Chapter 544: Katag’s Dinner Party Part 2
Krall smiled wide, “It’s good to see you, my boy.”
“Lord Katag,” Stryg started. “Can we talk?”
“Straight to business, ey? Not to worry, we’ll have plenty of time to talk about our plans later tonight. But for now,” Krall clapped his hands together loudly.
The minstrels noticed their cue and stopped playing and singing. The guests all turned to Krall as he shouted, “May I have your attention! Thank you all for coming this evening. These last few days have been difficult for all of us. I'm grateful you’ve set aside time to come here, but I know you all came for the same reason,” he laughed. “Yes, the rumors are true. So, allow me to introduce to you, my soon-to-be son-in-law, Lord Aspirant Stryg of the Great House of Veres, the Ebon Prince of Hollow Shade!”
The ladies’ and lords’ gazes all shifted from the giant orc strapped with muscles that seemed to almost burst from his jacket, to the short unassuming blue youth standing next to him, wrapped in a pale cloak of petals.
Stryg felt his shoulders slowly stiffen as he felt their eyes upon him. His hands twitched, clawed fingers rising from underneath his cloak, Blossom.
Many of the nobles seemed excited, eager to finally see the rumored Ebon Aspirant. Others seemed skeptical, they looked him up and down as if sizing up a deer in a hunter’s sights. Fear crossed the eyes of a few and they instinctively took a step back as Stryg met their eyes.
There was a time when all Stryg wanted was to be feared, to be the apex predator in the food chain of the Realm. But he had seen a glimpse of how vast this world truly was, he had witnessed the power of old gods bend and destroy the laws that governed the chain. There was no apex predator here, they were all small prey dancing on the branches of a tree while the rest of the forest raged about them. Stryg knew this, he felt he should have been above all this posturing, but it didn’t stop the nobles’ gazes from bothering him.
The sound of a clap caught his attention. The another. Soon everyone began to clap and raise a glass in Stryg’s honor. He blinked and looked around. They were cheering him on…? A small warm feeling bloomed in the pit of his stomach.
Krall grinned, “Now, let’s eat. I’m starving!”
~~~
Eleven tables lined the main hall of the manor. Each was covered in platter after platter of food. Servants walked back and forth filling the glasses of every man and woman, while others brought fresh dishes from the kitchen. It was a seemingly endless supply of food.
The Katags sat a little ways off, at the principal table; a long ornate slab of wood carved by famed artisans a hundred years ago. Lady Evelyn had arranged the seating of each member. Her lord husband sat at the center of the table, giving a clear view down the entire hall. She sat to his right and their eldest son, Lucas, sat to his father’s left. Krall’s second oldest, Niko, sat next to his older half-brother. Across from Krall sat their main guest of honor, Stryg.
Evelyn placed his fiancé, Elena, to his right. Evelyn would have preferred to have had Elise Veres far from their table, but she was a Veres and it would look poor on the Katag family if she sat anywhere far from Stryg. Nonetheless, Evelyn made sure to have Tauri sit between Stryg and Elise. The latter seemed unbothered by it and she ate with silent grace and little conversation.
The vampiress’ behavior bothered Evelyn, though she made no hint across her face. Nonetheless, she couldn’t help glancing at her every now and then. What are you up to, Elise?
Plum was considered an honored guest and had been placed with Krall’s two lesser wives and their younger children at the end of the table. The youngest of the children were toddlers who kept playing with their food despite their mother’s insistence to stop.
Stryg couldn’t help but smile at the children. Among the Sylvan tribes, food was oftentimes scarce. Wasting food, let alone playing with one’s meal was reviled. People died hunting down the beast the goblins ate. But here, no one seemed bothered by where their food came, or what sacrifices were made to put such an abundance onto their table. There was something incredibly bittersweet about the whole thing.
Niko grinned and leaned forward. “What’s so funny?”
Stryg turned his neck. “Hm?”
“Tauri told us you’re a pretty serious guy, no-nonsense and all. When my father said you were a Veres I thought for sure she was right, but look at you, smiling at the kids throwing food at each other. I knew you had a light-hearted side to you. Does this all bring back good ol’ memories from home?”
“Memories?” Stryg cocked his head to the side.
“Niko,” Tauri hissed.
He ignored her and wagged his scarlet finger in the air. “I get the whole serious persona, I do. We all need to keep up appearances for the sake of our Houses, but every now and then we have to let loose a bit, don’t you agree?”
