Emma pt. 7

Want to start at the beginning? - Emma, Part 1

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The Laudriel estate and the Velshin field it boardered rested on the upper slope of the dwin valley. From the front door of the estate, a huge archway carved out of the rock face, Emma could see the valley spread before her. The sky was clear and bright, the sun just rising over the eastern edge of the valley.

The upper slopes of the valley were mostly fields and farmland, varying shades of green in a patchwork pattern. Other estates were scattered throughout, but none were built fully into the mountainside like the Laudreil estate. They spilled out of the stone, gray against the green fields that surrounded them.

Further down the valley, following the twisting roads that led down the slope, grey stone buildings dotted the land. The closer to the center of the valley the denser the buildings grew until the city itself appeared at the spot where the many roads converged. Dwin houses and public buildings did not rise higher than two stories so it looked more like a quarry of grey stone carved out of the center of the valley than a collection of buildings.

The Ardent stood in the very center of the city. Even at such a distance it looked massive, rising out of the ground, taking up a space large enough to accommodate a dozen of the surrounding buildings.

He looked east over the valley, his back pointed toward the distant coast, his head bent down, studying the tools in his hands. Emma saw the statue from the side, his immense right arm and shoulder hunched over his work.

She leaned against the carved stone archway. It was a detailed relief of the dwin and dwarves working together to build the city. Paldurain was one of dozens of cities dwarves had helped erect. The dwarves had no permanent homes of their own, but moved around through the land at the will of the Unyielding God, sculpting the world as he saw fit. Some dwarves lived in Paldurain, side by side with their sibling race, but the vast majority of them were nomads, making temporary homes in the enclaves they built into mountains throughout the world.

A form appeared on the long path leading to Emma’s house, emerging from a bend in the road. She suspected at once that it was Rilen, and it only took a moment of inspection to know she was right.

She bolted forward and instantly regretted her attire. She’d wanted to look professional, responsible, so had chosen a yellow silk dress that went down past her knees. The matching shoes hit the ground and she could feel the fabric pull and stretch against the gravel; too much running and she would wear holes through them. The dress wasn’t too constraining, but its flowing sleeves whipped behind her annoyingly.

“Emma,” Rilen called and waved, “are you ready?”

“Yes,” Emma said as she approached, “I am.” She stopped and scooped Rilen’s hand in her own, “I’m going to do it, I’m going to sponsor Deem.”

Rilen squeezed her hand and bounced in delight, “Oh Emma, that is so wonderful.” Her face broke into a wide smile and Emma smiled with her, laughing and wrapping her friend in a hug.

Rilen finally pushed away and struggled to put her expression into something more composed. Emma pulled back, but kept her wide grin.

“We do still have to win the contract,” Rilen said, “but with the workers Deem’s organized, and with your support, we should have the best proposal.”

“We should get there, I need to get some more details from Deem so I’m ready to present my patronage to the Assembly.”

They walked down the path at a much slower pace than Emma would have liked, Rilen had not thought to bring the rabbit skin boots. The packed gravel crunched under their feet and a warm breeze blew.

Emma asked Rilen questions about Deem’s business as they made their way along the winding roads. She already knew most of what she would need to make her presentation. The Merchant’s Assembly was a formal place, but not an ostentatious one. Contract negotiations were straight forward, with the petitioners plainly reporting what resources and labor they could bring to a contract and what compensation they were expecting in return. Though many complex political and personal factors played into every contract, those matters were handled in private, not on the floor of the Assembly.

The only things Emma still needed to know were the specifics of how many workers, dwin and human, would be employed, and the delivery schedules.

The sun slowly moved through the sky and the countryside vanished around them, replaced by granaries, kewel stables, and other public buildings. Before them The Ardent towered up toward the sky. As they approached the base of the valley the enormity of the statue grew more apparent. It blocked out the sky above it and hid the far slope of the valley.

Even after visiting the city more times than she could count, Emma still couldn’t help but crank her neck up to see the huge form.

His back was bent, his focus toward the ground where each of his hands held carving tools. He worked at the rock from which his own leg emerged, seeming to chip away the stone to free himself from the ground. There was no platform or base, he appeared to carve himself out of raw stone of the valley floor. Emma knew this was an illusion. The stone had been harvested outside the valley and worked to look like one solid mass at the valley’s center.

