"We want the gate up," Canto yelled back.
"Not until ya tell me what yer wanting here," the guard insisted.
Canto growled. "We've been through this already. If we were a threat we couldn't have been let through the pass."
The guard leader scowled and conferred with the others. After a moment he gave a signal and the gate was opened for them.
Pat sidled up beside Canto as they made their way under the archway. "What if we'd lied about getting through the pass?"
Canto glanced over his shoulder with a scowl. "Then the fools wouldn't have known the difference. The king's sent all the smart ones to the borders in the hopes of keeping threats as far from the stone as possible."
The city inside the walls was a mess of wooden houses with thatched roofs. Each building had been built at different angles than the one beside it so that no block was square and no corner was a simple crossroad. Every barely-definable street corner had a blacksmith's shop, and the market place was a mess of mud and foul-smelling food. Dwarves strolled to and fro, bartering, talking, and drinking until they couldn't stand. Then they would go back for another round of beers. They wore rough leather clothing sewn from animal skin with fur cuffs and necks. The men sported beards, the women sported beards, and Pat was surprised to see the children sported clean-shaven faces. The feet of the kids were covered in stretched hides, but most adults wore leather boots tied together with sinew from beasts. Pat wondered if they wasted any part of an animal.
The grandest part of the city was a giant stone that stuck out of the ground at the center of the city, and upon that the dwarves had built a castle for their king. The structure was circular like the large rock on which it sat, and the walls were made from smaller boulders carved from the top of the parent rock. There were battlements atop the walls, a large moat around the bottom made from diverted irrigation water harnessed from the swamps, and a wide drawbridge hewn from massive trees. There were five towers at equal intervals along the walls; one at the front, and four at each of the corners. Inside the courtyard living chambers rose up over the walls in another circular, stone structure.
Canto breathed deeply and sighed. "Ah, the manly smells of home."
Pat plugged her nose and her voice came out with a nasally accent. "Is that what that smell is?"
Canto quickly sidled up to her and whacked her hand down. "Are you trying to start another war with the entire city?" he asked her.
"No, I'm trying not to pass out," she shot back.
"Then figure out another way less conspicuous or they'll have our heads for insulting them," Canto told her. He glanced around and noticed dwarves peeping out from homes. "They're fearful enough as it is."
"It's probably the stone," Percy spoke up. "I believe Ned said it had strange effects on people."
Pat also noticed that many of the blacksmith shops had closed signs outside the open-front shops, and others were open but the fires in their forges were unlit. Some of the blacksmiths held small lanterns in their hands and swore at small glowing creatures inside the cages. Those were the Helpers, the Stars, and to her the captives. She turned her horse to approach one of the angered blacksmiths, but Canto turned his ass and blocked her path. He cast a warning glance at her and shook his head. "Won't do any good to get into other peoples' business," he warned her.
"But I can't just let them abuse those poor things," she insisted.
"We're ambassadors, and we're not supposed to cause trouble," he reminded her. Pat frowned, but forced herself to look away and back to the city.
"And those blasted bugs aren't improving our lot, so let 'em be shaking 'em," a voice spoke up. The group turned in their saddles to see a dwarf standing nearby with a frown on their face. Pat guessed it was a woman from her other assets sticking out of a very revealing, open-chested shirt. A crow stood on her shoulder and stared at them with its beady eyes. "They're calling for rights when all they are are fancy lighters," she told them.
Canto smiled. "Well, if it isn't Shilo. Yer brother told me ya were still here. He sends his greetings."
The dwarf woman narrowed her eyes and leaned in toward Canto. "Canto, is that you?" she wondered.
He straightened himself in the saddle and puffed out his chest. "Yep."
"You've gotten fat," Shilo quipped. That deflated Canto's ego and his stomach.
Canto sunk in his saddle and cast ugly looks at the dwarven woman. "Yer as blunt as ever," he grumbled.