“Memories…” Stryg repeated to himself. “I can’t say I have many good memories from my home. There is no space for ‘letting loose’ in Vulture Woods.”
Niko chuckled. “Surely there is a little, yeah?”
“No,” Stryg replied matter-of-factly. “Do you see those children? Where I’m from the Sylvan Mothers would have beaten them until they couldn’t hold their spoons for ‘playing’ with their food.”
“O-Oh… I see…” Niko’s grin slowly fell apart. “Ahem, well, that’s uhm, dark.”
“Dark? Do you believe training and preparing the younglings to survive in the world they are born into is dark? I think the opposite is true. Leaving your children unprepared for the dangers of this world would be far more cruel.”
“Um, y-yeah, I guess…”
“I could not agree more, Stryg.” Krall spoke between mouthfuls of food. “It’s why I send my children to train with my soldiers when they reach adulthood.”
If a goblin failed to master the basics of the Sylvan Paths before reaching adulthood they would be deemed unfit to live within the tribe and be exiled as Nameless. Stryg thought it best to not comment on Krall’s words. He’d rather not have to explain how he failed his own First Challenge.
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The truth was Stryg didn’t know how much to share about his past with these people. What was considered acceptable in high society’s conversation? He had no idea. He wished Gale or Gian were here.
Stryg glanced at Tauri sitting next to him and reached his hand underneath the table and grabbed her fingers gently. She pulled away without looking at him.
Something was wrong. Ever since he had spotted her earlier, there was something off about her and Elena, but he didn’t know what. Had Tauri already spoken to her sister about their relationship? Or was this something else?
“So the stories of the Sylvan being a warrior culture is true, how interesting,” added Lucas thoughtfully.
Stryg glanced at Tauri’s eldest brother. He had the physique of a warrior and seemed to take the most after his father. He was almost as tall as Krall, though his shoulders weren’t as broad.
Elise abruptly laughed at Lucas’ words. She hadn’t spoken a single word since they had sat down.
“Is something funny?” asked Evelyn warily.
Elise covered a small grin with her delicate hands. “Apologies, I meant no offense. It’s just— the way your son speaks about the Sylvan, as if it’s some grand mystery that they may just be a warrior culture.”
“You disagree?” Evelyn asked. “Outside of Lord Veres, there are hardly any well-established records of any encounters with Sylvan goblins in the last century. The way I see it, anything about them is a mystery.”
Elise shrugged, “Well, the way I see it, is that the Sylvan are descended from the Lunisian armies that fled into Vulture Woods after the fall of Lunis. I mean, a bunch of soldiers stranded in the most dangerous unforgiving land in the Ebon Realm, not only surviving but clearly thriving for three hundred years, I’d be surprised if they were anything but a warrior culture.”
Evelyn narrowed her eyes. “Right…”
“You know about my people’s history?” asked Stryg.
Elise nodded. “That I do, cousin.”
Stryg blinked. Cousin? He supposed she was, in some distant manner. She was Callum’s sister. They all shared the blood of House Veres, which meant that they were family, a realization that was still sinking in. A sense of kinship with Elise formed in his heart at the sight of her. She had once slandered Clypeus, a slight he had never forgotten, but she was a part of his tribe now, as was Callum, and he felt an urge to protect both of them.
Of course, the last woman who had called Stryg cousin was an ancient goddess determined to wipe out all chromatic-kin. But Elise wasn’t a powerful and vengeful goddess, she was just a powerful, possibly vengeful vampire whose throne he had just usurped.
On second thought, perhaps natural urges were sometimes best ignored.
“What do you know about Sylvan culture?” asked Elena quietly. She had hardly spoken a word since the party had started. Even when Stryg sat down next to her she had only given a simple nod.
Stryg had guessed she was just nervous but now she was staring at Elise with an odd icy calmness he hadn’t noticed before.
Elise was only too happy to oblige. “The history of the war with Lunis has been obscured by the Houses of Hollow Shade for centuries. We wanted to portray ourselves as noble heroes fending off the vicious goblins, but the truth is Hollow Shade was the instigator, the traitorous city-state that betrayed their ally. Your own House’s founder, Katag, and his elder sister, Morrigan, grew rich from the unjust war and solidified their positions as nobility thanks to Lunis’ fall.”
