The four of us headed back downstairs and pushed our way through the busy guild hall. It had somehow got even busier whilst we had been upstairs. After a lot of squeezing through the crowd, we made it to the exit and stepped out into the night. It was well after nightfall now, but the square below the guild was full of people visiting the food stalls and bars down below. I was still getting my head around just how different the capital was compared to the outlying cities and towns.

As we walked to the steps Altria took me by the hand and tugged me, trying to hurry us along. She really did seem keen to get to this restaurant. The others just followed along quietly behind us. Before long we had descended the steps and were making our way through the crowded square.

“You seem really excited about this place.” I said to Altria as she led me.

“I am. I haven’t been to the city in a while and it’s my favourite place.” She told me.

“Is it that good?”

“Yes, at least I think so. There isn’t anywhere like it in Dunshelm, so it’s always my treat when I come to the city.”

“Then I’ll look forward to trying it.”

“You should. It does come with my recommendation!” She said confidently.

We quickly crossed the square, Altria not letting us dawdle as we walked or to stop and check out any of the stalls. I would have liked to have a wander around the place a little, but I could tell without asking that Altria wasn’t going to allow that. At least not before we had stopped for our dinner.

After passing through the square, we headed down one of the side streets. The place we going to was just at the end of this road. Altria continued to hurry us along to our destination, only stopping once we were outside.

“This is it.” She said, glancing inside checking for tables.

From outside it looked just like any ordinary restaurant. I didn’t look particularly fancy and as far as I could tell, it wasn’t that popular either. That’s not to say it wasn’t doing a good trade, there were plenty of people eating inside, but it wasn’t full. There was no queue to get in, nothing to suggest this was place that you would get excited about coming to.

“Are you here to eat?” Asked one of the passing waitresses when they noticed us standing by the door.

“Yes, table for four please.” Replied Altria.

“Follow me.”

The four us stepped inside and followed the waitress as she led us to our table. Our table was located near to the back of the restaurant, it was in a little alcove. It was a little quieter in this part, there were a few families eating near the front, so it was appreciated. Once we had sat down, she handed each of us a menu.

“Would you like to order something to drink?”

The girls all ordered glasses of wine while I just went with a beer.

“Okay, I’ll be back with your drinks in a moment.” She said leaving us to look at the menu.

With just a quick glance at the menu, I could tell that this place specialised in fish. I hadn’t noticed that was Altria’s thing before, but most of the time we had eaten together before was either at the guild or at a small inn.

“That reminds me.” Lillia said placing the coin bag she had been given at the guild on the table. “We really should split this amongst us now.”

Lillia quickly divvied out the coins to each of us.

“Thanks, Lillia. I’ll be able to pay for my own meal now.” I said as she passed me my share.

“You’ll need to get some change first. I doubt they will like it if you try pay with those here.”

“They won’t accept them?”

“Well, they might, but it might attract some attention. We’ll go and get you some change sorted tomorrow. Don’t worry about tonight.”

“Okay… Anyway, I was wondering, what do we do about Siofra’s share? Won’t it be a bit hard to get it to her.”

“No, she’ll come and collect it herself.”

“You’re going to make her come to us to pick up her pay?” I was a little surprised.

“No, no. Of course not! She’s coming to the capital. She was summoned here just like us. Being part of our party at the time, they called her up as well. She’s going to arrive tomorrow morning. I’ll give her share to her tomorrow.”

“Oh, I see! It’ll be nice to see her again.”

“You know it’s only been a few days since we last saw her.”

“I know, but I didn’t know when I’d see her again. I thought it would be much longer, I’m just glad it wasn’t.”

“She’s going to meet us at the guild tomorrow morning, before we set off to see the summoner ceremony. So, you won’t have long to wait.”

The waitress returned with our drinks order as we spoke.

“Are you ready to order yet?” She asked after placing the glasses down.

Lillia quickly scanned the table, to see if we were. Each of us nodding to her.

“I think so.”

I still wasn’t entirely sure what half of the food on the menu actually was, so I decided to play it safe and order the same thing that Altria did. I decided that as this was her favourite place, she would have a good idea which were the best dishes. The waitress patiently took our orders before heading back to the kitchen.

 “The ceremony tomorrow, is it quite a big thing?” I asked.

“Well, it attracts a bit of a crowd, yes. Like the girl at the guild said, quite a few people came to the capital because of it. Although most of them won’t be able to witness the actual ceremony, they just come to see the procession. Not everyone is allowed into the main shrine to watch.” Explained Serin.

“Will we be able to see the ritual? I was quite interested to see it for myself.”

“I’m not sure. We would need permission to be able to observe.” Serin answered glancing over at Lillia.

“Don’t worry it’s all been organised. We have seats inside and you’ll be able to see the whole thing. There wouldn’t be much point in us going if you weren’t able to see what happens, would there?” Lillia said as if it was nothing.

“I suppose not. Thank you. Was that hard to organise?”

“Not really. It helped that we were successful in the recent quest, it made it easier to have you allowed in.” She explained.

Well, I suppose Lillia could pull strings if she wanted, after all her father was the high king. She normally didn’t want to rely on her family connections, and this was the first time I had heard of her doing something like this. I guess if it was for the benefit of her party, it didn’t bother her.

“Aren’t you lucky Theo. I’ve never heard of something like this happening before.” Serin sounded surprised.

“Is it that hard to get inside?”

“Yes, I’ve only been in once. When I was younger alongside my family and that was a rare event. Normally no one outside of royalty or the major noble families is allowed inside.”

“Wow, I’m not quite sure how I should feel about this. I didn’t realise it was such a big thing.”

“People take it very seriously.”

“No need to be nervous Theo, you have been summoned yourself. They are crediting you with taking down the first major member of the demon lord’s forces in over a decade. I’m sure that is why you were accepted.” Altria elaborated.

Still, this was almost like an important religious ceremony to these people. At least all I had to do was sit there and watch quietly.

“Yeah, don’t worry Theo. Me and Altria have both been to many of these. We’ve also been at there centre once, just observing is nothing to worry about let me tell you…” Lillia said trailing off as if she was thinking of something.

“What exactly happens during the ritual?”

“You’ll see for yourself tomorrow. I won’t spoil it for you.”

It wasn’t like I had long to wait to find out, so I didn’t ask any more. Just as we finished speaking our food arrived at the table. As soon as the food was placed down Altria started eating, she didn’t want to waste a moment. I looked up at Lillia and Serin, neither of them looked excited to start. In fact, they both looked a little hesitant to begin. I soon realised why once I started eating myself. To say that it was inedible would be doing it a disservice, but it wasn’t at all what I would call good food. For the first time I was starting to wonder if Altria’s taste buds worked differently to ours.

I looked up at Lillia and Serin who were doing their best to force down the food, without causing a scene. They both shared subtle glances with me in recognition of what we all must have been thinking. At least Altria looked to be thoroughly enjoying her meal.