The rectangular ballroom itself was magnificent and awe inspiring. It was so large that any sound that was made inside of it echoed, the walls all had decorative carvings and statues attached that was reminiscent of Victorian gothic architecture, the roof was slightly arched and had repeating patterns drawn onto the stone, all the crystal lights in the room had tinted glass to filter the light into a golden glow, and the windows in this room were large and open.
The people all meandered about, moving from group to group socializing and most likely trying to expand their own influence among other nobles. I held my head as high as I dared and tried to look like I belonged here. The current goal was to slink around the outskirts of the crowd doing my best to look inconspicuous. Everyone generally ignored me in favor of their own social groups that they were trying to impress, a fact which brought immeasurable relief.
Suddenly a waiter seemingly appeared with a tray of thin wine glasses. “Would you care for some wine, sir?”
Should I? A quick glance around the room saw that most of the occupants had a glass of their own, so in the name of anonymity the glass was accepted. It seemed appropriate to take a sip to see what they were offering. By no means was I to be considered an expert on the subject of wine, but it tasted quite good. Indulging in another sip, I started slowly moving about the crowd, a stationary individual would probably be picked out by those looking for an easy target to socialize with.
A voice boomed out across the room. “His majesty, King Alathos!”
Every head in the room turned to the area the voice came from to try and catch a glimpse of the king’s entrance. The king was wearing a royal blue suit with gold trimmings and more of those rune-like letters. The crowd closest to him converged and started slinging compliments, praises for his victory, and general kiss assery. Pot calling kettle black am I? There was no room to judge them too harshly considering I would probably have to do the same in order to get back home.
The king gave general greetings and thanks in return for the praise he received as he waded through the crowd that had formed around him. He excused himself from the conversation and made a gesture at someone near the entrance. It was Volks who walked over at his gesture and Alathos whispered something into his ear. Volks turned away from the king and pointed directly at me. Alathos locked eyes with me, and with a slight smile started walking in my direction. Oh shit.
I attempted to appear as welcoming to the king’s presence as I could, but internally, I was screaming. My plan to remain a background character in this political event was thrown out the window, beaten into the dirt, and then shanked between the ribs. Being singled out by the god damn king was going to put a target on my back the size of a house. He stopped before me in all his infuriatingly attention-grabbing glory.
“James! Good to see you here, I wasn’t sure if you would be willing to come. What do you think of the party thus far?” he asked me in a friendly tone.
I couldn’t exactly say that all the rich and gaudy people here repulsed me, and I hadn’t been present long enough to give a concrete opinion of things, so an offhand compliment was the only option. “Well, the wines good.” An awkward smile crept onto my face at my best attempt to look appreciative.
Alathos let out a chuckle before speaking in a slightly quieter tone. “Indeed, you need good wine and lots of it if you plan to survive a night listening to the drudgery of these fools attempting to lick my boots.” He nonchalantly reached out to a passing waiter and picked a glass of wine off the tray they were carrying before taking a sip. “Bolindrish 1246 is an excellent year for just such a thing.”
My face couldn’t hold back the surprise at the king's comments as my eyebrows rose from their place of rest. The king continued to talk, either ignoring or oblivious to my surprise at his lack of decorum. “Now, I find myself interested in you. Do you have any family to speak of?”
“No, uhm, sire, my parents died when I was very young.”
His slight smile disappeared for a moment. “I see, a tragic event and you have my condolences for your loss.”
Seems like no matter what world I'm in I can’t escape the vacuous words of sympathy. The king’s words seemed particularly empty, like he was delivering some tired old line he had said a million times over. “Thank you sire, I appreciate your words.” Lying through my teeth, but I had to play the game like everyone else. Absolute power like that of a monarch was one that you did not want to insult lest your head end up on a pike.
He continued the conversation with another topic. “What about your profession, what is it that you did before coming here?”
“I was studying to become a teacher.”
“A very noble profession, educating the ignorant. Though it is of my opinion that it is a futile endeavor for some.”
I wonder if that was a directed slight or a general one. Recalling a bit of Earth's history about how in medieval times education was considered a luxury only afforded to the noble or rich. There was no way to know how many parallels could be drawn between our two worlds, but you could probably assume some at least.
He looked around at all the nobles clamoring for his attention. “Well, I have many more tongues waiting to service my boots, so if you’ll excuse me, I must mingle. Do enjoy yourself as much as you wish, I will see you in again in due course.” With that, he turned heel and was swallowed up by the crowd. A quiet sigh of relief escaped me before I realized that my nightmare was not yet over.
Almost immediately after the king had left the nobles all descended like a bunch of vultures. They surrounded me, bombarding me with questions, compliments, and offers in an attempt to gain any amount of standing with the king, even by proxy.
