He pushed through the second door and Talon followed him into the centre of a long hallway. The wall facing them was ranged with shelves upon which a variety of items rested: lamps, candles, mugs, goblets, an entire inventory of supplies for a busy inn. Heres where Kendrick keeps the knick-knacks we need, said Leo. Pointing to the door at the lefthand end of the hall. Thats the common room. If we have a caravan stopping by, or a patrol from one of the local castles, itll be full of loud, drunken fools. He pointed to the door at the right end of the hall and said, That is the dining room, where the nobles and guests of stature eat. Tonight youll serve in there. He paused and rummaged through the shelves until he came away with a long, white tunic. Put this on, he said to Talon.
Talon did so and found the tunic came to the midpoint between his hip and knee. There were drawstrings at the cuff of the puffy sleeves and he tied them.
Let me see your hands, boy, Leo demanded.
Talon held out his hands.
Im not the fanatic for washing up some are, but you cant be serving nobility with blood from a skinning under your nails, Leo said. He pointed back into the kitchen. Go back and wash. Use the brush to get the blood out.
Talon moved back through the serving room into the kitchen and found a large bucket of soapy water used to clean the pots and dishes. He saw Lela standing before the wooden table Gibbs had vacated, finishing up the vegetables. He started to wash his hands and she glanced over and smiled. Serving tonight?
I suppose so, Talon answered. I havent been told.
Youre wearing a servers tunic, she informed him. So youre serving.
What do I do? asked Talon, trying to suppress a sudden nervousness in his stomach.
Leo will tell you, Lela said with a bright smile. Its easy.
Talon inspected his hands and saw the blood was gone from his nails. He returned to the hall where Leo waited.
Took you long enough, said the cook, raising an eyebrow. Talon was beginning to think that this cook was a lot like his grandfather had been, playful with his scolding, never truly meaning a word of it.
Come along, Leo said.
Talon followed him into the dining room. It was a long room with a huge table, the biggest the Orosini boy had ever seen. At each end was placed a pair of high-backed chairs, and eight ran along each side. The wood was oak and ancient, polished by years of wear and oil and rags, and it shone with a dark gold, and the stain of a thousand spilled wine goblets and ale mugs mottled the hue from one end to the other. Noting the boys expression, Leo said, Kendricks table. Its legendary. Cut from the bole of an ancient oak in a single piece. Took a score of men and two mules to haul it here. He glanced up and waved his hand. Kendrick built this room around it. He smiled. Dont know what hed ever do if he had to replace it. We could cut this one up with axes for firewood, but howd we ever get another in?
Talon ran his hand over the surface and found it extraordinarily smooth.
A thousand rags in the hands of hundreds of boys like yourself have given it this finish. Youll have your turn at it. Leo turned and surveyed the room. Now, heres what youll be doing. He pointed to a long side-table. In a few minutes some pitchers of ale will be fetched in here as well as some decanters of wine, and then youll have your work to do. See those goblets? He pointed to those already upon the table.
Talon nodded.
Some of them will be filled with ale. Others will be filled with wine. Do you know the difference?
Talon suddenly found himself wanting to smile. He kept his face straight as he said, Ive tasted both.
Leo feigned a frown. In front of the guests you will call me Master Cook, is that clear?
Yes, Master Cook.
Well, then, where was I? He looked puzzled for a moment. Oh, yes, your task is to stand upon this side of the table. This side only, is that clear?
Talon nodded.
Observe the guests before you. There will be six on this side, seven upon the other, and two guests will be seated over there. He pointed to the pair of chairs at the end of the table on Talons right. No one will sit at the other end.
Six on this side, Master Cook, Talon repeated.
You will be responsible for keeping goblets filled. Should a guest have to ask for more ale or wine, Kendricks honour will be besmirched and I will view that as a personal affront. I will most likely ask Robert de Lyis to have Pasko beat you.
Yes, Master Cook.
Make certain you pour ale into those goblets containing ale, and wine only into those containing wine. I have heard that some barbarous people down in Kesh actually mix them, but I find that difficult to believe. In any event, mix them and I will ask Robert de Lyis to have Pasko beat you.
