Meanwhile, near the royal palace kitchens, figures gathered around a burning bonfire in a secluded, abandoned courtyard.
The flickering firelight illuminated two large and three small faces—Samael and his group, who had left the banquet early.
Though they wanted nothing to do with Britain's dark-cuisine royal banquet, the ancient serpent, who enjoyed the finer things in life, would never mistreat his own tongue and stomach.
This proposal received unanimous approval from the Bavangshi trio, who raised both hands and feet in agreement.
Seeing how late it was, Morgan figured there was no telling how long they would fuss around if they went home. Relying on her vague memories of the palace, she led the group through several twists and turns to find the secret base from her childhood, where they set up a simple stove.
Samael, meanwhile, gathered ingredients from the nearby kitchens and casually prepared a fairly lavish dinner for everyone.
First up was a pot of braised pork that the little ones had been craving.
"Here, give it a try. I'll grill some meat and vegetable skewers too."
As the dish neared completion, Samael handed the spatula to Morgan beside him. He then placed the marinated skewers from the basin over the fire. The three little ones, tired of waiting, eagerly came over to help distract themselves, hoping the meat on the sticks would cook before the pork in the pot.
Barghest, unable to endure her hunger any longer, did not even wait for both sides of her skewers to cook before impatiently stuffing her work into her mouth.
The flavor was far from perfect, but the marinade Samael had prepared made it passable enough.
But no matter how bad it was, this was at least food fit for people.
The food at the banquet had instantly reminded