Esmerelda's Triumph

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The Wager

Streams of sunlight banished the night as the sun crested above a small mountain hamlet many leagues from the Black Moor. It rose on a picturesque village filled with meticulously kept homes that flanked a lone, winding dirt lane. A street sign read: "BOULDER MOUNTAIN BOULEVARD."

While Esmerelda awaited Finkle, the Wizard of Wizards, to arrive, something was occurring in this faraway corner of the kingdom that would have a profound impact on her and her sister.

Two roads led out of Boulder Mountain. One went south to Middleburg, while the other, a less-traveled one, went in a northwesterly direction to the forest.

At precisely an hour after dawn, dwarf men in mining attire left their homes and traveled up the road toward the sole industry in that humble burg, a mine. The ore pulled out of the mine contained mostly silver, with small amounts of gold, copper, and traces of other minerals and a few gems.

The ore was not processed there and had to be shipped by horse-drawn cart down a treacherous mountain pass to the town of Middleburg. Not only that, but they also did not even own a horse or a wagon; that was supplied by the refinery in Middleburg.

Though Boulder Mountain produced the lion’s share of silver ore in the kingdom, few in the kingdom knew of its existence. Everyone in the kingdom associated silver with Middleburg. The inhabitants of Boulder Mountain paid little attention to their lack of notoriety because that meant they could proceed with life as they pleased and not have to answer to anyone. Their remote location also played a great part in their anonymity. While there was a roof over their heads, clothes on their backs, food on the table, and mead in the inn, they were satisfied.

Kandar was one of those miners, but he was being delayed by his wife, Parcella, who held him by the arm, pulled him to her, and planted a big kiss on his lips. "Don’t you be forgetting so quickly," she demanded.

"Sorry, Pumpkin," he apologized with chagrin. He had not meant to be rude that morning, but he was distracted as concern about their future had him preoccupied. They had only been married for five years, and their love affair had started when they were just children. Their marriage had been the talk of the town back then. She wore a neat, simple dress and smacked him on the rear as he rushed off to work. His fellow workers chided him while he rushed to get in line, which caused him to turn beet red. Only briefly, though. He was quite proud of his pumpkin and gloried in her.

Kandar was as good a person as most, but he was prone to taking chances without thoroughly considering the consequences. This was due to his temper, which got a bit out of control at times. His feelings toward Angus, to whom he owed a lot, often boiled over. When he went to Angus to make a payment on his debt and was told that the interest was almost more than his payment, he threatened to expose Angus as a greedy interest monger. That was like water off a duck’s back to Angus. He just sniggered making Kandar all the angrier.

Angus was a very recent addition to their village. At first, when he showed up, he was welcomed. His mercantile provided many of the hard-to-get items they previously had to travel long distances to obtain, such as spices, cloth, mining picks and shovels, shoes, and furs. His prices were competitive, and he freely gave out credit. When the mine began to dry up, though, everything changed. Prices rose, and credit dried up as well. Then, he turned into a stingy debt collector and began to squeeze them dry.

Parcella was the more practical of the two. She was a down-to-earth person and was no wastrel when it came to their meager resources. However, no children have graced their family as of yet.

The men’s daily trek up the street had become quite a time-honored tradition. It was not that they were militaristic, but that they were a tight-knit community. It was a timed event. The men, at the top of the boulevard, would start out precisely one hour after sunrise. As they moved up the street, miner after miner joined the procession until they were a great company by the time they reached the mine.

Unfortunately, their generations-old way of life had been threatened over the past several weeks. Slowly, the ore that had once been plentiful was petering out and becoming harder and harder to find. If the mine dried up, Boulder Mountain would surely become a ghost town. The miners were aware of the implications, and anxiety was weighing on them, but they tried to make the best of the situation. The mine foreman reassured his workers that they were going to find another vein any day. But as time dragged on, it was becoming harder and harder to keep up the miners’ spirits.

That included Kandar who was normally jovial, except when around Angus or when he was losing his temper. He worried, fretted, and stewed about it enough that it nearly wore Parcella out, though she did her best to buoy her husband up. What bothered him more than anything else was Angus’ attitude. He not only lambasted the mine but also seemed to enjoy it as if he were happy about its failure.

Near the end of the street, a ramshackle building stood out from the rest. Crates and items, obviously junk, surrounded it. It was an eyesore that irked Boulder Mountain’s citizenry to no end. On the porch was a rough-hewn sign that read: ANGUS MERCANTILE. Angus stood on his porch, which he did every morning, watching the procession of miners as they passed by. He defied aging with his albino complexion and pale orange hair. He was dressed like an Arabian merchant, although he wore it sloppily, and on his face, he sported a mustache and goatee.

