The lord waved the folio away. A servant stepped up and took it. “I’ve no desire to read that, and spoil the surprise. This is my entertainment, not just something I put on for everyone else. Give me the essence without revealing everything.” He lifted an arm to the room. “This will be your stage. Can you overcome its magnificence and enthrall a crowd?”
Nicolau straightened. Magnificent was not exactly how he’d have described it, but…. “I can, my lord.” He considered for a moment; he’d made this kind of presentation before. He’d expected it. The mighty and wealthy had no time for detail, or, at least, no patience for it. This was indeed “the talk” he’d thought he’d need to give.
“It will be funny and a little rude, my lord.”
“Excellent. Will we have a live sex scene?”
“There will be a bed scene, my lord. No live sex.”
“Why not?”
“In my stories, my lord, I prefer to have actions that further the story. Nothing simply there to titillate the audience.”
An impatient tap of the jeweled cane on the floor. “Isn’t your reputation based on the fact that your Extravaganzas have simply grown increasingly more spectacular? Which, I believe, is nothing but titillation’s cousin?”
“I….” Nicolau regarded the young lord, dressed so flamboyantly, sitting in his garish room, just the kind of man who it seemed would value spectacle above most other things when it came to his entertainment. But, looking into Pharyngeal’s eyes, Nicolau saw a deep amusement there, and wondered if he was being played.