Yes, Master Cook.
He gave the back of Talons head a slight slap. I may ask Robert de Lyis to have Pasko beat you just because you are a boy, and boys are annoying. Stay here.
With that, the Master Cook departed, leaving Talon alone in the room.
Talon let his eyes wander. There were tapestries above the sideboard behind him, and in the right corner of the room as he faced the table was one small hearth. Another lay at the far lefthand corner opposite him. Between the two they would provide ample heat for the long dining hall on any but the coldest nights.
Against the far wall another sidetable waited, and a moment later, Lars entered carrying a huge platter with dressed mutton heaped upon it. In what appeared to be controlled frenzy Meggie and Lela, along with several others he had seen in the kitchen whose names were unknown to him, came hurrying into the room bearing platters of steaming vegetables, hot breads, pots of condiments and honey, tubs of freshly churned butter and trays bearing roasted duck, rabbit and chicken. They ran back and forth bringing new platters until the sideboard was filled with food, including many items unlike anything Talon had seen before. Fruits of strange colours and textures were placed alongside familiar apples, pears, and plums.
Then the ale and wine was fetched in, and Lars remained standing opposite Talon on the other side of the table as Meggie went to the left end of the far table, and Lela went to the right end of the sideboard behind Talon.
There seemed to be but the merest pause, a moment in which to catch ones breath, to compose oneself, then the doors opened and a parade of well-dressed men and women filed in, each taking a place at the table, based upon some system of rank, Talon assumed, for a man and a woman stood behind the chairs at the end of the table and those who came in after them each took their appointed place. It seemed to Talon that this was much like the seating in the mens long house in his village. The senior chieftain would sit upon the high seat, the most prominent in the building, with the second most senior chieftain on his right, the third on his left, and so forth until every man in the village was in his place. A change in the order only occurred when someone died, so any man in the village might expect to sit in the same place for years.
Last through the door was Kendrick, dressed much as he had been the first time Talon had seen him. His hair and beard looked freshly washed and combed, but his tunic was much the same colour, and his trousers and boots were still workaday. He stepped to the chair before the man at the head of the table and pulled it out.
Talon saw Lars moving to the chair closest to the head of the table and begin to pull it out. Talon hesitated only for a moment, then moved to his right to the chair closest to the head of the table and mimicked the others, pulling out the chair with a slight turn and allowing the dinner guest a striking woman of middle years with a lavish necklace of emeralds around her neck to move in and be seated, then pushing the chair in slightly as the guest sat. Talon was only a beat behind the others, but he managed the task without a flaw.
He anticipated the need to move down to the next chair and repeat the action, and quickly all the guests were seated. As Talon returned to his station, he saw Kendrick watching him and Lars move back to stand by the sideboard.
The girls began serving food, and then Lars took up a pitcher of ale and a decanter of wine and moved to the head of the table. Talon hesitated and looked across at Kendrick. Kendrick glanced first from Talon to the sideboard, then back to the young man.
Talon duplicated what Lars was doing. He moved to the side of the man at the head of the table and offered him a choice of wine or ale. The man spoke in a heavily accented speech, but the words were Roldemish, and it was clear that amidst the flurry of witticism and observations he was instructing Talon to pour the wine. Talon did so, attempting not to drip upon the table or the guest.
He then moved down the row of other guests quickly filling goblets as they instructed him.
Once that had been accomplished, the rest of the evening passed without event. Throughout the course of the meal he refilled goblet after goblet and when his own pitchers and decanters were nearly empty, one of the girls took them to the kitchen for a refill.
From Talons inexperienced point of view things seemed to be progressing smoothly. Near the end of the meal he sought to refill the goblet of the man at the head of the table, but the man indicated he wished no more by putting his hand briefly over the goblet before him. Talon had no idea what to say, so he bowed slightly and backed away.
Kendrick stood discreetly behind the head of the table, watching his staffs every move, looking for any need that was going unmet.
When the meal was over, the guests indicated they were ready to leave. Talon hurried to a place behind the first guest he had seated as he saw Kendrick and Lars do, and was only half a beat behind them in gently pulling out the chair so the guest could rise gracefully.
