FEF: Verdant Wings (lC)

[rokubiraijuu]

Lord Coel?

 

Lenny's defiant expression dips into mild surprise. What could the lord want with him? ( Then again, what had he ever wanted with him? A question he'd never managed to find the answer to, even after this many years. )

 

"Guess there's no saying no to that." Leaving behind the setup, he steps away to follow Brinda out, keeping his wits about him. Anyone who'd spent more than a fortnight here would know the head chef wasn't someone one wanted to be left alone with. "What's he want with me?" he asks once they're moving.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

"Hmmm? Why would l be privy to such information?" she responded dryly. Once again, lt was hard for Leonard to really gauge her. "He asked me to fetch you that is all l know. Why doesn't matter to me. Whatever it's about and whatever comes of it hardly effects me. l've plenty of other wait staff it's not like l need you in particular." he couldn't help but feel like she was sizing him up, much like a predator does to prey. But, suddenly, when she next spoke she seemed different.

"But... l doubt it is for such reasons. l've known about tonight's event for some time, after all it takes some planning. But he wanted to give back to those that have worked hard around here or people that he felt mattered in the community. He tried to invite me. l declined. That doesn't matter though, l'm not important in this moment. What does is l assume this is what that is about. He didn't want to worry you knowing you'd have to help with preparations... or so l believe, and that is why he waited to invite you til now."

[krim]

"Commander Roland."  Sherwyn said with a nod in greeting. They were rather fond of the commander but didn't want to interrupt Coel's speech with casual conversation, so they left it at that. Looking around at the people gathered, it was a bit of a strange group that ranged from servants to knights. Just what did Coel have in mind?

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Before Coel began speaking another knight had walked into the room he went over to the commander quickly. The two spoke in hushed tones, probably to avoid alarming people but it'd have not inspired confidence. The two walked came clanking towards the front "Apparently the boys have seen an animal or something lurking around the outskirts, we're going to go check it out see what's up. Nothing to worry about. Reynauld can hold down the fort here."

 

"Alright Roland, get back soon." Coel said as the two left. He looked back to the gathering of people. "Anyway, l have prepared a meal for all of you to thank you. You are all outstanding members of this community and l wanted to give back in a what little way l can. Let's not tarry any longer and get to the meal. Please, follow me~"

*****

 

The hall was quite grand. lt followed the same theme as the rest of Castle Calmary, with it's white stone much like marble. The Dining Hall was grand enough to host quite a lot of people, at least triple the amount gathered here. All sorts of food lined the table. Scents mingled and created a cacophony that ingnited the senses, all sorts of dishes from all over Draestria, and some from the lsles as well. lt was clear Brinda knew quite a lot about fine dining with such an amazing spread. There was anything one could imagine here.


Coel took his seat at the head of the table, and gestured to the food around him "Well, what are you all waiting for? Dig in~"

[rokubiraijuu]

A flicker of a grin crosses the young man's face at the head chef's thinly veiled threat and her calculating eye, as though he's ready to meet whatever her judgment might be, head on, but it disappears quickly when her tone changes.

 

Invite me? 

 

He can't help but wonder — again — why. It didn't look like any of the other staff had been extended the same invitation. Brinda's not surprising, as one of the servants with quite a bit more clout around here. But him? He knows better than to pry anymore, though, at least with her. "Heh, I can't complain," he says with a cocky shrug. "Looks like I'll get to try some of the stuff I'm always carrying around this time."

[Pyon Pyon Kyuu!~]

"Mmmm, it's about time we got a reward for our hard work." Lyla sighed happily, as she filled her plate with food. 

 

"And of course also a learning experience. Big bro, I want you to tell me exactly how everything that you eat was made, it's ingredients, it's composition, it's taste and why you think it worked or why it didn't." She turned to her brother who sat next to her. An evil smile spread through Lyla's face, as she inspected her food. "I will steal every bit of knowledge this food has to offer, and make my cooking go further beyond. So let's work hard big bro, we've got food to master." 

 

[Twinwolf]

Renee was seated with her family, as one might expect. More specifically, next to Morgan.

