Nevertheless, he also knew that there were clerks—clerks which were probably Dolls now—that were counting every single boat, and woe betide those who were supposed to come and didn’t show up. He knew for a fact that the Emperor had humans checking over those tallies, and watching for anyone who didn’t come prove their loyalty in his boat-parade. They’d better have good reasons, like being dead, or having the boat sink on the way there.

“The Emperor has a proxy,” Star said. “It’s a statue of himself. He can see through its eyes and hear through its ears. He generally does so, from the comfort of the Palace, because he very much enjoys a spectacle that is meant to glorify him. And a Blind Feast . . . is a meal that is a kind of test. You are fitted with a helmet that will only permit you to look down at your plate, and nowhere else. You are led into the Dining Hall by your Doll, and seated. You cannot see who you are with. The helmets are removed, at intervals, in reverse of rank, starting with Kings, if there are any there. There are no Kings here presently, only Princes.”

So you need to be very careful what you say, because you don’t know who you’ll be seated with. Another version of the Game. You needed to make entertaining conversation, but you had better not misjudge your audience.

Well, he had a way to be entertaining, all right. All he had to do was continue his laments about Isla.

Or maybe I should just rant about Hakkon.

Or perhaps, just perhaps, a new tune. Perhaps he should rant about how Hakkon had betrayed him. Maybe show some paranoia and wonder aloud if Hakkon planned to hire an assassin to kill him, so that he could take over as Duke.

Yes, I think that will do. It certainly would feed into things they themselves might be wondering about . . . if there is someone back home who is plotting to replace them.

“So just another hideous meal to get through,” he sighed, and looked out the window again.

The tower trembled, reminding him once again of the Child Below, and the terrifying Elementals that were searching for it.

“Will you be going down to dinner?” Star asked.

“No. I have no reason to. What is there down there for me? Just another meal I can’t eat, and people who can give me no advice.”

Tomorrow is the Regatta. And I still have no idea how I am going to keep my people who are left behind safe. Or how to free that poor Earth Elemental.

“This one will bring you and your companion food,” Star said; he glanced over at the Doll and saw that it was still covering its hand. Interesting. Why would they be scrying him now? And why for so long?

Maybe the mage assigned to me is just a sadist.