Rian finished the rest of his sandwich and gave a big stretch. It wasn't fish, but he had to admit it felt kind of good to have something in his stomach after so long on the road. Once his stretch had concluded he relaxed in his chair and waited for Halieu to finish his half of the sandwich. He was kind of a slow eater, especially when he was thinking about something. Rian frowned. He knew no matter how hard he begged his friend wouldn't tell him what he'd learned in the travelers' minds. Not here at least, and not unless it became important.<br/><br/>Halieu was always kind of in mind-reading mode. Most of the time everyone's thoughts just kind of jumbled together and formed nonsensical jabber. It was kind of like standing in the middle of a chattering crowd; a little hard to concentrate sometimes, but not unbearable. Occasionally though, if he caught something interesting, he could tune in to just one or two persons' minds exclusively. Typically, no one ever noticed he was inside their heads until he tuned in specifically to their minds. If the person was exceptional, sometimes they could even realize that he was the one reading their thoughts. As he ate his sandwich now, he was letting himself sit, contentedly distracted, in the minds and thoughts of everyone within a couple blocks from where they were.<br/><br/>When the white-haired man eventually did finish his meal, Rian practically jumped up with excitement. "Alright!" the Tiger Transgressor roared. "No sense wasting any more time here. Let's go look around some more!" Rian grabbed his friend's scrawny, in comparison to his own, wrist and half lead half dragged him out of the tavern.<br/><br/>***<br/><br/>"You seemed so excited just a minute ago," Halieu said, his voice denoting that he was clearly amused. "Now you just look lost."<br/><br/>Rian had been looking adamantly from one side of the road to the other, as if trying to identify their location. He gave a slight, nervous laugh. "I am," he said. "I've never been here before, and honestly I had no idea where I actually wanted to go when we left the tavern."<br/><br/>"I know," Halieu said simply.<br/><br/>"One," Rian said, "I asked you to let me know when you're reading my mind so I can tell you to stop. Two, if you knew I was going to get us lost, why didn't you stop me?"<br/><br/>"I've never been here either," Halieu pointed out. "I though maybe if I just let you run around we'd end up some place interesting."<br/><br/>"That only happens in stories," Rian grumbled, but immediately had to eat his words. As they rounded the next corner a huge magnificent castle came into view. It was built of the same white stone as the rest of the city, with gold trimming on the spires, window frames, doors, and along the walls. Before it stretched a huge garden, well-tended and nurtured so that it was a deep beautiful green and all the flowers showed with vibrant colors. The flowers in the garden were predominantly big, lush, red roses, which weren't even native to this area of the human country. The place screamed "wealthy and privileged".<br/><br/>"Well what do you know?" Halieu mused. "It's the king's royal palace."<br/><br/>Rian turned to look back at his friend. "What so now you're psychic?"<br/><br/>"Don't be silly," The pale man said, stepping out into the commoners' square before the palace to get a better view. "It was only a lucky guess." He strolled over to a bench and sat down. "Maybe if we watch and wait a while, we'll see the royal carriage."