...-...- "An invitation to the kings banquet?" I asked curiously, looking the royal guardsman up and down as he stood upon my doorstep. The sun beat down on us this hot summer day, causing us both to squint. If we had been talking any louder, it would've seemed like we were having an angry shouting match. "Yes sir. The king himself requested that you attend the Royal Banquet this Friday," he rolled his tongue excessively on nearly all of his 'r's, so it was hard not to smile, "and that you were to come alone." I nodded in understanding, speaking in an ever curious tone as I stared at the guard. "And why, by chance, would the king ask for me?" The guard looked away and spoke quietly, almost inaudibly under the kerfuffle of the bustling city streets, "I don't know. But it is my duty to retrieve you, so here, just take the invitation so I can go." he insisted, giving me the handwritten scroll, "You don't know how hot it is under this suit, laddy!" were his final words, spoken upon departure.
...-...- I sat down in the usual place on my couch to read the scroll. The tapestries behind me of woodlands and mountain ranges created a mood resembling that of a vernorexia, but more along the lines of a first double date. I unrolled the scroll and laid it out upon the table in front of me, my eyes first skimming over the text before actually reading it. "You have officially been invited, due to the kings request, to attend the Royal Banquet. The honor bestowed upon you now-" I decided to skip the entire bit regarding how much of an honor it was to be invited. No time for trivial things like that these days. "-The wearings for the Banquet shall be none more than casual for you, sir, but do be on your best behavior for his lordship. There will be food aplenty and enough Sauternes to quench the entire Arabian Desert. Do not be afraid to ask for more and more as the night goes on, but do not stuff yourself like a Thanksgiving Turkey in front of everybody. The king sends his best regards and looks forward to your arrival." I rolled the scroll back up and placed it on the couch beside me. "Hm.. How peculiar that the king would pick me over some of the other people in the city..!" I thought, slowly drifting off into a nap.
...-...- I awoke in a daze the next morning. I hadn't meant to have slept so long, but it had been a peaceful sleep, nonetheless. Today was Friday, the day of the Royal Banquet. Despite what the scroll said, I decided to wear my best wears to it anyways. A leather trench coat and black jeans that I didn't often use for.. Well anything, really. I didn't live very far from Saint Udis (you-diss) Castle, so if I left early, I could make it there by nightfall. It was a long a uneventful journey to the castle, but it was always worth the trip when trade required it. The castle would always buy plenty to try and stock up for the yearly banquet. Perhaps that was why they wanted me? Because I was the most frequent trader to go there?
...-...- When I arrived at the castle, there was much less excitement than I had anticipated. Even though I was invited to the castle by the king himself, I was forced to turn over anything I had brought with me and depone that I would not be attempting to murder the king. How ludicrous! Once I was inside the castle and at the large table in the dining hall, I was simply taken aback by how much food there was. Turkeys and roasted swine, hundreds of different sauces and jams with at least 10 kinds of breads, bowls of fruits and cooked vegetables, and an impressive abundance of fine wines and liquors. I was shown to my seat by one of the guards and greeted by nearly everyone at the table except for a thin man across from me with a gulosity for white bread with a strange looking pale blue jam.
...-...- The night went on normally from there, small conversations reaching me upon occasion. But at the end of the night, when everyone was leaving, I was pulled aside by a guard and dragged into a large, dark room. It felt like hours before the king finally showed up and brought with him came a knight and a police officer. "W-what is this?" I asked, a bit flustered at the sight of his company. "You're being arrested and then executed, my good fellow!" the police officer responded hastily, taking a half step forward before being held back by the guards spear being tilted in front of him. I reared back against the wall a bit when he started to approach before the king spoke. "We know that you've been stealing from the castle on your daily visits to trade with us. This is punishable by death and will be carried out as such." he nodded at the guard when he had finished speaking, the guard moving his spear and allowing the police officer passage to me. "Turn around!" he shouted, cuffing my hands behind my back quickly.
...-...- At least my last night was a good one, I suppose.
