"Is there a problem?" Leopold asked, brows knitting as he paused on the threshold.
"Not at all, I learned forging from a Dwarf. But I have been through some Kingdoms that don't believe they exist." He entered as Leopold held the door open for him. "And I was in one that considered them to be anathema."
"I have, too. But this is a land whose wealth is based on mining, and where there is mining, you'll find Dwarves." Leopold nodded at a table full of them off to one side, all of whom looked up as they came in. Siegfried saw their eyes light up with purpose. "Um," Leopold added, seeing the same thing. "I think they know what we are. They'll probably want to talk to us — "
Before he finished the sentence, one of the Dwarves had already pushed his stool away from the table and was heading in their direction.
" — once they've made up their minds about it. Greetings and sound stone to you, friend," Leopold finished, addressing the Dwarf. "What can we do for you?"
The Dwarf looked up at both of them. He was very well dressed, though not in the height of Dwarven elegance, Siegfried noted. His clothing was of leather, and not unlike Siegfried's own, with light mail over the top of it. Light by Dwarven standards, which meant it was as fine as knitted silk, but would hold off the blow of a broadsword in someone like Siegfried's hands. Siegfried tried not to salivate at the sight of it.
His brown beard was neat, braided into a club, without being ornamented at all; his hair was pulled back and braided into a similar club. He had the usual hammer, which served a Dwarf as weapon and tool — and a club. That was fairly typical for a Dwarf among humans; no one with any sense picked a fight with them, so they felt quite safe going about without edged weapons on their persons.
"You're one of the Princes come to Court, aye?" Dwarves were direct. Very direct. Blunt would be an understatement. Siegfried liked this about them very much; it made discussions much easier.
Leopold nodded. "And you would like to hear what's going on straight from the Prince's mouth?"
Siegfried smiled at Leopold's manner, for it was exactly what he would have said. Leopold was good; he went straight to Dwarven manners. "Well, talking is thirsty work. I would be partial to a good yard of ale, and my friend Siegfried here — "
"Mead for me. Aye, I am willing to sit and talk. And I should maybe like some plain food, if the talk goes long enough." He shrugged.
The Dwarf nodded. They tended to have faces a cardsharp would kill for, with the ability to keep just about everything they felt behind their beards. But this one looked a little more relaxed at discovering that the two humans weren't going to play what Dwarves called "word-mincing" with him. "Then join us, and well met."
Siegfried was actually rather good at reading Dwarves, which came from being apprenticed to one. There were anxious faces around the table, which should have come as no surprise. After all, a war would be terrible for them. Not because they couldn't get out of the Kingdom — they could probably tunnel their way out if they had to, and it was unlikely that anyone would be able to stop them. But war would effectively close their mines. Even if the conquerors permitted them to continue operating, there would be enormous new taxes, and even larger export tariffs, and who within the country would be prepared to buy what they brought out? There were no Dwarven armies here; there was nothing to stop a conqueror from doing whatever he pleased.
So war would be as much a disaster for them as it would for the rest of the Kingdom. What did surprise him was that they were coming to people like Leopold and himself for their information. He would have thought that they would go straight to the source — the Queen — rather than get information secondhand. Then again, maybe they didn't trust the Queen. Given what he'd been hearing, they were probably right not to trust her.
Uncharacteristically, the Dwarves waited until the order had arrived before hunching over in a conspiratorial manner and fixing both of them with earnest gazes.
"All right, what's this Queen got in her head?" the one who had accosted them asked. "The King, rest him, dies, and there's looking like an invasion any moment"
"Bad for business, that, very bad for business," one of the Dwarves muttered.
"Then of a sudden, there's armies pulled back, and the Palace is full of Princes and adventurers — "
"Actually the adventurers are being put up in army tents on the drilling field," Leopold interrupted. "Or the barracks, if they're lucky. No princely pedigree — " he waggled his fingers in a shooing motion " — no bed in the Palace, nor pavilion in the garden. Rank does have its privileges."
"Yes, yes, yes," the Dwarf replied impatiently. "The point is,what's going on?"
"The Queen must have studied my people," Siegfried replied, when Leopold said nothing. "She invited the lot of them to come, Princes got direct invitations, adventurers apparently smelled what was up and were allowed to join in. She told them they could all make a trial for the hand of the Princess, implied they might make a trial for hers, and now she's got a city full of hostages."
The Dwarf cast him a sharp look. "Northlander, are you? Aye, you'd know that ploy when you saw it then. Well. That's a sharper notion than I'd have given her credit for. But how long will it work?"
Leopold shrugged. "Who's to say? Don't forget there's that Godmother to reckon with. The longer the Queen can hold things off, the more time the Godmother has to do something about all of this."
"Oh, aye, the Godmother." The Dwarf pulled on his beard. "Not sure what she can do about an army — "