There, Alis and Fenice were installed at the head table, and the Greeks and Germans were seated at long tables on opposite sides of the room. It seemed rather adversarial to Terence, but he supposed that mingling the two groups would have been useless, since few from either side spoke the other's language. Terence and Dinadan were seated together on the Greek side of the room, but Acoriondes was at the head table, beside Cligés, who was beside Alis. "Poor old Acoriondes," Dinadan said, grinning at their friend. "I suppose he's acting as a sort of watchdog up there." Terence nodded abstractedly. He suspected that Acoriondes had arranged to sit where he could catch Alis when he eventually passed out, but the regent showed no sign of succumbing to his wine. Quite the opposite, he seemed almost lively. He chattered happily to everyone within earshot, regardless of whether that person spoke Greek, and toward his new wife behaved in a markedly affectionate fashion. Fenice, for her part, ignored her new husband, leaning toward him only so as to look around him at Cligés, on the regent's other hand.
