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"Idwarf a partner," Vekay said, looking at Djer

"Seconded," Zedkay said as Sekyw fell into a barrel chair with a thump

"All in favor?" Vekay said, as he and Zedkay lifted their supports high

The ancient dwarves held aloft their crystal canes, the tips at the base sparkled through some inner incandescence

"Motion carried by Simple Majority, for the record," Vekay said "Off the record, it was a unanimity I’d like to welcome our new Partner, Djer, and invest hies therein ’Bout time this leaky al," Ehtly spaced fine print on the scroll

"Will you take the bargain, Auron?" Djer said, blinking as if he had stepped into bright sunlight

"Of course,the banquet on the side table He found a platter of sausages, conveniently linked, and began to eat After they disappeared, heyou’ll require, young Partner?" Vekay asked

"I’ll need an assistant, to help with sundry on," Djer said "I’d like Sekyw--he’s a good dwarf, and he could do with a taste of travel"

"What sort of sundryhim?" Sekyw said in a quiet voice

Djer watched Auron eat "Yes, and other things You’ll see what you’ll be dealing ithin the hour of that roast disappearing"

The three partners laughed

"You’ll head up the Iron Road tomorrow," Zedkay said "If I reht, you’ll have to hurry; oods havedoesn’t have his wings yet"

"We’ll leave at once No sense wasting a night We can sleep on whatever cargo’sthe run now"

Auron held the roast in his forepaws, dribbling juice on the carpet "No, after we eat And stock up on sausages"

Chapter 13

Wallander was just that: a land surrounded by a wall The palisade enclosed gardens, pastures, the riverbank, and landing A few houses, with only half-walls of clay bricks keeping the called shacks, sat at the riverside There was no dock proper A long spit of ravel to form a dike Shallow-draft boats just pitched up on the dike; deeper ones lowered planks to the spit

The wall had a single tower in the center and at each end: round wooden constructs of three rings, each one s in a old banner of the Diadeon’s tail Soe to Auron There was an arch underneath, tall enough for a dwarf to walk upright Auron thought it an unusual kind of gate, but one that would alloarves and their flocks to pass easily outside the walls Over the walls Auron saw the dust-streaked backs of a herd of wraxapods

There agons, though not as ined when the Caravan had been described to hi rail-to-river trip Djer and Sekyw pored overto prepare the that would take place in the fabled bazaars at the other side of the steppes

Auron studied the erous steppe country Auron had seen some of it in mind-pictures from his father, and heard more from Djer and his new assistant as they discussed the Caravan’s journey The steppe was a brown land of extremes: heat and cold, mud and snoith dust in between It ned by the fabled Ironriders, endlessly warring clans ere born, lived, and died on their horses They were no pelts and cattle even for the horseshoes that gave the clans their na the rivers cutting the plains and ruins that hinted at a greater culture before that of the Ironriders

Djer’s new role as Partner, coolden chain--a last-ift from Zedkay, who claiave him instant deference on the rails and river, except by the captain of the Sura in imitation of cattails

"Full of wind, and cheek," Djer said after he asked the captain if they would make Wallander in time for the Caravan for the second day in a row The vessel, nale-alley that could be rowed--even by Partners, as Djer learned--on the few occasions when the wind didn’t serve She sailed crammed with last-minute supplies and travelers for the Caravan

To pass the time and settle his nerves, Djer fashioned a "rooster claw" for the stuauntlet and modified it into a sock that fit over the stump A tiny round shield covered one side, and Djer fixed a point taken froht and handy, entirely satisfactory except for one itele" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>