The Wealth of Kings (14 page)

Tu’luh grunted. “I wasn’t finished,” he said pointedly. “Use mithril arrows that have been coated with a special poison made from addorite and bloodgrass. Listen closely, and I will instruct you how to make it.”

Sylus looked up to Tu’luh. “I’m listening,” the dwarf king said.

Tu’luh looked into Sylus’ eyes once more and the dwarf went rigid. The dragon formed a telepathic connection with Sylus and showed him how to mix the correct proportions of bloodgrass and addorite to form the poison. Then, when the lesson was done, the dragon broke the connection and pulled away.

Sylus stumbled forward a step, weary from the spell.

“Do you understand?” Tu’luh asked.

Sylus nodded. “I can replicate the process you showed me.”

“Very well. Now listen to my final instructions for the night.”

Sylus nodded and looked up, leaning upon his hammer for support.

“Most of the addorite will be shipped to Valtuu Temple. Ensure that no one takes the crystals from you. Orcs or thieves may try to steal it, mistaking it for treasure. However, not all of it needs to go to Valtuu Temple. Keep ten pounds on hand in the mountain at all times. This will ensure you have enough to create the poison you need to defeat the demons. Then, for every thousand pounds you mine, send one hundred pounds to Bendor’s Cave to the southwest.”

“Why there?” Sylus asked.

“That is not for you to know,” Tu’luh said sharply. “Now go. Do not call me again until you have a sustainable flow of addorite moving to each location.”

Sylus grudgingly bowed his head and the Ancient leapt into the air, stirring up dust and wind with his magnificent wings. Tu’luh let out a mighty roar that shook the very ground Sylus stood upon, and then the dragon turned to the southwest and flew away, disappearing over the top of the mountain.

The dwarf king stood on the large platform for several minutes, wrestling with himself about the fate of his people. Finally, he decided he would try Tu’luh’s poison. If it worked, then Sylus would do as he was told. However, he also set his mind that if the fighting in the mines grew much more costly, then he would collapse the tunnels. If he had to, he would sever Roegudok Hall from the Ancients. Tu’luh himself had already explained that the Ancients could not enter Roegudok Hall due to the Mystinen, so there would not be much they could do to him or his people should they hide inside the safety of their mountain.

Year 3,711 Age of Demigods, Early Autumn.

2
nd
year of the reign of Aldehenkaru’hktanah Sit’marihu, 13
th
King of Roegudok Hall.

Al stood in the throne room, waiting for the others to arrive. He studied the portrait of King Sylus, wondering what it was the ancient king had done to usher in an era of prosperity. How was it that the summer had passed and the autumn had come without so much as a cart-full of gold or silver to show for all of the mining efforts Al had put into place? He had thought the chamber with the lava tube would yield something substantial, but the gold vein was shallow and only a handful of low quality, clouded diamonds had been extracted. What was he missing?

The door to the throne room opened and in walked Alferug.

He was flanked by two other dwarves, but they were not part of the council; these were engineers that Al had summoned himself.

The dwarf king peeled himself away from Sylus’ painting and then went to the engineers. Gimil, an engineer with centuries of experience, pulled a rolled parchment from a wooden cylinder and held it out for Al.

“I drew the plans as you requested. Please let me know if I have made any errors.”

Al took the parchment and unrolled it. He could see Alferug trying to sneak a peek, but Al positioned it away from Alferug. “This is a surprise, Alferug,” the king said.

Alferug nodded and continued on toward the council table.

The king studied the schematics and then glanced to the north wall of the throne room. He then grinned and rolled the parchment tightly and handed it back. “How soon can you start?”

Gimil took the parchment and slid it into the cylinder. “We can start immediately. I have already put the necessary laborers on standby.”

“Excellent,” Al said. “How long will it take?”

Gimil scratched his head. “Oh, not long at all. We have already moved the bulk of the equipment into place. Now it is just a matter of the wall. That was why I wanted to come to you and triple check that you were sure you wanted it done.”

Al nodded. “I am more than sure.” He clapped Gimil on the shoulder and sent him away.

The two engineers exited the throne room just as Kijik, commander of the Home Guard, entered the throne room. Al nodded at Kijik and motioned for him to join Alferug at the council table.

Kijik offered a short nod and walked by quickly. Over the last several months, Kijik had seemed to adapt to his new role quite well. The Home Guard was still smaller than Al wanted, but recruits were in training and the current members of the Home Guard were receiving practice drills. More than that, Kijik had squads of his men rotating in as guards in the mines.

