“We won’t poison you,” said Utti. He sounded as if he had given the subject some consideration though. Kormak got the impression Utti would not mind poisoning them if he could get away with it. He poured some of the dark liquid into a flask and sipped it. It burned going down his throat and he had to fight to keep from spluttering. It was definitely very, very alcoholic. Kormak indicated that the others should eat and they fell too with a will. He realised it was a very long time since they had eaten.
“Not a place I would have put guests,” said Verlek. “It is an old storechamber.”
“They are not our guests,” said Utti.
“They are not our enemies either,” said Verlek.
“Not until the Dwarfmoot decides so.”
“The Dwarfmoot may decide they are our allies,” said Verlek.
“I doubt it,” said Utti. “There are the Faithful and there is everyone else.”
“Why do you call yourselves the Faithful?” Karnea asked.
Utti looked at the ceiling and blew air out through his lips with a peculiar fluttering sound. His beard fluttered around, its ends tying themselves into knots.
“We call ourselves that because we kept the faith,” said Verlek.
“When others did not?” Karnea asked.
Verlek nodded.
“Other dwarves?” Karnea prompted.
“Yes,” said Verlek. He was looking away. His beard writhed now as well. Did that signify embarrassment, Kormak wondered.
“Others broke their oaths,” said Utti suddenly. There was a boastful tone in his voice. “We did not.”
“Do you refer to the ones who forged my sword?” Kormak asked.
“They made that which it was forbidden to make,” said Utti. “They marked their blades with the runes of Chaos and Death. They made that which was forbidden by our mistress, by all of the Eldrim.”
“Not all,” said Verlek. Utti glared at him. His beard went rigid and stopped moving altogether.
“Stare all you like,” said Verlek. “But you know I have truth. The Exiles did what they did at the behest of Eldrim.”
“So they claimed,” said Utti. He sounded as if he did not believe that was the case. Karnea chewed her lips as they talked. She desperately wanted them to keep talking so much was obvious. She did not dare interrupt them even to ask a question. “These are not matters to be spoken on before outsiders.”
Verlek shrugged. “I have questions of my own to put to you, if you would answer them.”
Karnea nodded eagerly. Utti felt compelled to say, “If you do not answer them willingly, you will answer them later with your hand in the furnace.”
“I will answer any questions you have truthfully and honestly unless they go against oaths I have spoken,” said Karnea. “And if they do, I will tell you.”
“Fairly spoken,” Verlek said. Utti merely grunted. “Where do you come from?”
“We come from the surface,” said Karnea. “From beyond the City in the Deeps.”
“You dwell among the monsters and Shadow worshippers?”
“We dwell among men.”
“So you serve those who opposed the Eldrim.”
“We serve the Holy Sun,” Karnea said. “We oppose the Old Ones only when they break the Law.”
“Who makes a Law that binds the Eldrim?” Utti sneered.
“The Old Ones did,” said Kormak. “They agreed to it with our masters and the kings of men. It has kept peace between us for a thousand years.”
“You lie,” said Utti. “The Eldrim would not negotiate with their inferiors.”
“They are intelligent,” said Kormak. “They will negotiate with anyone who has the power to destroy them.”
“And you claim you do?”
“You already know the answer to that,” said Kormak. “You have seen the sword. You know what it does. There are hundreds more like it.”
“An obscenity,” said Utti.
“Why do you say that?” Karnea asked.
Utti did not answer. Karnea continued patiently as if Utti had not interrupted her. She seemed to take real pleasure in explaining things. “We come from the surface. We guess you have not had much contact with it since the city was sealed.”
“We have all we need here,” said Verlek. “And we have our duty to perform. We would not desert our post. We keep the faith.” Again he said this as if he were talking about matters of the utmost importance. What could have kept the dwarves here in a city wracked by plague and all but abandoned?
“Things have changed since the days of glory though,” said Karnea. “Your people have changed.”
Verlek made the dwarven equivalent of a nod, a little sadly, it seemed. “Much has been forgotten. Much has been lost. The people are slowly dying.”