When the last guest had left, Kendrick followed. As the door into the common room swung shut, the door from the serving room swung open and Leo strode through, shouting, All right then! What are you about! Get this mess cleaned up!
Suddenly Meggie, Lela, and Lars were grabbing platters and dishes off the tables, and Talon did likewise. They hurried back and forth between the dining room and kitchen and the task of cleaning began.
Talon quickly sensed a rhythm in this business, a matching of task to person, and he found it easy to anticipate what to do next. By the end of the nights work, he felt comfortable in the tasks asked of him, and knew that he would be even better able to execute them the next time he was asked.
As the kitchen staff prepared for the morning meal, several staying to prepare the mornings bread, Lela came to him and said, Before you sleep, Kendrick wants to see you.
He looked around. Where?
In the Common Room, she replied.
He found Kendrick sitting at one of the long tables before the bar with Robert de Lyis, both of them enjoying a mug of ale.
Kendrick said, Boy, you are called Talon?
Sir, said Talon in agreement.
Talon of the Silver Hawk, supplied Robert.
That is an Orosini name, said Kendrick.
Yes, sir.
We have seen a few of your people here from time to time over the years, but usually you tend to stay up in your mountains.
Talon nodded, uncertain whether an answer was required.
Kendrick studied him a moment in silence, then said, You hold your tongue. That is a good quality. He rose and came to stand before Talon as if seeking to see something in his face up close that he could not see from a distance. After a brief inspection, he asked, What did Leo say you were to do?
I was to pour wine into wine goblets and ale into ale goblets.
That was all?
Yes, sir.
Kendrick smiled. Leo thinks it amusing to toss a boy into service without much preparation. I shall have to have words with him again. You did well enough, and none of the guests realized you were not experienced. He turned to Robert. I will leave him to you. Good night.
Robert rose and nodded in farewell, then motioned for Talon to come sit.
Talon did so and Robert studied him. Finally, he said, Do you know the name of the man who sat at the head of the table?
Talon said, Yes.
Who is he?
Count Ramon DeBarges.
How do you know that?
I saw him, the last time he visited the inn. Lela told me his name.
How many rings did he wear on his left hand?
Talon was surprised by the question, but said nothing as he tried to remember. After calling up an image of the count holding his wine goblet for more wine, he answered, Three. A large red stone in a silver setting upon his smallest finger. A carved gold ring upon his next finger, and a gold ring with two green stones upon his pointing finger.
Good, said Robert. The green stones are emeralds. The red stone is a ruby.
Talon wondered what the purpose of these questions was, but said nothing.
How many emeralds in the necklace worn by the lady to the Counts left?
Talon paused, then said, Seven, I think.
You think or you know?
Talon hesitated, then said, I think.
Nine. Robert studied the young mans face, as if expecting him to say something, but Talon remained silent. After a long pause, he asked, Do you remember what the Count and the man two places down on his right were speaking of when you were serving ale to the lady between them?
Talon remained quiet for a minute as he searched his memory. Something about dogs, I think.
Think or know?
Know, said Talon. They were speaking of dogs.
What about dogs?
Something about hunting dogs. He paused, then added, I still do not speak the Roldemish tongue well, Robert.
De Lyis was motionless for a few seconds, then nodded. Fair enough. Next, he launched into a series of questions, ranging from who ate what, what was discussed at various times, what manner of clothing and accessories the ladies wore, and how many drinks each man consumed, until it seemed to Talon he would be there all night.
Suddenly, Robert said, Thats all. Return to the barn and sleep there until you are called. Then you will be moving into the servants quarters here; you will share a room with Gibbs and Lars.
Am I then to be a servant in Kendricks household?
Robert smiled slightly. For a time, young Talon. For a time.
Talon rose and made his way through the kitchen, where loaves were rising before the hearth, waiting to be baked first thing in the morning. Realizing he had not eaten for hours, Talon paused to snatch an apple from a large bowl and bit into it. He thought they were to be used for pies, but was content that the loss of one would be no great hardship to Leo.