Chapter 5 The dinner

When Ayla thought about the time she would have to serve King Rhobart's dinner, she imagined that he would be eating alone. But now she saw how wrong she had been. At a long, big table King Rhobart sat together with his paladins. The food was already on the table, but no one was eating.

There was no servant in the room ready to serve the food. Ayla frowned. Surely she won't be serving all of them.

She fisted her hands to hide how nervous she felt while she studied the King and the Paladins. The men were dressed in simple tunics and were chatting among themselves. To her relief, they haven't observed her. Yet.

King Rhobart wasn't seated at the head of the table. He was seated at the middle of the table and talking to a Paladin that was to his right. The seat next to his left was unoccupied.

She was unsure of what she was supposed to do. Should she let the King and the Paladins know that she arrived. Or should she go directly to the table and start serving the food. On the few occasions that Ayla had been permitted to eat with her father and her brother, the slaves and servants served the food without saying a word. Maybe that's what she was supposed to do.

Before Ayla had a chance to walk towards the table, Milton cleared his voice catching King Rhobart's attention.

The King whipped his head and looked directly at Ayla like he already knew where she was standing, and his onyx eyes looked directly into her eyes. She stared and stared into his eyes for what seemed forever. And Ayla would have kept staring if not for one of the Paladins that, thank Adanoss, spoke, "We are in the presence of a Lady, you assess!"

"I don't see any Lady," someone said while the men hurried to stand. Including the King.

"For Inoss' sake, don't ruin the dinner!" another said.

The sudden movement startled Ayla. She took a step back and bumped into Milton. He put his arms over her shoulders, "We better not make the others wait." And the Fire Mage guider her to the table.

Ayla's heart beat faster with each step that got her closer to the King. She wanted to beg Milton to take her away from this dinner. She wanted to ask to be let to work in the kitchen or another place that would that her away from this man with eyes so black they were like the Void – cold as emotionless. Even the stark winter felt warmer compared to his eyes.

Her eyes went wide when she saw the King pulling the chair from his left and signaling her to join him.

Milton took his hands off Ayla's shoulder the moment she was in front of Rhobart. Her blood roared in her ears and she had to take two steps back to be able to look at his face. His 6'7 towered over her 5'5, making her feel so small and insignificant. He was so big and strong, and she bet that if he wished he could snap her in two with his bare hands.

While her father and brother dressed to impress and to show that they were the most important men in Myrthana, King Rhobart was the opposite. He was wearing a pair of simple black boots, black trousers a long white tunic. But was surprised Ayla the most was a little satchel that the King wore around his neck. The said satchel was made from the hide of an animal and dyed pink. A very, very vivid pink. Some birds and flowers, or at least that's what Ayla supposed, were stitched on the satchel with equal vivid colors. It looked like something a small child would make. Perhaps a gift from some relative the King cared about.

There was something about that satchel that bugged Ayla. She tried to think why but when she couldn't figure it why she made herself forget about the satchel.

Her eyes locked with his once again. Ayla saw a flicker of emotion in King Rhobart's eyes but it went as it came. She could swear she saw something similar to longing. And what she saw now were loneliness and sadness. For an unknown reason, her heart ached for him. Who knew Kings as strong and powerful as Rhobart felt sad and lonely? And Ayla understood this so well because she felt like him more times than she could remember.

His hair and beard were shorter than she remembered. And he still looked tired. And sad. So very sad. Ayla wanted to ask what made him feel sad. He should be happy now that the war was over.

Rhobart was the first to speak, "You lost weight, t'xoria. And you look very tired. Are you sleeping better?"

Of all the things the King could have said to her, for sure Ayla did not expect this. And there was that word again – t'xoria. What did it mean?

"I've been sick. But I am better now. Thank you for your concern."

"Don't assume I am concerned about you!" the King snapped. Someone snorted.

Ayla flinched. She was so stupid! Of course he won't be concerned about her well-being. What was she even thinking when she asked that?

"You really should work on your manners, Rhobart. And on other things," Milton said.

King Rhobart took a calming breath, while he kept looking at Ayla. And his eyes turned an even darker shade of black if that was possible.

"You look ...." the King started saying but stopped."Would you join me and these buffoons for dinner?"

She was here to have dinner with the King and his men?

After the King helped her with the chair, he sat next to her and grabbed her plate, and started putting food on it. Wait, the King serving her? That couldn't be right. She was supposed to serve them. Him. The other men started filling their plates with food.

Milton, who was sitting at the head of the table coughed and Ayla thought she heard him say 'dress' between coughs.

"The dress fits you nicely," the King mumbled.

Ayla blushed, realizing for the first time that the dress came from the King, "Thank you for it! It is very lovely!"

