We moved past the common areas, heading to the more private parts of the castle. Guards eyed me, but didn’t stop me, since I was with Jastillian. Thankfully, I didn’t have to deal with them again. I was afraid I would lose control this time.
All the buildings I had seen, while strongly built and well-constructed, were boring to look at, at least from the outside. But the inside of the castle was a huge contrast to the outside. It wasn’t stark and bleak, as I’d thought it’d be. I thought of what Jastillian had said about Eostar, and about the dwarves being more than what people saw on the outside.
Instead of paintings and portraits, the dwarves used little statues made of rocks and minerals to depict great battles. In one gallery, there was a scene where dozens of tiny carved quartz crystals had been sculpted into dwarves. They fought larger Wasteland creatures made from limestone. The crystal dwarves held tiny weapons, and their faces wore perfectly carved expressions of pain or fury.
Statues stood throughout the halls. Instead of dwarves, these were fantastical creatures. There was a topaz dragon with wings unfurled, an alabaster unicorn with front legs raised, and lastly, a gold griffon with a ferocious scowl.
I stopped as we passed another room. It had a large shelf with many separate compartments. In each compartment were different minerals or rocks, all with labels clearly written in front of them. I recognized a lot of them, like gold, slate, clay, bronze, and silver. There were a whole lot more—including some I'd never seen or heard of before. A group of younger dwarves stood in front of the display as two adults tested their knowledge.
“Come on, lad,” Jastillian said, jolting me out of my gawking. “I can give you a test later on the materials found in these mountains.” He chuckled at his joke.
I tore myself away and ran to catch up to Jastillian. We reached the end of a hall, and there was a plain, wooden door with steam seeping underneath it.
Jastillian opened the door and said, “This is where you can wash up and relax, lad.”
Steam hit me and flowed over my grimy face. The warm, refreshing feeling caught me off guard. It seeped its way into my skin, and I sighed like I had just entered the heavens. In a large pool of warm water, a couple of naked dwarves were soaking.
“What is this place?” I asked.
“One of our bathhouses. Most of them are located in this building, but if you like, I can take you to one of the other rooms where you can wash yourself with a bucket and rag.”
I chuckled. “No, this will be fine.” I lost my breath at the thought of warm water I didn’t have to create myself. “Thank you, Jastillian. I’ve never seen anything remotely like this. How did you create it?”
“We didn’t, lad. We found a hot spring deep within the earth and routed the water. We dwarves need a hot bath after—” In a deep, booming voice, Jastillian sang, “‘Digging in the dirt all day, digging our own graves. Digging ‘til we reach the end, having our bodies lost in a maze.’”
I scratched my head. “What?”
Jastillian laughed. “It’s been awhile since I’ve sung. Let me give you some privacy. I know how some of you humans are with showing what the gods gave you.”
“That’s all right, you don’t—”
“Hey, you two!” Jastillian yelled.
The pair of dwarves opened their saggy eyes and said, “Jastillian!”
“We were wagering on when you'd get back,” one said. “I just lost.”
“I wouldn’t have made it if it weren’t for my friend here,” Jastillian said, slapping me hard on my back.
I nodded in their direction, and they nodded back.
“I hope you two don’t mind cutting your bath short,” Jastillian said. “I promised my friend here some privacy.”
“He must have faced impossible odds to help you. Especially since you’re in those ridiculous clothes.” The two dwarves laughed at Jastillian’s expense. “We were just getting out anyway.”
The two naked dwarves got up out of the pool, dried themselves, put on some clean tunics and breeches, and took their dirty miners’ clothes with them. “It’s good to have you back, Jastillian. See you around.”
“You didn’t have to do that on my account,” I said. “I would have been fine if those two were in here.”
“Nonsense, lad. It was the least I could do. I’m going to get out of these rags and get dressed. We have to look presentable for my mother. I’m sure she’ll be on our side and will wish to send help to Alexandria. The problem is getting the others to vote with us.”
“How can we do that?”