I was just watching them and enjoying some food when Mont came over with a cushion and plonked it down by my side. I’m not sure if it was the noise or what, but he spoke in a voice that was just almost lost in all the cheering and chattering.
“Heard all about it from Seki and the boys,” he said, “and I’ve been thinking through what options we have when it comes to the situation across the border. But all you need to do is just sit pretty and leave it with me. I’ve been hearing about their country for a while now and I’ve got some ideas.”
“I don’t mind leaving it in your hands, but what’s this about ideas? What’s been on your mind, Mont?”
Mont took a swig from his cup of wine, then slammed it down onto the low table.
“All sorts of things. Without Juha here, somebody’s gotta do the thinking, and I figure it may as well be me, so I’ve been doing it like you wouldn’t believe. Every day I’m poring over things, working them through, and everything came together when the lostblood brothers let slip about the elephantkin in the Beastland Kingdom.”
He told me he’d heard about it all from the dogkin, and he thought it was a real volatile piece of intel.
“As soon as I heard that the elephantkin used to be in charge, and an elephantkin heiress is missing, well...there’s only so many people you could be talking about, you hear me? And from there, it was child’s play to work out what a certain wicked ruler had in mind—namely, a scheme to see that heiress give birth to his child as an excuse for invasion. But even if he never went through with the invasion, a son from that kind of bloodline sure would make for a certain authority and power over the border. For anyone with access to trade routes, that kind of authority would come in really, really handy, don’t you think?”
Mont seemed to think that there was more to it than just that. He thought some of it was domestic. After all, the beastkin nation hadn’t taken any overt action even when their own people had been abducted and used as little more than products to be bought, sold, and used.
“I reckon with the throne in a place of uncertainty, and tensions running high, others sought to make alliances or provide military power in return for political sway. Probably lots of other schemes you could dig into too. Then again, build a nation on your own whims like that wicked ruler and there’ll be areas to exploit, so I’m not sure I blame ’em for trying.”
And with that, Mont swiped the food off of my plate, shoved it into his mouth, and then rose to his feet and tottered off elsewhere.
Well, that was about the wildest story I’ve heard in some time, and I would have stopped him to talk more about it if it wasn’t a special day. I don’t want to derail the celebrations to discuss all this, so, yep, I’m just going to set my mind on enjoying the banquet.
It just so happened that the eiresetters were all lined up and dancing at the time, and I had some fun watching them. That was when Iberis stumbled over looking a little tipsy but also on cloud nine.
“You guys at Iluk really know how to party!” he boomed. “All bright and cheerful and lavish! My whole family’s having the time of their lives! Won’t wipe those smiles off their faces for days! And then you top it off with plans that benefit all of us? We goblins couldn’t be happier!”
As it turned out, Mont had told Iberis and the goblins that he wanted fish brought in, and plenty of them.
“I mean, it’s an honor to have brought you our fish and see it all prepared here now, and to see how much everybody’s enjoying every bite! It’s just an honor, it really is!”
Iberis took a seat where Mont had been sitting just minutes ago, and started happily talking—mostly to himself—about how much fish to bring in and whether or not it was worth getting his whole village behind their efforts.
When the sun began to set, celebrations only intensified, and the cavekin brought more alcohol to really ramp things up. You see, the cavekin had noticed that the wedding celebrations were a mix of onikin, Sanserife, and dogkin traditions, and they wanted their own traditions in the mix.
And for the cavekin...yeah, that meant more booze.
But according to the cavekin, the stuff they’d brought when the sun began to set was special—they’d brewed it in a unique way and they were very good at it. That said, it wasn’t really about the flavor, per se, but more about the potency.
Point being, it was the strong stuff.
The idea for the cavekin was that you served it in little cups to the men, and if they had the fortitude to withstand a cup, then that proved they had what it took to lead and protect a family.
It looked pretty rough too. After Joe and the others downed theirs they clutched at their throats and rolled around on the ground writhing for a while. It must have been the good kind of excruciating though, because they all held out their cups and asked for more.
The cavekin were beaming to see just how much people loved their best stuff, and they brought out bronze bottles to serve yet another new alcohol. The baars saw all of this and decided that things needed to get livelier still, and all of them started bleating a song like a big old choir.
“Just don’t overdo it, guys!” I shouted over all the singing and cheering.
Alna and some of the others brought out more food, and suddenly the celebrations were coupled with a real seafood smorgasbord. Some of the dishes were pretty simple barbecued fish, and the lostblood brothers pounced on it.
“Ugh, this fish is so good!” Seki cried.
“I could eat this every day!” Saku added.
“We never had anything like this back home!” Aoi laughed.
I couldn’t disagree with any one of them. Iberis and his family had brought us truly tasty fish. It was worlds apart from the pickled stuff I’d suffered in the past. It didn’t stink, there weren’t any weird flavors mixed in with it, and it didn’t feel like pouring a bag of salt down your gullet.
Seriously, the stuff I’d had to endure during the war was downright vile, and some soldiers had straight up refused the fish we’d had even when they were starving. But because there was little other choice—it was edible, and it replenished your salt levels, after all—people turned to trying to find ways to wash down the putrid taste.