'What… what happened?' Artus murmured. He rubbed his eyes. The image of the Ring of Winter remained clear for an instant, then faded.
'A property of the temple walls,' Rayburton said. 'Rather like a massive scrying crystal. Allows you to see into your own heart. I should have warned you not to look too closely. You've been standing there for the better part of an hour.' He extended a hand and helped Artus to his feet. Only then did the dazed and bemused explorer notice the two other people standing between him and the temple wall.
The first was a tall, stern-faced Tabaxi. Like the other Mezroans, he was dressed in a flowing tobe. His was not white, but purple, with small green triangles clustered over his heart. Unlike the others Artus had seen, this man carried a weapon-a war club, which hung at his waist. From the muscles cording the man's bare arms, he could quite obviously wield the knobbed cudgel to good effect.
'This is Negus Kwalu,' Rayburton said, gesturing toward the stone-faced Tabaxi. 'Eldest son of King Osaw.'
Artus dusted himself off and bowed deferentially. He knew enough about Tabaxi culture to recognize negus as the title reserved for princes in direct line to the throne.
Kwalu's brown eyes narrowed to slits as he studied Artus. He stood perfectly still, a square-featured statue staring at the explorer. From the hard line of the negus's mouth and the crease of concern on his jutting brow, Artus guessed he was not faring well in the prince's silent test.
Finally, the negus offered a few clipped phrases. The tone alone told Artus they were a formal greeting and welcome to the city, though Kwalu hardly seemed pleased to deliver it. Rather than risk offending the man by mangling a reply in Tabaxi, Artus smiled as genuinely as he could and bowed again. Kwalu nodded, then turned on his heels and marched off toward a huge amphitheater on the other side of the plaza.
For an instant, the explorer was certain he had struggled through the difficult exchange with as much grace as possible. A woman's bright laughter shattered that thought almost as quickly as it had formed.
'You realty don't speak Tabaxi, do you?' the young woman said in Old Cormyrian, then laughed again. The sound was clear and refreshing, like a cool spring rain.
Lord Rayburton frowned severely, but that did nothing to silence the woman. She nodded to Artus and said, 'My father is too annoyed at me right now to introduce us. I'm Alisanda Rayburton.'
She held out a slender hand to Artus, who took it almost without thinking. He found himself staring at the woman with the same intensity he'd shown the images in the temple wall. Alisanda was as tall as the explorer, with the dark skin of her Tabaxi mother and black hair knit into a dozen tight braids across her scalp. Her green eyes shone with a calm self-assurance and a ready wit, things Artus had always valued in his old friend Pontifax, things that instantly beguiled him now.
'You can call me Sanda,' she said, her round face lit with a smile, 'but only if you give me back my hand.'
'Oh, sorry,' Artus murmured. He let go of her hand. 'So why were you laughing?'
Sanda gestured to Lord Rayburton, who still seemed rather put out by his daughter's actions. 'Father told me you came here without knowing how to apeak the language. I didn't believe him.' She shrugged. 'It just seems kind of silly, don't you think?'
Bristling at the insult, unintentional though it was, Artus said, 'I never planned to come here. The trip was unexpected.'
'Oh, don't mind her,' Rayburton said bruskly. 'She's terribly rude sometimes. When she gets this way, I try my best to ignore her.'
'Speaking of being ignored,' Byrt cut in, 'how about sharing a bit of the conversation with us. We don't mind being talked down to-no choice, really, when you're as short as we two.'
Sanda knelt and scratched behind Byrt's ears. 'Sorry. You and Lugg will just have to do a better job of letting us know you're here.'
'That's hardly their problem,' Artus grumbled, rubbing his ankle where Lugg had bitten him. A set of deep teeth marks marred the boot in a rough circle.
'Sanda has more of an appreciation for animals than most,' Rayburton noted absently. He was checking the length of the shadows in the plaza. 'That's the power Ubtao granted her when she became a bara-animal friendship, she calls it.'
'Oh,' Artus said coolly. He glanced at Sanda, suddenly uncomfortable. 'How long have you been a bara?'
'Almost five hundred years,' she replied. 'Not very long, not compared to Father or King Osaw.' After a pause, she added, 'Still, Negus Kwalu has only been a bara for a hundred years, so I'm not the youngest.'
'The negus is a bara, too?' Artus exclaimed. 'Gods. When am I going to meet someone here my own age?'
If Lord Rayburton noticed the tension that had settled between Artus and his daughter, he showed no sign of it as he turned his back to them and started away from the temple. 'No time to waste,' he said. 'The sun will be down soon, and I need to go talk to Ras T'fima about… well, about some old debts ' He stopped and looked back over his shoulders. 'Lugg and Byrt should come with me, I think.'
'What a wonderful idea. Lord Rayburton,' the little wombat said. 'I think Artus should spend a little recreation time with members of his own species before we three trek back to the coast together.'
'I never said I was going back-'
'Good evening, Sanda,' Byrt said, doing his best imitation of a courtly bow. He turned his vacant blue eyes on her. 'Your charm and discretion are truly the centerpiece of Mezroan society.' With that he hurried after Rayburton. Lugg hefted himself sleepily from the ground and trundled after them, shaking his head.
Sanda watched her father and the wombats cross the plaza, then disappear into a crowd that was beginning to gather around the huge amphitheater. 'Shall I show you the rest of the city?' she asked.
'Actually,' Artus said. 'I think I need to find someplace to sit down and rest.' He slumped against the side of the temple, careful not to look too closely at the myriad crystal triangles.
Sanda hooked her arm under Artus's. 'I know just the spot. There's a park near the schools-did I tell you I teach history at the schools? No?' She tugged the explorer off the wall and guided him into the plaza. 'We can go to the park and talk. In fact… I might be able to lay my hands on some Tabaxi primers, if any of the children left them in the classroom.'
She has to think I'm a complete boob, Artus decided. Not surprising since she's more than ten times my age. He looked over at the young woman-at least she appeared young. Twenty-five, perhaps. Thirty at the oldest. Sanda caught him studying her and smiled warmly.
'After you've got the rudiments of Tabaxi down,' she said, 'maybe you can tell me a bit about the Heartlands-you're from Cormyr, right? I only have Father's word to go on for what the North is like, and I think you've already caught on to how cranky and unyielding he can be.'
Artus had been caught up in finding some pretext for extricating his arm from hers. But the feeling he had- that he was being led along like a wayward orphan-disappeared in the face of her guileless chatter. 'It's a deal,' he said, settling his arm against hers. 'You give me Tabaxi lessons, and I'll teach you about Cormyr.'
Eleven
The dinosaur towered over Artus, its bulk blocking out the sun. It was obviously a carnivore, and a hungry one at that.
On a pair of strong, muscular legs, the monster raised its body to its full height-five times as tall as Artus. The dinosaur's forelimbs were small, more like a pair of bird's claws, and they clutched at the air continuously. Its long tail swished back and forth, stirring up the dust on the barren plain. These details of anatomy fled the explorer's mind when the thing opened its mouth. At their base, its teeth were as wide around as a man's fist, but they tapered to needle points. That's all Artus saw for a moment, those teeth.
Artus started awake and yelped in surprise. The five small children standing around him echoed that shout
