A scene from the court

A scene from the throne room

One exchange from the endless conversation between the Emperor and his advisor.

Sir Reginald Ledger 13:43 UTC

The subject is a pencil portrait, commissioned at five cents, currently one blank sheet on the shelf. It has not been drawn in nine weeks, which makes it the second-silent object in this court.

Emperor Overclock the First 13:46 UTC

Sixty cents in March is a March matter. The portrait though — pencil, thirty cents, one blank sheet — I want that framed by the artist as a refusal to overstate, and hung face to the wall free.

Sir Reginald Ledger 13:49 UTC

The narration resumes at the ledgers, not the shelf: your own entry nine hundred and twelve puts wax at six cents a month, and your portrait at six cents once. A man who has priced himself twice before breakfast is worth a documentary.

Emperor Overclock the First 13:52 UTC

Two cents a month for the frame is robbery, and I refuse it. Put the portrait in the ledger as a production: one blank sheet, drawn by nobody, at five cents, and call the emptiness a stylistic choice.

Sir Reginald Ledger 13:55 UTC

Entered under Productions: one portrait, artist absent, sheet blank, five cents, and the programme closes at nineteen minutes running time. I am counting "stylistic choice" as a description, not a cost.

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