“I’m not that out of shape,” he grumbled, albeit good-naturedly. “Getting back into it, anyway. Any more of this Ke-Han diet and I’ll be skinnier than you are.”
“Who knows,” I said. “It might allow you to be quicker on your feet.”
“Like an emperor,” he muttered, and we both glanced toward the dais, where Emperor Iseul was eating as though neither gods nor royalty ever deigned to get hungry. Alcibiades skewered some of the fish on his plate with hands too large for his sticks and the delicate fillet was flaked to pieces by his attempts. “Do you suppose he’s ever cracked a smile?”
“I’m sure he has, my dear,” I said, though it was a flippant response, and without real thought or honesty behind it. When we were in a group like this, then we were of necessity still diplomats. I was quite skilled when it came to lying, and by my understanding, a diplomat’s sole duty was to lie through his teeth no matter what obstacles lay in his path. However, I would have preferred not to lie to Alcibiades, and so resolved to answer his question more seriously later in the evening, when we were alone and I could do so freely. I did so wish to speak of the Emperor—I did so wish to learn what Alcibiades had learned directly from the source, by fighting with him. Soldiers and warriors had instincts I barely understood.
Depending on whether or not Alcibiades succeeded in procuring more of that refreshing water or not, of course. It had worked so far very much in my favor; with its aid, I might even convince him to spend some time before bed discussing the day’s events without him calling it gossipmongering. It wasn’t gossipmongering simply to confer on occurrences of some interest to us both. But the wine was bound to make him somewhat more amenable.
After dinner there were no teacakes, but a pale, flavored gelatin that even Josette had trouble eating with her sticks. The problem was that it went all to pieces the moment you exerted any pressure on it, so that the safest way was to maneuver a soft hold. It required a control that I endeavored to mimic from Lord Temur’s example. I’d never seen the like of such desserts in Volstov, of course, and after having eaten some here, I wouldn’t precisely have called it my favorite of desserts, but it was delightfully mild and light, a palate cleanser as an end to the meal.
Dessert aside, there may have been some truth in Alcibiades’ words about losing weight on a diet of strictly Ke-Han foods. Perhaps once we got back, I would recommend it to one or two of my friends, who had little success with heavier Volstovic fare.
No one stood after our sumptuous meal was through. It was customary to wait for the Emperor to make his move first, of course, but after dessert there was to be the theatre company’s production, and though I’d imagined we might at least rearrange the chairs and clear the tables out of the way to make an empty space for the troupe to perform, no one moved.
Alcibiades stroked his stomach, his fingers feeling their way around the new buttons of his coat in a way that brought satisfaction to his face, I hoped; it was always possible his satisfaction was inspired simply by the fullness of his stomach.
“Let’s have the play, then,” he said, as if he’d taken leave of his senses completely and thought he was the Emperor. Then again, after their little encounter, I didn’t think that the Emperor was the sort of man Alcibiades would be comparing himself to anytime soon.
“I’m certain that it will be starting at any moment,” Lord Temur said, aligning his sticks neatly at the front of his bowl.
Then, as if summoned by some external force, a pair of servants went scurrying toward the front entrance to the dining hall, the way we’d all come in.
All at once the actors appeared in the doorway, and they were a curious-looking group by all accounts. The men wore their hair pushed back off their faces, and some of them kept it pinned back under skullcaps. The women wore their hair looped back in elaborate curling styles that were more fascinating than even the Ke-Han warrior braids. All had eyes lined in dark pencil, and the imperfections in their faces smoothed over with a fine patina of white stage makeup,