With a strange sense of anticipation, Klein led Sharron and the others up the steps, around the enormous throne, and back into the Hall of Truth.
The murals came into view, and Sharron and Telles saw them for the first time.
"This one shows humans building a city... This one shows war and migration... Dragons really have no artistic talent. These paintings are so stiff. They may look realistic, but they have no beauty... Still, their long history gives them weight...
"Huh? Wait, that's what I was thinking. Why am I saying it aloud?
"No, I'm not saying it... It's this hall!"
Telles had been commenting on the murals in his head. As soon as he heard his own voice, he worked out what was wrong.
At the same time, Sharron's voice sounded around them. Instead of its usual ethereal quality, it had a playful note:
"A warrior defeats an evil dragon? How tired... I stopped liking that story when I was four..."
Hearing her own voice, Sharron realized what was happening. She glanced at Klein and Abner, who had been secretly watching her, and immediately understood. Her thoughts rang out again:
"They're not broadcasting their thoughts... Did they prepare for this?
"Sneaky Sherlock... Abner, always looking for a laugh... Edwina, whose thoughts don't match her appearance..."
Abner's mouth twitched, but he forcibly suppressed his laughter with Secret Art.
Klein had already reined in his thoughts, yet Sharron's muttering still amused him. A low chuckle escaped and echoed through the hall.
Then Edwina's first thought sounded aloud: "This must be the 'Gap Moe' Gehrman talked about?"
"Gap Moe?" Sharron, already trying to exercise Temperance over her thoughts, could not help wondering.
"Gap Moe... Gehrman coined the term the last time he passed through here. He said he wanted to see