Ginger's plan produced one markedly salutary side effect. For the next two weeks, all of Lyra's worry-energy went towards the song she was writing for Boysen and towards fretting over the event itself. She simply did not have the capacity to be anxious about anything else.

Filo failed to disturb her. Though she joined in the general second-year lament about their piles of homework, her internal anxiety chorus could muster only a feeble half-verse of 'layered' concerns. Not even Mac's eloquent declaration that the professors were "trying to stretch them all as thin as this despicably thin pastry" inspired more than a flicker in Lyra's mind.

More importantly, she could not be apprehensive about the board meeting. Whatever Madame Bundt might say, or whatever spoiled sugar the Meringues and Master Dacquoise might try to scoop into the mix, the meeting would no longer be the only main course served that day. Nor would it be the most uncertain. In fact, Lyra wished she could feel half so confident about Boysen's response as she felt about the board's.

It was only while the meeting was actually in progress, when she was waiting with the professors outside the exam hall, that she suddenly found herself able to give Enjoyment the full measurement of jitters it deserved.

"How much longer, do you think?" she asked Professor Puff.

The Texture headmistress pulled out the delicate silver watch she wore as a pendant on a long necklace. Lyra noted it was shaped like two crossed rolling pins, the same as Master Chiffon's 'Royal Chef of Texture' pin.

"Only a few minutes more," Professor Puff replied, after glancing at the watch and stowing it back in its usual place under her apron. "I can't imagine there will be much debate."

Professor Genoise snorted. Unlike his two colleagues and Lyra, he seemed incapable of sitting still. He was pacing back and forth between the benches in front of the exam hall, glaring at the closed doors.

"Don't be too sure, Praline," he said darkly. "You know how prickly Palmier can get."

"And the Meringues." Professor Honeycomb was sitting on a bench by herself, her feet unconsciously going through her tap dance routine against the stones. "I do hope Caramelle is all right. The poor dear, having to go up against her parents in such a pressured setting!"

"She'll be fine," Lyra assured the professor. "She has Mac in there with her, and Boysen and Ginger and Rye. Even Cardamom. None of them have to face the board alone."

Professor Genoise shot a particularly salty glare at the exam hall doors. "I still wish we could have been present."

"You know that wouldn't be proper," Professor Puff chided him. "Madame Bundt needs to see that the new discipline is accessible to all bakers. Not just Lyra, and not just masters like us."

"I wouldn't do anything," the Presentation headmaster protested. "I simply want to be in the room. This is a significant event in the history of baking, and we —"

"Will be called in for the vote." Professor Puff smiled calmly. "If we were in the room, someone like Palmier would undoubtedly claim we were working magic secretly to help with the demonstration, or performing some other kind of trick. We will still be allowed to witness the moment when Enjoyment is officially recognized and incorporated into the academy curriculum. Do sit down, Basil."

Muttering mutinously under his breath, Professor Genoise slumped onto the bench beside Professor Honeycomb. He leapt up again only three seconds later when the doors burst open to reveal a thoroughly over-excited Caramelle Meringue.

"Come in! Come in, come in, quick quick quick!"

Caramelle's eyes were so wild and her hair so nearly disheveled that fear seized Lyra. Surely, after all this time… surely the prize wouldn't be withheld now…

She gripped the edge of the stone bench and held Caramelle's gaze. "Is it… done?"

The Meringue just laughed. Only then did Lyra note the yellow magic rippling over Caramelle's hands and shimmering around her auburn coils like a heat mirage.

"Come in!" the glowing girl repeated. Still laughing, she darted forward to grab Lyra's hands and pull her towards the doors. "Come in, all of you! It's time!"

Lyra let herself be pulled along, with the professors right behind her. They all stumbled as they crossed the threshold. Enjoyment magic hung so thickly in the air that Lyra found it difficult to breathe.

Of course, all it took was one forced inhale before she was laughing with everyone, caught up fully in the joy-soaked atmosphere.

Enjoyment doesn't just alter the molecules in the food, she thought, gazing in wonder at the golden sparks shining in the morning sunlight that poured in through the windows. It temporarily changes the fundamental structure of the air. Makes laughing as natural as breathing, and just as necessary.

