Isolde

Chapter 12 - The Festivities Continued

It was richly decorated with tapestries upon the walls and carpets from all over the globe upon the floor. Great crystal chandeliers hung from the oaken beams and cast light in every direction of the room. Callan and Alouette stood at the end of one of the largest tables, it was laden with food and guests were now beginning to take their seats. They loomed over the proceedings, Callan looking at ease in his court but Alouette looking slightly timid and afraid of all the men taking their places around her. There were some women on the large table, but it was mostly men who were of political importance in Inovine; all of them with swords and livery decorating their chests.

A server came up to them and asked for their names. "Frelian, Prince Alvaro of Rilia."

"And the lady?" the server gestured to her.

"And my fiancé, Lady Isolde." Frelian replied confidently. As the server looked down to review his seating chart, Isolde jabbed Frelian in the ribs with her elbow. He winced and mouthed "What was that for?" at her.

"You know very well what that was for." Isolde mouthed back

The server now brought his head back up and they smiled innocently at him. "If you'll follow me please." he gestured, leading towards the large table and the two seats on the end which weren't occupied. They were immediately opposite Callan and Alouette.

The server coughed and then announced them as they sat down "The Prince Frelian and the Lady Isolde". Isolde was relieved he hadn't announced their relationship status and looked across at Frelian who had a smug look on his face "See it's fine."

"It might not have been though, he could have announced it to the world before your parents even know. Then we'd have been in a right mess. We'd be accused of trying to upstage a wedding with news of our engagement or at the least Alouette would be fuming, I fear she suspects something already." Isolde hissed at him

"I knew it'd be fine, servers don't traditionally announce the relationships of people who arrived together" Frelian smiled "And if I hadn't told him we were engaged we wouldn't be sitting together as I'd be here and you'd probably be sat on your own with the rest of the non-high profile guests."

Isolde sighed, she found his wit both charming and irritating.

Callan now rose, offering Alouette his hand to rise with him. That signalled that everyone else should rise. After the initial scraping of chairs and fabric rustling had finished, Callan began to speak, his voice filling the room with ease "Loyal subjects of Inovine, and honoured Guests." he gestured towards where Isolde and Frelian were stood "I present to you, my beautiful wife."

A thunderous roar of applause filled the room, some clapping and others banging their glasses on the table. Callan allowed a few seconds of this then raised his spare hand to signal for quiet again. "I want to thank you all for coming to this wedding feast and at such late notice, it means a great deal to me to see so many of you here celebrating this special day with me and my wife. I would especially like to thank the noble Prince Alvaro who brought my wife here to me aboard his ship."

Frelian bowed his head slightly, and muttered under his breath "well you did threaten us with war." for which he received another stab in the ribs by Isolde's elbow.

"I have so much more I'd like to say but this feast is getting cold so I shall restrain myself. Please everyone, enjoy the evening."

Then everyone, including the king, sat down and began to eat instantly. Food was piled high onto plates and very few words were exchanged between people, it was as if they hadn't seen food in months. The feasting seemed to last for hours, when one plate was finished another replaced it: meats, cheeses, fish, breads, vegetables, cakes, pies, each plate piled higher than the last. There were foods from all around the world.