Chapter Four
When he started paying attention, Wishbone learned a lot from the kitchen.
The bread and milk were for the staff, as were most of the vegetables. Sir ate little beside red meat, from the finest steaks reserved for nobility to organ meats that no one but the most humble of peasants would touch. He would eat fish, but only the top catch and never salted, smoked, or otherwise preserved.
Sir usually ate alone in his drawing room, but he did have guests in the dining room from time to time. Then cook would prepare creamy soups and elaborate platters garnished with pastries shaped like swans and dolphins. Terefar, dressed his best, would serve at the table. Wishbone never saw the guests, just the dirty plates. He didn't mind much. The house staff were so familiar with his marked face that they didn't seem to notice anymore, but he couldn't bear the thought of a stranger staring at him.
He did overhear Sir's guests. Many of them were human, and they spoke of trade. Sir brokered the furs and precious metals produced from human lands for fine wines, spices, and linens transported from Feras-aan on shih-aan trade ships. Trade generated sums of money difficult for Wishbone to imagine. The money built ships that generated more trade, supported shih-aan businesses in town, and purchased substantial--if wary--courtesy from the King, his ministers, and his Justice officers.
His shih-aan guests were members of the diplomatic mission and some of the traders who...