Table Talk at the Court of Camelyn

Fred was not hungry, and he only took a small piece of ham and some scrambled eggs. He gazed listlessly at the assembled company. A silk- clad lord and a grimy peasant were talking familiarly, debating on whether the toga was going to come back into fashion this year, both agreeing that it would be a good thing if it did. Two wealthy burgesses were arguing with a glazier and a brewer over the virtues of stone versus brick in municipal buildings. Three young women, one the daughter of a yeoman of one of the minor duchies and two the daughters of the household servants, chatted about ghosts in the woods. Fred did not feel comfortable with any of these topics, or the social mixing of the breakfast, so, in order to make conversation, he turned to Reaibn.

"So when is my coronation ceremony?"

"It starts at three bells on the second watch, but you will be crowned at eight bells on the same, my lord. The feast will start at one bell on the third."

"Bells? Watch?" Fred was confused, and then changed the topic. "Uh, I am not familiar with the ritual. What do I need to do to prepare?"

"Not too much. Your servants will handle all the grimy details. You are already dressed, but I will need to talk with you about some proclamations that are expected of you. They it not a great deal of work and is actually quite amusing. Ah, Astra, did you get a good night's sleep?"

Astra had come down the stairway, accompanied by two young ladies of the court. She was dressed in a freshly pressed set of clothes very much like the ones that she wore the previous day, in a blinding white with orange sequins. She had found an outrageous white tri-corner hat with plumes of ostrich feathers stuck in it. The remants of her chains had been removed overnight. The expression on her face was one of contentment, oblivious to any of the odd events of the last day.

Astra took her place at the table and served herself a full plate of eggs, ham, biscuit, gravy, and oranges. She had not been fed well while she was chained to the wall, and was making up for it.

"Astra!" Fred whispered. "This place is a madhouse. You have no idea of what they are going to put us through today."

"I think I do, Fred. These people are harmless. It is true that they are a bit daft, but is it really such a change from your typical court in the Havnheim? You really should learn to adjust to circumstances."

"Typical Aqualarian princess," Fred thought. "They wrote the tome on being condescending."

Fred sighed, and turned to Reaibn. "Well, I will make the best of this, I suppose. I need to learn about the state of the kingdom. Reaibn, what provision do we make for defense?"

"None, Lord Fred."

"None?! What about the greedy expansion of Hespan? The restive duchies on the eastern border? The threat from the Shreken?"

"Ah, yes. The Hespani have avoided coming within ten leagues of the border when their armies tried to invade after King Emry passed on. It is a pity, too. The tunes that they played on their crossbows while they were here were quite nice, and I do not think that we have ever been able to duplicate them. The dragon crossed the border six months ago. He is still here, happily running a lemonade stand in the south. We have all the threats to the kingdom neutralized, so we don't worry about boring things like defense."

Fred blurted out, "Reaibn, this is not normal. Hespani armies do not play tunes, and dragons do not, in the normal course of events, run lemonade stands. How do these things come to be?"

Reaibn smiled. "I have become very good at my job of cleaning things up. The Hespani and the dragon simply did what they wanted to do. I just had to give them a little insight. I have picked up the knack of doing this. Just like the Lady of Billings Keep was miserable as a protected damsel, but happy as a cook. Most people in Allaria are happy."

Fred was not convinced by the explanation, but he did not press Reaibn on this point. "So what happens after the coronation?"

"Oh, you need an heir, so you are going to marry Astra exactly one week from today. Isn't it wonderful that we can have another fun ceremony? As we all have a stake in this, all of us in the royal court will watch you and Astra consuma..."

"I do not think so," Astra cut in.

"Oh, I think you will, Astra," Fred said quietly in his best imitation of condescending Aqualarian nobility. "These people are harmless. It is true that they are a bit daft, but is it really such a change from your typical royal court? You really should learn to adjust to circumstances."

Astra turned to Reaibn, and in a voice of menacing calm explained, "First of all, that cannot happen. Fred has a horrible injury will prevent him from performing his nuptial duties, sadly enough."

"Oh, I did not know about any such injury," said Reaibn sympathetically, to a confused Fred. "How did it happen?"

In a cold voice, Astra declared, "I have not decided yet."

"Let us change the topic, please," Fred replied nervously.

1. Reaibn talks about the contents of Fred's first royal proclamation.
2. Fred asks Reaibn about about the internal affairs of Allaria.
3. Astra asks Reaibn about the little gem that he has on his shirt.

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