44 A Toast To The Newlyweds

As Fiona predicted, the male servant was inside the tavern drinking. Though he wasn't drunk completely, he had a few beers inside him already. My idea was simply, get to "drink" with him until he wasn't able to walk. I ordered a drink, began acting a bit drunk and friendly.

They guy was a bit surprised about my sudden behaviour, but when offered a drink on my tab, his expression changed quickly. He drank one beer then another, but stopped suddenly. "Ugh... I need to work tomorrow, so that's enough... I better get home now", he said drunk. "Oh, come on. You can still make it home, it's not that late. I'll buy you one more, and then we can call it a night. How's that?", I proposed in a drunken way.

"... Aye, you bastard. Hahaha, but only one more", he accepted. After another drink, I didn't push him anymore, and allowed him to stumble out of the tavern. Now it was just a matter of time, before he'd lead me to his house. There was no need to worry about other people living with him, he lived alone according to Fiona.

The guy stumbled, threw up and sang all the way to his home. Once finally there, I knocked him out after he opened the doors. The guy would wake up the following day, and probably go to work, which made me debate myself about my options. I could either prevent him from leaving his house, or let him go, if he had another set of clothes. The latter option was the best, but that required a second set of clothes.

I looked around the small house of his, and found some clothes, but not the one servants wore. 'He doesn't seem to care all that much how his clothes look. Since he goes drinking in them', I figured while opening another set of doors. "Oh...", to my surprise, there was another set of servant clothes after all. They were simply hung outside to dry. 'Good, now I'll just make sure he has a large headache, and doesn't remember much from the night', I figured while collecting the clothes.

After tapping a few pressure points on the servants body, I left his house and headed back to my own accommodation. "You returned quite late", the old woman greeted me with a candle. "Hehe, sorry, forgot about the time. Anyway, as you can see, I'm not drunk", I replied while heading upstairs. "Heh, young men these days...", she said to herself before heading back to her own bedroom.

I slept really well that night. The bed was comfortable, and no one was there to wake me up early. "Good morning young man. You must've been tired, it's almost noon. Anyway, have a seat, I'll give you some breakfast", the old woman greeted me. "Good morning. Yes, I was a bit tired after my journey. And thank you", I replied.

Fiona wasn't around since she left for work. After all, the wedding would take place in the afternoon. Moreover, the wedding ceremony itself was public. Though of course the party after was private. The Village Chief's intentions were rather standard. Highly positioned individuals always made such occasions public. Whether it was Grasshill Village, or Freemount Village.

"Are you going to watch the ceremony as well?", the old woman asked me while serving the breakfast. "Sure, I can have a look. How about you? Would you like me to accompany you there?", I replied. "Oh, don't be silly. I'm too old to steal such a young man. Besides, there's nothing for me to see. I'm not exactly found of these people. I'll stay at home, rest and make dinner for my little Fiona. You go have fun", she said.

After the late breakfast and some tea, the old woman gave me some cake she baked. "You can eat it on your travels, or while watching the ceremony... A shame Fiona's busy with her work, both of you could go an watch", she said. She implied that me and her granddaughter could get to know each other more. Perhaps get into a relationship. Fiona wasn't ugly, or nasty like Senty. She was caring of her loved ones, and hard working at the same time. Unfortunately, I had my share of women, and my goals didn't change.

"I'm sure there will be someone for her in the future. I'm just a traveller, and don't intent to settle anytime soon. Your granddaughter will manage, just don't push her too much. She'll find someone within her own time", I replied. "Hehe, you speak like an old man, boy... Perhaps you are right. She can take her time, albeit I'd like to see her own ceremony before passing... You are a very nice boy, if you ever change your mind, or visit the village again, I'll be happy to welcome you as a guest", she said. "I'll keep that in mind, ma'am. I'll be on my way then, farewell, and all the best", "You too boy, you too".

There was still some time before the ceremony started. Besides, I couldn't act during the day anyway. I had to wait until evening, then sneak into the party. My disguise was good only for a little bit, it wouldn't work for the entirety of the party. One reason was management. There was a person who'd oversee the servants. They knew the people who worked there. I wasn't about to take chances with claiming to be 'the new guy'. That could simply blow my cover, as well as the chances for my revenge.

I saw the ceremony from within the crowd of people. Senty and her husband seemed genuinely happy together, though I wasn't interested in that. Nick and others were present as well. Though Rand or Grond didn't even pay attention to the crowd, there was no way for them to spot me. Nick on the other hand seemed to know about my presence in the crowd. He had his signature grin while watching the ceremony.

The whole ceremony lasted perhaps half an hour, after which, invited people headed to the mansion for the party. I was a bit surprised when Village Chief announced cheaper drinks at both taverns for the next few hours. Not only could people toast his son's marriage, they could do it for less money.

