Tales of the Pearly Kingdom (Pearly Tales Vol. 2)

58. Powder kegs as endtables

"EEEEEK!" Cal's mother, Hydrallie screamed as she buried Cal's face into her bosom. "I can't believe you two are finally together! My son, you devil, you. Slaying two women."

Cal had decided they were staying one more night. At the moment they were joining his parents for dinner. They had originally planned on this dinner, and secretly he was going to ditch it. His mother had found out about both his two future wives and his intent to ditch dinner. She was both so happy and so angry that she was smothering him.

Seamus, Naomi, and Yvette had joined them this night.

They were in a large wide room. Short tables and pillows were set up as place settings for Cal's family and crew.

Hydrallie finally released Cal from her grasp when he was suitably blue in the face and he gasped for every particle of air his lungs would let him take in at one time. Then she hopped over to Seamus and began poking him while giggling.

Seamus who was covering in scratches and bite marks held a hissing weasel by the tail who was equally battered and bruised but too tired to do more than hiss and growl lowly.

"You must be the Cabin Boy that my son keeps raving about! You are so cute and this enchantment for your disguise is amazing. The stink of blood and evil on you is gloriously mingling with the rustic smell of animal hair and frustration." She smiled warmly at him. she kissed the palm of her hand and then bopped him the forehead like a second hand kiss. "Healing hands." She chimed as a green glow spread from his forehead healing all of his scratches.

Seamus's eyes narrowed, and he looked infinitely more tired when he realized where Cal had gotten all of his... uniqueness.

Seamus looked to lord Drayken hoping for some sense of sanity. Then he noticed some commotion to his left and he saw lord Drayken headbutt Dakota, then Dakota headbutted him back and they both had huge grins on their faces.

Seamus sighed, nobody in their family was normal. For his entire life Brother Calloway was his God, his ultimate spiritual leader, the stoic and compassionate saint of the Pearly City. When he met the true Calloway, he met a coin. A person with two sides. One side was darker than the blackest hole. The other shined brighter than the sun.

But both sides weren't so black and white, they had flavors. His dark side left a lasting impression like chocolate, it had a distinct color, and a unique savor that you could never forget. It would melt on your tongue and be gone in an instant. But his light side was like toffee, overly sweet and it got everywhere. Then it got stuck in-between your teeth until you bit your tongue, but you couldn't help going back for another piece. That next annoying troublesome piece.

The room had several columns of short tables set so that the dinner guests would be sitting facing one another. At the far end of the room was a long row of tables going perpendicular as a place of honor. The lord and lady would sit there with a few nobles and advisors on their right, which included Selene. On their left sat Cal, Shayley, Ophelia, and Cal's disciples Seamus, Naomi, and Yvette.

Cal's disciples wouldn't stop fidgeting and looking around the room. This was the first time their position had ever been recognized as important outside of Cal's personal attention. Yvette was the only one that had showed any kind of grace under fire, and that probably had a lot to do with being around Wendy. Seamus had the manners from his training as an assassin, but the druid clothes and place of respect threw him off his game where he was once just above a simple grunt.

The only things that made life better for Seamus was Ophelia on his left and Naomi on his right. Ophelia just had a charm to her, whenever he was near her he felt at home. Whenever she looked at him she just smiled. It was a warm innocent smile and it soothed any tension he had. Naomi was more of an ally than he had ever had before. They had both been on the annoying side of Cal's attentive 'training'.

Beautiful elven women in brightly colored floral kimonos brought the food out on single trays strategically organized in patterns with the local specialties. For Cal it was like walking into an anime but with pirates.

Seamus noticed something strange with Cal's food. He couldn't place what it was, but he got a bad feeling about it. Cal was his noticeably charming self and was being engaged by his mother and she made a similar observation as Seamus.

"Calloway, sweetheart, why haven't you touched your food?" Hydrallie asked like a mother about to say: if you don't each your vegetables you'll never grow up big and strong.

Cal smiled at his mother with a cavalier attitude that did not fit the words he was saying.

"Because it's only too polite to consume poison before walking into an ambush." Cal's words caused a host of reactions in the room. Seamus reached for his blade that wasn't there. The nobles just opposite of Cal's parents froze and paled. Shayley smiled wickedly as she sipped her drink and dabbed at her supple glossy lips. Selene fidgeted, unsure of what Cal was implying. Drayken was as calm as Cal and Hydrallie's eyes did a subtle and intense once over of the room. The biggest change was a subtle pause coming from all of the elemental pirate crew before they returned to their food with an odd eagerness. But Seamus could see their eyes glowing their unique colors.

Seamus had the angry weasel in his lap, just as Cal had the Griffon Hifumi in his lap. He also knew that Cal's fox Calico was nearby, and she was better than he'd ever been at stealth. The angry weasel who was apprehensively sitting in his lap and was only kept calm by routinely sinking its claws into Seamus's thighs and swiping food from Seamus's chopsticks. Now, angry weasel had straightened his back and watched the door. Seamus could smell burnt ozone as his hair stood on end.

Seamus's food wasn't poisoned, so he continued to eat while he scanned the room with his senses. He remembered Cal's words before they went into ceremony where the Kingdom of Calphian was founded.

Pirates were powder kegs in a crowd disguised as end tables. And judging by the nuances of the pirate crew they were as ready for a fight as Shayley was devilishly eager.

It didn't take long before the sliding doors at the far end of the room slid open. However, the murmuring of the pirates only slightly increased before they started hushing each other.

"Lady Azuras!" Selene stood up. "If only you had-"

But the blue haired dragoness held up her hand to stop her from speaking. Following her were five more dragons in human form. A redhaired man in a set of red flaming oriental armor that made him look like a samurai. He had a long blade at the end of a long pole and a flag secured to his back. A green haired woman with a flowing skirt, the right side of the robe slipped off her shoulder that would reach for her blade like a Ronin with a long katana on her hip and a white chest wrapping.

An orange haired man wore only an orange pair of greaves. His chest was absurdly muscular and covered in scars he had one large hammer with a head the size of a full grown man's torso. A black haired woman in tight fitting clothing had the distinct look of a classic ninja. A yellow haired woman at the back had a simple leather armor outfit with a large bow and a whole quiver of arrows. Each one of the dragons had a different types of horns wrapped around their heads.

A contingent of warriors, who were obviously the dragon faction's Elite, filed in the room and in between the tables.

"Calloway Calphius, we have business." Azuras said, obviously hostile.