24th day of the 3rd month 650th year of the 8th era

Bells ran throughout the city of Pergasus and Jeemo and Rolando were jolted awake in their shared bedroom above the tavern. The room was still dark. Jeemo stumbled out of bed in her surprise and fell on the floor. Rolando stepped out of bed and squatted beside her.

“You alright?” Rolando asked.

“I’m fine,” Jeemo said. Rolando helped her off the floor, then stepped past and opened the window. The pre-morning light seeped into the room, lighting up their small shared room. A large bed with a thin mattress filled the space. Jeemo grabbed her dress and threw it over her head as Rolando grabbed his trousers and shirt and quickly pulled them on and bustled out of the room. People were peering out of their room into the narrow hallway. Key in hand, Rolando closed the door behind them and they rushed down to the first floor.

Outside they saw dwarves in partial armour pulling on their armour as they rushed down the main street of the city. The bells kept ringing.

“What is going on?” Rolando asked a soldier as he rushed past.

“The bells ring for an attack,” the soldier said, as he pulled on his gauntlets. The soldier looked at them. “How do you not know that?”

“We were raised on an island city,” Rolando said.

They followed the soldiers as they headed to the gate. At the gate, soldiers were finishing putting on their armour. Several were tying on chest plates and strapping on sword belts.

A loud rumble echoed off the stone walls as mounted knights in glistening plate armour thundered past Jeemo and Rolando, heading to the west gate. The soldiers parted for them and the gates swung open. Rolando saw outside the gate what looked like a siege tent city had been set up. Large camp tents were pitched, with smaller tents placed at the front. Several large groups of cows and horses were milling to one side. The gates closed and a soldier marched up to them, a large pike pointed at them.

“Head back to your lodgings, please,” the soldier’s voice boomed inside his helmet.

Rolando raised his hands and stepped away from the soldier and moved back up the main street. Jeemo clutched to his side.

***

The tolling bells roused Araki. He sat up with a start, pushed Stella off him and stepped back into the tent. The sun had risen over the eastern sky. Inside, the bodies of his wives lay strewn about the room. They were waking up and all were pulling clothes on. Stella rushed inside and grabbed her tunic. Dressed in his robes and belting his sword belt on to his waist, Araki stepped out the front of the tent. A man in black robes riding a horse pulled up beside the tent and quickly dismounted.

“Chief, the city rings their siege bells,” he said.

“I can hear,” Araki said, taking the reins of the horse. He jumped onto the horse and galloped to the edge of the camp. Several dozen men with lances and compound bows stood in a small group, watching the city’s western gate. The large steel gates swung open and a dozen armoured knights charged out. The galloped straight for the camp and when they saw the riders, they wheeled round and thundered towards them.

“If they lower their lances, scatter and attack from behind,” Araki said.

The black riders nodded and waited. The armoured knights charged up to them and then stopped, their horses nickering. Araki let go of the breath he had been holding. A bead of sweat trickled down his back.

The knights stood at a hundred paces and one knight in a golden surcoat urged his horse forward before stopping at fifty paces.

“He wants to talk,” Araki said. He urged his horse on and came to a stop at the golden knight.

“Hail,” said the golden knight.

“Hail,” Araki returned. “I am sorry I don’t know the formalities; I am new to this whole thing.”

The knight raised his helm and a dark-skinned dwarf with bright blue eyes looked at Araki. “State your purpose here,” he said.

“My name is Baronet Araki Rosethorn. I come to trade,” Araki said.

“Trade?” the golden knight said.

“My clan has too many cattle and we come to trade some cattle before moving on again,” Araki said.

“We thought you were laying siege to the city,” the knight said. “Your clan,” he seemed sceptical of the term, “is very large.”

“Yes, that is an interesting story,” Araki said. “One which I would love to tell you over wine. May I know your name?”

“Sorry,” the knight blushed under his dark skin, the effect only sent his dark skin darker. “Where are my manners? I am King Kaven Coinbasher, a pleasure to meet you.”

“I can have a small tent set up halfway between us so that we can talk,” Araki suggested.

“That won’t be necessary,” the king said, waving his hand. “I will have my own pavilion brought out and have the traders come to inspect your cattle for sale.”

The king’s pavilion was a large purple tent, big enough to hold about forty people. It was open with no sides. A large table with twenty chairs were in place. The clan contingent was made up of Araki, the eight council members and his four wives. Kaven brought four other dwarves who were his leading nobles and two of the city’s most influential merchants. A large crowd had gathered outside the wall as the news of the clan had arrived.

Kaven looked at the huge entourage that Araki had brought and furrowed his brow.

Araki smiled at Kaven. “A lot of what you’re seeing is political necessity,” Araki said.

Kaven’s brows rose to the top of his head.

“I am actually the chief of two clans, so I needed to unify the two clans,” Araki said.

