Magus (Advent Mage Cycle) Read Online Free Page B

pleasure. "I appreciate that, Chatta."
    "She's better at it than I am," I told him. "But if I can help, I'll be pleased to do so." With sadistic cheer, I added, "And I'll be more than pleased to help destroy their detection system, whatever it is."
    The look in Hazard's eyes said he understood why, but he didn't say anything, just nodded.
    "What else, Garth?" Xiaolang prompted.
    "Chahir is rather flat, for the most part," I answered after a beat. "The south has some mountains and forests, but most of it is grassland or farmland of some sort. It makes it difficult to hide, and difficult to cross." That was the voice of experience. It had been nerve wracking covering the distance between Tobadorage and the Black Ridge Mountains. I had been sure someone would spot me and chase me down. "Each province is like a state unto itself, with its own culture and rules. The small villages are especially wary of strangers. I only visited a few, usually when I went to see relatives, and I was under suspicion the entire time. Even though people knew who I was."
    "Paranoid villagers," Shield drawled with a roll of his eyes. "I hate dealing with paranoid villagers."
    I agreed with him. It made our job harder. "If you do get questioned, or stopped for any reason, the safest thing to do is say that you're a mapmaker."
    "Mapmaker?" Hazard repeated dubiously.
    Eagle was the only one that was nodding, apparently knowing what I was referring to. "Yes, of course! Brilliant, Garth." Seeing his teammate's confusion, he leapt into an explanation. "You see, all the province's lords—Doms, they're called—are in constant conflict with their neighbors about where their borders actually are. The government has gotten tired of their arguments, as they usually lead to blood feuds. They've hired a number of people to go in when requested, and measure out the full lay of the province. But they always hire foreigners, or people from across the country, so that the mapmaker isn't partial to one Dom or another."
    "So," Xiaolang said in understanding, "they actually expect the foreigner to be a mapmaker. Good cover story. Everyone, buy the necessary supplies to draw maps with and carry it with you. I want us to be able to back our stories up."
    "There's not much else I can tell you now," I said, while thoughtfully rubbing the tips of my fingers together. "I'll coach you on customs and language as we go. One important thing to keep in mind, however, is this—do not touch people unless you can't help it."
    Eagle nearly choked on his tea. "Ye gods, I nearly forgot about that! It's a huge culture taboo they have."
    "Not a taboo, it's just really rude," I denied. "Touching someone casually means that you are very close to them. Unless the other person will be injured or something if you don't touch them, then avoid it as much as possible."
    "That includes handshakes," Chatta added dryly. I gave her a wry smile, as she had been through this speech before, three months ago. The no-touching rule had been a hard one for her to get used to, as she was a rather physically demonstrative person. "Bow when you meet someone."
    "Somehow," Xiaolang noted dryly, "I get the feeling that this mission is going to get very interesting."
     
     
    After breakfast, we did some last minute shopping, mostly for those map making supplies. Chatta was by far the most comfortable person about shopping in Del’Hain, so I went with her to pick up the supplies. We rendezvoused in the stable yard at the Ambassador Inn with the Red Hand.
    Have you ever come face to face with something that you believed to be a legend, or a myth? I took a long look at the creature in front of me, and still had a hard time convincing myself that my eyes weren’t lying to me.
    Dragoo.
    I could not believe it. There was an actual dragoo standing not ten feet away from me!
    Chatta saw what I did and stumbled to a halt, gasping. “That’s a dragoo!”
    Eagle was saddling a horse nearby, and obviously overheard her,