Chapter 149
Part 22
“Here, let me get that for you My Princess.” one of her bridesmaids insisted with a smile, and
Translocated into the open interior of the ring-shaped table to take over the serving.
As soon as the first dish was served onto a te Talia began feeding it to Mark, and she and Alilia were
to feed him and each other from all three of their tes indiscriminately.
This left their two ces beside Mark unupied, and over the course of the reception many of the
guests used them to join the head table for a few moments of congrattion and conversation.
One of the first to do so was Amirgath, who appeared perched in Talia’s chair to Mark’s left in a small
enough form to curl his tail around himself on the seat.
“Congrattions, and thank you for the invitation.” he stated as he poured himself a ss of whisky
and swirled it with a very human-seeming manner.
“You’re the leader of the nation that bears your name, and it’s a state wedding.” Mark shrugged. “My
point was made thest time we spoke, and I’m just as d to have you.”
“You’ll want to try the honey-northberry elixir, it’s exceptionally good.” Talia suggested with a giggle.
“Thank you, but that’s a bit sweet for my tastes.” Amirgath replied, and tipped his ss back. “Good
whisky though.” he noted as he set the ss down, then vanished.
“Hmm.” Alilia smiled as she finished a bite of roast buffalo. “That was very humble of him to appear in
such a small size. I’d say it was a gesture of reconciliation. You improve everyone you interact with, my
handsome love, and the first of the dragon gods is not immune.”
Mark could onlyugh, as Talia was about to ce the next bite in his mouth.
About once a minute during the meal one or two or a few of their friends from Hiliani or Heartwood
came by to offer a quick congrattion and a handshake or a hug or a kiss, and sometimes all three.
Kragorram, Povon, Karzog, and Somonik snacked on honey-roasted boars from Felion as they lounged
on the moss outside the circle of chairs around the head table. The spaces in the circle where their
chairs would have been ced were wide enough for them to politely reach between for the thirty-six
kilo tidbits that were automatically reced on their tters whenever they took one.
“Is this tter Reproducing these things, or are they being Translocated in?” Karzog wondered as he
helped himself to his eighth, and prepared to wash it down with another cask of Stone Inds rum.
“Translocated.” Somonik told him around a bite of pork. “Notice that they are quite uniform, but not
identical. This is the third prepared dish that I have ever eaten in my long life that I truly enjoyed more
than fresh raw prey. All three were first served to me within the past week, and all were from Felion.
And they are nefarious! They tell you that they are merely snacks, but the damn things keep appearing
and they are delicious, and before you know it you’re so full that you’re canceling your next hunt!”
“The entrepreneurs of the giants and gnomes have been working determinedly to try to find something
they can sell to dragons, and they have found it!” Cariaughed. “When I considered catering for
dragons at this event, I initially thought I’d have to contract some hunters to provide fresh prey. But
while reading thetest market listings, there was an entry selling those ‘Draconian Fine Dining’
tters, so I spoke to a woman in Felion who told me all about it.
“The entrepreneurs there have noted that most of the dragons of Xervia and the older ones on
Serminak have umted vast wealth over their long lives, but they seldom buy anything. Almost all
dragons still build their own dens, hunt their own food, supply their own long-distance travel, don’t use
furniture, prefer very durable and longsting goods, and tend to keep almost everything they’ve ever
owned.
“These Felioni spend great effort developing recipes that makemon Felion domestic animals
especially ptable to dragons, and they’re seeding. They have eleven fast-selling recipes so far,
but found that most dragons still frown on the idea of prepared meals in general, and refused to try it.
They would, however, consider a prepared snack, especially at mixed-race events. This is affecting the
social lives of dragons to their benefit, since they can eat with other races without having to eat fresh
prey, which most other races find disgusting. Those dragon snacks seem like they would be appetizing
to any race that eats meat, even though they’re not.”
“And here we are!” Povon chuckled. “These are absolutely divine! You must tell me where to get
these!”
“Here.” Caria said as she passed the contact information in a quick Speaking. “They sell the tters for
a very reasonable cost, they probably take a loss on them because each is equipped with a small
Translocation ne and spells that sense when the item on it has been taken and triggers the
Translocation of the next item from the great automated kitchens in Felion. When you’re finished you
simply turn the tter over. It self-cleans as soon as it’s lifted, and cancels further iing items until
you turn it upright again. Then they bill you for the items it’s received, and you can get more items
anytime; their kitchens are always running. That’s where they make their real money, and why they can
sell the tters so cheaply, though even the meat is very reasonable because it’s sold in suchrge
lots.
“They’re keeping the recipes secret, and I’ve heard they’re only ptable to dragons.
“To be honest, I used the size and prestige of this wonderful event to negotiate a sizable discount on
the regr price of the pork. From your reactions, I’m sure it will turn out to be wise for them to have
given it to me.”
“Hmm.” Somonik mused as he helped himself to another roast boar. “So often I’m so busy that it’s hard
to find time to hunt. I don’t eat as often or as well as I should, or so Grakonexikaldoron keeps telling
me. These things could save me a lot of time. And they’ve found a way to make the bones crunch up
when you chew them with such a delightfully crispy texture.”
“Why don’t you keep that tter, Somonik?” Talia suggested. “I’m sure you can arrange with the
vendors to have any of their recipes delivered to it.”
“Thank you, I most happily ept!” Somonikughed. “But if Grakonexikaldoron starts toin that
I’m getting fat, I’m sending her to you for the me!”
“We’ll be fat together, old mate.” Grakonexikaldoron chuckled to him from across the clearing where
she was dining with the others of The Ny-Nine. “These things are addictively good! I’m keeping my
tter too! I’m stealing it if I must!”
“That won’t be necessary, Gran.” Mark chuckled. “It’s yours. Pass the word that any other Draconians
here tonight that want to keep theirs can do so, our gift to you.”
“Thanks, I will!”
“Damn.” Somonik cursed with a contented grin as he leaned back and rubbed his bulging belly. “Now
we’re going to have to find something to sell to Felion, or this will adversely affect our bnce of trade.”
“No doubt of it!” Kragorramughed as he reached for another. “We don’t want to have young dragons
asking us in a millennium where all the Draconian wealth went, and have to tell them; ‘Well see, there
were these tasty little pig snacks…’”
That brought a heartyugh from everyone within earshot.
When Karz was finished eating he stretched luxuriously, then touched Fire on her shoulder. “Watch
this.” he quietly murmured to her, then assumed a Simcrum. He appeared as an equatorial elf of
about nine years of age, his skin, hair, and eyes werepletely ck, even the ‘whites’ of his eyes.
The spiky straight ck hair of tropical elves was brushed smoothly back and down, and he was
wearing the same Battle Wizard’s outfit that she and her family wore.
He Retrieved a chair and ced it beside her before his overturned tter, sat, lifted her hand and
kissed it gently. She just stared at him and grinned, then rubbed his hand against her cheek. They
leaned toward each other until their foreheads were almost touching and had a long, quiet, and private
conversation that was punctuated with the asionalugh or giggle.
Six and Val had been exhibiting this same behavior since the meal started, appearing intimate but not
romantic.
As they were lingering over desserts and tea, the rulers and ruling councilors began making their way
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over to offer their congrattions, sometimes singly but more often in groups of two to four, sometimes
apanied by their spouses or escorts.