aside, reached down to grip a hidden iron ring and pulled. A
trapdoor lifted clear of the earth to reveal a stairway. They felt
their way along its walls until they were completely inside and
crouched there in the dark. Teel secured the trapdoor behind
them, lit a candle and took the lead once more. The company
started down.
It was a short descent. The stairs ended after two dozen steps
and became a tunnel, the walls and ceiling shored by thick
wooden beams and pinned by iron bolts. Teel offered no expla-
nation for the tunnel, but simply moved ahead into it. Twice the
tunnel branched in several directions, and each time she made
her choice without hesitating. It occurred to Par that if they had
to find their ,way out again without Teel, they probably couldn’t
doit.
The tunnel ended minutes later at an iron door. Teel struck
the door sharply with the hilt of her dagger, paused, then struck
it twice more. The locks on the other side snapped free and the
door swung open.
The Dwarf who stood there was no older than they, a stout,
muscular fellow with a shading of beard and long hair the color
of cinnamon, a face that was scarred all over, and the biggest
mace Par had ever seen strapped across his back. He had the
top half of one ear missing and a gold ring dangling from the
remainder.
‘ ‘Morgan!” he greeted and embraced the Highlander warmly.
His smile brightened his fierce countenance as he pulled the
other inside and looked past him to where Par and Coil stood
nervously waiting. “Friends?”
“The best,” Morgan answered at once. “Steff, this is Par
and Coil Ohmsford from Shady Vale.”
The Dwarf nodded. “You are welcome here, Valemen.” He
broke away from Morgan and reached out to grip their hands.
“Come take a seat, tell me what brought you.”
They were in an underground room filled with stores, boxed,
crated and wrapped, that surrounded a long table with benches.
Steff motioned them onto the benches, then poured each a cup
of ale and joined them. Teel took up a position by the door,
settling carefully onto a small stool.
‘ ‘Is this where you live now?” Morgan asked, glancing about.
“It needs work.”
Steff’s smile wrinkled his rough face. “I live a lot of places,
Morgan, and they all need work. This one is better than most.
Underground, though, like the others. We Dwarves all live un-
derground these days, either here or in the mines or in our graves.
Sad.”
He hoisted his mug. “Good health to us and misfortune to
our enemies,” he toasted. They all drank but Teel, who sat
watching. Steff placed his mug back on the table.’ ‘Is your father
well?” he asked Morgan.
The Highlander nodded. “I brought Granny Elise a little
something to buy bread with. She worries about you. How long
since you’ve been to see her?”
The Dwarf’s smile dropped away. “It’s too dangerous to go
just now. See my face?” He pointed, tracing the scars with his
finger. “The Federation caught me three months back.” He
glanced at Par and Coil conspiratorially. “Morgan wouldn’t
know, you see. He hasn’t been to see me of late. When he comes
to Culhaven, he prefers the company of old ladies and chil-
dren.”
Morgan ignored him. “What happened, Steff?”
The Dwarf shrugged. “I got away-parts of me, at least.”
He held up his left hand. The last two fingers were missing,
sheared off. “Enough of that, Highlander. Leave off. Instead,
tell me what brings you east.”
Morgan started to speak, then took a long look at Teel and
stopped. Steff saw the direction his gaze had taken, glanced
briefly over his shoulder and said, “Oh, yes. Teel. Guess I’ll
have to talk about it after all.”
He looked back at Morgan. “I was taken by the Federation
while raiding their weapons stores in the main compound in
Culhaven. They put me in their prisons to discover what I
could tell them. That was where they did this.” He touched
his face. “Teel was a prisoner in the cell next to mine. What
they did to me is nothing compared to what they did to her.