Chapter 43: Royal Palace Dinner
A bell was rung, and the party slowly moved inside to a large dining room. Dominic was seated toward the end of the table, across from a man in green robes with feathers on them, and a witch that smelled like medicine and strong liquor.
The seat next to his was empty when he arrived, as was the seat at the foot of the table, which presumably was reserved for whichever noble was unlucky enough to end up at the tradespeople’s end of the table.
Dominic had no idea how such functions worked, but when Pops was escorted to the seat next to him, leaving only the foot of the table open, he began to relax.
"It’s good to see you again. I would have ended up at the forge if the Princess hadn’t found me on the way into town."
"The neighbours have instructions to send you here if they see you. I’ll let them know tomorrow that you made it home safe. How was your first trip as a smith?" He asked, smiling beneath his thick beard.
"Other than being attacked by Goblins constantly, even when having breakfast at the local Crusader’s family farm? Not bad. I learned a few useful things about the steam carriages that I didn’t know before." Dominic replied with a smile.
The Witch nodded in agreement, while the man with the feathers only looked concerned.
"Attacks you say? The animals spoke of unrest. Perhaps it will reach here soon." He commented.
Dominic nodded noncommittally. If he didn’t already know the city was under attack, there was no point in telling him now.
The old witch gave him a motherly smile. "I remember my first trip outside my home Coven. We got rained on for ten straight days, and when we got to the village that was supposed to be buying our medicine, the river had broken its banks and the whole place was flooded.
Ten days. Ten whole days we walked to bring medicine to a town that didn’t even exist anymore. But lucky for us, the refugees brought the same sickness to the next town over, and they still needed the potions."