"Hello," Gwydion started, but a single grunt and raised hand from the leading dwarf stopped him. The dwarves were just as he had imaged from his lessons with his tutors, short and stout, with thick fizzy beards. The leader's hair had gone snow white with age, but the others all had shades of black and brown. They eyes and nose formed a stark band of hairlessness. On their heads they wore soft caps of bright colours.

The dwarfs marched into the room one at a time, and didn't even spare Gwydion a glance, but went straight to the pot of soup. Each collected a bowl and filled it before grunting and sitting down at the long table. Once all seven had sat down, one finally acknowledged his presence. "Well lass, I see you cleaned. In rewards, please take a bowl of soup."

Gwydion did so, and sat at one end of the table. None of the dwarves had started to eat yet, and Gwydion wondered what they were waiting for.

"You first, lass." The leading dwarf said. "A nice big spoon full."

"Right," Gwydion said. He scooped the bland soup and chewed the large lumps before swallowing. Suddenly all the dwarves relaxed, and Gwydion realised how tense they had been. He also realised that they must had thought he had poisoned the meal. He wanted to point out he still might have, Letholdus had shown him many ways to avoid the effects of poison, while appearing to or actually still consuming it.

All started to eat, but continued to eye Gwydion wearily.

"I'm sorry I just entered your house. The minstrel said I should ask you about a housekeeping job, and well when I got here it wasn't very clean."

The lead dwarf looked a bit stunned, "You thought it was a real job?"

"Well sort of? The minstrel made it sound like it meant something more, but well, it really looks like you need one."

"What's your name lass?"

"Rosella."

"Not from a round here are you?"

"No, I'm from Llewdor."

"Mmmm," The dwarf seemed to think for a moment, "Never heard of it."

By this stage the dwarves were noisily slurping the bowls of soup. Gwydion still thought it was bit bland himself, but they seemed to be enjoying it immensely. A few even finished and went and got seconds.

"How did you get here lass?"

As Gwydion didn't want to get into specifics, he told them "by sea."

"And what are you doing here?" The dwarf seemed friendly, but something lurked in his eyes which made Gwydion weary. But dwarves were normally good folk, and didn't strike Gwydion as the kind who would be in league with Lolotte. The question was if they would sell him out anyway.

"I came seeking a magic fruit, but found it grows in the shadow of Lolotte's castle."

At Lolotte's name there was a harsh indrawn breath around the table. "And so now what?"

"I still need the fruit. No matter what. I had hoped Genesta would help, but she has lost her power, and sickens quickly. Now I'm not sure what to do."

"Genesta's sick?"

"Yes. Lolotte stole a magic pendent of hers. Genesta says she only has a day left."

The was a long pause. The dwarves looked grim, but not upset. Gwydion had the feeling that they, like the minstrel, weren't exactly fans of Genesta.

"The house keeping job is code." The leader dwarf said. "It means that we should offer you a chance to escape this forsaken land via our tunnels. We toil here not by choice, but this is the only land rich in Tamirite. In case of emergency we dug a tunnel south under the mountains. It emerges within a ten days hike to Slaithwaite."

"I can't. I need the magic fruit."

"I understand lass. I can see the fire in your eyes."

There was a pause while everyone continued to eat. Gwydion considered everything he had heard. Finding the silence slightly oppressive he asked, "What is so special about Tamirite?"

"Ahhh, lass," The dwarf opened a pouch one his belt and brought out a small deep green gem. Then with a smile he turned it to catch the sunlight from the recently cleaned window. The colour simmered and darkened into a rich purple. He then turned it so the light from the fire shone strongly on the stone, and the purple changed into a blood red. Bringing it back into the relative dim shadow cast by his body the stone was once again green. "This is Tamirite. Depending on the light that shines on it, its colour changes. Highly desired for jewellery, its real values lies in magic. To us dwarves it is a gift from the gods."

"Wow." Gwydion breathed. His fingers itched to touch the stone, and he bite his cheek to stop himself.

"As long as we keep to our mines Lolotte doesn't bother us, but we are not blind to her evil. Things stir in the shadows, and we have had more cave ins in the last decade then all the years before combined. But we can not leave, not while the stone calls to us."

Some of the dwarves had stood, clearly readying to leave again.

"We must get back to the mines. If you need us the mines lie south of here. Good-bye, and good luck on your quest."

One of the other dwarves called out, "and thanks for the soup!" as they marched out again. Gwydion sighed, and cleaned the bowls. As he cleared the table he noticed the pouch of the Tamirite the old dwarf had forgotten. Opening it he saw three small Tamirites, smaller then his finger nail. Shaking his head at obsessive dwarves, Gwydion gathered the pouch up and went to find the mine.

To the south of the dwarves house the forested thickened. Almost perfectly cone-shaped bright green spruce and fir were occasionally interspaced with the smooth grey bark round shaped alder, the towering trunks of black and white striped aspens and hawthorns bearing bright red fruit. Gwydion picked a few of the ripest pome off, avoiding the long wicked needles and chewed the sweet juicy flesh, spiting out the seeds as he traveled. It was much nicer then the soup which had made up breakfast. He slipped a few in one pouch of his belt. He had found that he could put as many of the same item in one pouch and still have the enchantment work. He was also pleasantly surprised to find a large overgrown blackberry vine. He picked a few of the closest berries, which he ate all of straight away, but wasn't willing to brave the thorns for more. Soon he emerged from he tree line to see the rocky outcrop, which had a ramshackle open plank door set in. Gwydion moved easily into the darkened opening.

Stones glittered and sparkled from the earthen walls of the Seven Dwarfs' mine. Within it, Gwydion could see the little men busily at work. Seeing a dwarf who appeared to be idling by a bucket filled with uncut clear stones, Gwydion attempted to ask for directions to the leader dwarf. But as he didn't actually know a name he just asked for who was in charge. In reply the dwarf only muttered under his breath in perturbation. He peered up at Gwydion with mild agitation. "This ain't no place for a lady, Rosella!" he firmly stated. "I don't wanna see you get hurt in here!"

"I'll stay out of the way, but I really need to talk to the leader."

His gruff exterior softened a bit. "Fine, but be careful. He is down there, closing off one of the old tunnels." The dwarf pointed to one of the openings. "Can't miss it."

"Thank you."

Gwydion made his way down into the mine. The dwarfs came in and out of the multiple doorways. Each must lead to a different part of the mine. It would be very easy to get lost down here. As soon as he entered the indicated doorway the leader dwarf shouted up at him, "Rosella, what are you doing here? Give up already?"

The leader was standing to one side, supervising another dwarf nailed a set of wooden beams across a tunnel opening. On each was a set of runes in thick black paint.

Gwydion's curiosity got the better of him and he indicated the boards and asked, "No, I haven't given up. What does that mean?"

"Tis a warning. The first half says death, the second that the tunnel is unstable. We've mined out the section, and its more trouble then worth to shore up the walls even more."

"Oh. You left this pouch behind. I thought I should return it."

"Nah, you can keep it as payment for cleaning, Rosella," he said, smiling. "They are just the small off cuts I kept to practice my shaping. We also got an extra lantern we ain't using. Here, go ahead and take it. If you're lost, you should talk to the fisherman to the south of here. He has been here for decades, and may know where to find your magical fruit." The dwarf's gruffness returned as he said, "Now, skedaddle on out of here!"

Doing just that, Gwydion made his way back to the surface.