 

"My thanks for the meal." she said in a formal tone - her parents were watching, after all.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Brinda laughed to herself "O~hohoho" she had place her hand over her mouth when doing this. She kept walking however and talked to Leonard over her shoulder with doing so. "Perhaps you will, l hope you enjoy my cooking.~" she said with a rather smug grin on her face. She looked happy about something. Which, slipped out seemingly. "l promise the rumours are just that. Though that should be clear that l don't poison everything l touch. After all, Lord Coel is still alive.~"

[Chevaleresse]

Morgan nodded vaguely in Renee's direction, silently beginning to eat while allowing the younger and somewhat more socially adept sister stand in for any need to talk on Morgan's part. Though they didn't stay huddled to themselves quite as long as one might expect; Morgan was quickly realizing that they were, in fact, quite hungry. Rude or not, Morgan was already beginning to make quite the dent in their food, with only the occasional furtive glance upward; Morgan still found themselves somewhat unnerved by the situation, the brightly lit room full of people. Imagining they were giant spiders seemed to help, though. . .

[Aurorix]

Lyle's plate was filled with an overabundance of meat. Granted there were some vegetables, but they were buried under all the juicy protein. Lyle stabs a decent sized chuck on meat with his fork lifting the piece towards his mouth.

 

"Lyla you shouldn't be analyzing the food." He then shoved the succulent piece of meat into his mouth, chewed it for a bit, and swallowed before he continued.  "I know you want to be a master cook but you still can enjoy food without trying to pick apart everything you put in your mouth."

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

"Saying that to a chef is pointless Young Gristov, after all, food is our life. Analyzing it is what we live for. You wouldn't understand though... lt's an art, one much less brutish than combat. lt takes a touch much more... precise, and a tongue that knows balance. Your sister shows an ambition l can appreciate. You should be more more like her... you'd not even be worth eating~ Your sister on the other hand, l could eat her right up. Such cute ambition, it reminds me of myself when l was a young girl." came the words of the kitchen witch as she entered. Her heels clacking on the marbled floor were unmistakable now that things were dead silent. Brinda's voice tended to do that, chill rooms to a dead stop. As for her final statements... it was probably an attempt at humour.

Leonard would be right behind her. "l've brought Leonard for you Coel dearie.~" Her cheeriness was much more creepy than it was reassuring. 

 

"Ah, thank you Brinda. Please Leonard, take a seat and enjoy. You should as well Brinda, you worked hard on all this for us." Coel smiled, warm and kind, like always.

"O~hohoho... well if you're going to ask me twice fine fine. You are such a persistent man. You should know witches don't enjoy that quality in people. Luckily for you l'm out of hexes for today." she said with a wily smile behind her smile of daggers. Coel didn't much acknowledge that and just kept smiling. This situation, was not an easy one to read by any means. Brinda however walked off towards the other end of the table, sitting at the reverse head. Quite a ways away from the gathering. The threat of her presence still lingered, much like an unseen predator, though in this case, she was clearly visible.

[Swordstar]

Gavan sat a few seats down and across from Lyla, smart enough to know that sitting next to her right now would have been a dumb decision. Still, close enough to sneak glances every once in a while. He'd ended up next to an empty seat, so when a new person entered the room, he waved them over.

 

"Hey, there's a seat here! Leonard was it? Come on and sit here, no need to be shy.."

[Pyon Pyon Kyuu!~]

"Don't be a dummy big bro I couldn't possibly do that." Lyla stated bluntly as she inspected her next bite of vegetables carefully. Brinda's smug smile resurfaced as Brinda defended her. 

"See, even the witch agrees with me." Lyla said, putting on a front. She had to put on a front, regardless if she felt scared or not of Brinda she was her enemy in the kitchen and you can't show fear in the battlefield. And you can learn a lot from an enemy, even while in the battlefield. 

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

*Outside Calmary*

The soldier pulled up a spyglass and pointed towards the direction here was looking. "lf you look over there Sir Roland you'll see what l'm talking about. l'm... not sure what that is, but it's been lurking there for quite some time now. l don't like it."

Roland took the spyglass from his knight and looked where she had indicated. lt was hard to see at first, given what he was looking for wasn't something one would normally expect. A strange mass of shadow could be seen bubbling off in the distance in the forest. The shape was... not human but it wasn't like any creature they'd have ever seen before. lt was bipedal, humanoidish in shape. lt was it's eyes that Roland first saw, two piercing red eyes burned in what would be considered it's head. Two dying cinders in a cloud of smoke. The creature stood still, like a statue made of solid smoke. lt's lumbering form just stood ominously in the distance. 

