After the speech, the King and his guard went to the main dining hall of the palace. The room was filled with tables and chairs, as well as the smell of freshly cooked roasts and mutton.
"Mutton, huh? A bit European don't you think?" Maxis said, sitting down
"Yes, I thought I'd do something a little more traditional. Something a King of old would have for a feast," The King responded with a chuckle. "Don't worry, I had the huntsmen bring back some turkey and bison, everyone else has personalized meals as well."
"You used all parts of the bison, I hope."
"Yes, of course. Why would I not? I know what you do to poachers and sport hunters," The King said with a smile, sipping from a glass of wine.
Edelweiss sat next to Maxis, followed by Wivven sitting on the opposite side of Maxis. A servant came over to where Maxis was sitting and placed down a platter of food that included a turkey leg, bison ribs, some of the brain of the bison, fry bread, sausage links, boiled crawfish, and wild boar ribs.
"A platter for you sir, King Skinner requested it be prepared exactly as you like it," the servant said
"Uhm… Thank you," Maxis said, amazed by the sheer amount of food and the preciseness of how it was prepared.
"Of course, Sir Grandmaster."
"I don't know how you eat that stuff," Edelweiss said in a disgusted tone, the bison brains catching his eye.
"It's traditional," Maxis said, immediately starting to stuff his mouth full of the organ.
The server then went to Wivven, putting down another platter of food and taking the lid off.
"A freshly cooked rope of wild boar sausages, cooked 'southern style', a bowl of italian macaroni topped with melted cheese and butter, and the ribs of a berkshire pig smothered in Lafayette barbecue sauce from the French territory the way you like, sir."
"Damn Bry, you know how to entertain your guests," Wivven said, bewildered at the attention to detail.
"Yes of course, after this we'll be watching gladiators fight bears in an arena," the King said with a laugh.
"Damn, really?"
"No, Wivven I was joking."
"Oh."
Finally, the servant brought Edelweiss his plate of food and removed the lid.
"And for you sir, vienna sausages with a bowl of tafelspitz, roasted pheasant and duck breast, and a small apple strudel."
"Thank you," Edelweiss said quietly, amazed at the detail but wanting to stay quiet.
"Heeeeey, why'd he get dessert?" Wivven said angrily, the sauce from his food smeared on his lips.
"I'm sorry sir, King Skinner specified that your meals be exactly as described. If you'd like, I can ask the cooks to prepare you a dessert."
"That'd be great. I'd like an entire chocolate cake please"
"An…entire chocolate cake?"
"Yes, you heard me."
"Wivven!" Maxis snapped, "You can't ask for an entire chocolate cake from the royal cooks."
"Oh it's fine," the King responded.
"Is it?" the servant asked, unsure if the cooks could bake the cake in time. The king glared the servant in the eyes and put on a false smile, silently telling the servant to fulfill the request.
"I- …yes my liege-"
As the servant left to tell the chefs to start preparing the cake for Wivven, Edelweiss ate his food slowly, savoring it while Maxis and Wivven scarfed their meals down like wolves and asked for more.
"Eww, your breath is gonna smell like buffalo brains," Edelweiss said, disgusted by his partner for a moment.
"Don't worry, I'll brush later," Maxis said as another servant brought him another platter of bison organs and turkey legs. "It's been a while since we've all been in one place, hasn't it?" The King said.
"It has," Maxis said.
"But it's good to be back here, a break from the freezing cold of Frostgrad can be good sometimes," Wivven said, eating from his bowl of macaroni and cheese. Maxis looked across the room and saw Owaine. Owaine was the captain of the Faithful Vigils, a branch of Middle Tahls army who were mostly rangers and bowmen. Owaine was a tall and brawny man with curly brown hair. "How are things with you Owaine?" Maxis asked, wiping his face off with a napkin.
"They're going," Owaine replied, cutting off a piece of his mutton. "Been looking for christian militiamen up at Mt. Boren, to no avail unfortunately."
"Ah, I see," Maxis then looked to David, an old friend of his who went to Maxis' uncles military academy with him. "And how are you David, sorry, Sir David?" the knight chuckled at Maxis' jest.
"I'm fine, you don't have to call me 'sir David' ya know. Besides, you rank higher than me," Maxis laughed and continued eating his food. "You know," Maxis said, still chewing some meat. "Other kingdoms are looking at allowing Indians to become knights or soldiers."
"Really?"
"Yeah…There's a catch though."
"Oh yeah? What is it?"
"You gotta be christian."
"Awww, come on! Really?"
"Yep."
"Jesus…Not surprised though."
"Yep, it's a good thing Bryce made that new law, eyy," Maxis laughed while Wivven rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"Hey Owaine," Maxis said, still eating his food. "As a christian, what do you think of the new law?"
Owaine looked over to Maxis. "I think it's good. Can't have extremist terrorists in the kingdom."
"Yeah, but of course there's gonna be christians saying they're being oppressed."
"Other than when the Romans were still around, when have we ever been oppressed?" Owaine said, eating his food. "Exactly," Maxis said. "They're absolutely obsessed with being oppressed," Edelweiss added. "They have no idea what being oppressed means yet they're obsessed with it. They've never been beaten and abused just for who they worship or who they like. They claim to be tolerant but the second they find out you're not christian or if you like the same sex they'll hang you," Edelweiss said with an anger in his voice as he clenched his fork tightly.
The rest of the guests looked at him with surprised looks, not expecting the reclusive stableboy to have an outburst at the feast. "Anyways," He said quietly, continuing to eat his food. "Well uhh, how's Frostgrad, Wivven?" Maxis asked. "It's good, putting a lot more funding into the mage college and the protection of magic rites."
"That's good, not many mages left in the world these days. How many students are there now?"
"About fifty, most of them are ages fourteen to nineteen though so you can imagine what it's like dealing with a bunch of angsty punks with magic abilities," Wivven said with a laugh. Time passed and hours went by. By around sunset, most of the other guests had finished their meals now and were heading home. A few of the nobles presented gifts to King Skinner before leaving. Eventually all that was left was a few guards and the servants and maids who cleaned off the tables, carpets and floors of the palace dining room.