"I crept over, careful not to disturb anything, and saw this odd lump of metal no bigger than my fist. It sat, carefully nestled in a chamois cloth on his big desk, amidst stacks of papers and quills. I had never seen anything like it before. As far as I knew, it was a piece of gold, but I had never seen gold that red before." Tazi paused to tug at her lower lip as though she was contemplating the theft right then and there.
"Whatever kind of gold it was," she told Justikar, "it was perfect for my plans. I pocketed the treasure and was gone like a shot. My father was livid when he discovered the crimson gold was gone," she ducked her shoulders and smiled sheepishly. "I had never seen him so furious before. He went on and on about how hard it had been to obtain and what he was going to do with the thief when he got his hands on him " she trailed away, lost in thought.
"So," Justikar asked, "what did your father do when he found out it was you?"
"He never found out, as far as I know," she replied. "My older brother discovered I had the stuff, and he played a 'prank' on me. After it was over, my left arm was broken, and my father's gold was lost forever. I was never able to return it to him.
"That was years ago," Tazi added after a long pause. "And now my father is dead, much too soon. There were things I still wanted to tell him, but that opportunity is gone now." Tazi chewed her lower lip, unaware that her eyes were brimming with unshed tears. She jumped up and wanted over to a painting and appeared to study it.
"The house was too quiet, and my mother was desolate for a while after his death. When she was unhappy, I was all right as if somehow I could mourn my father through her. But a few tendays ago, I saw her smile again. I knew it was time for her to start to put away her grief. But that's when I became somewhat lost," she said softly.
"I didn't know how to let him go, I realized. And it came to me. I could bring back the only thing I ever stole from him, the only thing I ever ruined between us as an offering. I could say good-bye finally. That was what was worth coming to this forsaken place for and still is " her voice trailed away. She rubbed at her face and turned back to the dwarf.
"Foolish, wasn't I, all things considered?" she asked, prepared for the duergar's snide remarks and ridicule.
"No," he said with a dignity she didn't imagine he would ever show her. "No."
She was nonplussed and simply stared at him for a while. In due course, she walked back over to the bed and sat down, studying him.
"All right," she said finally, "now you. Why are you here?"
"I'm a prisoner, in the wrong place at the wrong time," he replied.
"Look," Tazi shot back at him, "I'm too tired for this. I admit, I don't know much about duergar, but I do know you are a long way from home. And people don't normally stray too far away without a good reason. I'd honestly like to know, if you would be willing to tell me. We are stuck in here together."
The dwarf turned his head slightly and stared at her. Eventually Tazi became ill at ease and cast her eyes downward.
"What are you doing?" she asked and felt the heat rush to her cheeks.
"Faces are like stones," he answered enigmatically. "Their history, their character is written there plainly if one knows how to read it." He sighed deeply, as though he had come to a decision.
"Fair enough," he said after a pause, "a truth for a truth. I came here for family, too." Tazi watched him encouragingly but didn't want to interrupt him if he was willing to tell her about himself.
"My brother left our home several months ago and traveled here to Thay. You don't need to know where 'home' is, either," he shot at her in anticipation of her question, but Tazi just nodded in agreement. "He is the dreamer in the family, not me. You say you know something of dwarves. I'd wager not too much. Most humans don't bother. Did you know, for example, that up until a few years ago, our numbers were dwindling? And when I say 'our' I mean all races of dwarves."
"I didn't know that," Tazi acknowledged honestly, "but I always suspected that there were not great numbers of you."
"Great numbers," Justikar snorted. "You have no idea. And I'm not going to tell you, either. But a few years ago, the dwarven people received the Thunder Blessing, and suddenly we can't stop making whelps," he explained, and Tazi couldn't understand why he sounded disgusted. "All of the dwarves except us-except the Duergar." There was no mistaking the bitterness that edged his words.
"Once again, the gray dwarves were cheated out of what every other dwarf benefited from. That seems to be our lot in life, though we don't deserve it. I expected no less. But, as I said, my brother is a dreamer and a scholar. He wanted more. He was always searching for evidence, proof that there was more to it than just us. Adnama came across some parchments some months ago that led him to believe that there might be an offshoot of our kind located here."
"Here?" Tazi asked and pointed to the floor of their room. "Is that why you lit up when I mentioned the Citadel the night you were wounded?"
"Somewhere in the depths below the Citadel," the duergar nodded, "and here he came. I know he made it as far as some of the tunnels below, but that's when I lost track of him."
"So you're here to find him," Tazi finished, "and reunite your people."
"If there is another vein of duergar, if we were to combine numbers, we could become an unstoppable force," he informed her.
Tazi frowned. "And here I thought you just wanted your brother back and maybe what was best for your people. How are you any different from Naglatha or any of these other Red Wizards?" She shook her head and climbed all the way onto the bed. As she stretched out, she looked at him again.
"Get some rest," she told him, suddenly exhausted, "so we're ready for tomorrow. I think I understand you better now." She closed her eyes and was asleep in mere moments.
Justikar watched the woman sleep for a while. When he was sure it was a deep slumber, he moved silently to her side and deftly removed her worn sack without jostling her or it at all. He swung the leather sack in his grip twice and smiled.
"I came here for family, too," he whispered to the sleeping Tazi and slunk out of their chamber into the darkened hallway beyond.
CHAPTER NINE
3 Kythorn, 1373 DR
When she heard the light footsteps in the room, Tazi opened her eyes and instinctively reached for the knife she had secreted in her night table. As she fumbled around for it, and came up empty handed, Tazi remembered that she was not in her bed in Stormweather Towers, though it was as comfortable as hers, but in the depths of the Citadel. While her eyes focused on the source of the noise, she realized it was not some unknown intruder, but the duergar that had roused her. She sat bolt upright when she saw he was standing in the doorway to their room with her sack in his strong hands.
"What do you think you're doing?" she demanded and jumped from the bed to pull her bag from his unresisting fingers.
"Take a look inside," the dwarf directed her,and Tazi saw he had a pleased expression on his face. She peered into the sack and looked back down at him incredulously.
"What have you done?" she whispered.
"While you slept, I did some exploring. Since that fat, pasty-faced girl said there were some workshops available to us, I thought it best to see for myself if that were true. There is a passable forge and bellows, so I made use of them during the night," he told her smugly.