Chapter 5
Disguises and Beginnings
There were anxious whispers of excitement as merchants as far away as Dale were lined up, each tapping an excited foot in anticipation for the new day at the market. The smell of fish, bread, spices, and herbs of all kinds wafted through the air as a short merchant pushed through the crowd with the enthusiasm of a hobbit getting second breakfast.
"Pardon me", "I'm sorry lad", "excuse me miss" and so on as he made his way to the front of the line. Bright colors of blue and white hung from the battlements before the travelers. A few men-at-arms, local militia made up of the commoners, manned the battlements in squads of 10, each led by a knight of Dol-Amroth. These knights were of pure noble blood and had status from their family lineage. Only a few squads could be seen on the battlements, for there was no need to defend the city today.
With a thud and a grinding sound, the gate to the city began to slowly open, revealing the light from the city inside. Three gatekeepers confronted the travelers on the other side of the gate: one on the left side, middle and right side of the city's entrance. They wore gray cloaks with blue shirts and black trousers beneath. In the middle of each shirt was the white symbol of the swan ship in a stormy sea. The short merchant chose the gatekeeper to the right. As he was first in line, the gatekeeper promptly asked his normal question, "What is your business today, sir?"
"I'm here to find a business partner in your fine city sir!", exclaimed the merchant.
"Interesting, very interesting. Well, I hope you fare well, even though I must warn you that most people are very wary of outsiders. What is your name and where are you from?"
"I'm Dwafelt, a dwarf from the blue mountains and proud of it!"
….
Saphira had hid her Harshârin's cloak in a traveling pack before donning a peasant's disguise as she stepped out of the forest and heading toward the city of Dol-Amroth. As she came closer to the city, she saw it had once been a great city, that was barely keeping its appearance intact. She was met with happy faces hiding worried glances from merchants waiting in line. One man had his hands in his money pouch, turning it over and over, as if he felt at any moment they would disappear. To Saphira, it seemed as if a suffocating tension filled the air.
As she began to become impatient at the holdup in the baking sun, a short stocky fellow was making his way through the line as he plowed into Sapphira with a "excuse me miss" before bumping into another person and another on his way to the front of the line. "Dwarves'' Saphira muttered to herself as she rolled her eyes.
The line inched forward, closer to the gate, causing Saphira to feel a nervous rush of adrenaline go through her body as she prepared for her first challenge. The adventure of a mission always thrilled her, even though she had done these enough times that Karden had always said she was a natural and the envy of Malif, who never seemed to pull off a mission without a complication. Still, she felt the immense pressure to outdo everyone else, to prove she had what it took, even though she was not raised in the order from birth like Kardên, Kadshâ and Malif.
As she approached the walls of Dol-Amroth, three gate keepers stood to oppose her. Following the lead of the merchant in front of her, she took the left gate. At the gate an older guard was stationed, with kind eyes, furrowed brows and a weathered staff in hand that gave him the appearance of a harmless old chap chatting it away as he leaned on his staff with peasants and merchants making their way into the city. As she moved farther up in the line, she felt a nervous tingle go through her spine. As he talked with each person, his eyes seemed to be curiously inspecting each visitor. Perhaps he was just fascinated with the host of different people coming into the city, but more likely, he was analyzing each person to assess whether he or she was a threat to Dol-Amroth. I have to be careful, or this mission could end right here, Saphirra thought to herself.
As the merchant in front of her went on his way, Saphirra straightened herself and stepped up for examination by the old guard. "Good morning, miss. What brings you today to our fine city?" Considering his age, she went for the heart wrenching story, "Hello good sir, I'm from the town of Bree, and you see, my father became very sick with a fever a fourth night ago…and he asked me to find a healer of some sorts. But as you might know, there's not a wealth of healing knowledge to be found in Bree, so I thought Dol-Amroth would be the closest place to find a healer who could put together a remedy for my father. Do you know of a healer with a good reputation?" Saphirra asked shakingly, with desperation in her eyes…or so she hoped. Nodding his white-haired head, the guard looked intently at Saphirra as if weighing the truth found in her tale. After a few moments, his countenance softened and he said in a compassionate voice, there's a healer just inside the market square to the left who has been known to heal the infirmities of many, but I have to warn you that everything you look to purchase in Dol-Amroth will be pricy from the recent tax increase from the Bankers' Guild.
