Chapter 18: The Dinner
As they walked through the hallways, Octavia peered at all her surroundings. As they walked, only a few other people were in the hall. Guards were stationed at doors and the odd servant walked by, bowing to the lord as he passed. Along with this, various items and oddities graced the halls, such as statues, paintings, vases and flowers. When they passed interesting ones, Octavia couldn't help but look at them for a while.
The lord was informed that his guest had stopped moving to look around his collection. Some would be annoyed that they were being kept waiting, but he could only chuckle, as it reminded him of Sylvia's first time through these halls. She too stopped to look at many of the objects, asking questions about what they were and where they were from.
Lord Desmon turned and headed to Octavia's location, startling Sylvia as he did. She quickly realised why he had turned and could only roll her eyes at how easily distracted Octavia was by the items they passed. It was apparent that Sylvia had forgotten the time she did the same thing, but Lord Desmon having seen her look, kindly reminded her of how she used to be, bringing a bright red blush of embarrassment to her cheeks.
Octavia asked questions and Lord Desmon answered, with Sylvia jumping in as well. A rich history was in these halls, with tales of wars from long ago, gifts from other cultures and some were even gifts received during the courting of some of his ancestors. Gifts included a stunning gold necklace with a large ruby, inlaid with sapphires as well as a very ornate bow, with engravings present along the shaft, which were a few of the many gifts from courting that she saw.
She did ask about the bow and was told that the lady of the castle at the time was a serious hunter, which was uncommon for a lady at the time. While many of her suitors provided her with jewellery and finery, one man made her a bow, having been a fletcher, which allowed him to make it himself. While ornate and more of a status symbol, it worked beautifully. But given its looks and what it represented, she never used it, leaving it as a symbol of their love.
Octavia started to tear up from the story but covered it up after seeing the tale have no effect on Sylvia. She didn't want her to have more ammunition to mess with her.
What Octavia didn't know, is that the reason it had no effect, was because she had heard it many times before, of which she too cried, but was now used to it. So now she only cried on the inside from hearing it.
…
Having spent too long in the hall, they finally continued their way, making it to the dining hall.
Guards opened the grand doors, leading to a large oak table surrounded by a dozen chairs, all beautifully carved like the table.
Seated at three of the chairs, was the Lord's family. To the right of the chair at the head of the table sat a beautiful woman, Lord Desmon's wife. Dressed in finery, long brunette hair flowed down from her head, while amber eyes peered at them as they entered. Opposite her, was a young boy, likely twelve or thirteen years of age. He had short, trimmed brown hair, and green eyes and shifted in his seat as he played with his outfit. Next to the lady, sat a young girl, possibly less than ten years of age. She had the same lovely brunette hair that her mother did, but had green eyes, similar to her brother. Aside from that, she was a spitting image of her mother, the main difference being that the young girl played with her food, while her mother gracefully left it alone.
All eyes turned to the door as they entered, where a round of greetings came from those at the table.
"Dear."
"Daddy."
"Sylvia!"
While lord Desmon smiled as his wife and daughter greeted him, it comically dissipated as his son only greeted Sylvia.
"I- I saved you a seat." The young boy called out as he left his chair to pull out the one next to him. While this was the first time she had ever seen the boy, Octavia could easily tell that he had a bit of a crush on Sylvia.
"Why thank you, Elliot, as chivalrous as always," Sylvia replied as she made her way over to the seat, causing Elliot to blush at her response. She then turned to Octavia and call out. "Octavia, come join me."
While she followed her friend over, Lord Desmon greeted his wife and daughter, with a hug for both. He also greeted his son, who returned a half-hearted reply, as he remained focused on Sylvia. While Lord Desmon made an act of being hurt, the gleam in his eye told you he was not truly affected. He knew why his son greeted Sylvia over himself, it was obvious to everyone.
Obvious to all except Sylvia it would seem, as she just took his gesture as kindness.
After a little struggle, Octavia was able to take the seat next to Sylvia and Lord Desmond did the same at the head of the table. Silence reigned as they were all waiting for the food, and for some form of introduction, which led to Lord Desmond speaking up.
"Octavia, allow me to introduce to you, my family. This is my wife Bethany, my son Elliot and my daughter Grace. Everyone, allow me to introduce to you Octavia."
Octavia managed to eek out, "It's nice to meet you", while the rest of the table replied with similar statements.
Soon after the greetings, the food was placed on the table, and glasses were filled with wine for the adults and some form of juice for the children.
It didn't take long for everyone to tuck in, and after a few mouthfuls, it was deemed appropriate for dining table chatter to begin.
"So, Octavia. I hear we have you to thank for saving Sylvia from bandits. Is this true?" The lady of the house asked as she took a sip of wine.
"Yes, my lady. That is true." Short and sweet was the best way to deal with this Octavia believed, waffling would just cause problems.
"That is incredible. I heard that it was several dangerous bandits that had captured Sylvia, yet you were able to dispatch all of them by yourself. That is quite the accomplishment."
"I-err, well luck and the element of surprise were on my side. It was only two men that I had to face in actual combat in the end." Octavia replied with a slight blush at the compliment.
"What are you?" Was the question raised on her right where Elliott had found the time to stop stuffing his face and ask what was on the rest of the family's mind?
After some admonishment from his mother for being so blunt, Octavia recanted her tale of who she was and how she ended up here. Like the father, the rest of the family had no knowledge of who or what a Lamia was. But unlike him, none had even heard of the name before.