"Welcome!" Lord Nougat's booming voice rang out from the other end of the room, where he was bustling around one of the counters. "I'm afraid we've taken up all available workspaces, but feel free to gather 'round and watch."

"Watch what?" Professor Honeycomb squeaked.

Master Chiffon waved merrily from the nearest workstation. "Enjoyment, of course! You can't expect us to witness a display like what these young bakers just showed us and then waste a single second before trying it ourselves!"

"Oh, I wish my nephew were here!" Madame Citron was trying to measure sugar into a bowl, but her constant giggle fits were making it difficult to do so without spilling. Struggling gamely on, she announced to the room in general, "He's been so keen to implement Enjoyment in his shop. Perhaps he'll develop a whole new line of joy-based truffles, though all his truffles cause joy already, so that might be tricky. But he'll find a way! He's so very clever. Just the other day, he said to me, 'Aunt Verbena, you let me know the instant the new discipline gets officially recognized. I have some ideas about the varying impacts of Enjoyment on dark, milk, or white chocolate.' Already, based on the little tidbits I've shared with him! 'Cacao,' I said, 'you are a marvel.' I promised to go to the shop as soon as the meeting finished, but since we're not technically adjourned —"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Professor Genoise raised both his hands and made full use of his operatic diaphragm.

"HOLD!"

Activity in the room did pause but resumed seconds later.

"What's the matter, Basil?" Madame Patisserie called jovially. "Got some lumps in your batter?"

"But…" Professor Puff was looking helplessly around the exam hall, struggling to remain coherent amidst the dizzying cloud of Enjoyment in the air. "But what about the vote? Is it official?"

"Ask Madame Bundt," Lord Nougat bellowed. "This is all her idea. As soon as the demonstration was finished, she ran to the nearest workstation and started baking."

"You weren't far behind me, m'lord." Madame Bundt looked up just long enough from her kneading to grin at Lyra and the professors. "Though Puff is right, of course. Sorry for getting carried away. Master Chiffon, care to call for a vote on the matter of Enjoyment?"

"Now wait just a savory minute!"

Palmier Dacquoise's whining voice couldn't dissipate the golden atmosphere of merry magic, but it at least pierced through the haze enough to draw everyone's attention.

"I thought we were going to wait to try this new… 'discipline' ourselves," he went on, every word coming out twisted by his perpetual sneer. "Is that not the crucial final test before official approval?"

"Indeed," cut in Lord Meringue. "I was mentally applauding Madame Bundt's circumspection and perspicacity in suggesting it. Must we not all demonstrate our ability to perform this… magic?"

Lord Nougat actually blew a raspberry at the trio. This was too much for Madame Citron, who collapsed onto her stool and succumbed completely to the giggle-tide.

Madame Bundt, on the other hand, didn't even bother to look away from the dough she was kneading.

"I appreciate the compliment, Lord Meringue," she said, shaping the dough into a ball with a few deft movements. "But I'm afraid circumspection had nothing to do with it. As I said at our last meeting, the only 'crucial final test' in my mind was whether anyone other than Aspiring Baker Treble could perform Enjoyment. I would have been satisfied with one other baker. Today, we saw six successful demonstrations of this magic, performed by six different bakers. I am not merely convinced."

She finally looked up from her kneading hands, but not towards Master Dacquoise or the Meringues. Instead, she caught Lyra's eye and gave her a warm smile.

"I am positively delighted."

Lady Meringue froze with a teaspoon buried in a jar of dried rosemary. "Then… why propose such an outlandish activity as the one in which we are all now engaged?"

"You mean baking?" Madame Bundt chuckled as she gave her dough a particularly emphatic thwack. "What a shocking scheme for the board of the Royal Academy of Magical Baking."

"But what is the purpose?" Master Dacquoise demanded.

Madame Bundt shrugged. "Just for fun. How about that vote, Master Chiffon?"

"Well-seasoned, Madame Bundt!" Master Chiffon clambered up onto his workstation and stood on the counter. For a venerable older baker, he was impressively nimble. "All those in favor of recognizing Enjoyment as the fourth baking discipline, to be incorporated into the curriculum of the royal academy henceforth, raise your hand!"

Nine hands shot up, with an accompanying wave of giggles from Madame Citron.

"Sweet and savory, yes!" added Lord Nougat in a deep rumble.