"And very expensive," the Paladin from her left said,

Without realizing she blurted, "I will pay for it! And for everything else!"

The King snorted, "How?"

"I will work!"

"Ohh," Rhobart said and arched an eyebrow. "Do you cook?"

"No, but...."

"Clean?" a Paladin with olive skin, black hair, and hazel eyes and who was seated at the other end of the table, asked.

"No."

"Make clothes? Knit? Stitch? Take care of animals? Hunt? Fight? Anything?" another one asked, in a playful tone. This one had soft blues eyes, red hair, and freckles all over his face.

Ayla's shoulders slumped forward, "No."

"Then you are useless," the Paladin from her left said. "Better feed her to the wolves. A good Myrthanian is a dead one."

'Useless' she heard her father accusing tone in her head. He had been right all along. She was useless.

Suddenly everyone stopped eating and joking around and looked at the King. They even seemed to have stopped breathing. Time seemed to slow down. The King kept adding more things to the plate that already had more food than Ayla could eat. A muscle ticked in his jaw.

A soft purr could be heard coming from below the table, and when Ayla looked she saw Kerra sleeping at Rhobart's feet.

Moments later, King Rhobart put the plate in front of Ayla, grabbed his goblet, and took a long sip of wine. Then he proceeded to put the goblet back on the table, turned his chair to look at the Paladin, and said, in a tone that promised death in a thousand ways, "Talk about her like that one more time, and I will cut your tongue out. Look at her with your eyes full of poison and I will carve them out. Say, one more time that she is better off dead, and I will send you directly to Beliar. Do I make myself clear, Godefray?"

When the Paladin said nothing, King Rhobart asked again, "Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear?"

"Yes," Godefray muttered.

"I didn't hear you!"

"Yes, my King!"

The King looked a few more seconds at Godefray, with eyes full of rage, before starting to put food on his plate. The others resumed their eating.

"Told you not to ruin dinner," said a Paladin with mismatched eyes, the left one black, and the right one blue. The Paladin seated to his left looked identical to him, except for his eyes. He also had them mismatched but his left one was blue while his right one was black. Both had blond hair and were seated across from her.

Ayla kept staring at the Paladins with mismarked eyes. She has never seen someone like them – O'reek, blessed by the gods.

The one with left eye black smiled, his eyes twinkling with mischief, "I am Eude. And this one over here," the Paladin pointed at his brother "is my ugly twin, Hudde."

"Who are you calling ugly?" Hudde asked.

"You, of course!"

"Kiss my ugly ass!" Hudde said to his twin.

A Paladin with black skin and ice-blue eyes, that sat next to Hudde, grinned at Ayla. She was sure that he was from the Kingdom of Drara – home to unending dunes of sands, oases, and the forty-five nomad tribes.

The one with olive skin and hazel eyes, which most likely was from the Southern Islands, howled with laughter.

"Language!" Milton said.

"Since you already met Dum and Dummer," a Paladin with blond hair and brown eyes, "I think it is best if we introduce ourselves. During our journey, *someone* told us not to bother you. I am Droyn."

"What do you mean by Dum and Dummer?" Hude asked. "You mean Hot and Hotter!"

"Obviously, I am Hotter," Eude said.

A giggle escaped Ayla's lips.

"And I even made the Princess laugh! Hotter and smarter! Never fail to impress a lady!"

Ayla rolled her eyes and the Paladin from Drara flashed another grin.

Losing his patience, King Rhobart pointed at the Paladin from Drara, "This one over here is Hewe. He doesn't speak too much."

"You mean he doesn't speak at all," Eude said. "But rumors claim that in bed, Hewe uses his tongue to write the alphabet. What rumors don't say is that I taught him! During a night, Hudde, Hewe, and I and this lady with, " the Paladin explained while he put his hands in front of his chest and moved them to his stomach.

Droyn, who was sitting right from Eude, smacked his head.

"Ouch! What was that for?" Eude asked.

"For the love of Inoss! You never know when to stop," Milton said.

"Enough!" Rhobart bellowed.

Ayla didn't understand what Eude wanted to say but she wasn't about to ask. Something inside her told her she was better not knowing.

The King continued showing Ayla the rest of the Paladins. Pointing at the one with red hair, he said, "Tizgar."

"Gorn," the King said pointing at the Paladin with olive skin and hazel eyes.

The Paladin Gorn, stood, put his right hand over his heart, and bowed his head, "It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Princess."

"There, now you met everyone. Now eat," King Rhobart said to Ayla.

While she ate, Ayla kept wondering what this dinner was about. She came prepared to serve but instead, she was sitting at the same table as the King, next to him, eating from the food he put on the plate for her.