With resolute in her eyes, she responded, "Well, I have come this far, and I won't be leaving till I find who I'm looking for." She said before the man let her through the gate into the bustling city. Heading to the left, she entered the marketplace to find out what the merchants knew about her target.
The shops were busting at the seams with merchants and travelers from all over the region as Banker Guild guards corralled the customers into the market. A group of men obviously from Lamedon moved past her wearing kilts of blue and white, while men of the Blackroot vale were examining fine arrow heads. But as she acquainted herself with the merchants and talked about the prince, no one seemed to know a clue about him. "It must have been 10 years since I have seen the prince out in daylight." Another merchant complained, "He hides from us poor folks because he doesn't want to be bothered by our troubles." "I would ask the Banker's guild if I were you, but information could be costly", another warned. Irritated, Saphirra scanned the market for any other possible informants.
….
A few yards from Saphirra stood a young orphan eyeing some apples innocently as the seller was busy with the bustle of customers. Looking over her shoulder, she saw her friend Hal standing on a crate above the crowd. His eyes as fierce as a rebel leader, he raised his fist silently in the air to signal for the distraction.
She looked across the market at an alleyway where Hustle and Sandy were crouched behind a pile of crates, with a cage containing the distraction. Then, with the two nodding at Hal in unison, they unlatched the cage, unleashing the ferocious rats into the crowd. The throng erupted in a frenzy as Hustle and Sandy fell to the ground laughing. The Banker Guild guards tried to control the crowd as the travelers tried to scurry away from the small rats, but many of them ended up colliding with another panicked traveler instead.
The young orphan studied the face of the apple shopkeeper. His eyes were wide with concern accompanied with a hint of suspicion and a slight frown as if he knew something fishy was going on. He nervously kept one eye on his apples and another on the crowd. As the orphan waited for the right moment, adrenaline pumped in her veins. Then, a panicked baker slammed into the keeper, knocking him to the ground. And with that, Sarah pulled a bag out of her pouch and slid ten apples right off the counter. Then with a grin towards Hal she hurried away from the shopkeeper, who got up just in time to see the girl run away with a bag of his precious apples.
"Hey! Thief! Thief! Come here you little brat!" As the man charged after her. But the crowd was too thick with panicked people, so the girl was able to slip between the peasants with ease as the shopkeeper struggled to advance. Then as Sarah headed for an alley, she heard the keeper call out "Hey guards! Grab the girl, she stole my produce!". Looking behind her in dismay, three nearby guards charged towards her from the outskirts of the crowd. Picking up the pace, she looked behind her again and accidentally ran into a peasant woman, knocking herself back. The peasant's eyes glowed as if they were made of pure sapphire, stopping Sara in her tracks for moment, before racing towards the alley.
But the momentary distraction of the peasant, allowed the guards to reach the alley first - forcing her to take a detour. Panicked, Sarah choose the next alley, behind the Sailing Smithery just as a young blacksmith was taking out the trash. Sarah raced past him while clutching her prize as the guards were closing in. Sara hurriedly looked for a path out of the alley before the young man caught her arm and calling out behind him "I got her!" Sara gave him an icy stare before stomping on his foot, causing him to let go with a yelp. But the guards had closed in with swords drawn and Sara was backed into the alley corner.
….
Saphira was startled and then curious by the panic of the crowd. Peering into the stampede, Saphira perceived small dark objects weaving through the crowd. She started to chuckle to herself when she recognized them as harmless rats. Saphira shook her head, I have no time for distractions - need to focus on the mission.
But then an orphan ran into Saphirra's side, and she saw panic in her eyes.
An memory of Saphira's younger self feeling panicked as the corsairs loaded her on their ship flooded her mind. Saphirra thought, No, I have to stay focused on the mission, I can't be distracted. Before she could say anything, the girl ran past her but turned directions when three guards blocked her path into the nearest alley.
Saphirra turned back to the market, but then grinned. It's only a few guards. It would just take a second.
….
As the guild guards held Sara at sword point the blacksmith said "C'mon guys, aren't you being a little too hard on he-" as one guard pushed him back causing the young man to trip and hit his head on a crate, knocking him unconscious. "This is none of your concern, blade-boy. Stick with selling crude weapons and leave protecting the peace to us", he said with a chuckle. The guard turned just before a peasant women jumped down from the roof of the Sailing Smithery between the girl and the guards.
Before the guards could react, Saphirra sprang onto the guards in a flurry of kicks and punches leaving them unconscious on the alley floor.
"How did you.." Sarah said in wonder as Saphirra turned to look at her. "You're the woman I bumped into at the market! But why?", she wondered out loud.
Without a word Saphirra climbed back onto the rooftop and jumped out of sight.
"Thank you." Sara whispered before disappearing from the alley with only an unconscious blacksmith left behind.
….
As Dwafelt wandered the market, he visited every blacksmith shop in town, but was promptly shown the door as soon as he mentioned the possibility of partnering with them. Blacksmith after blacksmith would respond, "We have been just fine without a dwarf meddling in our affairs, return to your home and leave us be - dwarf craftsmanship does not belong in a city of men", or something similar. As Dwafelt stepped out of his most recent conversation, he sighed wearily and whispered to himself "I guess a dwarf is not welcomed or needed here ... back to the Blue Mountains I go" with his head hung low in defeat. As he headed for the gates, he realized there was one last smith shop he had overlooked. The Sailing Smithery, well I guess it's worth a go. Don't want to face my father again unless I have looked into every nook and cranny of the city, he thought wearily.
As he stepped into the store, he heard a surprisingly young voice call out,
"What brings you into the sailing ship smithery today, sir?"
The young blacksmith rubbed a bruise on his head as he rounded the corner of the front desk. When he saw the dwarf he looked startled and then elated.
"You're a dwarf! Your people's craftsmanship is legendary! Come, please take a seat right here and tell me what I can do for you."
"Well", a pleasantly surprised Dwafelt replied , "I was looking for -
"I know exactly what you are looking for!" replied the lad excitedly, "one of our fine axes that the stoic axemen of Lossarnach use in combat. The lad grabbed an axe and added a display of hacking an unforeseen foe before saying "Here you go sir!" The blacksmith handed Dwafelt a crudely sharpened axe that looked more like an orc's axe than a lossarnach's axe.
"Now hold on now, I wasn't looking to buy -"
"Oh …. sorry, I just got so excited cause I haven't seen a customer in weeks ... sorry", the lad replied sheepishly.
Dwafelt's countenance softened. "It's all good lad, no harm done", Dwafelt said as he laid the orc axe on the counter. Suddenly having compassion for the young smith, Dwafelt said, "I am trying to tell you something that might make up for a vacancy in clients."
The lad suddenly looked up expectantly with hope.
"I came into town today to look for a business partner and - "
"YES!" The lad sprang forward enthusiastically and violently shook Dwafelt's hand, "Thank you so much! You are more than welcome to set up shop here. I have sculpts in the back that need some improvement. Can you make a double bladed axe? And a broadsword?"
All Dwafelt could do was nod before the smith ran to the back of the shop. As the smith stepped through the doorway into the backroom, he called over his shoulder, "My name is Malthil, come on back whenever you are ready".
Dwafelt shook his head and said to himself, "This is going to be more challenging than I thought."