Three o'clock came, and Conor clocked out from Jackson's Furniture and made his way to Mr. Arroz's Spice Emporium. As he came around the corner, the pungent aroma reminded him of the days he had spent recently working next door with Cara. He wondered briefly if she had a shift this afternoon.
"Ah, Conor my boy! Come, come!" called an enthusiastic Mr. Arroz in a thick Pruarian accent. The jovial older man had always been kind to Conor and seemed thrilled to see him today. "Conor, that combination you suggested is selling like nothing I have ever had in my shop! You are truly Celia blessed! And that Mr. Nuri you introduced me to is already having orders placed for a shop near his headquarters!"
Conor smiled at the darker-skinned Mr. Arroz, "I am thrilled. I am glad business is doing well for you. Mr. Nuri's assistant said you might have some work for me?"
"Ah, yes! Come!" he waved Conor over to a table he had set out for people passing by to sample spices. "I need someone here to watch this table. It may seem simple but Conor, I need you to be vigilant. Some of these spices are valuable, but others are dangerous."
Conor noticed one set in a glass box. "What is that one?"
Mr. Arroz beamed with pride. "That one there is my pride and joy. I love hot spice above all others. Here, before I tell you about that one, let me show you this." He pointed to a line of sampling jars. "This first one is very flavorful. This second is actually your spice of life! This here has a hint of kick to it. Oh, and Conor you will love this one. This is from my Dragon spice line. Celia's breath. They say the goddess had a wise and sweet temperament but get on her bad side and she would punch you like an evil stepmother! HAHAHA! So this one goes down very sweet but watch that afterbite! It will sock you like a left hook!"
Conor looked on bemused and reached to sample a few of the spices. "Just a hint now Conor!" Mr. Arroz warned. Indeed, Celia's breath was sweet. As Conor stood and was about to ask about the jar in the glass again, his eyes went wide. His tongue and throat were on fire!
"Water!" he wheezed.
"HAHAHA! I told you, so! Gets you out of nowhere, right?" cackled Mr. Arroz, handing Conor a glass of water.
When Conor felt he had control of his senses again, he asked cautiously, "If that was the first in your dragon series, what is that one?"
"Ah, that my boy, I call Abrasax's Wrath. legend says the dragon god Abrasax was the fierce defender of the high dragon court. Perhaps even the defender of Celia herself, but even the monks can't agree on that. What they can agree on is he was a vengeful brute of a dragon. His wrath was so fierce, only those of Celia's blessing could stand him." Mr.Arroz leaned in and whispered, "But I will let you in on a little theory of mine. Celia was the dragon god of wisdom. I think, those who had her blessing were wise enough not to cross Abrasax and are also wise enough not to try that spice, thus sparing themselves its wrath! HAHAHA!"
Conor felt a deep and guttural chuckle resonate through his chest at that while he stared at the glass-encased jar.
"Now, if anyone is serious and wants to try that one, they must sign this waiver. That spice is so hot it's likely to melt them from the inside out, and I will not be having them sampling it just to try and sue me. And don't go letting kids try it either!"
Conor nodded to Mr. Arroz and shook his hand. "Thank you, sir, for this opportunity. I've got this."
"Good, and if you do as well out here as you did creating that spice of life, I will have something special in it for you at the end of the shift." Mr. Arroz wandered back into his shop leaving Conor to stir the crowds. Conor watched as families wandered by the booth, a few stopping to sniff from time to time, but most were heading to GrizlHut or to the arcade on the other side of the Spice Emporium. As the evening ticked by, Conor enjoyed the pleasant interactions with the few patrons who stopped in and even made a few sales. As he watched the evening crowds, a familiar head of brunette hair bobbed out of the GrizlHut and headed past him.
"Conor?"
"Cara! I was wondering if you were on shift today!" Conor smiled at the flour-covered girl as she slid into the storefront, pizza box in hand. "What's for dinner?"
"Oh, someone didn't pick up their pepperoni and sausage pizza so, it came with me tonight! Want a bite?"
Conor eagerly snagged a slice of the pizza and munched while they sat on stools behind the little samples table. After he finished, he asked, "care to sample any of these?"
Cara glanced around at the various jars and grinned, "Why is that one locked up?"
"I see you go right for the hot stuff! Hahaha! That, my dear friend, is Mr. Arroz's special blend. He calls it Abrasax's Wrath. It's supposed to be hot enough to melt your insides."
Cara's eyes went wide as she took in the jar and exclaimed "Abrasax? As in the Guardian Dragon god?"
It was Conor's turn to be surprised, "What do you know of Abrasax?"
