Chapter VII: The dwarf

Gandon was deep in his books when he was summoned to the king’s council chamber. Annoyed, he put in a bookmark before he left. To his surprise Ilmur was outside waiting. Tapping his foot, he looked nervous.

“What made father so anxious that he needs us right now?” asked Ilmur.

Gandon straightened his back, he also felt tense. “Maybe this has something to do with Bellouse. Who knows what plans they make in their cups.”

“Father shouldn’t interfere, I’m doing great with Alexandra right now. They would only mess it up.”

That took Gandon by surprise. “Oho? What do you mean by that?”

Ilmur didn’t dare to meet his gaze. “I took her out riding, it was a pleasant evening, the moon was up and everything.”

Gandon thought that he already knew but decided to ask anyway. “Did you do this by your father’s accord?”

“Well, no. I acted on my own.”

“Didn’t you say that you planned to live your life unmarried for a long time yet?”

“I know, but there is something special about her. I had a wonderful time, and I think she wants to see me again.”

Not you too. This was already difficult enough without Ilmur interfering. “I guess I don’t know you that well after all. I thought you preferred the girls that like to dance and draw attention to themselves.”

“I’m just glad that after all these years I can still surprise you. But you are right, I do like those kinds of girls.”

Before Gandon could give him a reply, a bald knight emerged from the council chamber. It was Haran, one of the king’s best guards and one of the few that had survived the goblin raid, when the king had travelled south all those years ago. He was known as Silverhand for his skill with the blade.

“I’m glad you have arrived, we have troublesome news from the east, and an important embassy has arrived. Please follow me,” said Silverhand.

They were surprised to see that the ambassador was a dwarf. Most didn’t come to the capital anymore; they had been fighting with the goblins for many years underground it was said. The main road seemed safe enough. According to the king’s council.

The dwarf barely reached their waist. He had a long dark beard with jewels in it. His hair was slicked back. He looked fearsome at first but gave them a warm smile and shook their hands. His clothes and posture made Gandon sure that this dwarf had no lack of gold. An axe hung in his belt, but it was a ceremonial one.

“I have the pleasure to be Minrir, I’m glad you could come at such a short notice. Your Silverhand has already refilled my tankard two times. The beer was better than I could have hoped for if I’m being honest.”

“A pleasure to meet you master dwarf,” said Ilmur.

Gandon almost rolled his eyes. How would he feel if the dwarf said master human?

The dwarf didn’t seem to be bothered though. He guessed as an ambassador he heard such things often. Gandon reached for a gold coin in his pocket and gave it to the dwarf.

The dwarf looked surprised. “You know about our customs?” He asked incredulously.

“Only a little,” admitted Gandon.

“What are the customs?” asked Ilmur.

Gandon shrugged. “You give a gold coin to show that you value their time for talking with you.”

“And then you give the gold coin back after the conversation, to show that a pleasant conversation was the real reward. To not give the coin back would be extremely rude and dwarves have been killed for such matters,” finished Minrir.

Ilmur looked through his pockets. “I would have given you a gold coin as well, but I’ll always keep my pockets light when I’m fighting. I will not forget next time.”

Minrir smiled. “Do not fret over this! We dwarves are not so strict with our customs when we deal with humans, Bad for business. If a man knows our customs, it’s just a pleasant surprise. And in rare events a small discount.” Minrir gave them a wink.

Gandon already started to like the dwarf, humans could be so judgmental, but Minrir was courteous. He looked forward to discussing more with the dwarf when the right time would arise.

There were a lot of important people in the room, even mother himself had joined them. He hadn’t seen Lord Curnsby in a long while, he guessed he would see him more often if his majesty had started to deem that he and Ilmur were worthy of the council. There was a total of nine people, including the dwarf. He didn’t dare to meet Yvan’s gaze. He wasn’t sure if he had done the right thing with dismissing him as his master.

Minrir reached out his hand. “May I speak your grace?”

Elram nodded. “The word is yours my friend.”

“First of all, I want to make it clear, I’m not from Narda, I’m a stranger to the western part of the kingdom. I have never been to Everharn before. I’m from Bel-Ria, the dwarven kingdom that is close to the Alden’s borders.”

The Kingdom of Narda was almost entirely underground, but they had a single mountain above ground that stood on the soil of Feorn. A king of old had given it as a token of friendship and to make the trades between dwarves and men prosper. Some stories claimed it was the two brothers but there was no source that could back it up.

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Bel-Ria was another matter, they had a large kingdom above and underground. They were south of Feorn.

“Don’t worry about customs, no one will take offence, we are just happy to help,” said mother.

Minrir bowed to her. “You are most gracious. You humans are fond of your small talk, but I will go right away to the earth’s core. I’m a seasoned member of the golden guild that operates in Alden, and not everything is alright I’m afraid. The books must have been altered, the people of the eastern province are suffering and some of the lords without doubt enlarge their own pockets.”

“How long has this been going on?” asked Elram.

Minrir touched his jewelry, while in thought. “It is hard to say, I don’t have the authority to check all the accounts, you need to send someone that can talk with the king’s voice.”

“Something will be done, I’m glad you have brought this to our attention”, said Elram.

“Do you have anyone that would be fit for the task when I travel back to Alden?”

“I believe so,” said Elram. He turned and looked at Gandon. “Do you think you are ready, son?”

That took him by surprise. “I beg your pardon?”

“Who else? I saw that you already have befriended master Minrir and you are no longer tied to Yvan.”

His former master didn’t meet his gaze.

“I have for a long time seen you restless, you have spent all your life behind your desk, you long to prove yourself. Well, here is your chance.”