The miners did not much like him, not just because of his appearance, but also because he was a half-breed. His mother was a Derro, a dwarf of a different kind. They were looked down upon by other dwarfs, such as those who lived in Kandar’s village. They were also known to have a very dour and even spiteful disposition. It was rumored that his mother hexed his father with a love potion to get him. The fact that he was the only merchant in the village, of which he took full advantage, did not help his reputation.

As the miners passed by his mercantile, Angus took notice of Kandar's glaring gaze. They stared at one another, and it was obvious that there was no love lost between them. Angus seemed to dare Kandar as he snapped, "What are you staring at, Kandar? Toddle off to that hole in the ground because it won't be open much longer."

Perhaps, knowing Kandar’s weakness, Angus had deliberately taunted him just to see him snap. Like everyone else, Kandar owed him a lot of money. But, unlike them, Kandar was more vocal about his feelings toward Angus. It also might have been Angus’ Derro nature surfacing.

Whatever Angus was doing, it stuck in Kandar’s craw a little too much. "You're wrong. There is plenty of ore down there in that mine," Kandar snapped back as he broke step with the rest and paused. He set his pickaxe, head down, on the ground in front of Angus and leaned on it defiantly.

Angus’ brow furrowed and his eyebrows dipped. The pupils of his eyes, normally narrow slits, got even narrower. The stare wars had been officially declared.

The miners gathered around them and gasped as the two antagonists glowered at one another with looks that seemed to goad each other into an all-out battle.

Angus fired back, "You're a hopeless fool, or else you are blind! Only a trickle of ore has come out of that hole in the ground you call a mine in nearly a fortnight now."

Kandar bit his lip and crossed his fingers behind his back before replying, "We're bound to find another vein and be back to normal before long." Kandar’s feelings had been deeply hurt to hear it lowered to the level of a mere hole in the ground. He was visibly shaken and sweating as he traded words with Angus. He wanted to wipe his brow but his pride dictated that he not let Angus see it. Moreover, he wanted to wipe the grin off Angus’ face.

Angus sneered at him with no sign of concern. "Well, something tells me it’s not happening anytime soon. Meanwhile, you best figure out how you are going to pay me." He glared at the others and insinuated, "It would be advisable if everyone else did, too."

Kandar was the only one who dared say anything, but even he gulped hard when he scolded, "Don't be so uppity. Just because you're the only merchant here doesn't make it right to ask what you do." He really hoped to shame Angus into backing down, but it was like water off a duck’s back. His stoic, stubborn, growly face confirmed it did not bother him in the least.

"I thought we were talking about the mine closing."

"You were. I'm now talking about charging unfair prices when folks are down on their luck." Kandar’s heart sank into his boots as his unrealistic hopes were dashed, and that was when he heard the foreman whistle. He looked around to see his fellow miners disappear into the mine and the women and children waving him on, so he slung his pickaxe back over his shoulder and started to catch up with the others.

Angus dared him, "You can always go to Despairia, or maybe you'll find someone who can charge a fairer price."

Kandar realized that Angus was being doubly spiteful on account of several reasons. First, Despairia was nearly a two-day journey over rough terrain. Second, no dwarf from Boulder Mountain would take the journey alone due to the inherent dangers along the way, sometimes from wild packs of wolves, some cave bears, and it was even said that a troll had been seen there; other times, due to low-life thieves. Third, Despairia was without question the dreariest place in the world. To say the least, trips there were indeed rare.

Kandar paused again briefly before uttering, "Maybe so."

"And who is that? You?" Angus exclaimed with astonishment.

Kandar nearly choked as he spat out, "I’m not saying now… but if it were me, I wouldn’t take advantage of folks, but I do have some connections." That was a pure lie and an outright boast. He had no idea where he would even begin to find any backers, but he would do anything to get one over on Angus and turn his smugness into embarrassment. His pride wouldn’t allow otherwise. That was his nature.

"You're a bigger fool than I thought," Angus roared back.

Being called a fool was all that Kandar could take. "We’ll see about that," he snapped with doubled fists and furrowed brows. What he did next would have caused any half-witted fool to think twice, but he was so incensed that he was reckless. "Double what I owe you or nothing," he said, showing his impulsive nature and proud vanity. As those words left his lips, he wished that he had kept his mouth shut.

"You're a double fool, but I'll not pass on that wager." Angus’ words nearly choked him as he bent over with laughter and rolled in the street.

Kandar stormed off to work, but he felt hollow inside while throwing a quip over his shoulder. "Seeing you lose this one is going to be mighty satisfying." Angus continued to howl with laughter in the background as Kandar entered the mine.