Chapter 8 Chapter Eight Lady Thyme

Kelva was very different from what I expected.Verity said he was a dandy, but what I saw was a man who was aging fast, thin and troubled, in luxurious clothes like armor against time.His graying hair was tied back in a thin braid, as if he were still a soldier, and he walked with the characteristic stance of someone who is very skilled at swordsmanship. I looked at him the way Chade taught me to look at people, and before we sat down I felt like I knew him well.But it wasn't until we were seated at the dinner table (my seat was not far from the princes and nobles, which surprised me) that I really looked into the soul of this man, not because of what he did, but because of his wife The way you behave when you come to dine together.

I guess Mrs. Grace of Kelva was not a few years older than I was, and she was adorned like a magpie's nest. I've never seen such a show of extravagance yet such a lack of taste in her attire.She sat down, coy, and made a lot of small movements, looking like a courting bird; the fragrance on her body came like a tide, and the smell of copper was more than that of flowers.She brought a puppy with her, a mutt with sleek fur and big eyes, and she murmured softly and put him on her lap, and the puppy leaned against her, its chin resting on the table.She kept her eyes on Prince Verity, to see if he had noticed her, if he had been impressed by her.I watched Kelva watch her flirt with the prince, and I thought, that's half the problem with our watchtower being unmanned.

That dinner was a big test for me.I am very hungry, but etiquette forbids me to appear very hungry.I ate as Burrich taught me, waiting for Verity to pick up the spoon, and stopping once he lost interest in a dish.I crave a big plate full of good meat with bread to soak up the juices, but what we get instead are morsels of meat with strange seasonings, exotic sugar boils Fruit, pale bread, and vegetables boiled to color and seasoned.The spectacle is impressive because so much good food has been spoiled by so-called trendy cooking.I could see that Verity's appetite was as lacking as mine, and I wondered if everyone could see that the Prince didn't think the meal was very good.

Chade trained me better than I knew.I nodded politely to a young woman sitting next to me, echoing her that good linen is hard to come by in Riben these days, while straining my ears to catch the important conversation across the table .Not a word about why we're here, that's something Verity will discuss behind closed doors with Ser Kelva tomorrow, but a lot of what I've heard has to do with manning the Watchtower on Watch Island It is related to other things, and people have more different perspectives to observe this matter. I heard someone mutter that the roads are not as well maintained as they used to be.One woman said she was glad to see repairs to the fortifications of Fort Bayguard again.Another man complained that the inland brigands were so rampant that it would be nice to have two-thirds of his cargo through Faro.This seems to be the reason why the woman next to me complains about the lack of good fabrics.I watched Sir Kelva, and how he admired his young wife's every move with indulgence.I heard Chade make a comment, as if he were whispering in my ear: "This duke isn't thinking about running his Grand Duchy." I doubt the cost of road repairs and keeping the trade roads safe from thieves Mrs. Xianya wore all the soldiers' salaries; perhaps her jewel-studded, jingling earrings should have been used to pay for the stationing of the Watchtower on Watch Island.

The dinner was finally over, my stomach was full, but the feeling of hunger was not satisfied at all, because I didn't know what I was eating after eating that meal for a long time.After dinner there were two minstrels and a poet for a sideshow, but instead of listening to the poet's elaborate sentences or the singer's ballads, I was absorbed in the chatter of the others.Kelva sat on the prince's right, his wife on the left, and the pet dog sat on the same chair as her. Xianya sat there, bathed in the glory of the prince's presence.Her hands were often raised to touch the earrings and then the bracelet, she was not used to wearing so much jewelry.I suspect that she was born in an ordinary family, but now she flies up the branch and becomes a phoenix, which makes her feel amazed and intimidated.She blushed as a minstrel stared at her and sang "Beautiful Rose in Clover."But as time passed, I became more and more tired, and I could see that Mrs. Xianya was getting worse and worse.Once she yawned and raised her hand to cover her mouth but it was too late.Her little dog had fallen asleep on her lap, twitching and whimpering in the dreams of its little head.She looked more and more sleepy like a child, holding the puppy as if it were a doll, leaning her head back on the corner of the chair, and twice dozing off.I saw her surreptitiously squeeze her wrist, trying to stay awake.When Kelva summoned the singer and poet to come forward to reward her, she was visibly relieved, and then she took her husband's arm and went back to the room together, holding the dog in her arms and never letting go.

Relieved, too, I went upstairs to the vestibule of Verity's room.Charin procured me a feather quilt and some blankets, and the floor was as comfortable as my own bed.I longed for sleep, but Charin motioned me into Verity's bedroom.Verity is a soldier by nature, and doesn't like a few boys standing by to help him take off his boots and so on. Only Charin and I are here.Verity took off his clothes and threw them away, and Harlem muttered after the prince to pick them up and smooth them out, then immediately took Verity's boots to a corner to get more wax.Verity pulled on her pajamas and turned to face me.

"How? What can you report?" So I reported to him, as I did to Chade, everything I had heard, as literally as I could, and who said it to whom.At the end I added my own guesses as to the implications of all this. "Kelva has a young wife who is easy to please with wealth and gifts," I concluded. "She has no conception of the responsibilities of her position, let alone the responsibilities of her husband. Kelva neglects his duties and spends money, time, and energy trying to please her. It's disrespectful to say that, but I suspect he He is no longer able to show his majesty, so he uses gifts to make up for it and satisfy his young bride."

Verity sighed heavily.He's in bed by the end of my story, and now he pokes at a pillow that's too soft and folds it up so there's more cushion under his head. "Damn horseman," he said absently, "this kind of question is his specialty, not mine. Fitz, you talk like your father. If he was around, he'd find something A subtle way to handle the whole thing. With Jun, it would have been settled, all he had to do was smile and kiss someone's hand. But that's not my style, and I'm not going to pretend ’” He tossed and turned uncomfortably on the bed, as if expecting me to argue his duties. "Kelva is a man and a duke, and it is his duty to man that watchtower. It's a very simple matter, and I'm going to tell him straight up: send decent soldiers to guard it. That watchtower, let them stay there, give them a little bit of a treat so they're willing to do their best. It's very innocent in my opinion, and I'm not going to turn it into a diplomatic dance."

He turned heavily on the bed, suddenly turning his back on me. "Lights off, Charin." Charin did, so quickly I stood in the dark and had to grope my way out of the bedroom and onto my floor.I lay back, thinking that Verity had only seen a fraction of the whole situation.Yes, he could force Kelva to garrison the watchtower, but coercion would not make him garrison it well, nor would it make him proud of it.It's all about diplomacy.And hadn't he noticed road repairs, fortification repairs, and banditry problems?This must all be resolved now, and resolved in a way that would preserve Kelva's face while improving and strengthening his relationship with Sir Shemsey.Also, someone should teach Mrs. Xian Ya to recognize her responsibilities.There are so many problems.But as soon as my head hit the pillow, I fell asleep.