Elise turned to Stryg with a lazy smile, “But it was your great-grandmother who stood at the forefront. Our family’s Blue Rose was the War Master of Hollow Shade’s armies, she led the sacking of Lunis and personally slaughtered hundreds with the scarlet sword hanging from your hip now. Ironic, isn’t it? Your ancestor helped cause the fall of your people and yet she is also the cause of your rise to power.”
Stryg stared down at his food. He didn’t know what to say. She was right. He wondered if the guilt worming in his chest now was how his mother felt every day when she trained in Evenfall. Was this what drove her to be better? To be better than her grandmother?
“Yes, well, we cannot linger on the past actions of our ancestors,” said Evelyn. “We can only choose to overcome their mistakes. We decide our own fate.”
“I could not agree more, old friend.” Elise raised her glass and looked at Elena and Stryg, “To the present and to the lovely couple’s future.”
Everyone raised their glasses and toasted. All save Elena. Tauri raised her own glass, though she did not cheer at the toast.
Stryg leaned to Elena and whispered, “Are you alright?”
She glared daggers at him with the same fiery amber eyes he had seen on Tauri’s face so many times.
She knows. Stryg realized. She was Tauri’s sister and he had hurt her. Yet he found it difficult to sympathize with her. They had hardly spoken before. It was hard trying to feel guilt over loving Tauri, especially compared to the sickening guilt he felt for being Stryga’s heir.
Even so, he knew it was wrong to have broken his vows with the Katag family. Some part of him thought he should feel guilty. And yet, there was nothing. As the painful reminder of Stryga’s actions tore at his insides, a cold feeling slowly seeped out from his second heart. He felt as if he was sinking into the sea until he was in its dark depths, but he didn’t drown. No, in fact, he felt calm, as if nothing in the world could harm him. He looked at his own hand and marveled at the sight, he could see something dark pulsating within his veins.
Something was off. Or perhaps everything had always been off until now. If the night at Shadow Lake had cracked open the door to something deep within him, then the night he took flight had ripped the door off its hinges.
Was this what it felt like? Was this chaos? Lunae had described it as dangerous, volatile. She was wrong. It was liberating. Was this what his father felt when he looked upon the world?
“Stryg, are you alright?” asked Evelyn.
He looked up and met her gaze. She seemed… small. They all seemed so small. Why was he here again? Why did any of this matter? Why was he pandering for an alliance? He wanted Tauri and that was enough. Wasn’t it? Who cared what any of them wanted?
No, that was wrong. He came here because it did matter, right…?
Why wasn’t he just taking Tauri and leaving? And if any of them tried to stop him he’d simply kill them.
Wait. No. That was wrong too, wasn’t it? It didn’t feel wrong.
He glanced at Krall’s wives, they were all beautiful women. Some part of him told him he shouldn’t stare, but his eyes wandered from one to another.
“Stryg, are you alright?” asked Evelyn once more.
He glanced at her, his eyes slightly hazed over. She was beautiful. It was obvious where Tauri had inherited her voluptuous looks.
Something was wrong…
Evelyn stared at him, a glimmer of worry in her gaze, but the longer she stared the more she slowly lost herself in his strange lilac eyes. Ever since she had met him she had been curious about the first Ebon Aspirant in two centuries, but now that curiosity was gone and filled with a strange terror that gripped her heart. She felt like she was standing atop the shade wall, teetering at the edge, an inch from falling into an endless chasm, but she couldn’t look away. She tried to move her body. Her muscles did not respond. Fear filled her chest. Was this some sort of curse spell? She tried to speak but she could not.
A warm hand gently pulled at Stryg’s ear. “Stop staring, you’re making people uncomfortable,” whispered a voice from behind.
He blinked slowly and looked up. “Huh?”
Plum wrapped her arm around his shoulder playfully and laughed. “Apologies, everyone. Sylvan etiquette is quite different from our own.”
Evelyn shivered and with a shaky hand, took a sip of her wine. “Yes, of course.”
Krall raised his eyebrow, uncertain of what was happening. “Yes… Understandable.”
“Ugh, I’m feeling a little light-headed. Stryg, do you mind accompanying me for some fresh air for a moment?” asked Plum.
“...Okay…” he mumbled.
“Great.” Plum grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the balcony.
Elise glanced at her guardian, Lynette Gale, standing in the corner of the room and silently ordered her to follow.