A Day at the Races
It is a tradition harking back over two hundred years now; a tradition adhered to and continued despite the ongoing outbreaks of Plague, of smallpox, of political upheaval. Time waits for no man, or for the running of the Monarch's Stakes.
The Maximoffs have hosted this grandiose event for the last forty of those years, and their equal is said to be unmatched in its splendour, and for the opportunity for the lower classes to occasionally rub shoulders with the ruling elite.
It is a sport of kings, and for those betting upon the winner, that king could be anyone.
Duke Howlett prefers to keep his presence low-key at such events; they are a good way to gauge the mood of the people, to hear the rumors, such as they are, and in some cases, to gain intelligence. It is among the rising nobility that he circulates now, though he speaks little and listens often. The matter of the strange, displaced arrivals has been something of an ongoing puzzlement for him, and he is uncertain still what benefit they may have for the kingdom-- assuming they are here to benefit it at all.
The Maximoffs have hosted this grandiose event for the last forty of those years, and their equal is said to be unmatched in its splendour, and for the opportunity for the lower classes to occasionally rub shoulders with the ruling elite.
It is a sport of kings, and for those betting upon the winner, that king could be anyone.
Duke Howlett prefers to keep his presence low-key at such events; they are a good way to gauge the mood of the people, to hear the rumors, such as they are, and in some cases, to gain intelligence. It is among the rising nobility that he circulates now, though he speaks little and listens often. The matter of the strange, displaced arrivals has been something of an ongoing puzzlement for him, and he is uncertain still what benefit they may have for the kingdom-- assuming they are here to benefit it at all.