The Winter Queen's Tale by Cohen Naomi P

Author:Cohen, Naomi P.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-12-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Vale

The feast took on a life of its own. Stories told of the magnificence of elven and faery cooking. Now Vale entered the great banquet hall and found himself in the midst of a grand event. Additional icicle chandeliers had been hung on silver chains along the walls. The strange blue candlelight created a pale, eerie illumination throughout the large chamber.

After several days of eating only the light appetizers, Vale was ravenous and eager for the feast. The smell of the spread made his mouth water and his stomach rumble. The sight struck him with awe.

The table stretched before him, filling the entire center of the spacious hall. A boar crowned the center, the roasted golden meat glistening in the ethereal blue candlelight. The flames brought out strange purple and silver tints in the meat. Trenchers of glittering red and silver fish, each half as big as a grown man, had been arranged in a ring around the boar. Their heads, with bony jaws lined with serrated teeth, were pointed towards the boar, as if they would devour it themselves.

Platters of sliced venison, that also reflected the faery glints, had been artfully interspersed with bowls of honeyed fruit and nuts, all of them unfamiliar shapes, and many colored blue or silver. A small flock of roast fowl in dark purple sauce floated amid boats of pale gravy. There had been several tables at first, but at some point, the faeries had carried away the others and combined the spread into this glorious presentation.

Vale stood at the head of the table in a nearly silent room. The quiet sigh of the faeries’ breathing, like a breeze wafting through a forest, provided the only noise. It unnerved Vale, and he fumbled for words. Faced with so much obvious magic, he suddenly felt small and insignificant. Still a mortal boy. Strange as all the experiences up until now had been, this was the first time he’d struggled to know what to say.

Talking to people had always come easily to Vale. Like Mama, he could make friends with almost anyone. He always found something to discuss, learning about the lives of all the other farmers, the hunters, and townspeople he met during festivals. Neve and Papa struggled enough that he’d known it wasn’t an ability everyone had. Now, he understood how they felt when faced with social situations.

Chairs had been pulled out on both sides of the table. Dozens of unseen eyes watched him, waiting for him to speak, for him to begin the feast they’d labored these last several days on. He was a real prince, and no amount of playacting could have prepared him for this reality. Suddenly, he wanted to sink into the smooth floor, or to run out into the gardens like Neve had done during the ill-fated courting.

A tap on his arm recalled him to the present with a start.

Kai leaned close to whisper. “Janus is watching.”

The faery lord stood about halfway down the table. He was the only visible attendee.

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