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In the darkness she could hear the cheering and the jeering, although it was muffled through the thick cloth of the hood. Large hands held tightly to her forearms and her wrists were secured behind her back. More heavy rope coiled about her ankles to hobble her legs together, causing her to stumble when she was pushed or pulled too roughly. Nadirah felt like she had been trudging along for over an hour before reaching the large, echo-filled chamber that they had finally led her to. Despite the muffling of the hood, the chamber was loud with voices and her sensitive nose could smell the crush of packed bodies in an enclosed area.

Finally they stopped and Nadirah felt hard tugs on her arms. "Kneel, tarin." One of the dwarves ordered, but she ignored him. "I said kneel, tarin." he commanded again, each word carefully pronounced in Common to make sure his words were understood, and again Nadirah ignored him, standing as tall and straight as she could manage.

"He said kneel, tarin!" Another of the dwarves yelled. A moment later, the warrior felt the crack of a wooden pole against the back of her knees, forcing her to fall forward. Nadirah grunted in pain as her knees collided with the smooth stone of the floor, but was determined not to cry out and give her captors the satisfaction of knowing that they'd caused her any discomfort. A moment later, the hood was roughly pulled from her head, tearing several hairs from her mane along with it.

Nadirah shook her head and blinked several times as her eyes got used to the dimness of the room. Along the wall, several small torches burned dully, barely lighting the large chamber. As she had suspected, it was filled with other dwarves, all of them surrounding her and looking at her suspiciously. Some of them cheered the bravery of those who had brought her in, patting their shoulders or shaking their hands, while others shook fists and shouted angrily at the stranger in their midst. When the silence came, it was eerily sudden, all eyes shifting from her to a figure she had not noticed before.

The crowd began to part as another dwarf came forward. In the dim and flickering light, Nadirah could barely see him, but she could tell that he was old, his long white beard pulled up to drape over his bowed shoulders. His back was stooped with age and he leaned heavily on a wooden cane. With careful, shuffling steps, he approached the tarin, all others in the room watching his progress with a silent intensity that made the warrior anxious.

The elder stopped in front of Nadirah and stood shaking for several moments as a padded stool was set down on the floor behind him. He then eased himself onto the stool and sat motionless for several seconds before lifting his head to look at her for the first time, studying her intensely with eyes the color of ice. In a deeply lined and wrinkled face carved with age and nearly hidden beneath a pair of bushy brows, the eyes of a clever man stared into hers. The tarin knew that despite whatever was wrong with his body, there was nothing wrong with the mind of the old dwarf before her.

Minutes passed by in silence as the two stared at each other, the tarin unwilling to be the first to look away. When the elder finally spoke, it took Nadirah completely by surprise. "So." He said softly, his voice carrying to every part of the silent room. "May I ask what brings you here this evening, tarin?"

"I got an offer I couldn't refuse." She snapped back irritably, quickly recovering from her surprise. As if to emphasize her point she tried to shake her arms loose from the hands of those still holding her, but they only tightened their grips and pushed against her in an effort to make her bow.

The elder dwarf gave a wave of his hand and Nadirah was released. "Our guards were simply following orders and doing what they thought was best." He replied calmly. "I am sorry for your treatment, but from what I hear, you were quite resistant. Even severely woundingArgyli,who was checking to see if you were really asleep." His voice held only a trace of an accent as he spoke, giving no indication that Common, the only language shared by all races, was not his original tongue. The feat was quite impressive for a dwarf in Nadirah's opinion.

"Hmph." She replied sourly. "If I even gave him so much as a bruise I'll be surprised. I thought dwarves were tough, able to withstand just about anything thrown at them! Am I mistaken or have you all become soft and weak since the Great War? Forced to ambush a weary traveler in the middle of the night while they sleep because you're too afraid to take me on in the day light?" The tarin gave an angry snort and lifted her chin defiantly, expecting another hard blow for her words.

But the elder dwarf merely smiled, as if he had been expecting such an answer. "You're quite right, tarin, you've injured nothing but his pride. But the reason these brave men were sent out to find you in the first place is because you were trespassing on our mountain. Do you have business with us, perhaps?"

"I didn't before I was dragged here, dwarf." She snapped back irritably, further aggravated by his cool attitude, as if everything she did amused him. "I have more important things on my mind than dealing with a bunch of short human moles. Let me go now so I can be on my way and I won't cause any further trouble."

The elder dwarf's eyes scrutinized her for a while, as if trying to pull the truth from her very mind. "Then why were you in our territory?" He finally asked, his cool expression never changing. "Why were you camped on our mountain with your fire banked low?"

