Capítulo 77: King Victor’s Castle
Emile and his fellow Elders talked long into the night. At first, Zegris pushed topics that involved the Black Gates, immigration, cultural rules, etc., but after a couple of hours and even more mugs of beer, the conversation steered another direction.
Unfortunately for Emile, his Gift neutralized any alcohol in his bloodstream far faster than his body could absorb it. So for hours on end Emile sat in a cramped room with two of the greatest authorities in the Black Gates while they muttered alcohol induced nonsense.
On the bright side, however, his lucid mind allowed him to organize and keep track of the ramblings from the Elders. All in all, Emile left the tavern with more information than he had entered with.
For example, according to the two Elders, the people of Black Gates were being evacuated for more than just the volcano's eruptions. This was something Emile had always questioned, but never acted on.
For one thing, the people of Black Gates must have known about the active volcanoes far before the Drake and Blaze accelerated the process. Blood and Emile themselves found flowing lava just outside of the pit, it was surprisingly close and easy to find.
Since Emile is confident in assuming all of that, it's not too great of a leap to also assume Black Gates had some remedy or preparation for a volcano's eruption. They chose to settle there, they must have had a way to deal with it.
And as Emile suspected, while Zegris and Willow informed Emile on the recent events within Black Gates, they mentioned the volcanoes, but talked far more about other things. One of which being the unusual movements of the native creatures.
Neither Zegris nor Willow knew the cause of the creatures movements, but they each had their suspicions and their suspicions surprisingly began with King Victor of Rising Tide.
First, as Emile was taught in Fallen Sky's military camp, Rising Tide has been most notable for the fact that it heavily restricts outsiders from entering. Although the situation with Black Gates can be considered a unique one, Rising Tide's practice of exclusion started back when the three kingdoms were still coming together.
Back in those times, the majority of people were wanderers without a home to return to and Rising Tide still rejected them. And now, all of a sudden, Rising Tide is willing to allow half of Black Gates' population admittance.
Regardless of whether or not Black Gates' people are allowed to stay post the King's Banquet, it's incredible that they were allowed in at all. This discrepancy in character is the main presupposition fueling Zegris and Willow's suspicion.
Other than that, Emile learned mostly useless information about Black Gates. Their primary crop of trade, the hierarchy of their people, their laws and regulations, information that would normally be considered necessary for someone of Elder status.
The reason Emile simply smiled and nodded in response to Zegris's passionate explanations was because from what Emile could tell, Black Gates was in the process of assimilating with one or both of the other kingdoms. In which case the authorities of Black Gates would most likely lose their power in exchange for acceptance.
So Black Gates' laws and crops and cultural practices will fade away because they'll be replaced by the ruling kingdoms own laws and crops and cultural practices.
Emile soberly bid farewell to the drunken stupor that paraded the minds of Zegris and Willow. Meanwhile, Fay continued to follow behind him all the way back to the Inn he was staying at.
Luckily, she purchased a separate room and left Emile alone once he entered his own. With a sigh of relief and a stomach full of non-alcoholic beer, Emile slid into bed and mentally prepared for the upcoming day: the King's Banquet.
***
Victor's castle illuminated the cavern containing Rising Tide. Since the kingdom was underneath layers of ice, it had always been a bit darker in the kingdom, but enough light seeped through that one could still recognize it was day.
Even then, Victor's castle was equipped with raging bonfires and a team of drummers who repeatedly pounded a slow and intense beat throughout the area. As he approached the castle, Emile couldn't help but be reminded of amusement parks found on Earth that lit fireworks behind their castles during special occasions.
He was attending with Elder Zegris and Willow, he walked beside them now. Behind him, of course, was Fay along with Zegris and Willow's plus-ones as well.
Emile still hasn't spoken with Fay since they were in the storage facility, at first he was waiting for her to approach him. He assumed she would ask him for instructions or commands, something you'd expect from an Elder.
But she never asked. She only followed. And because of that it's now been too long for Emile to say anything to her without feeling embarrassed. So the two have seemed to mutually accept each other without actually acknowledging one another.
Emile pulled out the token he had been given previously and handed it to the guard at the main entrance, after confirming that Fay was his plus one, he was allowed in.
Immediately upon entering the castle's main entrance they found themselves traveling through a tunnel of ice. On the sides of the tunnel, carved into the wall itself, shelves were adorned with various pieces of weapons and armor.
After exiting the tunnel, they passed through another door and entered the main hall of the castle. There were tons of tables scattered around the center of the room, each sat six.
Meanwhile, the walls lining the main hall were carved into intricate displays of stained glass, but instead of glass various dyed pieces of ice were paired together to form gorgeous murals around the hall.
Hovering just above the center of the room, a crystal chandelier emitted a soft white mist that condensed into visible snowflakes that flipped and spun around the dance floor as they fell.
Basking in the glory that was Victor's castle, the only word that came to Emile's mind was magical. From the unbelievable stained ice murals to the fluttering snowflakes around the room, the main hall was enchanted with life.
Before he knew it, Emile spaced out at the entrance of the room. Unfortunately for him, when he noticed this fact it was already too late and, upon realization, he found the many eyes of the banquet stretching in his direction.
In a panic, he scanned the room and found Zegris and Willow. Under the scrutiny of the other guests, Emile embarrassingly shuffled across the hall until he arrived at their table.
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