The Unwilling Ambassador (Book 3) (14 page)

King Piako looked to Canto and narrowed his eyes. "What's there to fear with the borders protected?" he countered.

Canto scoffed. "Plenty, if ya know what's good for ya. That stone, fer one."

The king held up his hand and smiled. "Before we get down to business Ah'd rather we not do it on an empty stomach."

Servants hurried forward and set food in front of the king and the new guests. Pat, Percy, and Ruth glanced at the plates and cringed when the contents slithered onto the table and toward them. The food was a mess of live worms, horrible-smelling pudding, and meat that was either charred in hell for too long or just cut off the animal and set on the plate. They wanted to push the plates away, but the king noticed their hesitation and leaned toward them with his hard eyes drilling into them. "Ya too good for dwarven food?" he accused them. The three remembered Canto's story of the bloody civil war, and they all hurriedly shook their heads.

"Oh, no, not at all," Pat quickly replied. "It's just that, well, that we're not sure the proper manners to eat the food."

King Piako tilted his head back and let out a great laugh that the other dwarves joined. "Manners? Ya just dig in how ya please, and the best way to show yer appreciation is to eat it all." He demonstrated by shoveling a forkful into his mouth. Canto dug in and sloshed food over the table.

"Oh, well, I guess we'll just dig in then," Pat murmured. Percy, Ruth, and she slid the squirming worms onto their plates, pinned them beneath the meat and pudding, and had a pile of grub on their food that would have made grown men shiver at the sight. Pat took a rough fork in hand and dipped the prongs into the mess. She pulled out a squirming, living mass of slop that dripped onto the table and left stains that ate through the finish. She didn't want to imagine what it was going to do to her stomach. Pat looked to Percy's ashen face and saw his horror-filled eyes were locked on her fork.

"Is dwarven food poisonous to humans?" he whispered to her.

"I hope not," she quietly replied. Pat gulped, prepared her stomach, and shoved the fork into her mouth. She never knew suffering until she felt that mess known as dwarven food slosh around in her mouth. The worms tried their best to escape through her clenched teeth and the pudding exploded in flavors of vomit and earwax. Her face turned colors not known to most artists and with a Herculean effort she swallowed the muck. She shuddered and glanced at Percy. The muck on his fork had long fallen off, but he was too entranced by her eating antics to notice. "Eat something," she muttered to him.

"But I want to live," he protested.

"Eat something or we might not," she hissed. Percy hardened his jaws, picked up another forkful and shoved it into his mouth. He went for the shovel and swallow method, but he still felt the food twitch against his taste buds. The young man slapped his hand over his mouth and turned a ghastly shade of green. "Keep it in and lower your hand," Pat ordered him.

Percy slowly lowered his hand and leaned heavily over the table. "I believe we've just discovered a new torture device for Sins," he whispered.

Pat frowned at the mention of the assassin's name. "For once I wish I was with him," she grumbled.

King Piako finished his plate and released a belch that echoed around the room. He patted his stomach and sighed. "Nothing quite like dwarven food to fill the stomach," he complimented.

"I hope there's nothing like it elsewhere," Percy whispered.

The king turned to his guests and frowned when he noticed their nearly-untouched plates. "Still not eating?" he growled.

Pat cringed. "Well, you see, we ate before we-" Her words were interrupted by a loud burp from Canto as he finished his plate.

Piako glanced between her full plate and Canto's empty one. "Ya were saying?" he dared her to lie.

"They were saving it for me," Ruth spoke up. The humans turned their heads to their petite friend and were shocked to find her plate not only empty, but licked clean. She sheepishly smiled and licked a few loose drops of pudding off her lips. "They know I love dwarf food and saved part of their plates for me." She leaned over the table and slid their plates in front of her. Even the dwarves watched in awe as this small human girl packed away the mountains of food in front of her. She finished the muck in record time, and let loose a great belch at the end. Ruth glanced at her lap and blushed. "Excuse me," she whispered.

King Piako slammed the table and let out a great laugh. "What a sight Ah never thought Ah'd see!" he cried out in glee. "A human able to eat our food and like it!"

Pat nervously smiled. "Yes, she's quite the girl," she agreed.

"But Ah suppose with dinner over it's time we got down to business," the king insisted. He leaned toward the companions and looked them over one by one. "Now what do you know about the stone?" he asked them.

Canto pushed his empty plate to the side and shook his head. "It's nothing but trouble, and ya tapping on it ain't going to help matters," he replied.

Danto said ya knew some secret about breaking it open. What is it?" King Piako wondered.

"That breaking it open's a bad idea," Canto told him.

"Why's that?" the king persisted.

"Because what's inside is nothing but trouble."

The king frowned and atop the table he curled his hand into a fist. "Ah'm losing patience with yer stalling. What do ya know about the stone?" Piako demanded to know.

"That they're capable of destroying whole cities," Pat spoke up. "And if we're not careful Dirth could end up like Galaron."

"The traders sent some news about the place, but Ah haven't taken much stock of mere merchants. What can ya tell me happened to it?" the king wondered.

"It was destroyed by one of these stones, and the inhabitants were forced to flee to Tramadore," Pat told him.

King Piako sneered. "Just like humans to leave their city when the fighting gets too tough for 'em."

Canto narrowed his eyes. "These weren't yer normal armies where they've got their men lined up on one side and yers on the other. These armies keep coming out of the stones and don't stop until ya break it to bits."

"But how do you break it?" King Piako persisted.

"With a special item that the Stars might hold," Pat replied. "If we can ask their leader where it might be held then we can-"

King Piako jumped to his feet and slammed his fists on the table. "We're not going to be asking those things for anything!" he shouted.

