The Banner of the Broken Orc by Aiden L Turner

Author:Aiden L Turner [Turner, Aiden L]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Daniel Pickett
Published: 2020-11-06T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-five

Weapons and Armour

The feast was sumptuous beyond comparison. All manner of delicacies adorned two huge tables that lined the side walls of Beringer’s feast hall, one hundred feet long and as wide as a man is tall. The solid oak serving tables were crammed with silver platters each piled high with the best that the land, sea and air provided. Slow roasted pheasant, salted cod with oyster sauce, lamb roasted over a maple wood fire, peacock pie, songbirds drowned in aged brandy then cooked in the finest of red wines, lobsters were served whole infused with garlic butter. There were vegetables of every colour from the golden sweet corns to the bright red carrot and out of season greens, grown to great expense in the special warehouses that captured sunlight with glass and mirror, and were heated with steams, such as broccoli, asparagus and cabbages all cooked in various seasonings, basil, thyme, parsley and sage, and hot chillies brought in from the islands by rich spice merchants.

At the rear of the tables lay the sweeter dishes, crystallised apple segments, plums boiled in sugar, individual portions of cakes of numerous flavours and designs. The Lord Beringer had spared no expense to impress his status and the glorifying of his king and with good reason, for on a raised dais at the furthest wall of the great hall lay the table of providence, and sat upon his own throne, transported by wagon from his own keep, the king.

Beside King Kane, at his right-hand side, and in the position of most honour sat Jacob, whilst to the left of the king in the second highest place of honour sat Beringer. And filling the other places at the table import sat the reason for Beringer’s largesse, the three other great lords of the south, Audemar, Armine and Otelin. Beringer was showing all present that only the king himself outranked him in power or wealth.

The king raised his glass, and the hall became instantly silent. ‘A toast to Lord Beringer, food fit for a king indeed, my Lord. And yet, though the food of the south is most delicious and the wine without peer, it is not that which brings me to the south. Those seated beside my nephew and myself are given privilege in my realm.’ The king drew out each syllable in the words, ‘privilege in my realm’. ‘But with that privilege is a debt! And it is now that this debt is called upon. You,’ Kane the Cruel pointed down upon the upturned faces of the lesser lords, barons, admirals, generals and the lords of commerce whose status was such that they were granted a seat with the nobility, ‘are all in service to me through them, and it is I, your king, who now calls you to your duty. Rumours will have reached you all by now, rumours about the glorious adventure of our time. And I am here to tell you good people now the truth. In seventy-six weeks,

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