Honor approached Passepout, and coming up behind him, gave him a firm, bearlike swat on the back.
"You have already earned my respect, good sir," the host complimented. "It takes quite a voracious eater to keep up with the likes of McKern and myself."
"Thank you, good sir," Passepout countered, "and thank you for your hospitality, but… when did you say that dessert would be served?"
Honor barked out another jovial laugh.
"Soon," the host replied, "soon. As I recall, your name is Passepout."
"Correct sir," the thespian replied, "Passepout, son of Idle and Catinflas, at your service. Perhaps you have seen me on the stage."
Volo inwardly groaned at his friend's faux pas.
"Afraid not," the jovial host replied. "I'm afraid that seeing anyone on the stage is one activity that is greatly hampered in its enjoyment by those with the misfortune of being blind, such as myself."
"You're blind?" the thespian said in astonishment.
"Afraid so, not that it seems to get in the way much," the host replied, not conveying any sense of embarrassment over his handicap.
McKern appeared on the other side of the still-amazed thespian.
"Tut, tut, my fine fellow," the Cloak said to the thespian. "No reason to be amazed. My friend Fullstaff here is an accomplished fellow, no getting around it, but he is not that much an anomaly. My own brother is also blind as a bat, and is quite the master of magic metallurgy back in Mulmaster."
Rassendyll quickly drew in his breath in surprise. Could this be the brother of the one responsible for this infernal mask? he thought, bracing himself for further pertinent revelations in the evening ahead.
McKern scratched his head for a moment as if engaged in thought. "Passepout," he said out loud, repeating the thespian's name, "for some reason that name seems to ring a bell."
"Perhaps you have seen me on stage," the thespian asserted.
"No," the mage said, "seems to me I just recently heard your name around Mulmaster. Oh well, it couldn't have been important."
Passepout, slightly disheartened at the quick dismissal of his possible fame as a thespian, quickly reasserted his main concern. "You were saying about dessert, good host?"
"Oh, yes," Fullstaff replied. "It will be served in my study, a place of peace and quiet and contemplation where old soldiers and old mages such as myself and McKern can regale you younger folk with tales of past heroics and derring-do. The boys are fetching our puddings now. Shall we go?"
"I'm still waiting for my wine," a slightly cranky McKern reminded, adding, "It's time."
"Indeed it is," Fullstaff agreed. "To the study we go."
Passepout followed McKern as he hastened to the study to get a seat in one of the more comfortable chairs. Fullstaff followed, then turned back when he realized that the others were still rooted in their places at the table.
"Chesslyn, you know the way," the host called back. "Please show your friend, and Mr. Passepout's friend, the way."
"Sure, Honor," the Harper agent replied.
"Thank you for the splendid meal," Volo called after the host.
"Nothing of it, nothing of it," Honor called, already on his way.
"My thanks too, your lordship," Rassendyll chorused.
Fullstaff stopped in his tracks for a moment as if he had just thought of something, but then shook his head, and called back, "As I said before," and continued along the hallway.
"Shall we?" Chesslyn said, standing up.
"We shall," Volo agreed, taking her arm. "Care to join us, stranger?" the master traveler asked good-naturedly.
"Don't mind if I do," Rassendyll answered. "And the name is Rupert, Rupert of Zenda."
"Well met then, Rupert. I knew you weren't from around here," Volo replied.
"The face cover is a giveaway," Chesslyn offered.
Volo began to finger his beard, and said, "I've traveled a lot, and I can't say that I recall a place by the name of Zenda."
"I'm not surprised," Rassendyll answered, quickly changing the subject by saying, "I hear dessert calling. Shall we?"
"We shall," Chesslyn and Volo said simultaneously, then looked at each other and began to laugh.
The three set off after their dining companions.
Honor Fullstaff's study was far from what you would expect from a retired recluse's place of contemplation, but was in keeping with the remarkable abilities of their host, at least in the minds of Rassendyll and Volo. It was a veritable arsenal of bladed weapons, decorated with all sorts of military memorabilia and commendations tastefully arrayed in various display cases, mountings, and stands, complimented by several overstuffed chairs and numerous end tables that seemed to have been tailor-made for holding after dinner treats and cordials.
When the threesome arrived, the others had already settled into their chosen post-dinner modes. In the few minutes that had elapsed since the group had split in half, Passepout had already polished off two puddings, and had safely ensconced himself in an overstuffed settee that Volo assumed had been imported from far-off Kara Tur or possibly Zakhara to the south. The cushions reallocated themselves to support the thespian's bulk in such a way that no doubt provided the heavyset actor with luxurious comfort, but would also hinder him from being able to right himself later on. The master traveler anticipated more than a bit of huffing and puffing on his own part when Passepout called upon him for assistance. Mage McKern was sitting in a slightly more austere throne that might have at one time functioned as a sedan chair, and was sipping a glass of dessert wine, smacking his lips in zealous appreciation after each swallow.
Honor Fullstaff was not seated, and was instead pacing around the room juggling four daggers in the air while carrying on a conversation with McKern. Volo thought he noticed their jovial host cock his head to the side slightly when they entered the room as if to signal that he had indeed sensed their presence.
"Have a seat, have a seat," Honor heralded while not interrupting his juggling exhibition. "Anywhere will do. There's even a double, Chesslyn, for you and your friend, though I will not tolerate it if you two ignore the rest of us for the simple pleasures of each other's company."
Chesslyn looked at Volo and rolled her eyes at her teacher's misconception of their relationship, but nonetheless ushered the master traveler over to the double-seated couch.
"Pish tosh, Honor," McKern interjected, "leave them be. And besides, all eyes in the room are on you and your magnificent manipulation of the blades."
"Are they really?" Honor asked coyly, with a trace of a chuckle in his tone.
"Mmmmphyph," Passepout offered, his mouth full with the start of his third pudding.
"Agreed," said Honor, who shifted the orbit of the blades from in front of him to behind him and then back again without so much as a hesitation in his breathing.
"I am quite impressed," Volo said to the host, "and I've seen quite a bit in my travels."
"Oh, have you now," Honor responded. "Did you hear that Mason? The young whippersnapper claims to have been around. Maybe he's not necessarily the type of fellow who should be hanging around our Chesslyn."
Our Chesslyn, the Harper agent thought.
"Could be," McKern replied, and turned to face Volo. "You seem to be a bit familiar. Perhaps we have met before?"
"Perhaps," Volo replied carefully, adding, "after all I do get around."
McKern gave a hearty laugh at the witty rejoinder, and then turned his attention to Rassendyll. "I was just filling Honor in on the latest goings on in Mulmaster. Evidently a prisoner has escaped, two vagabonds are being sought, and there is rumor that there is unrest in the High Blade's marital chambers."