NOW IT CAN ONLY GROW. An interesting thing happens after some ’raxia indulgence causes a Beta prince boy to proclaim his love for a store-bought Beta girl. He’s nicer to his parents. It could just be that Bahiyya asked the chef to prepare a chocolate dinner for my final night at the Fortesquieu compound, where Tahir and I have joined Tariq and Bahiyya for a last supper. Any kindness extended to me seems to brighten Tahir. The first course was white chocolate with caviar, followed by a spinach salad spritzed with a dark chocolate vinaigrette. The main course is venison stew prepared with shavings of bittersweet chocolate. The bittersweet part for me is that the chef could have tossed all the nonessential ingredients such as caviar, spinach, and venison and simply served course after course of chocolate. Before the ’raxia, I found the taste of chocolate delightful. Now, post-’raxia, it tastes incredible at an epic level.
