“I will claim you as a Dungin. You can be in charge of your clan but you will all be Dungins.”
The orcs all around them began to cheer. Orcs didn’t claim others often, but it wasn’t uncommon, either. If a male orc claimed a female orc, it was the equivalent of a human marriage. The difference was that the female orc accepted the challenge beforehand. The male orc would then have to overpower her and take her as his by force.
Fredin looked into the eyes of this huge female orc, and for the first time he wanted a female for more than just her ability to make a son. He saw in her eyes that she knew this was her only way out of a challenge. She dropped her spiked mace and shield. He slid the sword off his back and stabbed the end of it in the ground. The orcs around him stepped back away from it. Word had obviously started to spread. He unsheathed the swords on his hips and dropped them, too. Finally he pulled the long knife from the back of his pants and dropped it next to the other blades.
He walked toward this big female orc. She wasn’t big compared to him. Her seven-foot frame paled in comparison to his nine-foot hulking body, but as far as orc standards went, and especially for females, she was impressively big. He had to admit to himself that she wasn’t bad to look at, either. Her face was scrunched up just enough but wasn’t smashed. Her nose was wide but not flat. Her skin had a pale greenish tint. Her eyes were green, and he was still looking into them when he realized she was coming at him.
Fredin made a point never to be overconfident in a fight. He had never before underestimated an opponent’s ability, but he had done just that. Fredin found himself on his back with this orc on top of him—a defensive position that he had never been in.
Her fist came down and smashed him in the face. Fredin didn’t panic, though. He brought his head up to the next punch so that her hand smashed into his thick forehead and not his softer face. She pulled her hand back and shook it out to the side. He reached up and grabbed her waist. She might be big for an orc, but he was a monster. He lifted her off him easily and threw her to the side. He stood up and turned in the direction that he had thrown her. She was already on her feet and coming at him. Oh yes, together their son would be great. She attempted to tackle him again. He had to admit her plan was sound. She knew that he had reach and power over her, so she was attempting to stay in close. She slammed into him but he was ready for it this time. He braced himself, and she might as well have tried to tackle a boulder. He didn’t even move. He brought an elbow down on the back of her head. She slumped to the ground.
He rolled her over thinking she was beaten and planning to claim her, but while he was bent down rolling her over, her foot came up and smashed his face. For a moment his anger flared and without thinking he kicked at her. Luckily she managed to roll out of the way or that blow might have ended this fight more permanently than he had intended. He allowed her to stand, and then stalked straight toward her. She sidestepped at the last moment and punched him behind the ear. He accepted the blow and wrapped his arm around hers above the elbow. She tried to knee him but he was too tall and too close for her to get her leg high enough. Her left hand came in and he wrapped that one up before it even made contact. Now he had her and she couldn’t get away. His arms wrapped around hers, locking her in place.
He looked down into her face, his anger and lust battling inside him. He could just force himself on her now, but he needed to dominate her first. She had been able to hit him too many times. He brought his head down and smashed it into her face. He felt that nose that he had admired break. He brought his knee up into her stomach. He felt her weight pull towards the ground. Her nose was broken and he had forced the wind out of her. He unhooked his left arm and grabbed the front of her shirt. He held her up in the air with one hand. She was looking into his eyes when his other hand came across and slapped her. He let her fall with that blow. Then he claimed her while the other orcs watched. She was his and his alone. In that one moment he made her his and claimed her clan.
Vingaza watched the whole thing with a mix of interest and disgust. It was disturbing to watch, but he couldn’t stop watching, either. When it was done he approached Fredin.
“If you want, I can take you both back.”
“Hure!” She was still putting herself back together. He waited for her to look at him. “Tell your clan to follow my orcs back to Dungin Mountain. Geischeit will give them a place when they get there. You are coming back with me.”
Her face was already swelling so Fredin couldn’t make out any expression, but she turned to the orcs who had come with her and gave them orders. Then she came to his side. Fredin had traveled once with Vingaza and it had been unsettling, but he knew what to expect now. He held out a hand and Hure took it. Then he put his hand in the human’s. Hure looked at the man curiously for a second, and then they were lighter than air. A second later they were standing in the passage outside Fredin’s room. He felt her sway as they became solid again. He held her up. Vingaza didn’t say a word, retreating into his own room. Fredin let go of his queen and let her follow him to his room. Once inside he pointed to the water room.
“There is a pool in there. The knob will make water come out. You can soak in it if you want.”
He went to the bed. He would never admit it but she had banged him up a little bit, and lying down sounded really good. When he looked back at her, though, she was not going to the room he pointed to. She was staring at him.
“What?”
“Now it’s my turn to take you,” she said.
Fredin smiled. This day really did just keep getting better.
Chapter Five
Setting Out
“I think we should send a small group to Ambar,” Grundel said told the council. “They can start prepping supplies while the rest of the force moves south. It would take a small group almost two weeks to make it from here to Shinestone. But it is going to take a thousand dwarves closer to a month. We are going to need to resupply along the way; otherwise we are going to have to weigh everyone down with supplies, use heavy wagons to help carry the load, and live on dried rations for the whole trip. Ambar is just past halfway.” The council had agreed that a thousand dwarves should be enough to take the mountain from whatever pest had decided to inhabit the place in their absence. Now they were figuring out the details of actually getting there.
