A dwarf labored hard every day,

While the lad lounged and happily lay.

With a grunt and a frown,

She shouted, "Get down!

Your holiday's over—now, hey!"

Goldie Honorhide.

"We have been busy while you have been lounging around the countryside, lad," Goldie said. She sounded grumpier than normal.

I nodded, "That's great."

"Have you seen that Guildmaster yet?" Goldie asked. "He pesters us most days."

"Not yet, no."

Goldie grunted, "There is a lot to do! Your holiday is over. You can at least get the guildmaster off our backs,"

"He has been bugging me mostly," Yoboc said.

"And he shouldn't be bugging you!" Goldie said, "Those two did the work!"

"I need a plan before I go and see him," I said.

Yoboc looks at me, "At least you are thinking about what might happen. However, we don't have time for that yet. As Goldie said, we have been busy, and I made enquiries about that Blacksteel Knife we found. Apparently, there is an expert in town who will verify whether it is the original knife used by the Black Butcher."

"I didn't know you had heard back yet," Kevin said.

"The message arrived just after breakfast, and the appointment is this afternoon. The Duke himself will be there."

"What about the fencing sword and knife?" I asked

"They are not items with a history in Jern. We are going to auction them," Yoboc said. Makara has handed the bounty for the Blue Bastard and has some coin for you.

"Less the 25% you owe me," said Makara.

I placed the alchemically treated bone knife between us on the table. "You were interested in buying the pair of knives when you got the coin?" I said to her.

"You want to sell them?" she queried, "I thought you might want to keep them."

"They were made for use in the water, and I am not sure heirlooms will last long in my possession," I said.

"How much?" Makara asked.

"We will get them valued at the auction house, which should be good enough," I said.

"They are worth considerably less in an auction here than in a Mer city," Makara said.

I just shrugged. Coins were helpful, but I didn't see the point in having a lot of stuff.

"Agreed," she said hurriedly in case I changed my mind. She picked up the knife and added it to her belt.

"What I am interested in is the ore we brought with us," I said, "Have we found out more about that?"

Yoboc nodded, "None of the blacksmiths I visited could melt it. I finally found one who examined it with a Microvision skill, and he directed me to an Osteowright. It turns out that it is not a metal ore but a bone fragment." He reached into a pocket and tossed me a small piece.

"I carved my pendant with extreme difficulty," I said, pulling out the pendant I had from way back and comparing it.

"It is the hard outer layer of the bone," Yoboc said.

I thought about it. The hard outer layer of the bone is resistant to extreme heat and extreme cold. That makes sense. "What did the Osteowright suggest we can do with it?" I asked.

"As you discovered, it can be carved. It is very difficult to carve, but possible. The Osteowright had tools and skills that made carving it easier than we can do it. We can use it for anything bone can be used for. They had not figured out how to join pieces together, so we could only make small items. They will pay almost any price for a small piece. I am pretty sure working with this will push some of their skills into the master level, and that is rare for them."

"I have something in mind," I said, "But part of the ore belongs to you and Goldie as well."

Yoboc looked at Goldie, "We don't really have a use for it. It would be a waste to use it for arrowheads, as I lose so many. We will swap them for the Orichalum spears."

I nodded, "Deal."

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

There was a cough from the side. Kevin said, "Ah, somebody mentioned a fencing sword and knife? Can I see them? I might be interested in purchasing them."

Yoboc looked at Goldie, Makara, and me. There were no objections, as we were just going to sell them anyway. He said, "I will show you, but they are made from Lightsteel alloy and will make you a target for thieves." he nodded, but his eyes lit up. Lightsteel is what the name suggests. It is light, and strength is not his thing. "We can get a valuation from the auction house for an agreed price," Yoboc finished.

"Absolutely," Kevin said. "I might not be strong enough to fend off most people yet, but I am sure I am fast enough to escape."

"Ahem," Goldie cleared her throat, drawing our attention. "You missed your first appointment, Ivan. We had to pay a fee to get another."

"My appointment for?"

"Your eye, idiot," Goldie said. "I found you a good healer, but she won't be able to see you again till next week."

"Oh, thank you."

"Hurrrmph. We have been working to get you set up, and all you do is hide in the wilderness being lazy," she grumped.

"Thank you, sorry," I said again.

"So you should be," Makara said. "I have also heard back from the Chelonian School. They are sending a delegation here to check," she paused and glanced at Kevin, "the contract goods. They are still probably three months away, though, so we are stuck here till then."

"Where are the goods?" I asked, having scanned the subbasement, and I know they are not there with the other gear.

"We put it in the Kirghiz Treasury safe," Yoboc said. "We three have access. If you had been here, you could also have access. You have to be there in person to get permission to access your goods."

