James Axler – Cold Asylum

With it, the maroon-clad sommelier offered a light white wine, with a hint of quince and nettle in its palate.

Following was a choice of carved meats a side of beef or a loin of pork, with rosemary and clove sauce, and a monstrous turkey, deliberately under-cooked a little, so that a fine pink juice trickled from the carver. There were also succulent ribs of lamb, served with a red currant jelly or a plate of plump pigeons, stuffed with foie gras.

Everyone’s plate came with a delicate piped ring of creamy duchess potatoes and a brown earthenware dish of seven tiny portions of different vegetables, including broccoli and a puree of cauliflower.

The dinner wine was a foreign one in a green bottle that Nathan Mandeville insisted on serving himself, taking it from the pudgy hands of the sommelier with as much reverence as if he were holding the Holy Grail.

“There is no label on this, guests. All I can say with confidence is that it is a wonderful claret. The man who sold it claimed it came from thirty years before the nukings. In the olden days before skydark there were men who could have told you the chateau. The year. Even which side of the hillside it came from. Just sip at it, friends, and you will, I think, appreciate its full majesty.”

Ryan tasted it from a large-bowled glass. “Not bad,” he commented. “Not bad.”

“Tastes bitter to me.” Dean pulled a face.

Nathan Mandeville’s kindly face was turning as sour as a lemon. “Not too bad! Bitter! Marie, what kind of”

Doc Tanner saved the day.

“It has a wonderful bouquet,” he proclaimed in a boomingly confident voice. “A premier cru , unless I miss my guess.” He poked his beaky nose inside the glass and inhaled deeply, watched with some admiration by the sommelier. “Oh, excellent. Where are the summers of yesteryear? There was once a marvellous Haut Medoc, back in Paris in” He caught Ryan’s warning glance. “I disremember. But this is truly a remarkable wine, Baron Mandeville. I would consider it a great honor to be allowed to visit your cellars at some convenient time.”

The chubby cheeks had softened again, the little blue eyes losing their icy coldness. “A man of taste and distinction, I can see, Doctor.”

There was a choice of desserts meringues as crisp as snow castles, rich, sticky puddings of dark chocolate, flavored with the zest of oranges. Cakes that were layer upon layer of fruit sauces and whipped cream. Fresh fruit salad, covered with a potent, clear liqueur that Doc whispered was probably something called, ” eau de vie framboise.”

For the first time during the meal, Marie Mandeville spoke. “You’re right, Tanner,” she said. “How come you know so much about good food and drink? Ragtag assortment of hired mercies like you lot?”

“Not mercenaries,” Ryan corrected quickly. “Seen some mercies, a month ago, up toward the Shens. We have good weapons, that’s true. But we don’t offer them for hire.”

“I have the finest collection of blasters east of the Pecos,” the baron boasted. “Tomorrow, during my guided tour of Sun Crest, you shall admire them.”

“Look forward to that,” J.B. said.

The wine that came with the desserts wasn’t like anything that Ryan had ever tasted before.

Even Dean licked his lips and asked for more.

“More? More, boy?” The baron nodded. “This bottle, here in my hand, is quite possibly the last bottle of this vintage left in the entire world. Not just in Deathlands, but in the world . It is from the late 1970s and is called a Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise. From the Domaine de Durban. For once, the label has survived the holocaust.”

“Well, it tastes like” The boy considered for a moment, head to one side. Krysty thought at that moment how like Ryan he looked. “Like a mixture of snow and honey.”

Baron Mandeville clapped his hands approvingly. “You have redeemed yourself, young man.”

Platters of cheeses were brought in by some of the silent women servants, with fresh-baked biscuits and pats of salted butter. They were accompanied by a tray of crystal decanters, each filled with a different colored drinkdark green, light green, gold, cherry-red, orange and even blue.