“Your son isn’t with you?”

  Champ Letterman jumped in his seat. He turned around quickly. Lady House was standing in the doorway leading to the Convention Hall box seats where he was sitting.

  “Ah, Ms House, Lady, er, no. He had some business he needed to take care of.” Champ stammered.

  “I didn’t know you were so interested in fashion.”

  “Oh no, I mean yes. Actually the presenter is a citizen of Star Town.” Champ stood up. He gestured at a chair in the viewing box. “Won’t you please come and take a seat?”

  House took a seat. “I didn’t know Mr Eaupéril was from Star Town.”

  Champ sat back down. “He is. Or at least he was. He floated away one day. It devastated our economy. I still have dreams about the government subsidies that he and his wife brought into our town. Before the creditors cleared them out.”

  Lady House slid into the seat next to him. The leather chair softly creaked under her.

  *Sniff*Sniff* Jasmine? Maybe gardenia? It took a moment until Champ realized that House was talking to him.

  “...normally avoid events like this. But high profile guests require high profile distractions.” Lady House trailed off.

  Champ nodded. “So you brought Chance here deliberately? How?”

  “With enough rare gemstones to buy him an island.”

  “You can’t give him an island, then he’ll never pay his taxes!” Champ sank back into his seat. He fidgeted with his watch. “Sorry. That was rude. I’m not normally so unwound.”

  Lady House peeked into a surplus teakettle that was provided to the box seats.

  (Empty)

  “Shall I call a server to bring us some refreshments?” She asked.

  “Please. Allow me.” Mayor Letterman withdrew a small leather gem-purse from his jacket. “I can take care of this.”

  Champ slapped the bag against his hand. The drawstring snapped. The bag popped open and fired a rain of glittering green gemstones over the railing of the viewing box and into the crowd seated below.

  The crowd grumbled below.

  A few children scrambled between the seats to grab the loose gems.

  Champ avoided looking over the railing.

  Lady house let no emotion show on her face.

  Champ shook the bag. He started fishing inside it for one last summon stone. His large fingers barely squeezed through the opening of the purse.

  Mayor Letterman looked up sheepishly. “Ah, yes. Hold on a minute. *Grunt* It’s stuck at the bottom you see. Almost got it. *Sigh* Hold on, I can feel the edge, yes. There it is!”

  He pulled a final green crystal out of the bag.

  “Very impressive.” Lady House gave a weak smile.

  (There is still some time to recover this meeting.)

  Champ held his hand out over the teapot. With a confident grin a confident magical circle appeared over the pot. Liquid tea manifested from the aether and began pouring into the container as the crystal dissolved into nothingness. In a few seconds the tea had filled the pot.

  But then the tea didn’t stop flowing. It filled the pot, flowed over the sides, and cascaded across the table. A wave of hot tea splashed over the chairs. The right side of Champ’s pants were soaked.

  “Jam and biscuits!” Champ shouted.

  He looked over and saw that tea had splashed over the other chair and soaked through the left seam of Lady House’s dress.

  “Oh no! Oh moons! I’m so sorry. Here let me get that for you.”

  Champ Letterman jumped up. His chair was shoved back and tipped over. He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket. Rushing over he knelt down in front of Lady House and started desperately patting down her left leg.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  He scowled at the handkerchief in his fist. “Dammit! Why isn’t this thing absorbing any moisture?”

  Champ put his hand around Lady House’s thigh and started rubbing his handkerchief up and down her leg.

  “Crappy polyester material. Oh damn. Now the liquid is running down your ankle. Don’t worry I’ll-” Champ froze in place.

  He looked down at his right hand, gripping Lady House’s knee and slightly lifting her leg, and his left hand, wrapping her upper thigh with his handkerchief and pushing towards her hip.

  Lady House was starring at him. Her smile was playful, but her eyes were inscrutable.

  “Uh…” Champ blinked a few times as his brain short circuited.

  “YOU THERE! LETTERMAN!” A voice boomed through the Convention Hall.

  Champ ducked down in bashful surprise and slid behind the railing.

  Lady House watched Jack walk out on stage. She raised an eyebrow.

  “So. You weren’t being metaphorical when you said your son had business to attend to.”

  #

  “And of course Letterman the younger will judge this competition.” Chance smiled.

