He found the assassins sitting at a table in their small apartment playing cards. They had been offered separate quarters, and then they were offered the much larger apartment next to Vingaza’s. But they had taken this one instead. He hadn’t questioned them. He understood their thinking perfectly. They were always on their guard, and this smaller apartment had only one entrance, so they would know immediately if anyone entered and the intruder wouldn’t have much space to work with. Anyone foolish enough to come looking for a fight with these two would not be able to move around. They had also set the furniture up so that it canalized anyone who entered and prevented a mass flooding of forces into the room. One long dresser was set up next to the door so that a visitor could only move between it and the wall as he entered. The other dresser in the room was a few feet in front of the door so the room couldn’t accommodate more than four people in the area between the dressers and the wall, and the only way into the room was between those dressers. It was paranoid, but clever. That was why these two were so effective, and that was why Vingaza had retained them in his service.
The only other furniture in the room was the two beds along opposite walls and the small round table in the far corner. By the time Vingaza made his way through the barricade into the room they were both on their feet waiting for him.
“I need you two to go back to Ambar. I’m sending Allocco with you.”
They both raised their eyebrows at that. “I know, I know, he’s an idiot, but all he has to do is get you there quickly. Once you are there, get as much information as possible on the dwarves’ movement, Alamira, and any rumors about the Black Dragons. There will still be plenty of our members walking around so that should help with that. They won’t have much leadership, though. Don’t get involved, and don’t attract attention. Just make your reports and have Allocco bring them to me. Write them down so you don’t confuse him.” They both smiled at that. “You’re leaving in the morning,” he said as he turned and walked out of the room.
When Vingaza got back to his own apartment Fredin was sitting in the chair next to his bed. Fredin was brazen, but this was uncharacteristic behavior for him. “Is there something I can help you with?” he asked the orc calmly.
“You brought all these humans here. You said you were sending some out to let us know what the dwarves were planning. They are all still here, and none of them have done anything to help,” Fredin said. He was intelligent for an orc, but he wasn’t a conversationalist.
“As to the scouts, they will be leaving in the morning. For the second part, what is it you need help with?” he said with a feigned hint of trepidation.
“There are a couple areas in the center of the mountain that we have to travel around. It takes a long time and is—what is the word for ‘it takes too long’?”
“Inconvenient,” Vingaza said with a smile.
“Ya, inconvenient. It is slowing down progress. We started clearing the rubble from the area but it started to collapse. Can your wizards do some magic on the walls and ceilings to make the area so we can use it?”
Vingaza thought about the request for a minute. “Have some steel brought up from the old smiths. I will send them two at a time. They will work nonstop with your orcs until the area is done. It won’t be pretty. They will just meld the beams together, making supports like they do in the underground human mines. They can do it as your orcs carry out the rubble. I’ll go let them know.”
Fredin watched the wizard turn and start for the door without even waiting for his response. “Wait.”
“Did you need more?” Vingaza asked sarcastically. He wouldn’t submit to the orc. He had to temper his defiance, though. He had made it clear that he wasn’t a subject of the orc leader. He could kill the orc easily enough and they both knew it. He couldn’t kill all of the orcs, however, and that’s what he would have to do if he killed this one. The orc horde tolerated his presence because of Fredin.
“Don’t send them yet. We can wait a couple of days to get started,” Fredin said with a hidden smile.
Vingaza looked at him quizzically. “If this was so important that it had you sitting in here waiting for me, then why would you wait a couple of days?”
“I just wanted to have the plan in place for when I am ready to execute it,” Fredin said with a smile as he walked passed Vingaza and out of the room.
The emphasis on the word execute explained it all. Fredin was going to wait until the other clan chief complained about either the area or the humans, and when he did, Fredin would turn the other orc’s words around on him, making them into a challenge. Then the other clan chief would have no choice but to step up to the challenge he hadn’t intended to make and most likely be killed, or he’d back down and surely be killed by the other orcs, who now thought him weak. It was a good plan, Vingaza thought. Now he had his own plan in place, and all Vingaza could do was wait for more information before he could make any further plans. At least he had the orcs to entertain him in the meantime.
Chapter Three
Frau Kleinod
It had been two days since the kings had nominated a queen for Shinestone. Grundel had just closed his eyes when someone began banging on the door to his apartment. He got up and went to the door. When he opened it he found one of Kraft’s advisors with his fist raised to start banging again.
“She’s here. The council of kings will begin shortly. You are summoned as a witness.” Then the angry little dwarf was off down the hall before Grundel could respond. Watching him leave, Grundel realized that this was the dwarf who was shocked with disbelief when his king, Kraft, had nominated the woman from Shinestone. He was also the nominee from Haufen. That made Grundel smile. He went back to his room and put on a cotton shirt and leather vest. He slid one axe handle into the sheath built into the vest. The other he carried in his hand. He headed to the king’s hall, where the queen of Shinestone was likely about to accept her nomination whether she wanted it or not.