Fortunately, no more incidents had occurred since the time when the five miners were attacked by a yet unknown creature in the depths. Al could only hope that they had destroyed whatever had attacked when they collapsed the lava tube in that chamber where Tareggh and the others had disappeared.

Al made his way to the head of the table and sat down.

Over the next ten minutes, he watched as ten more dwarves came into the throne room. Seven male dwarves and three females. Each of them had advising responsibilities. Some were still new to the council, having only been appointed within the last two weeks, but all of them were extremely motivated and dedicated to their work. Moreover, none of them had served in positions of authority under Threnton’s rule. Al waited until the last of them had seated themselves and then he started the meeting.

“Thank you all for coming, we have a lot to get through in today’s meeting. We’ll start on my left, and then go down the line in order.” Al turned to Alferug and motioned to him. “Alferug, do you have anything to share with the group?”

Alferug stood in his place and addressed the others. “The people are still mixed on the subject of the Ancients. Many welcome the rededication to follow our traditions, others reject it. However, there is peace in Roegudok Hall on this matter. There have been no incidents.” Alferug then sat down.

“Have any dragons returned to Roegudok Hall?” Dvek asked.

Alferug shook his head. “No, not yet. But I believe they will one day come.”

“Have any been spotted in the Middle Kingdom at large?” Dvek pressed.

Alferug shook his head again. “Not that I have been told.” The old counselor turned and directed his gaze to Hento, a middle-aged dwarf who had been appointed as Liaison to King Mathias. “Have you heard anything?”

“No. I have not heard anything on this subject,” Hento said flatly.

“Very well,” Al said. “Let’s continue.”

A sharp impact hit somewhere on the other side of the north wall that caused some of the dwarves to jump in their seats. They turned and looked for the source of the noise, but the dwarf king held up his left hand and then pointed to Benbo. “Please, let’s continue.”

Benbo’s brows shot up but he quickly regained his composure and turned back to the group. “The army is strong. Over the last several weeks, we have sent roughly half of our soldiers out into the Middle Kingdom. They, in conjunction with some of our best engineers, are helping some of the destroyed towns and settlements in the south rebuild. From everything I hear, the effort is going well.”

Hento cut in. “Yes, King Mathias sends his most sincere thanks for the help. He has applauded our efforts, and hopes for more cooperation between our peoples.”

Al nodded and stroked his beard. “Mathias may soon get the chance to help us as well,” he said. Then, he motioned for Benbo to continue.

“That is all, Sire,” Benbo said. “In other news, we have guards patrolling the mines as you ordered a couple months ago. There have been no new incidents.”

Al nodded. “Kijik, anything from the Home Guard?”

Kijik opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by another loud thunking sound that echoed through the chamber.

“Ignore that,” Al said with a half-grin on his face. “It is work I ordered.”

“With respect, perhaps they can wait until we are finished,” Alferug whispered as he leaned in toward Al.

The dwarf king laughed. “No, I asked them to do it.”

Alferug frowned.

Kijik cleared his throat and sat rigid in his chair as he began his report. “We have two hundred recruits in training at this moment,” he said proudly. “Otherwise we are practicing drills, and we are taking rotations with the regular army down in the mines.”

“And your contribution is much appreciated,” Al offered.

“Thank you, Sire,” Kijik replied with a respectful nod.

Dvek didn’t wait to be called upon. He leaned forward, elbows on the table and hands up with fingers entwined a few inches away from his face as he turned and directed his gaze to the king. “I regret to say that we are no better off now than we were at the beginning of the summer. Our crops have not yielded a harvest that will sustain us through the winter. We are still draining our reservoirs for culinary water, as we have found no new wells. This fact in and of itself prevents us from growing cave-rice. Furthermore, our mines are still not producing. We are, for lack of better words, running out of time.”

Al sighed and looked to Mitgar, a young, black-haired dwarf who had been appointed as the Agricultural Advisor. “How much did the harvest yield, exactly?”

Mitgar shook his head and pulled a small, leather-bound book from a pocket and began to read. “We have butchered seven hundred sheep. We have fished fourteen barrels of mountain trout. We have harvested—”

“Mitgar,” Al interrupted. The dwarf looked up from his list with a slack mouth and knit brow. “I don’t need all of the details. Just give me a summary, or your best estimate for how long the food supply will last us.”

Mitgar closed his mouth and nodded. His eyes scanned over the pages and he moved his fingers in the air next to the book as he quickly mumbled. Then he looked up to Al and said, “Two and a half months, perhaps three.”

A heavy silence fell over the table. No one had to spell it out for any of them. Roegudok Hall wouldn’t last through the winter. In fact, the food would run out before winter arrived. Al tapped a finger on the table and then skipped over to Hento with an arched brow.

