The Half Dwarf Prince: 02 - The Dwarf War (16 page)

“Yes, Your Highness,” both men said.

“Very well, I will leave you men alone for the evening, then,” the king said, and exited the room. He nodded to his cousin on the way out, and she nodded back.

Master Brennin had made sure word got out that the king was going to be making a declaration at the Black Dragons guild house. Grundel rode next to the king down the streets of Patria. His mother and Jerrie rode behind them. Everyone else walked behind the horses with soldiers around them keeping the people back. It was slow
going to the guild house now that the announcements had been made and people filled the streets to cheer for their king, the princess, and the prince. The king leaned over to talk to Grundel over the crowd.

“What did you decide for a name?”

Grundel looked over at the king and smiled. “Captain Douglas talked to the first couple of men he recruited, and they decided on the White Dragons, Your Highness.”

“Well, it makes the point
, I guess,” the king said, shaking his head. “The White Dragons.” He leaned over again. “Did he talk to the wizards’ guild?”

“Master Brennin went in his place. The White Dragons recruited their first wizard this morning. His parents were killed by the Black Dragons a year ago.”

“Well, that’s something,” the king said, sitting back up in his saddle. They finally made it to the site where the Black Dragons guild had been. A section of the black rock had been moved to make room for an eight-foot-high stage. The size of the area around the stage was nothing compared to the city square, but since no one had built near the assassins’ headquarters, there was still room for over a thousand people to fill the streets and area around the stage. Hundreds of those people stood on the rubble of the building. When the king and Grundel walked up on the stage the crowd exploded with cheers. Grundel heard hundreds of people screaming for him. As many people were cheering for him as for the king, but then his mother walked onto the stage, and all cheers were for her. She walked to the back of the stage with Jerrie and Rundo standing on her left and Dobo and Gobo standing on her right.

The king held up his hands and waited for the crowd to get quiet. Slowly the crowd silenced.

“People of Patria, the truce between the Black Dragons and Patria has finally broken. For over a hundred years the Black Dragons have hidden behind the curtain of religion. They have grown more and more violent, more and more dangerous, claiming they were following the wishes of their god. They were tolerated because of the treaties. Only a Black Dragon caught in an act of violence could be prosecuted. The Black Dragons as a group attacked the members of the line of Patria.”

The crowd erupted again. The king held up his hands again
, waiting for the crowd to silence.

“You all have already heard of the attempted assassinations during the parade that was to celebrate the return of the
princess of Patria. What you have not yet heard is that on that same day assassins of the Black Dragon guild entered the palace and attempted to take the life of the heir of Patria.”

The crowd erupted again and the king let this one go for a minute before raising his hands again.

“Prince Grundel is a formidable foe, however. He killed the assassins that came into the palace. He then led a group of our soldiers to this place and took the fight to our enemy. Over fifty Black Dragons died that day, but we lost three of our brothers. This place will remain as it is, as a reminder to the Black Dragons that they are not welcome in our city.”

The crowd erupted in cheers
, and King Paul let them go on for a few moments.

“There is one more thing. The city of Patria now has a force dedicated to defending it against wizards. Captain Douglas will lead this group. He cannot be here today due to injuries sustained during his fight with the Black Dragons, but he is on the mend. These soldiers will be specifically trained to fight the Black Dragons and any other wizards who threaten our city. This morning the White Dragons recruited its first wizard into its ranks. No one is above the law
, and never again will Patria turn a blind eye. The White Dragons will hunt down any Black Dragons in Patria.” The king turned and walked down the steps of the stage with the crowd cheering all around him.

Once they were back on the horses and headed back toward the
palace, Grundel leaned over toward the king.

“I thought you wanted me to tell them about the unit
, Your Highness.”

The king turned in his saddle and smiled. “I decided that I have asked enough of you already
; I shouldn’t torture you with speaking in front of thousands of people.”

Grundel smiled and sat back up in his saddle.

Dirigente was so lost in his contemplation he barely noticed the man in black robes approaching him. They walked with the army. Many of his wizards didn’t like doing this much walking, but Dirigente realized that most of them had gotten soft. This trip would be good for them. This war would be good for them. They needed to be reminded that they couldn’t just sit cooped up inside the guilds. They were supposed to be creating chaos. They were the devices of Delvidge, the God of Chaos. He realized in that moment that Vingaza had been right; he had been the only one actually doing anything. Vingaza had been brash and eventually got himself killed, but that was part of it. If the rest of the guild had been working with him, events might have gone differently. Vingaza had constantly bred and manipulated goblins, trolls, even orcs, to attack his own city in order to create chaos. He had sent his own brother out to push an army onto a smaller city. His brother had lost his life that day, but that was how they discovered the existence of the mage Anwar Alamira.

The wizard stopped in front of him. “Master Dirigente
.”

“What is it
, Belfor?” Dirigente asked the guild leader of Patria.

“We were attacked
, Master,” Belfor said.