Master Chiffon was beaming. "Nine votes! That is the required majority for decisions of such weighty importance. I hereby declare Enjoyment as the fourth official baking discipline, recognized as such by the board of the Royal Academy of Magical Baking!"

The cheering that erupted was louder than some of Lyra's wildest Any Weather Bards concert memories. Eight of the board members abandoned their workstations to rush over and congratulate her. Master Chiffon stayed on his countertop, performing an impromptu jig.

The three professors were engaged in a tight group hug. Professor Honeycomb was sobbing loudly, but neither her tears of mirth nor Professor Genoise's gleeful shouts could hope to top the roars of excitement coming from Professor Puff.

It was only when the board members were running back to their workstations, leaving Lyra open to be surrounded by her waiting friends, that another sound managed to fight through the jubilant din.

Palmier Dacquoise was pounding his fist repeatedly on his countertop. Once he judged he could be heard, he strode to the center of the room and began his speech.

"I confess myself deeply disappointed in this board, in this academy, and in the baking community of this present age. I shudder to think what my great-great-grandmother Madame Dacquoise would say if she were here to witness such a rot setting in. If this is the course upon which the academy is determined, then I cannot in good conscience continue my support of this institution. I must resign from the board."

"As must we," Lord Meringue declared, hurrying with his wife to stand beside Master Dacquoise. "This Enjoyment craze has spoiled the legacy handed down to us by our ancestors. The House of Meringue cannot and will not involve itself further in such disgraceful endeavors."

Lady Meringue gave an imperious nod. "We resign from the board, and we also withdraw our daughter from the academy."

"Like salts you do!" Caramelle met her mother's shocked gaze with remarkable calm. "I am of age, and I have no wish to leave the royal academy. If that offends your sensibilities, I can stay with Aunt Pavlova until I graduate. Right, Rye?"

Rye pushed through the crowd to stand by his cousin's side. "That's right. Mom would be thrilled to have you."

"And I wouldn't be so hasty, Lord and Lady Meringue." Master Chiffon somehow managed to get down from the countertop with great dignity and face the three glowering bakers. "I can't imagine the Confectioners' Council will look kindly upon your exit from the academy board. Wouldn't you agree, Lord Nougat?"

The Royal Chef of Flavor folded his arms across his expansive chest. "Oh, yes. Quite unsavory behavior, I'd say. Titles have been rescinded for such actions. The Confectioners' Council wishes to recognize those who have contributed to the advancement of baking."

Lord Meringue's eyes were as hard as burnt sourdough. "My family's long history of financial support —"

"Is greatly appreciated," Madame Patisserie cut in. "But the academy is not dependent upon it, nor upon you."

"Resign if you must," Master Chiffon said quietly. "But I hope you three will consider staying and helping us with this exciting new menu."

The Meringues seemed too angry for speech. They shared a furious look with each other, and with Palmier Dacquoise. Then all three stormed from the exam hall without another word, followed closely by Florentine Clafoutis.

Lyra dimly noted that Eclair Tatin was hovering by Professor Honeycomb's elbow, looking rather sheepish, before Madame Bundt's voice broke the awkward hush.

"It seems we have three workstations available. Puff, Genoise, Honeycomb! Care to join us?"

The Enjoyment glow, which had been simmering at the edge of even the last few unpleasant moments, burst again into a full boil. The three professors rushed to claim the empty workstations while the students finally gathered in a hug-huddle around Lyra.

"Salts, what a recipe," Ginger sighed.

"Wait'll I tell Razz." Boysen shook his head, grinning. "He'll be furious he missed it."

Lyra had an arm around Caramelle. "You all right?" she whispered.

"Sweeter than ever," Caramelle replied firmly. "I don't know if they'll actually follow through. If they resign, I'll move in with the Galettes. If they don't…"

Mac was already holding her hand tightly. Lifting it to his lips, he gave her fingertips a quick kiss. "Regardless, next year will be interesting."

"I'll say." Rye laughed. "But it won't beat this meeting. By all the seasonings, it's official! Enjoyment is real! Uncle Meringue aside, this day could NOT get any better."

Lyra caught Ginger's eye and flushed.

No offense to Rye, she thought, the Berry melody already buzzing through her veins in anticipation. But I really, really hope he's wrong.

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.