The Theiwar, Realgar, whose throne stood in the darkest of the dark shadows, eyed them with frowning dislike, as did the Daergar Thane, Rance. Flint was not surprised by this—dark dwarves hate everyone. What made him uneasy was an air of smugness about the Theiwar. Flint could not see Realgar’s eyes behind the smoked glass of his helm, but there was a sneering curl to the lips which Flint found unsettling, as though Realgar knew something others did not. Flint determined to keep his own eyes on the Theiwar.
The leader of the Daewar, Gneiss, was a very imposing figure, decked out in his war panoply, but that seemed about all that could be said for him. Tufa, of the Klar, had the same wild-eyed look that characterized all the Klar, even those who were sane. Tufa kept flicking uncertain glances at Hornfel, as though waiting to be told what to think. Rance of the Daergar would be the Neidar’s enemy just because that was how it had always been and always would be. The question was whether the Daergar were allied with the Theiwar in whatever mischief they were plotting. When all the Thanes had been introduced, Flint made a respectful bow to the empty throne of the Kingdom of the Dead, and he bowed defiantly before the other empty throne, that belonging to the Neidar. Hornfel looked grave at this. Realgar snorted loudly, waking the Highbluph and causing him to grumble before curling back on his throne and dozing off again. Flint began his own introductions. “I am Flint Fireforge.” He turned to Tanis. “This is—” Realgar rudely interrupted. “Why aren’t these criminals in chains and leg irons? They destroyed the Northgate. They are assassins and spies. Why aren’t they in the dungeon?”
“We are not spies,” said Flint angrily. “We bring urgent news and a warning from the world beyond the mountain. Queen Takhisis, whom we dwarves know as False Metal, has returned from the Abyss and brought her evil dragons with her. She has created dragon-men, fearsome warriors led by Dragon Highlords, who are waging war on the world. Many realms have already fallen to the darkness, including Qualinesti. Thorbardin may be next.”
All the Thanes began talking at once, shouting and gesticulating, jabbing fingers at each other and at Flint, who shouted and jabbed right back.
“Our priests would have certainly known if False Metal had returned,” Gneiss said scornfully.
“We have seen no signs.”
“As for this claim of dragons and dragon-men, are we children to believe such tales?” Rance cried.
The Highbluph, jolted out of his nap, looked around in bewilderment.
“What’s going on?” Sturm asked Tanis, who was the only one beside Flint who spoke Dwarvish. The knight was accustomed to the stately formalities of the Solamnics, and he was shocked at the turmoil. “This is a drunken brawl, not a meeting of kings!”
“Dwarves do not stand on ceremony,” said Tanis. “Flint told them that Takhisis has returned. They’re disputing his claim.”
“I will prove they are spies!” Realgar’s voice was thin and rasping and had a whining quality to it, as though he considered himself perpetually ill-used. “My people tried to arrest this lot, but they were driven off by Arman Kharas and his thugs, who had no right to be in our realm.”
“I had every right to deliver my brother from your dungeons,” Arman countered hotly.
“He broke our laws,” Realgar said sullenly.
“He broke no law. You kidnapped him in order to try to extort ransom—”
“That is a lie!” Realgar jumped to his feet.
“Is it also a lie that we had to run for our lives across Anvil’s Echo?” Arman Kharas thundered.
“Your people dropped boulders down through the murder holes in an effort to crush us to death!”
“What is this?” Hornfel also rose from his throne. He fixed a baleful gaze on the Theiwar Thane.
“I had not heard of this until now!”
Tanis translated the Dwarvish for his friends. Flint did not take his attention from the Theiwar. He had been trying to steer the conversation back to the reason why he and his friends had come but was not making much headway. Suddenly Flint knew what the Theiwar was going to say and he realized in dismay that he and Arman had both been cleverly manipulated.
“I admit that we did attack our Hylar cousins,” said Realgar. “My people were trying to stop these criminals from entering our realm. The Talls are spies. They tried to sneak into Thorbardin unseen, bringing with them the accursed helm in order to destroy us. They would have succeeded, but their crime was foiled by my people.”
“Spies? Criminals?” Hornfel repeated, exasperated. “You keep saying this, Realgar, but what basis do you have for such accusations?” His voice took on an edge. “That also does not explain why you tried to kill my son and Hylar soldiers.”
Flint knew what was coming. He saw the pit before him, but by the time he saw it, he was already lying helpless at the bottom.
“Yes, we tried to kill them, in order to protect Thorbardin. These Talls”—Realgar jabbed a finger at Tanis and the others—“and their Neidar toady opened the gate in order that an army of humans, which now lies hidden in the foothills, can launch at attack against us!” The Thanes were stunned into silence. All of them, Hornfel included, cast dark, suspicious glances at Flint and his friends.
Realgar sat back on his throne. “I hate to tell you this, Hornfel, but your son is part of the plot. My people were going to place the Talls under arrest. Your son rescued them. He has revealed our defenses to them.” Realgar paused, then said smoothly, “Or perhaps you already know all this, Hornfel. Perhaps you are in on the plot as well.”
“That’s a lie!” Arman shouted angrily. He lunged at Realgar. The soldiers, weapons drawn, quickly surrounded him and, for good measure, also surrounded the companions.
“This is how Hornfel plans to become High King,” Realgar cried, “by selling Thorbardin to the humans!”
The Highbluph was now adding to the confusion by standing on his throne and shrieking at the top of his lungs that they were all about to murdered by the Talls. Geniss, the Daewar thane, was on his feet, pompously declaiming rules of order to which no one was listening. The Klar Thane was on his feet, too, with a knife in his hand.
Tanis gave up translating. He simply told everyone what was going on.
“This is terrible!” Sturm said grimly. “Now they will never let the refugees inside!”
“The question is: how did he know about the refugees?” Raistlin hissed. “Tell Flint to ask him that.”
“I don’t see how that matters?” Sturm said impatiently.
“Of course, you don’t,” Raistlin returned caustically “Ask him, Flint.” The dwarf shook his head.
“They won’t listen,” he said grimly. “We walked into Realgar’s trap. Not much I can do about it now.”
Hornfel was forced to defend himself, strenuously denying the charges leveled at him by Realgar. Arman Kharas denied them, too, stating that he had come upon the companions by accident, adding that he himself had placed them under arrest and brought them before the council.
“Along with the curse of Grallen,” Realgar shouted.
“Silence, all of you,” Hornfel roared and, finally, the other Thanes ceased arguing. He glared at them until they all resumed their seats. The soldiers released Arman, who smoothed his beard and glowered at Realgar, who regarded the young dwarf with a leer.
Turning to Flint, Hornfel said in grim tones, “Answer me, Flint Fireforge of the Neidar. Are these charges true?”
“No, the charges are not true, great Thane.”
“Ask him about the humans hiding in the valley!” Realgar snarled.
“We do come in the name of a group of humans,” Flint said.
“He admits it!” Realgar cried in triumph.
“But they are not soldiers. They are refugees!” Flint countered angrily. “Men, women, and children. Not an army! And we did not try to sneak into Thorbardin. The Northgate opened for us.”