Ch.65 The Banquet

Ch.65 The Banquet

As the group makes it to the dining hall they find the Baron, Hajdah, and a good number of servants moving about the room. There are also a handful of other dwarven nobles in the dining hall.

As the group walks into the room, a servant approaches Rya and takes her cloak.

The Baron looks up and smiles at the group. "Ah, welcome. So, this is Lady Rya that the prince was speaking about? She's lovelier than I imagined." He then turns to Rya. "Pleased to meet you."Finnd new chapters on nove/lbin(.)com

'Ah... D-Do I bow or something? I don't know noble etiquette?' Rya only bowed her head slightly, not sure if it was correct or not.

"Oh? Ha ha ha! you don't have to bow to me Lady Rya. We are equals here. Come! Sit down over here. We have plenty of food and wine!" the Baron says.

Rya blushes a bit embarrassed by the gesture while she hears Quin and Dalia laughing quietly about it.

The other nobles were interested in talking with the prince. Hoping to curry some favor with the future King of Fiafyr.

Rya could hear Quin talking under his breath, "Well, looks like tonight's going to be a long night."

"It's not easy being popular sometimes. Hey if you like I can play the world's smallest violin you?" Rya whispered back to Quin which caused him to shake his head and smirk.

Quin and Rya sit down and start eating. While Dalia, Percy, and George sat at a different table.

"So, what's your plan for the next few hours?" Rya asks Quin.

Quin sighs a bit annoyed, "I need to talk to the local nobles. I have to do the boring stuff with them before we can really get to the interesting things."

Rya nods, "Yeah. I'll keep an eye on the others while you're doing that. I'm just surprised that they're so many nobles here to see you. I thought we didn't want to let your uncle find out that we are here?"

"Zellin has sent a messenger to my parents and it's most likely my uncle already knows. So we are going to borrow a garrison from the Baron."

"Damn! Are we going to war? I prefer to not put our lives in danger. I just want to live in peace." Rya says while worried that they'll have to face Alaric Revelia.

Quin laughs, "Yeah, wouldn't we all? Too bad we don't live on a planet that doesn't have magic and monsters. But we are here on Terius."

'T-That was weirdly specific. Quin's weird sometimes?' Rya thinks to herself.

"Prince Quinus! It's been so long! You've grown up into such a fine young man!" The Dwarven Noble says while walking towards Quin.

"Well, I'm on the clock," Quinus whispers to Rya before turning his attention to the Dwarf wearing a gaudy outfit that looks like a circus clown.

"Hello Garlon, good to see you again," Quin said as he put on his best smile that he could muster.

Garlon was a dwarf who was one of the other advisors to the Baron. He also worked as a merchant. As a result, he traveled far and wide to meet many races of the world.

As they continued their talk. Rya was having trouble following the conversation as Garlon was talking about places and things that she's never heard about. So, she decided to turn her attention elsewhere in the dining room.

While listening to Garlon speak, Rya notices some of the other nobles whispered to each other and giggling. Rya could hear them with her elven hearing.

"What's so funny?" Rya asked one of the nobles while they were giggling.

"Oh, it's nothing." They replied in a hushed voice.

"You know I can hear you right?"

They looked nervous as a few of their friends came over and whispered to them.

As Hajdah leaves, she turns to face the rest of the group and notices their confused expressions.

***

Time went on for Rya and the group as Quinus was dealing with noble after noble asking for his many requests. Most nobles were willing to help in any way needed if given enough money. They all were grateful that he and his comrades stopped the goblin horde from destroying their city. At some point, Quinus wanted to leave but he kept getting other nobles stopping him.

'Haha! Oh, looks like he needs my help to get him out of this mess.' Rya thought to herself while getting up from her seat. She then made her way over to Quin.

"Prince Quinus? There's someone here that wants to speak with you." Rya said as she pointed to the door that led out of the room.

Quinus looked over to the doorway and saw nothing. But he caught on to what Rya was doing and smiled.

"Well, I apologize for leaving but I have some business I need to attend to Sir Jevon," Quinus said to the nobleman standing next to him.

"Oh! No problem, your Highness. I'm sure we can continue our conversation later." Jevon replied.

Jevon bowed to Quinus as he walked to the doorway.

"You are a lifesaver," Quin said to Rya while she was walking next to him.

"Yeah, I could tell you were in distress. How could I not come in to rescue you?" Rya laughed.

"One of these days I'm going to rescue you and turn the tables on you." He said jokingly.

"I'd love to see that day. But honestly, I don't think you could make it up to me." Rya laughs.

"I like a good challenge. And if I do manage to win, I'll reward you." He said with a smile.

'Oh, he's getting flirty again. It's so weird that it doesn't bug me when he does this.' Rya thinks to herself while smiling back at him.

"Alright, so let me hear it. What is your plan?" Rya asks with a playful smile.

"Well, if you do something that gets you in trouble, I'll just have to come in and save you." He says with a mischievous grin.

"How very noble of you." Rya smirks.

"Haha. Yeah, easier said than done with you. You got a lot of guts girl." Quinus says while looking at Rya.

"Thank you for noticing. Anyway, I'm feeling it and I'm ready to crash for the night." Rya tells Quinus.

"Alright, I'll escort you to your room then," Quin says with a smile.

Rya just smiled and shook her head.

'He can be too protective sometimes. Whatever, I'm not sure where my room is anyway.'

Once they reach their destination, Rya enters her room. The room is much larger than the one they stayed in during their stay at the inn. And it is decorated with fine linens.

"Much more spacious. This will do nicely." Rya says to herself while getting ready for bed.

Once everything was set up, Rya laid down on the soft mattress. She was tired from the journey and knew that sleep would come quickly. As soon as Rya closed her eyes, she was asleep.

***