General Escers, this time by himself, had been summoned to the king. He walked into the almost empty throne room, his expression showing remorse as well as an undefined tension.

The king’s fingers tapped on his armrest as he watched the general approach.

A man with the general’s sense of honor couldn’t possibly allow himself to be humiliated like this, was he not carrying a country’s fate on his shoulders.

King Thumer had spent the night thinking about where his country’s interests laid. Was it with the revolution, or was it with the human king?

As he watched the human general, Escers, walk into the throne room, he had yet to make his decision. His Wise counselors were divided, so he could expect no help from that side. That was also the reason why he had chosen to meet alone with the general this time. No annoying brats, no stubborn old men. Just himself, the general, and their mental abilities. An honorable duel, to which there was no loser.

The general bowed deeply in front of the king. “Your Majesty”, he said, then remained standing.

“Take a seat, general,” said the king, pointing at one of the two chairs he had put in front of the throne. “Your Majesty, I would like to apologize once again about what happened yesterday. I will take full responsibility.”

“I know you will,” answered Thumer, standing from his throne. He walked and sat on the other chair. Now he and the general were sitting across each other, on the same level. “But let’s forget about it for now. It was a great insult, but we have more important matters to discuss.”

A gust of wind came from the ventilation system, which was no more than some thin pipes connecting to the outside, and swung the chandeliers. The king smiled, noting the general’s surprised look. Not that he blamed him. A king stepping down from his throne, even for a minute, was something completely unheard of. But he enjoyed doing things like this.

After all, their little mental duel couldn’t be carried out unfairly, could it?

“Let’s not let something like ranks get in our way,” he said.

After a brief moment, the general replied. “Very well,” he began, purposefully skipping the honorifics. “I am sure you are aware of the situation in our kingdom. Everywhere outside the capital, people are ravaged by poverty and disease. The forests and caves are full of thieves, the seas are full of pirates, and the army lacks the resources to fight them. Not to mention the corrupt soldiers and officials, who are nothing but thorns in our side.”

“Go on,” said the king, placing a small red pillow behind his back.

“The nobles, the elite cast, are untouchable. Outside the capital, they are always protected by at least one member of the Black House. And if, somehow, anyone manages to harm a noble in any way, the entire Black House will come rushing to avenge him. Using that power, those despicable nobles are creating all sorts of atrocities, abusing men, women, and children from all over the kingdom. It is said that some of them are even practicing slavery, which has been banned for centuries. And more than all that, the king doesn’t care about the country and spends his time with women and alcohol.”

“I see. So this war is to protect the weak and end the corrupted. In one word, for justice. Is that so, General?” Escers frowned. This sounded like a very, very tricky question. To be on the safe side, he had to choose his words carefully. “We fight for the people, not for our leaders or a king. As citizens of the South Human Kingdom, we protect our interests. But in the process, supporting justice comes in the picture.”

“And what is your justice, Escers? Suppose you do win, and you apprehend all those that you deem unjust. What are you planning to do with them? Slaughter them?”

“We will put them through a fair trial. Those who are found guilty will be punished according to the severity of their crimes. That’s all there is to it, Thumer.”

The king stared into the general’s eyes for a moment, testing his will. The general stared back.

“That’s good enough for me,” Thumer stood up. “General, if the dwarves are to assist you, you need to tell us one more thing.”

He sat back on his throne. “We are aware of the current situation in the Human Kingdom. We have our sources of information, you see. Although the situation is not as you believe it to be, we want your revolution to win this war. But tell me, General, why should the dwarves assist you? What would we earn, that is worth risking this kingdom’s peace and safety?”

Escers didn’t answer right away. In the test runs he had done back in Waterslide, with Sayfire, this was always the most difficult question. He had to play his cards right.

“We understand that the dwarves have always wanted to trade with the elves through safe roads, outside the Dark Area. If we come to power, we promise to let your merchants pass freely through our kingdom, with only a small tax of about 10% of their income to compensate us.”

“What about your towns? Will we be allowed to trade there?” asked the king.

“Only in designated places. We can’t say exactly which, but it will be mostly low-population or faraway ones. The capital and the biggest towns are out of the question.”

“If that’s the case, we want a 3% tax on the merchants.”

“How about 8%, and we’ll allow you into Waterslide as well?” The king gave it some thought, calculating risks and ends. “Very well. What about the loot from the battles?”

“70-30 in our favor. It will all happen on human ground, and we will have far more casualties.”

“But the battle will be for your cause, not ours. For us, it’s a matter of interests. If it’s 70-30, we have more to lose than to gain. 50-50.”

“If things go as planned and the elves stay put, you won’t even have to fight at all. We can’t give you more than 60-40.”

“Fine then. 60-40 it is,” The king gave the general his hand. “Do we have a deal, Escers?”

The general decisively shook the dwarf’s hand. “It is a deal,” he said smiling though, inside, he was in pain. Allowing the dwarves free trade was a large blow to their own interests, and it would have long-lasting consequences. But what had to be done, had to be done.

“Your Majesty, I have to admit I am impressed! You sure have your way to negotiate. This could have taken days.”

The king laughed. “Yes, you see, things like this annoy me, so I try to get it done as quickly as possible. Now, you are free to stay for as long as you want, but I suppose you would like to return to your kingdom.”

“Yes, of course. If you put it that way, we will get going as soon as possible.”

“Should I have someone accompany you to the border?”

“That won’t be necessary, thank you.”

“Nonsense!” announced the king, “Of course I will give you guards. You are ambassadors of a foreign nation, after all.”

“Also,” he continued, “I plan to station a small-sized army near our borders, just in case. There is one thing I forgot to tell you about, general. My informants in your capital tell me that your king is not as inadequate as he has made you believe, and he has a team of extremely capable people on standby, hiding. I have reliable sources telling me that you had better be prepared, or you could get your ass handed to you in a matter of weeks. Take care.”

