Page 139 of The King's Menagerie

"Somewhat regular," Shafiq replied. "I host one every few weeks, save when I'm especially busy or it's simply too hot, since it's exorbitantly expensive for anyone but me to host these larger gatherings within the palace, with the rare exception that's partly funded by the crown, anyway. It's a good chance for lesser known poets, singers, and such to be seen."

"That's kind of you."

Shafiq laughed. "Not really. It all benefits the throne at the end of the day. Drink, drink. The poetry readings will start soon, and they can be…"

"Interesting," Ender drawled.

Jankin smiled after taking the sip of wine Berkant offered up. "I once had to sit through a ballad a man wrote about how terrible his life was since his wife left him and how it was all her fault. I would have liked to hear her version of events. Horrendous poem, everybody in the room was uncomfortable. When it threatened to go into a third part, the prince hosting the dinner finally rang the bell. I'm pretty sure that was turned into a fourth part later."

Ender and Nadir laughed in unison, perfect mirrors of each other, framing their king beautifully. He wanted to hear the tale of how they came to be concubines, for surely such a thing must be extraordinarily rare, and no small scandal.

"They would make for a good ballad," Berkant said, motioning to the twins. "Didn't even know the other existed until last year. Kidnapping, attempted murder…"

"Oh, be quiet," Ender said without heat. "Don't think I was the one who started off under arrest for beating a man nearly to death."

"He deserved it."

Jankin had roughly a thousand questions, but he refused to be a nosy ass. Instead, he said, "When I was in Pelenna, there was a huge scandal about the death of a lord. Everyone thought he'd been killed by making the stupid decision to drink heavily before going frost bear hunting, which is a stupid thing to do when you're sober and in great health. But it turned out he wasn't drunk—he'd been poisoned. I arrived right as they were going around arresting everyone even slightly related to the matter to pin down who the killer or killers were. By the time I left nine months later, they were still sorting the mess out. That was… two or so years ago."

"It was his brother and wife," said a new voice.

Turning slightly to his left, Jankin took in the new person. Pretty, pouty, with a tumble of curls that probably helped him get his way quite a lot, if he was inclined to that sort of brattiness. Which Jankin would not judge him for, unless he was also a selfish brat who made a hobby of hurting people. He'd seen that kind more often than he liked.

"What do you know that we do not, Lord Mazin?" Shafiq asked congenially.

"I have a friend from school, back when I went to Petch to study for a few years, who is from Pelenna and also close friends with someone from the branch family. Lord Igor was the victim, and it was his wife and brother who conspired to poison him because he'd discovered their affair."

"How torrid," Ender said.

Nadir added, "And depressing."

"The way of the nobility," Lord Mazin said. "I see much of it with my family's ties."

"What ties are those, if I may ask."

"Wine," Berkant said, and Mazin nodded in agreement. "Lord Mazin's family is one of the wealthiest and most powerful in the kingdom because they own several wineries and trade companies. A large percentage of the wine going in and out of the country is produced or traded by them."

"Makes sense why you'd see so much," Jankin replied. Where there was alcohol and entitlement, there was always drama.

"Never a dull moment, to be sure," Mazin said. "Your dancing last night was lovely, Master Jankin. I'm sure you hear that often."

"Doesn't mean I get tired of hearing it." Jankin winked. "Thank you, my lord."

The first poetry reading started then, as servants cleared away the first course and brought out fresh wine to bridge the first and second courses. And the second course would come with a whole new set of wines. It must take years and years to master what wines went with which meals, courses, and so forth. Was there staff devoted exclusively to that, or was it something kitchen staff as a whole simply picked up along the way?

Maybe he'd be here long enough to learn the answer to that and all the other questions slowly piling up. Wasn't like he was on a schedule, and so far, Tavamara was proving to be a pleasant place to stay. Even before he'd been invited to the palace he'd enjoyed it.

The poet had a strong, clear, pretty voice, reciting a poem that was a bit difficult for Jankin to follow but seemed to be about a clever smuggler and a noblewoman he accidentallykidnapped. Thankfully, the poem wasn't overly long and ended happily.

After that was a quartet who sang another ballad, each singer taking different parts signaled by various masks they swapped in and out.

The wines in the second course were stronger than the prelude and first course. With every wine he appreciated the use of cups—more dishes really—that only held a sip or two at time. If they drank entire, actual cups all the time, nobody in the palace would ever be sober.

As the singers finished, they were replaced by another reading, a woman this time, with a beautiful voice, and her performance was so well done, she must be a professional of some sort. But Shafiq had said this was for smaller performers who would not have the opportunity to be widely seen otherwise.

"No one has actually given me any information about my dance tomorrow," Jankin said as they watched a pair of women dance, something that was a Lavarre barrel dance at its base but with components of Tavamaran fire dancing. Though sadly there was no fire. If he recalled, fire dancing wasn't really much of a thing anymore. He'd tried to find someone to teach him but had failed utterly. "I've been so busy today, I only just realized."

Shafiq gave away nothing on his face, but on his other side, Nadir rose smoothly and slipped away, behind a hedge that surely led nowhere? But must lead somewhere, in fact, because he did not reappear, and Jankin highly doubted he was just standing around behind a shrub for no reason.

---