"My uncle was an acolyte at the temple of Abrasax! They train elite warriors at a monastery to the northeast. Many of the kingdom's top soldiers have come from the Abrasax Order! The way my uncle tells it, in the last war between our kingdom and the Serretian's, it was him and a small unit of just twenty Abrasax warriors who held off an entire regiment of Serretian regulars in the mountain passes!"
"But I thought we were at peace with Serret?"
Cara laughed. "We are NOW. But back then they wanted to claim the mountains as their own. Something about wanting to mine them for ore. After several waves of their armies failed to cross the mountains, I guess they figured peace was a better option than war. If you were to ask my uncle, I think he still hates the Serretian's on principle, but overall trade seems to be normal enough these days."
"You seem to know a lot about this for a pizza girl," teased Conor with a wink.
Cara gave him a mock glare before continuing, "I want to travel, Conor! I am always asking uncle about the places he has been, the cultures he has seen, and what it is like outside our little bubble!"
"Hmm" Conor went to place the jar back in its glass case when Cara tapped his shoulder.
"Think we could maybe... I don't know, get a whiff of it? I don't think I actually want to taste it, but I am curious."
Conor grinned. He had to admit, morbid curiosity had been gnawing at him as well. "Ok but be careful!" He gently set it on the table and lifted the lit. The second the seal was broken Conor slammed it back shut, already gagging.
"O my word! That stuff is potent!" choked Cara, backing away.
Conor quickly replaced the jar in the glass case and locked it safely again. "Wow! Never in a million years would I have thought it would be that strong!" said Conor, eyes watering.
"HAHAHAHA! I told you not to mess with it!" came the unmistakable cackle of Mr. Arroz from inside the shop. "Abrasax will have his wrath on those who are not smart enough to heed the warnings!" As he finished up with his customer, he wandered up to visit with Cara and Conor. "And who is this lovely thing?"
"Mr. Arroz, this is Cara. We used to work together when I worked next door at the GrizlHut."
"You found yourself a cute one there, Conor! Treat her well, you hear."
"Ha, ummm, no we are just friends. I am actually married."
Mr. Arroz gave Conor a funny look and looked at a blushing Cara. "I see."
Conor changed the topic, "Cara was telling me some about the Abrasax temple. I wonder where you got the inspiration for your spice?"
"Ah! Well, my family has always respected the gods. Celia be praised for her wisdom, but Abrasax for his might and wrath. My father, may he rest in a fiery pit, was more of a mind to follow Abrasax. I like to think I fashioned that spice after his personality as much as I did as a tribute to Abrasax."
As they chatted a lanky teen of about thirteen strode up. "Are you letting people try stuff?"
Conor was quick to reply, "Yes we are! We have several great spices and salsa's today. Are your parents going to be by in a bit?"
"Yea, they are around... What do you have that is hot? We always eat hot stuff."
Conor glanced at the glass case but quickly decided not to be cruel. "Well, I do have this Celia's breath. But I warn you it's got serious after kick!"
"I can handle it."
Conor glanced at Mr. Arroz who nodded with a smile on his face. Conor handed the kid a small sample spoon and watched him shovel the sample into his mouth. "I don't know what the fuss is about. This tastes good. It's actually kinda sweet. What else do you hav... Ha... HOOOOTTTTT!!!" the kid began fanning his mouth franticly looking for something to wash the sting out with. Mr. Arroz chuckled as he handed the kid a cup of cool water from a pitcher he keep on hand for just such an occasion.
"Told you so!" he chuckled as he trotted off to help another couple at the register.
The kid gave Conor and Cara a sidelong glance before scampering off into the crowd. They both looked at each other and just laughed.
As evening approached Cara said goodbye and told Conor to visit. Mr. Arroz made his way back to the front as the crowds died down. "That is a good one. Shame you claim to be married."
"MMM, you are not wrong."
"Well, my boy. It has been a good night and I have something for you. I have been sending a weekly sum to Mr. Nuri based on our negotiation. 20% of the profits of the Spice of life as agreed. But I talked to him earlier and he said it might be more helpful to give it to you direct from what it earned last week. Here are 750 copper dragons for your cut, plus your time tonight!"
Conor's eyes went wide, "Are you serious? The spice is doing that well?"
"Yes indeed, my boy! And with Mr. Nuri wanting it sold closer to his headquarters, it is likely to be marketed across the kingdom. When that happens, you and I will bring in a nice profit, young man!"
"Thank you, Mr. Arroz, you have no idea how timely this is!"
"No problem, my boy. That little recipe has made me a small fortune already. If you have any other inspirations in the future, just let me know! Also, I plan to have another sampling of spice and salsa on Thursday night. If you are free, come back then. I will work you again for a few hours and can pay you whatever we have made at the end of the evening."
Conor helped close down the shop and walked home that night with a heart lighter than he'd had in weeks.