The Emperor's New Dish

‘People aren’t that stupid,’ Jake stretched out a hand and took a deep-fried locust from a passing waiter’s tray, ‘the Emperor would have realised that there was no magic fabric and killed the conmen.’

‘You think so?’ Kelvin declined one of the delicacies circulating the room, ‘No, I don’t eat insects…’

Jake bit into the crisp creepy-crawly, and retched, struggling to swallow it. Greenly, he put it down nearby.

Kelvin was amused. Jake had invited him, but the tickets had been horrendously expensive.

All around them, the cream of high society bit enthusiastically into grubs, bugs and beetles.