Isabel led Finn and Brando inside a large room and departed to watch them from among uniformly standing servants. An older, sleek-looking man, dressed slightly differently than the other servers, tried handing her an empty tray. She swatted it out of his hand and admonished him with hissed whispers. Isabel would not let anyone disrupt her from her primary job of glaring at Fin from the back of the room.

They made their way toward the end of a great table opposite of what they assumed was the royal chair. They were about to sit down when Lord Walters called them toward the head of the table near the plush red chair. The two walked the length of the table, passing elegantly dressed nobles who whispered conspiratorially at seeing them.

Sitting down, Brando asked, "Did we miss dinner?" while a server filled his and Fin's glass with a deep red wine.

"Certainly not, but there has been a lot of talk about the new lord's challenge," Lord Walters gestured to a large man sitting opposite Fin. "Let me introduce you to Sir Goyder. He is especially excited to meet you."

Across the table, a large man raised a glass toward the two newcomers. Even sitting down, they could tell he was tall. His muscular arms bulged under his clothes like an overstuffed sausage. His belly, partially hidden by the table, held him snugly in an otherwise oversized chair.

"I can see why no one wanted to bet on you," Goyder greeted with a smirk. "Did you really stake a large gem on beating me?"

"It's just a friendly wager. Were there any other bets?" Fin looked around and noticed everyone at the table was craning their heads to listen in on the conversation; Sir Jeffcoat looked away.

"You might be a champion of the mine, but in here," Sir Goyder spoke, lifting his palms upward. "This is my domain. You would be hard-pressed to find someone to bet against me in the dining room."

The fifth bell vibrated the stone walls around them, causing the servers to exit the room in a single file.

"I'll bet against you." Brando leaned back and untied his coin purse. "How much?"

Goyder laughed. "Let's make this a gentlemen's bet. How about one month of guard duty? There's nothing like guard patrol to get a protector of the realm acquainted with his new surroundings."

Brando agreed, and the food was served. Round lids lifted off steaming plates displaying portions of lamb, venison, and poultry next to colorful vegetables, boiled potatoes, and a thick brown gravy. The smell was intoxicating.

Fin and Goyder finished their first serving at the same time. At Fin's direction, their empty plates went to the center of the table to track their progress. As Fin waited for his next plate, he looked at his stats. He had four basic stat points to distribute. His strength was at -10, Dexterity -8, and Constitution -5. He realized that his fight in the mine would have gone a lot smoother had he been lighter on his feet. So, after his second plate, he distributed a point toward Dexterity.

A server approached him with a third plate and lifted the domed covering. Instead of food, a letter was addressed to Lord Finlay of Dragonthrone. Fin thanked the server and handed the letter to Brando. He was too hungry for the correspondence.

Brando took the letter and opened it with his fork. The modish lettering was difficult to read but not impossible. When he finally deciphered the creatively shaped letters, he frowned. "It looks like you have tea with the princess at the sixth bell."

Lord Walters misinterpreted their shared look of sheer horror for something else entirely. "Ah, I remember the stresses of courting over tea. Just take a spoon of sugar, offer her cream, and you'll be alright. Remember that not all personalities match, so it isn't necessarily your fault if it goes awry."

"He's going to need more than a scoop of sugar to get him through this one," Brando mumbled, knowing exactly whose fault it would be when it goes awry.

"I wouldn't do that," Lord Walters warned. "In love and war, how you take your tea speaks volumes about who you are. More than two spoons of sugar will announce a proclivity toward instant gratification. No sugar announces that you are perhaps stern and boring. One spoon will suffice. If you offer her cream, it shows that you are considerate."

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Listening intently, Fin asked between bites, "How do you take your tea at war?"

"That could depend on any number of things," Lord Walters considered. "My favorite move is to take the cream. They have to work with me to get it if they want it. It shows that I hold my ground boldly but am also easy to work with. Consequently, if they take the cream, I eat the citrus."

