The Silver Dwarf (Royal Institute of Magic, Book 4) (32 page)

“You’re right: I’m being an idiot,” Ben said.

Natalie smiled. “I wouldn’t go that far.”

“I would,” Charlie said.

The sun felt a little brighter than it had a moment ago, and Ben looked around the gardens, scanning the Institute members and apprentices. Bingo. A
slender, somewhat goofy-looking boy was passing by. He had his head down, most likely trying to avoid unwanted attention. John was known to be terrible in
the presence of pretty girls, and could barely string a coherent sentence together when Natalie was around. But he was a third-grade apprentice, which was
all that mattered right now.

“John!”

Ben called with such intention that John’s head flung up, as if someone had just screamed in his ear.

Ben leapt off the bench and walked briskly over to him. “Can I have a quick word with you? It’s about the Chief Three election.”

“Uh, sure,” John said in an uncertain voice.

“Great,” Ben said, giving him a smile and joining him on a slow walk towards the Institute. “Listen, I don’t want to take up your time, so I’ll be brief.
I’m appealing to those who – to put it mildly – aren’t part of Aaron’s fan club.”

Ben was about to rattle off a completely off-the-cuff speech, but before he could begin, John said, “I’m in.”

“Great,” Ben said with a surprised smile, and gave John a friendly clap on the shoulder. “I hope everyone’s as easy to persuade as you are.”

“Try Arnold,” John said. “Last I saw, he was on the verge of being talked into voting for Aaron, despite the fact that he hates him as much as I do.”

And so it began. Ben, never one to do things by half measures, flew into the campaign with vigour. The apprenticeship took a backseat, and Ben spent every
moment at the Institute, talking, debating, and occasionally arguing with third-graders about all things apprentice-related. It was exhausting, especially
when Ben had to learn many of the issues on the fly.

At the end of each day, his team, including Simon and William, as well as Charlie and Natalie, would meet and discuss numbers. There were thirty
third-grade apprentices, which meant they needed sixteen or more votes. On Thursday evening, they had seven. By Monday they had ten, and Ben felt good. But
on Tuesday they garnered only one more, and by Wednesday evening, they found themselves sitting round the meeting table, looking slightly glum.

“We appear to be stuck on twelve,” Ben said. He stood at the end of the table, while the rest were seated. “Which means we need just four more. Any bright
ideas?”

“I reckon I can persuade Lilly,” Will said. He was looking at a piece of paper with names on it. “She wants a date in exchange, which I’d rather not do,
but if she ends up being the decider, I’ll have to re-consider.”

“Good man,” Ben said, giving him a thumbs-up. “That would take us to thirteen. Who else has a possibility?”

Simon was doodling idly on his own piece of paper. “Andy’s still an option, if you ever change your mind about the money bribe. Personally I think a couple
hundred quid is worth it, if it stops Aaron.”

Ben scratched his nose. “It’s not about the money, Simon.”

“What’s the problem, then?” Simon asked, looking confused.

Natalie gave Simon a disgusted look. “If you can’t figure it out, then you need to take a long hard look at yourself.”

Simon grinned. “I look at myself every day.”

“Moving on,” Ben said. He scanned the room. “Guys, we can’t lose by a couple of votes – that would just be annoying.”

Natalie got out a small notebook and started reading from it. “Aaron has thirteen third-graders who would practically walk through fire for him. We have
twelve. Of the five remaining, three are leaning towards Aaron. The other two are Andy and Lilly, who we’ve just talked about.”

Ben drummed the table. He knew the three who were undecided because he’d already spoken to them.

“Okay, Will and I will tackle them again. Maybe the two of us together can make a difference.”

William didn’t complain, but, barring Natalie, the lack of optimism in the room was palpable. Ben didn’t blame them. He scanned the room, gearing himself
up for yet another morale-boosting speech, when he noticed someone was missing.

“Where’s Charlie?”

Ben had been so involved with the meeting that he hadn’t even noticed Charlie’s absence. Nor, it seemed, had anyone else, as they looked around with mild
confusion. Ben directed his gaze at Natalie, but she just gave a shrug.

That was odd. Charlie was often silent, but never absent, unless he had a good reason. Ben finished up the meeting with one final rallying speech, and they
started filing out.

