12 May, 1359. Magdaline Castle, Islia
The Banquet of Love had started as a tradition in the first year of marriage between King Edward and Queen Celia. The two had wed in a relative hurry, as a way of trying to broker peace between two Islian provinces that had rebelled against the crown and were at odds with each other. A short but fierce civil war had racked Islia before their wedding. A lavish celebration would've seemed like a slap in the face to the exhausted country.
Instead, they had married in front of only a few witnesses and the newly crowned young king had taken his bride to the ancestral palace of Westerhaven. The young queen had been terribly homesick and had wept when they had to leave Westerhaven and head north, before the spring heatwaves began. She had cried that she'd only just gotten used to the palace and she was being forced to move to a new place again.
