“They are a tribe of gnomes living in the foothills north below the high peaks of Melchor,” Questor answered, his owlish face shoving forward past Abernathy. “They are burrow people; they inhabit tunnels and dens they dig out of the earth. Most of the time they stay in the ground…”
“Where they ought to stay,” Abernathy interjected.
“…but now and again they forage the surrounding countryside.” He gave Abernathy a withering glance. “Do you mind?” His eyes shifted back to Ben. “They are not well liked. They tend to appropriate things that do not belong to them and give back nothing in exchange. Their burrowing can be a nuisance when it encroaches on pastureland or grain fields. They are extremely territorial and, once settled in, will not move. It doesn’t matter who owns the land they have settled on — once there, they stay.”
“You have not told him the worst!” Abernathy insisted.
“Why not tell him yourself,” Questor huffed, stepping back.
“They eat dogs. High Lord!” Abernathy snapped, unable to contain himself any longer. His muzzle drew back to reveal his teeth. “They are cannibals!”
“Unfortunately, true.” Questor shoved forward once more, crowding Abernathy aside with his shoulder. “They eat cats as well, however, and I have never heard you complain about that!”
Ben grimaced. “Terrific. What about the name?”
“An abbreviation, High Lord,” Questor said. “The gnomes became so vexatious with their burrowing and their thieving that everyone began to express openly their wish that they would simply ‘go home’ to wherever it was they had come from. After a while, the admonishment ‘go home, gnomes’ became the nickname by which they were known — G’home Gnomes.”
Ben shook his head in disbelief. “Now there’s a story right out of the Brothers Grimm. The G’home Gnomes. Well, what brings these gnomes to us?”
“They will speak of that only with you, High Lord. Will you see them?”
Abernathy looked very much as if he wanted to bite Questor, but he managed to refrain from doing so, his shaggy muzzle frozen in a half-snarl. Questor rocked back on his heels, eyes fixed on Ben expectantly.
“The royal appointment calendar isn’t exactly bulging at the seams,” Ben answered, looking first at Abernathy, then at Questor. “I can’t see where meeting someone who has taken the trouble to come all this way can hurt anything.”
“I trust you will remember later that it was you who said that, High Lord.” Abernathy sniffed. “There are two of them waiting. Shall I show both in?”
Ben had to fight to keep from grinning. “Please do.”
Abernathy left and was back a few moments later with the G’home Gnomes.
“Fillip and Sot, High Lord,” Abernathy announced, teeth showing.
The gnomes came forward and bowed so low their heads touched the castle stone. They were the most miserable looking creatures Ben had ever seen. They were barely four feet tall, their bodies stout and covered with hair, their faces ferretlike and bearded from neck to nose. They wore clothes that the lowliest bum would have refused, and they looked as if they hadn’t bathed since birth. Dust coated their bodies and clothing; dirt and grime were caked in the seams of their skin and under fingernails that looked dangerously diseased. Tiny, pointed ears jutted from either side of skull caps with red feathers stuck in the bands, and toes with curled nails peeked out from the ends of ruined boots.
“Great High Lord,” one addressed him.
“Mighty High Lord,” the other added.
They took their heads off the floor and faced him, eyes squinting. They looked like moles come to surface for a glimpse of daylight.
“I am Fillip,” one said.
“I am Sot,” the other said.
“We have come to offer our pledge of fealty to the High Lord of Landover on behalf of all of the G’home Gnomes,” Fillip said.
“We have come to offer felicitations,” Sot said.
“We wish you long life and health,” Fillip said.
“We wish you many children,” Sot said.
“We extend to you our skills and our experience to be used in whatever manner you may choose,” Fillip said.
“We extend to you our services,” Sot said.
“But first we have a small problem,” Fillip said.