As Blanc, Kael, and Lune carried five plates of rabbit stew and foraged vegetables to the table, Miyanna and Celine stepped into the room as well.
"Take a seat, everyone. I'll bring the spoons," Blanc said, turning back toward the kitchen area.
"How should we sit?" Kael asked, frozen in place with his plate in hand.
The tradition of the Noble Bloods was different from that of the commoners in almost every way possible. How one sat at a table was, as anything else really, a game of politics, of importance, shown by who sat where.
Usually, the head of a Blood stood either at the head of the table if the table was placed vertically or in the middle of it, if it was placed horizontally. Next were the wives of said head of Blood.
If he had one wife or none, the heir was assigned the seat next to the head.
Then came the rest of the family, be it elders, siblings, or smaller children, or of lesser importance than the heir itself.
An ancient tradition, one of the seven Traditums. And a bullshit one at that.
Especially when it was brought up between the members of a family.
Why did such a thing, such a stupid game of politics, matter at a meal between family? In a place where all shared the same Blood, the same name?
"Why does that matter? It did not matter when we sat earlier," said Miyanna, confused by such a thing.
"It matters now. We are all here," Celine began, "Blanc will sit at the head of the table, with me on his right. Lune, Kael, you two can choose who sits next to him on the other side. And you, Miyanna, you sit on the opposite side of the table. Opposite to Blanc."
"Why so far away?" Miyanna frowned.
"Because you are not family," replied Celine, just as Blanc came back, "My love, you sit at the head of the table."
"What? Why? I'm not the head of anything," Blanc questioned, looking dumbfounded.
"For now, you are ours. So sit, and let's eat. We are all starving," Celine smiled.
Without trying to argue against Celine's words, especially after earlier, he sat at the head of the table, as instructed.
"Celine, Kael, Lune… Miyanna," began Blanc, "Thank you all for being here and sharing this meal with me. I thank the Vita for the meal in front of us, and pray that it will keep us safe and give us strength at this hour of need. Vita la Nima."
"Nima," said Celine and the twins in unison. Miyanna remained silent, not knowing what to say or what that meant.
But her cheeks fast turned crimson, as all present turned their face towards her, staring, waiting for her to say the words so that they could eat.
"N-nima." Miyanna stuttered.
With a nod and a cheerful smile from Celine toward her, they all began eating in silence. Only the occasional compliment from the twins to Blanc or Celine broke the quiet.
Miyanna, however, remained silent throughout, even though she had the most compliments on her mind.
The meal was delicious. A refined taste that she never thought possible.
Made from things found in the woods and cooked in an iron pot in a fucking cave, for that matter. No special condiments, no rare ingredients, just food. Warmth. It almost brought a tear to her eyes, but she kept it back.
Not wanting to offer the satisfaction to Blanc to see herself enjoying his food.
But, as she ate, for the minutes it took her to finish it, in a twisted way, she was happy that they came. Otherwise, at least this meal would have never happened.
"Brother, brother! Can I have another?" Lune asked, basically jumping in her seat as she held up the empty wooden bowl.
"Of course," nodded Blanc with a warmth in his smile that rivaled the warmth that came out of the stew itself, "Anyone else still hungry?"
"I am," Kael said, offering his empty bowl as well, "But is there enough left for a second portion?"
"There is enough for several more, Kael, eat your fill and do not worry," nodded Blanc, before turning towards Celine and her empty bowl, "My love, you?"
"If I may, I will partake in another," she said, smiling.
"You?" asked Blanc, turning towards Miyanna and her bowl.
"No, I am full," she replied.
"Your bowl is basically licked clean. No need to lie. We fed you, now eat your fill." Blanc replied, sighing.
Miyanna did not reply, but looked down as she pushed the bowl towards the middle of the table.
"Now, was it that hard to be honest?" said Blanc, taking the bowls and returning to the kitchen.
A minute later, he returned with two filled bowls and set them in front of Kael and Lune, placing a quick kiss on each of their foreheads.
He then went back to the kitchen and brought two more to Celine and Miyanna. This time, he only kissed Celine's forehead, though a trace of sadness still lingered towards her earlier act.
"How about you, Blanc?" Celine asked, noticing his empty bowl as he sat back down.
"I'm full," he replied, shaking his head.
Celine watched his eyes carefully. She saw right through the lie, but decided to just nod and let it go.
"Are you sure, brother?" Lune asked, stopping herself from eating, perhaps feeling bad.
Blanc chuckled, "Not to worry, I am sure. Either way, I wanted to go and take a bath while you all finish eating to wash away the dirt. Make sure to clean up after yourselves when you are done, okay?"
The twins and Celine nodded at his request, so he got back on his feet and went into his and Celine's room and grabbed a new change of clean clothes.
"Enjoy your food," said Blanc, walking beside them and entering the kitchen where the stairs to the bath lay. Another long but overall good day finally came to an end.
There were unfinished conversations that he wanted to have with Celine, but these could wait until they were alone, in their room. Now it was time to relax.
Until the sun rose again.