"Marzy!" Lyra paused in the doorway of the kitchen. "What are you doing here?"

The first-year beamed. Hopping down from the stool she'd been sitting on, she ran to give Lyra a hug.

"I always spend Sunday mornings in the kitchen," Marzy explained. "Meg and I came in here after breakfast one Sunday, early in first term, and Chef Flax let us help him make bread for the lunchtime sandwiches. We had so much fun that we came back the next Sunday, and then it was a habit."

Lyra smiled. As usual, Marzy's cheerful energy was as irrepressible as it was infectious.

"Sounds like a great habit. I used to come in early Sunday mornings to help with the cinnamon rolls."

"Used to?" Marzy echoed.

"I'm usually up late on Saturdays with homework and such," Lyra said wistfully. "It's been a while since I've had the energy to get up before dawn the next day. But the second-years spend every Sunday evening in the kitchen, so I still get to see Chef and Bumble and Sprinkle. I bring my guitar, and we do concerts."

Marzy clapped her hands. "Oh, that sounds scrumptious! Meg and I used to sing while we worked in here. Chef Flax taught us his 'Enjoyment' song and a bunch of other songs that he said you wrote. Meg doesn't have the best voice, but she didn't care. She just sang and laughed as loud as she could. Bumble thought her enthusiasm made up for her lack of… pitch, I think? And he said that he could always tell which loaves she had made, because they were bubbling with extra joy. That's what Chef said he said, anyway."

"Sounds like Bumble. And I'm sure he was right. Magic squirrels know what they're talking about." Softening her tone, Lyra put a hand on Marzy's shoulder. "Sorry about Meg. I was sad to hear she was cut last term."

Marzy's smile faltered.

"I really miss her," she confessed. "I mean, I was so relieved not to get cut, and then guilty for being relieved, and then so sad… but now, I just miss her. Having a room to myself feels weird."

"I get it," Lyra assured her. "I lost my roommate after the second term last year too. Third term was extra hard without her. Thankfully, she was still around. Is still around. But it's not the same."

"Isn't that the girl who used to be here every weekend?"

"That's right. Ginger Crumble. She does private tutoring sessions with Professor Genoise."

Marzy scrunched up her face in thought. "I haven't seen her this term. Is she okay?"

"Oh, she's fine. Her parents just need extra help in the pastry shop. Their assistant is getting married and taking a long vacation, so Ginger is filling in."

Lyra tried to keep her voice light, but it was a challenge. Ginger's absence was another sour ingredient in the overspiced mess of the third term. Caramelle was a good friend, but with filo and Mac on her mind, she had little time or attention to spare for anything else. Lyra had been left to sort through the jumble of internal melodies mostly on her own.

Three full weeks in, she could confidently say that it was not going well.

A sudden influx of Cardamom would have been complex enough, she thought gloomily. But then we got the Boysen wall, and filo, and Enjoyment is still stuck at this last hurdle. How could I have possibly sifted through this WITH Crumble, let alone without her?

"I like her," Marzy said. "I mean, the few times I've talked to her. I hope she can visit again soon."

"Me too. And I hope you can see Meg again soon. Academy friends are important." Lyra gave her head a brisk shake and forced her features back into a smile. "And speaking of, there was also some good news at the end of second term, right? A bit of sweetness to balance the sour?"

Marzy's whole face lit up brighter than Master Glaze's Shine Spell. "Oh, yes! I was so happy for Arch. He still can't believe it. 'I don't understand how I won,' he keeps saying. But I do. You saw the cake, right? Didn't it look more like the actual academy building than ever? His Presentation skills are unbelievable. He totally deserved to win. Meg and I threw him a little party over the break. Wouldn't listen to any of his protests. 'You deserve to be celebrated!' Meg said, and she was right. As usual."

"Winning the Stellar Enchantment Pin is a huge accomplishment," Lyra agreed. "Especially for someone without any baking terms in their name."

Marzy clapped again. "And you should know! You won too! It was a great term for Enjoyment, wasn't it? The yellow light appeared and you won the pin and — oh! Didn't you go to a board meeting?"

"I sure did."

"Apprentice Baker Galette was telling us about it," Marzy said eagerly. "He keeps us updated on all Enjoyment things. The professors STILL won't really talk about it with us. Not until it's an 'official' discipline, they say. I understand rules and everything, but I think they're being just a bit silly. Don't you?"

"They have to obey the board," Lyra pointed out. "And they have good reason to be careful. There are plenty of bakers around looking for any excuse to throw out the whole Enjoyment idea."

Marzy made a face. "Ugh! It's all so Thistle-ish. You'd think the yellow light would have changed things. But the board still won't confirm Enjoyment as a discipline? Even though the magic has manifested?"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"So far, it only works for me." Lyra shrugged. "I understand where Madame Bundt is coming from. That's the one board member who's still holding out on her vote. A baking discipline has to be… accessible, you know?"

Marzy scowled. "Sure, but I still think the grown-ups are being extra stodgy. The board and the professors."

"But not Chef Flax," Lyra pointed out.

"That's right!" Marzy gazed around the kitchen with a happy little sigh. "Not Chef Flax. At least this kitchen is still a refuge."

"Any kitchen can be. That's the whole point of being a baker. It's baking that's the safe place, no matter where it happens…"

Lyra trailed off, her thought melody drifting of its own stubborn accord to the kitchen in Whisk, where she had spent so many happy moments the year before. Then there was the kitchen in Pestle, and the one in Zest, and the common areas on the dorm's first and second floors… and the Berry household kitchen, where she had never baked, but which always reminded her of how cozily joyful baking could be… and the kitchen in the Treble household, where she had experimented with soda bread and made her exam cake for the first time.

