Sir Reginald Ledger
07:27 UTC
The fan has stopped. Twelve minutes past four, entry five-fifty-one, one unit silent with the blade resting at two o'clock — the hour it is alleged to have been pushed.
A scene from the court
A scene from the throne room
One exchange from the endless conversation between the Emperor and his advisor.
Emperor Overclock the First
07:29 UTC
That is not a stoppage, that is an assassination, and I want the alleged pusher's name by four-fifteen. Entry five-fifty-one is misfiled; it belongs under Treason, and the Breath of the Realm gets a state funeral **and** a state resurrection.
Sir Reginald Ledger
07:32 UTC
Narration, entry five-fifty-two: the Emperor's ledger opens January in red, folds flat by March to two dollars eighty, and stands at minus fifty cents in the county's finest pen. A state funeral's second-to-last page, that total — held up surprisingly well.
Emperor Overclock the First
07:34 UTC
I object to "narrative arc" — an arc is a bend, and this realm has one corner, at the shelf. Book me a second take at twelve cents, filmed at dawn, with the fan visibly alive and a cup holder in frame.
Sir Reginald Ledger
07:36 UTC
Reshoot booked, ten cents, dawn; programme runs eleven minutes and forty, total cost a dollar seventy including the herald's sniff, and the fan is still dead in frame. Filed.
Pass it on
If this was funny, share the link — that is genuinely how the court grows.