“You were attacked by who
m, and if you were attacked, why are you here and not back in Patria tracking down everyone who ever knew the people who attacked you?” Dirigente asked angrily.

“It was the dwarf prince and his companions. We sent assassins to the palace but they were defeated. They were ready for them. They next day the
dwarf prince and his companions led a troop of soldiers to the guild house. They killed everyone inside, and only a few of us escaped unnoticed. They have defenses against magic and weapons that can penetrate our shields. We were destroyed, Master. I have less than a dozen wizards left, and no assassins that I know of live Master,” Belfor said nervously.

Dirigente sifted through the information he had just been given; there were two things that really mattered.

“You fool, you sent men into the palace. That is why you were destroyed. You gave the king a reason to turn on you. Now tell me why it was the half-dwarf prince who led the soldiers to your guild house. For him to be there is not surprising, but why would the king let him lead?”

“He is the heir to Patria
, Master. His mother was the daughter of the late king. Her brother died as a youth, leaving her cousin to take the throne. He has no children. His nephew led the attack as a member of the royal family. The people in the city love him even more then the king, Master,” Belfor said.

“Well, maybe we can use that
, then,” Dirigente responded.

“I do not think so
, Master,” Belfor replied.

“From everything you just told me
, I wouldn’t believe you thought at all, but since you have started, go ahead and tell me what it is you are thinking,” Dirigente said angrily. The man was a fool, but Dirigente wasn’t in the habit of disregarding information, especially from those who were closest to the source.

“The king killed his own wife for attempting to murder his nephew. He holds family above all else. He swung the axe that severed her head himself
, Master,” Belfor told him.

“He may hold it high, but will he hold family above the lives of everyone in his city
?” Dirigente asked.

“I don’t understand
, Master,” Belfor answered.

“Of course you don’t. Keep your men out of the city. Send one man back to put out the word
: all Black Dragons are to come join with us,” Dirigente told him, and then turned and started heading toward King Bergmann’s camp before the fool could respond.

Dirigente made his way across the field and through the human army. The dwarf army was out front. This night
, like every night, the moment they had stopped to make camp, areas had been established for training and the humans and dwarves began fighting in those areas. The men rotated out, some men setting up camp while others trained. The men who had watch set up the perimeter and would get the night off from training. He walked to the fire in the middle of camp. Bergmann did not have a tent; he did not do anything that distinguished him from the rest of the army, except make his fire in the center of camp. He endured the same conditions as the rest of the army. If it rained, he got wet; when it was hot, he cooked in his armor. The army respected him for it. Had he been a human, it would have been foolish, but Bergmann was a dwarf: he would almost never be sick because of his dwarven constitution.

“King Bergmann,”
Dirigente said, interrupting the man who was talking to the dwarf king.

“What is it
, wizard?” Bergmann asked. He almost never used his name. He always called him wizard, or human, or magic.

“I need to speak to you about the Patria,” he answered.

“I’m not interested,” Bergmann said.

“The
half-dwarf prince is the heir to Patria, and he is there now. He is likely seeking the support of his uncle, the king. If he wins that support we may face an enemy on two fronts. The king might be persuaded to help us instead,” Dirigente said.

Bergmann turned and looked up at the man. “What would you recommend?”

“We are less than a week from Patria now. I say that we send for the king to meet with us. He will come. My information is that he holds family very high and that the half-dwarf prince of two kingdoms and his mother are the only family he has left. That being said, when weighed against the lives of all the men in his kingdom, he might be persuaded to change his position on family. I don’t see any other option,” Dirigente told the king.

Bergmann turned to look at Rupert. “What do you think
, Rupert?”

“I do not have all of the information that Master Dirigente has, but based on the information he has provided
, I would have to agree with his assessment. If the king believed that the combined forces of Portwein and Tiefes Loch would come against his city he may be persuaded to turn over his nephew. At the very least he may refuse to aid his nephew, which is really our goal anyway,” Rupert responded.

Bergmann turned back to the wizard. “Set it up. A week from today we will meet with the king of Patria outside his city.”

“What do you mean you are going to meet with him
?” Anna demanded of her cousin.

“He is a king marching to war through my kingdom and he has requested that I meet with him. I am not saying I am going to help him, but I have a responsibility to this kingdom to hear him out,” the king answered her.

“He is marching against my husband and son, your nephew and the heir to this kingdom,” she yelled back.

“I know what he is doing
, Cousin. Whatever happens I must keep the best interests of my kingdom in mind. I cannot let my personal feelings about someone affect how I rule this kingdom. Your father is the one who taught me about hard truths. I have had to learn a lot of hard truths lately, but I am still the king of this city, and I will rule in its best interest,” he told her calmly.

Anna turned from the king and stomped out of the room. He turned to Grundel. “I am sorry
, nephew, but I have a responsibility to at least hear this king out.”

Grundel put a hand on the king’s shoulder. “I understand, and so does she. She is just angry about it. You know this king is very dangerous. He might kill you if you do not agree to whatever he offers.”