"And yer no doubt bringing trouble with ya, aren't ya?" she guessed. The crow snapped at Canto, and he reached for his ax handle. She rolled her eyes, and gestured around at the brawling, bartering dwarves. "We've got enough trouble already without yer help. Just look at 'em. Miserable in their wanderings."
Pat looked over the crowds of amicable, if inebriated dwarves, and shrugged. "I don't see a problem," she spoke up.
Shilo frowned at the human girl. "That's just the problem. No ruckus or tussling. Men have all become worse than woman, and just when we need 'em to protect the city and that blasted stone from those damned glowing bugs." The whole group perked up their ears at mention of their objective.
"We've heard about a stone, and wish to see it," Percy told her.
Shilo scoffed. "Then yer going to have ta get in line because everyone else wants to see it, but the king won't let 'em get close. Thinks it's his by his holy right or some such assery, and sealed off the block it's on."
"Could you show us where that is?" Percy pleaded.
The dwarven woman glanced suspiciously among the companions, and her eyes rested on Sins. "Ah don't know about that. As much as I hate 'em right now I don't want any trouble with the king. He's mighty nervous nowadays with that stone sitting there and the best menfolk out on the borders protecting us from thieves. In my opinion he should have kept some to protect us from those damned bugs."
"Bugs?" Pat repeated.
"Those damned Helpers," Shilo rephrased.
"What are they doing?" Ruth spoke up.
"It's what they aren't doing that's the problem. Won't light the forges or our lamps. They just sit in their cages or worse, escape and cause trouble," Shilo told them. "Some escape most every night and break up homes and move furniture. Gets so one can't even walk the streets at night without killing yerself over a cart or crate."
Canto scoffed. "Are the dwarves laid low by a bunch of furniture?" he wondered.
Shilo scowled at him, and the crow snapped its beak. "You'll know their trouble if ya stay here long enough which Ah hope ya don't."
"We don't want to cause trouble. We're just curious to see where the stone is," Pat assured her.
Shilo looked to Pat, and after a moment more of deliberation nodded. "All right, but don't expect this to be free. It's a favor, and Ah expect one in turn."
Canto chuckled. "That's the Shilo I know."
She scowled at him. "The Shilo you knew died the day ya left her. Now git down off yer high-horses and follow me because Ah won't wait for any of ya."
"Why do we need to get down?" Percy asked her. He hesitated to set foot in the mud of questionable makeup.
"Because the king doesn't allow riders in the city, especially with yer human horses," Shilo explained to him. She turned and strode along on her short legs into the maze of streets. The companions hopped down into the mud and followed her along the filthy roads.
Pat sidled up to Canto and nodded at their guide. "Can we trust her?" she wondered.
He shrugged. "As much as anyone," he replied.
She glanced around at the muddy faces who watched them with suspicious eyes. "I hardly find that comforting," she returned.
"In case ya haven't noticed this isn't exactly a comfortable place," he pointed out. "Dwarves are a rough people who don't much care for yer trusting way."
"And clean ways," Pat grumbled. Her nose tingled with the smells of unknown but rancid substances that floated out of the windows of the houses.
"Unless ya got another option fer finding the
stone than just looking for it in this maze Ah suggest ya keep yer trap shut and let me do the talking," Canto advised. Pat scowled at him, but ended her questioning.
CHAPTER 14
Shilo led the group close to the front of the castle atop the stone and stopped at a triple-road crossroad. There was the way they'd come behind them, a road in front of them, and one that led to the right that snaked its way up to the castle beyond. A clanging noise of metal on rock drifted down from the road in front of them. "This is as close as we can get without the guards bothering us," she told them. She waved her hand at the road in front of them. "It's up that away in a small square."
"Ah don't remember a rock being in a square," Canto spoke up.
"That's because it was hidden inside a statue someone put there about fifteen years ago. Honored Piako's father, but it's turned into our curse," she told him. "A few weeks ago the statue breaks apart and there's the rock standing there pretty as day and as hard as any substance we ever found."
"And the king hopes to use this metal to create what?" Percy asked her.
Shilo turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "We're dwarves, boy. What do ya think we're going to turn the stone into?"
