Chapter 40: Chapter 41: The Dinner

Elara’s POV

Later that evening the great hall was full of candlelight. Hundreds of flames burned in iron holders on the walls, in glass chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, in small groups on every table. The light was warm and golden, almost like magic. It was exactly what the palace workers had been trying to create all day.

I stood at the door, waiting for the call that would tell me to enter. Next to me, Lena fixed the edges of my dress, fixing tiny things no one would ever see.

“You look perfect, Your Majesty,” she said softly.

“I feel like I might throw up,” I whispered back.

“You have done this before. Big dinners. Important guests. You know what to do.”

“Not like this.” I took a breath. “This is different.”

Before she could say more, the man who calls out names spoke loudly.

“Her Majesty, Queen Elara of Dravara!”

The doors opened wide. I lifted my chin and put on the calm face I had learned to wear since I was a child. Then I walked in.

The hall was full. Every noble who mattered was there, every council member, every important family. They stood in lines along the sides of the room, all of them turning to watch me walk past. Their eyes followed me like water follows a moving boat, watching as I went to the main table.

At the center of that table, already standing to show respect, was King Thorin.

He had changed his clothes since the morning. Now he wore dark green velvet with silver edges, a heavy gold chain around his neck that I had not seen before. His dark hair was freshly combed, his beard trimmed. He looked like a king should look.

He looked like a man who was going to judge everything I did.

I reached my chair and turned to face the room. “Please, sit down. Let us enjoy this evening together.”

Everyone sat. The servants began to move right away, carrying plates of food, filling cups, doing the careful dance they had practiced for hours. I had watched some of the preparations earlier, the head cook almost crying over a sauce that did not turn out right, the head servant counting and counting again where everyone would sit, many small problems that had been fixed before I even knew they were happening.

Now it all looked easy. That was the point. A palace works hard so the nobles can forget that work is being done.

Thorin leaned toward me a little as the first food was served. “Your palace is beautiful, Your Majesty. The hall, the decorations, the service, everything shows careful attention and good welcome.”

“Thank you,” I said. “We wanted you to feel at home.”

“I do.” He lifted his cup in a small toast. “To new friendships.”

I lifted my own cup, water, not wine, even though people usually drank wine at dinners like this. “To understanding between kingdoms.”

We drank. Around us, the room filled with the sounds of people talking and forks touching plates, the low noise of many separate talks happening at once. This was the real work of a formal dinner: not the eating, but the talking. The connections made and made stronger. The friendships formed over shared drink.

Across the hall, I saw Kaelen standing near the wall with the other guards. His eyes looked forward, watching the room with the steady attention of someone trained to see danger before it came. He did not look at me. And that made my heart ache for no reason.

But I knew he knew where I sat. Who sat next to me. Every move Thorin made.

The thought made me feel better in a strange way.

“I heard your father was a great king,” Thorin said, bringing my attention back to him. “I heard stories about him when I was young. His wars. His way with people. He was respected all over this area.”

“He was,” I agreed. “I learned a lot from watching him.”

“And your mother? I know less about her.”

I waited for just a moment before answering. “My mother was the heart of this kingdom. She cared for the people in ways that do not always get written down in books. The soldiers’ wives whose husbands died. The children with no parents. The villages that had trouble after bad harvests. She made sure they were not forgotten.”

“That is a different kind of strength,” Thorin said. “Not the kind that wins fights, but the kind that makes people loyal. Both are needed for a kingdom to do well.”

It was the right thing to say. Exactly the right thing. I found myself watching him more closely, trying to see if he meant it or if he had just learned the right words to say.

“You talk about loyalty,” I said carefully. “In Valerium, how do you make it happen?”

“By showing the way.” He put down his cup. “My father believed that a king must be first in everything, first to fight, first to work, first to give things up. If the people see their ruler carrying the same hard things they carry, they will follow him anywhere. I try to do the same.”

“A king who fights next to his soldiers?”

“When I can. I have led fights myself. Taken wounds that still hurt when the weather changes.” He smiled a little. “My advisors hate it. They would rather I stay safe behind walls. But soldiers will follow a leader who bleeds with them, not one who watches from far away.”

