By Aurelia West
Once upon a time, there lived a boy named Therod who loved to cook. He lived on the outskirts of the nearby town and never bothered anyone who didn’t want to be bothered. His father was a tall, quiet man who managed to command a room with his presence alone and he was a good friend of the prince of their country. One day, Therod’s father came home with a message. He said that the prince required a chef. The boy had experimented with ingredients and was confident in feeding himself and his family, but never thought he had the ability to cook for a prince! He said just as much to his father, but upon receiving one glance from the man he agreed to do it. This is how Therod found himself venturing into the royal palace for the first time.
The prince introduced himself as Prince Alphreid, but told the boy to call him Alph. Therod was surprised with such immediate lack of formality. He was led to the kitchens where he could begin to explore, and Alph told him he wanted to taste his experiments. Therod was floored; this kitchen had ingredients he’d never seen before and so many surfaces on which to create. He wasn’t sure he even knew where to begin. He pulled out some leaves and took a sniff of them, then decided to add them to a pot. Once he’d added more ingredients and pinches of spice, he ended with a delicious looking stew. Alph, who had watched throughout the whole process with rapt attention, immediately asked for a bowl.
Upon tasting the stew, his eyes lit up and he heartily shook Therod’s hand. “I knew I had made the right decision,” the prince told him. Therod, still confused as to Alph’s reasoning, asked why he’d needed a chef in the first place. Alph hesitated for a moment. “Well you see, I didn’t want to lead with this, but I’m actually quite ill. I have a rare disease or at least that’s what the royal doctors have told me. I’m very weak and can’t make long journeys on my own. Your father told me the magic that you could create with the right ingredients and I decided I needed to eat your food before I die.” Therod didn’t know what to say, whether he should comfort Alph or cook as much food as he could.
“I’m not sure how much time I have left,” Alph continued, “but I want to continue eating your food. Don’t tell anyone, but the castle food isn’t nearly as delicious.” Therod immediately agreed and the two soon became very close friends. Day in and day out, Therod would venture outside of the palace in search of ingredients. On one of his first outings, he’d come across an old woman who declared she had no name. She somehow knew that he had a dilemma and told him of a mysterious and rare plant that had the ability to heal any illnesses. Therod had been on the hunt for it ever since. Alph had been getting weaker recently and Therod wanted to do everything he could as the prince’s chef to help him.
One day he came across a clearing he’d never noticed before, and he’d done his fair share of studying the palace maps. In the center of the clearing bloomed one sky blue flower. Instinctively Therod knew it was what he was looking for and plucked it from the clearing. As soon as he’d done so it began to rain heavily so he ran back to the palace as quickly as he could. Several times, his feet nearly slipped out from under him, but he persisted for the sake of his friend. Once back safely in the castle, Therod made one more soup for Alph using the pure blue flower.
Once he ate it, Alph’s face lit up and regained color. He hugged his friend and they danced around the kitchen together. Therod was made the castle’s new chef and was able to live happily with his best friend for the rest of his days.