Eric had never seen such a spread of food in his whole life. 

Tables upon tables of food filled the large hall, about twice the size of the cathedral court Eric had seen earlier in the day. The food smelled amazing, bringing scents of salted meat, bread and pastries, and an assortment of vegetables, one of which seemed to be some kind of mashed potatoes and gravy. 

But at the pinnacle of the meal, the feast’s centerpiece was a monstrosity of a roasted animal laid on a spit and slowly spinning over a bed of hot coals. The beast must have been around ten feet long from snout to rump, its plump and succulent meat roasting perfectly over the coals. It appeared that no one had begun to tear its cooked flesh away yet. Three servants turned the spit on each side. As Eric stared in stunned silence, he realized that the spit rod that skewered the animal was thicker than his arm.

“What is that?” Eric asked. 

Sophia turned and followed Eric’s gaze to the huge roasting beast. Bits of fat would occasionally dribble down and fall into the coals, a sizzling puff of smoke erupting from the spot the juices splatted onto the coals. 

“Oh,” she said, then got uncharacteristically excited. “I haven’t had roasted ox in a long time.” She smiled as she watched the animal turn. “They are probably waiting for you to take the first cut.”

The two of them had stopped in the entryway to the feast hall to gawk at the food spread, Eric most of all at the roasting ox. 

“Don’t oxen have horns?” Eric asked. 

“Yup,” Sophia said. “But they remove them before roasting. They get really long sometimes, and will often scrape at the coals on the ground, preventing a good turn on the spit.” 

Clanker walked up behind them, Bearick tailing him. As the other two entered, a horn blazed from the opposite side of the hall, signaling the entrance of King Arelgore. The large man entered, dressed in a more informal white tunic with golden embroidery, with brown trousers and shirt underneath, and a detailed and intricate belt surrounding his waist. 

The king walked up to a long table that faced the rest of the hall and was nearest the roasting ox. He turned and saw Eric standing with his party near the main entrance.

“Ho! Hero!” King Arelgore said. “Come and take the first cut of the feast!” The king motioned for him to come near.

Eric looked around nervously, then slowly moved to the ox. Sophia and Bearick stayed near the front entrance, but Clanker followed Eric as he walked. 

As the two moved through a few isles of long tables and a series of private seating as well, eyes followed them. Many eyes were wide with anticipation, curiosity, or something akin to awe. Others had eyes of envy, seeing this feast to honor someone that they had never met nor heard of before. Many of those had worked hard to gain favor with the king only to be outdone by a complete stranger with some mythical future and the potential for religious upheaval. 

Then there were others that looked at him and Clanker with anger, eyes dark and dreary, for a reason Eric didn’t know. 

They reached the ox and the servants turning the spit walked away while another holding a large knife approached Eric. The blade was something akin to a kitchen knife, but it may have been mistaken for a short sword or perhaps a long cleaver. 

Eric took the knife gingerly, the servant retreating as he did so. He looked at Clanker for support, a look of confusion on his face as if he was saying, what do I do?

Clanker noticed the plea for help and motioned with one hand to the roasted beast. 

“Do I just cut it?” Eric said in a hushed tone. The feast hall had grown silent as they watched eagerly to see how he did.

“Well,” Clanker said. “I do believe that is how you eat it. Though there are some cultures I’ve known to use their teeth, or perhaps claw-like protrusions from their bodies. I even knew some that could enlarge their jaws and eat whole chickens at a time.” He looked off at nothing in particular, a somewhat nostalgic air coming upon him. Eric just stared at him.

“So I just cut it?” Eric asked again. “How much?” Clanker just shrugged. 

Without a satisfying answer, and the air growing awkward, Eric leaned over the bit of coals between him and the ox then sliced off a thin piece of the shoulder of the beast. It fortunately came off easily, but then Eric panicked because he didn’t have a plate to put the meat on and it was still quite hot. 

With a slight yelp, Eric flung the slice of meat behind him by reflex, then immediately regretted doing so. The two were certainly a distance away from the king’s table, but apparently Eric had quite the arm, because the slice of meat, perhaps four inches in length and two wide, tumbled and flew through the air and landed squarely across the king's face. It hung there for a moment, then fell to his table with a wet splat. 

Eric looked on in horror, full of panic and having no idea what to do. 

Should I say sorry?! Eric thought, watching the king’s reaction. 

After a long moment, King Arelgore looked down, picked up the slice of meat, then shoved it into his mouth. 

Once he had chewed the meat, he looked up at Eric and bellowed a laugh. A wave of relief washed over the crowd, conversations starting up immediately. 

“Come!” The king said. “All approach the beast and feast!” The crowd bellowed and the sound of wood chairs sliding across stone sounded throughout the hall. 

Eric rushed over to the king’s table just as the crowd began gathering around the roasted ox. Servants had begun to take slices off and handing them to waiting patrons. 

“I am so sorry, King Arelgore,” Eric said, bowing slightly. “I had not prepared myself for the heat and reacted without thinking.”

“That is alright,” King Arelgore said, a servant coming to his side to wipe his face. “I’ve had many a night with meat being flung in my face.” 

Eric tried so hard to keep a straight face after the king’s comment. He looked at the king and realized that he probably hadn’t noticed saying such a comment. 

Clanker was not so subtle. He bellowed a laugh, form shaking as he raised his hands to his eyes and wiped away a phantom tear. The king stared at him in confusion. When Clanker noticed the king’s attention, he quickly gathered his wits and nodded his head to him. 

“Come and sit, Hero,” the king said. “I have seats prepared for you on my left.” He gestured to four unclaimed seats at his table. “I would have you sit at my table, being a feast in your honor.”

“I would be delighted,” Eric said, then nodded to Sophia and Bearick. “Clanker, can you go get them?” The skeleton nodded, then walked off.

Eric walked all the way around the long table and took his seat directly next to the king. 

“I can ignore much,” the king said in a hushed tone as he cut a bit of meat away from a tray that a serving maid brought him. “Especially because of your new status in the free lands, which I am sure will open many doors for you, Hero.” The king raised the bit of meat to his mouth, but before eating it, he continued. “However, a man cannot ignore a biting hound for long.”
Eric saw in the king’s eyes and could now pinpoint what had been bothering him from the moment he first laid eyes on the king.

The man was a fraud.

Or at the very least, he put on a persona, a fake image of what he wanted people to think, to see of him, covering what he really was. He had that over him as a mask to ‘open doors,’ as he had said before. That posed a danger Eric was afraid could come back to haunt him. In those eyes, Eric saw the determination, the ambition to do anything to achieve power, to manipulate, and to control. 

“Uh…” Eric said, fear rising as he contemplated this revelation. “Yeah, I’ll be more careful.” 

The king nodded, then continued to eat his meal. He motioned for a serving maid to approach the table. 

“Please fetch meals for the honored guest and his party,” the king said to the maid. She bowed and then left to gather food from the array of tables and spreads in the feast hall. As she left, Clanker, Sophia, and Bearick took their seats, with Clanker on Eric’s right. 

Eric watched the maid as she gathered each and every morsel of food for him onto a plate. He let himself be entranced as the reality of what the king had said settled into him.

The food brought to Eric’s spot smelled amazing, pilled up with meats and various potatoes nestled against a few hot and steaming buns, but he then realized his appetite had found somewhere else to roost.