Sleep felt like sinking into warm broth. Mia did not dream of cars or sirens this time. She only dreamed of quiet water and slow rain and two steady hands holding a bowl that did not shake. When she woke an hour later she had no idea where she was for the first few seconds. The ceiling was stone not peeling paint. The air smelled like spice and heated oil not city dust. There was no traffic noise. No upstairs neighbor yelling at someone on the phone. Only low kitchen sound and the soft tap of footsteps in the hall

Then memory returned all at once. Palace. Kitchen. Emperor. Her body snapped awake fast

Lin was already up sitting cross legged at the foot of Mia’s bed peeling the skin off ginger with a small knife. Lin did not look up when she spoke “You twitch in your sleep. You say Dad once. Then you say No no no no. Then you stop talking and breathe like you are drowning and then not drowning. It was a lot. I almost threw water on you”

Mia rubbed her face and sat up slow. Her hair had come loose and fell over her shoulders in a messy wave. “Please do not throw water on me unless I am on fire”

Lin looked up with a tiny grin “In this palace that is not an impossible future situation so I will keep that in mind”

Mia huffed a soft almost laugh “What time is it”

“Close to sunset” Lin said “Head Chef is already pacing. When he paces he wears a hole in the floor with his anxiety and then yells at the boy trainees for putting a hole in the floor. You should get moving before he starts yelling about you out loud where someone important can hear. That would be trouble. Quiet trouble is fine. Loud trouble is not fine”

Mia stood and stretched and felt sore in every part of her body shoulders back wrists legs even her jaw from clenching so long. She had done brutal shifts in her old kitchen before the dinner rush the weekend rush the nightmare holiday rush but this was different. This was not just physical tired. It was the kind of tired that came from knowing one wrong word could end you. The kind of tired that sat between the ribs and hummed

She glanced down at herself. The dress from earlier was wrinkled and stained at the sleeves. “Do I have anything to change into or do we just keep wearing the same thing until it stands up by itself”

Lin perked up “Oh. Yes. I almost forgot. This is for you because now you are not low maid anymore so you cannot walk around looking like spilled soup”

From under her own bed Lin pulled a neatly folded set of clothes and placed them in Mia’s hands with a kind of ceremony. “Inner kitchen uniform. Light gray not brown. Brown is for storeroom runners and wood carriers. Gray means you are allowed near dishes that go to the royal table. Also there is a wrap for your hair and a clean apron. Do not lose the apron. Aprons get stolen all the time. A good apron is gold”

Mia held the fabric. It felt soft but strong. The cut was simple but not shabby. Functional. It did not scream I am important but it also did not scream I am nothing. Lin had called it earlier We are medium people. This looked exactly like that

“Thank you” Mia said and she meant it

Lin shrugged “Do not thank me. If you walk into the main kitchen with stains Head Chef Zhu will explode and the blast will take out the back wall and I sleep against that wall so I am only saving myself again. You being alive is also good for me and also for him and also for the empire but mostly for my wall”

Mia smiled more honestly this time. Her chest loosened. For a second the palace did not feel like a cage. It felt like a place where she was not alone

She changed quickly behind a low hanging cloth while Lin pretended not to look which meant of course Lin peeked once because Lin was Lin. The gray uniform fit well enough. The sleeves tied at the forearms so they would not drag in sauce. The front crossed and wrapped tight against her ribs in a way that let her move without worrying about loose fabric in the fire. There were even small pockets. She had not expected pockets and the tiny luxury almost made her emotional

When she wrapped the hair cloth and tied the apron Lin looked her up and down and nodded with approval “Good. You look like you belong. Still strange face but the rest is fine”

“Strange face” Mia repeated

“Well” Lin said “your face is just not from here. The bone line is different. The skin tone is different. Your mouth moves different when you talk. Your eyes hold straight eye contact and that reads like fight here. Here when you are new you keep your gaze a little lower so you do not look like you are ready to challenge someone. You look like you are ready to challenge someone”

Mia blinked “Where I come from looking people in the eye means respect”

“In the palace looking people in the eye means I am as strong as you and I might want your position. So adjust”

Mia let that settle. “Okay. I will work on my eyes not being rude”

“Good” Lin said and hopped off the bed “Also do not smile too fast at anyone with gold in their hair”

Mia frowned “Why”

“Smiling too fast means you want favor. Wanting favor means you are either dangerous or dumb. If they think you are dangerous they will try to break you. If they think you are dumb they will try to use you. So do polite face. Calm face. Tired face also works. Everyone here is tired”

Mia stared at her “How old are you”

Lin shrugged “Old enough to still be alive”

They moved through the back corridor again. Servants carrying baskets rushed by with controlled speed. No one ran in the palace. Running drew attention. But everyone walked like their feet were on fire. Mia copied the pace. She copied the posture. Chin down a little shoulders steady no swinging arms. Lin watched her and nodded like a teacher who saw a student finally get the knife cut right

When they stepped into the kitchen the air hit Mia full force. Fire heat steam citrus bone broth ginger sear oil char salt metal on wood voices calling times. It felt like stepping into the center of a storm that had a heartbeat. It felt like home and war at the same time

Head Chef Zhu spotted her in one second and strode over like a hawk locking onto prey. “Finally” he hissed “Do you know what happens if he sends someone for you and you are not already there waiting. Do you”

“You die I die Lin dies the empire collapses and your wall is ruined” Mia said calmly

Lin slapped her shoulder with the back of her hand “Do not drag me down in your jokes”

