Once again he stared hard at the Fool, who was watching them with his mouth open, and looked back at Tomjon.
Nah, he thought. Coincidence.
'S'acting,' he said. 'A good actor can be anything, right?'
He could feel the Fool's eye boring into the back of his short neck.
'Yes, but dressing up as women, it's a bit—' said Thundergust doubtfully.
Tomjon slipped off his shoes and knelt down on them, bringing his face level with the dwarfs. He gave him a calculating stare for a few seconds, and then adjusted his features.
And there were two Thundergusts. True, one of them was kneeling and had apparently been shaved.
'What ho, what ho,' said Tomjon in the dwarf's voice.
This was by way of being a hilarious gag to the rest of the dwarfs, who had an uncomplicated sense of humour. As they gathered round the pair Hwel felt a gentle touch on the shoulder.
'You two are with a theatre?' said the Fool, now almost sober.
'S'right.'
'Then I've come five hundred miles to find you.'
It was, as Hwel would have noted in his stage directions, Later the Same Day. The sounds of hammering as the Dysk theatre rose from its cradle of scaffolding thumped through Hwel's head and out the other side.
He could remember the drinking, he was certain. And the dwarfs bought lots more rounds when Tomjon did his impersonations. Then they had all gone to another bar Thundergust knew, and then they'd gone to a Klatchian takeaway, and after that it was just a blur . . .
He wasn't very good at quaffing. Too much of the drink actually landed in his mouth.
Judging by the taste in it, some incontinent creature of the night had also scored a direct hit.
'Can you do it?' said Vitoller.
Hwel smacked his lips to get rid of the taste.
'I expect,' said Tomjon. 'It sounded interesting, the way he told it. Wicked king ruling with the help of evil witches. Storms. Ghastly forests. True Heir to Throne in Life-and-Death Struggle. Flash of Dagger. Screams, alarums. Evil king dies. Good triumphs. Bells ring out.'
'Showers of rose petals could be arranged,' said Vitoller. 'I know a man who can get them at practically cost.'
They both looked at Hwel, who was drumming his fingers on his stool. All three found their attention drawn to the bag of silver the Fool had given Hwel. Even by itself it represented enough money to complete the Dysk. And there had been talk of more to follow. Patronage, that was the thing.
'You'll do it then, will you?' said Vitoller.
'It's got a certain something,' Hwel conceded. 'But . . . I don't know . . .'
Tm not trying to pressure you,' said Vitoller. All three pairs of eyes swivelled back to the money bag.
'It seems a bit fishy,' Tomjon conceded. 'I mean, the Fool is decent enough. But the way he tells it . . . it's very odd. His mouth says the words, and his eyes say something else. And I got the impression he'd much rather we believed his eyes.'
'On the other hand,' said Vitoller hurriedly, 'what harm could it do? The pay's the thing.'
Hwel raised his head.
'What?' he said muzzily.
'I said, the play's the thing,' said Vitoller.
There was silence again, except for the drumming of Hwel's fingertips. The bag of silver seemed to have grown larger. In fact, it seemed to fill the room.