Chapter 36 The Harvest Banquet

• They woke us before dawn.
• A servant in gray livery knocked on the door, then led us through the palace's winding corridors to the Grand Hall. The room was already buzzing with activity. Servants rushed between long tables, arranging flowers and silverware. Guards lined the walls, their faces blank. And in the center of it all, twenty cooking stations had been set up in two neat rows.
• The other chefs were already there.