The head chef blinked then pressed two fingers to the bridge of his nose. “I am going to grow white hair by morning. Listen. Same dish as before. Same method. No change. You will prepare it in the small inner line this time not the main row. Fewer eyes. Fewer mouths. Fewer risks. If someone tries to come close and watch you I will move them. You speak to no one unless they have rank higher than me and if they do have rank higher than me you keep your answers short yes or no. If they ask where you learned to cook you say I learned in the far south. Do not say more than that. Do you understand me”

Mia nodded “Yes”

“Good” he said “Because I am telling you this for survival not for drama. You have already caused enough drama today to feed the whole court for a week. Now we need to calm the kitchen before people start tearing at each other for a drop of favor like wild dogs”

Mia followed him into a smaller side kitchen that branched off from the main line. It was quieter here. No shouting. Fewer bodies. Only two other cooks worked in the corner prepping herbs and cleaning knives. There was a low door that likely opened to a private hall. She guessed that was the path for delivering dishes directly to the Emperor without passing through the main traffic of the palace

In other words this was the inner inner kitchen. The place where only trusted hands worked

She should not be here and yet here she was

A wide clay stove sat built into the wall. Coals glowed inside like slow heartbeats. Copper pots rested on iron rings. The air was humid and warm and thick with the scent of simmered broth soaked into stone from years and years and years of meals for people who called themselves important

Zhu pointed at the stove “Everything you asked for last time is here. Lin memorized the list and yelled at six people until we had all of it. You will work fast and you will work clean. You will also show me each step while you do it. I will not copy your hands. But I will understand them”

Mia nodded “All right”

She washed her hands in a basin of warm water that someone had sprinkled with citrus peel. Nice detail. She dried them on a clean cloth. She tied her sleeves tighter. She breathed in once slow and let the past hour fall away

In front of a stove it was easier to stop thinking about fear and politics and death doors. In front of heat her body went into a mode it understood without asking permission from her mind. It felt like slipping into muscle memory like walking into a song that was already playing and picking up the rhythm

Lin hovered at her right shoulder like a bodyguard made of curiosity. Zhu stood behind her arms folded not blinking

Mia set the pot on the heat. Water first. Bones next. Crack the joints to let flavor out. Ginger cut thin. Onion cut long. Skim the first foam. Watch the clarity. Add the light peel of citrus only when the broth stops tasting flat and starts tasting round. Salt in careful controlled pinches. Taste. Adjust. Quiet. Clean. Patient. Respectful

She moved like she had moved that morning but calmer now more precise. It helped that her hands were not shaking. She knew the stoves now. She knew how this heat felt and how this metal held warmth. She knew how fast the bone would give itself to the water. She knew the shape of the bowl she wanted. She was not guessing anymore. She was repeating

Repetition is safety she thought

Zhu leaned in a little. “You are not boiling hard. You are keeping it just under. Why”

“Too much movement makes the broth cloudy” Mia said “Cloudy reads heavy. Heavy reads tired. He did not ask for tired. He asked for warmth”

Zhu let out a slow grunt. Approval

Lin whispered “You talk about soup like other people talk about love”

Mia let out a quiet breath “Same thing most days”

Lin almost choked trying not to laugh out loud

When the broth was ready she strained it again. Pale gold. Clear. Soft. Familiar now. The smell slipped through the air and wrapped around all three of them. Zhu closed his eyes for half a second and Mia pretended not to see because that felt private

She added the rice. Broke the clumps with the back of the spoon. Let the starch ease into the liquid. Let the texture turn from thin to gentle. Again she watched for the moment when the grain surrendered but did not disappear

Lin leaned in close and whispered “The kitchen boys are calling you Warm Bowl Girl. The laundry workers are calling you The Favorite. One of the guards in silver called you Golden Hands. The ladies in the tea hall are calling you Trouble With Pretty Eyes”

Mia blinked “Wait. What”

Lin grinned wicked “That one spread fast. Someone saw you in the tasting hall and said you looked straight at the Emperor like you were not scared and like maybe you wanted to taste him instead of letting him taste your cooking”

Mia felt heat rush straight to her face “I did not. I did not do that”

“I know you did not do that” Lin said “But rumor does not care. Rumor likes spice”

Zhu made a choking sound and rubbed his forehead “If that rumor reaches the imperial consorts I am going to have to scrape your body off the wall. Stop saying it. Stop repeating it. Stop even thinking it. In fact erase it from your mind right now”

Mia swallowed hard “Erased”

Lin nodded with fake seriousness “Erased completely”

Mia added the egg. Slow. Gentle. The white folded around the yolk like silk again. She finished with the green tops cut thin angled across the surface like soft strokes of paint. It was beautiful in a quiet way. Nothing in the bowl tried to shout. Everything in it whispered You are safe You can rest You can breathe

It still amazed her how something so simple could feel like an embrace

Zhu let out a low breath. “Good. Bowl it. Do not spill. Lin go ahead of her. Clear the way. We deliver direct”

Lin straightened like a soldier about to march for glory “Yes Head Chef Zhu”

Mia picked up the bowl with both hands again. It felt a little less terrifying than the first time. Not safe. Nothing here was safe. But familiar. And familiar in a strange world felt like armor

They moved through the little door and into a narrow stone passage lit with low hanging lanterns. The air here was cooler. Quiet. No kitchen shouting no clanging pans. Just the low echo of steps and the faint brush of silk somewhere ahead

Lin walked first watching for anyone in the hall. Zhu walked behind Mia like a guard. Mia walked in the middle holding the bowl steady breathing slow and even

As they walked Mia let her mind drift for half a second. She thought of her old life again. The walk from the restaurant to her apartment. The late night air. The wet street under cheap streetlights. The message on her phone Are you home yet Mia. The sound behind her metal twisting air. The flash