“Who are you sir? I beg your forgiveness, but I am not familiar with your face.” One of the nobles asked.
“I’m, err, James.”
“James? Are you perhaps one of those nobles who are in charge of the frontier lands?”
“Please, if his majesty has taken a liking to him, he has to be at least a noble from the merchant families.” Another commented.
“Tell us, why has the king taken such a liking to you? What did you do to earn his favor?” All heads turned to me in anticipation of the answer to that question.
I did nothing! Stop talking to me! Go away! My mind screamed out for some peace from the power-hungry nobles. I wasn’t built for this, I didn’t like this, but I was forced to play along and dance in my little monkey suit. There was no way I could admit to being a complete nobody whom the king decided to make his favorite person for a while. Non-answers it is then.
“Well, I can’t claim to know the king’s mind. I assume he requires my assistance with something he has yet to share with me.”
“Making yourself valuable, a good tactic. If only these louts could mimic that perhaps they wouldn’t be out in the cold.” One spoke from my right.
“Don’t act like you’re any better than the rest of us, we all know you recently lost a provisions contract with the king due to poor product quality.” Another from my front said.
“At least I had a contract, the rest of you couldn’t negotiate your way out of bed without your servants there to pull you out. Besides, wasn’t your father a failed merchant before he turned to, ahem, less than reputable business dealing to keep your family from poverty.”
“You should hold your tongue before you accidentally lose it.” The other said with no small amount of venom in their voice.
“Aha, the black-market thug shows his true colors then. It’s a shame class isn’t something you can buy. I can practically feel the grime being spat from that uncultured mouth of yours.”
“You claim to be some great negotiator, but we all know your father got you that contract only for you to screw up so badly that no amount of bribes could redeem your failure. Perhaps if you actually had enough talent to deliver on your promises you wouldn’t be such an insufferable blowhard.”
“You dare...! I do not have to sit here and suffer your filthy mudslinging. Go crawl back into the gutter with the rest of family and leave the real business to us.” The noble then turned in a huff and practically stomped away from the group, much to the apparent amusement of the one who was in the verbal confrontation with him.
Jesus Christ, these people are all glitz and glamor but will tear your head off for the smallest slight. I needed a way out of this situation before that hostility was directed at me. Everyone was distracted by that little display, so that presented the opportunity to down the rest of my wine. With my glass empty I created the excuse for my exit.
With as much manufactured class as I could summon, I put my escape plan into motion. “My apologies gentlemen but the wine seems to have run right through me, and I must excuse myself.”
The black-market noble was the one to respond to my excuse. “Oh, of course sir, I would scarcely want you to be uncomfortable. Before you go though, I would like to extend an offer of assistance should you require it. I have a great many contacts that can acquire a variety of things, some of which you can find nowhere else.”
“I will... keep that in mind, thank you.” The noble did a courteous bow to me, but I didn’t look back lest someone ambush me again. Depositing the empty glass on a table that was near the exit, my quick escape led to me stalking down the halls away from the suffocating atmosphere of the ‘party.’
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Stopping in an empty hallway, my back collided against a wall and the panic that I had been suppressing was let out. My hands came up to my face and my knees buckled until I slid to the floor. Cradling my head in my hands I tugged at my hair in frustration. Why do I have to talk to these pompous pricks? Why do I have to play politics in a world I don’t belong in? Why does everything have to be so damn complicated? I just want to go home.
I felt like crying, but that was a luxury too expensive to afford right now. Suck it up, you’ve been through tough spots before, this is no different. After that bit of reassurance, and several deep slow breaths to steady myself, I felt ready to deal with some unsavory individuals and find a way back home. Pushing myself back to my feet I straightened out my suit and dusted off my pants.
“Ok, you can do this.” I said quietly to myself. I kept walking around until I found the bathroom, but there was no hurry. The longer I was lost, the less time I would have to spend in that pit of vipers. Eventually, the restroom was found, and made use of. It was surprisingly advanced for a bathroom in a castle. It even had running water, which could explain why there were a couple of those magical crystals there that weren’t giving off much light.
My mind wandered towards what the limits of these crystals were. The captain said that the application of the crystals depended on your knowledge and creativity. They needed runes to perform autonomous tasks, so the closest comparison that could be made was that they were similar to a programming language. Maybe if I learned how to program the crystals, they could be used to send me back home? It seemed this bathroom trip was actually productive and gave me a new lead to pursue. All that was left was to survive a night of high society partying, a very cloak and dagger affair.
