Storm Warning - Mercedes Lackey [116]
She pointed out things to him that he would never have had any interest in on his own—details of architecture and the mechanics that created the many comforts in the Palace itself. How the chimneys were structured so that the fireplaces in each room drew evenly for instance, or the arrangement of rainwater gutters and cisterns on the roof that put water in every bathing room. It was quite clear that she loved her avocation, and equally clear that flirtation was the farthest thing from her mind.
The sun set just as she completed her tour, and she marked the crimson glory with a nod of satisfaction. “The Compass Rose should be just about filling now,” she said, a non sequitur that caused him to knit his brows in puzzlement.
“Compass Rose?” he repeated.
“Oh, that’s the place where all my friends and their teachers meet, just about every night,” she replied airily. “Father told me to introduce you around, so I figured that I’d take you there tonight and get all the introductions over at once.”
“Tavern?” he echoed. “Uh—tonight? You mean, right now?” I’m not sure I’m up to a strange tavern in a strange city full of strange people....
“Of course,” she said, and set off down the path that led to the small gate in the wall he had first entered when he and Ulrich arrived here, without waiting to see if he was going to follow her. “That’s much more logical than trying to track them down tomorrow, one at a time. And much more efficient as well.”
He had the feeling, as he trailed in her wake, that “logical and efficient” played a very large part in how she regarded the world. He could only wonder what some of his teachers back at the Temple would have made of her.
The gate guards let them out without a comment, and they made their way through the lamplit streets. Natoli threaded her way through the traffic with the confidence of someone who passed this way so often she could have done so blindfolded. The tavern lay just beyond the ring of homes of the highly born or wealthy, but Natoli knew shortcuts that Rubrik apparently hadn’t, little paths that led between garden walls and across alleys he would never have guessed were there. By the time the last sunset light had left the sky, they were already at the door of the Compass Rose itself.
Karal knew what to look for in a good tavern, and he was pleased to find all of it in this one; clean floors and tables, enough servers to take care of the customers without rushing, decent lighting, and no odors of spoiled food or spilled drink. In fact, in the matter of lighting, the Compass Rose was as well-equipped as the Temple scriptorium, which rather surprised him.
Most of the tables were full, or nearly, but Natoli knew exactly where she was going. “Come on,” she told him, as she peered across the room with her hand shading her eyes. “It looks as if everyone’s here.”
She started out across the crowded room, expertly dodging chairs and servers as she moved. “We form up in groups according to what we’re interested in, and each group has its own tables,” she explained over her shoulder, as he struggled through the crowd to keep up with her. “The teachers are all in the back room, of course—you know they’ve graduated you when they send you an invitation to join them. That’s when you stop taking classes and start looking for work or a patron, or start teaching, yourself.”
“Oh,” he replied, which was really all he could say, for by that time she’d reached the table she wanted—a long affair surrounded by two dozen chairs at least, all but three of them filled with blue-garbed young men and a few young women, and covered not only with tankards and mugs, and platters of food, but with books and papers, water-stained and dotted with mug rings. Now the reason for the good lighting in here came to him. It looked as if these people were as accustomed to doing some of their work and reading here as in libraries or other quiet places! No few of the people who greeted Natoli were just as foreign-looking