I shrugged, "I am fine without it." I looked around at everybody, "You have all done so much. What have you left for me to do?"

Goldie passed over a piece of paper, "Here is a list."

I scanned down it, "You want me to go shopping?"

Goldie shrugged, "We are sorting our gear." She looked me up and down, "You are letting the team down, and we are meeting a duke this afternoon."

"These are new," I said, indicating my clothes.

"They are street clothes. We are meeting the Duke," she responded. "Go to the tailor, I won't have time to adjust them," she shooed me out. At least Felix is loyal. He doesn't need clothes, why do I?

I was a bit grumpy when I met the others outside the duke's palace that afternoon. These clothes were the same, just with some fancy patterns. I also had a vest, but I don't know what purpose it served. I refused to wear shoes.

"Come on, let's get this over with," Yoboc said. Yoboc and Goldie were dressed in clean outfits, and Makara had gone traditional Mer with belts and a cloak she had got from somewhere. Kevin came with us, and Kahz was on his shoulder. I noted he was wearing the lightsteel sword and knife, so he must have come to an agreement with Yoboc and Goldie. Felix trotted beside me.

The entrance to the mansion had ornate iron gates that an orc in warrior chainmail opened for us. I looked around with my one good eye and spotted a female in stealth not far away with my Clearsight. I gave her a nod. She frowned at me.

The walk to the door had statues lining it. I stopped to look at one. The carver was better than I was, but probably not by that much.

"Come on, Ivan," Yoboc said.

The door was opened by a man in what looked like a very uncomfortable suit. We entered the building, and the hall was lined with portraits, most in uniforms. "What is this?" I asked.

"Portraits of the Duke's ancestors," the doorman/butler person said. "The Duke is from a long line of extinguished army veterans. The Duke was a decorated captain before stepping down to take over from his mother, the previous Duchess. This way, please. The Duke will be with you momentarily."

The room was ornate and had a fancy carpet that felt soft on my feet. Two guards stood before a raised dias with a throne on it. There was a door behind the throne, which seemed to be where the Duke would come from, and a door to the side, which was a mystery.

"Please be seated here," the doorman indicated some seats at the front on one side of the hall.

It was a receiving hall. I looked around. Glass let in light from the ceiling, which was about two stories high. Tapestries hung from just below the ceiling, covering the entire wall length, with designs depicting different scenes.

I wondered why you would bother with tapestries? Was this some sort of tradition here? Then I saw in the shadows between the tapestries some slits that were hidden. Archer slits. I looked to the other wall; there were high windows and a solid wall painted plain white. I would guess that this helped the archers see through stealth. I was sure the tapestries hid doors for guards to flood the room. The obvious mystery door was on the plain wall.

We sat where directed. At least everything here was orc-sized, and Yoboc and Goldie were uncomfortable, rather than me.

"Please rise for his Lordship, Duke Vitja."

We all stood. The door behind the throne opened, and two orc guards entered first, and then a tall, thin orc came in wearing ornate clothes. This was the duke. He did have a family resemblance to his ancestors in the hallway. He also had an air of command and danger.

He marched to the throne and sat, saying, "Be seated. This is supposed to be an informal gathering to look at your claim to have found the Black Butcher's knife. You are not the first, you know. Some even had blacksteel in them."

We sat.

The Duke looked us over. "You are an interesting group of mercenaries. We don't see many Mer here. I will get you to introduce yourselves once our guests arrive. Just be aware there are truth-sensers here, and there will be consequences if you waste my time." The Duke had the low voice that most Orcs had.

He turned to a guard and spoke in Orcish. They marched to the mystery side door and rapped on it. It opened, and a guard stepped through. She was the first human guard I had seen. This guard had a cloth over her armour with the symbol of a bow shooting a blue flaming arrow. Why blue? Flames are usually orange or yellow. I mentally shrugged; it was the symbol for some order or noble house that I didn't know.

Another human stepped through. He was not wearing armour, but was in a uniform of some sort with the blue flame. He bowed to the Duke. "My Lord Duke. I present to you Lord Leif, son and heir to the Duchess Kelda of Hrothgar."

He stepped out of the way, and a human stepped through. He was of average height for a human and had red hair and white skin with some freckles on his face. He was young as humans go. Maybe in his early twenties, but I was not much of a judge of these things. He was dressed in nice clothes. Overall, my impression of him was that he was soft. He wasn't fat, but he probably had the right amount of fat on him, which I should aim for.

He stepped towards the front seats on the opposite side of the hall from us. The announcer then said, "I also present to you the Lady Kiri Hunter, daughter of Duchess Kelda of Hrothgar and her bond Pānihi."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.