'The other?' The mage raised his brows.
'Loyalty to your friend,' the weaver said simply. He paused, obviously torn.
'My loyalty is to the truth,' he finally said fiercely.
Brandella cocked her head and stroked the velvety sleeve of his red robe.
'Would you not defend me if I lied or stole7'
'That's different,' Kispha replied, looking away.
'No.'
'It is,' he insisted.
'Not to me.'
'Please,' he said, shaking his head. 'No more of this. Let me listen.'
She let go of his hand. Tanis moved through the tense and ever-angrier crowd.
'I bartered for that glass ball in good faith,' Mertwig said indignantly.
'With what?' demanded the elf.
'Uh… it's of no matter to you.' The crowd rumbled at the dwarf's evasive answer.
'From whom did you purchase the ball?' asked Canpho cautiously.
'I'd rather not say,' said Mertwig.
'He'd rather not say,' the young elf taunted, 'because if he did, you would know that my uncle's treasures had paid for that glass ball.'
'Where was Mertwig when the humans began their attack?' questioned a thoughtful elf who had patiently attended to all of the charges.
'He had gone off with Little Shoulders Scowarr to find a spider for Kishpa,' replied another elf, pointed ears peeking from ash-blond hair.
'Yes, but he never came back,' noted yet another elf. Mertwig grew uneasy with the direction of the comments.
'I didn't want to return without a spider,' offered the dwarf.
'And I didn't know that Scowarr had found one so quickly.'
'Very convenient,' the accusing elf said snidely.
'It's true,' insisted Mertwig. Scowarr pushed forward to defend the hapless dwarf.
'What he says is so,' Little Shoulders offered. 'We separated early on so that we'd have a better chance of finding what Kishpa needed.'
'Where did you leave him?' persisted Canpho.
'I don't know the village that well,' conceded the human. 'I believe it was in front of a large white hut with lots of light-blue flowers in front.'
'That's my uncle's house!' declared the young elf. The rumble among the villagers grew more ominous. The accuser's friends had released their hold on him.
Canpho ran one hand over his hairless head as he surveyed the dwarf. 'You had better tell us from whom you bought the glass ball,' he said. Tanis heard Yeblidod gasp.
'This is not to be believed,' stammered Mertwig. 'Are you giving credence to this slander?'
Canpho did not answer. Instead, he said, 'It would just be best to tell us the name of your seller. That way, we can put these charges to rest.'
Mertwig blustered, and Tanis saw Yeblidod's eyes, so recently filled with happy tears', begin to glisten again.
'Well, I don't see what good it will do,' the dwarf said. 'And it's terribly unfair. I want to keep the price I paid private. This ball was a present, and my wife need not know how much I paid for it.' He cast the crowd a beseeching glance, but the tide seemed to have turned against him. Only a few elves nodded encouragingly at the beleaguered dwarf.
Yeblidod moved to her husband and tenderly threaded her arm underneath his elbow. Mertwig gave her a quick, embarrassed glance and then looked away.
'So, you'll tell us who sold it to you?' asked Canpho, acting relieved.
'It was the artist, Piklaker,' said Mertwig.
'Is Piklaker here?' Canpho called out.
When there was no answer, the healer asked, 'Has anyone seen him?'
Loud buzzing filled the air as everyone talked among themselves, asking who might have seen the well- known elven artist last. Finally, someone standing near Kishpa shouted, 'My brother said he left the village right after the human retreat.'
'Another convenient answer,' snarled the angry elf who had leveled the thievery charge against Mertwig.
'I didn't know he had left,' countered the dwarf.
'Then tell us how you paid him. What did you barter?' insisted the youth. Mertwig hesitated. He caught Kishpa's eye and, in that moment, gave him a look that begged him to say something.
The mage remained silent, his eyes blank.
'I… I gave him… gave him a promise,' stammered Mertwig. 'I told him that… that I would pay him with my work.'
'You're lying!' declared the young elf. 'You couldn't pay Piklaker's prices with a year of your work. Maybe not even two!'
'Tell this uncouth vermin to mind his tongue when he speaks to his elders,' Mertwig told Canpho, mustering all of his dignity.
'I do mind my tongue,' shot back the youth, 'when I speak to honest elders!'
Mertwig tried to grab the youth, but restraining hands held the dwarf tight. The elf stood aside, hands on his hips and a knowing look on his face.
Meanwhile, Canpho turned his gaze to Kishpa, expecting that the mage would settle the issue by coming to the dwarf's defense. Kishpa, however, sat nearly still, his only motion the black hair ruffling with the breeze. He did not meet the healer's eye. That spoke volumes to Canpho.
'This is not the proper forum to debate these charges,' the healer intoned. 'Tomorrow, the village elders will convene to hear the evidence and make their pronouncement. Let us speak no more of this today.'
Mertwig was stunned. 'No!' he shouted, struggling against the hands of those he'd once called friends. 'I will not be put on trial for giving my wife a gift! I would rather leave Ankatavaka than be subjected to such humiliation.'
Canpho said nothing.
Kishpa said nothing.
Tanis, however, could not stay silent.
22
Mentwiq stared in anguish as half-elf pushed his way to the clearing at the center of the crowd. 'I know not the merit of these charges brought against the dwarf,' Tanis said loudly, 'but I have something to say that no one else has knowledge of.' Mertwig flushed. He wanted to cry out, 'Traitor!' but he knew if he did so it would go badly with him. Instead, he hunched his shoulders and lowered his head as if to ward off a cold, hard wind. 'You know little of me,' Tanis conceded to the villagers of Ankatavaka. 'And, to be honest, I know little of you. I do know sacrifice and bravery, though, and I saw it- and live to describe it-thanks to the dwarf who is now under suspicion.'
Several elves murmured and shifted their weight. 'The dwarf has lived here a long time,' said an elf who had remained silent up until now. 'Let's not be hasty.' Several other villagers nodded their support.
Tanis waited for them to be silent. The late-afternoon sun bathed his hair in a reddish glow. His tooled leather also picked up an auburn warmth. Mertwig realized that Tanis would be far more comfortable tracking deer
