Dark Thane

"That's a question for the philosophers and the engineers," Crystal said. "The only thing you have to worry about now is making sure your people are safe, their fears dispelled. Now get dressed and prepare yourself to do your duty. You can't let your fears show." A bustle and rattle of armor outside the door announced the arrival of Ghash Grisbane and Tarn's escort of guards.

"Tor and I will be fine," she said. "I won't let anything happen to him."

Surrendering to her will with a nod and a sigh, Tarn began to dress.

26

His escort of six Klar guards followed him to the gate. Ghash ordered it opened, and outside they found a crowd already gathering. The relief of seeing their king emerge spread visibly though the crowd, like a pebble thrown into a pond. Young and eager to prove himself, Ghash barged forward to prevent anyone from coming too close to Tarn.

Yet the crowd greeted him with friendliness that barely covered their nervousness. Tarn resented them only a little, because in his heart he knew the fear that they felt. Yesterday, most of the people at his gate wouldn't have wished him a good morning. Now they were gladly shouting his name. There was no getting through them easily. Tarn ordered Ghash to wait while he heard them out. The Klar captain sighed and nervously fingered his axe while standing close behind his king, his eyes scanning the crowd.

"First of all, is anyone injured?" Tarn asked in a booming voice.

A chorus of cries answered him.

"Grinder's mother cut her foot on a piece of broken crockery."

"I've bruised my hip from where I fell out of bed. I thought it was only my husband snoring!"

"There's a crack in my wall and now my door won't close."

Tarn raised his hands for silence. "We can deal with the damages later. The main thing now is to see to the injured and to make sure everyone is accounted for. Send Grinder's mother to the healers. Do you need someone to look at that hip?"

"It's nothing serious, my lord," the matronly dwarf woman answered with a smile and a curtsy. She gathered her children and turned away. "I'll go check on my neighbors."

"That's an excellent idea," Tarn shouted. "Everyone see to your neighbors. If no one is hurt, check your own homes for damage. I am going to the Council Hall now. If you have any problems or concerns, bring them to me there and I'll address them swiftly."

The crowd began to break up. Tarn and his guards slowly made their way through the people until they were into a clearer street. All along the way, in every neighborhood and market, they attracted a crowd. Again and again, he stopped and urged the citizens to see to the welfare of their neighbors, to take care of one another until some order and plan could be put into place. If they had serious and immediate concerns, they should follow him to the Council Hall. And though crowds gathered around them wherever they went, Tarn was relieved to see that only a few were following him to the Council Hall, and these seemed mostly to be the curious and the bored.

Tarn saw few signs of serious damage anywhere along the way; a toppled lamppost here, a jagged crack in the pavement there. One street near the Council Hall had flooded when the sewer pipe backed up, but engineers were already busy effecting repairs. At another place, the way was blocked by a herd of lowing cave oxen who had escaped their pen when its walls crumbled. Children stood in doorways, staring around sleepy-headed but excited by all the commotion; their mothers and fathers hovered near, reliving their experiences with their neighbors.

Tarn took the straightest route possible to the Council Hall, but all the interruptions and detours meant a considerable delay. By the time he arrived, he found Jungor Stonesinger there ahead of him, already holding audience on the Council steps outside, a throng of dwarves filling the plaza. Tarn heard Jungor's voice, deep and resonant, even before he saw him.

"There is nothing to fear," Jungor was saying. "All indications are that it was only a small groundquake. Such things are to be expected, every once in a while, even here in Thorbardin. Everyone should just go home and go back to bed. We'll take care of everything."

Growling a curse, Ghash Grisbane cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted, "The king is here! Make way for the king!"

The crowd split apart like the wave before the bow of a boat. Here at the Council Hall, the faces that greeted the king were not so friendly as those in his own neighborhood. Many stared at him as though he were an unwelcome intruder rather than the king. What was more, Tarn was the last of the Council Members to arrive. All the other thanes were already gathered on the steps-even Grumple Nagfar, the wayward thane of the Aghar.

As Tarn approached the steps, a wry smile twisted Jungor's acid-deformed face. "Ah, good! The king has come at last," he said in a voice dripping with sarcasm. "I just sent my master of scouts, Ferro Dunskull, to look for you."