He sheepishly smiled and shrugged. "Plows?"
"Axes, boy. We want ax heads out of the thing," she told him.
"And has the king been able to get any out of it?" Canto wondered.
"Nope. Been working all night and-" There was a particularly loud clang and they heard swearing.
"Not the sounds of success," Percy quipped.
"There's been plenty of those sounds since they've started working at it, but we can't even chip a splinter from its surface," Shilo finished. At that moment three dwarves walked down the road ahead of them. One was flanked by the other two who held axes with long handles in their hands. The middle dwarf held one of his hands in the other and scowled at the pair on either side of him.
"Ah told ya Ah just need more time at it!" he protested. "Just let me get my hand healed and-"
"The king gave ya until tomorrow to chip off a pebble, and ya haven't even nicked the thing," one of the guards argued. "So out with ya. We'll try somebody else." They stopped at the crossroad and pushed the dwarf toward the companions.
"Thino!" Shilo yelled. He stumbled forward, and Shilo rushed forward and caught him. "What in the world have ya done to yerself now?" The dwarf man raised his head and sheepishly smiled at her.
Thino stood and winced when he flexed his hand. There was a bad cut in the skin a few inches long. "Ah thought Ah'd try my hand at the stone, what with me being a good stone-smith, but Ah missed a swing of my hammer on the chisel and hit meself," Thino told her.
"Ya can't break those things with a chisel and hammer," Canto spoke up. "Ya need something special to do that."
Thino looked to Canto and frowned. "What're ya doing here, Canto?" he wondered.
"Telling ya yer a fool, like Ah've always done," Canto shot back.
"No loitering here!" one of the guards yelled.
Shilo whipped her head over to the guard. "We're not hurting anyone," she argued.
"It's by orders of the king, so git along," the dwarf ordered.
"Wait a moment," a voice spoke up. Everyone looked up the road to see a tall dwarf dressed in shining armor walk down to the busy crossroads. He had a clean, neatly trimmed beard and alert eyes that never missed a detail. "Did Ah hear ya say ya knew how to break the stone?" he asked them.
Canto sneered at the dwarf. "Ah got nothing to say to you, Danto," he replied.
"But what about the king? He'd want to hear what ya had to say about the stone," Danto informed them.
"Ah got nothing to say to him, either," Canto countered.
"Ah'm afraid Ah just can't take no for an answer. The king would have my head if Ah let you get away," Danto insisted. He glanced at the two guards, who hurriedly moved to stand on either side of the group.
Shilo frowned at the guards. "Don't ya go getting us into this mess. We're not with 'em."
"Then git along and don't let us catch ya here again. Thino's had his chance at the stone," Danto ordered the pair.
"Don't ya think you've made it bad enough keeping us outta our own home?" Shilo growled.
"That's enough, Shilo," Thino whispered. "Let's just git along and-"
"No! Ah won't take this bossing around any longer! The king up and kicks us out of our homes to protect his precious stone, and now his dog's telling us to keep away when my husband was just trying to get our home back by breaking that blasted thing! Ah won't stand for it!" Pat noticed Canto start at the word 'husband.'
"Don't go causing any more trouble than ya usually do, Shilo," Danto scolded her.
Shilo rolled up her sleeves and marched toward him with the crow cawing on her shoulder and flapping his ruffled wings. "Ya ain't seen nothing yet!" she yelled. Thino caught her arm and pulled her against him.
"None of that now," he hissed.
Canto frowned. "Keepin' her from speaking her mind, Thino? Ya were always a softy for following the rules even when they were stupid."
Thino turned and scowled at Canto. "It kept me from getting kicked from the city," he countered.
"And a great benefit is staying in ta city when they take yer home from ya and try to kill ya by poking at that stone," Canto argued.
"Enough," Danto's voice broke through the bickering. "Ya two stay out of this, and the other four of ya come with us."
"Four?" Pat repeated. She glanced around and counted four in their group. Sins had bolted on them again.
Danto frowned. "Yer missing someone?" he asked her.
