The mont the newly knighted girl walked into the dining hall with her father, she was engulfed in cheerful noises that she hadn’t heard in such a long ti.
It was easy to forget that she had so many fun tis with the knighthood when the past couple of years had been the heaviest she had ever known.
What a beautiful mont it was to be a survivor and get to witness knights with smiles on their faces that made Irene forget about their scars. She recalled how each person looked, covered in monster blood since that was a nearly every day occurrence. If it wasn’t monster blood, they were rely filthy because there wasn’t a real chance to bathe oneself in a place like that.
And the constant noise.
While the dining hall’s present loudness was full of laughter and impassioned conversation, she recalled a different loudness at the encampnt at the ancient wall segnt.
If she sat and listened for a few monts during the war, there would be coughing. Soone wheezing. Sounds of pain constantly. People working on various tasks could always be heard. Walking, rustling, always so kind of movent.
Nightti at the tent encampnt, when the sound of constant movent should have been gone, many had gotten used to the sound of others coughing and could sleep through it, but she never gained that skill. The ability to sleep in the cold and ignore coughing. Was it rely sothing inside of her that made it impossible?
It was so nice to see all of these people smiling and enjoying themselves rather than rely living and surviving.
Even Felix, who had beco soone more reserved after the war, sat there in the dining hall with a faint smile on his face and his hands around the base of a mug full of ale. Since he was the one she was closest to, she broke away from her father and sat down next to the new second-in-command.
However, her father approached her, and she wondered montarily if he wanted her to sit next to him instead. Her green eyes were cast upward in shock, but it wasn’t because he was there to chide her.
The forr knight placed down a large mug of ale in front of his daughter. He also had his own drink held in his prosthetic hand.
"Drink up, da," her father ordered. Then, to the room he shouted. "To the knights, old and new!"
He raised his mug before tossing it back and drinking down quite a large amount. When he was finished, he gave Irene a cheerful smile before turning and going off to join the older knights that he was more familiar with.
It was ti to give his daughter so space. She ought to bond with the younger knights, since the intention was that they would work closely
Irene’s eyes were wide at the turn of events. She raised her mug as well, but only lifted it a few inches off the table. She turned to Felix.
"To the second in command," she said.
"And the third," he responded.
They gently clinked their tal mugs against each other before taking their own generous chugs.
However, Irene’s lasted a lot shorter than anyone else’s. She wasn’t quite a seasoned drinker. Even though children during those tis were always given watered-down ale or anything of the like, to drink for enjoynt rather than hydration was beyond her realm of understanding.
"Commander Lothian’s gifts keep on giving," Felix muttered from where he sat.
"What do you an?" she asked.
"After the war finished, we spent the sumr cleaning up this place as best as we possibly could, entirely funded by Commander Lothian since we are still trying to recover everything that was in the Duke’s treasury," he explained. "The Commander filled our food storage as well as making sure the duchy had enough for the winter. This ale and the wine are all part of his gifts to us."
Irene’s eyebrows lowered.
"I don’t an to doubt anyone, but the Commander doesn’t seem like soone who is wealthy based on appearance and deanor," she admitted softly.
"More than ets the eye with that man," Felix explained. "He’s one of the richest lords in all of Peroda. His knighthood had an aggressive approach to monster subjugation, which has given them the spoils of war. He’s even been to Polona a few tis, which practically guarantees a reward rely due to the monsters you’ll encounter there."
Irene rely sat there in disbelief for a few monts.
"And he tried to tell not to bow at him because he was lowborn," she recalled.
Felix was taking another long drink from his ale, but nearly choked when Irene admitted sothing so ridiculous. He caught himself before he could cough, and with a hand over his mouth, he managed to ask, "He, what?!"
Before she could answer, she decided to drink a bit herself. It wasn’t a flavor she was accustod to because it was heavier than the watered-down versions she tried. Even rely drinking half of a mug made her stomach feel unbelievably full. It was an acquired taste; sothing to get used to.
"One of the first tis I saw Commander Lothian during the war, that’s what he told when I greeted him with a bow," she recalled. "He doesn’t like being treated differently than the others."
"Only the south seems so hung up on the circumstances of birth," Felix responded with a sigh.
"What if a southerner is chosen as the Duke and brings their prejudices of mages and peasants here?" she asked, horrified.
"Stanley assured us that he is rely guiding the mages back to Nickron before returning to us permanently so that they can finally complete the ss that is still plaguing the barracks," Felix reminded her. "Then he will be a permanent part of our knighthood. If the next Commander isn’t alright with mages or peasants, we’re not going to give him a comfortable ti here."
Irene’s eyebrows lowered, and she gave a serious nod.
"For now, I suppose you’re the only one who can tell what to do," Irene reminded Felix with a smile. "Until we get a new Duke, it’s up to us."
"Yes, up to us," he agreed.
The seriousness of the day was starting to fade away, and Irene was happier the longer she sat and drank.
She was even more excited when she heard the maids at the opening to the kitchen saying that the food was ready.
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