As they walked past ever denser clusters of buildings, still only the very bottom of The Ardent was obscured. The city streets were cobbled stone and Emma quickened her pace, feeling the smooth stone through the silk. Rilen hurried after as they darted past grey stone buildings and dwin walking through the streets.

Most people were dressed in the bright, fiery colors that were popular among dwin, which matched their shining red and yellow eyes.

The girls took the last turn in the winding streets and emerged onto the open courtyard around The Ardent. This close, the details of his form were finally clear. What seemed like smooth skin and cloth from afar was revealed to be an uneven surface, shaped into many small forms.

Before them was The Unyielding God’s right arm, but the flesh of his arm was raised, rippling and folding. Emma had stood at the base of the statue before, staring into the stone until the true shape of it was clear. They were faces, hands, arms, people. They were dwarves. Every part of him was made of hundreds of dwarves, each one a small part of his nature, an expression of his will and his purpose.  

“There they are.” Rilen said, taking Emma’s arm and leading her across the courtyard.

Benches and topiaries were scattered throughout the courtyard. Deem and his people gathered around one bench, near the entrance to the Merchant’s Assembly. Deem stood next to the bench, his hands on his hips as he spoke to the rest, Rilen called his name and he turned and waved them over.

Parien was sprawled on the bench behind Deem, one leg resting on it, her arm slung over the carved back.

Lison was behind the bench, leaning on it, his head tilted up to stare at the massive back of The Ardent. When he heard Rilen he turned as well, waving and smiling at Emma. In the sunlight she could see just how pale his skin was, a milky white that contrasted his dark hair. Most of the humans Emma had seen in Paluderian had tan skin, so to her he looked foreign, exotic.

He leaned forward as they approached and she saw another man who had been obscured by Lison. He sat on the back of the bench, facing away from the monument, his legs resting behind Parien’s head. His elbows were on his knees and he was watching the Assembly Hall. Emma was sure it was the man she’d seen at the campfire. His narrow, bony face looked the same, and messy orange locks surrounded his head in a tangle.

“Emma dear, it’s so good to see you.” Parien said as she remained seated.

“My little Lady, you look very lovely today.” Lison inclined his head and Emma though for the first time that her dress was rather nice, “You didn’t come to visit us at the campsite, Juniper and I missed you.”

“I had some work to do, and a decision to make.”

“So, you’ve made up your mind?” Deem asked.

“Yes,” she cast her eyes quickly from face to face, finally resting on Deem, “I’ll be your Patron.”

Deem exhaled a quick sigh and nodded, and Parien smiled broadly. Lison rush forward and put his hands around Emma’s waist, lifting her in a hug and spinning her once in a circle, the long sleeves of her dress trailing behind. She let out a high pitched laugh and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him back. He placed her back on the ground and Rilen took her hand, hugging her as well.

“This is wonderful Emma, thank you.” Parien said, sitting up straight, but still not standing.

“I knew our little Lady wouldn’t be able to resist,” Lison said, patting Deem on the shoulder. In the daylight Emma could see Lison’s eyes were a dark brown, almost black.

The redhead turned away from the Assembly Hall, and stared at Emma with blue eyes, his mouth a straight, emotionless line.

“Very good Emma. Thank you,” Deem darted his eyes down as he spoke, then back to her face, taking a deep breath, “You’ll need to be ready to present when the Assembly convenes.”

Emma explained what information she already had, and what she still needed to know. He told her about the workers, the size of the crew and how often they could make deliveries. She recited her whole presentation to him, with the new data included, more for his piece of mind than her own. Emma had a quick mind for facts and figures, needing little repetition to commit something to memory.

“That is excellent Emma. If you present it like that, Hillsman would be a fool to refuse.” Deem clasped her around the forearm and squeezed.

After that they waited around the bench for a time. Rilen talked to her brother about the dwin he’d hired, and the humans talked and occasionally whispered together, drawing a few stares from passing dwin. Though humans were not completely uncommon in Paludrian, they were not often seen lounging around in The Ardent’s courtyard.

Lison gestured Emma over to lean with him against the bench. She did so and glanced up at The Ardent, aware of Lison’s arm brushing against her own.

“You’ll love Blue Coast, there’s no other city in the world like it. And the ride there is amazing, we’ll skirt the outer edge of Red Iron Forest.”

