“You’d be surprised what some snotty nobles would eat happily if you dressed it up well enough.” - Pierre-Levin Boudain, retired famous chef.

Cal and Kino walked to the table Xain and Aideen were on, as they seated themselves on some vacant extra chairs there, while Arquivaldo seemed to have recognized the fellow sailors in the room as he took his small group straight for Sada’s table and seated himself with aplomb. The rest of Cal’s group occupied one of the empty tables left in the room, as they fell into chatting with each other almost immediately.

It turned out that they had arrived just a short while after Xain’s group had - which definitely explained the nice carriages parked near the eatery, though considering the place’s clientele, those were probably a common sight anyway - and they were amidst some friendly conversation as they waited for their ordered dishes to arrive. From there it was a small matter to order extras for Cal’s group, which the owner’s son promised would arrive without delay.

Later they learnt that many of the officials present were frequent customers of the place who liked the food so much they almost always ordered seconds, so the kitchen had prepared extras for them to begin with, which in turn allowed portions for Cal’s group to be prepared on the spot with those extras.

“Talk about coincidence,” said Cal to Xain after she seated herself next to Xain and Layla and drank a cup of the pleasant, fragrant tea. Just after she seated herself, Farah seemed to have remembered her and struggled against the grip of the nursemaid caring for her until Cal offered to hold her for a bit, at the moment the little girl was seated happily on Cal’s lap as she giggled under her mother’s teasing hand. “I hadn’t expected to see you on the first day I returned.”

“We happen to be hosting Lady Aideen and the rest of the delegates from Paradise, as they were visiting early today,” said Xain as one of his hands joined Layla’s in teasing their little daughter. Farah grabbed his hand with both of her tiny hands and suckled on one of his fingers, which made him smile fondly at the toddler. “She also brought an old friend of hers and a representative from the northern plains, to help us set up accomodation for the delegates from the tribes so as to ensure we didn’t make some silly faux pas by mistake.”

“Oh?” asked Cal with some curiosity as her eyes turned to Aideen’s side of the table, where the delegates from Paradise were seated. Cal immediately noticed the woman in question, who was seated near Aideen. The woman in question was of average height, though very solidly built much like many older unliving who leaned towards physical activity, with short dark brown hair and a deep tan to her skin that hinted of an origin likely in the western regions of Alcidea.

Her skin was decorated by what looked like decorative patterns painted in brighter colors, a pattern that was replicated on the tunic she wore, just reversed to be dark on a bright background instead. Patterns Cal recognized as ones often used by the orcs of the northern plains in their art and handicraft, and also painted on themselves often. Moreover, as Cal thought further on her travels, she realized that she had seen the woman before, if only in passing.

“I do believe I’ve seen you in Ur-Ank before, though I don’t think we’ve been acquainted,” said Cal as she stood and offered a hand politely after transferring Farah over to Layla’s lap.

“As have I, miss Ambervale. You’re a hard one to miss,” said the woman with a gentle voice as she stood up and shook Cal’s hand firmly. “My name’s Celia, though some amongst the good folk of the plains called me the Eternal, since I’ve been around for ages. A pleasure to meet you.”

“Celia’s one of our older ones these days, Cal,” explained Aideen with a nod from her seat. “She usually lives in Ur-Ank, though, since Paradise was a bit too boisterous for her liking. She preferred the quiet life out there by the sea.”

“You all happened to be visiting today, huh?” asked Cal at Aideen in turn. Kino had seated herself amongst the rest of the delegates from Paradise, who were almost entirely of the unliving sort. “Talk about coincidences.”

“Yeah, I mean we had not expected that you’d reach here right at this moment either. I was thinking of visiting early and meeting you when you arrived, since I know Archie’s schedule, but I guess he must have had good winds on the way to arrive early,” said Aideen. “We’re here early mostly for two reasons. One is for me to give those two a bit of a check-up to make sure they’re fine,” she added while she glanced at the sleeping twin infants cradled by the nursemaids.

“And the other reason is because we’re asking them for some help with making sure our prepared accomodations for the royals that will be coming to attend the wedding would be on point,” said Xain as he picked up where Aideen left off. “Al-Shan had been rather cut off from the mainlands during the usurper’s time, and we had not reconnected ourselves to the rest of the world as well as I would have preferred yet, so I asked for their help as a favor since they’d be far more familiar with the world than most.”

“That’s not a bad direction to take, I guess,” said Cal with a nod of approval. “Better ask those who know better than to fumble your way blindly, as they said. What about the check-up, though? Are the kids fine?”

“They’re very healthy babies,” replied Aideen with a mischievous smile on her face. “Probably a bit too healthy. They’re very active for their age, and are a bit of a chore to deal with. You’re just lucky that you get to meet them while they’re asleep.”

“That’s good to hear at least,” said Cal with a smile as she looked at Xain’s newborn twins. The infants were plump and chubby, and they looked absolutely adorable as they slept peacefully.

“The Empress will be fine too, though she would still need to recuperate for another couple weeks at least to regain her strength,” Aideen added with a nod that seemed to agree with Cal’s assessment of the infants. “Even when you have the best healers around, giving birth remains a very taxing ordeal for the mother, so that part can’t really be avoided.”