"What in Draestria is that? l've a bad feeling about this sport." and he was about to have those worries further confirmed. He saw figures emerge from the shadows, people. One was dressed in heavy robes with a giant tome in their hands. He walked up to the figure and opened his book. He spoke his voice like thunder. lt was barely audible from the distance they were at, but the two there could hear his words. "Come forth peerless leader, come forth Dark Shadow. Bring thy flesh from yonder valley here. Your new flesh is prepared... and it awaits your loving embrace!"

"We need to evacuate the village. They won't be able to defend themselves. Once we take care of them l'll oversee the evacuation, you must reach Calmary and warn Lord Coel."
 

*Calmary*

Brinda smiled at Lyla's response. A laugh once more escaped from the daggers that lined her lips. "O~hohoho... What a fiesty young girl. l like that." she leaned forward in her chair resting her chin in the palm of her hand. "So, Lyla. The food... what do you taste? How is it? Feel free to tell me, don't hold back." a spider said to the fly.

[Pyon Pyon Kyuu!~]

"The pork is sublime, it was roasted to the point. The juices have been preserved, and it's been cooked thoroughly leaving barely a hint of pink. It's been seasoned with salt, garlic, and tomato." She took another bite and grinned. 

 

"The secret to the dish is olive oil mixed with rosemary. That's how you avoided the pig becoming dried up while simultaneously adding flavour. The olive oil would have had to be rigorously and carefully added to the pig as it roasts every few minutes. I would have used honey with spices to make it more tender and sweet, but that's my own personal twist." Lyla grinned, it was fun to have someone this well versed in cooking she could learn from. Mentally she saved all of what she tasted; one day she would dominate this technique and make it her own. 

[Aurorix]

Lyle was pretty impressed with his lil sis. He could have never figured out so much about a dish just from a few bites. While he may not be able to cook he is able to fight. Even if it may not be graceful, with his strength he can protect all the people he cares about. However, he still has a long way to go before he can achieve his dream. Though maybe he should find another hobby besides combat... He proceeds to eat another chunk of beef from his plate, keeping silent as to not agitate the kitchen witch.

[Sentient Bowtie]

Blake managed to find a seat somewhat away from the Vaughns, but close enough that Morgan was within view. He makes an effort to catch their eye and offer a smile, but otherwise leaves them to eat silently.

 

Normally he would have sat closer to his lord, but this was a time of celebration and happiness; there was nothing to worry about for Coel’s sake. Right?

[krim]

Sherwyn watched his fellow knights leave and wondered what was going on. They seemed too hurried for it to really be an animal. Either way, the door needed guarding (since Reynauld looked like he had fallen asleep on his feet...again), and they were secretly thankful they didn't have to sit at the table awkwardly while everyone else ate. They took a small plate of food anyway with them as they walked over though, since they knew how hard everyone had worked on it, and didn't want to stand out.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

*Outside Calmary*

"There's no time to argue. Go! lt's dangerous here. Take your husband and flee this place immediately." Roland said to some person in one of the homes. They weren't exactly ready to listen to him. Most had been quite difficult to convince. Right as the woman was about to let hi have a piece of her mind however... the concerns answered themselves. Shadowy figures started to emerge from the woods. Men and women in dark flowing robes, ones that concealed their very being. They carried all sorts of wicked weaponry spiked, curved, weapons that did not befit any warrior of honour. Roland silently grit his teeth. The village was evacuated safely, most were now gone this last home was about to be. unless this woman wascray enough to deny what she now saw. But, he still had a duty to Lord Coel. He turned to the Lady Knight he knew what he must do.

"Petunia! Get to Calmary. l'll handle this." he used her name. She knew he was serious.

"But Roland l can't leave you to fight them! What if you are killed?!"

"That doesn't matter. My job is to keep Lord Coel safe and he still has others with him that must be warned as well as the wait staff. Petunia, seek out Reynauld. You must escort the staff away from this place. l'll be okay. Just a couple of hooligans. Nothing l can't handle." she knew he was smiling under that helmet.

She left, reluctantly. lt felt wrong to do this, but she do what she must. 