And the Paladins. They were something else. She didn't had a chance to properly meet them before. Ayla thought that they hated her, but they smiled and joked with her. The only one that seemed to not like her was Godefray. His green eyes seemed filled with poison each time he looked at her.

Even the King seemed different with her. He wasn't exactly happy with her being in his home but he was less angry. Maybe she could survive Nordmar. If only she knew what the King's plans for her were.

"Wine?" the King asked her.

"Yes?"

"You don't seem too sure you want wine," King Rhobart said while he reached for her goblet with his right hand. Ayla's eyes tracked his hand and to her shock, she saw that his hand was wrapped in a bandage. Without thinking, she grabbed his hand wanting to see it better.

"You are wounded!"

"Just a scratch. Now, if I could get my hand back."

Ayla snatched her fingers away from the King's hand so fast it seemed a snake bit her. Her cheeks turned red with embarrassment.

She knew she should keep her mouth shut but if Ayla had a weakness that would be curiosity.

The words came out of her mouth before she even realized she was talking, "What happened?"

"Nothing. An accident," the King said.

Hudde snorted and said, "Wyvern."

"You should have seen how the wyvern looked once Rhobart was done with him," Droyn said.

"A wyvern did this to you?" Ayla asked.

The King shrugged, "It was standing between me and my ... prey."

"It could have killed you!" Ayla said while her heart missed a beat when she thought of him dying.

Rhobart laughed, "I doubt it."

"Was your hunt so important? You ended up being hurt."

Rhobart looked at her, and said with a tone that left no room for doubt, "The most important hunt of my life."

Ayla's heart hammered in her chest. She had to know what was the creature for which Rhobart faced a wyvern. She looked straight into his eyes, and asked, her voice barely a whisper, "What were you hunting?"

His heft hand moved towards her. His fingers touched her hair. Almost. He pulled his hand away from her and grabbed her goblet and filled it with wine.

"Doesn't matter it anymore."

"It was a weed!" Eude said.

"It was a snapper!" Hudde's voice came next.

"A weed-smoking snapper!" both of them said at the same time.

"Both of you are stupid! It was a dragon," Tizgar said.

"You mean it was a weed-smoking dragon-snapper?" Hudde asked.

"Can you be serious for one second?" Gorn asked.

"You wound me, maitze," Eude replied, and put both hands over his heart, in a dramatic gesture. " I am always serious."

"Who was the fool that promoted you two to Paladins?" King Rhobart asked the twins.

When the brothers replied, "You were," laughter erupted around the table.

Ayla didn't understand anything from what the others were saying. But she also realized that the King won't tell her what was he hunting, so she stopped asking.

For a few minutes, everyone ate in silence. Ayla's thoughts kept turning to King's Rhobart wound. It was true she didn't know to knit or cook, or hunt. But she did know something – herbs.

"I can take a look at it for you. I know a little about medicinal plants," Ayla said to the King.

" Leave it be," his reply came.

"But..."

"It's just a motherfucking scratch! Forget about it!" the King bellowed.

Ayla's tried not to flinch but failed. She hated when someone yelled because it reminded her of the many time her father and brother raised their voices at her.

"E'zz i'zar ez eggin, Rhobart!" Milton said in that language that Ayla didn't understand.

"Mind your business," the King replied.

After that Ayla stopped engaging in conversations and only answered yes or no when asked something. She lost her appetite and picked her food absently.

Once the dinner ended, one by one, the Paladins left. Even Milton retreated to his tower, claiming he had potions to make. And so Ayla found herself escorted back to her room by Kerra and the King.

"You barely ate," he said, once they were in front of Ayla's room.

"I wasn't very hungry."

The King frowned and then, in a serious tone said, "You should eat more. You just got better and it would be a shame if you would get sick again."

Ayla nodded. Was he worried for her health? She wanted to ask but bit her tongue.

For a few moments, no one said anything, and Ayla looked at her boots. Was it now when she asked about his plans for her? Or should she wait for him to say something?

The King was a strange man. At times he seemed kind, considerate but then she would do or say something that would make him mad. She had no idea how to act or talk around him.

".... royal library," she heard King Rhobart say.

Ayla's snapped her head and looked at him.

"Could you repeat that?"

The King sighed, "I was telling you about the royal library. I would like to show it to you tomorrow."

Her whole face illuminated and a huge smile appeared on her face, " I would love that."

King Rhobart's eyes shined like two infinite pools of darkness. His fingers brushed the little pink satchel, "Then I will see you tomorrow morning."

Ayla nodded and opened the door to her room, and Kerra entered and went straight to the bed.

"Tomorrow morning. Good night."

"Good night," the King said.

Ayla was about to close the door but at the last moment, she asked, "What are you going to do with me?"

"I haven't decided."