"Just passing through." Nadirah replied curtly, her head still lifted high and her jaw clenched tightly.

"Just passing through?" The elder repeated, his ancient lips curling into a knowing smile. "And the dryad? Did you happen to spot her in passing?"

"I might have." Nadirah said evasively, giving an unconcerned shrug but offering no more.

"Hm." The dwarf responded thoughtfully, his hand rising up to finger a few loose strands of his long white beard. "And... if you are just 'passing through' as you claim, why did you not take the path?"

Some of the cockiness left the warrior at those words and her head sank slightly, remembering Terresya's words. "I... don't know where it is. So I... got lost."

Once more the room was filled with angry voices as the other dwarves all began shouting. The elder was silent as he scrutinized her closely. Finally he held up a hand and silence decended. "You are very good, assassin. Whoever trained you did it well. Were your story not impossible, I would be inclined to believe that you really are some incompetant traveler who happened to come to the very spot you did by chance alone. Your conviction seems sincere, but your story is completely absurd. There is only one path in or out of here without encroaching on our territory, and obviously you made it here without issue, so surely-"

"I was brought here." Nadirah interrupted the elder, lifting her head again as her prideful arrogance returned. "I wasn't even conscious at the time. Someone else brought me here to see the druid who lives in the valley. But they didn't tell me how to get back out again."

The roar of furious voices was deafening. It was allowed to go on for several seconds before the elder raised his hand for silence. "Denali did not instruct you on safe passage? Not even a warning about where to avoid going?" The elder replied skeptically. "That sounds unlike her."

The elder dwarf smiled and let out a small chuckle. "Your voice is sincere. Whoever trained you, assassin, did it well. But I'm afraid they didn't teach well enough. Everything you've told me, what little it was, has all been complete nonsense."

"I'm not an assassin." Nadirah said softly, her voice brimming with barely restrained anger. "I am a warrior. And not one person here interests me. I'm trying to get to-"

"Enough!" The dwarf said forcefully, raising his hand to demand silence. "I've heard enough of your lies. Take her to a holding cell to await her execution! We can't allow this assassin to escape."

"Damn fools." The warrior growled. She offered no resistance when they pulled her up to her feet and began to lead her away. "I don't have time for this."

The cell was dark and cramped, meant for prisoners much smaller than the tarin doe. The low ceiling forced her to keep her head bowed, even when she was sitting on the cold stone floor. The cell, carved out of the same mountain as the rest of the dwarven kingdom, was cold and damp with a heavy stone door blocking the only entrance. A small barred hole was carved into the door, letting in some of the torch light from the outside, but not enough to do more than create shadows on the ceiling. While the small bit of light would have been adequate enough for any dwarf to see the blank walls of their cell, Nadirah could not even see her own hand when she raised it to her face.

She had not been chained or bound in any way, but the cell was so undersized that movement seemed pointless. When she had tried to move the door, it wouldn't budge. Content to wait patiently until an opportunity presented itself, Nadirah had settled in the tiny room and chewed idly at the chunk of stale bread she had been given, unwilling to set it down for fear that she might not be able to find it again.

While in her small cell, Nadirah was left alone, leaving her with nothing to do but plan her escape while the dwarves made preparations to kill her. She felt no fear or regret at the thought, they were nothing but an annoyance, one more obstacle to overcome in her quest to find the ork. She already knew she would overcome them and escape, no matter how many lives she had to take to do it. It was simply a matter of waiting for the right opportunity to present itself.

For hours she was left alone in the silent darkness, her mind furiously making and discarding plans while occasionally taking a small bite of bread. She preferred not to kill the elder dwarf, his death would only make her escape more difficult, but should it happen she was ready for the inevitability. The sound of approaching footsteps snapped her back to the present. The doe assumed it was the guard checking up on her, but she prepared herself for escape should he be foolish enough to leave her an opening.

The footsteps stopped outside of the heavy stone door and there was silence again while the dwarf on the other side looked in on her. The doe did not bother to look toward the dark window, popping the last bite of her stale bread into her mouth and chewing lazily as she waited. "How ya be doin in there, missy?" Came a disembodied voice, the words so heavily accented that she could barely understand them. "Well?" The voice asked when she didn't reply. "Do ya nay speak common now?"

"State your business or be gone." Nadirah replied calmly after swallowing her mouthful of bread. "I don't appreciate being taunted."

