"Over here!" hissed Chaney. "Hurry!"
Tal hurried to join his friend, and together they peered around the foliage to look toward Tal's residence.
Standing a block away from the tallhouse were two men in Uskevren livery. Tal did not recognize them, but he was becoming increasingly unfamiliar with the house guard since he visited Stormweather so rarely. They stood a respectable distance from the tallhouse, but their frequent glances left no question about their business. They were waiting for Tal.
"I deduced from their arrival that the Old Owl wanted a word," said Chaney, "and I thought maybe you'd like the option to postpone it."
"You are a gentleman and a scholar," said Tal.
Despite his black mood, he was happy to see Chaney. Only now that they saw each other only a few times a month did he realize how inseparable they had once been.
"Don't forget devilishly handsome and irresistible to women."
"Let's get out of here," said Tal. "I should check in at the Realms."
After Ferrick's blistering lecture, Tal was not ready to hear more of the same from Thamalon. They faded from Alaspar Lane and headed for the anonymity of streets less traveled. Winding their way through lanes and alleys, they eventually came to the Wide Realms Playhouse.
From a distance, the Wide Realms looked like part of a larger structure. It was surrounded by other businesses, including a bath house, a scribner's, and several buildings shared by artisans who could not afford their own establishments. Some of them worked on commission for Quickly, making costumes or props for the players. In return, they were some of the Wide Realms's most frequent customers.
Unlike the opera audiences on the other side of town, the playhouse crowd didn't mind mingling with the common folk. Most of them were laborers and tradesmen, gaining admittance to the grounds for a mere five pennies. For a silver raven, they could sit in one of the galleries, sheltered from the sun. Those willing to part with more silver or even a golden fivestar could sit in the balconies behind the actors or on the stage itself, to be seen by all. Some of the more dissolute young nobles were becoming regular attendees, though they were apt to fall asleep when they weren't heckling the players for the amusement of their companions. Tal's brother, Tamlin, was one of these. Thankfully, he had not yet appeared at one of this season's productions, and Tal was hopeful that his brief interest was now a past fancy.
They walked past the main entrance to find the stage door open. They crossed through the backstage clutter, following the sound of voices from the stage beyond.
"Let me play the prince," cried a muffled voice, "or I'll cut off your other head!"
Waving Chaney back, Tal peered around the corner to see what was happening.
The idiot half of the grotesque ettin's mask rested on Sivana's shoulder, Lommy's slender green legs poking out beneath the neck. On the floor by Sivana's feet was the vicious head, growling up at the heavens. Sivana swung a ridiculously large spiked ball and chain while lurching toward their opponent.
The other actor was obviously Ennis Lurvin, a big man usually cast as a fool or a warrior. He was about Tal's size, so they were often cast as guards to stand on each side of a king's throne or given the same simple part to play alternately. He brandished a glowing sword, the favorite prop of all the actors. Upon command it would light up, burst into flame, or ring with celestial music. It was also kept quite sharp since the previous winter and not to be used recklessly. Tal was not concerned about the sword, however. What attracted his attention was the mask Ennis wore, a fresh creation of papier mache that Tal had never seen before.
It was the gigantic head of a savage wolf.
"Grulok not afeared of werewolf of Selgaunt!" yelled Sivana in a deep, silly voice. She stalked forward as Lommy pulled the handle that made the mask's eyes roll and the tongue loll.
Tal could bear no more. He rushed forward and knocked the wolfs head off Ennis. "What in the Nine Hells are you doing?"
Lommy peeked out from the ettin's gaping mouth and peeped in surprise, his tiny voice muffled by the mask. Sivana smiled nonchalantly and lifted the ettin's head off of the tasloi, who scampered up the back wall to disappear into the balcony. "Just goofing off, Tal. We were thinking of doing a children's play next month."
"Who told you?" demanded Tal. "Was it Quickly?"
"Told us what?" said Sivana. Ennis's face had turned from a shocked pale to a deep scarlet. Tal knew Sivana was lying.
"It was supposed to be a secret!" Tal shook the big wolf mask at her.
"It's still a secret," said Sivana, abandoning the pretense. "Nobody outside the playhouse knows."
"Nobody inside the playhouse was meant to know, either."
"You told Quickly, Otter, and Lommy, but not the rest of us?"
"I needed the cage, so I had to tell Quickly. Lommy and Otter live here." Tal let out an enormous sigh. "I can't believe she told you."
"Don't blame her," said Sivana. "She let it slip one night. You know how she talks in her sleep."
"I knew it!" said Chaney, storming onto the stage. When everyone looked blankly at him, he explained, "You know, the stories about all you players sleeping with all the other players." Still, everyone just stared at him. At last he shrugged. "I felt left out."
"I just haven't gotten to you yet, darling," said Sivana, patting Chaney on the bottom. He brightened at once.
Tal would not let them change the subject. "Quickly had no right to tell you."
"It's not as if we wouldn't have figured it out. You're missing only when the moon is full, and you're always missing when the moon is full. There's one coming up soon, isn't there? I can tell, because you're always cranky a few days before."
"You don't know what you're talking about," growled Tal. "I thought you were my friends."
"We are your friends," said Ennis. The big man's voice cracked, and he looked near to crying. His childlike fear of confrontation made the other players teasingly call him Quickly's Puppy. "Come on, Tal," he pleaded. "You know you can trust everyone here. We're like family."
Tal choked on his reply.
"Maybe not the best analogy you could have picked," said Chaney, grimacing.
"What are you children carrying on about?" Quickly emerged from one of the trapdoors to the Abyss below the stage. She held a bulging sack in both hands while clamping her pipe between her teeth. "If you've got so much energy, you can help repaint the rest of these masks."
All eyes turned to Quickly, then back to Tal to see how he'd react. He crushed the wolf's head mask in his hands and flung the fragments on the floor at Quickly's feet.
The pipe fell from Quickly's mouth, and she let the sack of masks slip through her hands onto the stage floor. "Tal…" she began.
Tal whipped around and stalked off the stage. He had thrown open the back door by the time Chaney caught up with him. He let the little man through before slamming the door behind them.
Chaney took one look at Tal's face and shut his mouth tight. They walked quickly and in silence for several blocks before Tal cooled off enough to speak.
"I might as well go to Stormweather and get it over with."
"You want me to come along?" asked Chaney.
"No, there's no telling how long Thamalon will want to bellow at me this time. Besides, you annoy him."
"Want to meet up later? I'll fetch Feena, and we…"
"No!" said Tal. "The day's been bad enough without another lecture."
"What makes you think she'll lecture you? Maybe she can-"
"Dark and empty, I said no!"
"Take it easy, Tal. It's me. I'm just trying to help."
"You can help by leaving me alone," snapped Tal.
"Sure, sure," said Chaney, holding up his hands and retreating. "Whatever you say."
Tal seethed, furious at… he didn't know what. Tha-malon, Quickly, Rusk, maybe-or himself. By the time he realized he owed Chaney an apology, his friend was gone. After all of the day's reversals, he hoped at least that Chaney would remain his friend.