A Luxurious Feast

Shortly after the speech and a few minutes of large cheers the banquet officially began. Victor took a seat right next to Ashara. Since the two joined the ship he never really tried to have a conversation with her, since he knew she would be wary of a stranger trying to approach her. But Victor couldn't help but notice the change of attitude towards him during the day. The cold distance changed to curiosity.

"How do you feel about House Di Natale? Did you expect something different from a family famous for his soldiers, mercenaries, and gladiators?" Victor said jokingly.

Ashara was honestly quite surprised. This whole day was very strange for her. But she didn't feel uncomfortable, as the atmosphere around this noble family was quite comforting.

"It feels very strange to me, unlike any family in Dorne, but everything so far is very nice. Your mother and sisters are very lovely people." Ashara said a little uncomfortable. She didn't really want to evaluate something she only knew for a day, but not answering would be rude in her opinion.

"Don't worry, just enjoy your time here. I think you will like the next few hours. Many people don't know, but the cuisine auf House Di Natale is unique. We will start with Antipasti. This is something I came up with and teached to my little sisters. They went on and had fun with their maidservants in the kitchen all day, so the cooks picked up the recipes. The fish and noodles are the freshest and most well-made in the Known World." Victor said happily. Bringing the food recipes of his last world to the world of Game of Thrones and claiming credibility was something like his guilty pleasure.

Ashara Dayne was a beautiful but slim girl and most of the time she didn't eat very much. To be fair, Dorne wasn't really known for their well-crafted and delicious cuisine. But today she seemed completely captivated by food. Antipasti was something she never experienced before. She could sea food at Starfall as well, but the fishy and salty flavors were never to her liking, but today it felt very tasty. Once the starter was finished the main course was going to happen. A lot of servants carried large wooden plates towards every table, one for each person. The plates for the men were slightly larger than the plates for the women.

When Ashara saw the round shaped object steaming in front of her she didn't know how to start. Victor was happily watching from the side. Observing someone with a noble temperament in front of a pizza and not knowing how to eat was completely hilarious.

"This is called 'Pizza' and is unique to House Di Natale and Lys. The guests of our family liked it so much that we opened a store in Lys that is very well known and became a unique attraction, visited by many people. I gifted the store and the recipe to Giulia when she was four years, and it will be her future business to spread this. You just need to use the knife and fork to slowly cut it, piece by piece, but be careful the cheese and sauce are very hot. Don't burn yourself on your first day as my guest." Victor said, with a little care in his voice.

The first taste of pizza was truly something to remember for Ashara. There were fungi and some greens on her pizza, a very light taste and not creasy. The dough was very fluffy, but it had a crunch when biting through it. She loved this new dish and the way of eating it.

The mood in the banquet hall was very happy. The guardians sitting at the many tables in the large hall were drinking wine and toasting with self-made beer from the Stepstones. Victor developed a brewery on the small island Golden Haven. The wheat growing there was very different in flavor, unique, and the light taste was very welcomed by the people of Lys. Victors' grandparents were filled with joy and Suzanne had to stop Emilio from drinking too much out of happiness. Amando, his father, was helping the two little girls cutting their pizza, especially little Diane. He was even blowing on every piece for her as to not burn the little girl. Isabella was rolling her eyes next to him. A grown man with his little padded jacket.

When the main course ended everyone was very satisfied. Even though her pizza was a little smaller, Ashara felt quite full after eating everything. Victors noticed her satisfied appearance and couldn't help but joke with her.

"Our family uses a three-course menu most of the time, so there will be on last dish left, a dessert. You need to eat the dessert a little slow, as the temperature is very low."

With a lot of confusion Ashara was eagerly waiting for the last dish. How could Victor present a cool dish to so many people, when the temperature in Lys was not much lower than in Dorne. Ice during the sunny days in Dorne was something people could only dream of.

When the servants finally brought many small but very finely crafted bowls into the banquet hall, she was very surprised by the drop in temperature. There was something milky and white in the bowl and she could feel the low temperature by putting her hands on the bowl itself. Victor showed her how to approach the dish, by taking a small metal spoon and putting a small piece of ice cream into his mouth. The milky and refreshing feeling, combined with the honey and sugar of Redwater, was a real heavenly feeling.

Ice cream with honey was Ashara's absolute favorite today. If the portion was not small, as it was still very demanding and costly to make ice cream, and she had eaten too much food for the evening, she might have even asked for a second try. She noticed many different colors of ice cream at the tables and was curiously looking around.

Today would be something the beautiful girl from Dorne would never forget. On the side Victor was secretly snickering. Capturing the stomach before capturing the heart seemed to work quite well in the world of Ice and Fire.