  “That’s not fair. Jack hates me.” Ash shouted.

  “I don’t hate you Ash. I hate your personality.” Jack held his hands up defensively.

  “That’s the same thing.”

  “I also hate your behavior as well. And your weak ethics. And your undeserved pride. Hmmm, anything else.” Jack looked lost in thought.

  “This is getting personal.” Ash grumbled.

  Everyone and everything had been pushed to the side of the Convention Hall as grips, gaffers, and riggers scuttled around on the stage. In minutes they had assembled a long platform that ran down the center of the stage. Off to one side a small table and bench had been placed in a corner. Lady Starling oversaw the stage renovation.

  Jack, Ash, and Luke sat on the edge of the stage. Their legs dangled over the apron.

  “But even if I wanted to, we would still need two more judges.” Jack smoothed out a wrinkle in his shirt.

  “I shall judge this contest!”

  Everyone in the auditorium looked up.

  The Orchid Keeper strode down the stairs into the Convention Hall. She walked down the aisle until she reached the area in front of the stage. She briefly paused to get a running start, then dashed forward and somersaulted onto the stage. Her pinwheel dress pinwheeled around her.

  The audience let out impressed applause.

  The Orchid Keeper turned and made a formal bow to the tourists as they clapped for her. “Thank you. Thank you all.”

  The Orchid Keeper was dressed in a green pinwheel dress with lines of decorative buttons running across the waist and down the sleeves. Her hair framed her face like a glowing halo. The follicles even had an almost metallic sheen. Her purple and red eyes were bright and cheerful. When she smiled two rows of bright white teeth were displayed, showcasing her impressive oral hygiene. The shoe size of her left foot was a 7.5 while her right foot was a 9. (A fact that she would never admit to even if her life depended on it.)

  Lady Starling waved at the crowd to be quiet. “Ms Bellfrey, it is very unusual for a judge to select themselves. Especially one that is already competing in another contest in the Ocean’s Bounty.”

  “Oh what’s the harm Lady Starling.” Bellfrey shimmered her fingers. “After all, I think the crowd has already made up their mind.”

  The crowd shouted their approval.

  “We love you Bellfrey!”

  “You’re the best.”

  “Ms Bellfey is going to judge the competition? This show keeps getting better and better!”

  The tourists were ravenous in their enthusiasm.

  Lady Starling massaged the bridge of her nose. “Fine. But we still need a third judge.”

  “I shall select the third judge!”

  All heads in the convention hall swiveled the other direction.

  Lady House stood up in the viewing box.

  Chance immediately focused his attention on her. “Ah, Madame House. So good to see you again. I must thank you for hosting this convention.”

  House waved a hand. “As a city built on entertainment I like to provide our visiting tourists with a measure of… spectacle. And you are certainly one to provide that Mr Eaupéril.”

  Chance kept yelling over the crowd without blinking. “And I see that you’ve been joined by Mayor Letterman.

  Champ climbed to his feet and dusted his knees. His large size made it certain that every eye in the room noticed him standing up.

  “Yes. Hello again Mr Eaupéril.” he said.

  “Mr Letterman there is the Mayor of Star Town. Me and my son used to live in Star Town. Most of you probably haven’t heard of it. Tiny town, barely worth mentioning. Me and my son left it years ago for bigger and better things.” Chance’s eyes locked onto Lady House. “You must have invited him personally. There’s no way he could afford a private seat with his stipend. He’s not even a Master Craftsman either.”

  Champ did his best to look like he didn’t want to sink into the earth beneath his feet and never come up.

  “The two of you must have so much to talk about. Both of you are the leader of a city. You’re both members of the Craftsman’s Guild. And both of you have a dead spouse. Your wife is still dead isn’t she Champ?” Chance let the question trail off.

  “What? You, you are, taxed raccoon, I don’t…” Champ sputtered like a leaky balloon.

  “So who did you have in mind for the final judge!?” Chance shouted up at the viewing box.

  “There you are Lady House.” Platina stood at the entrance of the box seats. “The Councilor sent me *Sigh* to invite you to his private box.” She nodded at Mayor Letterman once. “Unless you had other plans.”

  Lady House drew a single fingernail across her bottom lip and smiled.