Devero's reaction is a bit more demonstrative, his eyes starting to water and his mouth falling open to pant in the cold air as if that will soothe the spicy burn. "Kriketja!" he objects plaintively.

Kriketja's covered her mouth with her hands to muffle her laughter. "I'm sorry," she says after the moment it takes to get herself under control. "A joke, a joke, I couldn't help myself.

"But the tradition, that is a true thing." She approaches and puts a hand on both of their arms. "You eat the cake thus, linked, to show your commitment through both the sweet times and the harsh ones."

Backing off, she grins sharply at them. "The marriage cake, it is even hotter."