Amrik sat that evening at the right hand of King Numir, and Oron sat at Amrik’s right hand. Seated all along the length of the king’s table were the generals and captains of the four armies of Salasal, and those noblemen and noblewomen and councilors and administrators who were ever-present at royal functions, fawning on the king.
Numir called for meats and fruits and wines, and great trays of rare dishes were brought steaming to the tables of the audience chamber. Slaves carved meat for the nobles and fed them bits of food and poured their wine for them. Numir relaxed on his raised throne chair and gobbled the delicacies pushed into his mouth by five slave girls.
As the day’s light dimmed, slaves in gilt loincloths and silvered sandals scurried about, lighting colored flambeaux. And whe
