Our taverns were emptied for the night, and several large tables were pushed together to accommodate the forty-plus people from what were essentially just two families.
We were seated close to the main Monroe family. Aside from Ceron and his two sons, one of them was a single father to three children who looked somewhat like him. Their mother had passed away from a bad fever years ago. His older brother was the father of the knife-throwing daughters and Veila, a few cousins totaled a dozen others like Catalina and her daughter, who had ended up with them over time.
"I believe the last time we had such a feast, we were performing for Lord Mai, himself."
Ceron Monroe seemed a smarter man than he initially let on. He wanted to ensure the flattery never stopped and kept boosting the individuals in his troupe, mostly his nieces.
"They might not look like it, Lord, but my other nieces can throw an apple off your head thirty feet away with their special knives," he boasted.
Zephyr was charming and polite all night, showing interest in everything he was told.
"Hmm. May I see one of the knives?"
He was quickly handed one to examine. Then he turned to me with a shit-eating grin.
"Look at this, my love. These knives can act more or less like... an arrow! Won't you want to switch up, maybe?"
The idiot wanted his insults turned into a reality. I took the knife anyway. It was light and perfectly balanced. Perfectly shaped, I could just imagine them slicing through the air, splitting targets in half. Damn it. I wanted to throw one.
"Nope. No, no, no," I saw the realization on his face as I was handing it back, knowing that one too many 'no's' meant 'yes.' "Maybe just the design of them. They are interesting looking."
His surprise was entirely fake, but I had to smile at how well he knew me.
"I suppose they do look interesting. Ladies, would you mind showing off your skills? My wife needs one more little push..."
Damn him and his antics. Aim and Mia Monroe were ready even before he finished smiling at them.
""" Of course!! """
"Brothers, let's help the ladies," he asked the others.
They cleared some space at the end of the tavern, and Lucian and Manata returned with targets—perfect, inch-thick slices of tree trunk. You could count every ring. Only our rapiers could do such a work of art.
The girls lined up and looked back at Zephyr, who was holding Anna. The rest of us moved closer to watch.
"Let's make it competitive. Take a target, five knives each, and whoever hits the middle ring the most... gets," he looked at Anna, who lifted one finger, "...one gold coin."
Well, that sent the room into a frenzy. Why, my love?
This was suspicious. Why was he spending so much lately? It couldn't be Carlos's gold; he never accepted his gifts. In fact, lately, he'd chastised Carlos so badly for it that he probably wouldn't gift anything to anyone, ever again.
Tonight is going to be a long one, talking.
The Monroe sisters and their parents were momentarily stunned, losing all confidence, but they soon realized that no matter who won, their family received a gold coin. It was funny that their moody little sister had one hidden in her boot for days.
They turned around and took aim.
"Mai, you go first. Elders and whatnot."
Mai, who was the elder, smirked but didn't shy away.
(SWISH... THWACK)
Her first one hit the second circle closest to the middle. Not bad. The way her body contorted was imprinted on my brain.
Her sister, Aim, hit her target dead in the middle.
The families cheered, and the sequence was repeated by Mai and then Aim again. They kept hitting them out of their stuck positions; it was very entertaining.
It came down to Aim's last knife. If she hit it for the fifth time in a row, she won. No hesitation, just like the other four.
(SWISH... THWACK)
...Third ring out from the middle. She lost.
But she looked happy. It was another suspicious thing: letting her older sister win.
The cheering went for both, not just the winner, as they bowed.
I decided to try this art myself and somehow accept the fact that my husband knew me better than I knew myself sometimes. Best husband acquired. Thank you, Ehlite.
Zephyr stepped closer, clapping happily. "It was incredible, a noble battle. Ladies, you both deserved to win after entertaining my family. Take this. Let's hear it for the winners!"
He interrupted them, letting the crowd's cheers drown out any chance of refusing the gold coin they each received. Their family received twenty silver for ten minutes of entertainment.
I still counted it into silvers, like how I had 970 silvers, or ninety-seven gold coins, in a large pouch on top of thousands of bronze coins in a chest near our bed.
He walked toward me, all righteous and superior. "Should we tell Olaf to customize them? Make some for you?"
I bribed him with a few kisses first, hoping to lessen his mockery. "Yes, please. And have Nifa paint them later."
"Yes, dear. Want me to tell you... pfftt... your next weapon obsession as well?"
"No need. I'm sticking with these... for now."
He took me by the waist and rested his head on mine.
"Tomorrow you will be busy, and we still have the meeting as soon as dinner ends," I did my best to sound intimidating. "Tonight, you will tell me everything in detail, and I'll have questions on my own, Mr. —"
"—and I'll have questions on my own, Mr… adorable when you are trying to sound intimidating."
I would've kicked him—it was always easy to land one this close—but the dinner party was wrapping up, and we still had a meeting to tell those who needed to know about the direction our village was heading.
We had new arrivals in a week or two, and plans already in the works.
Busy night indeed.