I refilled my plate.
Kalle patted me on the back, and laughed. “We Kriek are accustomed to good eating, but this is better still. A true festen. Can you feel the food inside you? It warms the blood and spreads good energy throughout. Like the nuts that we roasted.”
I nodded. “I feel this warmth radiating out from my stomach, melting away all my worries.”
Kalle laughed. “Sounds like you’re drunk.”
I smiled. “I had apple wine at my cousin’s wedding once, and it felt a little like this.”
Woltan spoke then. “But your head feels clearer, I bet.”
I nodded. “I feel clear and connected to everything. Not at all tipsy.”
Woltan laughed. “Then now would be a good time to talk.”
The room was suddenly silent once again, and I put down my fork.
“Keep eating, but if you’re ready, I have a lot to tell you.”
“I have a lot of questions, too.”
Woltan smiled. “Of course you do. A few days ago you were just a boy. Now we are calling you a three-blooded prince. Rest assured, all your questions will be answered, in time.”
Kalle cleared his throat. “Time, though, is what we don’t have much of now, right?”
Woltan nodded. “The hordes of the dark lord approach. Those keiler that attacked you were only scouts. They have followed the road to us, and reported back its location to the dark lord. We have watched his ascendance for years, and knew this day would come. What we don’t know is, are we prepared?”
“What does your preparation depend on?” I asked.
Woltan looked me straight in the eye. The hall was silent again.
“We have many lines of defense, both magical and mechanical. We have the strong warriors you see at this table. We have the elders, who will fight with us, and our ancestors, who will come as spirits to serve as scouts and sentinels for us. But what we were not sure, and some of us are still not sure...” He stopped and looked down the table at a group of whispering warriors, who stopped talking and stared at us. “Some of us are still not sure whether you are the three blooded prince, the one who will lead the three peoples against the dark lord. I am convinced. But what about you? Do you know it in your heart, in your blood, Anders son of Tomas?”
I paused for a moment. I looked up and down the hall, and I saw every face looking at me. There must have been forty people staring. These were to take on the army of the dark lord? These short young warriors, few of them any taller than me? Something told me no one wanted the truth, whatever it was. They wanted a speech. I looked inside myself, and I listened to my blood, and then I stood, and I spoke.
“I know one thing now for sure: I am of three bloods, and they speak to me when I listen. But don’t ask me what it all means. All I can hope is it will become clear to me with your help, and that I will prove worthy of your hope.”
There was a moment of silence, and then Woltan stood.
“Your worthiness will have to be tested all too soon, I’m afraid. You’re young. As you can see, we’re all young here. But the enemy approaches, as we eat.”
A man stood up at the end of the table. He was young too, but not as young as the others. He was one of the warriors who had been whispering before and looking at us.
“I, Mortimer son of Lars, ask to speak.”
Woltan nodded.
“You say, Woltan, we are all young here. This is true. But the so-called prince that you bring before us is a mere boy. A sixteen year old boy is going to save us? His young arms will strike the blows that will topple the Dark Lord? Has he even reached the age of manhood? Has he ever even been kissed or swung a sword?”
He sat down.
I felt my face turn red, and I looked down at the food in front of me.
Kara stood up. “I’ve known this young man, that you call a boy, for only two days. But he passed three tests of manhood in that time — defeating his swordmaster in battle, making contact and transporting through a Kriek portal, and killing with a wooden sword a keiler of the dark lord. He rode the secret road of power to your fair city, and opened the gate to allow us in. If he began this journey as a boy, I call him a man, now, and am proud to be his companion.”
There was silence for a moment.
Kara smiled. “And I kissed him.”