'They're not allowed to put meat in their beer anymore. It's supposed to be bad for you.'
'Bad. That is very difficult to understand. How can you get flavour into beer if you don't put meat into it?' Thunder reached out with his ladle and pushed the furry ball back beneath the froth. 'Holy Mother. I'm not surprised you left that place. The beer must have tasted like toad's piss.'
He turned to the Brew Master.
'Some proper beer for the Sky Warrior.'
The Brew Master stepped towards the vat.
'Not that awful stuff. That's got rabbit in it. Go and get some descent beer from the royal keg ... and bring a pair of drinking horns.'
The Brew Master shuffled outside.
Thunder turned to Tom.
'Right. Are you ready to meet him?'
'Meet who?'
'The friggin priest, of course ... the one who's come all the way from the marshes to hear what you've got to say about eclipses and clever things like that.'
Tom had assumed that Adrina's secret emissary would be someone unknown to him. In the event, it was Thunder. He could only assume that the relationship between Thunder and the princess had changed. The most likely explanation was that the queen was dead or dying and Adrina was being groomed for the succession.
He turned to Thunder.
'I'd be honoured to make the gentleman's acquaintance.'
Thunder screwed up his face. 'I wouldn't be so sure. There's more than a chance you won't like the nasty sod.'
'I can cope with that.'
'Yes. You've got skin like the end of a marsh toad's bum.' Thunder thrust out a stubby finger. 'Mind you're not rude to him. That priest could be useful to us.'
***
Tom entered the royal stables. There was a loft above the horse stalls. He pushed the door open and squeezed into the cramped space. A man was there, dressed in the robes of a priest. A staff leant against the wall beside him.
'Sky Warrior.' He rose as Tom entered. 'My name is Aaroen. There is no need for an introduction. Your fame travels before you.'
'His manners were different from those of the tribesmen ... far too slick and polished. Tom took an immediate dislike to him. He'd met scholarly arseholes before.
'I've heard so much about you,' the priest said.
'You have the advantage on me. I know nothing about you.'
Aaroen smiled. 'I have been in retreat in the marshes amongst the poor outcasts of this sad world.'
'I heard something about you having to go into hiding following a difference of opinion with the Grand Master of the Duideth.'