Blessed Bread Bane

20251211

Written for Luna Asli Kolcu’s “Myths of Winter - Week 2” event.

Amanda was previously seen here.

"And, I just, I don't know what I did to offend them, but I'm sorry!" The baker sobbed, his contorted expression and sunken eyes at odds with how his hands continued to briskly rub butter into the scone dough. "They did ask how much things cost, and I told them, was that maybe...? I didn’t expand the price or anything, I swear! I didn’t even bring up them paying. I mean, I didn’t argue against it either, but would that…?
"Hm." Amanda’s mind raced as she tried to figure out how to explain this in a way a human would understand. “Don’t worry, I don’t think you offended them. They-”
“Then why would they do this??” He demanded, his voice rising another notch. “It’s been six days and I can’t sleep! Why would they curse me like this if I didn’t upset them???”
“Well…” How to put this. “According to the runes, this was meant to be a blessing.”
His mouth flopped open. His eyes bugged. A nerve twitched in his forehead.
Meanwhile his hands continued to work the dough without faltering, entirely divorced from his thoughts or feelings. Thankfully.
Amanda swiftly continued “I suspect they forgot that mortals need rest. It’s not a thing fey generally have to bother ourselves with, you see. So they gifted you with your work turning out perfectly and never having to stop, and… that didn’t resolve your body’s need for down time.”
“That…!” The baker was clearly torn between spluttering fury and quiet relief.
However annoying it might be, this misunderstanding was a far simpler problem than him having angered a powerful fey. With luck Amanda would be able to track down the caster and delicately explain the issue before the end of the work day. Particularly since their Trace was clear. She jotted the symbols down on her phone just in case (pity technology hadn’t cracked taking photos of etherial matter).
“In the meantime, have you tried sleeping p-”
“YES.”
“Alright, alright…” Amanda said soothingly, keeping her professional smile steady and not rolling her eyes at his sour glare. “I’ll need to pop back to my office to set up proper scries, but I’ll keep you updated.”
After all, the fey who’d done this was going to be embarrassed enough without the accidental victim being present for the conversation.
“Thank you.” Though subdued and miserable his grateful smile was genuine.
Amanda returned it and bracingly patted his shoulder - carefully, for it was doubtless aching dreadfully after so many days of nonstop baking. “With this being an intended blessing, I’m sure they’ll be happy to fix it. Just, um, let me do the talking while they’re here, alright?”
While hopefully the caster would be understanding of his current touchiness, best to avoid anything which could cause offence. If nothing else that’d negate their obligation to undo the casting, at which point she’d have to call in a disenchanting expert and the bill would grow dramatically.
“Right. Sure.” He shrugged this off, then jerked his head at the gorgeous baked goods crowding every horizontal surface of the shop and declared “I’m happy to give them whatever they want for free, so long as they fix this!”
Tsk. Silly mortal. The debt was in the caster’s court. Ah well. She’d be sure to represent him fairly and push for appropriate recompense for damages… and then add a fair amount to her invoice once she knew how much the other fey had paid.
Amanda let herself out of the bakery and pulled up the “Ironless Taxi” app. Best to get back to the office asap and get to work. This whole gaff would be very embarrassing publicity if it got out. Even now there were plenty of groups who’d jump on picking apart fey-human relations.
But, foolishly, that pitted them against her.

Prompt was “A baker receives a blessing: everything they make turns out perfect. Golden crusts, ideal crumb, flavors that make people weep with joy. The blessing didn’t come with an off switch. They haven’t slept in six days. The bread keeps rising.”