Chapter 9 Chapter 6 The Straight and Smooth Road

"I will not receive people from Nesme!" Bruno shouted to the barbarian messenger from Panshi Town. "But, the dwarf king..." the red-haired man stammered. "No!" Bruno's stern voice cut him off completely. "Nesme's archers did a lot to retake Mithril Hall," Drizzt, standing beside Bruenor, reminded the dwarf king. Bruno stood up abruptly from his seat, "Have you forgotten how they treated you when we passed by those Nessim dogs for the first time?" Drizzt shook his head, a smile appeared on his face instead. "Never." But his calm voice and expression also told everyone that although he had never forgotten, he had long since forgiven.

Looking at his friend with ebony-black skin, the angry dwarf seemed to be infected by his peace and contentment, and quickly calmed down his anger. "Then you think I should let them come to the wedding?" "You are king now," