Akibel Mowar is on his way home from the blacksmith's when he spots it. People are shrieking and fleeing from it, which seems reasonable, as it's a fuckoff huge snake with a mirror for a face. A big mirror.
Kib can't so much flee. He can shriek - he can lurch in the direction of the nearest house and try the door - it's locked. He can amble briskly...
He can break into a run when the snake gains on him and fall flat on his face.
And he can get eaten up.
And it's too bright too bright too bright and he flings his arm over his eyes.
"Our time, probably. Nothing but time and original art is scarce. Letting people buy power seems like it would at least have interesting failure modes."
"Since it's your idea we could have the design of your House - well, I guess you don't have one - on them. Do you have a symbol that's associated with you?"
"Not really. Sometimes coins have faces on them but it would be really weird to have my face on the currency here, it'd usually be the governor or a past governor's face."
"Cousins are - so if my brothers had children, and I had children, those children would be cousins. Mine would be annoyed because since there is nothing at stake in politics here we make big things out of minor ones."
"It is the sign of my family - that is, my father and his children and any of their children. It is therefore not a very appropriate symbol for the whole realm, because that should be the sign of the King's family, which includes all the King's children and therefore my cousins."