My mood had improved upon returning to the ballroom now that I had the beginnings of a plan. Still, the gazes of those who wished to use me to further their own goals were chilling to say the least. The king’s wise words were taken to heart, leading to me acquiring another drink.
It was a long night of dodging questions, giving vague answers, particularly to those who asked about my scar, and generally playing the part of mysterious stranger. Surprisingly enough, my refusal to give a straight answer wasn’t taken as an insult, it almost seemed expected for me not to tell them exactly what was going on. I hate this so much.
There was some measure of a reprieve when it came to getting something to eat from the offered food. Evidently, it was rude to interrupt someone who was in the middle of eating, a fact that I was extremely grateful for. There was a ton of fresh foods available to choose from, including some weird giant pig-like creature that was roasted and prepared with a variety of different toppings and spices. The servers working the tables prepared everything that was asked of them, which was a fairly significant amount due to me both wanting to extend the life of my cultural shield and being rather hungry at the moment.
My meal was consumed slowly while listening to all the scheming around me. People traded favors, promises, and rumors like currency in here. Everyone was looking for a leg up on the competition, and it wouldn’t have been surprising if most of the so-called rumors were just lies to smear their opposition. I didn’t know how much more of this I could take.
Luckily it seemed this night was coming to a close. The crowd had thinned a little bit as some individuals retired early, probably having already achieved what they came here to do. After a couple dozen or so people left for the night, Alathos took center stage with a glass of wine in his hands.
“My friends and fellow patriots, I would like to thank you all for coming and celebrating another victory over the savages of the wild lands. With each one of these victories, we draw ever closer to finally enlightening those beasts to the majesty of our empire. Your support of the military has allowed this to take place and it will not be forgotten. We will be victorious, and this kingdom will last till the end of time.” He raised his glass high above his head. “To victory!”
“To victory!” The room echoed around me.
The king took a swig of the wine before continuing. “Now, I'm afraid tonight's celebrations have made me quite weary. I bid you all a good night and a pleasant tomorrow.” He handed the drink off to a waiter and then proceeded out the door. After the king left, several others decided it was time to turn in for the night and followed suit. A couple of groups lingered just a while longer to conduct more ‘business’ with each other, but I took the out and left with the first group before anyone could stop me.
I weaved my way around the exiting nobles while trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. Nobody bothered me all the while, and eventually, freedom from the crowd allowed for a quick escape to the bedroom. Once inside, a feeling of relaxation came over me as the accumulated tension in my body practically melted on the spot. I never want to do anything like that ever again.
Shuffling over to the bed, my face collided with the soft sheets with only a quiet flump sound and a very muffled groan. That entire ordeal was mentally taxing in the extreme. There were a couple people that deserved to be punched, but luckily, my restraint was great enough to stop that. Exhaustion was my world, so I started getting undressed, going through all the motions to remove the suit by remembering how it was put on then doing the reverse. There was some wiggling required to get out of the clothes and it probably looked ridiculous, but I managed it in the end.
Once free from the improvised straight jacket, the rest of the clothes quickly followed. They were hung over the back of one of the armchairs by the fire before I crawled into the bed. The soft comfort of the bed was highly appreciated as all the worries of the day were shut out. The curtains were drawn to cut out the glow from the crystal lanterns and what would be the next morning’s light. Perhaps tomorrow would be better, and I would only have to deal with one person, the king. Questions about my situation were imperative. Maybe he would allow access to that library and we could find some hint that could lead me back home? Eventually, my thoughts drifted away and my eyelids became too heavy to keep open until they inevitably closed, allowing me the peaceful rejuvenation of sleep.
My dreams were strange that night. I was surrounded by shadowy figures in a large empty room. Their piercing cold gazes were locked onto me with an intensity that bordered on hostility. A slight sensation of something moving up my leg brought my gaze downwards to see a wispy dark snake crawling up my body. I wanted to kick my leg out, strike at the snake and get it off me, but my body wouldn’t move. It wrapped its way around my torso until its head was right next to mine, staring out into the crowd with oddly vibrant green eyes.
My initial fear of the serpent subsided when I realized it wasn’t attacking me, in fact, there was no hostility from it at all as it stared at the crowd of shadows around me, coils hugging me tight but not crushingly. Just then the inky sea of bodies parted as a larger shadow strode through the opening they created. The snake hissed and bared its fangs at this dark form as it grew ever closer. Unlike the other shadows, there was a feeling of pure malice radiating from this one as every step it took left a bloody footprint in its wake.
My heart started thumping in my chest as fear took hold. The dark entity stepped right up to me, heeding not the snake that was threatening it from over my shoulder. Its massive hand reached out for me, practically dripping with a malaise of ill intent. I couldn’t run, I couldn’t fight, I couldn’t even move, so I closed my eyes, waiting for its deathly grip to fall upon me. That was when the grasp fell on my shoulder, then...
