3: 3

Once I left the palace, I went straight back to the residence.

A messenger bird dropped down outside my window, and I gently slipped the note from its leg.

"Rest easy. Everything is in place."

I smiled, then wrote a letter to the Henson family.

Only I signed it in the name of the Cogwork Guild.

The Cogwork Guild was no ordinary teahouse. It was an intelligence house.

And its ownership had just changed hands.

I looked at the Cogwork Token in my palm. This deal was worth it.

The day before the state banquet, Kirsten was still busy in the palace, using the convenience-store system to bring in one modern pre-made frozen meal after another.

Otis, though, came to find me. "Kirsten's such an innocent thing, and this is the first time she's running an event this grand. I'm afraid it's too much for her. Look after her a little, will you."

I couldn't help sneering inwardly. He actually wanted me to look after her?

Was he worried she wouldn't die miserably enough?

Still, I nodded meekly and agreed. "Of course."

Otis looked thoroughly satisfied. "Molly, don't worry. Once I'm sitting on that throne, I'll treat you well!"

I watched him leave with a gentle look, then turned around and quietly handed every last spare coin in the fourth prince's household over to the staff of the imperial kitchen.

With no messes of their own to cover, their tips came out far higher than usual.

For a while, everyone was praising Kirsten for taking charge so boldly. Thanks to her fighting for the right to run the banquet, they said, the pickings were this rich.

They all threw themselves into the work, and Otis was very pleased with how generously I'd handled things.

I smiled. The higher they lifted Kirsten now, the harder she would fall when it all went wrong.

The more they praised her now, the more savagely they'd curse her later.

All the filth that had rained down on me in my last life would finally land on her head in this one.

In a fine mood, I made my way to the top private room of the Cogwork Guild and had the boy bring up a good pot of wine.

Through the screen, I spoke softly to the figure seated on the other side. "Rest easy. I'll leave them without a grave to be buried in. And the support of the court, I'll win it for you."

A low laugh came back. "Set your fires as you please, Miss Henson. I'll clean up the bodies." There was a note of indulgence in the man's pleasant voice.

On the day of the state banquet, carriages and horses from every realm poured into the palace, and for a while the place was alive with bustle.

The monarchs and envoys of the various realms filed into the main hall, but the looks on their faces were far from pleased.

The whole hall had no dancers, no strings and pipes, no music at all.

There were barely even a handful of attendants.

They had no interest in this modern buffet arrangement.

To their eyes, being left to serve themselves was nothing but a slight.

In the middle of the hall, Kirsten stood in a set of bright, gaudy clothes, hands on her hips, chin lifted, her face full of endless self-importance.

She ordered the maids and eunuchs to carry tray after tray of frozen hot pot fare up to the front.

"The crawfish absolutely has to go out. That's the soul of a beer back where we come from."

"And the spicy noodle soup, the pungent fried tofu, the grilled sausage!" She turned her head to a few of the palace staff. "These are what happiness is made of where I come from. I wouldn't trade them even for a seat among the immortals!"

She'd even stacked the beer and soda into a beer tower and a soda tower.

She clapped her hands and looked over at Otis.

"Otis, take a look. Anything else you want added?"

As it happened, Otis had caught a chill that day and couldn't smell any of those tangled odors. He frowned. "This is enough for now."

A few officials from the Ministry of Rites nearby knit their brows, hesitation on their faces.

"Your Highness, these dishes... might they be a bit unfit for a grand occasion..."

"And these drinks, the colors are so strange..."

Black and yellow both. What kind of sight was that?

"It's fine. I had a few of the serving boys try them, and they all said the taste was good!"

The officials couldn't help muttering to themselves. Since when did servants eat the same things as the nobility?

"Enough, enough. Kirsten was personally chosen by His Majesty! You old sticks-in-the-mud, always the same, never changing. Where's the fun in that?"

"Someone has to give the younger generation a chance to show what they can do!"

Before long it was time to begin, and everyone prepared to take their seats.

Kirsten fluttered before the guests like a bright butterfly.

She spoke with smiling, sparkling eyes. "Dear guests, all of this is unique fine fare from where I come from. I hope you'll enjoy every bite!"

