She came running back around the far corner of a nearby intersection and came up to stand behind me and to my left. She had not yet earned the right to walk behind me to my right. That was a rite of passage I alone could grant to her. But it usually occurred after success with a major project during the first month of service.

  I bowed to the dwarves. “Masters, I take my leave. My apprentice and I have a journey to coordinate, and we must be off.”

  They bowed in return. The guild grandmaster stated, “May your forge always be bright.”

  And I responded, “And your tools, true.”

  As they turned and departed, I looked at my apprentice. “Do you know what you’ve gotten yourself into?”

  She grinned widely, excitement and joy replacing her fear and pride. “I do, indeed, Patron!”

  I raised my eyebrows at the use of the term.

  She smiled shyly. “Lady Bella has already explained a great deal to me.”

  “Oh, she has, has she?” I asked.

  Bella was silent, but I got a sense of both humor and stubbornness from her.

  Well, I guess she is both our apprentice now. I thought to her.

  The stubborn feeling departed, but the feeling of humor remained.

  The AL whispered into my ear. Enchanter Gwydion receives a Dwarven apprentice, Olvar Therian Ringweaver. Additions and notes have been added to your Book of Quests that remain unread.

  We had arranged for me to exit to the city of Keelwell through the bank to fetch one of the staves from The Tower and then return to the Hall of Welcoming here in the Copper Mountains. The portal worked both ways, so people could come and go along it so long as it was active. If it became inactive, the people and goods inside would either be pushed out one end or another, or be lost in the Between. A truly horrible fate. When we were ready, we tested it with Biff at his own insistence.

  Bella coordinated between me and Isaac, who started the portal. Anyone could hold it so long as they were capable of feeding it with magic. It costs twenty casting points initially to activate and one point every minute to maintain. It was costly and we needed to hurry. Along with Biff, the entire journeymen team joined me in the Hold to take turns with the staff. They were in awe of the majesty of the dwarven works, and I knew they were only seeing the Welcoming Hall. It was impressive, but wouldn’t make my top ten list, and I only toured the smallest fraction of the Hold.

  Dwarves did not get many visitors.

  Some were utterly put out by the human strangers and stayed away. I was kin and was considered a kind of hero, especially after my escapades with the trolls. The journeymen were humans and highly suspect. But still others, including brood nurses with their pods of dwarflings, arrived in excitement to see these human strangers. Dwarves could live their entire lifetime and not see anyone other than another dwarf. But the awe and respect my journeymen treated their dwarf hosts and the wonder in their eyes at the hall endeared them to most of the dwarves, who began talking about exchanges of students and apprentices.

  Bido took over for me so that I could accompany the Dwarf King to Keelwell. The king would not stay, of course, but this was too much of an opportunity to pass up. His soldiers got to travel, and he certainly was not going to let it go without a quick visit. The general walked at his side, as did fourteen armed dwarves in Dwarven Copper battle platemail armor. They were handpicked to protect the king. I shared the stories of traitors, enemies, and the assassination of the Bishop, which they took very seriously and insisted that the King be protected. There were also fourteen priests and fourteen mages along for protection. Many of them had traveled to Keelwell in the past, and all the priests knew of the Bishop and were saddened by the news of his death.

  The Duke, for his part, also pulled out the stops. He had an honor guard present, which he had faced outward with their backs to the King, not in a sign of disrespect, but to guard against human or other interference. All the guilds were also present and ready for trouble. The alliance between the dwarves and men of Keelwell was of paramount importance.

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  Biff uncharacteristically stayed behind with the guards. He said he was certain I was protected, but wanted to make sure the others left behind would be safe. I thought it was a good idea, but I had thought I would need to insist on it myself, not have it suggested by him.

  The Duke and King hit it off well. They both stood and chatted as dwarf soldiers and carts full of food and supplies came rolling through quickly.

  After ten minutes or so of discussions, a dwarf came through and whispered something to the king. He nodded and smiled at the Duke and then turned to me. “I believe the next group coming through is meant for you, brother.”

  “Oh?” I said. Not sure what he was talking about. The early carts had been filled with my requested crafts. There had been chests full of the goods. When you had a hall full of dwarves working nonstop for twenty-four hours, their production volume was amazing.

  Included in the carts were over seven hundred 28pt polished black onyx gems. There were over one thousand total topaz and tourmalines of nearly equal quantity between 7pt and 14pt varieties. There were almost fifteen hundred 7pt crystals, many of them completed by apprentices and donated from a large collection from previous generations. Each was inspected by three masters before being added to the chests. And the copper rings exceeded more than five thousand in number.

  There was no Dwarven armor, unfortunately. I knew that Red would be disappointed. But the dwarves did supply five hundred Dwarven Copper spearheads that we would assemble here, having far more access to wood than the dwarves had. They also provided one hundred Dwarven Copper round shields, which were good for human mounted or foot soldiers.

