but if an enemy came against Bruenor and his clan, Torgar would gladly lead a charge to assist them.
"Ye ever think that we might be going against Clan Battlehammer in
the wrong way?" the dwarf asked. The marchion and Shoudra exchanged curious looks. "Ye ever think that we might be using their strengths and our own strength together to the benefit of us all?"
"What do you mean?" Elastul asked.
"They got the ore-better ore than we'll be findin' here if we dig a hunnerd miles down-and they got some great craftsmen, don't ye doubt, but so do we. Might that our best and their best could work with their good ore to make great pieces, while our apprentices and their apprentices, or a few who're too old to see it right or lift the hammer well enough, could work with the lesser ore in making the lesser pieces-railings and cart wheels instead o' swords and breastplates, if ye see me meaning."
The marchion's eyes went wide indeed, but not because he was the least bit intrigued by the suggestion of cooperation. Torgar saw that immediately and knew that he had crossed a line.
Trembling so badly that he seemed as if he might vibrate right out of his chair, Elastul forced himself, with great effort, to settle back. He shook his head, seeming too enraged to even speak a denial.
"Just a thought," Torgar remarked.
"A thought? Here is a thought-why don't we have Shoudra burn that axe from your breastplate? Why don't I have you dragged out and flogged publicly, perhaps even tried for treason against Mirabar? How dare you lead so many into the embrace of King Bruenor Battlehammer! How dare you bring comfort to our principle rival, a dwarf who leads a clan that has cost us piles of gold! How dare you represent any prospect of friendship between Mithral Hall and Mirabar, and how dare you suggest such a thing to me!"
Shoudra Stargleam came forward to the side of the marchion's throne. She put her hand on Elastul's arm, obviously trying to calm him. She looked to Torgar as she did and nodded toward the door to the room, motioning for him to make a fast exit.
But Torgar wasn't ready to leave just yet, not before he had the last word.
"Ye might be hatin' Bruenor and his boys, and ye might have reason," he said, "but I'm secin' it more as our own weakness than anything Bruenor and his boys did to us."
Marchion Elastul started to respond with another "how dare you," but Torgar kept on rolling.
"That's the way I'm secin' it," the dwarf stated flatly. "Ye want to take me Axe emblem, then take it, but if ye're thinking o7 flogging me, then ye should be looking more closely at me kin."
With that threat hanging in the air, Torgar Delzoun Hammerstriker turned and stormed from the room.
"I will have his head on a pike!"
"Then you'll have two thousand shield dwarves running wild in Mirabar," Shoudra explained. She was still holding the man's arm and firmly. "I don't completely disagree with any of the things you say about Mithral Hall, good Elastul, but given the response from Torgar and many others, I wonder the wisdom of holding our present course of open animosity."
Elastul shot her an angry and threatening glower, the look alone reminding her that few on the Council of Sparkling Stones would side with her reasoning.
So Shoudra let him go and stepped back, bowing her head deferentially, while silently wondering how destabilizing King Bruenor's visit had truly been to Mirabar. If the marchion kept pushing this hard, the result could be disastrous for the ancient mining city.
Shoudra also silently applauded King Bruenor for his shrewd move of even showing up where he knew he would not be welcomed, but where he would neither be flatly rebuked. Yes, it was a cunning maneuver, and it seemed to the Sceptrana of Mirabar that her boss was playing right into Bruenor's hands.
"Prisoners?" Obould asked his son as they stood overlooking the ruins of Clicking Heels.
"Few left," Urlgen said with an evil grin.
"Ye're interrogating?"
Urlgen straightened, as if the thought hadn't occurred to him.
Obould gave a growl and slapped Urlgen on the back of his head.
"What we need to know?" the confused Urlgen asked.
"Whatever they can tell us to help us," Obould explained, speaking slowly and articulating each word carefully, as if he was addressing a toddler.
Urlgen snarled but didn't voice his displeasure. The insult had been earned, after all.
"Ye know how to interrogate?" Obould