“Your majesty,” a fat dwarf at the end of the table said. “Shouldn’t we make introductions?”

“Yes,” Kaven said. “That is an excellent idea, Thigguck.”

“Please let me,” Araki said. “The eight men are my council of elders, Yalla,” as he said their names, they waved at the dwarven party, “Bunyan, Jungurrur, and Drice. They were the council elders for the clan my grandmother was a member of.”

The king nodded.

“Then we have First, Second, Third and Fourth. I discovered shortly after I arrived that I was related to their clan.”

“You arrived?” asked Thigguck.

“Yes, I was born in Peace Landing. My grandmother was a slave, and she was set free by my grandfather. Nanberry,” she waved at the dwarves, “sent me a letter asking me to return and help with a succession crisis.”

“Excuse me,” Thigguck stood. “I believe that I have met this man’s relatives.”

“What do you mean?” Kaven asked.

“I met a new couple from Peace Landing that wanted to go to Ashford. She …. what was her name? … said that she wanted to inform her nephew, about the impending marriage.”

“Aunt Jeemo is here?” Araki asked.

“Let me go and fetch them,” Thigguck said. “I believe they wanted to travel by caravan up to Pe’trim and then to Ishtaree to head upriver to Ashford.”

“Go and fetch them!” Kaven demanded.

Thigguck bowed and hurried back up to the city.

“Please continue,” Kaven said.

“On the way I met Aquillia and Stella,” Araki continued, “Finally after being made the chief of two tribes, I married Moogera and Nanberry to unify the tribes.”

“Sounds like a captivating story,” Kaven said. “These are my leading nobles, heads of the important families in my kingdom: Dolgud, Orisdreg, Gognon, and Torerfeas. They represent the elite and have the most influence in the kingdom.” Each dwarf bowed his head at Araki as his name was being said. “The last man is Hekrom; he and Thigguck are the leading traders. All together they comprise my council.”

“We have come here to trade,” Yalla said. “We have five thousand head of cattle we wish to sell.”

“At what price?” Hekrom asked.

“A silver leaf,” Yalla said without hesitation.

Hekrom spluttered. “That’s insane! I normally buy full grown cow at fifteen bronze rods. How about eleven bronze rods per head.”

“Are you trying to rob us?” Yalla asked. “We sell them in Ashford for that price. Considering we are bringing them to you, we could cut out the middleman.”

“If you were selling one cow then sure I could even sell it to you at fifteen or sixteen bronze rods. You are trying to sell us five thousand head of cattle, just knowing there is that much meat in the city the price of meat would drop drastically. Resale would be near impossible.”

“That is not our problem,” Yalla said.

“Yes, it is,” Hekrom retorted. “I know the tribe’s folk never sell the whole herd at once, so that they can still eat. Five thousand head of cattle alone is going to kill off the fodder in the area in a few days. Let alone the extra you are not selling. I think you need us more than we need you.”

“Fourteen,” Yalla offered.

Hekrom shook his head. “I don’t have that much gold; I couldn’t buy the whole herd.”

“What about your friend?” Yalla asked.

“He would say the same thing,” Hekrom said. “Five thousand head of cattle at fourteen bronze rods each is quite a sum.”

There was a pause for a moment as everyone looked at Hekrom. He sighed and pulled out an abacus and started making calculations. “Seventy thousand bronze rods are three thousand five hundred silver leaves, or 175 gold folia, or 350 gold coins.”

Aquillia whistled. “I only know one person with that sort of money,” she said.

Everyone turned to look at her.

“The King of Peace Landing offered a ten thousand folia prize for a magical belt,” she explained. “I don’t even know if he issued the sum.”

“It could take me several years to raise that sort of money,” commented Kaven.

“Don’t you dig up gold here?” Drice asked.

Kaven shook his head. “We mine iron and copper,” Kaven said. “We could just kill you and take the cattle.”

The clansmen reached for their swords. Seeing this, the guards also drew their own weapon.

“What about a trade?” suggested Bunyan, jumping between the two sides. “How about instead of currency, we are paid in equivalent value in weapons and armour?”

The abacus started to clack again. “Twenty chain shirts and say one hundred and fifty cavalry swords should be about right,” Hekrom said.

“I don’t think you want an armed conflict,” Araki said.

“That would be enough for us to equip ourselves and sell on nearly half the swords to the other clans,” Yalla said.

“Do we have a deal?” Araki asked.

“I couldn’t fund that,” said Hekrom, “It would be a deal that you would have to pay, Your Majesty.”

“I happen to have that in the warehouse right now,” Kaven said. “Out of our surpluses we find a deal.” He stood and offered his hand to Araki.

Araki stood and took the proffered hand and pumped it.

“I think we can let them handle the finer details,” Kaven said. “Bring your wives and come have a drink with me in my castle.”

Araki turned and glanced at his wives. Nanberry nodded as they all stood. “I would be delighted to join you for a drink,” Araki said.

