The Ball

I imagine having a gala in my honour was long overdue. I had been settled in my kingdom for several months now and had yet given the privilege to the local high society to kiss my royal paw. Of course the majordomo took care of all the necessary arrangements from sending out the invitations (to only those who were deemed worthy) to preparing the ballroom. Unfortunately the jester insisted on providing the entertainment. As I have mentioned before, I personally find the jester's humour somewhat tiresome and crass, but I figured the people here had yet to be sufficiently exposed to him before they heckle him out of town (as they most likely did in Miamishire which resulted in my exile). Besides, I imagined it would be quite entertaining to watch him offend the cat-loving Abbess, but to my dismay she did not attend (which makes me wonder if I had already had her imprisoned or beheaded).

The evening of the ball was quite pleasant. The guests arrived unusually punctually and slowly began to fill the courtyard. Oddly enough, I noticed the majority of the guests was composed mainly of men and very few women which makes me question either the social norms of this patriarchical state or the suspicious tastes of my cape-wearing majordomo. I must remember to revisit the guest list because the disproportionate ratio of sexes made the dancing a bit peculiar. From what I recall, I was not exiled to Ancient Greece.

After a couple hours of making the formal introductions to duke so-and-so and lady ga-and-ga (or was she actually a lord?), I grew bored of the trifling conversations that ensued. The jester was making quite the spectacle of himself as he was imbibing the local absinthe quite heavily. I cannot recall if it was his juggling act or his absurd imitation of Queen Anne which forced me to take leave of the festivities and retire to my chambers. All in all, the gala was a success though I imagine in the future I will be forced to placate this testosterone-driven crowd as their lust for merriment might be equal to their lust for war. A king must always think one step ahead of His people.