A Drink Before Battle [M/M] ✅

35: Lieutenant Thelan Will Do

Making way for the Brinnish party to come forward and kneel to their Prince, the Valeskans followed a servant to their table. They were seated by rank, and Sevei gave Yeresym a sympathetic half-smile as he had no choice but to take the seat nearest his brother. Sitting next to him, Sevei could feel palpable tension radiating from Yeresym, and imagined a shield of invisible ethereal energy building up around him. Perhaps it wasn't only his imagination. He felt as if getting too close could give him a shock, and not the pleasant kind he'd experienced before.

Thelan should have the next seat beside Sevei, but she waved Yanek and Meira ahead. The servant ushering them was clearly uncomfortable with this, but Gendaran had not taken his eyes off of Meira even as the Brinnish generals were introduced to him, and Thelan was obviously feeling protective of her. Looking down the table past Sevei, Yeresym gave Thelan a pointed look as she took the last seat, sheltering Meira between herself and Yanek.

Once the Brinnish contingent were led to their table, wine was poured all around and Prince Rendrick offered a toast. Yeresym hesitantly took only a small sip of the wine to be polite. Gendaran seemed amused by this, chortling as he drained his goblet, but the rest of the Valeskan company got the message. It wouldn't do to overindulge in this uncertain environment. Sevei glanced at Yanek and found him keeping alert eyes on Gendaran. Yanek's expression was friendly, but Sevei could see the wheels turning behind it. For all of his usual clowning, Yanek knew when things were serious. Sevei had chosen his Second well.

Some kind of very small roasted bird was placed in front of Sevei, and he sighed with pleasure as its heavenly aroma wafted into his nose. Perhaps the night wouldn't be entirely unpleasant. He covertly watched Yeresym to see what he would do with it, but Yeresym ignored it. He only reached for his wine goblet, quickly diverting to the cup of water next to it. Sevei cleared his throat. Yeresym seemed unwilling to even look his way, but when he glanced over briefly, Sevei cocked his head and let his eyes dart toward his plate, then gave a questioning look as his hand crept slowly toward one of the many utensils on the table.

Yeresym's eyes rolled minutely, and for the first time since they'd entered the hall that evening, Sevei saw the barest ghost of a smile flit across his lips. He picked up the bird and began to tear it apart with his fingers, raising one small leg to his lips for a bite.

Sevei smiled and followed suit. Yeresym took only that small bite, though, then rinsed his fingers in a chalice of water with flower petals floating in it, drying them on his napkin. He seemed to chew that one bite forever, with no apparent enjoyment.

Course after course of delicacies were served. While they ate, Prince Rendrick opened the business discussions. The Loranarians had invited him to meet with them. The hall erupted into arguments that lasted the next two hours. All of the Alchemists present were alarmed, and determined to convince him of what a bad idea that would be, given the Loranarians' recent shows of dirty play. Gendaran came down in favor of the meeting, but seemed to be amusing himself going against Yeresym, leaving all the Valeskans to question his role as voice of the Valeskan Crown.

The heated back-and-forth continued until sweets were served and dinner officially concluded. After that, many of Rendrick's guests rose from the tables and began grouping around the hall to continue discussions. In one corner, the Brinnish generals argued with their Martial Alchemists, who didn't seem to enjoy the same standing in the Brinnish military as those from Valesk. The Brinnish Martials would then hurry over to convene with the Mayor's Alchemists to go over the city's defenses.

Sevei watched Prince Rendrick with interest. He moved among all of these groups with ease. His warm smile and good-natured jocularity smoothed over many tense exchanges. When that didn't work, the man wasn't above a stern word carrying a veiled threat, displaying the demanding nature Sevei had heard tell of.