Book Exerpt 2:
True to the word of their Tarter friend, Chief Barka was indeed a fine ruler of extravagant largess. He was a fool to be taken advantage of. Upon their arrival the brothers were treated to a great feast and many nights worth of entertainment. Ladies were provided, wine and a particular milky alcohol flowed, and before long the Chief forgot even why he was celebrating. This is when the brothers made their move. Asking with much ado for the festivities to stop momentarily for a presentation of gifts to the Great Chief, the brothers made their own little ceremony involving phony incantation with the tasteful application of seemingly important blue smoky incense, while on their knees they laid out before his gouty feet a sheet of purple silk upon which they laid sapphires, rubies and a necklace of thick gold. This, the brothers intoned, was how the Venetians thank great leaders for wondrous hospitality.
The heavy regent just quivered with pride. Jowls shook like they were ready to be stuffed with honeyed lamb, and a massive gut wobbled with the weight not even those sturdy Mongolian ponies could hope to bear. A stunned silence reigned for a few pivotal moments; the courtiers jealous, the women secretly aroused, the guards ready for barked orders, the finance minister sweating, the brothers with breath held, and the monstrous monarch with a direct challenge to his claim to fame, pride with the incomparable present laid before him, but ultimately to not be outdone.
True to the word of their Tarter friend, Chief Barka was indeed a fine ruler of extravagant largess. He was a fool to be taken advantage of. Upon their arrival the brothers were treated to a great feast and many nights worth of entertainment. Ladies were provided, wine and a particular milky alcohol flowed, and before long the Chief forgot even why he was celebrating. This is when the brothers made their move. Asking with much ado for the festivities to stop momentarily for a presentation of gifts to the Great Chief, the brothers made their own little ceremony involving phony incantation with the tasteful application of seemingly important blue smoky incense, while on their knees they laid out before his gouty feet a sheet of purple silk upon which they laid sapphires, rubies and a necklace of thick gold. This, the brothers intoned, was how the Venetians thank great leaders for wondrous hospitality.
The heavy regent just quivered with pride. Jowls shook like they were ready to be stuffed with honeyed lamb, and a massive gut wobbled with the weight not even those sturdy Mongolian ponies could hope to bear. A stunned silence reigned for a few pivotal moments; the courtiers jealous, the women secretly aroused, the guards ready for barked orders, the finance minister sweating, the brothers with breath held, and the monstrous monarch with a direct challenge to his claim to fame, pride with the incomparable present laid before him, but ultimately to not be outdone.
christine3782:
Really? I think the new picture is much more flattering. It gets my good side.