Chapter 369: Rune: Bronze shield
The aroma of ale, a cool night.
Dish after dish was brought out. Though everything was kept simple, the nobles' palates would not suffer too much.
Thick barley and braised meat soup, roasted pork knuckles, dressed beets, spinach and plum salad, and trout roasted in clay.
"The food in King's Landing is edible, but the wine isn't," Gendry commented.
He ate ravenously, becoming King's Landing's biggest eater.
Lord Mace Tyrell watched Gendry admiringly. "A knight ought to eat like that. Eating well gives you strength."
The Red Viper could not help rolling his eyes.
Sansa watched the King. Gendry also thoughtfully served the Queen; certain cuts of meat were fit for the Queen alone.
Both Margaery and Sansa could see the sweetness of Queen Daenerys Targaryen's smile.
Her silver-gold hair, her violet eyes, even her beautiful face-she outshone every other woman.
"The handsome King is so hearty even when eating, yet so courteous." Sansa felt herself sinking into melancholy again. What a warm, sweet dream this was. Unfortunately, she seemed to be only a spectator.
Then came almond bread and pigeon pie, followed by baked apples fragrant with cinnamon and lemon cakes dusted with icing sugar.
The sweetness of this night was not all there was to Westeros. Blood and fire were coming too.
The lords exchanged toasts, then saw off the foreign envoys once they had eaten and drunk their fill.
In the withdrawing room on the raised platform, the lords and knights turned the conversation back to war. The women kept smiling and listened; war remained a game for most men.
The Queen of Thorns had eaten sparingly throughout and listened with her head turned. Her pretense of poor hearing was merely a disguise.
"Three hundred rangers. Whether they're eaten by wildlings or