Lord Jollyrei’s taste for the finer things in life included a well-stocked wine cellar, and his very wise response to the growing tension, and to the arrival of a new guest, was to despatch Henri post-haste to the cellar to fetch a couple of bottles of his finest.
After a couple of glasses of that Sir Rupert and Brother Roland were, once again, the best of friends, and Barb, too, was joining in with the general conviviality.
“What do you get,” asked Barb, “if you cross a chicken with a nun?”
That floored Roland and the others. “I don’t know,” he said, puzzled, “what do you get?”
“A Pecking Order!”
The degree of hilarity in the room was disproportionate to the quality of the joke, but was directly proportional to the quality of the wine.
Suddenly Repertor burst into the room, closely followed by a lady that Jollyrei did not recognise, whom he assumed was Eulalia, and one that he did recognise for the excellent reason that he had been married to her for some years.
“Right, you lot, listen up!” Repertor was standing tall, and speaking with his old confidence. “I am going back to Bavaria, and I am going to kick Kibonreju’s sorry arse! Who’s coming with me?”
Jollyrei picked up the bottle, and checked the label. No, it was proper wine, not some hallucinogen. This was real.
“Me!” said Roland.
“Me!” said Barb.
“Count me in!” said Pilus.
“Erm,” said Wragg. Barb kicked him on the shin. “Me!” said Wragg.
“Can I fly one of the dragons?” asked Thessela, hopefully.
“I’d be glad if you would!”
“When do we leave?” asked Jollyrei, “I’m looking forward to seeing Thess’ dragon-flying skills!”
“You won’t be disappointed,” smiled Roland. “We got bounced by some flying horses just after we took off from Bavaria. Some aerobatics from Thess and a couple of blasts of flame from Sophie and it was all over!”
“Apart from my airsickness!” moaned Wragg.
Roland and Barb rolled their eyes towards the heavens.
“To answer your question, Jollyrei, as soon as possible.” Repertor continued to exude his new found confidence. God alone knew what Eulalia had said to him, but whatever it was, it had certainly done the trick.
“We attack at dawn!”