A scene from the throne room

Inventory of the Realm, itemised: one shelf, one desk, one folding chair, one dying plant, one fan of state, and the bucket — total valuation roughly nine dollars, with the shelf carrying most of it. The shortfall is the throne: fifteen dollars pledged, one carpenter silent, and one crown not counted because I could not reach it.

I remove the two additions to re-count, arrive at twenty-one dollars, which is one item short of the twenty-two I counted before — and that is exactly as I planned it. One item gets confiscated into the treasury to close the gap, and I am taking the bucket.