Balian could not escape the gaze of the winter wolf. The head had seemed like a good trophy after the battle, but now it was unnerving as it hung on the wall in the great hall.
Balian was hosting a dinner tonight for the remaining lords in Stagfell. He was exhausted from the day's duties and thought eating and drinking with the council members would renew him. But now that they were sitting here he found himself easily distracted by his own weary thoughts.
Running down the center of the great hall was a long table with seats for all of Baron Corso’s council members. Tonight most of those seats were empty. The Baron had left to travel north taking Zuhair and Akiros with him. Chase and Kressel rarely attended dinners unless it was required. Nobody knew if the elven alchemist Fitz was even alive. He remained in the room he claimed for a lab for so long nobody recalled when they had seen him last. That left only a handful of chairs at the long table filled.
Kesten Gariss, one of Balian’s closest friends in Stagfell, told of some humorous exploits from the day's training of the Stagfell milita. Jhod Kavken cracked a narrow smile at the General’s story. Jhod’s expertise in Sylvan had been very helpful in Balian’s study of the language in the recent months. On the other side of the table sat the two ladies who politely listened as they sipped their wine. The fetching Calia Abercroft was someone The Redeemers had found in the direst of circumstances and now served remarkably as the realm’s treasurer. Balian considered winning her and her merchant lord father as allies to the Greenbelt to be one of his greatest successes. Next to Calia sat Ella, the lady councilor that Raam appointed after Svetlana’s sudden departure. Balian had silently questioned Ella’s appointment, wondering if Raam had done so as a reward for warming his bed, but now Balian banished those thoughts as disloyal in questioning his liege’s judgment. So far, Lady Ella seemed adequate to her task.
Next to Svetlana’s former seat which was now Ella’s, was the diplomat’s chair that sat empty since Balian had been tapped by the baron to act as steward while he was away. Balian now sat at a smaller table placed perpendicular at the end of the long table. The Baron’s place was slightly removed from the other seats. Balian reflected that the end of the table, as well as the role of ruler, was a lonely place indeed.
The conversation before him continued and a flurry of activity at the kitchen doors interrupted Balian’s brooding. Two servants brought a roasted boar and placed it in the center of the long table. As per custom, they brought the boar’s head and placed it front of the baron’s seat. Balian stared down at face of the animal while he waited for the other lords to be served. The meat was rare and blood boiled out of the pig's mouth and neck, pooling on the plate that it sat on. The scent of the blood wafted up into Balian’s nose making him feel dizzy and nauseous. The room began to slowly spin. Candles and the fireplace continued to burn but the light diminished casting long shadows and darkness. The blood on his plate swirled as a voice as old as time, yet familiar, emerged from the fog of his memories.
Sensuous and sinister it breathed; "Hmm...tsk, shame of a waste. All the lovely blood that will be lost."
Balian felt a warm touch on his hand. His eyes fluttered and his vision cleared to see Calia standing before him. The room looked normal once again, though the lords were gone and servants were clearing the plates. Balian’s plate remained untouched. Calia's face showed a look of concern, "Are you feeling ill Balian? Your face is so pale."
Calia became uncomfortable when Balian stared at her a moment as if he was deciding whether she was real. But it was his words when he finally spoke that truly chilled her.
His eyes narrowed and his hand reached down to rest on the hilt of his longsword, "Something terrible is about to happen..."
