The wedding feast

Isolde was clenching both her fists and her teeth with dark rage, which was a highly inconvenient thing to do during a dinner feast. So there she stood, alone amongst people who laughed, talked, and ate, without doing neither of those things. "Stupid whore, stupid..." she hissed looking at her rival and her beloved. Dorian paid attention to no one but her young a beautiful wife, not even now had he looked at her sister, not once, and Isolde hated every second of it. Her hands clutched a crust of bread with rage, almost as if it was the flesh of her rival, and bit it like it was a foe to be killed. "You, with your stupid red hair, and your stupid fair skin... Stupid..."

"May I sit here, my princess?"

The voice startled her. It was a feminine voice, soft and cunning. Isolde looked to her side and saw a woman there, one of the new ones that had arrived with the queen. She had an unusual pale skin, that must be a thing for these repulsive whores from the north, and black raven hair akin to hers. She may have been beautiful in another time, but now she was visibly too old for that. Isolde did not feel so menaced by women who did not challenged her beauty.

"Who are you?" She asked to the stranger.

"My Name is Lunnara," Said the disguised elf, faking an old voice with her spells as well as she had faked an old appearance. "I am a servant to the new queen. Her adviser, as she so gracefully appointed. I was hopping to meet you, lady Isolde."

"Me? Why so?" She asked with frowned eyes.

"I have heard tales of your beauty and wisdom."

"Oh really?, and here I thought that the bards only spoke of my cruelty and my tendency to hang advisers. What do you want, crone? I advise you not test my patience"

The old woman reacted with a soft grim. If she was scared of her words, she did not show it. "Tales and songs have a funny way to travel, my princess. Bards are harsh to monarchs when they are close to them, but the stories become softer and sweeter when they go to far away lands. Indeed, your own stories grew more gruesome the closer we got to your castle. Tell me, is that tale about the ducks true?"

Isolde did not know what she meant by that, but she would not let by a chance to be feared. "You better believe it is."

Lunnara smiled. "Then I am glad that my lady has such an imaginative sister in law."

This old hag is not as clever as she thinks, but she might be dangerous, I better keep her close... "I like you, Lunnara. It is rare to see a woman so quick and witted with her words. Come, join me for dinner..."

"I feel honoured, noble lady." Said the hag while taking her seat.

"How long have you known queen Karla?"

"Oh, since she was but a child, and let me tell you a secret: she wasn't always that skinny." Isolde smiled to that. It was always amusing to knew the dirt of her rival's past. She looked to Karla, across the table. The queen responded to her husband's kissed but did so with shyness, and remained quiet most of the time. The king, on the other hand was absolutely infatuated by her dove eyes, and virginal beauty. Isolde wanted to puke.

The feast continued for hours and soon Lunnara began to loose some of her wit the more wine she drank, which Isolde gracefully gave her, letting her loose her tongue. Tell me your secrets, hag. Tell me our queen's weaknesses.... Finally, after a long wait, she spoke something of interest: "Our dearest queen has suffered a lot with the lost of her father and brothers." Said Lunnara.

"People die in wars." Said Isolde. "She should get used to that."

"It is her duty to mourn them and it is my duty to worry about her, specially with her conditi... Pardon me, my princess, this is to much dinner for my frail body."

"What were you about to say?" Asked Isolde.

"Oh, nothing. It has no importance..." Said she nervously.

Isolde did a quick move and soon the knife was in her hands, pointing at Lunnara's stomach. The old woman was so drunk and tired that she couldn't even react to the thing. "You are going to tell me, worm. You would not be the first hag that I get rid of in this castle. You were about to say 'condition', what condition? What troubles our little queen?"

"She..." The old woman began to say with a trembling voice.