The cell keeper laughed heartily, his laughter echoing loudly in the tiny chamber. "I nay be here ta taunt." He finally said. "Ya get a last request afore ya meet the ax, ya do. I'm here ta fetch it fer ya. So no tricks now, missy. I ain't no new-beard, I know `em all."

Nadirah shrugged, unimpressed with his speech. "I could use a good strong drink. All I've had lately has been cheap wine and water."

Again came the dwarf's loud and echoing laughter, taking several minutes to fade away. "Aye, that is a pitiful lot. Fear not then, missy, y'ull have a good drink afore ya go." No further words were exchanged as the keeper turned from the door and walked away, presumably to fulfill her request. After giving a soft sigh, Nadirah closed her eyes and leaned her head down to rest against her chest, conserving her energy for whatever was to come.

Sooner than she had expected, however, the dwarf returned. "Here ya go, missy, a full goblet of our best guest ale." He said as he carefully slipped his arm through the window in the door. Nadirah could barely make out the shape of something clasped in his hand. She scooted closer and reached up until her fingers touched the cool metal of the promised goblet. Eagerly she took it from him and brought it to her lips, nostrils tingling with the scent of the brew. "Drink it slow now, missy, we dwarves like our drinks a wee bit stronger than yer no doubt be used ta."

In three gulps it was gone."Stronger than I'm used to? The water in the badlands is stronger than this swill!" Nadirah replied bitterly as she thrust the empty goblet back into the dwarf's hand. "I thought you said you were bringing me a _real_drink!"

The dwarf was frozen a moment in stunned silence before finally withdrawing his hand. "By Vragni's beard, missy! Do yah dare now! Well you just wait right there now an' I'll be gettin' yah a bit o' sumpin ta take that sass right out yah now!"

Nadirah shrugged as she listened to the scuttle of the dwarf's footsteps hurrying away. Where was there to go? When the dwarf returned again with the filled chalice, the doe accepted it, but much less eagerly than before. Once again the contents were drained and the empty cup shoved back into the waiting dwarf's hand. "Is this what you give to your infants?! When are you going to stop playing this silly game of yours and bring me something worth drinking?!"

The dwarf stood flummoxed for nearly a full minute, peeking in as he withdrew his hand. "You're not jes pourin it out now are yeh? By Vragni's beard, no tarous in all me recallectin has stayed on their hooves after a bit of cactus brew!"

"Probably because it tastes like it came from the bladder of a dead kordox." Nadirah grumbled. "Forget the drink, just take me to the axeman now before you make me taste any more of these nasty concoctions of yours."

"You just bite that vile tongue a'yours, missy! By the flames of Droognan you'll not be a'leavin' our comp'ny without tastin' a brew ta make tha orks sing praises! You just be a'waitin here an' I'll... wait, I've a better plan."

"Ah hell." Nadirah muttered softly and lowered her head in misery.

The doe reached down to scratch at an itch on her shackle-clad ankle before sitting back up to face the line of stone and wooden mugs that littered the table before her. A short distance away, a line of expectant faces watched her with tense eagerness.

Surprised, yet pleased by Nadirah's ability to tolerate strong brews, the dwarven guard had brought her to a large banquet hall and ordered her brought a variety of ales, meads, bitters and wines of increasing strength and bizarreness for her to sample. She was their entertainment, and it was making the doe angry.

Again she glanced down at the poorly-fitting shackle around her ankle, the other end wrapped around the carved stone leg of her table. Meant to hold prisoners weaker than herself, the warrior could easily shatter the stone table leg and possibly her chain as well, but with so many bodies packed so tightly in the room, her chances of escaping were minimal. Reaching for one of the mugs set before her, the doe sipped at the drink, content to bide her time. The right opportunity always presented itself eventually. "Not bad," she commented in a bored tone before setting the mug back on the table. "But I don't much care for the aftertaste of adder berry. Is this really the best you have?"

"A'course not, yah silleh beast!" a voice called out, causing the entire group to laugh. "Y'always save the best fah last!"

Nadirah's ears flipped back in irritation and her eyes narrowed as they focused on the speaker, despite his best attempts to melt back into the crowd. "Then stop wasting what time I have left and bring me the last, or are you trying to deaden my tongue first so I won't notice how poor quality your 'best' actually is?! I always suspected the rumors of dwarven drink to be nothing but boast."

A silence fell over the room at her words, all merriment chased away and replaced with bleak offense. "Yah risk losing that tongue a yours, tarin." Her guard warned. "We don' get tah entartain maneh guests, least yah could do'd be tah accept are hospitality with a bit more grace."

