The Half Dwarf Prince: 02 - The Dwarf War Read Online Free Page B

however, he had realized that, as good as he was, he was still nowhere near a master. His father had worked with him, though; together they had made his axes, and even created a steel replica of his grandfather’s hand. He had improved greatly just watching his father. Now he was lying in bed wishing that he were in a smith. That would be a sure way to distract him from everything else.
    Jerrie and Rundo came in soon after he put the knife away.
    “Ah, he’s awake,” Jerrie said.
    “I thought you would be sharpening that knife. That is why you wanted it , right? To give you something to do?” Rundo asked.
    “I already sharpened it as much as I could. If I made it any sharper the edge wouldn’t hold,” Grundel said , holding out the knife, still in its sheath.
    Rundo took the knife and slid it from the sheath. He touched his finger lightly to the blade to gauge its sharpness, and a line of blood appeared across his thumb. “You could do surgery with that thing,” he said as he brought his finger to his mouth.
    Jerrie took the knife and examined it. “That really is sharp. How long do you think the edge will hold?”
    Grundel shrugged. “It is good steel. Some of the best. It will hold for a while, or at least until I drag it across the bones of some assassin.”
    Jerrie just shook his head. “Everyone is getting together to talk about the trip. We thought you would want to be there. Besides, you spend far t oo much time in this bed.”
    Grundel couldn’t help but smile. He really did appreciate his friends, even if they did berate him at every opportunity. He slipped out of the bed. He took the now -sheathed dagger from Jerrie and slid it into his boot, then put his leather vest on. The vest had two sheaths on the back that he slid his axe handles into. It still hurt pretty bad to raise his arms over his head, but he managed. Hellen was sure to remind him every time she talked to him that most people would barely be able to stand at this point, and even then they would need support. Grundel had given up the cane yesterday. Now he followed his friends through Shinestone to meet with everyone else.
    When they walked into the great hall, Grundel saw his father, the king of Evermount; his mother, Anna, part of the royal family of Patria; Kraft, the king of Haufen; Frau, the queen of Shinestone; Fuhrung, Frau’s other advisor; Hellen; and Jabaal.
    “We don’t need a large force, we just need an escort. It would look better,” his mother was saying.
    “Ten is not enough. You and Grundel are both royalty. How would it look if we sent you with such a small force?” Kraft was saying.
    Grundel walked into the room and cut them all off. “We are not taking ten dwarves with us. Jerrie will act as my mother’s personal bodyguard. It won’t be suspicious if I don’t have one. Rundo will come as well. It will keep everyone off guard wondering why we brought him. We will take two other dwarves with us as an escort. They need to be dwarves who can ride. We need to move quickly. Every day could make a difference. We should leave tomorrow.”
    Everyone stared at him. He hadn’t really made a recommendation. Though he hadn’t intended to, he had basically just told a room full of kings and queens what to do. He thought someone was going to chastise him, but they were all looking at him approvingly. Frau and Kraft were actually smiling.
    “Well , you are going to need some armor before you leave, at least some chain mail. We can get someone on it today, but it will take at least two days to finish it,” his father said.
    “I think I could take care of that,” came a voice from the corner of the room. Everyone turned toward the sound.
    “Anwar!” Grizzle and Jabaal said together.
    “I heard you might need some help,” Anwar said , walking over to the group. Anwar was the mage who had saved them at Evermount. He was the most powerful magic-user in the world except for maybe The Father, a mortal god who was thousands