"And bless my soul, you two look exactly alike," Han said mockingly, "Oh my word, I've never seen twins before. I didn't know that you humans had children in litters? Oh my, I'll have to tell my children this one, but I'll embellish it a little, for the kiddies, you know."
"Dark brown hair, hazel eyes, but it says nothing about all those little nicks on your hands, maybe if that was documented we'd be able to tell the difference." Kol finished in chorus with his brother. They looked at their hands solemnly, shaking their heads in unison, and Kol continued mocking the little dwarf who had taken so much of their time at the gate. "Oh my, I still can't tell, you'll have to tell me, and you are both sure you're human? It's just that most people don't hang around great scaly beasties."
"Surely a dwarf wouldn't be that stupid?" Heljah asked in amazement. She grinned up at the two humans. "Are you sure it wasn't a very short, very fat human? Or a gnome?" She tossed her head, heavy Clan-braids clinking off her heavy plate-mail armor. Heljah was a dwarf herself, took great pride in the 'stodginess', as the twins called it, of her people.
"We'll be passing through that gate again, when we return to Sharn, so you can check him over for yourself." Kol warned.
The four had met up with Soren and Heljah just in time, the caravan master huffing and puffing. The caravan was a balding, red-faced man who shouted and waved at the other caravan workers and the merchants traveling with them equally. He counted out the coins they gave him with a scowl, muttering about taking monsters to fight monsters, and started barking orders, but the caravan was already moving. The great oxen yolked to the carts were uneasy around the lizardman, so the company travelled back and a little to one side of the main caravan. Now they were well on their way, the City of Towers rising up behind them like a fat tent pole holding up the sky.
Valasar hunched his shoulders and tucked in his tail a bit more. The people of the continent were constantly referring to him as a beast or monster, and while his own people were savage, he had seen the same savagery exhibited by humans. Now some of the merchants were staring in his direction. His great cloak hid little in the bright light on noon day. Kol noticed the defensive posture. Putting it down to what they had said about the gate-beridden dwarf, he patted a scaily shoulder and said, "Honestly, if it had been anyone else, he would have had the sense to keep his mouth shut."
"Don't worry, we won't hold your flesh-rending tendencies against you, Val," Hand said easily "you're really a good person at heart."
Quentin shook his head, a grim smile on his face at the twin's antics. "That was without a doubt the silliest dwarf I have met in my entire life, and I have met no small amount of dwarves." He nodded to Heljah.
"He probably got the post because he comes from a wealthy family that wants to keep him out of the way." Heljah herself was from a smaller Clan. She gestured at Quinten with a gloved hand. "Similar to what your family has done."
"But I'm not silly, just an incorrigible rascal," Quentin said easily.
"Oh but here, lets be him talking about Quentin," said Han with glee. He took on the accent of the little dwarf again and said, "Oh, a half-elf? Mendanesti, you say? I've never seen anyone with black hair and blonde eyebrows who doesn't die their hair. Are you sure you didn't die your hair? And with your dark skin, maybe you died your eyebrows and eyelashes? Green eyes run in my family too, you know, on my mothers' side."
"You'd think he would be used to Mendanesti by now, it's not like we're exactly rare," Quentin said irritably, "Dol Aran, we own some of the biggest Guildhouses in Kovar."
"Can you imagine what he would have been like with Soren and that great reptile he rides? 'Oh, a halfling, I didn't know there were people shorter than dwarves, and what is that little dragon-thing you are riding? Don't dragons breath flame? Is it poisonous? I've got to have stories to tell the kiddies.'" Kol started playing with his ring knives, flipping them in great flourishes to punctuate his words. "Maybe if Soren had been there, we could get Tera to eat the little bugger and have done with it."
"Who do you want Tera to eat?" Just then the halfling swooped down on his Soarial, leaping lightly from the creature's back to land in a crouch. "By the way, Captain, their are three other caravans and a company of horsemen using the road along with us, though I don't believe any of them are interested in following us at this time. Some cattle are blocking the road a couple miles down and might slow us a bit, but on the whole we should make good time to Sterngard."
"Okay, report the cattle to the caravan leader." Quentin didn't relax. That blackguard Ireselan probably had a man placed in the caravan itself, ore maybe waiting in the city up ahead. He had someone watching them, anyway.
"Cheer up, Captain." Han whacked the shorter man on the shoulder. Quentin shot him a wry smile. "In another day, we'll be in Sterngard, and then the real adventure begins. We might even get to bash a few heads."
Soren whistled his mount to circle overhead and went to track down the caravan master.
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