“I suppose that you would be the one to go ahead and set that up?” Bergmann asked.
“That is an option. I could take Rundo and a small group of dwarves. Rundo has been to Ambar, and we all know that halflings have a talent for lowering prices,” Grundel joked. He figured if he could bring some levity to the situation he might just be able to get what he wanted, and that was to travel ahead of the main force.
Kraft laughed out loud. “Ya, everyone just agrees to the price the halfling sets, because they figure that selling at a low price is better then having their goods stolen!”
That made everyone laugh. Frau laughed, too, and Grundel had to admit to himself that he enjoyed hearing her laugh. That was another reason he wanted to go ahead of everyone else. The time he had been spending with her over the last couple of days was really stirring up his feelings for her. She was beautiful and smart and completely out of reach. He knew he could never be with her. His half-human heritage had nearly cost his father his throne, and it would cause the same trouble if he were to be with Frau. Not to mention that he was the last thing on her mind. He knew he had to get over these feelings, but he had been around her almost every waking moment since he had met her, and that made it hard for him to push away his thoughts and feelings. If he could just get some separation so that he could process everything and have a chance to deal with it, he would be fine. That was what he told himself, anyway.
Grundel heard his father’s voice, and that brought his attention back to the conversation. “Frau, what do you think? It is, after all, your kingdom and your decision.”
Frau looked from Grizzle to Grundel and then around the room. “First, I
think we should decide specifically if a resupply in Ambar is the best option. If we decide it is, then we can address the issue of who is to go, when they should leave, and what we will need.”
The other kings all seemed to appreciate her reasoning. This meeting included only Frau, her two councilors, and the other three kings, who attended only to serve as advisors and to offer any support should they decide it was needed.
Frau looked at the other kings and then at Fuhrung. “I have heard Grundel’s recommendation. It is as good a plan as any I can think of. Does anyone have an argument against the resupply in Ambar or another idea?”
None of the other dwarves offered any alternative.
“We will resupply in Ambar, then,” she continued. “Before we decide who is to go ahead, we should figure out when the rest of the force can be ready. Since those dwarves are all coming from your kingdoms I think it would be best if you gave me an estimate of what would be a reasonable amount of time for your dwarves, then for me to make a demand.”
Grizzle spoke first. “The Evermount dwarves have everything they need packed already. They could be ready to leave tomorrow.”
Bergmann was next. “The dwarves from Tiefes Loch are guests here. They are already packed.”
Kraft was last. “The Haufen dwarves are ready as well. Most of the dwarves who came did so with the intent of going to Shinestone.”
Frau thought about that for a minute. “We can leave at anytime then. However, although we decided a thousand would go, we haven’t discussed where those dwarves are coming from.”
Again Grizzle spoke up first. “Evermount has five hundred dwarves who have already volunteered, so we will fill in whatever numbers you need after the other two kingdoms have taken their places in the group.”
Kraft nodded. “We came to Evermount with four hundred. A hundred will be returning to Haufen. The other three hundred have already agreed to go.”
Bergmann was the most reluctant to send dwarves to the kingdom. Most of his dwarves wouldn’t be excited to live in a kingdom that would be ruled by a queen. “I can send two hundred. I can’t promise they will all stay when the fighting is done, if there is any real fighting to be had, that is.”
Frau had to admit she wouldn’t be upset if none of the dwarves from Tiefes Loch stayed. “We have had nearly a hundred dwarves of Shinestone arrive in Evermount. It is sad for me to say, but I don’t think that there are many more than that left. With that hundred I will take four hundred of the dwarves of Evermount and accept the offers from Haufen and Tiefes Loch. That will give us the thousand we agreed on. Now to the issue of who will go to the Ambar.”
Fuhrung spoke up for the first time since this council had started. “I say Grundel should go. He is right about the halfling. Not just the bargaining part, but the fact that he has been to the city. We won’t find many dwarves who can say the same. It was Grundel’s plan anyway. It’s not like he will be missing out on any fighting.”
Frau looked around the room and saw that no one was going to argue the point. “It is decided then: Grundel will lead the resupply. How many dwarves do we think should go with him?”
“Ten,” Grundel said. Everyone looked at him. “Ten plus me and Rundo makes twelve. When we get to Ambar we will buy wagons and horses or mules. Each wagon will be able to carry enough food for one hundred dwarves for two weeks. We won’t be making feasts—just enough to get us by. We will fill the eleventh wagon with dried rations just in case.”
“That’s only eleven wagons. You said twelve,” Bergmann was quick to point out.
“Rundo will be riding his pony. His job is to guide us to the city and help arrange getting the goods. His pony isn’t going to pull a wagon.”
Bergmann gave a little huff as if he expected as much. No one else seemed to have an issue with it.
“Grizzle, if you could send one of the dwarves who manages your stores to help me make a list of what we should have them get, that would be very helpful,” Frau said.
Grizzle nodded.