Charlie came bursting through the door, just as everyone was leaving. He ran headlong into William and rebounded as if he’d hit a brick wall.

Charlie shook his head, muttered an apology at a mildly confused William, and then darted past, pulling Ben and Natalie back into the meeting room. As soon
as the door shut, Charlie started hopping on either foot, looking as though he was ready to burst.

“This had better be good,” Ben said. “Have you managed to use your charms to claim a couple more votes?”

“Shadowseekers,” Charlie said, sounding breathless. “Six of them broke into Drinkmorr, via the main entrance. Two were killed; the others are still at
large.”

All thoughts of the election vanished.

“What? Where did you hear this?” Ben asked sharply.

“Overheard a couple of Spellswords talking about it,” Charlie said. “They weren’t trying very hard to conceal the news, and I bet half the Institute knows
by now.”

Ben felt his insides go cold. Four Shadowseekers inside Drinkmorr. He had first-hand experience knowing just how deadly Shadowseekers were. They were an
elite dark elf assassin unit, commanded directly by the royal family. If they had broken into Drinkmorr, it could mean only one thing.

“How long do you reckon Krobeg has?” Ben asked.

“Depends if they know where he is or not. Drinkmorr isn’t a big place, but it could still take a while to find one dwarf.”

Natalie gave a little squeak, and she put her hand over her lips. “The sign on the tavern!”

Charlie cursed. “I’d completely forgotten about that.”

A nasty feeling started working its way deep into the pit of Ben’s stomach. If the Shadowseekers recognised the symbol on the tavern as the Silver Dwarf’s
family crest, it wouldn’t take them long at all. Days? Hours?

Ben slammed a hand on the table. “We need to go back, now.”

“We can’t,” Charlie said. “The guest entrance doesn’t open until tomorrow.”

“What about the main entrance? The Shadowseekers got through.”

“Even if we knew where it was, the dwarves would never let us through. Two of the Shadowseekers died trying.”

“Is there no other way in?” Natalie asked.

Charlie shook his head. “No. We have to wait, and hope the Shadowseekers don’t find Krobeg.”

With the election due tomorrow, Ben knew he should be using the final few hours to throw himself into garnering votes, but the momentum he had gathered was
no longer there. He continued to talk to people, but the energy, wit and humour he had used to gain votes were conspicuous in their absence.

“This isn’t going to work.”

Ben turned, and found William frowning at him. The two of them had spent the last hour campaigning together, though it had passed in a blur.

“What’s going on? You weren’t like this a few hours ago,” William said. “You’re not paying attention. Do you even remember who we just spoke to?”

Ben blinked – he could just make out the backs of a couple of third-graders whom he was fairly certain he’d just made a speech to.

“Frank and Henry, wasn’t it?” Ben said, trying his luck.

“Wrong.” William crossed his arms, and gave him a stern look. “Do you want to win this thing or not? Because I’ve got better things to do with my time if
you’re not interested.”

William was possibly the only friend Ben would ever consider revealing his whole Guardian story to, and a small part of him wanted to tell William why he
had suddenly lost interest in the election.

“Sorry, you’re right,” Ben said. “I’ve just got a few things on my mind.”

“Anything you want to share?”

“No,” Ben said with a smile. “Okay, where were we? How many people have I lost by acting like an idiot?”

“Only a few,” William said. “But we’re about to run into Christine, and she’s one of the ones who’s on the fence. She’s smart, so you need to be prepared
to answer some tricky questions.”

Ben rubbed his hands together, trying to generate genuine enthusiasm and at the same time dismiss thoughts of Krobeg from his mind.

Through sheer force of will, Ben managed to focus on the election the rest of the afternoon, even managing to come up with a few thoughtful responses to
Christine’s laser-sharp questions. He went round with William, talking to anyone they could find, even those who were die-hard Aaron fans, on the
off-chance they could jolt some sense into them. By the time five o’clock rolled round, he was exhausted.

“Well, I think you’ve got a chance,” William said. “Not a big one, though.”

“Thanks, Will,” Ben said, clapping his friend on his sizeable biceps. They were standing by the Institute entrance and, from the corner of his eye, Ben
could just make out Charlie and Natalie standing outside waiting for him. But he refused to be rushed, after all the effort William had put in.

