Dragonquest - Donita K. Paul [81]
“What?”
I said, Toopka would love this.
Dar nodded. “But soon we should get down to business.”
Kale’s heart sank. She’d almost forgotten their mission for the night. Talking to the maids in the safety of the house they had rented did not frighten her. She asked probing questions without one thought of being challenged on her inquisitive nature.
Once she had the young women thinking along the lines that might reveal an important fact, Kale often used her talent to gather any other information that never reached the maids’ lips. She found most of the relevant facts flitting through the girls’ minds. A cousin moved to town because labor was hard on a farm where the dragons refused to cooperate. No cloth had come from the factory town of Nordante because the dragons would no longer carry the market wares.
But here in this rowdy crowd, Kale dreaded approaching strangers to strike up conversations. She knew she could not probe the minds of so many people with her talent. Such an endeavor would exhaust her.
Regidor reached across the table to put his scaly hand over hers. “Don’t worry about dealing with this riffraff. I’ll take care of going from table to table. Probing minds doesn’t drain me the way it does you.”
What can I do?
“You keep an eye on the minor dragons.”
Dar scooted his chair away from the table. “I’m going to join a card game in one of the back rooms.”
“How do you know there are card games back there?” Kale asked.
“My dear, there are always card games in places like this.”
“Oh.”
Dar winked and strolled to one side where a number of doors led out of the hall.
Bardon stood. “I’ll order a drink at the bar.”
Kale watched him weave through the tables to a long counter where men served standing patrons. She turned to find her meech friend, meaning to mindspeak with him. She found him alive with curiosity and determined to examine every species in the room. Kale laughed to herself as she observed his tactics.
Regidor, with cowl covering his face and arms crossed and tucked into the opposite sleeve, strolled about the room, pausing at each table. But as he progressed around the room, his attitude changed. From the outside he appeared no different, but even with the distraction of this chaotic environment, Kale could feel agitation rising in Regidor.
She didn’t like sitting by herself with only the minor dragons to keep her company. She moved to lean against the wall beside a thick supporting column and felt safe in its shadow.
From this vantage point she noticed that none of the animals roamed the room.
I’m not going to send the dragons out to spy. We’ll just view the room from here.
Bardon held a thick mug in his hand. He put it to his mouth and tilted it. But Kale didn’t see him swallow. She smiled. Bardon wouldn’t be losing any of his sharpness because of a strong brew.
One of the women who had danced on the stage sashayed up to Bardon and maneuvered herself into the small space next to him. She smiled at the lehman and said something.
Kale stopped herself just before she used her talent to eavesdrop.
I don’t want to know. I don’t want to hear what Bardon is thinking right now. And I certainly don’t want to be involved in his feelings.
She turned away to watch Regidor. His lean figure, draped in the somber garb of a monk, stood in sharp contrast to the slovenly appearance of most of the men and women sitting around the tables. His slow, deliberate movements and the air of calm that surrounded him accentuated the incongruity.
Kale noted that several men grew uncomfortable as the cleric stood near their tables. One o’rant poked the bisonbeck next to him and pointed at Regidor. Laughter rose from the table. Another bisonbeck sneered at the robed figure. One man rose to his feet as if to challenge her meech friend, but his companion urged him to sit down.
Kale bit her lip. Regidor concentrated on the task at hand. He was oblivious to the changing mood of the crowd.
Regidor, these people don’t like your roaming around the room.