171 Festivities II (1/2)
Tia and Zagan lay down behind them. Li had convinced the demon to come by even if he did not understand the concept of festivities. Underneath them, the Myrmeke played with Tia, occasionally making patches of grassy dirt shake for Tia to pounce on in a kind of game of whack a mole.
”It's good!” said Jeanne as she put down her empty bowl of stew.
”Can't say it ain't bad, though it's makin' me miss Aine's cookin' that much more,” said Azhar as he also put an empty bowl beside him.
”As do I,” said Old Thane. His bowl was not yet empty as he savored it by the spoonful. Surprisingly, even in the chilly night breeze, the heat of the soup did not dissipate, magically empowered as it was by the flesh of so many monsters. ”Would it believe ye for me to say that this was Aine's favorite food? Least it was her favorite of what I could muster up, heh.”
”No, I somehow do not believe that” said Sylvie as she eyed her bowl that was almost full. It was evident she was not a fan of bland saltiness.
Nor was Li, but his bowl was almost full because he simply was not hungry, nor would he ever really be. Instead, he spent his time eyeing the festival. The knights had assimilated into the celebration quite well, laughing and drinking with the farmers.
Evidently, the older farmers of the old faith were quite the drinkers, and they liberally poured drinks for the knights in thanks for their service to which the knights, bound by honor to accept drinks from elders, gave deep and respectful nods before drinking themselves into silly but happy stupors.
Some of the Feli, curious as they were, were pestering the knights to show them their armor and swords, wanting to see what they were like. The knights obliged, likely motivated by both politeness and a weakness to pretty women, and the Feli cocked their heads as they curiously bit into the armor and the swords with their teeth, making visible indentations into the tempered steel.
One of the knights, a young nobleman, it appeared, by the fancy sigil of a hawk on his sword pommel, was jumping up and down in a panic as the harpy that had alerted Li teased him, taking hold of his likely quite expensive family heirloom and dangling it just out of his reach. The rest of the knights laughed at him, and the nobleman laughed at himself in good humor too.
None of the knights were ill mannered, regardless of whether they were nobleman, average Rivieran citygoer, or recruited from the countryside villages. They were all simply good and honest men enjoying themselves.
”If all of you are done eating, why don't you go ahead and enjoy the festival yourselves?” said Li.
”A girl?” said Jeanne as she leaned in. Azhar leaned back, and Jeanne raised a brow in surprise. ”So it is a girl! Who's the unlucky lady?”
”Knock it off,” said Azhar. ”It ain't nothin' special. Remember the Feli that we rescued? The blonde one lookin' for her little sister? Well, she found her sister, but they've got nowhere to go. They heard from other Feli that their tribe ain't around no more, so they've decided to stick round' here, and since they only really trust me, I'm showin' em' round' a bit.”
”Don't try anything funny with them,” said Jeanne admonishingly. ”Atleast not until they are comfortable here.”
”It ain't like that,” said Azhar as he stood up. ”Y'know, I'm just wastin' time.”
”It's understandable that there's yet to be full trust between the beastwomen and humans,” said Li. ”But efforts like those you're putting out now are what will grow that trust.��
Li nodded to Azhar, and the hinterlander took that as a sign of approval and left. He looked to Jeanne and Sylvie. ”You two as well. If you want to take part in the festival, go ahead.”
”Thane as well!” rang Ivo's voice as his figure trudged up the mound.
”Ivo? What be your reason for coming here?” said Old Thane as he stood up. The two elderly men exchanged a greeting that Li realized was unique to the land of Soleil. They reached out a hand to each other's shoulder's and nodded. This world's idea of a handshake.
”To bring you to the festival, of course,” said Ivo. He looked to Li. ”So long as I am not interrupting anything, seer.”