geri_chan | My Yuletide Gift

Just wanted to share the awesome Yuletide gift I received, a story about Varice from The Numair Chronicles series by Tamora Pierce. (Well, technically there's only one book out right now, but it is part one of an intended series.)

Kitchen Witch (4046 words) by AlterEgon
Chapters: 3/3
Fandom: The Numair Chronicles - Tamora Pierce
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Varice Kingsford
Summary: We know Varice is happy in the kitchens, but we never get to actually see her at it. Here are a few scenes of her doing what she loves and does well, at different times through her life, and in connection with a few "world events".

This is such a great story, and one I've been wanting ever since reading Tempests and Slaughter. I loved young Varice in the book, and how we got see a fuller and more sympathetic view of her than we did in Emperor Mage, which was colored by Daine's POV and her jealousy of Numair's old flame.

My wonderful Yuletide author managed to work not just one, but three of my prompts into their fic, showing Varice at three stages in her life. The first chapter is a happy scene with Varice working her kitchen magic. The second is set in-between Tempests and Slaughter and Emperor Mage, with Varice struggling with the fallout between Arram/Numair and Ozorne. And finally, the third shows a more weary and adult Varice during Emperor Mage who has no more illusions about the monster Ozorne has become, with no trace left of her childhood friend.

Varice is not a hero or idealist like Numair, who is willing to sacrifice his life rather than compromise his beliefs, but I love the contrast between them. The author does a great job of making Varice very human and sympathetic: she is too afraid to sacrifice herself and be imprisoned (and executed) along with Arram, but who can blame her for being scared and wanting to live? I love the great heroes of Tortall like Numair and Daine and Alanna, but as an ordinary person, I feel like I can relate better to Varice. And I like the way in both canon and the fic, that she works behind the scenes quietly and in more subtle ways to try to protect others from Ozorne's murderous impulses.

Varice's love of cooking is also one of my favorite things about her, and I love that my author included that in the story, especially the scene in the second chapter where Varice is making a mirror glazed cake that turns into a scrying mirror--a wonderful combination of cooking and magic! I had a little chuckle at that, since I had recently been watching a Great British Baking Show episode where one of the bakers made a more mundane mirror glazed cake!

If you're a fan of Pierce's Tortall books, I highly recommend this fic, though I suggest that you have some cake on hand because I found myself craving some after I read it!