The king was right, he was restless. Maybe this was exactly what he needed. It had caught him by surprise but he felt more eager to go the more he thought about it. If he succeeded with the guild he would come back to the table with a much stronger bargaining chip. The king and the rest of the council would finally be forced to take him seriously. Doing well academically wasn’t enough, this was the key to a better life.”

“Do you think that you need anyone with you?” asked Elram.

“I guess Geor can’t be spared?”

“No, we need him here.”

He thought about Yvan, but that bride was still burning hot. It would be fun to have Ilmur with him, but Ilmur was busy courting Alexandra. Perhaps it would be well for him to step out of Ilmur’s shadow for once. In Worst case scenario, Ilmur would receive all the glory when they returned.

“No, your grace.”

The meeting continued with discussions of taxation and the houses that had their keeps in Alden. Dry business, but Gandon supposed it needed to be done. They didn’t stop until the king ordered that the meeting would be adjourned on a later day.

After the meeting were they walking shoulder to shoulder in the narrow corridors. Trying to make space for the people coming from the opposite direction. None of them seemed to know exactly where they were going.

“I thought that meeting would never end,” said Ilmur.

Gandon was still pondering about it. None of them seemed to regard the issue that he was going away, and they might not see each other in a while.

“I hope things will get better before they get worse,” said Ilmur continuing.

Ilmur was probably talking about the situation in Alden. It had taken them both by surprise.

“Mas- Yvan said that things are going to get worse before things gets better. He thought that the red moon was a bad omen. He was spooked alright.”

“I suppose you are going to get back practicing with him today as well?” asked Ilmur.

“Well, no, I resigned as his student,” said Gandon casually.

“YOU DID WHAT?!?!” screamed Ilmur.

“I asked what had happened before I came to the capital, close to eighteen years ago, he was quite clear that he knew something but refused to tell me.”

“Are you not being a little unreasonable?” asked Ilmur.

Gandon looked him hard in the eyes. “I will not forgive anyone that hides me from my legacy, not even you Ilmur. You don’t know anything about it right?”

“I’ve already told you that I don’t know anything,” said Ilmur, irritated.

“But you wouldn’t hide it from me? Even if your father had sworn you to secrecy?”

“I’ve never hidden anything from you. You know me as well as I know the back of my hand.”

Gandon nodded. “I’m sorry this is not your fault, it just makes me so angry. It feels like people mock me, like I’m some silly character in a play.”

“Why does it matter so much? The Gandon that could have been, never happened. You belong to the royal family and that is a fact.”

“But what if the other Gandon would have been better? A Gandon that had never arrived to the capital.”

“How could he? You can change people’s lives for the better much more easily in your current position.”

“But I don’t even know if Gandon is my real name. Maybe my birth parents had another name in store for me.”

“I doubt it, Gandon is not a common name in the north. Somehow your parents’ wishes reached father before your died.”

“The king is no saint, and you cannot tell me otherwise. What did my parents do to make Elram take me under his wings?”

“How often do you think about this?” asked Ilmur. Gandon could see in his eyes that he looked worried.

“All the time,” said Gandon.

Ilmur patted him on the back. “Let’s go for a ride, you need some air.”

“It’s been a while since we did that, it’s not a bad idea.”

They didn’t ride alongside each other like they used too, Gandon spurred his horse and Ilmur was kept at a distance but was always nearby. He wondered if Ilmur wasn’t distracted a bit as well. Ilmur always worried about him, and he didn’t always grant that same courtesy back. A lot of people irritated him, but he should at least care for his brother, his only real brother. What could be on Ilmur’s mind?

Suddenly he realized he had steered his stallion to their old childhood forest, why this place of all places?

Ilmur reined in his horse. “Adulthood is upon us, but I think that everything is going to be alright,” said Ilmur.

Ilmur, always the optimist, he himself was quite different in that regard. Things tended to get worse with time in his mind. He no longer spoke with Yvan, one of the men he had respected the most, but he felt so betrayed.

“How can you say that?” asked Gandon.

Ilmur left his horse and started to walk with a briskly phase. “The people have you, Gandon. You can change our minds when Saran and I start to err. One day you are going to make the people cry tears of joy and I want to be there to witness it, you are incredible, even Alexandra admitted that much.”

He could feel his cheeks grow warm. “When did she say that?”

Ilmur looked embarrassed. “During our ride. Did I say that it went well? She even gave me a kiss at the end.

Oh, Ilmur, how I hate and love you so, you are everything that I aren’t.

His hand tightened on his rein. “I see… Are you going to see each other again?” asked Gandon.

“Father will have my head if I don’t, and I like her company. She even forced me to read a little!”

That made him smile. They were so different, everything that one of them thought was difficult, was so easy for the other.

Gandon went off his horse to pursue Ilmur. “You are wrong, you know.”

“Huh?” said Ilmur.

“It is not me the people need. Anyone with a book can read and learn about this world. But it doesn’t matter if you give good counsel and the people don’t understand you or love you, they will suspect a trap where there isn’t one. I see how they cheer for you during the tournaments, the king’s true born son. They believe that you can protect them from all dangers that inhabits lurks this world.” He put his arm around Ilmur’s shoulder. “I don’t know if I can help you, but I will try.”

“If you feel inadequate, imagine how I feel. I’m just the spare,” said Ilmur.

“Well then, maybe we can be inadequate together?”

Ilmur started to laugh and opened a bottle of wine. “The small folk can drink their problems away, why can’t we do the same?”

They sat down on their favorite hill and enjoyed the wine and each other’s company.

It dawned upon Gandon that if his parents hadn’t died, he would probably never have met Ilmur. Maybe happiness doesn’t seem to be in the cards for me, but I don’t want to think about that right now.

“Alexandra has the prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen, and when she teases me my whole-body shudders. If you like the face, you usually appreciate the rest in my experience,” said Ilmur, almost in a trance.

Yes, I suppose that’s true.