The Demon Wolf (Book 1 of The Devil and the Huntsman)

Chapter 21

The people in the great hall were welcoming the earl to the banquet and thanking him for being their ruler. Then, he grabs a chalice and holds it up into the air, allowing the people to eat, drink, and be merry. All the chalices were filled with all kinds of wine flavors and other seasonings that were completely invented. Then, he stands before his throne and looks at all the people who were already in the hall and the ones who were just coming in. Lagertha could already feel the exhilarating enjoyment that everyone is feeling as Harald was about to give out a speech.

He makes sure that everyone is quiet and is ready to listen to anything that he will say to them as the evening is upon them.

Then Harald spoke amongst the crowd, saying, "For twenty years, we have celebrated this day in the name of King Lancelot of Midland. My father was your king and ruled with an iron hand against all of our enemies. He would raise his sword and drive away any region that would wish to take away his kingdom. Lancelot never doubted the loyalty of his kin and never turned his back on his people or his family. On this day, twenty years ago, the demons came from the pits of Hell and found enough courage to take over the world. And my father raised his sword and killed as many demons as he could.

"Their leader came riding on a dragon and fought the king by combat. But on that day, he lost the battle, and the demons took his head and left his sword on the ground. Truly, it was a tragic day for all the citizens of Midland, including me and my brother. I took his place as ruler of the Midlanders, and my brother became the leader of all of Midland's knights. As my first oath in being your ruler, I commemorated my father's sacrifice and took his sword for my own. But little did the demons know, we were only getting stronger.

"You are all the citizens of this great kingdom. Julius of Romania and I, Harald of Midland, are the sons of King Lancelot. We dedicated this banquet in the name of my father and his father before. We celebrate this feast to let the night creatures know that God is on our side and shall never abandon us in our time of need. Tonight we eat, drink, and be merry in this great hall in both the name of our king and the name of God. There will be more onslaughts ahead for us, and there will be more bloodshed than ever.

"And we shall let the demons know that we will be ready on that day. We shall let them understand that we are not afraid to lift our swords, our axes, and our spears against them all. We will make them pay for every man and woman they have slain before us. On that day, we shall bring the fight to them and the rivers shall run red with their blood. With God as my witness, we will be victorious in these battles, onslaughts, and wars against all the servants of the night."

Then, all the people in the crowd cheered after hearing his speech, and they all felt very satisfied and influenced by his words. The people who were seated could not wait for the feast to begin; all the earl had to do was give the word to let it start. Harald just needed a few seconds to fully get their attention before he could do anything else. Those who were trying to find a place to sit were already moved by his words, and even those who were outside the great hall could hear his speech. Julius knew his brother would always have the audience share the same feeling as he was having.

Then Harald lifts his chalice in front of everyone who was sitting down and was ready to say something else to them.

"Let the banquet begin!" Harald shouted. And so, he sits down on his throne and allows the food and wine to be served to everybody.

Everyone was excited to eat whatever they can and drink as much wine and ale as possible. Harald was not wrong when he said it was more than just an ordinary feast to be a part of. Then Julius looked down at his ring for a long while and remembered how it all started for him and Lucy. The best part about it was even Harald met Erica on the same night and as his brother. It was not a waste of time for anybody; any person could find someone they truly care about and be proud to be with that person.

Normally, not everyone is so easily impressed because the people of Midland would feast in such a dark and miserable time. Then, Lagertha turned around and counted all the men and women who were in the great hall during this night. There were already a hundred people either sitting down or standing up beside the table, and they were all feeling pleased to be part of this event. She could not believe her eyes when she gave a closer look at everything that was happening before her. This was proof that she was no longer a little girl or even a teenager, she was all grown up and reaching the first stage of adulthood.

"Is something the matter, Lagertha?" Julius asked.

"No. Nothing at all. It's just... this must be the first time in a very long time where I've felt so much happening all at once," she answered.

"Is this too much for you? If so, I will..." he said.

"It's not too much at all, father. I can handle it."

"Good. You don't have to eat everything off the plate, just whatever you find appetizing."

"You mean you've eaten every single thing off of such a massive plate?"

"And took a forty-minute walk from the great hall to someplace else? Yes, I have. You don't have to repeat whatever I do."

"Wait. You are certain that nothing bad will come of this?"

"Of course not. You're with me and you even admitted that you are old enough to make your own decisions. Nothing awful has ever come out of these banquets. These are the only times for these people to know happiness. You could eat everything off of the plate, but you don't have to eat breakfast. Unlike you, I'll be asleep the whole morning."

Then, Lagertha sat there and waited for her food to be served to her, and she was being more patient than most of the people. They came here because they thought that they would be served immediately; they believed that they would eat the food and leave a few minutes later. This must have been several people's first day of being in a banquet because a few of them were way too eager to be eating out of anything. This was not the only type of banquets that Julius went into, and it was not the first time that he took her daughter to Loftain. Julius went to all the other banquets and feasts, and he allowed Lagertha to see only half of the inside of the palace.

It was at that moment when Lagertha was being served her dinner and her parents were given their food a few minutes earlier. She said nothing against the fact that she was having her food be served last. She looked down at her food and noticed that it was an enormous bowl of noodles. Julius was given chicken thighs and legs, and Erica was given noodles mixed with chicken and salmon. Lagertha could not resist because everything about her plate and everyone else's plate looked so appetizing. She then took a big bite out of her food and thought the food was superb.

It was kind of not possible to be seeing someone such as Julius eat and drink so much as he did before. Then, Erica also knew that the food was good for eating, and she could not resist such a temptation. Julius did the same thing as Erica did when he sat with Lucy and Lagertha.