Several thousand sets of eyes turned to me as I strode confidently into the hall. I had no difficulty identifying the location I was to stand, the guard captain from last night, and twice his normal number of guards formed a semi-circle halfway between the summoning circle where I entered last night and a tall stone throne where a dwarf bearing a serious, perhaps even angry expression, waited impatiently for my arrival.

  Making them all wait on me was not a good start.

  It was purposeful and staged to put you off balance. Bella advised.

  It's working. I thought back to her.

  You are in the right with every protocol followed. They know this and want you to do something that may allow them to deny your kinship, deny your master status, or banish you from the Hold with your rights intact but never to return.

  You can read their thoughts, clear out here? I asked as hope began to gain a foothold on my anxiety.

  No, I am much too far away from my demesne to do that. But there are so many here, and I can feel their emotions. Plus, there are things I simply know without always understanding why I know them.

  My heart sank again, but not as far as it could have without Bella’s thoughts as I walked across the long hall with hostile stares watching my every move.

  I came to a halt. Will I speak or will-. My thoughts to Bella were interrupted by the king’s harsh words.

  “Human, you have made us wait for over an hour since you were summoned. Your presence is not welcome here, and we ask that you politely leave before more drastic measures are taken.” He spoke in the common Trade tongue, the language spoken by humans.

  I responded in Dwarven. “I am Gwydion Istari Ringweaver, Dwarfkin and Dwarf Master. I am returned home, my king.”

  The king sat back and looked at a dwarf nearby. I could almost read their thoughts myself. Plan A didn’t work. Try Plan B.

  The king leaned forward and replied to me, still in Tradespeak, which he managed quite proficiently. “We do not recognize either your kinship with us, human, or your alleged claim to our most treasured title of Master.”

  I replied to him again in Dwarven. “You have no right, my king, to decide upon the veracity of my titles. They were granted by custom and tradition. Only the Masters Council may call these into question if they believe their fellow masters and Grandmaster Conclave were in error.”

  Nice touch. Bella said with humor in her voice.

  The conclave had no direct authority in the Master’s Council or in the particulars of my case; however, many grandmasters were members of both council and conclave. Several who were present with me last night stirred at my words.

  The king, in his rising frustration, spoke to me in Dwarvish. “The Conclave has no jurisdiction here.”

  A few more grandmasters stirred, irritated at the king’s words even if they could not directly refute them.

  But I had waited for him to address me in Dwarvish, something I was certain his advisors had told him not to do for fear of my next words.

  I spoke slowly and in my deepest, most serious voice, using ancient Dwarven, “Do you challenge my honor or do you challenge the honor of your masters, my king?”

  I did not move, but I summoned my ring into a staff and held it with the fifteen glowing, 14pt magical gems facing in his direction.

  It was a calculated risk. And the guards all around me drew weapons but did not advance. They watched my moves with their full attention.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  The tension in the air was palpable.

  Be patient. Don’t move or say another word. Bella said.

  The silence extended for several minutes. The king stared at me without blinking.

  Is this a staring contest, Bella?

  She chuckled. No, let his eyes dry and water. You can blink normally. Just keep your attention on him and do not relent. He is honor-bound to reply unless you back down first.

  Several more minutes passed. His eyes did begin to water, but he held out. Another couple of minutes later, and just before it appeared that the watery eyes might result in a tear down his cheek, which would have appeared as a sign of weakness, he sat back and sighed. He casually wiped at his eyes as if reluctant to take the next step, but still I did not respond.

  He sighed again and said, “I will not apologize for my words, human. You are not welcome here. I do not challenge your honor, merely your presence. I do not challenge the honor of the masters, merely the wisdom of the decision of a few without consultation among their peers.”

  His last words had removed the sting from my question and the hope I had that some of the masters might intervene. By calling into question not their decision to grant master rank, which is their right, but doing so without consulting with others under the odd circumstances would swing the balance of opinion back his way. It is unlikely that a majority of the masters were happy with the decision to grant me status under the technicality of Dwarf kinship.

  It was time for our Plan B.

  I spoke in Dwarven. “I accept that your words were ill spoken but not intended to challenge my honor or the honor of my fellow masters, my king. But as kin, I have a right to speak in this hall.”

