Have you ever had one of those: Everything-Goes-Wrong-Days? As in kids are late for school, you burned dinner, and the house is a wreck just as guests popped by for a visit? When this happens, I need something to just get by. Most likely it’s a cup of tea, some chocolate…a piece of cake. And I don’t need it because it’s something nice, but unnecessary. It’s because right then I need something normal—centering—and then I can get on with whatever is left of my day. In THE KNIGHT’S SCARRED MAIDEN, Rhain and Helissent’s story is about honey cakes. And they’re not unnecessary for them either; in fact, the cakes give them their happily ever after. Helissent is a baker. She compares her life’s struggles to failed bakes, and thinks of people like ingredients. She also talks in baking terminology, which confuses many a discussion. I loved discovering how she thought. But the cakes mean something else for her as well. Helissent’s family died in a tragic fire. Burned severely on the right side of her body, she was healed with honey. When the innkeepers adopt her, she brings in more patrons by learning to bake honey cakes. Then you have…