“Gah!” My eyes shot open at the sensation only to come face to face with a startled Volks. My heart felt like it was working overtime as my ragged breath tried to keep up with its demands. I was in a cold sweat as the lingering feeling of fear that followed me from my dream persisted.
“I am terribly sorry sir, it was not my intention to startle you, please forgive me.” Volks said with a bow of the head.
The words were barely comprehendable as my brain was still in the process of exiting from the dream state. I forced out a deep breath to calm my heart and nerves. “It’s alright Volks, I just had a weird dream is all.” A dream that was quickly disappearing from memory as most dreams do upon waking up.
“Well, I would recommend a calming tea if you would care for it, sir. I could have it prepared for your breakfast with the king.”
I blinked a few times as that information was just casually dumped onto me. “Wait, I'm having breakfast with the king?”
“Indeed sir, he requested your presence, which is part of the reason why I was sent to wake you.”
“And the other reason?”
“Simply wouldn’t want you to miss your morning meal.” He said with a friendly smile.
The got a light chuckle out of me. “Well, I'd hate to disappoint his majesty. I’ll get dressed, then you can lead me to where we will be eating.”
“Very good sir, if you require any assistance I shall be right outside.” He gracefully strolled out of the room to let me change in privacy.
I got out of bed and stretched, feeling a little lightheaded during the process. After regaining my equilibrium, The suit was probably too much, so it was back to my simple clothes. Once dressed, it was time to meet up with Volks so he could show me the way to the dining hall.
The castle was cool in the early morning before the sun could properly warm the stony interior. We walked through the halls, and the telltale signs of food being cooked met my senses, igniting my hunger. Volks opened a set of double doors and stepped inside with me right behind.
It was a mid-sized room with a beautiful long table taking up the center of the space. Two windows in the back wall let in enough light to fill the room, but in the event of a dinner past sundown there were a couple of candelabras sitting on the table. My nose told me that the door on the left side of the room led to the kitchen, where they were currently preparing breakfast.
Alathos was sitting at the opposite end of the table reading over some papers. His attire was more casual this morning with a simple, but well-made, shirt and pants. Our entry into the room caused him to look up from his work and he gave a friendly smile. “Good morning, James, did you sleep well? Please have a seat.”
I reorganized my brain to deliver a proper address to him while taking up his offer of the chair on the other side of the table. “Yes sire, the bed was quite comfortable. I appreciate your hospitality.”
“Think nothing of it, it is the least I could do for a guest.” Once again, the mystery of why he would just take me in as a guest surfaced. It was a question that I hoped would have a positive answer to it. “I hope you’re hungry, I had the chefs start on a full assortment of dishes that are simply sublime.” He continued.
My stomach called out for sustenance at the mention of food. “I eagerly await their arrival, your majesty.”
We were given water to drink while we waited, and thankfully, it wasn’t long. The chefs came out of the side room with a couple of different plates of food. One plate had assorted fruits, another had what looked like eggs but with a slight orange hue to them, and a third held what I prayed was bacon. A couple of other side dishes were presented like toast with jam, some slices of a rich looking cheese, and even a few pastries with powdered sugar, but the main dishes were what I was interested in.
After the plates were down another waiter came over to each of us and deposited silverware with precise placement before unfurling a napkin to be laid over our laps. So, this is what they mean by ‘royal treatment.’ I rather enjoyed the pampering as I had never had the pleasure of overindulging in myself. If it wasn’t for the politics, I would consider this situation more akin to a vacation.
“Help yourself James, feel free to try anything you like.”
Don’t mind if I do. I reached eagerly for the bits of possible bacon first to confirm that they were in fact the delicious strips of meat. They did not disappoint, though it had a taste less like pork and more like steak, which isn’t to say any less amazing. The strangely colored eggs were basically exactly like the version from my world but lighter. Thankfully, my feasting was conscious enough to maintain a polite air about my consumption of the food even as I hungrily tore into it.
Now properly fed, my thoughts returned to the situation again. My gaze returned to the king who was offhandedly eating while reading more of his papers. I needed answers, so I decided to start getting them.
“Sire?” He looked away from his papers with a curious look. A fortifying breath was needed before continuing. “I truly do appreciate everything that you have done for me, but can I ask why you are doing these things for me?”
“Ahh, I see, you want to know the reason for all this.” He put down his papers and adopted a very directed look. “It is very simple really. I just want you to answer a question for me, one that I would be very happy if you did.” He leaned over the table as his eyes burrowed into me. “How did you obtain the blessing of the eternal goddess?”