An ordinary, perfectly polite hand.
Then it had to belong to some wizard. The saying that anything was possible did not merely mean there was hope in the face of adversity. It also encompassed all the bizarre things wizards came up with.
Ruger pondered this, casting a sidelong glance at the cheerful gathering around the nearby table.
Suddenly, the hand turned toward him and bent itself again, as though bowing.
Ruger raised an eyebrow. This fellow ought to have considerable mental power and keen perception, yet it was clearly nothing more than a hand.
The courteous hand turned back and resumed concentrating on the game.
Ruger raised a hand to decline the drinks menu Serious Mouse offered him. The fellow seemed to be quietly showing off, since he had redesigned it with Tuzel as the Inn's selection of drinks expanded, incorporating plenty of clever touches. But Ruger really did need to go to sleep.
He stood up, brimming with anticipation, and headed for the Corridor leading to the Inn's rooms.
The fierce Rabbit Chess match had all the spectators breathing heavily.
Only after he rounded the corner did he truly leave the noise behind.
Bald Monster Wolf lay outside Aisijin's door. Ruger's arrival prompted a slight reaction, but without an order, it remained sprawled there, just as it had when he came earlier. As a special oddity, the wolf would obey Little Regna whenever Ruger, its master, was not directing it. Little Regna could command Monster Wolf like a secondary master. Sometimes, when Little Regna emerged from the space because she missed him, nestled into his arms, and kept him company as he read in the Library, Ruger would think of her as an ordinary, quiet, well-behaved child. Yet these unusual displays always reminded him otherwise.
Ruger glanced at Monster