The king brushed jellied meat from his fingertips onto his robe, then wiped his robe on the tablecloth. “Bring in the smellster!” he said.

Duke Humphrey toyed with the lace at his sleeve. “My king, what’s a smellster?”

“It’s like a jester, except instead of telling jokes, it introduces interesting smells,” said the king.

Baron Fiddle leaned forward. “Sometimes we even try to guess where the smells are from.”

“Well that certainly sounds interesting,” said Duke Humphrey.

A thin man wearing colorful clothes with bells on and holding a stick with a large nose on the end walked into the grand hall. “You called for me, my king?” he said with a bow.

“Yes, the royal smellster. What interesting smells do you have for us today?” said the king.

The smellster hopped and sidled up to the table where the nobles sat, looked from one to the other and smiled, then lifted his arm.

After a moment, the king leaned in and sniffed. “Oh that is an odd one,” he said.

Duke Humphrey took a sniff, followed by Baron Fiddle. Baron Fiddle looked around. “Have any guesses?”

“There’s definitely some mud or dirt there,” said the king.

The smellster nodded, his bells jangling. “What else?” he asked.

“I think I know,” said Duke Humphrey. “It smells… it smells like mud and cotton candy.”

The smellster clapped and pulled a pile of mud from his pocket and a wad of cotton candy from beneath his other arm.

“Bravo,” said the king. “As a reward, you get an extra helping of pie.”

“Oh, well that’s nice,” said the duke.