You dealt with panic the same way you deal with stage fright. Soon her breathing evened out and she could almost think clearly.

“Roast or stew!” the cook yelled at her as soon as she took a step inside the kitchens.

“Roast!”

“Hey, Lita!” One of the boys sitting at the dish sink flashed her a grin and waved her over. “We’re taking bets. Human guests or demon? So far everyone’s been betting demon.”

Human, Lita mentally supplied but didn’t tell him.

“Not everyone!”

Another girl dropped her load of dishes hard into the water. spraying everyone nearby and especially soaking him.

“Fine.” He jerked his chin at the girl. “Gima here is betting human.”

“It can go both ways.” She put her hands on her hips and lifted her chin.

“I wouldn’t want to be the humans visiting the guest chambers.” Lita scowled. “Clophas and the other morons are up there.”

“You mean all the demons are.”

“Hush!” Gima looked around tensely. “Don’t be too loud!”

“They’re not going to come to the kitchens.” The boy sent Lita a wink. “That’s beneath them.”

“Still. They could have lappers down here. Didn’t you hear about Nakos?”

“Nakos?” Lita leaned on the sink and the other two moved in to whisper.

“They say they caught him breaking Contract.” Gima shuddered. “They’ve got him in the dungeons now.”

“What did he do? What’s the punishment?”

“Who knows? They only need an excuse. So, you two, don’t give them one.”

The boy snorted and turned his back on Gima. “So, you in Lita? Betting on demon guests?”

“You have too many pebbles to waste if you’re betting on anything.” Lita splashed the boy and he squawked in surprise. Then laughed as Lita walked quickly away.

I could copy it and sneak back in.

But, she’d know I was there and that the parchment had been touched… a lot. No-smell?

No, no. She’d be able to tell it had been used when it wipes out all smell. Then they’d cancel the raid on Randa.

Would that be a bad thing? Or would they just change it and make it worse?

Frustrated, Lita took an apron from a line of the garments at the back of the kitchen. Wishing she’d picked one up before talking to the other two.

“Oh well,” she muttered as she tied it on. “Cook! Mistress Diana Veran will be eating at the end of the meal. Or after if everyone’s already finished.”

“Of course she is. Take some of those trays in while you’re just dallying around.”

“Right.”

The only good things about demons were the contraptions and other goods they make. Things that would take a human much longer to do, especially with their limited resources.

Such as the trolley she filled with trays of breakfast foods. Cut fruit, corn biscuits, gravy and nuts.

The dining hall seemed to bounce with energy as she pushed the trolley in. For an instant she stopped to stare at the chaotic scene.

She really didn’t want to go in there. With gritted teeth, she pushed ahead anyway.

Red haired demons were in various stages of eating and food fighting, their laughter grating on her nerves. She winced with every step and didn’t even make it to the buffet table before trays were pulled from the cart and either served or smashed.

When the cart was empty she started to take a step backward, intending to leave. She needed to tell the kitchens…

Suddenly someone grabbed her arm.

As the demoness ripped her from the cart and pulled Lita in front of her, food splattered all over Lita. Laughing the demoness then carelessly pushed Lita to the floor and scooped up something on the ground.

Lita scrambled away, face dripping with honey, when someone else yanked her up and again used her as a shield.

Inwardly she alternated between cursing demons and nearly throwing up with fear as she tried to pull herself free. This time the demon didn’t let her go, dragging her through the hall and dumping her with several other servers at the end.

“Don’t let the humans get away!”

There was laughter as another trolley was seized and the human dumped in their little corner. They huddled down. Trying to stay away from the fight and unable to warn anyone of the chaos going on.

“Ow.” The girl nearest Lita muttered as she rubbed a growing bruise on her arm.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, someone on the outside figured out what was going on and no more servants came.

“New game! Someone name a new game!”

A particularly wide demon shouted over the din in response. He augmented his voice so that everyone could hear him. “Let’s play feed the humans!”

The group of nine humans looked at each other nervously as again the demons turned their attention on them. The big demon, a creature that would have been handsome had it not been for his corpse white pallor and mouthful of fangs, strode through the others and reached for a glob of something on the floor.

“Who’s hungry first?”

Snickers roamed through the ranks. A little over a hundred demon against nine humans.

Anger and fear fought in a boil in her stomach as enough of the beasts jumped forward to hold the cowering humans on their knees.

Slowly their tormentor strode in front of them. Like a conqueror inspecting his prisoners.

“Look at me!”

It was the same command every time and he pretended to scrutinize each fearful face as they were forced to look up at him.

For an instant she thought that, for once, he was just going to pass her.

He even stepped to the next person before abruptly spinning back to her and pointing.

“This one stinks. Can you smell that, Obelia?”

The demoness who’d been holding Lita, leaned forward to smell her neck. Lita cringed.

“She reeks,” Obelia agreed.

I do not!

The handsome demon grinned nastily. “Because you’ve insulted us by being such a stink worm today, Lita, we’ll start with you.”

She knew, she knew, the smart thing was to just let them pry her mouth open and let him shove the glop inside. That way she wouldn’t accidentally put herself in a position where they could hurt her.

But, her instincts rebelled.

She squirmed and fought.

The demoness shifted her body just enough to her other form so that she had the strength to hold Lita. Then used one arm to hold her and Obelia tried to force her mouth open with the other hand.

It didn’t work.

Obelia laughed in her ear, not at all upset. But, by Contract she was unable to use enough force to get Lita’s mouth open enough, so another demon eagerly came from the laughing crowd to help pry her lips apart.