Discussions back and forth continued throughout the meal, which Octavia thoroughly enjoyed. The food was exquisite, and the drink was refreshing, something she had not had the pleasure of enjoying since she arrived in this world.
…
As everyone polished off their desserts, the end of the meal had arrived. This was followed by castle staff removing the plate from the table, along with several yawns from Grace.
Having seen this, Lady Bethany excused herself, where she expressed her joy at having met Octavia and then picked up Grace to then take to her room for some much-needed sleep. One of the servants was about to jump in to carry the girl in place of allowing the lady of the house to do so, but she waved her away.
Not long after, Lord Desmon and Elliott stated that they were going to retire to their rooms, leaving Sylvia with Octavia for the evening. Elliott wanted to join Sylvia, but Lord Desmon shut this down, stating that a lady needs her privacy in the evening. He grumbled to himself as he followed his father.
With nothing left to do, Octavia turned to Sylvia, wondering what they would no next.
"We have both had a long day. Come on, I'll show you to your room."
After a quick thank you, Octavia followed Sylvia back into the hallway. Passing more artwork and artefacts, of which Octavia had to restrain herself from inspecting, they meandered through several twists and turns to reach their destination.
Guard that had not seen her before, positioned in various locations, stiffened up once they caught a glimpse of their new guest. The was also an incident where one of the guards, apparently a new recruit, drew his weapon in order to save Sylvia from the intruder. This though was dealt with quickly and no harm came to either party.
"Here we are." Sylvia declared as she pushed the door to Octavia's new room open.
As she slithered inside, she lost all words. The room was massive. While it didn't have any modern conveniences like Earth did, what it lacked in these areas it made up for it in expensive design and beauty.
Towards the back, a lovely ornate glass window looked out into the town, along with the farmland and forest areas, giving a beautiful view. A carved wooden dressing table, along with a room separator sat next to this. Not far from this was a beautiful wooden wardrobe, decorated in various carvings and colourful cloth. In the corner, a large tub, copper in material, was seen. It was large enough that she would be able to easily fit her body and tail in there, albeit coiled. Across from this, was a massive four-poster bed, possibly even larger than a king-size bed. It had lovely blue drapes all around it, and you could tell no expense was spared when creating it.
"This is amazing. Are you sure I can stay here? It feels like a room for nobility."
"Do you really think I would take you to this room if you couldn't stay here?"
The bluntness of Sylvia's response just rolled off of Octavia, as she knew she was a nice person at heart.
Sylvia sighed after she realised what she said, "I mean you are more than welcome to stay here, for as long as you like. Also, you are correct. This is a room for visiting Nobility. But there are several other rooms, and no other nobles here at this time, so it's fine."
"Thank you, for everything."
"I should be the one thanking you. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you."
Neither realised it, but they were both facing each other while standing awfully close.
The silence continued where neither said anything. They just looked at each other, practically staring into each other's eyes.
Realising something had to be done, Octavia broke the silence. "S-So, is there anything else I need to know about the room?"
"No, I don't think so…Oh wait, yes. The door." Sylvia moved over to the wall on the left. She looked around for a while and then pushed her fingers into the wall, moving a piece of it, where she then gripped and pulled. "It's a hidden door that leads to my room."
Octavia had to do a double-take. In her gaze around the room, she could not see any sign that there was a door there. They managed to get the hidden part down well.
"Is that normal? For two Noble rooms to be connected." Octavia replied confused by this.
"Yes and no. Not all noble rooms are like this, some are just single rooms, but this is sort of a well-known secret that some rooms are built with. It can be locked, so if the nobles want it to remain closed it can be. But these rooms were designed for nobles having illicit affairs. Whether they already had a partner back at their home, or it would just be a scandal based on their positions, these rooms allowed them to be together. Some people find them repugnant, but they allow the lord to curry with the nobles that use them."
It made sense. While morally questionable, it was a way for the lord to gain more favour as Sylvia had said. It may have even been used by the Lord or Lady themselves before.
"Ok, I will leave you to it. If you need anything from me, just knock on the hidden door and I'll come to you. For anything else, pull the string behind you and it will summon a maid to assist you."
Having missed it when she first came in, turning around she saw what Sylvia was referring to. Simple in design it was a string with a weight on the end. It extended upwards, over a pulley and travelled down through the floor. Where it went to, she did not know exactly, but she could hazard a guess that it was the servant's quarters.
Saying their goodbyes and goodnights, Sylvia left through the hidden door, leaving Octavia to fend for herself the rest of the night.
…
Now alone, she decided to explore the room. She checked out the drawers, which were empty, and the wardrobe which actually held some clothes. Servants must have been told to place some clothes inside when they were readying her room. Half of the articles didn't apply to her, but there were various shirts and tops that she could use.
Having finished snooping, the only thing left for the night was to clean herself up. She hadn't noticed, but she had smatterings of dried mud and blood on various locations along her tail.
This caused some embarrassment for Octavia as she realised, she had been in this state during her meeting and at dinner.
Putting that to the back of her mind, she got to work on dealing with the bath.
Nearing the tub, only one thought came to mind.
"Where's the tap?"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Braderzsz
Braderzsz Hi, I hope you like the next chapter. Octavia is spending some time away from the action and will soon be out to get some suppliers, exploring the town and going shopping.
Let me know what you thought of the chpater.
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