Chương 116: 115. The Feast

~ Kigeir ~ ~ Outside the gates of the Baron's Manor ~ Kigeir watched as the young baron climbed on a bench and began to speak to everyone. His pale skin and highly unusual silver hair had made him easily noticeable when a group of people had come outside of the manor, and it had caused a hush to fall over the villagers. As he listened to Lord Kivamus continue to speak, he thought about the day's event with wonder.

Today had started out like any other day, with him clearing his shop of the dust it gathered regularly, even though he rarely got any customers these days. However, while he was unable to work as a manual laborer with his ever-present knee ache getting even worse in the cold weather, his older son, who had seen seventeen winters by now, had gone off to join the laborers to work in the north of the village.

His younger son and daughter, who were the same ages as the orphans he had taken in, stayed at the upper floor of his house while playing one game or another, as always. But then someone had gone running through the streets, yelling that the baron's guards had an announcement to make at the market square. Being curious about it, he had told his wife to watch the shop, which was located on the lower floor of his own house, and he had gone to listen to the announcement.

And it had turned out to be far from anything he could have expected! The baron was going to provide a feast tonight! And it would be open to every single villager! That was something which had never happened in this village in the past... The guards had also assured them that the baron would put his guards to patrol the village so that nobody got any thoughts of trying to steal from the unoccupied houses of the villagers - so that they could enjoy the feast without any worries.

However, the news that there would be a feast for everyone had been so unexpected that the villagers standing there had started to ask the guards again and again if it was really true. And as it turned out later, it was... Returning back home, he had given the good news to everyone there, with his wife and the children overjoyed to hear that they would get to eat so many things tonight.

His older son wasn't there at the time, but surely, he would also get the news along with other laborers since this was the kind of news which didn't take long to reach everyone's ears. In the evening, he had taken everyone in his family along with him to the empty area outside the gates of the manor, and they had been waiting there with other villagers for a while.

The weather was nearly freezing, but a lot of braziers had been lit up all around the empty area to keep it warm, while someone had recently swept the area clean of any dust as well. He knew that the snowfall would start any day now, but at least it seemed like they would be able to enjoy the feast without any snow.

Before long, he had seen the preparations for the feast start in earnest, as some of the servants of the manor began to carry empty wooden tables there, while others began pushing carts full of steaming buckets to outside the gates in an area they had previously separated with a rope. The baron's guards were already there trying to make the villagers stand in lines, assuring them that there was enough for everyone, so they should stay in their lines and wait for their turns.

But despite their assurances, nobody wanted to be the last one in line and be told that there was no more food remaining for them. That had even led to many scuffles between villagers who said that they were the ones who had reached the line first. One of those arguments even resulted in a brawl which had to be broken up by the guards.

But then the guard captain, who was a huge man - someone who made others obey him just by being present there - simply told them in a calm voice that no one would get any food at all if there was even one more fight like that. That had calmed down the villagers, and after that they began to agree immediately to whatever the guards were ordering them to do. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Soon, after he and his family had taken a place in one of the lines as well, he saw that the servants had unloaded many buckets of food within that area bound by a rope, and sent the carts back in the manor, probably to bring more food. That was when the new baron had arrived there, and began giving his speech. Since this was the first time when the baron was speaking to all the villagers, they all had been listening attentively to him.

Coming back to the present, he heard the baron telling them about all the measures that had been taken for the well-being of the villagers. He told them that the feast had been organized in celebration of procuring enough grain for the villagers to feed them for the whole winter - and from the next week, vegetables would also be included in the weekly grain rations of everyone! That had led to a chorus of happy cheers erupting from the villagers.

The baron had given the crowd a moment to enjoy the announcement, before he raised both of his hands to make the crowd quiet again. Lord Kivamus also told them about the approaching completion of the first longhouse block. That had given Kigeir a bittersweet taste in his mouth, since it would mean that Maisy and Timmy would move there as well. With the way he saw Elsie chattering continuously with Maisy, he knew that his daughter would miss them a lot.

Even now, as they were standing in a separate line for the children, they seemed inseparable, even though Elsie seemed to be the one doing most of the talking. The baron also mentioned his unexpected policy that there would be no slavery allowed under his rule from now on. The villagers had certainly heard rumors about that - including the gossip that the girl whom the village blacksmith now lived with, also used to be a slave under the previous baron, and that she had been given her freedom by Lord Kivamus.

But rumors had a way of getting out of hand, so he didn't know if there was any truth in that gossip. However, to hear the baron proclaim that himself had made it set in stone. He wasn't sure if such a news would be welcomed by other nobles - especially since the southern nobles of Reslinor were well known to keep a lot of slaves - but he would let his betters worry about that. He had more than enough worries anyway. Before long, the baron's speech came to a close, and he announced the feast to be open!

The villagers immediately started yelling praises for the new baron, while chanting 'All hail Lord Kivamus, long may he reign' again and again. Although other than being taught about how to count numbers properly from his father, Kigeir didn't have any other education, but even he knew that only kings and queens reigned, not barons, but who was he to fault the villagers in their rare times of happiness and enjoyment.

Once more, the baron stood up on the bench and raised his hands, putting an end to the chants, and told the villagers to enjoy the feast. Immediately after that, the servants and maids of the manor began ladling out whatever they were serving, and the various lines of villagers began to move forward.

Rising up on his toes to look at the front where the food was being served, he saw that the wooden tables had been kept parallel to the manor walls, with a few buckets and a lot of wooden bowls or plates kept on the tables. For each group of three tables which were put together, the guards had organized the villagers to stand in a line in front of the leftmost table, and from there every person moved right to be served from the next serving stall on the right.

There were a few other such lines in parallel to his own line, but they all would be served the same food, wouldn't they? He shook his head. There he went worrying again. The line of villagers was still moving slowly, and he was getting really curious about what they would get to eat because of the variety of delicious smells that were wafting in his direction.

As he waited impatiently for his turn, he saw the village priest, father Edric - with his ever growing white beard - talking to the majordomo Mr Duvas, before the young baron and others returned back inside the gates of the manor. In another line, he even saw Dalaar and his cronies standing patiently for their turn. He couldn't help but snort at the sight of the young troublemakers diligently following the guards' instructions to stand properly in the line.

Free food was free food, after all, no matter what anyone thought about their rulers - especially if it seemed like it would be a feast fit for nobles. As the line kept moving further, it was his turn soon.