The sight that greeted her made her stop in her tracks.
The slaves were cooking rice.
A large pot had been set over the stove.
Corn stalks crackled beneath it.
Someone poured oil into the pot.
Others prepared to add the rice.
The familiar scent rose into the air.
Warm.
Comforting.
Unexpected.
Sienna stared.
For a moment, she felt as though she had been struck by lightning.
Rice.
Actual rice.
In this world.
The realization sent a pleasant shiver racing across her scalp.
For the first time since arriving in the Arcana Empire, she felt the sudden and almost overwhelming joy of rediscovering something from her old life.
If corn had been a pleasant surprise, rice was a reunion with an old friend.
And for a long moment, Sienna Vale stood there in her magical farm, watching a hundred former slaves prepare dinner, while her heart danced with a simple and deeply human excitement.
There was rice in this world.
The moment Sienna saw the rice, she nearly felt like collapsing.
