Lunch was a communal affair in the village. Everyone had lunch together at the town hall. Everyone except Delys and Respetus who were still on a long trek for glenas, and the hunters who usually ate on the road too. When Ducus, Meis, Parrus and Mallory arrived at town hall, only Ellis was there. She sat at the end of a long wooden table, big enough to fit twenty people. She sat on a large log that she used as a stool. Most sits were logs, except for a bench where two little girls sat. Everyone welcomed Mallory with a grin.

“Come sit with us, would you?”

“Huh, sure. How about I sit opposite you?” Mallory took place in front of the two girls. They looked very different, but they were obviously sisters: they had the same smile, such things did not lie. One had short blond hair with bangs, the other one had free flowing brown hair. The blond one had puffy cheeks, the other looked a bit sallow.

“I’m Ferris,” said the blond girl.

“And I’m Krinis. Over there is our father.”

“You can call him Blas, he doesn’t mind. Although it’s not really a man’s name.”

“He doesn’t have a boy’s name either,” said Krinis.

“That’s right. Is you name Ma-llo-ry?”

“It is. I’m pleased to meet you both.”

“That’s not a name. How come you mother named you like this?”

Mallory coughed and smiled awkwardly at Meis and Ducus taking a sit next to him. Parrus sat opposite Ellis. None of them engaged in conversation. They were all hanging on Mallory’s lips. “You see, where I come from, Mallory is not only a name, but a rather prestigious one. It was the name of a king. A good king, who was my great-great-great-great-grandfather. He built Castle Bartack as we know it today.”

“What’s a castle?”

“What’s a Bartack?”

The eagerness of the two girls prompted a smile from Mallory and eased up his nerves.

“Bartack is the realm that my family governs.”

“Is it big?”

“Y-yeah. I think so. We have more than one thousand people.”

“Wow! One thousand!” said Krinis. She turned to her sister. “Can you imagine slicing cold cuts for all these people?”

“It must take a full day.”

“And more than one knife.”

Everyone laughed softly around the table. The atmosphere was calm and benevolent. It was cozy. The door creaked behind Mallory and another person entered. It was Pheren. She went straight to the stool at left end of the table. She did not glance at Mallory nor acknowledge his presence.

“Are the glena collectors not coming back for lunch today?”

Meis answered on behalf of the group. “Delys said they’d be going past the three rocks today. So, no, I wouldn’t expect them.”

“Oh, really?” said the high voice of a child over the kitchen counters behind Pheren.

Mallory leaned backwards to see a child carrying four plates at the same time, coming in his direction.

“They should have told us.” She scurried to the table served full plates of cold cuts, bread, pickled onions and gherkins in front of each guest. “I’ve prepared fourteen plates. We didn’t expect the hunters, but the collectors should have told us.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Mallory watched her with mesmerized eyes. He dared admit to himself he was a little frightened by her. She was small, a kid really, but she spoke with such authority. He’d only met her but already he feared getting on her wrong side.

“Mallory, this is our baby sister.”

“Her name is Lanys,” said Ferris.

“My name is Lanys,” she said close to Mallory’s ear and made him jump.

“Hi. Sorry, I-I’m Mallory. I’m bit queasy.”

“Queasy? What’s that mean?” Lanys frowned as if he had insulted her.

“I’m not feeling g-g… it means I’m not feeling great. I’m a bit tense.”

Ducus grabbed a plate off Lanys’ hands. “The boy is hungry. There.” He put the plate in front of Mallory. It contained four thin slices of smoked wild boar.

All three sisters screamed at the same time. “No, not that one.”

Mallory jumped and nearly knocked Lanys off. He just grazed her.

“What?” said Ducus. “What’s happening?”

Ferris and Krinis shook their heads at one another. “Oh, that’s alright. We’ve cut too much meat, anyway. Leave it, Lanys.”

Lanys served the last plates in her hands and went back to get some more.

The last guests arrived together, Merrus, the grain master and Avanis the tailor. Blas was busy taking a large tray filled with pastry out of a large wood oven.

“Dad,” Krinis called up. “Everyone is here. Are you coming?”

The focus of attention seemed to have shifted when the last two guests joined the table. Instantly, Merrus began talking about some plowing field that will soon be ready to work on. It took a solid minute for Mallory to realize he was only addressing Meis, Parrus and Ducus. He wanted to ask about their work but he didn’t know where the social boundaries where with this kind people. Was he allowed to ask questions? Was he expected to answer every question asked of him? Could he eat or did he have to wait? He was starving, but no one else had even looked at their plates yet. What are they waiting for? He scouted the room and then found his answer. A small man with a round face, covered in flour, was taking off his apron and making his way to the table. He looked straight at Mallory and extended his hand. Mallory shook it.

“Hi, I’m Blas. I’m from Fishersgate, originally. Nice to meet you.”

The name didn’t ring a bell to Mallory. “Nice to meet you.” As he recognized him as the cook, he thank him for the meal too.

“Don’t thank me. I haven’t done anything today. This is all my girls.” Blas gleamed with pride. “Did they introduce themselves?”

“Yes, we did,” said Krinis.

A voice rose from the other end of the table. “That makes me think. I’m Ellis. Hi!”

“Hi. I’m Mallory.”

“Prince Mallory,” asked Meis.

“No, just Mallory. I’m a prince no more.”

“I’m Meis. I live next door with my sister Delys.”

“The girl with the big green eyes?” Mallory searched the room for the girl who had rescued him but he did not see her.

“Yes. That’s the one. I’m Ducus. I’m Ellis’ brother.” He extended his arm toward Avanis. “And this is…”

“I’m Avanis,” she said curtly, looking away from Ducus and Mallory.

“I’m Pheren.”

“This is Pheren,” murmured back Ducus.

“I’m Parrus and this is Merrus, Gladys’ father. You already know the three girls. They are the youngest habitants of Cozy Forest.”

“The only children we have left in the village,” added Meis.

“We’re not kids,” said Krinis and Ferris together.

“Yes, you are,” said their father.

The meal started, and the conversation remained lively throughout. The portion in his plate was less than Mallory was used to, and he didn’t dare ask for seconds. He wasn’t a prince anymore; he had to remember that. He couldn’t just ask for it, he probably now had to earn it. Nevertheless, the cooked meat was nourishing, the pickles tasty and the bread hard but very filling.

The castle was the main topic of conversation. Everyone wanted to know more about Castle Bartack as if it was a faraway land with customs completely unlike their own. The girls especially. They asked so many questions about ordinary things such as a staircase. What was a staircase? They wanted to know about curtains, they wanted to know about food, about the different professions that fed on the castle, the guards, the guards’ duties, pretty much everything except the royal family. No one asked a single question about the queen or the throne. For a moment, Mallory thought somebody had passed the word to keep quiet on the subject. But he soon realized it couldn’t be because the girls, especially the two in front of him, Krinis and Ferris, were unbounded. Their tongues were loose. Nobody could have put a taboo on it. Least of all Blas, who seemed to be the coolest person around.

Before the lunch was over, it downed on Mallory that the reason they didn’t ask about his former prince status was because sovereignty meant nothing to them. They couldn’t grasp the concept of having a king or a queen. Perhaps it was why they referred to Gladys as their unofficial village chief. They were oblivious to the concept of leaders.

This intrigued Mallory very much. He who was brought up as a king to be, the life in this village was completely unlike anything he had ever experience. It wasn’t bad. In fact, so far, it was fairly good. Fairly good.