Till Death Do Us Part

13. The Banquet at Evergreen

The day of the party came, and Skylar was on her feet long before dawn, making sure everything was ready for the incoming flood of the nobles. So many things could go wrong that she nearly regretted she'd ever agreed to go forth with this idea.

"No, no, no! You can't serve all main courses with meat!" she said sternly to the cook. "I asked precisely for three different varieties of dishes that don't contain any meat. I don't care you don't have the ingredients you were expecting. Come up with something! Or I let the army of starved vegetarian nobles raid your kitchen!"

The cook bowed hastily and retreated to the kitchen, giving her a wary glance over his arm. Skylar ran a hand through her hair, pulling at the strands nervously and scanning the main reception room for any other faults. She spotted two servants that were carrying a life-size marble statue that was supposed to depict the Queen.

"Oh, gods! What is this thing?" Skylar gasped, her voice high-pitched.

The servants put the sculpture in the middle of the room and looked at Skylar nervously.

"It's a gift from Ronan Ravenbeak, my lady. You agreed to accept it and put it in the house for everyone to see at the party," the man said timidly.

"Well, yeah, I did, but this is...." Skylar failed to find the right words to express her feelings. The statue was not only bad. The sculptor gifted his statue so generously that it looks more like a caricature than a person, especially in the chest area. "I don't think the Queen will appreciate it. We can't leave it here. Put it somewhere where not many people will see it. And make sure Ravenbeak's name is visible on that thing!"

"Skylar," someone called her, but she ignored it as she spotted that the garlands of flowers adorning the wall over the tables hung askew. She hastened that way. But before she made three steps, someone grabbed her by the shoulders and turned around.

"What are you doing?" Gawyn asked, looking at her with a frown.

"I have to check everything before everyone arrives. We can't afford any mistakes. And everything keeps turning out wrong! The decorations..." Skylar was talking so fast that she was almost out of breath.

"Decorations are fine," the General interrupted her. "Everything is fine. You're acting like a crazy person."

"I am not!" she protested, trying to shake off his hands, but his grip was tight. "What if I mess up again? What if I made you look bad?"

"With a wrong flower in decorations?" Gawyn asked with a smirk. "Calm down. Deep breaths now, all right?"

Skylar closed her eyes and forced herself to steady her breathing.

"Good," Gawyn said. "How big is the unit patrolling the border with the Blighted Lands?

"What?" Sky frowned and opened her eyes.

"How many soldiers?"

"Six."

"What are the roles?"

"Two scouts, two armoured shield men, and two archers. Why are you...."

"How long is one shift?"

"Six hours. That's enough to make sure all the passages are secure and just short enough to keep the soldiers focused."

"Why not include heavily armoured knights?"

Skylar scoffed. "They are too loud. You can't put knights in scouting parties! Plus, try running around mountain passages in full armour. See if it's fun!"

"And you're back," Gawyn said with a smirk.

"Oh." Skylar realised that she no longer felt the anxiety that had been burdening her for the last few days. Talking about things familiar to her, the important things, helped her brain to clear the fever of party planning. Suddenly, the askew decoration seemed a trivial little detail. She smiled at her husband. "Thank you. I got a little carried away, didn't I?"