“How does tomorrow work?”

“We have the morning to make our last push. Votes must be in by lunchtime. The announcement will be made at three o’clock.”

Ben felt like a traitor when he looked into Will’s eyes and said, “Sounds like a plan.”

The truth was, he had no intention of being at the Institute tomorrow morning, but he wasn’t going to tell Will that, and they left, with the plan to meet
up right after tomorrow morning’s muster.

“I feel awful,” Ben said, as he joined Charlie and Natalie walking down the hill, towards the Dragonway. “Will and the team have been working so hard, and
I’m going to completely betray them.”

“Yeah, there’s no getting round that. They’re going to hate you,” Charlie said with a shrug.

“That makes me feel better, thanks,” Ben said.

“They’ll forgive you, eventually,” Natalie said, giving Charlie a pointed stare. “You just have to come up with a really convincing excuse as to why you
weren’t able to make it.”

“A family death might do it,” Charlie mused.

Ben wasn’t sure how he felt about such a lie, but the fact that he might be able to come up with something to mitigate tomorrow’s absence brightened him a
little. He was finally able to take his mind off the election, and on to their journey to Drinkmorr tomorrow, which brought a whole new range of problems.
Would the Shadowseekers have found Krobeg? If so, was he even still alive? They would find out tomorrow.

Ben met Charlie and Natalie the following morning at London Victoria station. It had only just gone seven o’clock, but the station was still busy with
commuters heading to work, oblivious to the world around them.

Charlie was munching on a McMuffin as they headed towards the Underground.

“Ugh, how can you eat that this early?” Natalie asked.

“I’m always hungry in the morning.”

“Aren’t you anxious about today?”

Charlie gave Natalie a confused look. “Of course I am; what’s that got to do with anything?”

“I can’t eat when I’m anxious.”

Charlie tucked the remainder of the McMuffin into his mouth. “Oh, it’s the opposite with me. I eat more when I’m anxious.”

“Moving on from the subject of McMuffins, have either of you thought about a plan?” Ben asked.

Ben knew they were unlikely to be overheard while walking through the Underground, as most people were lost in their music or on their mobiles.

“You’re the plan person,” Charlie said. “Don’t we always just end up doing what you say?”

Ben dodged a business woman who was so intent on her phone that she wasn’t looking where she was going. “Probably, but I want to hear what you guys think
about Krobeg. We didn’t exactly leave on good terms.”

“Haven’t a clue,” Charlie said. “It’s not like we’re going there with fresh evidence. Why would he suddenly believe us now?”

“The dark elves,” Natalie said. “We warned him that they might come.”

“But will he believe that they are after him?” Charlie said.

Their conversation stopped as they entered the Underground train, and didn’t start again until they arrived at Old Church Town, where once again they made
their way through the small lanes, surrounded by the red brick buildings.

“Natalie’s right: the Shadowseekers are our best hope,” Ben said. “Plus, I still think that Krobeg is hiding something and that some of what I said hit
home. Plus, he’s had time to think things over, and possibly change his mind.”

They soon reached the bank by the river, and Ben turned his attention to the building with the secret door. Despite knowing its location, it still took
them a good fifteen minutes to find the door handle. Ben took a quick look around, to make sure nobody was watching, and then pulled the door open.

The smell of chocolate hit him, but this time he barely noticed it. He was too busy staring at the axe pointing inches from his chest. A line of
stern-faced, armoured dwarves blocked the street.

“State your business,” said the dwarf with the axe at Ben’s chest.

Ben cursed inwardly for not expecting the road block and allowing the surprise to startle him. He thought fast. The tourist plea was his initial response,
but the moment the dwarf spotted their spellshooters, he knew that wasn’t going to work. Instead, he revealed the Institute diamonds floating above his
shoulder.

“Institute business,” Ben said, trying to mimic Dagmar’s imperious authority.

“You are just apprentices,” the dwarf said, lowering his axe.

Ben raised an eyebrow. “So what? We’re still on official business. If you have a problem with that, you can take it up with Dagmar Borovich, Master of
Apprentices.”