Pat frowned. "But they might have the item to-"

"Ah don't care! Nothing good comes out of the Helpers except heat and light, and they're not providing us with either of 'em. Look!" He swooped his arm around the room at the darkening hall. The sun had nearly set and the light from the overhead dome was nearly useless. A group of servants hurried into the room with lit torches in their hands. They scurried to long, oil-soaked torches along the walls and lit them to provide light to the dark room. "We're needing to be using normal fire that doesn't last as long or burn as bright as their flames because they're clamoring for equal rights or some stupid things. Equal rights for a fire starter! We won't be brought down by their stupid demands!"

Pat's lips pursed together. "Are they that-" Canto's rough hand slapped over her mouth and he glared at her.

"Yer going to be getting us into trouble," he growled.

The trouble was already caused. King Piako stood and his furious eyes swept over the companions. "Helper sympathizers! Nothing but thieves to steal the stone and give it to those filthy things!" He turned to his guards who stood around the room and jerked his head toward his guests. "Toss them into the Keep and let them rot there until they've learned their lesson!" he ordered them.

The guards rushed up and grabbed the arms of the companions. Their arms were pinned to their backs and the ropes were tied around their wrists. They were hauled out of their seats, and pushed and shoved out of the dining hall to their unknown fate.

CHAPTER 16

Out in the hall Canto crashed into Pat and shot her a death glare. "Ya should have left the talking to me," he complained.

Pat snorted. "As though your words were wise," she shot back.

"Ah was getting a warning to that idiot and ya just had to butt in about those stupid Helpers."

"Stars," she argued.

"Helpers."

"Stars."

"Now is not the time, you two," Ruth's sensible words broke in on their argument.

"I must agree with Ruth. We have greater problems," Percy reminded them.

Their jailers shoved them down the slithering serpentine and into one of the countless side passages. Though this one was still clean, the passage was narrower and they were forced to march single-file down the hall. There were a dozen wooden doors on either side of the hall, and from a few of them emanated the sounds of waling and mumbling. Their march ended when they reached a thick wooden door at the end of the passage. The door was opened, the front guards stepped aside as well as they could, and the captives were pushed ahead into the room beyond the doorway. It turned out to be a dark, dank, square room with two cots against the far wall. The smooth, weathered walls were twenty feet high with slitted windows near the top and above their heads were only bars that crossed over the gap at the top to create a poor ceiling. The night sky shone above them, but their eyes were on the only entrance, and that was slammed shut behind them.

One of the guards peered through a few bars in a square hole in the door and sneered at the group. "Ya should be dragged out and drowned in the marsh for yer Helper-loving ways, but the king's feeling mighty merciful today. You'll stay here until yer called, and any tricks and ya won't get any food."

"What a travesty that would be," Percy murmured. They heard all the armor-wearing dwarves clink away.

"No guards?" Pat wondered.

"Ya heard what Shilo said. All the smart ones are at the borders," Canto reminded her.

"Well, that's an advantage for us." Pat turned to Ruth. "Any way you can climb these walls?" she asked her.

"Perhaps, but my hands are tied so I can't reach my necklace. Someone must rub it for me," Ruth reminded her. The stone on her necklace lay just above her breasts. The two mens' eyes widened and their faces perked up.

"Ah'll be glad to help," Canto offered.

"You're too short. Allow me," Percy insisted.

"I'll do it," Pat spoke up.

Pat stepped up to Ruth, snatched the necklace, and lifted the jewel to Ruth's face. Ruth nuzzled the jewel, and in a moment she was transformed back into her gargoyle self. Her long fingers with their razor-sharp claws sliced through the ropes, and she did the same for everyone else's bindings. Then she walked over to the wall and wedged a clawed finger into the cracks between two stones. "I think I can, but I don't know if I can get through those bars and you're all too heavy for me to carry out."

"But you can go find Ned and Fred, and lead them to us," Pat pointed out.

"Are you forgetting about Sins?" Percy reminded her.

Canto sneered. "Ah wish Ah could," he muttered.

Percy smirked and pointed upward. "He hasn't forgotten about us." All heads turned up and they saw a shadowed head peek over the edge of the lip above them. "What news?" he called to him.

Sins' reply was to pull out his dagger and slice it through several points in the bars. A huge square chunk of the mess came toppling down into the cell, and Canto dove out of the way to avoid being squashed. The metal hit the ground with a loud, rattling clank. Canto rolled on to his back and glared at the assassin. "Two birds with one stone?" he growled.

Sins' eyebrows raised as though to shrug, and he pushed over a roll of rope. It slipped down and just touched the cell floor. Percy stepped up and tested the rope. It was strong and firmly fixed. He turned and smiled at the others. "Shall we?"

"Should we?" Pat asked them.

Percy frowned. "Would you rather stay here?"

"I would rather not make us escaped fugitives of an entire region," she argued.

"But we can't save these people if we don't escape," Percy pointed out.

"But we have to convince the king that breaking that stone open is a bad idea," Pat countered.

Ruth held up her hand. "I can stay," she offered.

"Nobody's staying, and certainly not alone," Percy refused.

Canto stepped up beside Ruth. "Ah'll stay with her," he volunteered.

"And I'll stay, too," Pat replied, but Canto shook his head.

"Ya won't be useful in here, not with yer sympathies to the Helpers and without yer sword, to boot," he told her. "Best let ya out to find Ned and the boy, and see what that fool castor advises we do. If things get tough for us than Ah have my strength and she her claws."

Pat hesitated, but noises outside their cell told her to decide. The sound of the bars hitting the floor hadn't gone unnoticed, just slow to respond. Percy grabbed her arm and shoved her against the rope. "Climb!" he ordered.

Pat pursed her lips, and glanced at Ruth and Canto. Ruth smiled at her, and Canto nodded. "I expect to see you both later," Pat ordered them. She turned to Canto. "Especially you. You promised to train me."