“It all sounds fanastic, I can’t wait.” Her head swam with pictures from her books and the landscapes she’d constructed in her mind.

“Still,” Lison gestured up to the statue, “You won’t see anything like this in Blue Coast. This is something unto itself.” He brought his hand down and sheltered his eyes from the sun, which was now shining along the statue’s edge, “You start to understand why people worship the dwarves when you can see what they did.”

“What?” Deem looked up in confusion, “That?” He squinted at the statue and waved a dismissive hand at it, “Dwarves didn’t make that.  Dwarves would never build something like that.  That’s dwin work, built after the Divide.”

Lison looked at him in surprise, “Dwin? But isn’t that the dwarven god? The Unyielding God?”

“Dwarves didn’t build statues to him,” Emma said, “they didn’t even really have a name for him, it was non-dwarves who named him The Ardent,” she shrugged, “He wasn’t like the other gods who sat apart from their people, he was his people.” She looked at the face of a dwarf emerging out of The Ardent’s back, a clenched fist beside him.

“And they were him,” Deem added, “He was the purpose, their sure devotion, and they were the body, his hands and tools. And when the Divide swept away the gods the dwarves went with them.”

“I thought the dwarves died fighting in the wars of the Divide, that they were all defeated.” Lison turned to the side, facing Emma and Deem.

“Many did, but some survived,” Emma explained, “They sought refuge, they came here, to our valley. But even though their bodies survived, it wasn’t enough.  Their god was gone, they were hollow.” Seeing earnest interest on Lison’s face, she continued, “Different dwin recorded different things. Some say the dwarves stayed strong to the end, noble in body and spirit, only finally vanishing because they no longer bore children. But there are other accounts, mostly rejected by dwin historians, that say as time passed the dwarves wasted away, finally becoming marrowdead, empty of all life, only the vestige of a body remaining.”

The redhead looked up at that, the line of his mouth bent slightly, his eyebrows pulled down.

“How can a nation of people all be one god?” Parien asked, “Did they all share one mind? Where they just drones?”

“It’s like Tunki’s Daughter,” the redhead said, his voice higher pitched than Emma would have expected, “She is simply a river, but at the same time, from her headwaters in the Clavehounds to her alluvial fans out into the ocean,” he waved his hand toward the west, “she was once a single being, daughter of the goddess Tunki. But she still had streams and goosenecks and branches. The water flowed through each small part of its own accord, but ultimately it was all part of the whole, part of the one goddess.”

“Alluvial fans?” Parien said, confusion on her face.

“It’s...” he sighed in frustration, “it’s the sand and dirt a river deposits at its endpoint, it spreads out like a fan.” He opened his hands, spreading his fingers to mimic a fan.

“Ah,” Parien nodded.

“Well Sil,” Lison clasped him on the back, “I think I understand what you’re saying about that river even less than what Emma said about the dwarves. But religions never did make sense to me,” he laughed, “it’s a good thing I was born after the Divide.”

Sil nodded, his mouth pulled into what might have been a grin, or a grimace.

“They’re opening the door,” Rilen said.

They turned to watch as the round stone doors of the Assembly swung open, a shaft of sunlight cutting into the shadowed room beyond.

“You go first Emma, take a set with the nobles. Parien and I will be in soon.”

“Just you two,” Emma looked at Lison, then Rilen.

“We are the proprietors, we are the only ones who should be there.  Besides, I’m sure I’ll get enough grief for bringing one human into the hall,” he turned to Lison and Sil, “You boys, be ready when we come out, if we get the contract I want those carts prepared before sundown.”

“We’ll be here waiting,” Lison said.

Sil nodded curtly.

“Good.” Deem said.

“I’ll wait here Emma, I’ll see you when you get out.” Rilen gripped her friend by the forearms and pulled her close, touching their cheeks together.

A nervous knot twisted in Emma’s stomach as she pulled away from Rilen. The dark interior of the Assembly Hall looked cold and constricting. Claustrophobia swam in her mind as she thought about entering and speaking to a gathering of noble dwin.

She closed her eyes, then opened them again, glancing up to see Lison’s dark, glinting eyes. He winked at her and put his hand on her shoulder.

She nodded and turned toward the door.

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Continue to Part 8