“Excellent,” Kaven said and led them back into the city.

As they crossed through the gates into the city, Thigguck came racing down the main street. With him were two people. The first was a tall man in light tunic and trousers, his dark hair flying behind him. The second was a thin woman whom Araki recognised dressed in a thin white dress belted with a golden cord, her brown hair streaming behind her like a cape.

“Araki,” Thigguck gasped, “I take it you know your aunt, and this is her …”

Araki was enveloped in a big hug from his aunt. “I would like to introduce my fiancé,” Jeemo said, breathing heavily.

“Rolando,” Rolando said, extending his hand.

“Araki,” Araki replied taking Rolando’s hand and giving it a quick pump. “These lovely ladies are my wives.”

Jeemo let go of Araki. “What?” Jeemo asked.

“Aquillia, Stella, Nanberry and Mulgooma,” Araki said, riding over Jeemo’s exclamation.

Jeemo stepped back from the hug and greeted each of the women in turn.

“I love a family reunion,” Kevan said, smiling. “Come join us, we were about to go get a drink in my palace.”

Araki strode up to Kevan and walked with him, leaving Jeemo in her shock. Aquillia slipped an arm through her arm and gently nudged her along.

“I don’t know how he could have gotten married four times before I got married once,” Jeemo muttered, “and I wasn’t even invited to the wedding.”

“I am sure he didn’t mean to leave you out,” Rolando said, walking beside her.

“It was as much as a surprise to him as it is to you,” Aquillia said.

“How are you fine with being one of four?” Jeemo asked.

Aquillia shrugged. “I was a little jealous at first, but you get used to it. Araki is very considerate with us. We don’t lack for anything.”

“He is also very good to the children,” Nanberry said.

“How is he able to already have kids?” Jeemo asked.

Nanberry chuckled. “He basically inherited them from us,” Nanberry said, indicating to her and Mulgooma.

“How many does he have?” Jeemo asked.

“Eight,” Mulgooma asked.

They all started laughing at Jeemo’s shocked face. She didn’t ask any more questions as they arrived at the palace gate. It was a large wrought iron gate that swung open as Kaven arrived. Inside was a garden of grass and flowers surrounding a gently curving paved pathway leading up to a whitewashed stone palace. They ascended the three steps to the front door which opened as they approached. Kevan strode across the marble entrance hall and walked between two golden staircases that curved up to the second floor. A glass door opened before them and they entered a shaded garden. A large old tree stood in the centre covering the whole plaza in its multifaced leaves. Kevan clapped his hand and a nude woman approached from behind the tree.

“Fetch us all some wine,” Kevan ordered. The woman bowed and then dashed away.

“Thank you,” Araki said, smiling at Kevan.

“Araki,” Jeemo hissed, “You can’t tell me you married four women in the twenty-three days since you left Peace Landing.”

Araki turned to face Jeemo. “Are you jealous of the fact that I got married four times or are you upset you weren’t invited?”

The woman returned with a pitcher of wine and nine glass goblets. She handed one to each person present and filled them with wine.

“This sounds like a family issue so I will toast the deal we have just made and take my leave,” Kevan said and raised his glass goblet above his head. “To a profitable trade.” They all raised their glass goblets and then drained them. The woman collected the goblets and disappeared into a door. “I will leave you now,” Kevan said. “Thigguck, please join me.”

Thigguck nodded and followed his king into the palace.

“Jeemo,” Rolando muttered into her ear, “I don’t think this is the time and place.”

“Rolando,” Araki said, “what do you do?”

Rolando’s eyes widened in surprise. “I am a trader. I run several trade ships from Peace Landing.”

“I take it that Thigguck is your contact here?” Araki continued before Jeemo could protest and change the subject.

“We have only just met, but because we had missed the ship up to Ishtaree, we were using the time to expand our business,” Rolando explained.

Jeemo’s heart soared as she heard the word our business.

“So is my aunt going to be a business partner or your wife?” Araki asked.

“Both,” Rolando answered without hesitation.

A tear leaked out from Jeemo’s eye and travelled down her face.

“You seem to have made my aunt very happy,” Araki said. “I am glad. She has been so lonely; I hope that the both of you are happy together.”

“She actually came here to tell you herself,” Rolando said.

Araki smiled at Jeemo. “We always were close. Her brother is very short but at a young age caught the eye of a gnome and they had me; even though she is twice my age we were always close.”

Rolando nodded. “We would be honoured if you were able to come back and be present at our wedding.”

“When is the next ship leaving here?”

“I do believe that Captain Kaori will be leaving tomorrow,” Rolando said. “I believe I could arrange passage for … would all seven of us be travelling?”

“Yes,” said all of Araki’s wives in unison.

“I guess the chance of a wedding is too much to miss,” Araki chuckled. “I will need to arrange some things with my council, but I think we can be ready to leave tomorrow.”