The Windcaster [Fantasy/Adventure | Featured | Complete ]

Chapter 37: The Great and the Fall

Even in desperate times, the food of the palace was beyond extravagant.

Steaming plates of meat were laid out in front of them. King Ea sat on one end of the table, with Prince Ashur, his younger son, and Princess Agasaya, his older daughter, on his left and right. Lady Ishtar sat at the other end of the long dining table, picking delicately at her food and ignoring the Windcasters sitting beside her.

All the Windcasters of Dernexes were present at the table, except for the few that remained as messengers in the marching army down south. Tia had never seen so many of her own kind. All along the length of the hall were figures clad in pale blue cloaks, interspersed with a trainee's cerulean cloak. Casters of all ages, some as old as Master Anu and others as young as Tia, sat and ate in solemn silence. Some wore the golden pendant around their necks, indicating their role in the king's Casters; others were Windcasters not under the king's jurisdiction, with no pendant.

The dining hall was at least three storeys high, with a high-vault ceiling showing beautiful painted scenes of great kings, feasts, and victorious past battles. The oil lamps and torches hung on the sides of the marble wall threw shadows across the paintings, making the figures appear to dance.

Colourful tapestries streamed down the walls; most of them were depictions of the current royal family. The figures were recent and very flattering. King Ea's belly was shrunk to almost normal-sized; Lady Ishtar's slim figure was enhanced by the elegant dress she wore, and the two royal prince and princess were shown with pink-cheeks and bright-eyes, a stark contrast to the two sullen-faced, disgruntled children sitting at the table. They made a point of banging their cutlery and dropping food, forcing the servants to dive here and there to clean up.

The king ate like a ravenous beast, shovelling food without much aim into his mouth. He downed his drink, his face getting redder and redder with every refill. The sight of his greedy little eyes focused on nothing except for the expensive edibles in front of him and him chewing with his mouth open, with gusto, made Tia very nauseous. The smell of the aromatic goose made her stomach churn and the grease glistening on top looked like slime.

She started to pick at her food, but even the potatoes tasted like cardboard in her mouth, sticking to her throat; she spat it back out without anyone noticing. After eyeing the rest of the food for several minutes, she decided to just sit and wait for the meal to finish, not touching a thing. She was unused to such fine foods; the last time she had eaten such delicate foods, she had remained bloated for days.

Someone strode in and bowed to the king, holding a scroll on a metal plate. The king grunted, chewing with vigor at the leg of meat. Tia did a double take.

She almost didn't recognise the boy who was holding the plate. His dark hair was closely cut and his powerful jaw was clean-shaven, but there was no mistaking the strong frame or those intense, pale eyes as they swept down the table and met her green ones.

He was taller and heavier-built; his muscles were better defined, but he still wore the wrist guards that Master Anu had given him.

Her heart skipped a beat in joy at recognising her friend again. He remained stony-faced but she thought she could see a small smile beneath the grim expression. He gave her a curt nod as King Ea flapped him away, impatient.

"I have no time for this! Can you not see I am eating?" The king sprayed bits of food everywhere.

Whilst the Enlil Tia had known would have retorted something disrespectful and punishment-worthy, he now merely gritted his teeth, bowed his head and left. Tia watched him stalk off, head held high. She lost sight of him as he strode further and further down the corridor, disappearing amongst the statues and paintings.