“If everything is settled,” she continued, “then all we have left to decide is when to leave. If everyone is ready then I would like to have Grundel and ten dwarves of his choice to leave in the morning. As he said, it will take the larger force twice as long to make the trip. We will leave the following day. Shinestone is to the east of Ambar, so we will meet them on the road a day east of Ambar in two weeks. That should give him roughly a week to gather the supplies.”
The next morning Grundel was standing on the landing at the top of the narrow winding stairs that led up to the entrance of Evermount. He had said goodbye to his mother back in the king’s apartment. It was never good to have an emotional moment in front of other dwarves. Lives and memories were too long and dwarves never let anything go. Now he said his goodbyes to his father, his queen, and the other two dwarf kings. He and Rundo walked down the stairs followed by the ten dwarves he had chosen. He had actually just picked the first ten to volunteer. They were at least all familiar if he didn’t really know them all personally.
He could see Bumbo, Rundo’s black-and-gray-striped miniature pony running in the field at the base of the mountain. Messah landed on Rundo’s shoulder not long after he saw Bumbo. He could see on Rundo’s face how happy he was to be close to them again. Rundo had somehow linked with both of these animals. Grundel didn’t really understand how it worked, but he knew that Rundo could always sense them and they could always sense him. He could feel their emotions if not their thoughts. He could also link with them more intimately and actually look through their eyes.
Rundo was happy, and Grundel was happy. Grundel loved the mountain, and Evermount was home, but after the recent events and having Frau around him all the time, he was feeling like the walls were closing in on him. He had been out of Evermount only once, and that was when he had gone with Anwar, Navaeh, and Rundo to try to save Anwar’s wife, Mariah. That trip had taken him all over the place. They had traveled a lot more quickly from city to city after Mariah had died. Anwar had used magic to take them from one place to the next in a blink of an eye.
Now they had to walk, but Grundel didn’t mind. He could use the time to process everything that had been happening lately. He had a week to get to Ambar and then another week after that before he would see her again. By then he would have put behind him his ridiculous attraction to his new queen that he would never be able to act on. At least he hoped he would be able to.
Chapter Six
Jerrie
Jerrie was just a few inches above five and a half feet tall. His face was mildly scarred from acne and fighting, but he didn’t have any big, noticeable scars. He had dirty blond hair that was cut in a straight line at the top of his ear. It looked like someone had set a bowl on top of his head and just shaved all the hair off up to the edge of the bowl. He had actually tried doing that once. It hadn’t worked out near as well as he had planned. It had looked bad enough that people took notice. And being noticed was one thing Jerrie wanted avoid.
Jerrie had avoided attention all of his life. He had found it was much easier to accomplish things and to stay alive if he looked like everyone else. The bowl cut was a common hair cut in Ambar. He wore plain cotton and linen shirts. He had even learned to fight with knives only. People took notice of a man with a sword, but knives were easy to conceal, and even unconcealed they were so common they did not attract a lot of attention. Galen had taught him to use the knives. Galen had taught him everything.
His mother died giving birth to Jerrie, and when he was only six years old, a Black Dragon assassin murdered his father out of hand. His father hadn’t done anything to provoke the assassin; he had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. The neighbors quickly turned Jerrie, now an orphan, over to the city. He found out later that they had also taken what little he and his father had owned. He was left with nothing but a burning desire to avenge his father.
Jerrie ran away from the orphanage, and when he left he took a knife from the k
itchens. It wasn’t a big knife; it was one the cook used to cut vegetables. He wandered the city for days before he finally saw his first Black Dragon. He followed the man in the black robe for hours, until the man went inside a building in the nicer part of Ambar. It was dark when the man came out. Jerrie walked up behind him and brought his little knife down toward the man’s back. The knife stopped just before it touched the man's robes. The Black Dragon turned around and smiled.
“You foolish, foolish boy. Do you know what this robe means?”
“It means you’re a Black Dragon,” Jerrie said, his anger building. He hadn’t been scared that day, only angry. Looking back he realized he should have been afraid, but he had been too young to understand the severity of the situation.
“So you knew what I was and still you tried to rob me. You are more foolish than I thought,” the man said, still wearing that big, stupid smile.
“I wasn’t trying to rob you, I was trying to kill you. You killed my father,” he said.
The man in the robes lost his smile and raised an eyebrow. “It is possible that I did, but maybe it was another. How do you know I killed him?”
“A Black Dragon killed him. I will kill all of you,” Jerrie said, as he tried to get his wrist free of the man's grasp.
“Well in that case, I think it would be best if I sent you to meet your father,” the man told him, his smile returning. He had raised a hand toward Jerrie’s face, but then his head had jerked back. He fell to his knees.
Jerrie was looking the man in the eyes now. Behind the Black Dragon stood another, much bigger man. The man held the Black Dragon’s hair in one hand. His other hand came out from behind the Black Dragon’s back. In that hand was a knife, and the hand and blade were covered in blood.
The bigger man looked down at him. “Well, you came to kill this man. Go on. Finish the job.” The man held the Black Dragon’s head back.
The Half Dwarf Prince Trilogy Page 5
