Chapter 629: Honored Guests (Part One)
The tables in the great hall had been arranged like stacked Vs split down the middle by a central aisle. Guests were only seated on one side of the narrow tables, ensuring that every guest was angled to face toward the high table at the head of the hall.
Kaisen’s cloven hooves unconsciously slowed when he began to recognize some of the figures sitting on the right hand table opposite the one the young servant was leading his family to. Commander Bassinger’s presence was difficult to miss, but both he and Marshal Jakob seemed oddly diminished compared to the men sitting beside them.
It was only after he looked closely that Kaisen realized that both the white-furred warrior from the Golden Eyed Clan and the hulking, misshapen Clanless man sitting next to him were vampires! Even more strangely, both men wore the same blood red and silver sashes across their chests as Commander Bassinger, implying that they held the same status in the Vale of Mists as the man in charge of Nyrielle’s army.
"Mister Kaisen," the young servant said, interrupting Kaisen’s thoughts as he gestured to a set of seats at the table on the left hand side. "May I introduce you to your companions for the evening?" he asked, pausing for only a moment before he continued.
"To your left, I present Commander Aspakos of the Fourth Army," he said, gesturing to a Dark Feathered man with a broken beak that had been pieced back together with what looked like molten gold rather than any sort of glue. When his dark eyes fell on Kaisen and his family, they were struck by a momentary feeling that he wasn’t looking at them as much as he was somehow looking into them, seeing their deepest, darkest secrets, hopes and fears as easily as ordinary people might read a book.
The feeling passed quickly however, leaving them wondering if it had been real or something they imagined because of his disconcerting, slightly menacing aura. But as striking as his appearance was, it was the title ’Commander of the Fourth Army’ and the presence of yet another blood red and silver sash worn over his intricately embroidered robes that deeply shocked Kaisen and his family.
"This is Artificer Erkembalt," the servant continued, gesturing to a smartly dressed man in a tail-coat whose pockets bulged with a number of small tools even at this formal occasion. Hearing his name, the distracted looking artificer looked up briefly from the polished piece of wood he’d been examining to offer the briefest of nods before returning to the object that occupied his attention.
"He’s the crafter of Snow Fang," the servant added, placing emphasis on the weapon’s name as if it held deep significance. "And finally, Ritchel of the High Pass," he said gesturing to a slender, nearly emaciated looking Frost Walker who seemed much more fail than someone of his height and apparent age should be. Hearing his name mentioned without any sort of honorific, a wry smile tugged at the corner of the Frost Walker’s lips as he lowered his horn in polite greeting to the Willow Witch’s family.