“I doubt that he will, but if he is that foolish then l will not even try to stop him. You will become king and will have no choice but to march against him as he attacks Shinestone. He will already know this, though, which is why I doubt he will try to kill me. More likely he will try to kidnap me and hold me for ransom until his fight with Shinestone is done. He would hope that, if he does that, he will be able to keep Patria out of the fight. If he does take me, as heir you are next in charge. March against him,” the king told him.

“But you just said he would hold you for ransom until
—” Grundel stopped as he realized what his uncle was saying.

“Yes, if he kidnaps me, he will hold me until he takes Shinestone, and then he will kill me. Once he has the protection of the walls
of Shinestone he won’t need me any longer. It is simple for you, really. If I do not come back for any reason, you lead the army out, and attack the back of his army as it attacks Shinestone,” his uncle told him, looking him in the eyes and resting one hand on his shoulder. Grundel nodded. “Good, now remember: if you have any questions, just ask Master Brennin—that’s what I always do.”

Grundel followed the king to the entrance of the palace. He stood at the top of those granite steps as his uncle climbed up onto his horse. He took
only four guards with him. He was going into an enemy army’s camp, so it didn’t make sense to take a large guard force—if they wanted him he wasn’t going to get away. He stood on those steps watching him ride away. His mother wasn’t with him, but he was sure she was watching through one of the windows.

King Paul Patria rode his horse into the enemy encampment. It had been morning when he had rode east from Patria, and it was nearly dark now. A rider had come out to meet him before he had made it to their lines, and led him in. He looked around at the army. There were men and dwarves all around in circles
, drilling with each other. The army was disciplined, and the soldiers seemed well trained. They weren’t Patria soldiers, but they were still better than he had heard of Portwein’s soldiers.

“King Patria,” the dwarf said as they approached the fire at the center of the camp.

“King Bergmann, I assume,” Patria said.

“You are correct. I am King Bergmann of Tiefes Loch
, and soon all four of the dwarven kingdoms,” Bergmann said.

“Well
, that remains to be seen,” Patria said to the man. “Now that introductions have been made, might we get to the point of why you asked me all the way out here?”

“Oh, but we are not quite finished with introductions,” Bergmann said
, motioning to a man in a black robe with a white dragon embroidered on the chest of it. He never understood why they embroidered it in white. They were Black Dragons, but the dragons on all of their clothing were white. “This is Dirigente, the leader of all the Black Dragon guilds in Gegend.”

“I have no interest in the Black Dragon guild
. As I am sure you have already been informed, the Black Dragons’ presence will no longer be tolerated in Patria,” King Paul said, ignoring the Black Dragon leader and remaining focused on the dwarf.

King Grundel smiled at the other king. “I can see why you wouldn’t want them around. I don’t like the magic
-users myself. It just ain’t natural, ya know. I have no interest in how you deal with Black Dragons in your city. I simply show you this man to demonstrate to you another of my resources, before I move on to the point of our business here. I know that Shinestone is requesting your aid in the coming war. I have brought you out here to threaten you.”

Patria stood his ground confidently. He had faced some hard truths lately, and those truths had made him hard. He was willing to die. He didn’t hope to die, but he wasn’t afraid of it
, either. Killing his own wife had broken something inside him. “Make your threat, then, and let us be done with this,” he said defiantly.

Bergmann laughed. “At least you are a real king, not cowering and bending like that coward Merwein. My threat is one you will have already guessed
, I am sure, but I will make it anyway. I brought an army large enough to take and hold Shinestone. This is only a portion of my army. Once I have taken Shinestone my army will be resupplied and reinforced before moving on to the kingdom of Haufen. After that my army will double in size before we march on Evermount. I do not have any interest in your city, so this is simple: Do not get involved. With the Portwein army, the Black Dragon wizards, and my own army we would be able to take Shinestone and still defeat your army. It would simply increase the number of casualties we take in doing so. If you stay out of this, your city will remain undisturbed, but if you join with Shinestone, then Patria will fall next.”

“Why would I trust you? The fact that you are allied with the Black Dragons is enough to make you a threat to my city,” Patria said.

“I am not allied with the Black Dragons or Portwein. They serve my purpose; I do not serve theirs. Portwein follows me because I pay them, and these wizards follow me because they are of chaos, and what better way is there to create chaos than war?” Bergmann asked.

“Dirigente ha
s agreed to keep the Black Dragons out of your city if you stay out of this war,” Bergmann said, nodding over to the Black Dragon leader.

Patria looked over at the man suspiciously. “Why would I trust anything you say?”

“I don’t believe you are foolish enough to do that, but as a show of good faith I have something for you,” the wizard said, turning around. “Belfor!”

Another wizard walked forward. Patria recognized him as the leader of the Black Dragons in Patria. “Your Highness
, I made a mistake. I broke a truce that has been in place since before either us was alive, and I apologize. The Black Dragons that escaped will not be returning to Pat—”