balcony, darling?” he asked. “Enjoy the sunset while we eat?”
“Oh, consider my arm twisted,” Devi laughed as she stood up, balancing Tiawyn in her arms. The baby stared out from her mother’s hold, but was quiet – a welcome change from the squalls she made when she needed her diaper changed, or when she hungered for milk, or when she was overtired.
Gale chuckled and summoned a pair of Mage Hands to bring the wine glasses behind him as he carried the tray of food upstairs to his study. Devi followed behind, swaying with her steps as she walked up the stairs. She stepped out onto the balcony, blinking in the evening sunlight, and watched as Gale sat down, placing the meal tray on the table with the wine glasses. Once settled, he held his hands out for Tiawyn. “Come see Daddy, my little princess,” he chuckled. “Let Mama eat, and then she can feed you later.” It didn’t matter how hungry Gale might have been – he always made sure Devi ate first.
Tiawyn gurgled as she was passed between her parents, and jammed a little fist in her mouth as Gale situated her on his lap. “There’s Daddy’s girl,” Devi laughed as she sat beside her husband and daughter, and assembled a piece of cheese and a small piece of dried ham on a cracker. Once, she would have simply focused on shovelling as much food into her mouth as she could; now she took the time to enjoy her bite and the flavours within. “Mmmm. Was this from that dwarf butcher?”
“It was indeed,” Gale chuckled. “They’re excellent at what they do.” Balancing Tiawyn with one arm, he used a Mage Hand to assemble a bite for himself of meat and cheese. “Are you going to tell Daddy what you and Mama got up to today?” he asked the baby on his lap, as the Mage Hand raised the bite to his mouth.
Tiawyn cooed in response, large eyes watching her father’s food float up to his lips. “Ahhh… gah!”
Gale grinned as he ate the food. “Is that so, darling? And then what happened?”
Devi smiled fondly as she ate another bite of cheese and fruit. It was ironic that, on a journey where death and peril lurked around every corner, she had learned to trust that food would not be something that she needed to worry about. But Gale had kept his word – she’d never gone hungry on their adventure, and had in fact gained a decent amount of weight by the time they had reached Baldur’s Gate. And her food worries had become all but non-existent since she’d come to Waterdeep with Gale.
The larder was always full, with good, fresh food. And there were markets all over Waterdeep, and Devi never lacked for coin to buy food – whether she was with Gale, looking for supplies for his kitchen (and gods, he was a miracle-worker with how good all his food tasted!), or by herself and fancying a snack from a bakery or a fruit stall. Gale had made sure that Devi knew where she could find food in the city, and in his kitchen – nothing was off-limits for her.
No longer did Devi feel the fear of not knowing where her next meal would come from. No longer did she feel the need to squirrel away food. And no longer did she fear that Tiawyn would grow up to know the bite of hunger in the same way that she had endured as a child. Tiawyn would want for nothing.
Comfortably, Devi sat back on the bench, slowly chewing her food, fondly watching her husband and daughter. This was the safe, comfortable life she had never dreamed she would have, and she wouldn’t have traded this for the world.