"I suppose I could," Nadirah growled, turning her angry gaze to the guard. "were I a guest rather than a chained criminal."

"Yah came tah assassinate our king!" The guardsman exclaimed.

"So I've been told." the doe replied coolly, flicking her tail irritably.

"Do ye deny yer charges, tarin?" One of the dwarves sneered at her, bending over so that he was face to face with the doe.

"Would it do any good if I did?" Nadirah asked in return, her gaze unwavering.

"No, but yer welcome tah try it anyway!" The dwarf replied with a nasty grin, daring the warrior to strike out at him.

"Then why bother?" She said with a shrug, turning away from her challenger. "Your justice is the same as your beer, nothing but a bad joke."

The room was suddenly flooded with angry voices, the furious dwarves surrounding the chained tarin and screaming at her, some of them shaking fists. Nadirah rose calmly to her feet and faced their rage, her head lifted in stubborn pride. She was determined to give them a fierce fight if they dared attack her, and she would not go down easy. Instead, the mob all turned away as one and filed out of the dining hall, leaving her alone with the single guard as their angry voices drifted through the chambers.

The doe looked around her, dumbstruck by their actions, and settled herself again at the table. Her own anger was forgotten in her confusion, and the guard gave her no clues to what had occurred, nor what was to happen next. Unable to think of anything better to do, she sat quietly and waited.

She was not made to wait long before the mob returned, their faces twisted in scowls of anger and disdain. They filed silently into the banquet hall, all staring at her with unforgiving hatred. One of the dwarves stepped forward as the group came to a halt, slamming the side of his fist against the table and causing the mugs to jump slightly from where they rested. As Nadirah returned his icy glare, she felt nervous for the first time since her capture and wondered if she really did overstep her bounds.

"Yah.... yah...." The dwarf said angrily, shaking a finger in her direction while he tried to think of the next word he wanted to say, his face growing nearly as red as the beard that covered most of it.

"Scoundrel?" Nadirah suggested helpfully, trying to cover her growing unease with flippancy. "Mad cow? Walking T-bone?"

"Horrible bitch!" The dwarf finally finished, slamming his fist against the table again. "Yah trespass on our lands! Yah kill one ah our dryads, yah eenjare our patrol party, an' then when we stay yar execution ta give yah a good parteh, yah _dare_ta insult our brews?!" When the dwarf exposed his teeth in a furious snarl, it reminded the tarin of an angry wolf, and she almost expected froth to begin covering his mouth. "Well?!" He shouted furiously at her, striking the table a third time and sending one of the discarded mugs clattering loudly to the floor. "HAVE YEH NOTHIN' TAH SAY?!"

Nadirah blinked slowly as she looked back at the dwarf, unable to look away. Fear tried to creep up her spine, sending an involuntary shiver through her limbs, but she set her jaw and snorted, refusing to let it take hold in her mind. Slowly lifting her chin, the doe met the dwarf's gaze bravely, ignoring the bitter taste at the back of her mouth, a subtle reminder of her own mortality. Her body tensed, ready to snap into action at a moment's notice. She chose her next words carefully, fully aware of the likely consequence. When she finally spoke, her voice was soft, yet commanding. "Prove me wrong."

A soft gasp was the only sound to follow for several long moments. And then the dwarf slowly withdrew his hand, stepping back away from the table as another dwarf came forward to set a large silver stein in front of the doe. "Try this afore yeh speak ahgin." The dwarf said before stepping back to rejoin the mob.

Nadirah studied the cup for a while, surprised at the intricacy of its design after being served from so many crude mugs. Finally she reached out and grasped the handle, which was made to look like a dwarf maiden's braid, and lifted the cup to her nose to sniff at it curiously. The sharp tang and soft tingle of strong alcohol made her wrinkle her nose. Lowering it to her mouth, she tipped the stein and took a sip of the contents, holding it in her mouth a moment as she considered it before swallowing. She lowered the stein slightly as if she were going to say something, then seemed to change her mind, throwing her head back and chugging down the contents of the silver cup before slamming it down against the table with a satisfied sigh. "Now that's a little more like it!"

Excited cheers replaced the angry shouts and even the guard smiled in pleasure of her acceptance. Before she could say anything, the empty stein was taken away and replaced with a full one and a celebration began to commence. The doe looked on in confusion, unable to understand what had happened to so swiftly change the mood. Around her, the dwarves were suddenly cheering, dancing, some of them leaping onto the tables and holding mugs of their own. Giving a shrug of acceptance, Nadirah raised the new stein in toast, and drank.