Dark and Light (A Kindred Tales Duet)

Well, that was weird, Alli thought with a frown. Then again, all of this was pretty strange. She skimmed over the other listings and took a minute to look at the desserts.

Blib-blabs, read one of the options. Fresh and juicy, plucked from the vine just this morning and rolled in granulated petal-steeped sucrose.

U’ka-tok, another said. Tender u’ka-tok tentacles and antennae lovingly wrapped in buttery pissa pastry and baked until golden brown.

Alli made a face. Tentacles and antennae? Well, she was definitely going to give that last one a miss!

Just then, her stomach growled again. She frowned.

“Well, I guess I’d better order,” she muttered aloud. She cleared her throat, consulted the menu once more, and said, “I’d like to order the Tika-tika-boo-boo please, with the soondu sauce on the side.”

This was from the Appetizers part of the menu. The name sounded so ridiculous, Alli just had to see it.

Immediately a tall, silver metal container appeared in front of her. In it, were an assortment of different colored sticks, all about the same diameter but twice the length of drinking straws. They stuck out of the container is a colorful profusion of bright green, brilliant purple, and pinkish-orange. There was also a small round bowl of pale blue sauce on the side that appeared to be the same consistency as mayonnaise.

“So…” Alli murmured, looking at her appetizer with interest. “This is Tika-tika-boo-boo with soondu sauce. Well, let’s see how it tastes.”

Picking out a bright green stick, she saw that it had a hole in the middle of it, which made it look even more like an extra-long drinking straw. The tika stick was clearly battered and deep-fried. It felt crispy and smelled spicy to Alli when she put it to her nose and took a sniff.

She decided to try the stick by itself at first. Carefully, she bit off one end and chewed it.

To her disappointment, the tika stick didn’t taste like much of anything. It was bland and vaguely salty. Well, maybe it just needed the soondu sauce to give it some flavor.

Alli dipped the end of the long, crispy fried straw into the pale blue sauce, getting a generous amount. She took a big bite and began to chew before she realized that the sauce was burning hot—her mouth was on fire!

Gasping, Alli spit the bite into her napkin and reached for her goblet, only to find it empty.

“Water!” she gasped, but nothing happened. She tried again but again got no response. Then her eye fell on the menu. Maybe she had to order one of the drinks from there?

Desperately, she looked at the Drinks section.

“Mooldonado—now!” she gasped. God, what in the world was in that soodu sauce? It looked so innocent and pale blue but it tasted like the time she’d accidentally eaten a curry sauce with ghost peppers in it!

Immediately the crystal goblet filled with an opaque green drink that had pink swirls running through it.

Alli wasn’t sure what to think of this, but by now she was so desperate she would have drunk anything. Picking up the goblet, she took a big swig of the liquid—only to find that it was the most sour thing she’d ever tasted.

“Ugh!” Alli gasped after she managed to swallow. “Like somebody mixed lemon juice and vinegar!”

She put the goblet down and frowned at it. So far she was not enjoying the food from Kane’s world at all. At least her mouth wasn’t burning quite so much now, though. Somehow the ultra-sour drink had managed to ease the burning from the soondu sauce. So there was that, at least.

Sighing, Alli decided to try again. After all, she was still hungry. She picked up the menu again and consulted the Entrées section.

“Please clear the first course,” she said after a moment and bring me a…um…a Chub Steak. And make it…hmm…”

She looked at the star beside it again, recommending that this particular dish be ordered well done. Management not responsible for Chub ordered rare, it said. But honestly, she couldn’t stand well-done steak—it tasted rubbery and dry. She decided to order it the way she usually did—rare.

“Make it rare,” she said decisively. “Chub steak extra rare.”

At once the long, thin, crispy Tika-tika-boo-boo sticks and their devilishly hot dipping sauce disappeared and a silver platter with a matching silver domed lid appeared in front of her instead.

“Fancy,” Ali murmured, eyeing the silver dome with its elaborate gold and silver handle. It looked like a serving dish you’d get from room service at a Four Star Hotel—somewhere a ham and cheese sandwich would cost you fifty bucks plus tip.

Prepared to be amazed, she grasped the handle and lifted the large silver dome off the silver platter.

At first all she saw was what looked like a large mound of green and purple lettuce. Frowning, she poked at the lettuce with her fork. Was this it? Where was the steak?