The Assassin's Tale; Dinner

Credits; Krell, Rea, Tala, Arcania, Courtney, Thalia,

Thalia spared no effort on dinner.  And it had to be said that way because part of that effort was involved in getting the best of every ingredient for a cost roughly equivalent to a gently worded death threat.  She payed it in money of course, but she got everything wholesale, clearance, and what she refered to as gun point discount but was actually more of an affectionate tribute discount.  The Gravagan's legitametly loved their ruler and creator.  She may have made a show of bullying them around, but when push came to shove she was right in front of them taking shots and swords in their stead.  They knew she was on their side, and so even if for appearances she had to shoot one in the leg now and then, they knew it all came with full-coverage health and dental and Junsrew festivities.  Besides the expenses though, Thalia actually supervised the kitchen staff herself, working directly with the head chef to plan the meals and then cooking dessert herself.  Where she found time to do so much nobody knew, maybe she, like Rea, had the ability to alter the flow of time in order to do more in the time provided.  To the best of his knowledge, no one had managed to figure it out even by his time. 
He glanced around the room as everyone began to take their seats.  There seemed to be no designated seats, but everyone sort of knew where they would best fit in.  He sat between Rea and Hal, Thalia's more heroic husband.  Hal sat next to Thalia at the triangular table, and on her left was Cyssie, recognizable in her high chair only by the tuft of blonde hair and the way she seemed to actually calculate the trajectory of each catapulted spoonful of green mush.  On her left, across from him, was Arcania, who he had been forwarned to call Kate.  She looked nothing like her future self, she had curious brown eyes, and brown curly hair like her father's.  There was none of the boldness, saddness, or mystery she would one day posess, just the same sort of clever fascination that would lead her down the dark path.  Next to her was a fiery redhead, she wore three axes and plate armor.  It must have been Sara, Thalia's second daughter and the future Lych Queen; she would be more the villain of the Frostbourne war then Arcania would, and the Lych she commanded into battle would be a plague on the universe until nearly five hundred years ago when he himself struck down Xanadu on Cariol.  Beside her was Coutney, who looked none to happy with her boisterous neighbor.  She looked much as she did in his time, dark clothes and pale skin.  She didn't even look that much younger, maybe six years at most.  Across from her, beside Rea, was Tala.  She'd tied her blue hair back and was chatting with Rea quietly. 

Suddenly, Thalia tapped on her glass. 
"Ladies, and Hal, Krell, and Sara, Dinner is served."
It was a perfectly coreographed entrance.  Krell suspected that everything in the palace was, but dinner was probably particularly well coreographed on account of its being for the benefit of non-relatives.  Tala and Rea seemed to shrug it off, but he could see Courtney light up as she watched the Gravagan servants glide across the room carrying silver platers so perfectly polished that Krell could make out the individual tiles of the mosaic behind him.  He saw the head chef, a stocky looking Gravagan, step out of the kitchen and proceed directly to Tala.  He waved and the servant removed the cover, revealing a very ordinary looking burger with equally ordinary looking onion rings and a slightly better than ordinary looking dipping sauce to accompany them.  He allowed Tala to inspect the food, making sure she was completely satisfied with it before proceeding to Rea.  She too had a burger, but with fries and rather a large amount of cheese slathered over both the patty and the fries.  Again he inspected it and proceeded directly past him and around to Arcania.  She had a salad, a very nice salad with plenty of caesar and no shortage of croutons.  Apparently her appetite was one of the few things about her that hadn't changed.  Sara had a heaping plate of wings, all soaked in a combination of what he suspected was buffalo sauce and lard that had been poured over a batter that smelled of very strong alcohol.  Courtney looked away and whimpered slightly at the sight.  Her own meal seemed much more appetizing by comparison; a small medium rare steak.  The plate itself was mostly just garnishments and decorations, but Courtney did seem to be the dainty one at the table.  Thalia had a bowl of chicken noodle soup, small basket of garlic bread set between her and Hal, and a side salad.  Hal had the same, but his soup had more chicken while hers was mostly noodle. 
Finally, after Cyssie was introduced to a fresh bowl of applesauce, the head chef approached his place. 
"And for you, Mr Casat, lasagna; twice baked, light on the sauce.  And a side of garlic bread to accompany."
How in the world could they have known?  He hadn't told them, he hadn't even told Rea what his favorite meal was.  And yet here it was exactly the way he liked it.  HE sampled it as the chef watched intently.  It was perfect.  The best sausage he'd ever had, and exactly the right combination of cheese, meat, pasta, and sauce.  And the seasonings complimented every element perfectly.  He'd never had a better meal in his whole life. 
"This is the best lasagna I've ever had!"
Thalia and Hal laughed.  Kate seemed amused, but his reaction seemed to annoy Sara.  Courtney smiled, as did Rea and Tala.  And from the look of pure joy on the chef's face, this was the reaction he'd hoped for. 
"Mr Casat, I thank you for your kind words.  I have spent many years perfecting this recipe, and it brings me great joy that it should bring you such pleasure."
"You should be pleased, this is amazing!"
Thalia laughed again.  "Alright Ended, you've done well.  Go set up for dessert please."  The chef continued beaming as he spun and departed.  "Now, shall we pray?"
Sara dropped her wing uncerimoniously and Arcania rolled her eyes.  But everyone else in the room looked attentively towards Thalia.  Courtney seemed curious more than anything else, but Tala, Rea, and surprisingly Cyssie all seemed fairly reverant.  "Father?  Would you do us the honors?"
Krell looked around and realized that they meant him, rather than the father of three of the room's inhabitants.  He folded his hands and bent over the table. 
"Bless us O Lord, for these Thy gifts, which we're 'bout to recieve from Christ our Lord.  Amen."
"Thank you." 
"Indeed, nicely done." 
Rea patted him on the shoulder and leaned over.  "You did good.  I keep forgetting you're a priest; surprised Thalia remembered.  We must be very different in the future she knows us from.  I ought to ask."  Tala thumped her on the back.  "Fine, I won't.  Still interesting to think about what we'll be like in the future."
Krell nodded.  "Yeah, especially seeing what everyone else was like."