“Hento, what of aid for Roegudok Hall? What can King Mathias spare?”

Hento rose to his feet, but he did not look anyone in the eye. He kept his gaze down to the top of the table. “Senator Mickelson informed me that the king has no stores to spare.”

“How is that possible?” Al asked. “We have sent our own people out to help rebuild.” Al shook his head and pounded an angry fist. Hento jumped nervously and glanced at the king’s hand before looking away again. “We sacrificed our lives in the war with Tu’luh and the orcs! How can he abandon us now in our time of need?”

Hento shook his head. “Mickelson said that the king has used what stores he had to resupply Fort Drake, various other military encampments, and also the towns in the south.” Hento clasped his hands in front of his waist to keep them from shaking from his nerves, but he could barely look in Al’s direction before his voice cracked. “Mickelson said that Mathias has been able to feed our kin who are helping rebuild, but he has nothing extra to send to Roegudok Hall. I do have other connections. Let me speak with them. I am sure we can come to an arrangement. Perhaps we can offer to barter with credit. Roegudok Hall has never defaulted on any of its financial obligations.”

“Actually, that is not entirely accurate, Hento,” Dvek cut in. He stood again and address Al. “It won’t do any good to look to other merchants. We failed to pay the Greenband in full. They have levied sanctions against us. Unless the king offers us food, we have no other options other than continuing to expand our mines and hope they start producing. Even if the Greenband wasn’t levying sanctions against us, it appears that the other merchant guilds have kept a close hold on their goods, especially food. I would say that the guilds are hiding large stores of food so they can drive prices up by creating scarcity.”

Al nodded. “I would agree, Dvek.”

Benbo leaned forward, his mouth opening to say something, but then he glanced around the room and closed his mouth, furrowing his brow and leaning back in his chair.

“Don’t be shy, Benbo,” Al said. “If you have something to say, then come out with it.”

Benbo shook his head. “No, it was an irrational idea, Sire. It isn’t worth discussing.”

“Too late now, Benbo. My curiosity is piqued and I must know what it was.”

Benbo hesitated, and then leaned forward and turned toward Al. “I thought, only for a moment before my senses came to me, that perhaps we could take a group of cavedog riders and…”

Al laughed as Benbo’s words faded into the air and the commander of the army made a shrugging gesture. Benbo blushed and sat back in his chair, obviously embarrassed to have the thought out for all to hear. “I like your tenacity,” Al said. “However, it would do us little good to become a band of brigands and thieves.”

“If the merchants withhold their goods only for the sake of driving up prices, it may call for some sort of measured response,” Alferug said.

Al shook his head. “No, we will not police the merchants in the Middle Kingdom. We will gain nothing by stealing from them and giving it to our folk. It would destroy relations with Mathias.”

“I could propose the idea to Mickelson that we could help search for the rumored stores,” Hento said.

Al shook his head. “No. That wouldn’t work much better. We may as well tell King Mathias that he is not running his kingdom properly and offer to take it off his hands.” Al sighed. “No, we will find another way. If trade is what is needed, then let us discuss what we can produce.” Al pointed to Akmei, a beautiful, young, green eyed dwarf who had recently been appointed as the Mining Advisor. “Do we have anything?”

Akmei stood and swung her long, red braid of hair up and over her shoulder. “No, my king. We have found a lot of that bloodgrass, but no new gems or ore sources, precious or otherwise. It is only a matter of time though.”

Al smiled as she sat down. He liked her optimism as much as her beauty. He let his eyes linger upon her face for a moment longer before nodding and turning to Kangas, who oversaw textile operations.

Kangas was an older gentleman, finely dressed in a sleek long coat over a neatly pressed red shirt. He reached up to shift the glasses on his nose and then smoothed his silvery beard. “As a result of butchering all of the sheep that Mitgar spoke of, we have more than enough wool to produce many goods. We are currently weaving large rugs and tapestries of a similar pattern and quality as those we sold out in the human cities before trade relations were severed by King Threnton. Additionally, we are holding much of our supply in reserve so we can take orders from without the mountain.”

“Estimated total value?” Al asked.

Kangas shrugged. “Hard to say until we have used our supply of wool.” The dwarf cleared his throat and hummed for a moment as he took in a deep breath and narrowed his eyes on the table as he thought. “I should say we have currently an inventory worth several hundred gold crowns. The tapestries and carpets currently being made would add to that, and the custom orders could range anywhere from a few hundred silver pieces, to several hundred gold, depending on what kind of orders are received.”