  The Dwarven Copper circlets and bracers came in at 77 circlets and 70 pairs of bracers. We could split the bracers up since they did not need to remain in a pair. But that would be decided later. The King made it clear to the Duke that the food and supplies were gifts from the Dwarves to the city. The dwarven weapons and armor in the next carts were gifts to the Duke and his soldiers. All other craftings were gifts to his brother, Gwydion. The king did say that I protested, but it's the prerogative of kings to ignore what they pleased.

  The Duke was very gracious and offered some gifts in return. He had seven carts, each filled with gifts that dwarves treasured: fine lumber, varieties of human ale, wine, and liquor, fine cloth, candles, and heating oil. The human carts were smaller than the dwarven carts, but the gifts were still very significant.

  There was also a trio of carts filled with a combination of fresh and salted fish. These were the principal trade goods that the dwarves sought when doing business with the merchants of Keelwell.

  Over a hundred dwarven soldiers unloaded the carts in the Welcoming Hall. It was all well orchestrated.

  The Dwarf King offered to hold off on the fish, given the potential need, but the Duke insisted. Dwarves loved fish as a delicacy. It was rare and hard to find in the mountains. They had to fish the underground rivers, and that was hard and slow work filled with some significant dangers to a race that, as a rule, could not swim.

  The Dwarven captain I had met upon my arrival came through the portal with his patrol. They had been guarding the other end, and I was surprised to see them here.

  “Ah, here they come now.” The King said.

  The captain walked over and said in Tradespeak, “Reporting for special duty to the Patron’s guard, my king.”

  The king turned to me. “These soldiers are on detached duty to your protection until the dangers here are ended or you return to our Hold.”

  I looked at them and smiled. The captain had chosen the same six dwarves and himself who had accompanied me to the grandmaster Conclave.

  The captain saluted me and said with a shrug, “They all volunteered. In fact, all the soldiers volunteered, but I chose these men because they knew you.”

  I laughed and clasped hands with him. “They knew me at my worst and best, you mean.”

  “That too.” He admitted.

  He then stepped aside and said, “I believe you already know these men and women.”

  I looked up from where he had been distracting me and saw the Watch, Brawlers, and Inquisitors all wearing Dwarven Copper armor with yellow shirts and what looked like some type of skirt, bearing Dwarven Copper swords at their waists and holding Dwarven Copper poleaxes in their hands.

  They were wearing the early age imperial armor that Red had “procured” from the capital museum. The dwarves crafted this armor in less than twenty-four hours and hand-made it to fit each one of the guardsmen. The cloth was clearly Merino wool and made by Julianna and her team.

  I was stunned at what they had accomplished in so little time.

  They looked impressive. They looked fierce. They looked a bit odd with the skirts. Biff would correct me dozens of times later that they were called tunica and the shirts were tunics. The dangly armor strands in front were called baltea, and they all even had matching boots. Biff refused the sandals that were supposed to go with the armor, but he accepted the Dwarven Copper bracers on their forearms. They also had shields strapped across their backs, which were a rounded rectangle shape.

  There were now twenty-seven of them in total, with nine on each squad made up of three of each of the three guild groups.

  I was speechless.

  The Duke came over and patted my shoulder. “Your number two, Red, set this all up. He got permission from me, from the Brawler’s Guild, the Watch Commander, and even Lady Latrisha, which itself was no small feat since it meant a change to their regulation armor. But, we can’t have our Patron walk around unprotected, now can we?” He said with a smile.

  The Dwarf captain said, “Your Lady Julianna is making kit for us as well, so we blend in.”

  I traded looks with the Duke. The bearded dwarves would hardly blend in even if they wore the same colored shirts, but it would help them become a part of the tight-knit team.

  He continued, “With your permission, I have three additional dwarves I would like to add from my patrol who did not accompany you, but showed especial ferocity when they thought they needed to stick you with their spears at the meeting before the king.”

  I looked at him with raised eyebrows, but he did not bat an eye. “Of course,” I answered.

  He waved over at three dwarves standing at attention by the portal. He turned to me. “Seeing your groups of three by three, I wanted to make sure we were equally represented.” He blanched for a moment and turned to this king. “With your majesty’s permission, of course!” He added.

  The general who stood just behind the king grunted, but did not say anything more. Yet. But I had the feeling that a “chain-of-command” discussion was coming his way.

  “Of course, captain, that was good thinking on your part. No harm done, and I heartily approve.”

  That meant he would now not be formally reprimanded, but he would still get an earful from the general. I also appreciated the captain’s foresight. If they were not equally represented, either they would pull longer duties than anyone else, or they would be seen as somehow lesser than the other guild groups and remain outsiders. This way, they were equals.

  “Thank you again, captain,” I said. “You may fall in with the other guards. You report to Biff but can come to me directly whenever needed.”

  He saluted. “Thank you, Patron!” And he fell in the back of the line with the other guards.