The royal audience chamber was silent. Thonan’s wife could barely contain her excitement. Now the gabby women at the well come morning water-draw would be forced to show her some respect. All of Thonan’s children leaned forward on the edge of their seats! Bror did so as well and slobber dripped out of his tiny mouth. He had no clue as to what was going on. The Dwarf King was on the edge of his throne and, down at the Dwarf table, all of his nobles and elders were the same. That is except the Dowager Queen, who was glaring over at Eileza, very unhappy that, upon her return, she was sitting next to Sigmund, but unwilling to make a public spectacle over it.
Thonan spoke, “Yes, my King, I will accept this commission from you, Sire. I will forge the new crowns of our nation, in humbleness, Your Majesty.”
King Sigurd stood up from his throne, as did the Queen. “Kneel once more, Master Thonan,” commanded the Queen.
He complied, and King Sigurd drew his sword, the Tyrfingr, and with it dubbed Thonan three times, once on each shoulder and once on the head, saying, “In the name of Asgard, I dub thee, Squire Thonan. Extend forth thine hand, Squire Thonan, and receive this special ring of office. I hereby appoint you as the first Royal Chief Architect of the United Kingdom of Tervingia.”
When the King had finished, Queen Gwynnalyn commanded, “Rise and receive the applause of the Tervingians, Squire Thonan.”
All of the Dwarves except Rutia jumped up and began the loud applause and cheering. Thonan’s family rose up and was jumping up and down for joy. Sigmund was up as well, but soon found that he was being body-slammed onto the floor by a very happy Eileza.
Rutia sighed in frustration and barked to Elena and Leah, “I grow weary of this! Escort me to my chambers and make sure Austri and Vestri bring Eileza back before lamps out!”
“Yes, oh Dowager Queen,” replied Leah.
The next person was called forth. It was Otr Hreidmarsson, potter and Master Artist in both clay and wood and ivory carving. He was a short man of about five feet six inches tall and about forty-three years of age. His wife was named Berge, age thirty, with curly reddish-blonde hair, and their seven-year-old son was named Konan. They both were as happy for Otr Hreidmarsson as he walked forward to receive his honours.
He too was given the title of Squire in the same manner as had been Thonan, and when he had risen by command of the Queen, King Sigurd placed a ring on his finger as his badge of office and said, “You have here this day accepted the commission to fashion the new thrones for your King and Queen to sit upon, and so I hereby acclaim you, Squire Otr Hreidmarsson, Royal Chief Artisan of the Tervingian Kingdom! Turn and receive the applause from your people.”
He turned with a huge smile on his face and waved to his wife and son as the crowd cheered wildly and offered prosts of beer and mead for him.
The horns began to blare once more and the King spoke. “Now comes the time when we celebrate those who, by no choice of their own, but by devotion to King and to country and to family, have become heroes for our people. Let them now come forth. I call Lord Siggier of my Royal Guard! I call for the Princess Eileza Andavarsdottir of the Royal House of Andavar, the Dwarf Thanes Austri and Vestri, Lord Hjalprek and, finally, the White Wizard of the East, Byock!”
Thane Siggier came forward with Byock, and Eileza arrived back just in time from the stable to walk with them to the front of the royal audience chamber. The three of them bowed and all of the Dwarves were cheering and King Togrobeg winked at her from his place. She smiled back at her brother and was soaking up the attention like a dry earth absorbs the rain.
The King stood and said, “My noble and loyal Thane Siggier, thinking not of his own life, but mine and that of his people during the Battle of Prairie’s Flame, saved the life of his King from a shower of Gargoyle arrows. Though wounded, Siggier nevertheless continued to fight until he had slain the beast by decapitation, saving not only the King, but the nation itself.”
The Queen now rose up from her throne and her lady-in-waiting, Aestrith, came to her side with a tray that was covered by a white wool cloth. Aestrith removed the cloth, revealing six golden awards. They were large sun-wheel runes about the size of the palm of a five-year-old boy’s hand. In the centre of each was the symbol of the raising Gryphon with emeralds for its eyes. These runic crosses were attached to a red and gold strap so that they could be worn as a necklace. This was known as the “Cross of Tervingia,” and was the highest decoration that a warrior could receive.
The Queen placed the first one around the neck of Siggier and said, “I give thee thanks for saving my husband. Receive now the medal of honour.” She placed it around his neck as he bowed forward.
The King spoke, saying, “We honour the bravery of Lord Hjalprek of the Massagetae. His mission was to infiltrate the enemy camp disguised as a dispatch rider, to deliver fake messages. He could have been easily discovered and executed by the Slaughter-Wolves, and yet by the grace of Asgard he was successful. He helped us to fool the enemy and thus the tide of battle turned in our favour.”
The Queen placed the second award around Hjalprek’s neck and said, “Receive this small token of the gratitude of our people, Lord Hjalprek.”
The King spoke again, saying, “Next we honour the Princess Eileza Andavarsdottir of the Kingdom of Yuralian Dwarves! Seeing that little Lord Sigmund had gone out to fight in defence of this palace from the attacking Ogres, she ran with him and was then rendered unconscious by the mace of an Ogre, who, we have since learned, was the cousin of Gorkan-Mar, Gigan-Mar! When she came to, she could have run away, but she did not! In the true spirit of her noble heritage and her care for the young Lord and the people of the city of Thorstadt, Eileza stayed on to fight! Seeing that Sigmund was being overpowered by the Ogre, she engaged it in battle and slew it, lest Sigmund be destroyed! Single-handed she saved his life and for that, all of us, his family, are deeply grateful. It was then, under a hail of Ogre arrows, darts and sling-stones, that Austri and Vestri came to her aid! Vestri picked up Sigmund and put the heavy boy on his shoulders, running with him towards this Mead Hall, while Austri and Eileza shielded them from that same hail of darts and arrows and sling-stones, as all hell was breaking loose around them, literally with blue flame in the air and clouds of choking smoke!”
The Queen placed an award around the neck of each of the Dwarves and then said, “Eileza, I thank you so much for giving us back the life of our Siggy when you followed him out into that firestorm and saved his life from Ogre trash. Austri and Vestri, thank you both for being there to bring both Siggy and Leeza back safe to us.”
The Dwarf men smiled and Austri replied, “Yes, my Queen. It’s what we do. We are here to save lives.”
The King spoke again, saying. “You, Master Byock, did not want to be awarded for the great magic which you wrought to save this city and its people. We know that you all of your circle are humble, and do the will of Asgard. But we insist that you receive this award, for your service in the defence of life and liberty, and true justice. Our people need heroes like all of you to look up to and to rally around. Master Byock called upon the powers of goodness out of Asgard and cleansed this place with holy fire. Because of his prayers and supplications, Thor and Wotan came and the Dragon was defeated!”
The Queen placed the last award around the neck of the kind and humble wizard from Shangra-La and said, “Master Byock, we thank you so very much for answering your holy calling from Asgard, from the Creator God Shaddai, and being here when we needed you the most. Had it not been for you, all of us would be dead or enslaved, and my child would not have the chance to be born. I bow to you, Master Byock.”
The Queen took a bow before the little Asian Wizard, who smiled back and said, “I accept your honours, in humbleness, your Highnesses.”
The awardees turned to face the now-cheering crowd. They were highly acclaimed that day in the great Mead Hall of Thorstadt to thunderous applause!
To be continued…
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Jay P Newcomb, Visigothic_The Barbarians Of Midgard
Visigothic_The Barbarians Of Midgard Page 24
