Cultural Differences OR I just want my merchant's license.

Chapter 5: Respite and Recvery

Back at the Hound's Hunt, whatever Lucas's previous plans were, Amora sent them out the window. She had a determined expression on her face as they walked in, and she ran through the bustle of the inn to the nearest table. Patrons glanced at her as she hurried passed with curious looks on their faces. Then, much to the surprise of the people sitting around it, Amora leapt up onto one of the tables. Carefully avoiding the plates and glasses, Amora pulled out her ukulele and burst into song. Her voice was high and melodious; it carried through all the different conversations of the tavern, pulling their attention towards her.

While the crowd watched Amora, Kalin nudged the party slowly through the tavern. Reginald went especially slow as his eyes were glued to Amora, standing on the table. His mind was split between wonder and confusion–her music was quite beautiful. The party sat down at another table off to the side and watched the rest of Amora's performance.

Trills amongst tasteful key-changes mixed with tricky tempo manipulation all wrapped together with emotion raw enough to grip the hearts of the onlookers. It was all in elvish. For all Reginald knew she could be singing about ducks eating bread, but it still sounded wonderful.

Amora closed with an inhumanly high flourish that had the crowd clapping and a few whistles here and there. Quite a few people tossed coins towards Amora, and Reginald thought he even saw a glimmer of a gold piece hit the table.

"Thank you!" Amora said, holding up her hands, "Thank you, thank you! Hello everyone. I'm glad you liked my performance. If you all don't mind, I was wondering if you could help me with something?"

Reginald's eyes widened in shock as he watched the crowd hush and look at Amora attentively. A few even nodded their heads.

"Magic," Rari whispered to the others.

"Wonderful!" Amora said, "I'm looking for a man named Geoffrey. I know where he works, but I don't want to tell him."

"Geoffrey?" an older man towards the front said, "Well, that man 'd be drinking with ol' Cory down at the Old Man's Nook around now."

"Really?" Amora said. Her arms flopped down to her side comically. "Well darn, I could have run into him if I'd just hung around for a few more hours."

There were a few chuckles in the crowd. People were starting to get back to their previous activities. It seemed whatever Amora did didn't last long.

"One more thing really quick, okay?" Amora said. She waved to everyone with her arms, quite literally gathering their attention. As she beckoned them closer, everyone in the tavern leaned in. In a practiced stage whisper Amora said, "Don't tell Geoffrey I'm looking for him, okay? I want it to be a surprise."

The crowd muttered general agreement, then fully broke from Amora's attention, going back to normal. Without a moment of hesitation, Amora scooped the coin up off the table with practiced hands and skipped back towards the group. Reginald watched her skip back with his mouth open in astonishment.

"Hey everybody!" She said as she scooted in at the table. "Drinks are on me! Just don't stretch me too much, alright? I'm not that loose yet." She giggled and looked around at the group.

"That was really cool, Amora," Rari said, patting Amora on the back, "I'm proud of you."

"Aw," Amora said, her cheeks glowing red, "I'm not as cool as you with your candy stuff."

"Well, thank you," Rari said, "But I'd say you were just as cool."

Lucas looked at Amora with new interest. "Your performance was phenomenal, Amora," he said, "And the information was valuable as well." Lucas leaned forward to make sure no other table could hear his last few words. "If I asked on some other occasion, would you perhaps be able to replicate that magic?"