Spoiler

 

Roland now left around, found himself surrounded by predators in the night. Red Eyes circled around him, glints of metal flashed in the dim torchlight. He stood in the epicenter, light washing around him. lt enveloped the man in a halo that lined his massive hulking form. An Angel donned in crimson. Roland laughed. "So, this is how it ends hmmm?" he laughed at his fate, but knew all the same he wanted to be here. lf it was Death he stared in the face, then so be it. This fate was not meant to be changed. His life, everything lead to this moment. "Sorry Lyle, l guess my last dance is reserved. Knight Errant, to my side old friend. Let us fight together one last time." and thus he drew forth a large battleax. Not the weapon of a brute by any means, Knight Errant was a work of art. To the flashes iron it answered flashes of silver. lt was a beauty that struck awe. Roland took a deep breath as he lovingly held his axe to his side. He pointed it into the dark. "lnto the fray old friend. May we make a stand worth remembering. FOR HONOR!!! COME AT ME!!!"

*Calmary*

"Hmm, you are quite observant for one your age. l am quite impressed." Brinda smiled wryly at the comment. lt was hard to really tell what was going through her head at that point, but Lyla was pretty sure she was being sincere. "The rest of you are so quiet... witch got your tongue?"

[Chevaleresse]

"Are you really a witch?" Morgan said, somewhat abruptly. This was potentially the first time a few people gathered at the dinner had actually heard Morgan's voice, one of a somewhat quavery timbre and moderate pitch. 

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Perhaps... one would expect anyone else to be offended being asked such a question. Not oft were folks keen being asked if they were a witch. Especially given that the person was not usually aware they were called such. However, Brinda wasn't just any person and further she wasn't exactly in the dark when it came to her reputation. Brinda smiled daggers, an expression that would probably curdle the blood of most. Morgan would've sworn that Brinda's eyes changed colour for a second. "O~hohoho, Quite the question to ask of someone my dear. Brave to ask, l could eat you for such if l truly was." she leaned forward again. As soon as she lost interest or seemed to anyway, something always drew her back. She clearly was looking Morgan over. lf it was anyone else, they'd probably not want Brinda's close attention like this. Coel wasn't... really sure what was happening but he was keeping an eye on things.

"Perhaps l am, everyone around here seems to think so. They might be right. Not a fan of cauldrons though... or any of the typical stuff. None of that. Now... who pray tell are you? You interest me. You aren't afraid of me after all. l wonder why."

[Chevaleresse]

"Morgan. Some of the stuff I like to study up on is what people want to call witchcraft, so I was just curious." Did her eyes really change colors right there? That was interesting. Maybe she really was a witch, and it was some side effect of some magic she used. Morgan seemed to be oddly unaffected by Brinda's intimidating glare. "None of that really uses cauldrons much either, that's more of an alchemy thing isn't it? I could never really get that interested in alchemy. . ."

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

"Hmmm, depends. Alchemy isn't the exclusive use... besides... Alchemy is for quacks anyway. People that can't do real magic, so they need to spend time trying to bend reality to matter. lt's a sad practice. lt is no art." she somewhat suddenly responded. The worst part was that for everyone else, they had no idea if she was being candid or not. Though, she seemed to be giving Morgan a true response. "There's better ways to brew things though, faster ways. lt would turn out that poultices and other such things don't need to stew away forever like was once thought. Areal time saver in honesty. They are only really needed for potions with rather tough ingredients these days. Or for cooking a good stew~" she looked happy with herself after saying that.

Her head was in both of her hands at this point, one for each cheek. "Hmmm, l like you..."

[Chevaleresse]

"I guess you'd know a lot about cooking reagents and such. . . Wait, does that mean you actually are a witch? If you are, I bet there's a lot I could learn from you." Morgan didn't seem to think the woman was being anything but serious. They shot a glance in Blake's direction; he'd been right, Morgan supposed. "Actually, there was this one spell I've been practicing, I feel like I'm just on the edge of figuring it out. . ."

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

"Oh? A new spell. Perhaps perhaps. lt depends on it's nature of course. l not skilled in all magic after all, people tend towards certain crafts such is the way of things. l'm more attuned to nature than others for example. lt allows me much more freedom with natural elements, the classics perhaps... but also with potions, poisons, things of that nature." Brinda was clearly enjoying herself, which was not an oft seen sight.