Minutes later Grundel walked into the king’s hall. He went to his designated place at the Shinestone side of the table. He figured this would be his last meeting, as Shinestone would soon have a queen, and she would have her own council. Grundel looked around the table. Across from him was Kraft, the king of the Haufen dwarves, wearing an amused grin. On either side of him were his two advisors. The angry little one was staring at Grundel with a scowl that reinforced Grundel’s guess that he was being blamed for the nomination of this Frau Kleinod. To his right were the dwarves of Tiefes Loch. King Bergmann wore a look of mild inconvenience that said he felt that his time was being wasted and this was all very unimportant. Both of the dwarves with him looked quite upset. The fact that they were electing a female to lead a dwarf kingdom was surely upsetting to the very single-minded and prejudiced dwarves of Tiefes Loch, not to mention that they, too, were losing the option of putting their own representative on that throne. To his left Grundel found his father’s two advisors. They had nominated a potential king from Evermount, but the representative who would have been the opportune choice had been killed only a few months prior by Grundel’s own hand. His father’s cousin had been next in line for succession until Grizzle had returned, when his father had reinstated his title and his claim to the throne. Grizzle’s closest friend, Jabaal, had went to protect him. Grundel had swung the killing blow, though. There were no other dwarves with the Stoneheart bloodline other then Grundel, and he obviously wasn’t an option.
Grundel watched as the most beautiful woman he had ever seen of any race walked into the hall. A dwarf goddess walked the distance of the room straight toward him. Dwarf women commonly wore thin, soft, downy beards. Grundel had never really found that to be attractive. Many female dwarves shaved them and some simply didn’t grow facial hair. He wasn’t sure which was the case here, but Frau Kleinod’s face was as smooth as his mother’s. She had a scar just outside her right eye, half the length of a finger. It didn’t take away from her appearance, though. In fact, it actually drew attention
to her eyes. Those gray eyes sucked him in. He wasn’t sure how long he had stared, but now she was standing in front of him as he stared down into her eyes. Her lips were curled into a grin. She must have said something, but he hadn’t heard it. He had been in some sort of trance. He blinked and looked around. Every dwarf in the room was smiling now, even the angry little one from Haufen. He looked back down at her.
“What?” It was all he could think to say.
Frau’s smile grew across her face. “I am Frau Kleinod, and I am assuming you are Grundel, Grizzle’s son?”
Grundel put his hand into hers. “I am. Good to meet you,” he said a little too nonchalantly.
Everyone was laughing when his father walked in. The room fell silent as his father walked around the table behind him and Frau. He walked straight to his place at the Evermount side of the table. He looked at Frau.
“Frau Kleinod, you have been nominated by a council of kings to take your place as queen of Shinestone. Do you accept this nomination?”
All eyes were on Frau as she looked from the Grizzle to the other kings, and then up to Grundel. “I thought I was being summoned here as an advisor. I was assuming that this behemoth was going to sit the throne in Shinestone,” she said, pointing at Grundel.
Everyone seemed to enjoy seeing the queen-to-be being put off her guard. Kraft actually laughed out loud. “That behemoth is the one who advised that we place a living member of Shinestone on the throne. You happen to be the only living dwarf with the king’s blood of Shinestone in your veins.”
“But I’m not a Gemcutter. I am a Kleinod,” she argued unconvincingly. Even the hypnotized Grundel had to admit she sounded defeated already. He knew then that she was going to accept. She didn’t want to be queen, surely, but she didn’t have a reasonable argument why she shouldn’t be, and she wasn’t going to flat out refuse.
Grundel had expected Kraft to drive the final nail, but it was his father who did that. “Your mother was a Gemcutter. You will take the name when you accept the throne. Many dwarves are having to make sacrifices. Your name is far from the greatest.”
Grundel wasn’t sure if his father was hinting at his own sacrifices or at his son’s. But he didn’t feel like he had sacrificed that much. He had just done what needed to be done, but when he had said as much to his father, Grizzle had simply said, “The sacrifice often goes unseen by the one weighed down by duty. One day, when that weight is lifted and you look back, you will see what the weight of duty cost.”
Although Grundel wasn’t sure what his father had meant, he knew how everyone took it. All eyes rested on Grundel shortly before returning to Frau. She looked up at him, then back to Grizzle. “I accept, but if I am to be queen on the recommendation of your son, then I would like him to be one of my advisors. This council obviously holds him in high regard since he has stood at this end of the table, alone, and his recommendations have led to the crowning of the first dwarf queen in almost a thousand years.”
Grundel looked at his father. They looked into each other’s eyes for a minute, and then Grizzle looked backed to Frau and nodded. “The announcement will be made tonight. Tomorrow night, as long as we don’t have to convene a council, you will be crowned. It would be best if you have a second advisor next to you when you are crowned. We don’t know if the crown of Shinestone will be recovered, but a temporary crown has been made in anticipation of this day. Whether you try to find the crown of your kingdom or have another made will be your decision once you retake Shinestone.”
Frau nodded.
