Haplo’s satisfaction turned instantly to gloom. Damn! Another problem! He should have foreseen the mensch reaction. As it was, even Delu looked troubled.
“This truly is a wondrous feat,” she said in a low voice. “I would like to hear it described in more detail. Perhaps, if you could meet with the Coven tomorrow . . .”
Yngvar snorted. “If I never see another wizard, it will be too soon. No, I will not argue. I have said all I am going to say on the subject. The sun-chasers are there, floating in the harbor. The Coven is welcome to come look at the ships, sink them, dance in them, fly them, if you have a mind to. No dwarf will set so much as a hair of his beard on a single plank. This I swear!”
“Are the dwarves prepared to let themselves be turned into blocks of ice?” Dumaka asked, glowering.
“We have boats enough of our own—boats built with sweat, not magic—to take our people off our doomed seamoon.”
“And what about us?” Dumaka shouted.
“Humans are not the concern of the dwarves!” Yngvar shouted back. “Use the cursed boats if you want.”
“You know perfectly well we need a dwarven crew—”
“Superstitious fools!” Delu was saying.
Haplo got up, walked out. From the sounds of the argument raging behind him, no one was likely to notice his absence.
He stalked off toward his own lodge and nearly fell over Grundle and Alake, crouched in a grove of trees.
“What the— Oh, it’s you,” Haplo said irritably. “I thought you two’d had your fill of listening in on other people’s conversations?”
They’d chosen a secluded spot, near the back end of the chieftain’s lodge, shadowed from the bright light of the camp-fires that shone full on their faces when they stood up.
Alake looked ashamed. Grundle only grinned.
“I wasn’t going to listen,” Alake protested. “I came to see if my mother needed me to fetch more wine for our guests and I found Grundle hiding here. I told her it was wrong, that we shouldn’t do this anymore, that the One had punished us—”
“The only reason you found me hiding here was that you came planning to hide here yourself!” Grundle retorted.
“I did not!” Alake whispered indignantly.
“You did so. What else were you doing traipsing around the back of the longhouse instead of the front?”
“Whatever I was doing is my business—”
“Both of you go on home,” Haplo ordered. “It’s not safe here. You’re away from the firelight, too close to the jungle. Go on, now,”
He waited until he saw them headed on their way, then started for his own lodge. Footsteps echoed his. He glanced around, saw Grundle tagging along behind.
“Well, what are you going to do about our parents?” she asked him, jerking a thumb in the direction of the longhouse.
Loud, angry voices could be heard, echoing through the night air. People passing by looked at each other worriedly.
“Shouldn’t you be somewhere else?” Haplo said irritably. “Won’t someone miss you?”
“I’m supposed to be ‘in the cave asleep, but I stuffed a bag of potatoes in my blanket roll. Everyone’ll think it’s me. And I know the guard on duty. His name’s Hartmut. He’s in love with me,” she said matter-of-factly. “He’ll let me back in. Speaking of love, when’s the wedding?”
“What wedding?” Haplo asked, his thoughts on how to solve the current problem.
“Yours and Alake’s.”
Haplo came to a stop, glared at the dwarf.
Grundle gazed back, smiling, innocent. Numerous tribe members were eyeing them curiously. Haplo caught hold of the dwarf’s arm, hustled her into the privacy of his lodge.
“Uh-oh,” she said, shrinking away from him in mock terror. “You’re not going to try to seduce me, now, are you?”
“I didn’t seduce anybody,” Haplo said grimly. “And keep your voice down. How much do you know? What did Alake tell you?”
“Everything. Mind if I sit? Thanks.” She plopped herself on the floor, began plucking leaves out of her side whiskers. “Whew! It was really hot, squatting in that bush. I could have told those dragon-snakes they were making a mistake, showing off their power like that. Not that they would have listened to me.”