Talarius harrumphed. “You expect to find a deck of cards and a whist marker, perhaps?”
Antefalken looked thoughtful. “Do you play whist?”
“Of course.”
“Excellent. Then we shall look towards that as our principal objective. Come along,” Antefalken told the knight.
“What? Are you saying that demons play whist?” Talarius asked, sounding shocked.
“Of course. It’s a great way to pass the time, and demons often have a lot of time to pass. And it keeps one sharp,” the bard replied.
“Yet it requires obeying the rules and detailed analysis, along with the application of logical principles,” Talarius said as he followed the demon bard towards one of the shanties.
“Exactly why we like it. Demons have a thing for rules; we are bound by them and very fond of trying to exploit them, which makes us great game players!” Antefalken said.
“I think you are playing a game with me now.”
Tom could see Antefalken shaking his head. “Sometimes, Talarius, a cigar is just a cigar.”
“Trisfelt!” Hilda exclaimed as he wandered through the infirmary, where she was tending to patients.
“Excellent, I’d hoped you’d still be around!” Trisfelt exclaimed. “I was afraid Lenamare and Jehenna might have sent you fleeing the palace in terror, never to return!” He came up to her and gave her a brief, light hug.
Hilda beamed at the familiarity; one did not get a lot of hugs in Tierhallon. “Nonsense. I’ve served on battlefields and seen horrors nearly as bad!” She laughed lightly.
“Well, you were incredibly graceful and attentive to them, despite their typical patronizing attitudes,” the wizard congratulated her.
“Again, nonsense. I’ve spent some time dealing with nobility and all sorts of high and mighty who really just don’t know any other way to interact with people.”
Trisfelt smiled. “I suspect that is part of their problem. I have to admit, they did seem to enjoy your company far more than they do most people’s.” He shook his head and rolled his eyes. “At breakfast this morning, Jehenna actually said they enjoyed your company last night!” He raised his hands in amazement. “I have never heard her say anything like that before. It was practically a miracle!”
Hilda beamed brightly and laughed. “I hardly think it a miracle. They are very talented people and quite fascinating; one just has to have a bit of patience and understanding.”
“Patience and understanding? My dear, you have the patience and understanding of a saint!”
Hilda laughed and patted Trisfelt on the shoulder. “You flatter me; I am hardly a saint! I have over-indulged on more than one occasion.” She paused and flashed him a grin. “As you may be aware.”
They both laughed at that. “Say, you’ve been so generous with entertaining me, would you allow me to do the honor of returning your hospitality sometime? Perhaps tonight?”
Trisfelt smiled, pleasantly surprised. “Why, I’d love that, most certainly!”
“Excellent.” Hilda made a deprecating gesture with her hands. “Now, I have these contractors that are redoing my clinic, which is the main level of my house; they were supposed to be finished while I was at the wedding, but...”
“A siege may have interfered?” Trisfelt suggested with some mirth.
“Apparently, it’s hard to get wood and stone into a city when there is an army surrounding it.” Hilda shook her head in mock surprise. “Plus, I think they sort of underestimated the time, and are possibly using this as an added reason.” She gave a gentle sigh of exasperation.
“Thus, I fear that I am staying in a hotel and treating my patients in my parlor, ugh.” Hilda made gestures with her hands as if calming her nerves a bit. “However, it is a decent inn; it’s the Havestan Gardens.”
Trisfelt raised an eyebrow and smiled. “What a happy coincidence. By sheer chance, I am sure, they happen to have the best wine cellar in the city, outside of a few private cellars in the palace.”
“Do they?” Hilda overtly pretended to be ignorant of this fact. Trisfelt chuckled.
“My dear, your palate can no longer surprise me! I am sure you knew this full well when you checked in. Indeed, I am wondering exactly how upset you are by the delays to your reconstruction?”
“Dear Trisfelt, I assure you it is a horrible inconvenience, and I have no choice but to console myself from the inn’s cellar each evening!” Hilda gave him look of feigned inconvenience, and they both laughed.
“I would be honored, My Lady.” Trisfelt told her.
“Excellent. Shall I see you around the same time as last night’s dinner?”
Trisfelt nodded. “That is an excellent time.”
“Splendid!” Hilda smiled and then got a slightly surprised look on her face, as if she suddenly remembered something. “You know, Danyel was with the servants last night and they were all talking about the balling of the fight outside. He was told that it was quite spectacular. You don’t by any chance have an idea of where a copy might be had? I myself have heard so much, but not actually seen it.”
“Yes, yes, you should see it, it’s remarkable. I saw it later, after the Council, because I was outside, as you know. Apparently, there are numerous shoddy mirrorings of the event around; but you must see the balling. The Council has made copies for all the councilors; Lenamare and Jehenna each have a copy. I am sure I can borrow one of theirs; particularly when I tell them that it’s for you to see.”
“Oh you are such a dear, and I’m sure Danyel will be as grateful as I!” Hilda exclaimed.
“Well, hello there!” A voice called to Tom as he was walking past one of the shanties. He turned to look towards the open-faced shanty to see Sam lying on a padded table getting a massage from a rather large, homely demoness.
“Hey, Sam!” Tom replied, walking over to the table.
“Yesterday was quite the workout, so I thought I’d come by here and get a massage. My muscles are killing me. The problem with this form is that I have it memorized at a certain point in time, and that somehow never includes having muscles that are used to mountain climbing. You would think I could manage to memorize the form after climbing rather than before.” He shook his head. “Of course, if I did that, then I wouldn’t feel the need for a message from my favorite masseuse, Helgadavichanova here.” He nodded his head back towards the masseuse.
“Nice!” Tom grinned. “Looks relaxing. Do you come here often?”
“Mainly for the massages, although sometimes after a cold day skiing, it’s nice to relax in the lava,” Sam said.
“Did you bring your company here for some fun?” Sam asked.
“Yeah, we were feeling a bit cooped up, so thought we’d come and stretch a little, relax,” Tom said.
“Excellent idea — this place is great for that,” Sam said.
“Well, I better let you get back to your massage. It’s not very relaxing if you have to twist your neck to talk to me.” Tom laughed.
Sam laughed as well. “Very true. As great as it is to see you again, you are correct. Take care!”
“You too!” Tom said as he strolled off. Despite what Tizzy had said, Tom rather liked Sam. He was the most normal person Tom had met in the Abyss. And that included Talarius, whom he had brought to the Abyss with him. He shook his head. Finally, a normal person!
Gastropé was enjoying iced tea in the starboard lounge and watching the clouds go by below them at the launch reception. Jenn, Maelen, Elrose, Trevin were there, as was Second Mate Trefalger and several crew members he had been introduced to but frankly could not remember the names of.
They had just passed over the outer rim of the Grove’s mountain ranges and the sky above and to some extent below was iridescent with various bands and streaks of color. Trefalger had explained that the streaks were auroras caused by the intersection of various planes with the Grove.