31

Lady Gramercy is a fine speaker, who expresses eloquent gratitude to the Royal family and calls for a quick Northern toast that everyone can understand. Her mien is much more that of a woman of the people than the aloof gentility King Saul exudes.

"By your leave, my King, I have a thought," she says after the toast, looking about the room with a bit of theatricality. "There is a custom common in the North that meetings between Houses tend t'include an exhibition of the jester's arts…Assembled friends, woulds't care to have a laugh?"

A cheer goes up. The ale-soaked crowd is much more willing to watch some fooling than more speeches.

Onward