“Does anyone have anything else that needs to be discussed here?” Grizzle asked. No one responded. “The council is closed,” he said, and then he walked around the other end of the table followed by his own advisors.
When he was gone, the other kings and advisors all started filing out as well. When Grundel turned to go Frau grabbed his arm. “I’d like to speak with you.”
It was a request, but he didn’t have much of a choice. He had to agree to be Frau’s advisor, but she had directed the request to his father. Now he would answer the request of his queen, not that he minded. He realized that he didn’t know her, but when he looked at her he wanted to be close to her.
She waited until the room was empty. “I want you to be my advisor.”
He looked down at her. “I know. My father agreed to the terms.”
“I have your father’s acceptance. Now I am asking for yours,” she shot back.
He just smiled. “You don’t know my father very well.”
“From my understanding neither do you,” she retorted.
He knew that should have stung, but it really didn’t. He had lived with comments like that his whole life. “When my father gave you his acceptance he gave you mine as well.”
Her forehead scrunched up a little. Even that confused look attracted him. He hated that everything she did was exciting to him. That scrunched-up confused look on her face couldn’t be attractive, but he saw it that way. It was irritating.
“My father was banished because he married and impregnated my mother. He has always put family first. He sits the throne because I relinquished my right to it. It was never an option that he would have considered on his own, but I forced his hand. When you asked to take me as your advisor, he looked at me. He wasn’t considering it; he was waiting for me to give him a sign that I wanted to refuse. When I didn’t, he accepted.”
“If you had given a sign that you wanted to refuse the job, what would he have done?”
“I wouldn’t have given him a sign and he knew it. He only looked at me for confirmation.”
“But if you had, what then?” she asked.
“He would have refused you,” Grundel replied. He knew that duty should come before everything else. He knew that he should think that his father would put his family second, but deep down he was proud of the importance his father gave to his family.
“And if I would have refused to take the crown unless he agreed?” she asked.
“He still would have refused you. Your demand of him would have just reinforced his resolve.”
She thought about that for a second. “So you have agreed, but why?”
“It is my duty. I had no reason to refuse, and your demand of me is no greater than the one that has been put on you,” he answered. It was most of the truth, and obviously he wasn’t going to tell her that her beauty hypnotized him and he just wanted to be close to her.
“So you don’t think I am just using you?”
“I’m not an idiot. I don’t know all of your intentions but I can guess some of them, and it was quick thinking,” he answered her.
“What are your guesses, then? Since you will be one of my advisors, I would like to see how you processed this whole thing.”
Grundel shook his head. “The way I see it, there are two immediate benefits to making me your advisor. First, you were able to establish a direct link between yourself and the king of Evermount and therefore you’ve won the support of Evermount. Second, you were able to pay me back for somehow being the source of your predicament.”
She smiled at him. “What about the reasons I gave to the council?”
“Those, I would guess, are at least partially true, since they came to your mind so readily.”
“Anything else?” she asked.
“Not that I can think of right now,” he answered.
“What about the fact that I am intrigued by you?” she asked flirtatiously.
As much as he would have liked that to be true, he saw the trap. “I don’t believe that you would have been nominated if you were that foolish. If that were true you wouldn’t have had to make me an advisor—you could have found a way to get me to come along without giving me any real authority. I’m sure there were a lot of real issues on your mind at the time, so I doubt that how intriguing I might be played into it.”
She stared up into his eyes for a minute before responding. “At least now I know I made a good decision. Now I have to
figure out who would be best as my second councilor. I can always establish more councilors later, but for now tradition requires at least two. Do you have any thoughts?”
“If you’re not going to take someone from Shinestone, then I would choose someone from Haufen. You don’t want to show too much favor to Evermount. If you choose someone from Haufen it will likely be taken as gratitude for Kraft nominating you.”
“What about Tiefes Loch?” she asked.
He looked at her for a second and decided this was more likely a test to see how he processed things than a real question. “I doubt you’re actually considering it, but I will play along. You would likely be denied by any dwarf who would be a realistic option for a councilor from that city. Their prejudice would likely win out over the rise in status they stood to gain. Regardless, they are going to be upset no matter who you choose, so there is no reason to make a real choice seem like a second after Tiefes Loch denies you. If they refused you it would also make the dwarves who come from Tiefes Loch to help recolonize Shinestone even more of an issue.”
She looked at him for a few long moments before nodding at him approvingly. “You really do reason out the big picture quickly. My line of thinking was the same, but I hadn’t thought about it in near as much detail. I really did make a good decision—you will be a valuable advisor. Well, I will go start trying to figure out who will be our best choice. Would you mind meeting with me later this evening and going over some possibilities?”
“That is my job now,” was his only response.
The next night Frau sat at a table on a platform in the largest hall in Evermount. The room was filled with dwarves from every kingdom. The table held each of the three kings with two advisors. To the left of King Grizzle was his wife. His two advisors sat to his right.
Frau sat to the right of the king of Evermount. On her right at the end of the table sat Grundel. On her left sat Fuhrung.
The Half Dwarf Prince Trilogy Page 3
