"I have every confidence in Zouichi's glamor. But I do dearly want that flying beast," she said, rolling one of her eyes to look at it and back. They had seen those animals soaring over the city, leaping from gilded spire to spire; they were agile and fast, and could carry three people from the arena to the shuttle - hopefully fast enough to outfly any warnings. That depended, of course, on how much of a distraction they could raise here.

She put both her eyes back on Howard's face, and for an instant tried to send to him with her expression: I will save you. At the same time her hand closed over the heavy round weight that must be the Orb.

"You know, I was thinking that this whole spectacle promises to be quite grand. I'd like to look over the records of this establishment, see what sort of a profit it turns, what its overhead runs, and so on. It might be an amusing distraction for my retirement, to own an arena. I'm especially interested in how the animals are kept - they do sound quite excited, don't they? I hope they are securely confined."

She flicked her hand at him. "Go and examine the animal pens, and bring me back a report. And mind yourself - I don't want any of the animals breaking a tooth on your bones, not if I'm going to be buying them." The most in-character way she could think of to say 'be careful.'