Gunk was smeared over her face and neck. She couldn’t see anything now and all she could hear was their laughter.

She tasted blood from biting her own tongue while attempting to bite the two demon sticking their fingers in her mouth.

And, true to Contract, the demoness holding her never tightened her grip enough to hurt Lita herself. So it was Lita's own struggles that caused the painful bruising she felt on her arms, chest and face.

Then, abruptly, it was over.

“Clophas!”

Silence instantly and completely fell on the entire group. Lita gasped and shook as every head turned toward the main entrance.

Diana Veran.

Clad in thin sheepskin instead of wool, a sword on one hip and two stone knives on the other. She looked around with a scowl at the mess.

“What. In all. The Voids. Is going. On?”

“Diana!”

Abruptly Lita was let go. The two helper demons scurried into the crowd of onlookers as her main tormentor, the game instigator, walked toward Diana with hands held out.

“So lovely to see you outside meetings and training! Come! Join in the fun. There are plenty more humans to feed.”

“Touch me, Clophas, and I’ll cut off your hand again.”

The other demon stood still and Lita cautiously stood up, backing away now that there was no demon behind her to stop her. Like the other humans she found herself with her back pressed against the wall.

She didn’t dare to even wipe gunk from her face and continued to breathe in small gasps as she caught her breath.

“Diana! So rude. I was only inviting you to play with us.”

Diana Veran scowled, the line between her brows deepening. “Sometimes, Clophas, it’s hard to remember that your existence predates mine. I should make you.” She looked around. “I should make all of you clean this up.”

“That’s what the humans are for!”

Lita didn’t know who had shouted the protest but she clenched her hands in response.

“Do you think the Separation is so full of food that it’s acceptable to waste like this?” Diana put a hand on her sword handle, scowling. “I should punish you for your thoughtlessness.”

Demons were shifting around. Lita didn’t trust their guilty looks.

“Careful, Diana.” Even though Clophas’ voice was low there wasn’t an ear in the room that didn’t hear his mocking whisper. “Someone might think you’re favoring the humans if you do. Someone like Aridon?”

Diana scowled. Briefly growing two long fangs before visibly catching herself and retracting them.

“If I wish to punish you, Clophas, don’t think I won’t. Even if you drag Lord Aridon into this. As it was, I was going to give you a warning. If this ever happens again I will freeze everyone involved for a week then make you clean up the moldy mess after."

There were a few weak smiles among the red-haired denizens. Until she looked around the room and everyone stilled under that frightening gaze.

“That’s a Contract.”

The demoness turned that glare back on Clophas until he backed down. Once he took a step back, eyes averted, the others also shuffled back a step or two further from her.

“Now, all of you, get out. Don’t take another meal until supper. And do something useful, like fulfilling your Contracts. And for Void’s sake, clean yourselves up.”

Demons scattered like autumn leaves.

Lita looked sideways at the other human servers, most of them huddled by themselves against the wall. Except for two of the girls, who’d stepped closer to each other and held hands as they flinched away from the leaving demon.

“Lita!”

She flinched and whipped her head around to look at Diana, still standing like a pillar in the doorway. A pillar everyone flowed around without touching as they left.

“Come here.”

Lita finally wiped gunk from her face as she obeyed the demoness. She could feel the soreness around her mouth and pinched her lips together as she came to stand in front of Diana. She clutched her skirt hard as she curtsied.

Then she flinched when Diana took a deep breath, scenting the tang of Lita’s anger and past fear. And the stink.

“Do you want your breakfast now, Mistress?”

Diana Veran scowled again as she looked around the room.

“No. I’ll wait.” She pinched the space between her eyebrows then pulled a page of vellum from under her arm. Lita hadn’t even noticed that the demoness had been carrying anything. “I need you to deliver this letter.”

“A… letter, Mistress?”

“Lita, what have I told you about repeating myself?”

Lita clenched her teeth and fists then let both go with a deep breath. “That you don’t like it.”

“Exactly. Now.” The demoness used the end of the letter to raise Lita’s chin. If Lita had resisted the vellum would have just collapsed but, unlike earlier, she wisely didn’t resist. “I want you to deliver it.”

“Yes, Mistress. Where, Mistress?”

Diana drew the vellum away, scowling at the edge where gunk had gotten on it from Lita’s chin. “The Outside Circus just came into the area last night. I want you to deliver it to Taiken Vaughn and bring back his reply.”

Lita couldn’t help a gasp, her whole body freezing. “Tai-”

“Don’t leave without a reply.”

Diana grabbed a servant who was trying to sneak past them and used his shirt to wipe off the gunk. Not looking at Lita as she did.

“If we’re lucky he’ll send you back with pebbles. If not.” The demoness shrugged and turned to hold the now cleaned vellum out while the servant dashed away through the main doors. “Either way. Don’t return without a reply.”

Feeling as though something else were moving her body, Lita mechanically twisted her apron around to the clean side and accepted the letter.

“Yes, Mistress.”

“Good.” Diana Veran started to walk away when she paused to scowl at Lita over her shoulder. “Clean yourself up first. Remember that you’re a representative of the Palace and should look like it.”

Lita was left alone, staring down at the letter clutched in the clean side of her apron. While around her other humans rushed to clean up the mess.

“Voids!”

Just what she needed!

She paused in that thought and closed her eyes. Relief almost made her smile and her thoughts traveled to the parchment still tucked into her waist band. Barely. She needed to fix that.

If there really was a Lord of the Void, maybe he was having pity on her.

Because this really was exactly what she needed to solve at least half of her problem.