  He waved his hand, almost dismissing me and replying in the ritual words without meaning and with not so subtle an insulting tone, “Speak and your words will be heard in this our Hall of Welcoming.”

  I saw some more dwarves stirring. The leverage he had gained by clever words was just lost by the unwelcoming tone with which he replied to millennia-old ritual language, which guaranteed the rights of the lowest dwarf to be heard by the highest authority.

  I paused, ensuring that all noticed that I recognized the insult, but I bowed as custom required and then said, “I am not here seeking special privileges for myself, my king. Nor am I here seeking secrets of our people to exploit at our people’s cost. I am here, my king, on behalf of the thousands of women, children, and innocents of your ally against the Great Necromancer, who has served as a faithful and long-time trading partner, bringing wealth and acclaim to this Hold. The Duke and city of Keelwell are about to be overrun by a horde of goblins, a race long earning the enmity of our people in the Book of Affronts against our honor and Dwarven civility. Messages, emissaries, and humbled pleas have come to you without even the courtesy of a reply. Why would you abandon these people to a savage and terrible fate we would not tolerate on our own livestock, let alone allies and friends? By what counsel do you choose an infernal and goblins over children and innocents?”

  Well said, Gwydion. Remain still and see what happens. Bella said, but I did not sense confidence in her thoughts.

  The king pondered my words, twirling his beard in his fingers absentmindedly. Finally, he sat up and said, “Your words were spoken, Your words were heard. Hear now our response. Whether you are kin or not is for the Council to debate if it so chooses. But there is no debate that humans are not kin. Once allies, perhaps, but not in many decades. The Duke of your city was not the Duke to whom we swore alliance in times past, and that enemy was defeated.”

  A number of dwarves, appearing as either mages or priests by their clothes, seemed to stir at his words. They suspected, as a growing number of human mages and priests, that the Great Necromancer and his threat may not be as conquered as once believed.

  The king continued. “It is therefore not fitting that we meddle in the affairs of human politics.”

  Some more dwarves stirred. The king was making a humanitarian plea, a play of politics.

  “And,” he said as he leaned closer, “you are hardly a fitting ambassador of your human people. You are a child, a journeyman only raised from apprentice a few days ago. And, while you claim to hold true to our people as Dwarfkin, it is also true that you are Elfkin. Not a very respectable title to hold on the pretense of being kin to our people.”

  He sat back again. “And so, we deny your request for aid, dismiss you to the masters, and send you back to your human Duke and to your awaiting fate.”

  He looked away to a dwarf standing nearby, “What is next on the agenda for this morning?”

  It’s time. Bella said.

  I slammed my staff upon the stone floor, and whether it was the location, the magic of the staff itself, or some help by Bella, the thunderous BOOM caused every dwarf in the great hall to jump. I raised my voice, “The honor of this hall is faint indeed.”

  I lowered my backpack and removed the volume of the Archmaster, which I had received in the capital. I raised it high. “I brought a second volume of the Archmaster, given to me yesterday by one whom I didn't even know existed 12 hours before our meeting. It came to me unlooked for and unexpected. I brought it with me to return it home as a token of gratitude for what I expected to be a joyous homecoming and generous offers of assistance for innocents and long-time allies.”

  I pointed the book at the king, who was as startled as everyone else. “While it is true that I am human by birth, and recognized by elves as friend and kin, I am also kin here by right and my heart. I tell you this, my king, while I stand here of three races united into one, because of your lack of hospitality and your shame, this tome will never be returned to our Hold while you abide in these halls. Long may you reign, my king.”

  I put the book back in the backpack, slung it over my shoulder, turned on my heels, and strode toward the summoning circle.

  Strike the ground hard as before after every seventh stride. Bella said urgently.

  After my seventh stride, I struck the ground, and its BOOM echoed across the room as before.

  I could hear the dwarves talking and shouting behind me.

  Keep walking. She said.

  After my fourteenth stride, I slammed the staff down again.

  BOOM!

  I continued to walk purposefully, and I heard the king shout, “Wait!”

  I kept walking.

  “Please wait!” He shouted again.

  As I neared my twenty-first step, he shouted loudly in a panicked voice, “I apologize!”

  Hold! Bella shouted in my mind, and I raised my staff to slam it down again.