章 14: Nine hundred and forty
The royal castle of Nasth was five floors tall.
All the floors were special. And served one major role.
The second floor of the castle was no exception. It existed solely for banquets. The floor was designed to accommodate over one thousand soldiers at once.
Truly a large floor.
But today, only three people were at the center table of the floor- the royal table.
Two maids were by the sides while some soldiers were in the far corners.
The rest of the floor was seemingly empty, only filled with the flowing darkness.
The banquet hall was empty but the pyres were lit: the darkness and light fought for dominance, yet neither won nor lost. The chandelier spread like a star, covering a hefty portion of the ceiling.
There was a piano being played just across the room; a soft melody. Maria couldn’t see who was playing; in fact, there wasn’t anyone there.
Chefs brought dishes one by one.
Deep fried kebabs, fresh salad and mashed potato like substance.
The main dish was a large roasted animal of sort. Was it a deer or was it a boar- Maria couldn’t tell.
What she could tell was the fact that one of the other two wasn’t happy to be here
The final dish- or rather the desert had arrived. A pink jello.
The sweet smell almost made her mouth water.
Sadly, she wasn’t a fan of jello.
‘All this food just for us three?’ Maria felt a bit out of place.
“Now,” The queen began. “I believe we didn’t have time for introductions before.”
The three were sitting far from each other.
The queen was on the far end of the table while the other two were facing each other.
“Yes,” Maria said. A bit uncomfortable. “I’m Marianne Silvers. Call me Maria.”
The man on the opposite side had been glaring at her for a while now.
He looked rather fierce. Large head, a fang sticking out, and a death glare. He was perhaps the largest person she’d seen yet. He didn’t seem hostile- but that glare was something else.
“Aron Sun.” The man, rather demon said. “Aron is fine.” His voice was deep and had a certain tang to it. Almost like- he was enraged.
“He’s a prince.” The queen said. “And also, the general.”
“No, I’m ‘the’ prince. Not ‘a’ prince.”
“What do you mean?” Maria said, rather confused.
“Shall we begin?” The queen cut her fried food with a knife. She didn’t need food to survive, and she didn’t eat often either.
But today was a special occasion.
“The rest are dead.” He exhaled and started eating; or more like just touching the food with his knife and fork. He had large hands, and holding the fork like this wasn’t something he was accustomed to.
After all, eating was just a necessity for survival. And if he could chomp on large roasted animals with just his bare hands and in less time, then what was the point of this?
He didn’t get it, but for the time being, he tried his best.
‘Oh.’ Maria remained quiet but followed suit. Death was a delicate subject and she didn’t want to talk about it while eating. Or more like, she didn’t want to have that conversation- yet.
The taste was rather similar to what Maria was accustomed to. Perhaps even just fit to her palette?
“I thought a different world would have different types of food.” But Maria had to agree, this did taste rather good.
“This was specially made for you.” The maid was actually just behind Maria. “We thought it’d best suit your tastes.”
“So, you made this just for me?”
She didn’t know what to feel about that. The fact that these people knew more about her than most people who were close with her, was still something she couldn’t accept.
“Yes.”
She kept on eating. She didn’t feel particularly hungry; but since the food was good, she didn’t mind eating more. “I had some questions regarding the summoning and why I’m not a human right now.”
“Well, that would have to wait,” The queen said. “As for the human part. You are fairly human. Though you have the body of a half human, half dragonborn. Are you dissatisfied with your body?”
The queen was done eating. A maid was wiping her mouth down for her. Though there was nothing to wipe in the first place.
“No, not really.” Maria looked at her arms again. “I’m actually not that bothered. In fact, this feels far too normal.”
“I suppose that’s a consequence of that body. Dragonborn have very strong minds, you see. Or it could be because of your strong spirit as well.”
A strong spirit? Her? Perhaps. Perhaps not. She didn’t think of herself as strong.
Maria kept on eating.
And finished roughly two minutes later.
She wasn’t full but she didn’t feel like eating more.
“Alright, would you mind telling me more?” Maria said. “What’s my purpose here? You mentioned something about protecting the people, right?”
This was a magical world. Different from her world: different from earth.
She didn’t quite understand how things worked, but for the time being she was willing to just accept them for what they were. Worrying and panicking would have gotten her nowhere, and she was smart enough to not throw tantrums outright. She wanted to see what and how things were first. And what her standing was.
“Yes.” The queen began. “The united army would attack us soon. If you’d protect-”
“How?”
“You have a very strong body. Or a body with very high mana capacity, enough to even rival my own. So, you can use devastating spells like that whale of fire I summoned back on the battlefield. And you have the natural aptitude for magic as well.” The queen smiled. “With some training, you could do wonders.”
“You want me to kill whoever comes to attack?” Maria’s voice remained deadpan. “And if I refuse?” She didn’t yet have her dessert. It was on her plate, just waiting for her to dig in.
Unfortunately, she didn’t want to dig in.
The demon prince banged his hands on the table, standing up. “Refuse? You have no right to refuse!” He towered over the three. “We sacrificed hundreds to summon you. You don’t have the right to refuse!” He screamed but not quite loud. “You don’t have the right.” He murmured and sat down as he noticed the queen’s glare.
“She was summoned without consent, so she does retain the right to say no,” The queen said, not quite batting an eye at either of them. “Besides, weren’t you demons preaching that you were an advocate of freedom?”
Hundreds? “Just how many did you people sacrifice for me?” Maria said, her eyes unable to focus.
The queen remained quiet. So did the maid.
The prince just hung his head over the table, his arms acting as pillars, face covered with his palms. “Nine hundred and sixty. Two hundred of them were demons… the rest, humans, dragonborn, ogres, pixies, elves, and even demies… The majority were humans and dragonborn…”
‘Nine hundred?’ Nine hundred and forty?
Did she hear correct?
She looked at the queen, then at the maid.
‘They died for me?’
Maria just sat there, frozen.
She knew in order for one to live, another had to die.
But nine hundred and forty?
Nine hundred and forty died for her? For her to live?
Her heart ached for the first time ever since she came to this world.
It was a nostalgic yet new feeling. This shaking, this shivering, this pain.
Her breath increased, her heart raced and before she knew it, she felt faint.
“Deep breaths,” the maid said. “Deep breaths.”
The maid’s voice was so far away now.
It did reach Maria but it was almost like it was through a filter of sorts.
Muffled.
Her eyes started closing, vision blurry.
Her head fell on the table, just next to her plate.
She could still feel the coldness of the table, the fragrance of the desert.
But everything felt distant and everything just become more and more distant.
She’d passed out.
“Perhaps it was too soon…” The queen pondered, her voice not quite reaching Maria.
“We should move onto the second stage, my queen,” The prince said.
“Perhaps.” The queen grinned.
It sent shivers down all who were near…
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