4 days had gone by quickly.... and today, the entire Capital was in festivity.
.
The celebrations which had been going on for 3 days now.... was like a riot of color, as everyone was hyped up than usual.
The streets were filled with Music and song, as the festive beats continuously lifted the people's spirits.
They clapped, danced and drank.... until they could no longer stand still.
.
They wobbled, like worms.... as they tried to walk forward.
Some leaned on the walls, while others crawled in the ground.... as they tried to find their homes.
In fact, the streets were all filled with people, sleeping beside the roads, bars, inns, and market areas.
.
But even with all this going on, something seemed out of place with the celebration.
It was as if they had been forced to commemorate the day... as many of them tried to get home, but were stopped by numerous guards with swords.
.
Fear crept into many, and so they turned to ale for comfort.
They didn't have a choice, since they were too scared not to celebrate.
Their Tyrant of a ruler, was turning 45 today.
And if they didn't continue the festivities... well, all they could say was that the consequences would be unimaginable.
As it would mean that they wished their king death instead.
.
'Lalalalalala!'
'Clap! Clap! Clap!'
'Dindindindindin!'
Within the Capital, the streets had been filled with paid dancers and actors... who tried to make everyone else dance and sing in celebration.
Also, within the bars and restaurants.....there were numerous storytellers, who told brave, noble and righteous tales about their king.
.
These people had been dancing, singing and telling tales for 3 days straight in rotation.
And at this point, they were truly exhausted!
Their feet hurt, their voices cracked.... and their throats were constantly dry.
Singing continuously in the early spring weather... was really damaging to their bodies.
.
Yup!
It was March 26th..... the first few days of spring.
But one shouldn't be fooled, as there were still heaps of snow lying about the streets.
And in those heaps, one would find several drunken people freezing to death.
Even when the rain fell 3 days ago.... many of them still had to take refuge within the restaurants and pubs.
Essentially... no one dared to ho home home, as the show had to go on for their king.
.
And at this point, they truly wished that the day could pass by quickly.
They thought of the next day as their salvation.
'Lalalalallalala!'
'Clal! Clap! Clap!'
And just like that, they continued their celebrations with their salvation in mind.
.
But unlike the festive noisy streets, the palace was more focused on preparing for the big day.
Over the course of 3 weeks, they had been clearing all the snow with the help of brooms that were made from twigs and tree branches.
As for icy parts, they used sharp spears to break them... as well as poured boiling water on the surfaces.
.
Even if snow fell again, they would still need to do the same repetitive actions all over again.
The palace was a constantly visited place for all the nobles, decision makers and knights within the Capital.
As they either had to take assignments personal from their king... or escort their masters as guards to the palace, even if they didn't have an audience with the king.
They could wait for their masters in the gardens.
.
So because of the palace' significance.... of course they had to constantly clean it up.
But unlike other times where they could leave snow on the ground and clear only the roads.... this time, everything had to go.
.
"Hurry.... place that statue there!!
No no no.... not there you fool!.... There!!!!!!"
"Clean up the walls... I can still see a spider's web up there!"
"Didn't I tell you to get at least 1,300 massive batches of firewood for tonight?
Why are there only 912 batches here?
Ahhhhhh!!!!
With each batch having just 50 sticks of wood..... Do you know how many fireplaces wood be lit today and how much time it took for one batch to burn?
Huh!
Do you think that this is child's plan here?
With all the grand fireplaces within the hall..... just one fireplace can take 100 massive stacks of firewood.
So tell me IDIOT!... how the hell is this amount going to last throughout the entire night well into the morning?
And why are some of the firewood stacks wet?
Do you think that they would burn well?"
"I'll kill you!
Don't you know that the decorations need to be finished fast within the next 2 hours, before the cleaning team comes in?
So why do I see that you're left with 6 hours of work instead of 2?
What the hell have you a bee doing since then?"
"You fools!
Look at what you're doing?
Don't you know that we need at least 5 thousand loaves of bread for the occasion?
Why are we still short of 700?
Morons!.... just a bunch of Morons!"
