Dragon's Honor - Kij Johnson [29]
“And we are honored by your hospitality,” Picard interjected hastily. I have to change the subject, he thought, and distract him from Data. No matter what it takes. “And speaking of your legendary hospitality, weren’t you going to tell me more about some of the extraordinary delicacies your kitchen is providing for us?”
“Delicacies? Oh, yes.” The Dragon’s tone lightened, becoming cheerier and less querulous. “Why, you haven’t tasted anything yet, my dear captain. If you thought candied rahgid eyes were a treat, just wait until you try a mouthful of stuffed ragoji bowels! They’re indescribable.”
I’ll bet they are, Picard thought sourly. He couldn’t help wondering what the bowels were stuffed with.
After the banquet concluded, following the unavoidable and inevitably awful consumption of the stuffed bowels, the Dragon offered to give Picard and his remaining officers a tour of the palace. Eager to restore the Dragon’s goodwill after the awkwardness with Data, Picard readily agreed to the tour. He still hoped he and Troi would get an opportunity to speak with the Dragon alone at some point, so they could convince him of the necessity of signing the treaty, but that would have to come after the tour. For now he took comfort in the fact that the unknown assassin would have difficulty killing any member of the party while they traveled as a group through the sumptuous decor of the Imperial Palace of the Dragon. Indeed, each chamber seemed richer and more spectacular than the one preceding it. No wonder, he thought, the G’kkau were so intent on conquering Pai. The treasures of the palace alone would make the Dragon Empire a tempting target for a suitably greedy and ruthless people. He was surprised no Ferengi had found his way to Pai just yet.
Starting with the Pavilion of the Emerald Peacock, the chamberlain led the party through a score of palace rooms, each more improbably named than the last, and in each instance he droned out a set speech about the room, its furnishings, and its history, with the Dragon inserting more down-to-earth comments. Lord Lu Tung begged off the tour after the Memorable Room of the Grand Couch, taking Beverly with him to his rooms to meet the Green Pearl. Picard wished her luck before she left.
The Heir, the Second Son, and Riker lasted through the Chambers of the Degraded Priests (Upper, Middle, and Smaller) and the Gallery of Hushed Meetings, but they called it quits in the Salon of the Forgotten Cap, wandering off to find the rest of the two princes’ companions at the Penultimate Bestowing of the Undomesticated Seeds. Picard suspected that Riker would have his hands full protecting the Dragon’s sons from each other, let alone the unknown assassin.
That left Picard, Troi, Mu, and the Dragon to stand before a pair of engraved, gold-plated doors large enough to fly a shuttlecraft through. “Prepare to enter the High Hall of Ceremonial Grandeur,” Mu intoned solemnly.
“Where we keep the gifts,” the Dragon. He glanced around somewhat wistfully, as if hoping for Data’s sudden materialization. For his own part, Picard was glad that the android officer was safely back aboard the Enterprise.
“Ah,” Picard said, contemplating the set of large, gilded doors facing him. Mu pressed a unobtrusive button on the handle of his fan, and the heavy, gold doors began to swing open under their own power. Somewhere beyond the doors, Picard heard a gong clang loudly. Automatic pomp and circumstance, he concluded, with an Oriental flavor. He peered through the parted doors, hoping to find something new to compliment. He had seen a number of opulently furnished rooms by now, and it was becoming harder with each new chamber to come up with something new to say about it.
That this was where the wedding gifts were being stored went without saying, for the hall was crammed with objects of every size, the smaller ones arranged on low tables around the outside of the room, and the larger ones standing in the center atop a colorfully embroidered carpet the size of Ten-Forward. Armored guards, equipped