Noble Banquet
1133 Words
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“Follow me,” the bloated man says.
“Nice!” Jasper laughs. “That's our boss!”
Behind them, Hyun and Sayuri walk together. “I bet they have a lot of food here,” he says to her. “Do you want to eat more?” She nods, so, “Jasper,” he calls.
“Yup?” Jasper answers.
“Our lady wants something to eat.”
At the door of the mansion, there are Martian servants, shaking with fear, hearing Jack's metallic footsteps against the marble floor.
“Alright, people!” Jasper shouts intruding into the mansion. “Surprise our lady with the most delicious food you can serve!”
They hesitate until the bloated man says, “Do what they say.”
“Of course, my lord,” one of the maids bow and tells her fellow maids. They get busy preparing for the unplanned banquet.
Jasper pulls the seat for the man at his place which is at the end of the long table. From the man's perspective, at the right, Jasper is sitting then Jack follows. At the left, Hyun then Sayuri. The maids serve them wine for the moment as they wait. Innocently, one of them serves Hyun wine in a glass.
“Sorry, I don't drink this,” he says.
“I'm sorry, my lord,” she apologizes. “You prefer water instead?”
“He drinks bl**d,” Jasper says.
She swallows and just to make sure, she asks by repeating, “Blo-”
“Do you happen to serve that?”
“Uh... we don't have-”
“It's alright,” says Hyun. “Pig's blood will do. And as for the lady, serve her fruit juice.”
“Right away, my lord,” she nods, stepping backward.
Then Jasper shakes his head in disappointment. “The service of your staff is poor,” he says to the man.
“We don't invite vampire guests,” he reasons and Hyun looks at him. “but today is an exception.”
“I never thought you could be so hospitable! I guess my first impression of you was wrong.” He smirks, before drinking the glass of wine in one gulp. Some of it gets spilled from the corner of his mouth. “Another glass please!” A maid answers his wish. After he takes a sip, he smirks at the man. “So, what was I going to ask you again? Oh, right... about Silva. How do you know her and what's your name? Hmm?”
“Everyone on Mars knows her. And I'm Ammar.”
“I'm sorry we cannot introduce ourselves for the reason we cannot be discovered. Please don't spill the beans to anyone that you took us as your guest, okay?” Ammar nods. “Good. Now, tell me, do you have an idea where Silva is?”
“I don't know. No one has ever seen her since Olympus Mons fell. A lot of people on Mars are starving so some of her soldiers offered their service to me for-”
“So, what you threatened us with was only a bluff?”
“Yes.”
“I wish it wasn't.”
Ammar is confused, looking at Jasper taking another sip from his glass. “What do you mean?”
“I'm looking for her. It would be easier if she's the one that's gonna come to us.” A maid puts steak on the table in front of him. “Oh, the food's here.”
The others also serve the same food to Ammar, Jack, Hyun, and Sayuri. Hyun just looks at it because he can't eat it so he gives it to Sayuri. She's eating ravenously although she has eaten a while ago.
After swallowing what he chewed, Jasper talks to Ammar again. “Let me guess, these maids are your wives.”
“Yes, they are.”
Grinning in jealousy, Jasper stops eating for a moment but continues after a second. “How many are they?”
“About a hundred.”
Jasper coughs out the food he's chewing and some of it almost reached Sayuri's food. She glares at him and he smiles nervously, clearing his throat. “Pardon me, my lady.” After a maid wipes the food he coughed out, he continues talking to Ammar. “You must have a lot of children then.”
“I have a dozen.”
“Dozen...” Jasper rubs his chin looking at the table as he imagines things. “Oh, sorry,” he smirks. “please continue.”
“Each of them comes from different mothers who are demigodesses. I had a daughter that's a goddess.”
“Oh, is that so? What's her power?”
“I can't tell you. I don't even know her powers.”
“Then describe it.”
“Her wounds heal so fast.”
“There are a lot of powers that can accelerate healing,” Hyun remarks.
“Yeah,” Jasper agrees, getting curious about his daughter. “What else have you noticed?”
“That's as far as I know. Her mother stole her from me and ran away two decades ago. I don't even know if both of them are still alive.”
“Alright, forget about that. I wanna ask you something that we want to know.” He looks as if the whole mansion would go dark. “Do you know where the God of Chaos is?”
“God of Chaos?” he asks, swallowing.
“Yes.”
“Who is that?”
“The leader of the rebels of Mars.”
Sayuri stops eating as well as Jack. None of them chew nor slice their steaks to listen well. It's like the air has been frozen. Nobody made a sound, even the maids.
“Where is he?” Jasper asks.
“Rumors say that he perished after his battle against Silva.”
“So, he could be dead all along...,” Jasper realizes, turning to look at Sayuri—who has finished her food.
She's wiping her lips with a handkerchief then covers her face. Standing up, she concludes her time here and leaves. Hyun follows her to the door.
“Before we go,” says Jasper. “Do you have any other interesting information to share with us? In exchange, we'll heal all of your guards and it would be like nothing ever happened.”
Ammar stands from his seat as soon as Jasper leaves his. He goes grabbing three bottles of wine in his arms as Ammar says, “There is one thing.”
“Uh-huh?” nods Jasper, stuffing his mouth with a baked potato.
“There is a selection for... a bride.”
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- Writer