Pat straightened and shook her head. "Oh, no, nothing important."
The armored dwarf narrowed his eyes and let out a whistle through his pursed lips. Six more guards came down the road in a bustle of clinking and clanging armor. He looked over his shoulder at them. "There's a stranger hereabouts in the city ya need to find. Ask around to hear if anyone's seen anyone suspicious around ta place." Four of them bowed their heads and hurried off past the group and into the city. The other two remained, and Danto turned his attention back to the pair. "Ya need me to tell ya twice or are ya going?" he growled.
"We're going," Shilo grudgingly agreed. She let Thino pull her away. They passed close by Canto, and he caught her eye. Ruth noticed there was a hint of pain on Canto's face, but one of defiance in Shilo's creases. Then the pair were gone into the labyrinth of dwarven buildings.
"Now if ya would hand over yer weapons and follow me and my men, we'll escort ya to the king," Danto announced. "Ah'm sure he'd be most eager ta hear about yer way of breaking the stone."
"What if we don't want to see the king?" Canto challenged. The pair of guards stepped closer to them and brandished their axes.
Danto smirked. "Then Ah'm afraid we're going to have to convince ya otherwise."
Pat moved to stand close to Canto. "I don't think Ned planned for us to cause trouble before he got back with the item, and as Lord Tramadore mentioned, we're here to be ambassadors," she whispered to him. Canto growled, but turned his head away and didn't offer any more arguments. Their weapons were confiscated and their hands bound behind their backs.
"That's the way. Now just follow me and we'll be there in no time. Oh, and we'll be holding yer horses. We wouldn't want ya leaving too soon," Danto commanded them.
The group of semi-captives were marched into the road to their right and up the slope of the huge boulder-stone to the castle. Pat and Ruth gagged when they crossed the bridge over the moat. "Swamp water," Canto told them. "Nothing like it in the world for keeping unwanted visitors out."
"For that we should be grateful," Percy spoke up. His face was red from holding his breath and he felt woozy from the scent.
They passed over the bridge, under the largest of the five guard towers, and into the courtyard of the keep. Before them arose the rock tower that held the living quarters, and at the base of the tower was a pair of large doors hewn from t
he same wood as the drawbridge. Their horses behind them were led off to a stable area on their left. Two dozen armored guards watched them from the castle walls, and twice that number stood at attention in the courtyard. Their axes glistened in the late-day sun and warned the companions not to try anything stupid.
That didn't stop Canto. "Lots of guards for the king. Compensating for something?" he quipped.
Danto stopped and swung around. His hand came out and slammed into the side of Canto's face. Flesh and steel collided with a terrible bang, and Canto stumbled to the side. He caught himself and snapped his head up to glare at Danto. The chief guard scowled back. "Yer mouth was always too big for ya, and being run out of here hasn't helped it," Danto commented. He looked to his guards. "Keep 'em here until Ah've told the king." He turned his back on the companions and strode through the pair of doors.
Pat sidled up to Canto and looked him over. He had a cut on his face, but was otherwise fine. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?" she hissed at him.
"Ya don't know these idiots like Ah do," he argued.
"They seem to know you well enough, and I'm not seeing that as an advantage," Pat pointed out.
"Do you have history with them?" Ruth asked Canto.
The old dwarf sighed and nodded. "Aye, and it ain't gonna be to yer liking."
"Is anything we ever do easy?" Percy joked. Nobody laughed.
"The two we met at the crossroads are old friends of mine who didn't take kindly to my going against the king whenever he did something stupid," Canto explained to them.
"Stupid how?" Pat asked him.
"Making this castle a worse maze than it is already, and trying to get deeper into that swamp for farmland. Ain't nothing good in there and that would've riled the Helpers worse than they were," he replied. "Anyway, that Shilo got awful sore when they booted me and wouldn't come with me-"
"Wait, booted you?" Pat interrupted him. "You never said anything about being removed from the city."
"Well, not removed, just kind of shown the door," he corrected her.
The Unwilling Ambassador (Book 3) Page 9