Chapter 109: Time For Punishment
"Lady Diane, welcome to Drakin, welcome to Vargos Castle," Alistair spoke first as he welcomed her.
"The pleasure is mine, Your Majesty. I was not expecting to be welcomed by such a crowd," Diane mused.
As she turned her attention to Roxine, both of them paused for a moment, unable to speak. This was one of the few occasions they had met in a formal setting since they first confessed their love for each other.
"It is an honor to have you at Vargos castle, Lady Diane," Roxine said formally after she scrambled to find her voice again.
"Likewise, the honor is mine, Queen Roxine."
Alistair was amused by how flustered both of them were. To ease the awkwardness he stepped forward to speak. He placed his hand on Roxine’s back, gently nudging her forward.
"I will leave you in the capable hands of Queen Roxine, Lady Diane. I still have some other matters to attend to. If you’ll excuse me,.."
With that, Alistair left with his entourage of servants and returned to his quarters. He had someone waiting for him there, as per his request from the night they has last seen one another.
"Did you wait long?" he asked as he closed the door to his room after sending away the servants who followed him.
Out from the shadows of a corner in the room, Sierra revealed herself. She had her arms folded, along with a look of annoyance. She seemed unwilling to be there.
"No, just a while. Alistair, I don’t think this is such a good idea. In broad daylight, what if..." before she could finish her sentence, his lips were already on hers.
He did that just to stop her from talking as he did not want her to worry about anything unnecessary. Sierra quickly broke the kiss as she put distance between them.
"What if someone walks in on us?" she theorized, "What if there are people listening in?"
Alistair chuckled as he walked up to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her close.
"You’ve already agreed to be my mistress, did you not? Then you have nothing to worry about, my sweetling,"
He had asked her to come to his quarters to receive her ’punishment’ for lying to him. She had made her protests known to him, but still, she showed up as he had asked.
Alistair sat her down at the table, where a set of cutlery had already been set for her. In front of her was a plate of food she had never seen before. She looked up at him in bewilderment and confusion.
"What...what is this?" she asked.
Alistair grinned as he leaned down close with a smug look. He was enjoying the entire experience thoroughly. Although Sierra still did not have the expression on her face that he was looking for, he knew his explanation of the ingredients would most certainly make her cringe.
The smell was usually enough to scare most people away. But Sierra seemed completely unaffected by it.
"This is a sample platter of interesting foods from the farthest kingdoms. There are nine samples in total. I like to call it, The Hell Sampler."
He pointed at each sampler plate to explain its ingredients.
"This is a fermented tofu seasoned with spices and deep-fried in oil. The smell is said to be reminiscent of rotting flesh by some. It is paired with a side of vinegar preserved vegetables."
Next to it, was a sliced intestine in dark soy marinade and five spices, followed by a list of strange foods. The last of them was a fruit with yellow flesh. Out of everything on the sampler platter, it looked the most innocent but was also the most pungent.
Sierra took a closer look, the smell from it was like sweetened cream and honey. Her mouth was salivating from the smell alone. Before Alistair even got to introducing it, Sierra picked it up with her hands and took a bite.
The soft creamy flesh of the fruit brought back a distant memory, from a time in her childhood. She had lived in the forests of Cair on her own for some time. At times, to survive, she had to pick the fruits she could find to satisfy her hunger.
Alistair looked on at her in shock, surprised that she ate it without so much as a gag reflex. To some, the smell of the fruit was likened to that of waste water. It was unbearable.
"Hmm, it’s not as good as the one I had in the past, but it brings back memories!" Sierra chuckled to herself as she licked her fingers clean after putting down the seed.
As she reached out to pick the next piece of fruit, Alistair stopped her.
"You... you like it?" he looked at her, stunned.
"It tastes good, don’t you think?" she replied while still eating.
He could not believe it. He had finally found someone who enjoyed it as much as he did. Alistair sat down next to her, wondering if she was just faking it. He did not know anyone else who had been able to stomach all nine dishes. Not even Roxine, who was usually adventurous with her food, could stomach all of it.
He picked up a piece of the deep-fried tofu for her to try.
"Here, give this one a try," he said as he picked it up with a fork and brought it close to her mouth.
Sierra opened her mouth and took the whole thing in. Alistair returned to the plate and picked up a piece of pickled vegetable for her to eat together with the tofu.
"How’s this one?" he asked as he watched her chew it.
"The sourness cut through the flavor of the tofu really well," she said while her mouth was still full.
Alistair chuckled as he continued to watch her eat, chuckling in disbelief.
"What’s so funny?" she asked.
"You want me to finish everything on this plate, right?" she wanted to know for certain.
He nodded as he continued to chuckle, "This was supposed to be a punishment but it seems like it has become more of a reward for you."
She looked up at him in disbelief, "This was your idea of a punishment?"
She picked up one of the items on the plate that was coated in chili flakes and oil. Before Alistair could even warn her, she already placed it in her mouth and began to chew. He watched in utter disbelief, waiting for something to happen.
"Oh spicy," she commented.
Alistair furrowed his eyebrows as he placed the back of his hand on her forehead. Her temperature was normal. Was he hallucinating perhaps?
"You’re acting awfully weird. Is everything alright?" she asked as she continued eating.
