Also present are Emperor Fletchir Giaja in light post-mourning robes of grey embroidered with blue, Empress Lisbet Serise in her indigo bubble shading slowly up towards a medium-bright violet, and several more bubbles - eight of them, in fact - in the same assorted colours that entered the Emperor's float-car. Guests may assume that these contain the consorts. They arrange themselves in a semicircle around the perimeter of the round little hall while Emperor and Empress respectively step and float forward into the center. A ba steps up between them, arranges a small tray on a slender stand, and departs the hall; the tray holds a pair of exquisite little covered dishes, palm-sized and round, with golden bases and silver domes both ornately engraved.

The Empress disengages her force-screen and beckons to Miles. She has somehow found the time to change into a whole new set of robes, dark blue and deep indigo and pale violet in echo of her bubble's gradual gradient.