The crowd looked at the dishes before them, drowning in heavy sauce and reeking of strong seasoning. Unwilling to lose face, they frowned and took a single bite.

One bite, and every last face changed color.

4: 4

They yanked out their handkerchiefs one after another and spat out the food, faces twisting.

"What is this?"

"How can anything taste this vile? What filthy slop is this?"

"Quick, call the imperial physician!"

Beside them, the King of Jade Realm held his consort, who was struggling to breathe, red rashes breaking out in patches across her skin.

Palace attendants scrambled in a panic to bring warm water so the honored guests of every realm could rinse their mouths.

In an instant the whole hall was chaos.

The King of the Abbott Realm knotted his brows. "Is the Craig Realm serious? We came in good faith to forge an alliance, not to be your poison testers!"

The mood turned to drawn swords in a heartbeat, and Kirsten Fox went white.

"That's not possible. These are all foods from where I come from. Everyone agrees they're delicious..."

"Delicious? Delicious enough to leave people like this?" The envoy of the Acevedo Realm couldn't stop his face from darkening. "Are you trying to poison the lot of us to death here?"

The envoys from several small nomadic states caught sight of the beef and mutton laid out to one side, and their faces went darker still.

In their countries, those animals were regarded as messengers of heaven.

"Please, gentlemen, don't be angry. Kirsten didn't mean any of this. It's her first time overseeing an occasion this grand. She may be a little nervous."

"Oh? And what is her standing, that the fourth prince frets over her so?"

Otis Craig faltered. Nothing came out.

How was he supposed to answer that?

The King of Jade Realm's eyes reddened. "I don't care who she is. Today my realm came in good faith to make an alliance, and this is how the Craig Realm treats my wife? Do you take us for fools to play with?"

"If anything should happen to my consort, then your realm had best fend for itself from now on!"

That single line from the King of Jade Realm dragged the mood to freezing.

Several ministers off to the side ground their teeth. "Fourth Prince, I think Miss Henson's plan was excellent. Why not have the imperial kitchen prepare dishes at once and set things right with the banquet Miss Henson laid out?"

"No need. We'll take our meal elsewhere!"

The King of Jade Realm rose first, and the monarchs of the other great realms departed after him. Soon the great hall stood half empty.

Kirsten Fox was stunned dumb. Trembling, she clutched at Otis Craig's sleeve. "Otis, I didn't know it would turn out like this!"

The ministers were near tears. They wanted to stop the guests from leaving, but the Emperor would arrive any moment, and how were they to explain themselves?

Kirsten didn't dare lift her head to look at Otis. "Otis, believe me, these things really do taste good..."

Otis Craig looked coldly over the wreckage before him. After a long while, he swept his gaze around the hall.

"Where is Molly Henson? Where did she go?"

"Molly said she wasn't taking part in this banquet..."

"She said she agreed to let me lead it..."

Kirsten Fox's voice shrank smaller and smaller, thin as a mosquito's whine.

Every eye turned to her. She had fought for this herself, tooth and nail, right in front of the Emperor.

She stole my place, took my authority, and now that it's gone wrong, when even these self-important nobles can't save their own skins, who's left to wipe up after her?

Up in the Cogwork Guild, listening to the shadow guard relay it all, I couldn't help laughing out loud.

Across from me a hand with clean, sharp knuckles held out a cup of hot tea. "Congratulations. The first step is done."

"It seems the fourth prince's fall from favor is settled now."

I took a light sip of the tea. "Don't rush. The best of the show is still to come."

"By my count, they should be arriving about now."

Watching that gleaming line of carriages and horses come racing toward the Cogwork Guild, a trace of a smile crossed my eyes.

At that same moment, in the great hall, Otis Craig's face drained pale. How was he to answer to his father?

Before he could think of any way out, the shrill voice of a eunuch reached him.

The Craig Emperor came into the hall smiling. "My lords, I was delayed a while. I trust you've eaten well—"

The next second, when he took in everything before him, the smile froze on his face.

He looked at Otis Craig and Kirsten Fox standing there, darkness churning in his eyes.

"The people. The delegations from every realm. Tell me, where have they all gone?"