“Oh my lord.” Kyril gasped as she spun around the inside of the Belrean bakery. The hybrid was still getting accustomed to the bustling city with its technologies and strange buildings that loomed as tall as those in Sulburi and the sight of the bakery was even more astounding. “There’s so many sweets!” She gasped as she looked towards the artisan who she was currently working with. Bryone was an older geian man with a flare for glassworks who had been interested in her mentor’s style. He had sent word that he would like to work with her and swap trade secrets and so Kyril’s mentor had sent Kyril in her stead as traveling overseas was simply too much for the older oban to deal with. At first Kyril was nervous about coming to Belrea and meeting with Bryone but now that she was here the hybrid was having a blast. Everything was new and amazing and Byrone was super sweet and patient with her childlike reactions to Belrea. He had even promised her that he would let her pick out some sweets since it was a good season for some of his personal favorites and she could mail some back to her mentor. Thankfully the airships were more common and it was becoming easier to ship packages home but he did advise that she should pick things that weren’t as delicate or perishable. Kyril tried to keep that in mind while her gaze surveyed the whole display, her fingers itching to grab all of the sweets to try out. “Some look almost like what we have back on the other continent.” She commented as she gestured towards a few of the pastries.

Byrone chuckled. “Is that so? I suppose we’ll have to buy a couple to try them out so you can let me know exactly how close they are.” He winked playfully and could only laugh more at Kyril’s obvious excitement as she jumped to the challenge. She would be more than willing to try out all of the candies and baked goods if possible! It perhaps would mean a lot of extra walking around the local park but it would be worth it.

“Alright, fine. I’ll try these three.” She pointed towards three pastries that had swirls of something different in each of them. One looked like cinnamon while another had some sort of berry and the last one had a cheese filling. Each looked delicious and she had to swallow whenever the worker lifted them from the display and placed them in a box. Just the smell alone was amazing! Perhaps three weeks on an airship had deprived her of sweets for too long. Kyril, after all, was accustomed to always getting baked goods delivered to home and when she lived in Oba she often went to a cafe that was near the workshop. She was thankful that it was autumn and that Byrone was eager to try some sweets himself. Else how would she have known about these special delicacies?

“Here.” Byrone handed her a white candy with an orangish filling swirled inside of it. “I think you may like it. They’re autumn favorites and made with a swirl of caramel and spices.”

Kyril nodded before taking a tentative bite. “Mmm.” She moaned happily as she swallowed and finished off the rest of the candy. “It is really good! I haven’t had something like that before!” It was just so soft and was it like a cream or sugar that made the base? Kyril pursed her lips thoughtfully as she tried to think about what could be in the candy. Most of the Oban sweets she had were either made out of sweet bread or with some of the bitter chocolates. Her personal favorite was the darker chocolate with a bitter taste that was heightened by some spice. Apparently Byrone was fond of pumpkins and apples though so most of what he purchased included one or the other. Kyril was pretty happy with them though she wasn’t quite as accustomed to the flavors as he was. Most of her life had been spent in Matori and Oba after all so those spices weren’t exactly the same as what Belrea offered. Either way she was eager to try out all of the sweets and then work more on learning Byrone’s technique of shaping glass. I truly am glad that my mentor pushed me to come this way. Mostly for the glasswork of course! Not because of the sweets….not at all.

[755]