I thought about Kaelen. About the marks on his back from the whipping he had taken in my place. About the way he stood guard every day, watching for dangers that might never come but getting ready for them anyway.

That was the kind of loyalty Thorin was talking about. The kind earned by sharing risk and showing you would do the same for them.

It made me wonder what Thorin would think if he knew the full story. If he understood that my guard had bled for me. If he knew that the man standing against the wall was someone I trusted with my life, and with more than my life.

“This food is very good,” Thorin said, changing the subject smoothly. “The people who cooks for you are very skilled.”

“They have worked hard to get ready for your visit.” I took a small bite of the fish on my plate, even though my stomach did not want it. “I hope the rest of your time here will be just as nice.”

“I am sure it will be.” He looked right at me. “I am really looking forward to talking tomorrow. There is much we need to learn about each other.”

“Yes.” I kept my voice calm. “Tomorrow morning, then. My council will be ready.”

“And your captain?” Thorin’s eyes moved quickly toward where Kaelen stood. “Will he be there when we talk?”

“He will.” I did not let my face change. “Captain Kaelen is in charge of my safety. He will be wherever I am.”

“Of course.” Thorin looked back at his plate. “I only ask because I noticed your council seems… lively when they talk. It must be helpful to have someone whose loyalty is so clearly to you alone.”

The comment hit me harder than I expected. He had seen what was happening already. He had seen how my council argued and disagreed, how they pushed against my choices, how I had to find my way between different groups. And he had seen that Kaelen was different, someone whose loyalty was to me as a person, not to any group or interest.

“Yes,” I said quietly. “It is helpful.”

The dinner went on through its many courses. Soup. Fish. Meat. More meat. Fancy sweets that had taken hours to make. Talk flowed around us, sometimes serious, sometimes light. Thorin was good at moving between topics, going from politics to personal stories to thoughts about the food with easy skill.

I watched him closely. Looking for the cracks. The moments when the act dropped and something real showed through.

They did not come. Either he really was what he seemed to be, a good, thoughtful king, or he was very, very good at hiding whatever was underneath.

Near the end of the evening, as servants cleared the last plates and the nobles began to move, ready to leave, Thorin turned to me one last time.

“Your Majesty, I want to thank you for this evening. It has been… showing me things.”

“What things?” I asked.

“Many things.” He stopped, choosing his words with care. “I came here with thoughts based on reports and what people said. Some of them were right. Some were not. I am glad to have the chance to form my own thoughts.”

“And what thoughts have you formed?”

He smiled. “I will not say yet. Maybe I will share them tomorrow, after we have had more time to talk.”

It was a careful answer. A safe answer. But something in his eyes said he had indeed formed thoughts, and that those thoughts were still being thought about and weighed.

The evening ended with formal thanks and bows, the slow leaving of nobles, servants starting the long work of cleaning up. I stood at the door with Thorin, saying goodbye to people leaving, doing the last small duties of welcome until the last person had gone.

Then we were alone, or as alone as a queen and a visiting king could be, with guards and helpers standing at polite distances.

“Until tomorrow, Your Majesty.” Thorin bent over my hand. “I look forward to our talks.”

“Until tomorrow,” I said back.

He left with his advisors, their steps echoing in the now-empty hall. I watched them go, my face still calm, my hands still held properly in front of me.

Behind me, Kaelen moved to his place. I did not turn, but I felt him there.

“You did well,” he said quietly. Too quiet for anyone else to hear.

“Did I?” I kept my eyes forward. “I am not sure.”

“He is watching you closely. Thinking about everything.” Kaelen’s voice was low, thoughtful. “But you are watching him too. That matters.”

I nodded slowly. Then, because we were alone and the hall was empty and I was tired all the way to my bones, I let myself lean back just a little. Not touching him. Just feeling that he was behind me.

“Tomorrow,” I said. “The real work starts.”

“Yes.” A pause. “I will be there.”

I closed my eyes for just a moment. Then I stood up straight, lifted my chin, and walked toward my rooms.

Tomorrow, I would face Thorin across a table. Tomorrow, I would have to show that I was worthy of my crown.

Tonight, I would rest, or try to and hope that my body would work well enough to get through what was coming.

Behind me, Kaelen followed at the right distance, quiet and steady.

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