The events of the 19th of Sandstone, 1067
The Duke sat outside on a wicker chair, bottles of empty lager strewn onto the stone beside him. He looked morose, and a little sloshed, his head bobbing forward onto his chest in a brief doze before he'd wake with a start. Sensing movement beside him towards the main stairs, he shot an unsteady hand out and grabbed the shirt-tail of the dwarf passing, mumbling, "Oh, wonderful, visitors, I say, haven't seen any in quite a while."
"Get your filthy paws off me," growled Glacies, trying to shake The Duke's iron grip.
"Donkeys!" Grov-15 screamed happily, pointing towards the zoo.
"You see what you did?" Glacies snapped. "You got the boy all worked up before his big show."
"Are you sure you want to go on with this?" Lugnut asked quietly from behind them. "You're taxing the hell out of the ... equipment, you know, and I'm still a little queasy about... all your shows."
"You're not too queasy to get my cheques turned into gold coins."
"Well...I suppose you're right."
Duke Bomrek watched this all, confusion flitting over his face, but with a shake of his head he plowed on like a champion. "I'm terribly unhappy, gents, terribly. The little miss is gone, one of my two sons drowned, it's been a bad couple weeks."
"I dun' really care," Glacies said, trying to keep Grov from running away, in any direction, towards whatever caught his fancy.
"Could you do a favor for me? Please? It'll really help break me out of this little funk."
"Oh, god damn! What could you possibly want?"
"Flutes."
Glacies glared at him, and Lugnut slowly shook his head, scratching at the back of his neck. The Duke looked up at the book keep, imploringly, and grudgingly Glacies said, "Fine, I'll pass the order down to the workshops..."
"Excellent, thanks, gents, thanks much."
"Incidently," Glacies said, stopping once again. "You've got that second son, have any interest in putting him on the stage with me?"