Banquet Dinner - Part 3

In acknowledgement of the King's entry, every head on the dining table looked in Briceus' direction, all except Elizabeth at first. But once everyone began to stand up to pay homage to their Lord Sovereign, she hurriedly pulled herself together to join in the act of greeting him.

Briceus hummed softly and then assumed the tallest and most glorious seat in the hall room; Ezekiel staying by his side. Once the signal had been given, everyone retained their former seated position. Briceus then scanned through the alternate rows of noble chairs on both sides, though sparingly, it still afforded him the realization that the hall was occupied by members of the Royal household. Perusing his thoughts, he couldn't see reasons with the Queen for doing this.

'What is your scheme this time, mother?'

Meanwhile Elizabeth at first couldn't handle the tension of being in the same dining space as the King, the one whom she had knelt before to plead her cause just the day before. The same one who hadn't batted an eyelid once decided to have her escorted to the Dordragon prison. How to suppress her trauma and innate fears to reclaim her former courage truly became a bother to her at this point.

'IF the Queen did invite me and this many people and also the King which is quite unfortunate seeing as he is also here… Then could it mean that there is something more to this event? But if it were the King who had actually planned it all to apologize for his mistreatment of me in order to compensate me in some way, which I will definitely reject…

Wouldn't it make for me to act with composure before the face of my oppressor? So then, Elizabeth proportion your body to align with your thoughts. You can do this. Pay keen attention to all that should be said and on the morrow, your freedom from here is but a surety' Heeding to her pep-talk, she then propped up her shoulders in a bid to adjust herself. But someone immediately noticed and urged the one beside him to lean his ears closer to him.

"IF I am not blind, Zeke… Then tell me if that maiden by the side yonder isn't the one whose village you had journeyed to during the day" Looking on in the direction of his Lord's gaze, Ezekiel found out his Lord's words to be the truth and that his assertions had not mistaken then he proposed his speech to the King in a whisper.

Briceus was waiting.

"She is certainly the one, Milord. The maiden… Elizabeth" Briceus then adjoined his index and middle finger as one and waved subtly for his aide to retreat to his former standing position. He understood and pulled himself backwards. Athena had been observant the whole time.

"Your highness! It is an undue privilege indeed to have you seated here amongst us and in honour of my Banquet invitation. I would like to state that tonight's feast is solely to commemorate the post-celebration of your inauguration as King" Briceus listened intently; his gaze remaining ice-cold and devoid of any positive emotion.

The Queen continued.

"As your mother, the Queen of Aegremonth, I-"

"Thank you for your kindness but there is really no need for you to try so hard" Briceus' words, though subtly interwoven, were accurate enough to pass his indirect message across to Athena and her fellow cohorts.

'Disgusting bastard! Is this your strategy to embarrass me in public for my undue kindness towards you? 'By and by, we'll see who gets disgraced the most tonight!' schemed Her Majesty in her heart while she bit her tongue bitterly.

The prince then decided to step in to save his mother's face.

"Even at that Brother… I mean, Your Majesty! Mother here, has thought up this idea to celebrate you specially because she felt it worthy of note to do so and look how she has also made sure to invite our distinguished family members within such limited time frame" 

"I can see that" spurted Briceus in an indifferent manner. This greatly annoyed more than half of the nobles in the hall. Just like that, Aldrich got silenced along with his mother.

In the light of this, Elizabeth who was determinedly minding her business the entire time could not help her thoughts at this point, 'Is His Highness always this way? But I see no harm in his mother's benevolence. It would be much better if he showed a little appreciation of his mother's effort'

"That is enough! All of you! We didn't come here to talk until the food gets cold. We have waited a long time already. Now, let us dine at once!" Something about the owner's authoritative baritone voice struck a chord of conscious memory within Briceus. He then tilted his head slowly to locate the direction of the one who had spoken. Said speaker is Briceus' paternal Great-grand Uncle, the Grand Duke of Aegremonth; Grand Duke Borlach!

Borlach had retained his post as the Grand Duke therefore making him the special adviser to whatever King was on seat. He had retained his service of Lord Sovereigns for three generations already, his most recent service being towards his now deceased grandson, the former King—Lord Voldermort.

This man had notably retained his longevity and immense portion of his physical strength regardless of him being stricken with old age owing to his use of magical potions and spells to keep him that way. Could be a rumour, could be quite logical because for a man who was a hundred and ninety something years old, he looked somewhat fifty in shape.

Ever since Voldermort's passing a little over a month ago, Borlach was nowhere to be found. Therefore his reason for showing up uninvited to the feasting of the night was a surprise even to the Queen. Still, he was family afterall and the oldest living ancestor of the Royal bloodline.

'You really did go out of your way to surprise me tonight mother. This should most likely be the height of your ploy, Queen Athena' said Briceus in his heart. Then he let his beautiful face twitch into a smirk.

"Grand Duke Borlach! I didn't know you would be letting us appreciate your presence tonight. It is a huge surprise indeed!" In response to Briceus' words, Borlach snapped "There's a lot of things you have no clue about… Briceus!"

"Treachery!" cried Duke Wauter. 

At once, a swarm of Royal armies encircled the Grand Duke with spears, swords, and armoury of all kinds pulled at him. It happened within a bat of an eyelid. Elizabeth clutched tightly at her chest, gasping simultaneously. Seeing that many weapons frightened her immensely; an act which did not escape neither Aldrich's nor Briceus' gaze.

"Leave him be! We are here to dine. Let us do so in silence" said the King.

The storm relinquished, the soldiers retreated and everyone set out to dine quietly. The Kitchen servants remained on stand-by after dishing out everyone's meal in anticipation of further requests. 

While everyone focused on their meal, Elizabeth's heart still faltered at the violent scene of some moments ago.

'Is this how things tend to escalate within the Castle so quickly? My god! I sincerely cannot wait any longer to return home to my Bessie'