She Enters the Castle

Robin then had a thought. She picked up a pebble, and tossed it into an open area. The ground opened up, heat and steam emanating from the hole, before it closed up again to look like normal ground.

"Right. Noted: no entering without an invitation." Robin nodded to herself. The suspiciously empty walkway was a highway to hell for would-be intruders. Oddly enough, this though calmed her down.

She walked slowly down the path until she came to the double doors of the castle. She stopped in front of the doors with no visible handles. Then she looked up. There was a magic eye set above the door frame. It detached itself and floated down to Robin's level.

"Hi! I'm here to see the Dwarf King about a summons?" She said in a friendly tone.

"Present....token." The eye warbled. If it were anyone else, they might have shrieked 'It spoke!' before considering what was said. Robin merely nodded and showed the token she had been given.

"Access Granted. Enter, Please." The eye glowed green, before the doors swung in upon themselves.

"Thank you!" Robin waved at it. Then she entered the castle. The magic eye blinked, before returning to its nested alcove above the door.

After Robin entered the castle, the double doors closed slowly behind her. At first it was a bit dark, but then Crystalline Pillars began to glow in greens, blues and purples, sunny yellows and firey oranges. The rainbow of light brightened the whole corridor. There were carved pillars of multiple hues, as well as those of just a single hue. Inside of each pillar, an artifact could be seen.

"Walcome, to the Hall of Myriad Hues!" A familiar comfortable voice called from the back of the hall, where a group of glowing slightly-yellow pillars surrounded a throne set up on a dais.

The throne itself was made of metal, very squarish, but it shone in various rainbow hues...In fact, it looked very much like a large chunk of bismuth turned on its side. A patterned gold mesh embellished it here and there like a metallic lace. To the side, Queen Ayva sat off to the side inside a chair made from a large natural geode that shifted in hue from periwinkle blue to lavender purple.

And, sitting upon the rainbow throne was a dwarf that was somewhat taller than normal. Well, he was not so much taller, as larger, really. A normal dwarf's height would be around 3 ft and 6 inches high. He, on the other hand, was about a foot taller, and built twice as sturdy. The fingers of his hands were as thick as two of Robin's put together. Red scales glistened from the area about his temples, and on the back of his hands. His eyes, were a kind of hazel-golden hue, with a weather-beaten, wizened appearance. Other than that, he looked like a normal dwarf.

Robin approached the throne, stopping three feet away from the steps leading up to it. Then she bowed politely. "Robin adopted son of the King of Ekkinshire, adventurer, apprentice magician, and Hero at large" She introduced herself.

"You forgot to mention my adoption." Ayva pointed out.

Robin gave a rather conflicted expression. "Well, I was uncertain how to introduce myself, considering my...situation."

Ayva chuckled. "You can trust mah husband, deary. After all, Ah'm tha one as chose him. He's aware of your situation."

"Oh, thank goodness!" Robin sighed in relief. "I hate lying to good folk."

"So, you'd lie to evil folk?" A familiar voice asked from the side of the hall opposite Ayva's throne. Robin turned her head to see Quinn, holding two packets of chocolate in his hand.

"No. I wouldn't lie. But, I would certainly leave out a lot of things they are not qualified to know." Robin replied. "And speaking of knowledge, how came you by that extra serving? Ponzu only had enough for one each."

"It was a trade for my services." Quinn replied. "Speaking of which, why is there one less in this one? Do you hate Christian that much?"

"No, I gave you one more because of your help, earlier." Robin replied raising a quizzical eyebrow. "So, you got it from Christian, huh."

"Oops." Quinn replied nonchalantly. "You can't take it back. I earned it fair and square." He said, as christian's sample disappeared.

"Ahem! Quinn, you're lucky I knew that it was you. Otherwise, the new defensive magic array would have been triggered." King Throm pointed out.

"Ah, yes that. It has gotten quite large, hasn't it?" Quinn noted.

"Isn't it your fault for all those visits without prior warning?" Throm growled.

"Hmm....You're welcome?" Quinn replied. "And it's not like you didn't get anything good out of it. I gave you all those ideas for improvements, didn't I?"

"Hmmph! Next time, use the door." Throm pinched the space between his eyebrows, feeling a headache beginning to develope.

"Ah, that reminds me! Aunt Ayva, I brought those sweets that I promised!" Robin smiled, bringing out the two packages she had packed away in her magic bag.

"Oh? What is it, deary?" Ayva asked.

"Chocolate truffles!" Robin replied.

"Truffles? Can mushrooms be turned into sweets?" Ayva asked, puzzled.

"Er, no, It's called that because it's brown and shaped like a truffle." Robin said, remembering that chocolate did not exist here before today.

Ayva accepted it, and tried one of them.

"Oh my!" Here eyes widened in delight. "This is just lovely, deary!"

Robin smiled. "I'll gift you the recipe then. But on one condition: please remember not to eat too many."

"Why not? Is it poisonous?" Ayva asked.

"No. Those who eat too much of it will get fat." Robin replied. Ayva reluctantly agreed, handing King Throm's chocolate over to him.

"So, getting back to topic, how would you have introduced yourself, Robin? Now that King Throm is aware of your situation?" Quinn asked pointedly.

"...Wouldn't you like to know?" Robin rolled her eyes at him.

"I am somewhat aware of this situation, myself." Quinn nodded sagely. "There is not much that escapes my detection, especially for those who use my method of transport. You could say that my analytical ability is second to none~"

The hair on the back of Robin's neck stood up, which puzzled her. Could the thought of him possibly actually knowing her secret be seriously creeping her out? No, wait. It wasn't that. She began to look around. It felt like something unpleasant was watching her.

"Hmm? what is it, Robin?" Ayva asked, noticing her distraction.

"Ah. you don't have anyone watching this place through magic eyes, do you?" Robin asked.

"No. Despite the magic array, there shouldn't be any magic eyes in here." Throm replied. "We are such as enjoys our privacy... uninterrupted." He glanced over at Quinn with an annoyed expression.

"Strange...It feels like....someone....Ahah!" Robin suddenly smacked the air next to a pillar. Instantly, a small chameleon gecko was revealed as it fell to the ground. The resulting thud dropped open a trap door of steam. It instantly closed back up after the gecko had fallen to its doom underneath.

"Right. I forgot that does that." Robin said as she stepped away from the now steamy area.

"Oh deary dear! By the king's crown, Robin, how'd ya find that thing so quickly?" Ayva asked.

Robin sighed. "I didn't find it so much as, well...do you know of the Trader?" She asked.

Ayva and Throm nodded.

"He's a lot more dangerous than most would think, as I have reason to believe he is a wielder of spirit magic." Robin replied. There was a sharp intake of breath from Ayva.

"Though spirit magic is a colorless mana, I can somewhat see it as distortions in the air. That chameleon gecko there was surrounded in spirit mana, which is how I could find it. This has happened once before during my travels-."

"This Trader is sounding increasingly more and more troublesome." Ayva grumbled.

"Indeed, if he can magic a gecko, then there's no telling how many dwarves he's possessed." Throm considered.

"Mmmn! That's right. Also, I've confirmed that High Heal can remove spirit mana completely, so you might want to get all your most important officials high healed soon." Robin pointed out.

"What, say that sooner!" Throm interjected.

"Right. I'll keep that in mind next time. No promises if I get interrupted again, though." Robin said with a wry grimace.