Finder's Bane - Kate Novak [102]
"Pick a line," Jedidiah told Walinda. "Of course, with your karma, any line you pick is going to be the one that moves the slowest."
"Why must we get in line?" Walinda asked.
"Because all these people want what you want, to fill out the proper forms to gain an interview with a bureaucrat who will grant them permission to appear before the tribunal that determines whether or not to recommend to Yen-Wang-Yeh's staff that they be allowed to use one of the portals. Since you're not from Kara-tur, and you're not dead, you'll need special permission. Don't cause any trouble while you're waiting. Courtesy is everything to these people. Should you offend someone who turns out to be married to the cousin of the mother of the official we may later have to deal with, then we could end up waiting in lines until Gehenna freezes over."
A palanquin carried by four go-zu-oni lumbered past them. Reclining on the heavily scented pillows within the box was a horse-headed creature. Human servants ran before the conveyance strewing rose petals at the go-zu-oni's feet, and others who followed behind gathered the petals back up.
"Who was that?" Joel asked.
"Some general of the animal kingdom whose mother got him his post," Jedidiah muttered.
"What are you going to do while I'm waiting?" Walinda demanded impatiently.
"I?" Jedidiah asked with a shocked expression. "I will be finding a contact so you don't have to wait in line. If all goes well, we'll be in Sigil before the end of the week. Come along, Joel," he said, turning and heading back up the staircase the way they'd come.
Joel hurried after his god, following him through the hallways of another building, down another staircase, through another courtyard, through another building, then out a moon-shaped door onto a balcony overlooking a garden courtyard with a small pond. Joel dallied at the rail of the balcony, as he was sure one was meant to do, to take in the beauty of the garden and admire the serenity of the scene. Bees buzzed among the gardenias, carp glided through the water, and birds twittered in the trees.
"Dawdle later," Jedidiah called from behind him. The older priest had circled the balcony and started down a wide staircase into the garden.
Joel hurried down the stairs, but Jedidiah held him back on the landing between the first flight of stairs and the second.
Eight identical bronze statues, covered in a green patina, flanked the staircase. The statues resembled some creature half-way between a dog and a lion. Jedidiah rapped sharply on the third lion-dog on the right. A hollow clank rang out into the courtyard.
A pale green light began to glow in the lion-dog's eyes. "Finder!" a voice cried out from inside the bronze statue. "You've come back to visit!"
"Just a short visit, Shishi," the older priest replied. "We're just passing through."
"Pooh," the voice inside the lion-dog pouted. "You're always just passing through. I suppose you want help."
Tin too old to wait in line, Shishi," Jedidiah said with a tired smile, "and too impatient. I need three passes to Sigil." "Ah. Not the usual destination of the dead. This may take a while. Will you sing for me tonight, Finder?" Shishi asked.
"You know I will. Oh, but while I'm here, my name is Jedidiah-a priest of Finder."
The light in the lion-dog's eyes blinked, giving the illusion that the statue blinked. "But you still look like Finder!" the voice said. "What sort of western custom is this?"
"Humor an old barbarian," Jedidiah implored, patting the lion-dog's metal head. "I'll be waiting in the garden.”
The green light in the lion-dog's eyes faded.
Jedidiah motioned to Joel with a jerk of his head, and together they walked down into the garden. They crossed a tiny bridge to an island in the center of the pond and sat on a bench in a pavilion overlooking the water.
"In case you hadn't guessed," Jedidiah explained, "Shishi is a spirit of a lion-dog. Even though he can't actually drink, he's a big fan of drinking songs of the western Realms. Gods only know