The banquet moved forward.
The dishes, the rare spirit-beast meats and the glowing spirit-fruits, continued to arrive. The servants, the young men and women in formal Azure Cloud livery, moved between the tables with practiced efficiency. The wine, the aged spiritual vintage, flowed. The dancers, the young women in flowing silk, their bodies graceful, their movements timed to the zither and the flute, performed on the central platform.
The second introduction was announced.
"Minister Chen of the Lower Court," the herald called. His voice, the trained, projecting voice of a palace announcer, filled the hall. "Representing the Lower Court of the Azure Cloud Province."
The minister, an old man in dark blue robes, his face lined with decades of political service, stood. His bow, the formal, deep bow of a subordinate, was there. His eyes, on Tianlong, held the wariness. The careful, political wariness of a man who had heard the rumors and was now in the presence of the rumor's source.
