25. A King and His Pets

Kinch is led to King Agraias’s outdoor court, where attendants and Queen Neffa flank the king. Princess Renata demands everyone speak Arvisk, baiting the royal secretary Manes. Renata declares herself an elf princess and presents Kinch as her prince; Kinch performs a comic roll and bow, winning laughter and the king’s favor.

When Agraias asks after Hasp, Renata bluntly predicts Hasp will die and insists on a young, healthy prince, underscoring her intent to replace him. Kinch, deflecting scrutiny, offers a cautious proverb through Renata, and the king accepts him as an amusing new fool, now dubbed “Kitch.”

Over subsequent days Kinch accompanies Renata through Erydon, marveling at its unmatched grandeur and the bustling market: coastal kynd and giants trading, wrestling giants for sale, and dangerous brassworms caged behind double bars. He notes the region’s politics—coastal cities paying tribute, others losing wars to Erydon—signs of imperial reach.

Renata toys with buying a parrot; Kinch steers her from cruelty by engaging the bird, which asks for almonds, and she leaves it unpurchased. The episode confirms Kinch’s fragile status as favored pet amid capricious dangers.

That night, Kinch consults the ailing Hasp. Hasp recounts Renata pushing a slave into caustic pulp at the paper works, warning her unchecked malice could invite the Praxeter to seize power in Erydon’s cyclical struggle between crown and mountain-god priesthood. He tells Kinch that Apocalypse Day—“the revealing”—is tomorrow, then turns back to training Kinch’s juggling despite his worsening condition.