Chapter Seven
The two priestesses wreathed the champions in garlands of evergreen. Servants laid out tables on the tournament field and piled them with roasted boar, apples, bread, and wine. As the stars came out, they lit torches all around, their bright-dancing flames ringing the circle. Darna drank her fill as the feast rolled on past midnight and the moon rode high on the dome of the sky.
Eventually, the champions staggered off to take their blessings from the priestesses. The groaning boards lightened and the celebrants staggered away. Ivanat had spent the evening with the prince of Helanum and his court, but Darna had kept to the fringes and the shadows, watching the noblemen. Their world was strange to her. What would it be like to be part of it? As the Helanum prince walked back
