so that each glistened more like a mask. Their clothing was dark and clung to their bodies in the style I’d seen in town—short robes and leggings. I could only assume that these were the finest actors in the capital. One couldn’t mistake their graceful posture, or the way some of the older or more muscled members swaggered down the center aisle, as though not even performing for the Emperor himself could faze them.
“They are all men,” Lord Temur narrated, in a low whisper. “Many years ago and well before my time, local authorities had… a great deal of trouble with members of the audience who grew overly excited while gazing upon such beauties.”
“Oh, how wonderful,” I said.
“Just like the prince, huh?” Alcibiades said, thankfully in a voice low enough that only I could hear it. “Maybe it’s a Ke-Han preoccupation.”
Behind the actors came their stagehands and costumers—men and women carrying cloth bundles on their backs, and large paper screens upon which were painted country landscapes at night. Their faces were entirely unremarkable to look at, and I wondered if any of them had signed on with the troupe in the hopes of being actors, only to have their poor little hopes and dreams dashed to pieces. There was all sort of hardship in the world waiting for those who were mediocre.
One or two men in our party craned their necks around with interest, as though they’d never seen so much as a common mummer’s production. Others began whispering excitedly at the utter foreignness of the group parading before us. Whatever else I could say about the Emperor, he was at least a man who knew how to entertain his guests.
The costumers opened their bags behind the night-screens, so that all we could see were the shadowy outlines of clothing being removed—what I imagined to be the finest of robes kept hidden from the audience until the performers made their appearance swathed in them. As the actors prepared, the lights were dimmed, the lantern-bearing servants rearranging themselves and spreading out to the farthest edges of the chamber.
“I do say,” I whispered, laying a hand on Alcibiades’ arm. “This is the most delightfully eerie atmosphere for a play. I thought that it was meant to be a love story!”
“Nah.” Alcibiades shook his head, but refrained from trying to shake me off as usual. “It’s a play about ghosts, isn’t it? I don’t know of any real people who could’ve lived on the moon, anyway.”
Lord Temur seemed to have overheard our conversation, as he leaned forward on his elbows, dropping his voice to a murmur. “In fact, our most traditional plays are meant to convey times past, so that in many ways they are all—just as you stated, General—about ghosts. They are simply the ghosts from and of our past, instead of those more supernatural creatures you might first imagine when you hear the word. In that sense, you are both correct. It is a love story and a ghost story both.”
Josette shivered as though she’d felt a turn in the air. “Some of them looked like supernatural creatures. The actors, I mean. If you don’t mind my saying so, Lord Temur.”
He shook his head, smiling a diplomat’s smile. I thought that if Lord Temur weren’t careful, we’d convince him to start making expressions all the time, and he’d be lost for certain among his peers. Or, at least, he would begin to make a very poor diplomat. “They are not meant to look natural. If that is what you meant, then you are paying them a compliment.”
“Oh.” Josette nodded, not looking entirely sure that she’d meant it to be one. “Right, then.”
“I wonder which one was the princess in the moon,” Alcibiades said, toying idly with one of his sticks. As seemed par for the night, he was speaking far too loudly. “I hope it was the one with his hair all dolled up in curls.” And then, as though it were the most scandalous piece of news he could have shared with us: “He winked at me, you know.”
Across the table, Josette stiffened, and I had to hide my laughter behind my sleeve once again.
“I fear the language barrier would prove too much for you, my dear,” I said, doing my best to console him. “Not to mention the difference in nationality. He is from the moon, and all.”
Alcibiades snorted. “You don’t need language for everything. Let alone worrying about a barrier. If he was a woman, I mean.”