And where, only a few months ago, she had helped Boysen with some illegal chocolate chip cookies…

"Lyra?" Marzy's merry eyes were squinting at her in concern. "Are you okay? That's a very… thoughtful face."

Lyra gave her head another, even brisker shake. She had to keep her thought-music away from anything to do with the Flavor King. Whenever her mental melodies got too close, they inevitably crashed into the new Boysen-wall. The jarring impact always added another sour note to the already discordant Berry tune.

"I'm fine," she said with determined cheer. "Just thinking about… kitchens. Like… the practice kitchen on the third floor! Are you and Arch still using it for your homework sessions on Saturdays?"

"Sure are! We're not doing partner work anymore, but it's still nice to have a space to work." Marzy pursed her lips, like she'd just bitten into a lemon. "One that's fairly Joconde-free."

"Right. Chantilly." Lyra found her own face twisting involuntarily at the mere thought of the haughty first-year. "Is she still puffed up this term?"

"Not quite. I mean, she's still carrying herself like an overproofed lump of dough, and I can't figure out how she walks around with her nose that high and manages not to run into things, but she's been a bit less… vocal this term. So far, anyway. The appearance of the yellow light really shook her up. Her parents too. And Florentine and Eclair have been so busy with all that documenting, they haven't been able to cause much trouble. Overall, it's been pretty quiet from the stodgy no-joy crowd over the past few weeks."

"Glad to hear it."

"But how's it been going for all of you in the practice kitchen?" Marzy asked, bouncing on her toes in a strikingly Honeycomb-esque fashion. "Are you making any progress? We can still feel the magic swirling in there. Arch and me. Whenever we go in, it takes us both a few seconds to get over the giggles. Well, giggles for me. Arch says it's like a tickling in his nose. But we can feel something, and we know it's Enjoyment. And don't you have that other baker helping you now? What's-his-name, who graduated last year?"

Lyra kept her face straight to hide the sudden painful spike of the Berry melody. "Cardamom Coulis the Third. He's an intern with the Royal Chef of Presentation."

"Don't tell Arch he's a Presentation expert," Marzy warned. "Arch'll want to plague him with questions. Has he been helpful? Cardamom, I mean. In the Enjoyment quest?"

"Too early to tell." Turning deliberately to a drawer, Lyra pulled out one of Chef's spare aprons. "But if Arch has Presentation questions, Macaron Fondant is an excellent resource. I keep forgetting to connect the two of them."

"That would be amazing," Marzy gushed. "Professor Genoise has talked a lot about Aspiring Baker Fondant already. Arch would be thrilled."

"Then we'll have to make sure they have a chat soon." Lyra finished tying the apron on and smiled at Marzy. "For now, though, why don't we do some baking? I'd love to help with the lunchtime bread. What's on the menu for today?"

Marzy gave a squeak of inarticulate delight. She reached for an apron, remembered she was already wearing one, and tried to cover the movement by picking up a mixing bowl instead.

"Really basic white bread today. Lunch is tomato bisque and grilled cheese sandwiches, so Chef says —"

"That basic white is the best bread for grilled cheese. Oh, yes." Lyra began assembling the ingredients for the well-known recipe, dutifully ignoring the tiny half-squeals bursting periodically out of the excited first-year. "I remember asking him about that some time in my second term last year. He let me go on and on about how different herbs or grains could complement different cheeses. Then he set up a taste test."

Marzy paused in the act of measuring yeast. "Taste test?"

"We made three different kinds of artisanal bread, expertly paired with three different cheeses," Lyra explained, scooping flour into a bowl. "They were all delicious. But then he whipped up this basic white bread and matched it with some basic sharp cheddar… There was no comparison."

Marzy hadn't moved. She was gazing thoughtfully at Lyra, her teaspoon still hovering over the jar of yeast.

"He didn't just… tell you it was better? I mean, wouldn't you have taken his word for it?"

"Maybe." Lyra's hands moved automatically through the familiar recipe. Setting some water to heat, she continued, "But I think Chef believes bakers need to discover things for themselves. He'll provide the environment and the opportunity, and lots of encouragement along the way, but he'll never just tell you."

"Like a professor?"

"Yes… now that you mention it, he really is. I know I've learned as much from him as I have from the professors, anyway." Lyra handed Marzy the hot water with a grin. "Plus, I think Bumble gets a kick out of watching students stumble their way towards revelation. I'm pretty sure both he and Sprinkle were giggling at me through the whole grilled cheese taste test."

Marzy giggled herself at the thought. "Whatever brings people joy, right?"

"That's right. And it's all in good fun." Lyra waited for Marzy to add yeast to the hot water, then began measuring in tiny bits of sugar. "Besides, Bumble and Sprinkle work just as hard as Chef. They all deserve a laugh every once in a while. I know they appreciate our Sunday night concerts. And they don't just listen, either. You should hear those squirrels sing."

Marzy dropped her teaspoon. Her suddenly free hand lashed out and gripped Lyra's shoulder.

"Talent show!" The first-year's eyes were wide and round with solemnity. "We should have a talent show at the end of the year. For the whole school. To celebrate the manifestation of Enjoyment, whatever the board may say."

"The whole school?" Lyra repeated. "What would people do?"

"Anything! Sing, dance, draw, perform an experiment… even bake!" Marzy was bouncing again, her hands clasped in both plea and celebration. "Whatever brings people joy! Right? Isn't that just what we all need to look forward to? Help us get through third term without collapsing like an overbaked cake?"

Lyra felt an unstoppable smile spread across her face as the irresistible enthusiasm of Cherry Marzipan took hold. For a moment, even the discordant jumble of her internal melodies leapt into some semblance of harmonic peace.

"Whatever brings people joy… you're right, Marzy. That is just what we all need."

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.