Page 65 of The Concubine King
“It has been a long while since a gathering like this,” Yorith began.“It is a pleasure to see you all together again.”Surprisingly, the man’s tone of voice did relay something akin to pleasure.The only other time Ethyr had heard anything like it was when Yorith was presenting Mahyria from the bow of the boat.It was a little unnerving for his words to hold anything other than irritation or dissatisfaction.
“I hope tonight will offer us all a chance to become familiar with one another,” Yorith continued.Ethyr felt his glance down at him.“Despite some… unexpected obstacles this year, we have much to be thankful for.Klara, will you pass around the offerings?”
She dipped her head and picked a large bowl off one of the tables, bringing it to the crowd.One by the one, the priests lifted a small bun of bread from it, its crust covered in seeds and nuts.Klara brought the bowl to Yorith and Ethyr last, and they each took their own.
It was a darker bread than Ethyr had seen in a long while, and still a little warm.The nutty scent lingering up from it was tantalizing, and it took considerable willpower not to take a bite.
“We give thanks to Ithna, for providing for us.”
Ethyr looked up and startled to see everyone holding their bread aloft with both hands.He raised his.
“For providing for us,” the priests repeated in a chorus.
“We give thanks to Catocus, for protecting us.”
“For protecting us.”
“We give thanks to Gnaeus, for our hearths and health.”
“For our hearths and health.”
As Yorith continued, thanking each god, the repetition continued, and Ethyr wondered if he ought to repeat as well.He could have easily done so, if Yorith had warned him.But he’d specifically said to stay quiet, so Ethyr kept his mouth shut.At last the prayer ended and hands were lowered.Ethyr had a brief hope that they’d get to eat the bread, but instead the priests brought it, one by one, to a small center table to rest in an elaborate glass bowl.Yorith, and with a small gesture from him, Ethyr, were the last.Klara came forward with a pitcher and poured eight cups of wine around it.
“Let us enjoy,” Yorith said when it was done, and the crowd dispersed throughout the room.Ethyr didn’t move.Yorith went to speak to one of the older priests.Casting a look around the room, Klara was the only other person Ethyr could claim to know.Dessin was nowhere to be seen, though Ethyr wasn’t sure how eager he was to speak to his tutor, anyway.
He didn’t want to move; he had some absurd idea that if he didn’t move, no one would see him and he could spend the night in relative peace.Unfortunately, he was also very hungry, and it wasn’t long before his stomach began to growl.
Klara was at one of the tables picking some fruit from a bowl, so Ethyr reluctantly joined her.
“Why isn’t Dessin here?”he asked.She turned to him in surprise.
“Your Divinity,” she greeted.“Dessin is one of the youth instructors.He is watching over the children with the others.”
“Youth instructor?”Ethyr didn’t know why he was surprised; it should have been obvious that that was where his expertise lay, since Dessin always treated him like a child.Then again, so did everyone else.
He surveyed the plates of food on the table.“Is there more of that bread?”
“What bread?”
Ethyr pointed to the brown bread that had been left on the offering table.
Klara’s mouth tilted as though she was holding back a laugh.She cleared her throat.“No, Your Divinity, that bread is a symbol of gratitude to the gods.It is not meant to be eaten, not even by them.There are much better options on the tables here.”
Ethyr eyed the variety of white or cream breads.Even the ones made to be eaten with meals had a bit of sweetness to them that he was starting to despise.He longed for the dark, slightly sour bread of his childhood.In the spring they’d spread it with soft goat cheese and radish slices and some herbs if they were sprouting, and it was delicious in a way he’d always taken for granted.He never saw anything like it here in the capital.Even the cheeses they ate were mild, with none of the sharp tang Ethyr was used to.It seemed everything here—food, furniture, fabric—was bland and soft and boring.
Klara had moved on before he could say anything else.He watched her place herself beside Yorith, smiling and offering him half an orange.He took it with a gracious nod and almost smiled back.Whatever he said to her drew her into the conversation and the other priest listened seriously to what she said in return.
Ethyr sighed, absently chose a handful of berries and a dumpling full of pork, and planted himself by the window.The slight coolness of evening it offered was a nice reprieve from the stuffy, congested room.
He ate slowly and ignored the occasional glances his way, pretending it wasn’t an obvious indication that he was being talked about.He tried to find distraction in his nibbling.Yorith seemed to be in his element, shifting from one group of priests to another, all of whom were delighted to have him join them.He couldn’t help overhear one priest jovially comment, “I think you’ve done a fine job with him, Yor,” and Yorith’s good-natured, “If you’re going to lie, you should at least make it believable,” in return.Ethyr set his mouth in a line and abandoned his refreshing spot to get farther away.
The older priests all stuck together at one end of the room, watching the younger flood the rest of it and take most of the food.Some of the older priests were playing music for the feast, but there was no dancing.The others appeared to be having a good time regardless, with conversations often bursting into laughter.
Ethyr approached a group that seemed the most sensible.He could hear them talking about music, which he knew very little about, but it was better than lewd jokes or quiet gossiping about him.
They all stopped talking and looked at him when he stepped up.He paused, raising his shoulders instinctively before forcing them back down.
“Good evening,” he greeted awkwardly.Growing up where he had always known everyone, he wasn’t sure how to meet new people.Yorith hadn’t bothered introducing him.“Does every priest know how to play an instrument?”He decided starting with an innocuous question was a good plan.The group looked around at each other before one answered.