Naturally, the general was shaken by this information. Something this unthinkable had never even crossed his mind. He must have been tricked, he thought, but I’d better not tell him that or he’ll insist.

“Thank you for sharing this information, Your Majesty,” he finally said. Such a petty trick can’t turn the tide of battle against us anyway.

“Well, we are allies now, aren’t we?” the king asked, smiling. So he didn’t believe me… Well, that’s to be expected. There’s no need to insist now, they will know soon. Besides, my troops can handle anything unexpected.

“How soon can your guard be on the move?” asked the general.

“In about two hours. I had them prepare since yesterday,” the king shook the general’s hand once more. “You may go now. I will pray for the safety of all of you, even those irresponsible children.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty”, replied the general as he left. “Be well.”

🧙‍♂️🧙‍♂️🧙‍♂️

For the tenth time, Nigel made sure the flute was still hanging from his belt. He tossed his bag on the wagon. He had only been told they were leaving two hours ago, right when he was about to sleep, and he still felt tired. With a sigh, he looked around.

The dwarven guards that would escort them to the border were tossing supplies on the wagons, and the general was discussing something with their leader. Sahtar and Mis Nan had gone to their rooms to get some more things, and Arthur was… really, where was Arthur?

“General, have you seen Arthur?” he shouted.

“No, why?”

“Nothing, I got it.”

Maybe he’s training again, he thought. He ran to the training grounds, where Arthur would be training, but he wasn’t there. I’ll check his room next. Going to their room, Nigel happened to pass by two guards from the team that would accompany them.

One was a dwarf even shorter than most, with a black beard growing below his bushy mustache. The other was blond, with a tingled mustache and glowing eyes. He wore a horned helmet, usually only worn by dwarves in leading positions, the only visible hint to an underlying arrogance. Nigel immediately had the impression he was a person to be wary of.

Why are they here? He thought. “How many?” asked the dark-haired one. The other guard did not respond, having seen Nigel. The first one turned around and saw him as well.

“Shouldn’t you be getting ready?” the blond guard asked angrily.

“Yeah, I’m just looking for my friend”, replied Nigel, ignoring the guard’s attitude.

“If you mean the one who’s tall like a tree, he just left here. Perhaps you should get going too.”

This guard’s behavior was starting to irritate Nigel.

“Shouldn’t you be there too?” he asked.

“We’ll be in a minute,” they replied and walked away. Not that big of a deal, thought Nigel. But he just couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something else behind their behavior. Was it nervousness? Guilt? They were probably doing something shady, like betting, he thought again and forgot about it.

Half an hour later, everything was ready for departure. Their convoy, made up of one wagon for the humans and six for the dwarves, besides the troops on foot, was waiting in front of the gate, ready to leave.

All that was left was the king showing up, something that should have happened some minutes ago. They were hoping that King Thumer wouldn’t drag this out, as they were hoping to have reached the foot of the mountain before night fell. It would be rough to have to drive these wagons on the narrow roads of the mountain in the dark.

Finally, the trumpets signaling the king’s arrival sounded. On a platform next to the gate, a door opened, and out came the king. He was dressed in his official uniform, with a crown full of jewels and a robe weaved in gold, but the General, having talked with him hours ago, could tell this situation bored him. Following all etiquette, the king gave a long, nice speech, saying how much he appreciated this visit, as well as how their hurried departure saddened him.

He told his people why they were sending soldiers to the border as a means of improving diplomatic relations between the two kingdoms, and promised to soon send a small army to assist these soldiers in protecting both kingdoms from the Dark Area. Finally, he bid them farewell, assuring them he was looking forward to their next visit. The end of his speech was met with joyful clapping by dwarves and humans alike, and the convoy departed.

Of course, the king couldn’t have said he was sending reserve troops to help the revolutionaries if the need arose. Nor could he say he had just made a deal against another kingdom, which could drag them into a long war if things went the wrong way. Or that, besides the humans, he had also agreed to fight against the much more dangerous elves. No, those things were out of the question.

Putting it like that, it does sound like an awful decision, thought the king.

Throughout his life, he had always been a man of honor. He viewed that as his most outstanding quality, the one his late father always praised him about. He still remembered his words: Son, no matter what anyone says, a man always has to uphold his word and his honor. Thumer had then sworn to do so.

And yet, here he was, ready to break a deal he had given his word about. Last night, after consulting with his counselors, he had decided that, if he had to do so to protect his people, he could pretend this agreement was never made. That’s why he spoke with the General alone, so there would be no witnesses. If he had to, he could deny everything and dismiss the General as a delusional war criminal.

As he walked down the corridor, surrounded by his two Wise counselors, the king was certain his decision was politically correct. It was all for the well-being of his nation and besides, backstabbings and betrayals were common in politics, although he had never been involved in such things.

He couldn’t have possibly put his honor ahead of his responsibility as the king of all dwarves. But then, why was he doubtful? What was this uneasy feeling he couldn’t get out of his heart?

The king was sad. If the time came, could he really betray the trust of the humans and let them die a meaningless death, ruled by a ruthless dictator? Should he? When the human general was so certain of the validity in Thumer’s words, that he never requested any form of evidence?

The king was alone in his chambers. He had no family and few friends. If things went as planned, all he would leave after his death would be a kingdom based on betrayal and cowardice. It was the first time in King Thumer’s life that he experienced such an intense feeling of despair.

He only had two choices, and he couldn’t follow either. He shouted, using all of his strength to punch the wall. Then he sat down, empty of thoughts, with his fist bleeding. He was incredibly, unbelievably, unbearably sad.