The sun was setting, its orange-red light spilling through the glass and bathing the entire hall in warm amber.
A long table stretched from one end of the hall to the other, covered in a snow-white tablecloth and laden with whole roast lambs, seafood platters, tropical fruit, and wine brewed with a local herb. Wineglasses gleamed softly under the lights. Knives and forks were neatly arranged on either side, with a fresh rose beside each place setting.
King Peinance stood at the head of the table, clutching his speech, his hands trembling.
Not from nerves. From excitement.
He cleared his throat, his voice bursting through the microphone with a slightly piercing echo. Then he began to speak. His eyes reddened, as did the tip of his nose, and tears mingled with snot as they streamed down his cheeks. He wiped his face with his sleeve, soaking a large patch of the cuff at once, but he did not stop.
"The Prodence Kingdom... in the more than three hundred years since its founding... has never known such glory as it does today..."
His voice came in fits and starts, like someone trying to light a match in a storm.
His gaze swept over the guests in the banquet hall-the envoys from Affiliated Nations in the New World and South Blue-then returned to his speech. His tears had already soaked the paper, blurring some of the words.
"Lord Aaron Ball... has created sixty-four thousand square kilometers of new land... for the Prodence Kingdom... expanding our territory... to nearly ten times its former size..."
When he reached "ten times," his voice suddenly rose, like a string pulled too tight, then snapped.
He stood there, his lips trembling, unable to speak. Tears ran down his cheeks into the corners of his mouth, salty. He