“This is all for us?” Noelle asked as the attendant guided them over.
The other competitors from Meru, Twilight, and Draconi had stalled around the table, looking longingly at all the food. It was over the top and far more than eight people could ever hope to consume. But the attendants had formed a perimeter around the table, keeping the other competitors a few steps away. They only broke from it to pull out chairs for Qwint and Solaris to sit in and then promptly returned to their pointless guard posts.
“Please, eat and enjoy.”
The eight of them stared at the food uncertainly. Not one of the other competitors had gone into their homes or the common house. They all just stood there.
The food in the village had been fine sustenance, just as Lumeria had promised, but nothing exceptional. Nothing like Eira was sure most of the champions were accustomed to, being half nobility. Eira was the first to stand and load her plate. Everyone else at the table watched her. No one else had dug in yet. Varren began slowly piling on food to his plate, prompting the others to start.
But Eira didn’t sit back down. Instead, she started for the perimeter.
“Excuse me, you’re intended to eat at the table,” one of the attendants tried to stop her.
“Intended to, or required to?”
“I—Intended to.” Something in her tone had him fighting for words. Eira stood a little straighter, relishing in the sense of power and authority.
“Then it doesn’t sound like Ihave todo anything of the sort.”
“But—”
“I’m not going to sit here and eat in front of people who have become my friends when I know they’d like to try some of this fine cuisine,” Eira declared. “Isn’t the point of the tournament to make friends across our borders? To highlight the strengths and skills of our nations?”
“Yes…but…” The attendants looked at each other uncertainly. She could tell that they didn’t have a solid leg to stand on and she pushed past them.
“Here.” She held her plate between the competitors from Meru and Twilight. “Try some. I can go back for more.”
“Only the teams who won can eat.” The original attendant fumbled over his words, frazzled.
“Minister Fawn said that a feast is best shared with friends. And the original rules of the tournament said we could do what we want with our gifts.” Eira glared at the attendants. They shared confused and uncertain looks as the other competitors began to pick off their plates. But their focus was shaken from Eira as Cullen stood next, loaded his plate, and walked over.
“I’d like to share mine, too.”
“And mine.” Lavette stood. “After all, it’s the spirit of Qwint to care for the group.”
“Cullen.” Eira caught his attention. “Do you mind grabbing the blankets you pinned to your walls?” Lavette glanced in her direction—curious, probing. Eira realized her error. It was an admission of being in his room. She hastily added, “I think I caught two or three in there?” and hoped it came off as noticing them in passing.
“Wh—oh.” He smiled from ear to ear. Cullen was oblivious to her error, or playing along. “You’re brilliant.”
“I have my moments.”
23
Minister Fawn and the attendants had made it clear that only Solaris and Qwint could sit at the table, but there was nothing mentioned about the ground. Cullen’s silken blankets were now stretched out along one side of the table, the chairs pushed aside. Their plates had turned into platters, ferrying the food back and forth. Evanel, one of Meru’s competitors, had stepped up as barkeep and began ferrying flagons from the common house to their impromptu picnic.
Before Eira knew it, the food was mostly eaten, the rest forgotten in favor of song and dance underneath the stars. The only one who had retired early was Luca; the rest of them were still going strong. Graff was plucking away feverishly at a lute. Sorrah sang wordless notes, swaying at his side. Lop banged wooden spoons and utensils against the heavy clay bowls the attendants had removed earlier with surprising skill as the rest of them danced twirled and laughed.
Eira sat off to the side with Alyss, leaning back with a slight smile. It was easily one of the best picnics she’d ever had. Hard to believe these people were still her competition.
Looking at them now, it almost gave her hope that maybe, one day, there could be true peace—not just the uneasy kind—among their nations. Perhaps, after years of tournaments, those in Meru would cheer just as loudly for their favorite competitors from Solaris as the ones from Meru itself.
She was too old, too jaded, to think that true peace could ever exist for very long. But, in this moment, she felt like dreaming.
“I don’t think I’ve seen you this relaxed in a while,” Alyss commented from her side. They sat back on the fringe, as was Eira’s usual location in group settings. It had also given Eira an opportunity to fill Alyss in on her explorations from earlier in the day. But they hadn’t lingered on the subject. Neither of them seemed too keen on ruining this brief reprieve with the heaviness of Pillars and they had fallen into an easy silence since.
“I know it’s a momentary distraction but…I do feel pretty relaxed,” she admitted. Lavette, Kinnya, and Varren were in the process of trying to teach Cullen, Noelle, Menna, and Sorrah some kind of dance from Qwint. Olivin and Ducot were expectedly off to the side as well, talking between themselves. Eira wondered if they were able to discuss business at a time like this, or if they were able to chat casually as she and Alyss were.
Likely not. The thought sobered Eira. Yonlin was still missing. If Eira were in Olivin’s shoes, there would be no possible way she’d ever be able to focus on anything but finding her brother.
