The Athamanas' team finally reached the danovus palace. Halfway to their destination, Etele's ghost army joined them. So they all reached the mountain together. Of course, the danovuses were already waiting for them, so as soon as they reached the gate, it opened to the group of ghosts and hegins.
"I never thought it would be this easy." Etele chuckled as they walked to the great hall, following the palace's corridors lit by huge torches.
"If they hadn't agreed to peace, it wouldn't have been so easy, Boss." Tame, who was walking next to Etele, pursed his lips in a half smile.
"But luckily they agreed." Wandi interrupted, as he looked at the two ghosts with a faint smile.
"It depends on what you consider luck. Some wanted to fight." Tame shrugged and opened his mouth to continue, but when he glanced at Etele he fell completely silent. Thus the group moved on silently within the walls of the danovus palace.
"I welcome you to the center of our empire. I am Virdar and it is my pleasure to host you for our peace feast." This was the first thing the group heard from Virdar, the leader of the danovuses, when the man greeted them after they entered the great hall.
"This is the time to answer, Boss." Tame, standing next to him, elbowed Etele in the side and tried to lower his voice as much as he could, even though he was aware that even his quietest whisper would be heard as a shout to the danovuses, but appearances had to be maintained. Even if it was mostly just to calm Tame's soul.
" And what can I say? Thanks?" Etele grimaced, and Razvan sighed heavily and stepped next to his former táltos. He placed his right hand over his heart and spoke.
"It is a pleasure for us that you have accepted the peace and that you have invited us to this feast. Thank you for your kindness, my lord." The Zaukán boy said in a respectful voice.
"You have always been better at this than I." Etele muttered under his breath.
"Come, dear guests, and take your seats. The feast is waiting for you." Virdar waved as he turned his back on the group and walked up the huge stairs to his own place.
"Sit down." Etele turned to his ghosts, who had now almost occupied the seats next to the tables on the lower levels. "I guess we're going up." He looked questioningly at the two danovuses of their team, who both nodded. "Then one of you should lead the way." He nodded towards the stairs.
At this, Physalis Alkekengi and Wandi looked at each other. It was as if they were having some silent conversation, even their facial expressions changed, but they didn't say a word. Not until Alkekengi took a deep breath, looked up at the ceiling and held up her hands, as if surrendering.
"Come on." She finally pushed it out and with clenched fists, she stomped up to the top level, where a new table had been set up next to the elders of the danovuses. The team of the living took their seats next to it, with Etele and Tame on their sides.
"My dear guests, my brothers. It's time to start the feast. Eat, drink, enjoy yourselves." Virdar raised his glass, and the danovuses raised theirs at the same time and the festive feast began.
For a while, there was an awkward silence for the living, this was not exactly how the hegins imagined a feast, no matter what kind it was, but then slowly whispers and then louder voices began to fill the danovuses' halls as the drink ran freely. By the time they reached the end of the dinner, the atmosphere was almost as good as the Athamanas were used to at home.
"Tell me, Virdar, was that your name?" Etele spoke up after a long while.
"Yes. What do you want to know, ghost king?" The leader of the danovuses asked with a kind smile.
"Just how did this woman convince you to accept our peace offer?" The Koál ghost nudged towards Physalis Alkekengi.
"Hey, I have a name too, ghost!" Alkekengi got worked up, but of course Etele wasn't very impressed by the thing.
"As a matter of fact, she had pretty good arguments." Virdar mused.
"And the young gentleman too. I've never seen anyone argue like that before." An old danovus spoke up.
"He was really convincing." Another one agreed with him.
"And he spoke with such empathy." A third raised his voice.
"I was moved." A fourth one put his hand over his heart and as if they were just waiting for this, the danovuses began to shower him with praise.
"Yo, Wandi, these really like you." Citar chuckled as he leaned close to his friend's ear to whisper in it.
"They're just exaggerating." The Vojk heir blushed, but not from the praise, but from the fact that every danovus present saw how close Citar was to him.
"They are right." The Bolacsuk boy laughed and continued eating.
"That's enough." Wandi whispered the order, but so so quietly that no human ear could hear it.
"Did you say something?" Citar narrowed his eyes and poked his ear.
"No." Wandi shook his head, and the boy sitting next to him just shrugged and waved.
"It must have been just a bug." He left it at that.
"I guess now that peace has been made, they will retreat from our territories, right?" The leader of the danovuses turned to Etele.
"That's the plan, if this feast hadn't happened, we wouldn't even be here." The Koál ghost shrugged.
"Thank you for your honesty. It's good to know that my lands will soon be free. Should we help the living get back to the continent?" The old danovus asked, as he guided his gaze along the Athamanas.
"Thank you for the offer, but we will solve it ourselves." Wandi spoke in a serious voice, before any of the Athamanas could, while looking straight at the danovus leader, as if waiting to see if he dared to question his decision.
"As you wish. Do you need anything on your journey?" He asked after a nod.
"We will make do with what we have." Wandi stated, then slowly stood up. "I think it is time for us to leave. We have wasted enough of your time, sir." He said in a friendly voice, then looked around his team.
Although the Athamanas did not know why their friend wanted to leave the party so quickly, yet they did not question him. Instead, they all stood up and after a farewell, left the danovus palace in Szelevu. They knew that Wandi must have had a good reason for leaving so quickly and that when he felt the time was right, he would tell them why they had to leave the celebration in such a hurry.