"I have a surprise for all of you, well… most of you already know of it so it isn't much of a surprise… Natasha !"
His words were followed by the clinking of small wheels supporting three big circular tables covered by a white cloth.
They were being hauled over by multiple scribes towards the middle of the hall.
Matt took a step forward only to be pushed back with a gentle push from Astrid who followed her gesture with a kiss on his cheek.
"Let me do the honors."
"Sure."
She smiled at him and graciously walked towards the first table, as she grasped the rough cloth, Matt recited his speech.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the fruit of our sweat and blood during the past few weeks, a complete model of the inside of Valhalla !" As the last word left his mouth, Astrid yanked the gray cloth away, revealing a tunnel and cave-like architecture model on a scale of 1 to 10 000.
The top was horizontally cut to reveal the environment and arrangement inside, a diorama where a cylinder filled with miniature trees and houses stood in the middle, branching out in eight directions all containing diverse but gloomy looking hallways and rooms.
The ones that built and explored it smiled and laughed, their hard work was being recognized by the leader !
They had spent a lot of time coloring and shaping a large quantity of wet clay to shape the entire model, at least, hardening the terrain in an oven wasn't too hard.
What they had spent a lot of time on however was the creation of little decorations made out of wood, moss and metal scraps to give the spaces within the diorama defining and recognizable features.
"Magnificent. Now, let me explain my plans for the new Valhalla to you all. From the information that was collected by our scouts, I was able to devise a use for the ancient ruins within and outside Valhalla, but let's look at the insides of our holy mountain first shall we?
The north and south-eastern sectors used to be living quarters for the ancient ones, for now we do not have a use for them but I plan to renovate everything to use as new homes for our people, I also heard that one of them had thermal baths so anyone that wants to use it can.
The other two eastern sectors seem to be research labs, so any mages, ugh, scientists, that want to study can do so to their heart's content."
"Uhm… Your highness?" The vice-scientific counselor, a man wearing round glasses stuttered from within the crowd.
"Yes?"
"The scientists are already at it and… Miss Isabelle just left the meeting…"
"Gah! Good riddance !" Oslo laughed out loud, happy that that little witch finally left.
*Cough* "Please, let's resume." Astrid coughed sternly, bringing back everyone's attention.
"The sectors I want to focus on today are the north-western and western sectors. From what we discovered, the western one seems to be some kind of immense storage space where we still need to check all of the resources stored inside, it will probably help in our great need of materials. The north-western sector is the observatory where the parasites entered from but the scouts also discovered an ancient armory, although all the weapons don't work anymore.
These two sectors will be our new military districts, the giant warehouse is a perfect space for our people to finally free themselves and train their transformation without risking to destroy the dome or hurt themselves.
So from now on, any Valhallan that wishes to train or simply release their spirit can head to that sector, the warriors from the outside fortress in the south-west can obviously still transform so long as they don't endanger their comrades.
Any questions?"
"None, your highness."
"Then, before we get to work, let's enjoy tonight's festivities. Cheers!" I raised a pint of beer that Astrid handed to me and shouted loudly.
The musicians started playing their primitive drums, harps and flutes as all the guests started dancing to the tune. It felt nice seeing my subjects happy, enjoying the party.
"My lord, would you give me this dance?"
I looked at Astrid's beaming smile and held out my hand.
"My queen, I wouldn't dare share my dance with anyone else."
We took each other's hands, joining the party, our bodies interlaced as we took strange steps doing our best to dance even though neither of us knew how to, but neither did any Valhalans for that matter, dancing was simply a gentle brawl following the tune of music.
Everyone's relationship with each other seemed really good, well… Some of them seemed to enjoy things a little too much, Oslo and Grettel were entangled in such a wild dance, trying to overpower each other to take the lead that they took up a quarter of the sall to themselves. I wonder if there is anything going on between them.
"Hubby… look at me when we dance, only me."
She took my chin with her slender hands, turning my head to face her
"Of Course, there is no reason to think of anyone other than my beloved Astrid."
The night was long and the night was even longer
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