'A good way to appear nice to people, and make taverns thrive. I'm sure he's not going to pay the difference. After all, the taverns got so much profit thanks to the wedding, it feels like this was on purpose', I figured. Nonetheless, as the people dispersed back home or to the taverns, I had little options on my hands. There were a few hours remaining before the evening, therefore I headed to one of the taverns as well just to pass the time.

Hour by hour, the time slowly went by. Once the sun disappeared over the horizon, I stood next to the mansion observing. Guests were everywhere. The music was playing, and the loud chatter and happy mood was ever present. I circled the mansion twice, before deciding on my plan of action.

There were eight guards all together. Two as usual at the gate, and six of them around the garden area. They didn't stay still, but rather moved around in their assigned areas. That meant, there were blind spots. The blind spot I was after, was close to the side doors that servants used. The servants could be seen walking in and out with food or drinks.

The ability to sneak in didn't give me all that much. I had to administer the poison, and to the right people at that. After observing the newlyweds, there was a way. Albeit both of them would be affected by the poison, I didn't care if the guy who married such a woman became collateral. 'I'd rather him sleep about with other women to have kids, and make this even more painful, but beggars can't be choosers', I thought.

I chose a quiet and less obvious place to change my clothes, then hid my bag, after retrieving only the bottle of Everlasting Dew. A servant with a bag was of course not a normal sight, hence it wasn't an option to take it with me. I also made sure to copy the behaviours of other servants, but my biggest worry was Fiona and the manager. She was amongst them, and we couldn't run into each other. While the manager could potentially recognise me as not one of his people. Nonetheless, there was no other way but to get inside there.

I quickly made it over the fence, avoided the area with Senty and important guests, and headed straight to the kitchen. Funny enough, I spotted the guy who was kind enough to borrow me a set of his clothes, and followed him inside the mansion. The kitchen was hectic, but fortunately large enough for ten people to move about. Fiona was there too, and she was cooking something for the guests.

I was lucky, because she didn't have time to pay attention to the servants coming in and out. The manager Fiona spoke of was there as well. Though he was busy watching people cook, rather than wonder who that new guy was. Others seemed hectic too, while one older woman handed me a tray with a dish, and told me to move it. 'Seems my worries were baseless. They are too busy to notice another guy just joining them out of nowhere', I figured and left the kitchen with that tray. The food on it smelled really nice, and made me a bit curious about the taste. 'No, no. Better to just 'work' like a servant', I said to myself and quickly delivered the food to one of the tables.

I needed a diversion inside that kitchen. I needed them to look the other way at a certain point. There were some pebbles just before the back door entrance, so I grabbed one. After a few more trips, I learned, thanks to the older woman, which wine was for the pair, as well as the more important guests situated at the podium. Albeit, I had to do a few more trips with trays and bottles to find that out.

'The problem is, I'll have to poison all the bottles, since not every bottle goes directly to the newlyweds... Fuck it, I don't care if these people have kids anyway. Besides, most of them are old', I thought and created the diversion. *Clang!*, the pebble hit one of the pots atop the stove, and made it fall. "For fuck sake! What are you people doing? We don't have the time for such mistakes. Quickly, clean that up, and start over!", the elder manager shouted at the servants in the kitchen.

That was my chance to quickly pour some poison to five different bottles. Moreover, I made sure to mark them, just to know whether Senty drunk from that bottle or not. While the old man shouted at the cooks, I grabbed one of the trays and quickly left the kitchen. At that point it was a waiting game. I couldn't deliver that wine myself, for obvious reasons. Moreover, the needed to empty a bottle already on their table, otherwise, no one would bring another.

This took another half an hour of waiting, but it was well worth it. The newlyweds required a new bottle, and they'd get that bottle. A female servant rushed with my marked bottle to the table, and placed it for the pair before leaving. 'Go on, drink it', I thought a bit impatient. They chatted, laughed and sometimes kissed, which made the wait even more annoying.

Finally, the husband poured himself, and his wife a glass, then stood up. *Cling!*, *Cling!*, *Cling!*, "I'd like to propose a toast. To my beautiful wife, who is yet to give me the most wonderful gift of them all", he announced then drunk the wine. My eyes were focused on Senty, and once the glass of wine got empty, a grin appeared on my face. "A toast indeed, heheheh", I laughed to myself quietly.

It was time for me to leave the party, get the hell out of the Grasshill Village, and return to that cursed village for a bit longer. Without many issues, I managed to leave the mansion, change my clothes, and head for the gate. Some would say that revenge consumes those who pursue it endlessly. Perhaps that's true, but the feeling of relief and satisfaction one gets from fulfilling that revenge, isn't a prize easily refused.