No, reserve the room for Alayna

As intriguing as Nakamoto Kishi may be, the fact of the matter is that Queen Alayna warrants more of your personal attention at this time, and it makes more sense to at least offer her the room first. For a moment, you reflect on the unfortunate sacrifices involved in being King... and then you catch a glimpse of Alayna across the room, her copper-red hair gleaming in a shaft of sunlight, and silently rebuke yourself for considering her company to be in any way a sacrifice!

After making plans to spend a day with Kuranoma Kuma shortly after the close of the festival, you make your way back over toward the Queen, who is enduring a conversation with Subhi El-Zamani - who does not always have the perception to realize when his loud, boisterous manner crosses the line from ingratiating to irritating.

"Subhi!" you call out when he pauses for breath, "I see you have made Her Majesty's acquaintance."

"But of course, friend Xavier!" Subhi exclaims, clapping you on the shoulder as you approach (for once, you are glad to be wearing the breastplate, as Subhi does not know his own strength!). "I was just regaling her with the tale of how I led a **** of over a thousand mounted warriors against the King of Persia himself, and had nearly reached the most thrilling part of the story! I know you have heard it before, but it is worth hearing again if you would like!"

"Sadly, my friend, it seems the feast is to begin within moments; the story will have to wait, I fear. Queen Alayna, I have been remiss as a host; it was my intention to invite you to take the seat at my side for the feast. I do not wish you to feel obligated, especially since we should go to the head table now so that I may be ready to give the toast -"

"I would be delighted!" she says quickly, taking your arm just before you were about to offer it. "Do forgive me, Great Sultan; I am certain I will hear the rest of your adventure in due course."

"To be sure, to be sure!" Subhi says, seeming not at all put out. "And by all means, let us feast!"

"Thank you," Alayna says to you in a lower voice as you lead her away from Subhi and towards the head table.

"One could not ask for a better friend than Subhi El-Zamani, but even I need a break from him at times," you assure her. "And I must admit, I do enjoy his stories... the first two or three times I hear them."

"Stories indeed! I know battle well enough to know when an account is exaggerated, and your friend has no trouble expanding upon his prowess at every opportunity. I can assure you, Xavier, the King of Persia does not habitually ride into battle on the back of a bull elephant with gilded tusks, nor did the Sultan slay the beast with a single thrust of his sword!"

"Tales of your own campaigns are no less sensational, Alayna."

"Perhaps, but I can accept no blame for that, as it is not I who tells them!"

The two of you reach your seats at the head table just as a gong reverberates throughout the room to signal the start of the feast, and conversations break up all over the room as your guests find their places. Wine is poured for you and Alayna, and you observe that the very finest has been brought up from the cellars for the occasion - no doubt at Valerie's insistence. When nearly the entire hall has reached their seats, you tap the large silver ring on your hand against your crystal goblet, and the hall goes nearly silent.

"Honored guests!" you call out. "Royal visitors, lords and ladies, people of Elyssia and lands beyond! Never before has the great hall of this castle been so filled, and never before have we had such a variety and quantity of fine dishes to serve. As I have no desire to keep either my guests or their food waiting, I will say only this: Hail, Elyssia! And bring on the feast!"

"Hail, Elyssia!" answers the hall with cups raised.

It is the first time you have played host to a feast of truly royal proportions, and though Duncan and Valerie both warned you what to expect, you find it more than a little overwhelming! Each dish is brought from the kitchens and laid before you so that you may take the first portion, and then once your most honored guests are also served, it is sent on to the one you designate - in this way, you may show favor. The custom is understandable but it takes away a good deal of the pleasure of the feast, as you must be careful to take only a tiny portion from each platter so that you may have room for the dozens to follow, and you must try to remember not to slight anyone when it comes to sending a dish their way. It is rather enjoyable, though, to direct some of the more luxurious offerings to those who likely never thought they might partake of such things. The roasted pheasants are very well-received at the table where your old comrades from the Smithyard are seated, and when you order that the kitchen servants should reserve a platter of cream pastries for themselves, the looks on their faces are a sight to behold.

"You remember your own roots, I see," Alyana says as you send a bottle of fine wine to the back of the hall where the commoners sit.

"Being King has required a rather complete overhaul of my lifestyle, of course," you reply, "but when I look in my glass each day, I still see the same man I was before I put on the crown. One thing I have learned as King, a thing I suspected even before, is that there is fundamentally no difference between the peasant and the lord except an accident of birth. Those of noble ancestry would deny this, and for that matter so would many of common blood... but I have known people of all stations in life, and seen with my own eyes that we are of the same inherent worth. Those farmers have just as much right to taste a good wine as do the lords, and just as much capacity to appreciate it."

"And yet, they sit at the farthest end of the hall, while those at the closer tables are all men and women of nobility."

"That the common folk share this feast at all was a battle hard-won," you insist. "I found out very early that I could not expect to simply wave away every tradition and custom which I did not like. The simple fact is that if enough of the wealthy and influential people of Elyssia decided that I was unfit to be King, I would no longer be King, and whatever popularity I enjoyed among the people would not matter. I have **** but to appease the nobility on some level, lest they replace me with one of their own."

"Perhaps I am a fool for continuing to be surprised by you, Xavier," Alayna says. "I begin to think that I must simply accept what I see at face value; that you really are a People's King, in truth. It almost makes me wonder if -" Alayna stops suddenly, so abruptly that it seems for a moment that a bit of food might have been lodged in her throat.

"My Queen?" you ask.

"Forgive me, I may have had one goblet too many," she says quietly. "I believe I will partake of the water for the remainder of the feast... and then, I fear I must take my leave and return to my encampment."

"You will find the water from our springs to be most refreshing," you say. "But, I had hoped that I might persuade you to spend this night here in the castle, Queen Alayna. I can promise you a most comfortable room, and beds for your entourage as well, and if you were to stay then we might break our fast together tomorrow and discuss the serious matters which brought you to Elyssia in the first place."

Alayna is silent only for a moment, and then she nods. "But of course... I am guilty of uncalled-for rudeness, King Xavier. You are most gracious, and I am pleased to spend the night in your bed."

The last few words leave Alayna's lips as a random silence falls upon the table, and suddenly a dozen pairs of eyes are upon her. It takes a moment for Alayna herself to realize what she has just said, and a look of utter horror seeps slowly onto her face as her cheeks flush a deep, cherry red.

"I am pleased to spend the night in your castle, King Xavier," she says in a voice which barely rises above a whisper.

"I will be sure the arrangements are made," you reply in normal tones. "Subhi! I believe your story of the battle against the Persian King was interrupted at the most thrilling moment, perhaps you might continue the tale while we wait for the next course?"