names
Pokpoki (“bubbles”), the butcher, played by Jake;
20th Anticipation (cont’d)
Ishta heads down to the kitchens to look for Ittishoko’chi the scullerymaid, but she isn’t there. She’s in the pantry. Ishta says she has to make adjustments to her doll, and heads down to find her. She tells Itti to follow her to one of the side parlors. Change in plans. Is there anything they eat, like muffins, that everyone eats? —The Finger’s staff oversees their breakfast prep. They eat lunch and sometimes dinner with the magi in the Great Hall. Mrs. the Finger drinks three bowls of melos every morning. At least. They eat eggs, and sausages, and bread. A lot of people eat eggs. There’s three skillets of eggs every morning, usually. So one skillet could be oops? says Ishta. What were you going to do? Get their food, says Itti. So I should do the entire batch of eggs? It’ll avoid some problems, says Ishta. She slips Itti some more money.
Council meeting! Perdix gets there first. They’re sitting in the same chair. Nil comes in; he wants to know if there’s anything he can do to help. Laugh at the idea of me as a frequenter of brothels? says Perdix. I could point out all the ways my research has demonstrated that the outcome wasn’t your fault, says Nil. Please do, says Perdix. —The others arrive. After some heated discussion, it is decided that Perdix will meet with Tishkilla and the Weaver. Ishta insists on being present; Perdix refuses; Ishta quits her position as liaison to the priesthood. Palpebra is chosen as the new liaison. (Also, Perdix will give the military a couple of horses.)
Ishta goes to meet with Tishkilla and Gieron. She lets them know she quit, and tells Gieron now she can tell him to fuck off. He needles her until she punches him, and then she tosses a gold piece at Tishkilla. Hey! says Tish.
Ishta meets with the Weaver, who’s sad to learn Ishta won’t be coming by for melos once a month like she used to.
Perdix arranges with the chatelaine to use her office in the morning (the side parlors are spoken for by the pageant) to meet with the Lover and the Weaver, and asks the chatelaine to send a runner (as Ilba would, perhaps, be a bad choice).
Some mild sparks when Gieron and Ishta both end up at the Scarecrow King. Gieron admits his insults need work.
The Day of Knowledge
There’s a dawn service. Ilba doesn’t sing with the congregation. Ndapé sings loudly and out of tune.
Itti doses a skillet of eggs with the laxative. Those eggs do end up in the Finger’s rooms; he, and Hoyopa, and the Princeling, and Ishta’s uncle, and Ishtittihállalli all end up ill, along with Shotik; Waakimbala and one of his kids; Ishkin; Murry; the Cook; several of the lumberjacks; and a number of the townsfolk who eat at the Great Hall.
Perdix meets with the Weaver and Tishkilla; the meeting is interrupted by Shotik’s stomach. Perdix is attempting to explain to Tishkilla that they can speak with her as a member of their family, but not as a mage; Tishkilla is trying to explain that no one has a problem with what was done to Mena, that’s been taken care of, but with the assurances Perdix made to Tishkilla. The meeting is further interrupted by everyone else’s stomach. Perdix heads out to find out what’s up, discovers which egg pan was tainted, and sends an ill Murry to find Gi and bring him back.
Abakoshi checks on Ilba. She asks where the rest of them is. In the bathroom. She starts to laugh. Abakoshi cocks an eyebrow; you’re very lucky I don’t detect a whiff of flaxseed oil about you. Ilba scowls. You’re right, says Abakoshi, it’s too crude for you. That’s insulting, snaps Ilba. So was laughing, says Abakoshi. It was funny! says Ilba. So was my joke. Abakoshi leaves.
Gi and Perdix and Cameron set out to heal who they can. Mrs. the Finger, unaffected by the laxative (she drinks three or four bowls of melos and maybe has a piece of dry toast in the morning), is snooping about the kitchen trying to figure out who poisoned her husband.
(Nil and Lhimpat are having a long and involved conversation.)
Cameron’s working with the flaxseed oil and the pan to determine who’s touched both: the Cook and the chief of the pantry. He doesn’t turn up anything useful. He’s able to determine that someone poured oil from the jug into something else; he’s trying to figure out who, and asks Itti for help. Ishta leaps to Itti’s defense, which makes Cameron suspicious. He calls for Sonata. There’s a bit of a standoff. —Perdix comes up looking for help with healing covenfolk; discovers what they’re talking about; decides it would be best to leave; Sonata asks for Nil. Perdix summons Nil, who brings Calvus with him.
So. Nil takes Itti away to question her. Ishta follows, along with Sonata and Cameron. Ishta slams the door before Sonata and Cameron can walk in. She locks it. Nil is flabbergasted. Ishta attempts to explain that she’s got some stomach problems and gave Itti some flaxseed oil to put in her eggs and obviously Itti misunderstood. Nil shakes his head and tells Itti she’s excused.
Itti stalks out. Cameron and Sonata stop her. After some discussion with Itti about the propriety of touching her (she doesn’t want it), Cameron is able to write a narrative of what she did, and why. I owe Mrs. the Finger an apology, he says. It was a plot against her. Let us never speak of it again, says Sonata.
(Nil and Ishta are having a rather long and involved conversation.)
Mrs. the Finger tells Gi she’s very much in his debt for healing her family, and that’s a very advantageous place to be. Oh, I know, says Gi. Mrs. the Finger blinks.
Gi and Perdix head out to the woods outside to heal those who fled for their cover. —Perdix discovers the utility of perdo corpus in dealing with certain byproducts of gastrointestinal illnesses.
meta
“You’re excused.”
“When you say you nailed Gieron, the way you always wanted to—you do mean you punched him, right?”
