06. Obsessions

Morte has a weird obsession for pastries.

The Sandsea, which was Morte and Agan's home, could never be able to make baked goods. Only flat bread could be made so readily. Water was harder to come by in those days, so there was not enough yeast to make rising bread. Upon the hot, flat rocks of the desert, the dark bread baked hard, not soft like land bread. It was riddled with grit and sand, wearing young teeth into stubs. Sometimes, if trade was good, it would be sprinkled with a variety of seeds, or even dipped in precious olive oil.

While Agan was more used to chewing down this gritty bread, Morte had a harder time stomaching it. It took her nearly a year to chew it, and a further six months to swallow and stay in her belly. She still avoided it as much as possible during her teens.

When she finally left the relative safety of the caravan - 'only for a few weeks!' She said, - her first meal on a continent was so small, that it could be devoured in one or two bites easily, which Morte happily obliged.  The delicate pastry crumbled in her mouth, the vanilla and strawberry flavour swirling together harmoniously, before savouring every moment it went down her throat.  Who knew such a small morsel of food could taste so good?

It become a tradition for her to get a variant of that sweet, sweet goody every time she visited the Spring Continent. And, it was almost a tradition as well (almost because Agan couldn't and wouldn’t come with her), that he would hang back and facepalmed while Morte proceeded empty the shop. "Geez, aren't you and that cake a little too acquainted?"