None of this made sense to Fin or Brando, so Lord Walters explained, "The lemon is a cultural courtesy for those with a sore throat. But if you had a sore throat, it isn't likely you would feel well enough for tea. Regardless, it's there to show the host is caring. Eating a slice of lemon, rind and all, shows you have grit. You must keep a straight face, mind you, or it will have a reverse effect."

"How do you tell someone that you are unimpressed with them?" Brando asked eagerly.

Lord Walters laughed. "This is a fun move. Look at the honey, then opt for the sugar. Take a sip and then add more sugar. My mother perfected this one. She could make you sound unimpressive just by listening to you speak."

By the time Fin turned back toward the table, he noticed that Goyder had gotten a plate ahead and was waiting for his next one.

"It appears I have an appointment in less than an hour."

"Does that mean you are throwing in the napkin, so to speak?" Goyder scoffed.

Fin looked around. "I was going to recommend they bring the food out faster."

Listening intently to the conversation, Lord Walters summoned a servant and whispered in her ear. Moments later, a line of serving staff stood behind Fin and Goyder, each holding a covered plate.

Fin placed his fourth plate on his pile and dug into the next with haste. He added another point into Dexterity and felt his joints and tendons loosening up. He realized he should have been upgrading Strength and Dexterity in pairs this whole time. He also felt more control over his knife and fork. He could eat faster.

Plate after plate stacked in tandem before Goyder had to loosen his belt. He did this as an intimidation, more than to relieve the pressure on his midsection. The move had the opposite effect on Fin; he took it as a sign that Goyder was reaching his limit.

Fin had two more basic stat points to allocate and wanted to use both. He began taking the lids off his new plates, dumping the contents on the plate in front of him, and sending the empty ones away under the guise of a lid. When no one spotted his sleight of hand, he brought his Dexterity to -5 and returned every other plate.

Goyder wiped his face with his fourth napkin. He had begun sweating profusely. He was slowing down. Fin leaned back in his chair and began enjoying his ever-refilling wine.

"Just because you're leaving soon doesn't mean that I can't catch up with you while you're gone." Goyder pointed a turkey leg aloft. "No one said anything about a time limit when we started."

This bit of information startled Fin. Given enough time, surely Goyder would be able to catch up a meager two plates. "What if I'm ten plates ahead by the time I leave?"

"I'll bet my roof it can't be done!" Lord Atrium shouted from several chairs away.

"If you get ten plates ahead of me by the time you leave, I'll concede," Goyder announced loud enough for the whole table to hear. "I'll even add twenty gold to the pot. You're already slowing down."

Fin procured two gold and two silver from his inventory, along with the blue gem. Brando dug out two gold and three silver from his pouch and added it to Fin's pile on the table. Goyder took out his money pouch and dumped it on top of the pile.

Fin used his last basic stat point to bring his Constitution to -4 to see what would happen. Aside from feeling like he hadn't eaten in two days, he felt life flow to his cheeks and behind his eyes. It felt like he had taken an afternoon nap in the shade. To the shock of everyone at the table, he began devouring his meal anew.

When he reached seven plates ahead, he had no option but to upgrade his basic stats with golden stat points. When he was about to do so, he noticed that Goyder's next plate had significantly smaller portions, and his own plate had larger ones. He realized the food on his plate had been steadily increasing for some time. Someone was clearly cheating, but it made no difference. He decided not to mention it and put a golden stat point to Constitution, bringing it to -3.

Relaxation and calmness came over Fin's body as he stacked another plate on his pile; Goyder did as well. Fin was still leading by seven plates, but he was also still hungry. Goyder's next plate was even smaller, while Fin's was larger yet.

Brando was about to say something when Fin stopped him, "This works out better for me."

The sixth bell rang, and everyone looked at Fin as if expecting him to accept defeat. He shrugged and said, "We didn't put a time limit on it. We just agreed on whenever I left."

If anyone was upset they didn't say anything as Fin started devouring his overfilled dinner plates. When he reached nine plates ahead, he was already stuffed. He had no other choice except to use another golden stat point. He brought his strength to -9 and didn't stop eating until his plates reached eleven over Goyder's.

Fin plucked the blue gem out of the pile of coins and slid the rest to Brando. "I have to go. Don't get stabbed."