"^" [everyone who was being yelled at]
.
All around the palace, the head butler, head maid, head cook..... infact, head everything... were giving orders like crazy, as they realized that the moment of truth was slowly closing in on them.
Their lives were on the line for heaven's sake!
.
For the head cook, if the food wasn't done properly, and someone even has food poisoning..... then they would be suspected of actually using real poisons to kill a noble.
And of course, the punishment was death... for him and his entire generation.
.
The ordinary cooks wouldn't be punished.
But he, as the main cook who was supposed to oversee hundreds of palace cooks... would be killed.
And even if the nobles had poison tasters... sometimes, these tasters could just be having an allergic reaction, and it would spell out poison.
.
One should know that poison tasters had just become a thing 80 years ago.
And even though that seemed like a long time, new poisons are discovered almost every year..... so no matter what, it could always backfire on the cooks.
.
As for the other duty heads, their punishments weren't lesser to the cooks at all.
If they should make their king loose face because so and so was dirty, messy or not done properly..... then you best believe that Alec would have their heads as well.
.
If the firewood suddenly ran out in between the palace festivities, and the Hall suddenly turned cold with problem freezing..... hehehehe.... they could forget going seeing the sunrise ever again.
So why shouldn't they yell at these imbeciles who wanted to cause their deaths so soon?
"Morons!"
"You fools!"
"Pui!!.... You're all just good-for-nothings!!"
"_"
.
As the servants and palace slaves went about their busy lives..... the royal family on the other hand, were also preparing for the main event as well.
Buy unlike the rest, they were so chilled and stress-free about the whole ordeal.
.
Sitting in a large circular pool bath filled with water, milk, and lavender..... numerous royal women were currently being attended to at the same time.
Their arms were stretched sideways, and their wet long luscious hairs, were all left dangling on their chests.... as multiple maids unhurriedly scrubbed their body carefully, lest they roughened their skins.
.
The maids reddened their lips by pricking it with needles..... and the top layer of their toenails were scrapped off using a knife.
And at the end, they let the women soak in the milky bath for another 30 minutes.
It was believed that the combination of cow's milk, lavender, and water.... could make any woman's features radiate like the sun's magnificent light.
.
In the bath, all 3 queens... as well as Cary, were all soaking quietly within the milky mixture.
"So... are we all going to keep making this awkward?" The first queen asked sarcastically, as she looked at the other queens within the pool.
"Whether it's awkward or not, what does it have to do with you?"
"Please, do us a favor and SHUT YOUR TRAP!!!!"
"_"
.
"2nd and 3rd mother..... even though I respect you all, I cant have any of you talk to my mother like that..... so please, mind your tone!"
"And who invited you into this conversation?
What?.... your mother didn't teach you how to keep quiet in the presence of your elders?"
"Tsk... she's just a spoiled brat, nothing more."
'Splash!!"
The first queen woke up in anger, and slapped the milky water.
.
"That's enough!!
How dare you talk to my daughter like that?"
"So what if we did?
Just what are you going to do about it?"
"I suggest you sit your bloated ass down, before I assist you with that."
"How dare you call me bloated?" The first queen raged.
"What?..... do you need a mirror or something?
Just look at that huge waist you have there.... coupled with that bulging belly of yours.
Hahahha... if that isn't bloated, then I don't know what is."
"That's it!!
I've had enough!!"
.
Immediately, all 4 women pounced on each other like cats.
'Splash!'
'Scriieeetch!!'
"Ahh.... my hair!
You b**ch!!!"
"Hahahhahhahah.... you're still as weak as ever, old hag!"
"_"
5 minutes later, their maids who had heard the commotion.... came in and separated the women, who were busy scratching and clawing at each other.
"Let me go!
I'll kill her!!"
"Kill me?
Hahahahha!!
Alright, come then old hag.... I'm waiting!"
"_"
.
At the end, everyone left the bathroom with 1 or 2 scars on their faces.
In their minds, they all had one thought.
'Hmmp!!
Just you wait!!
After tonight, I'll show all of you who's boss!!'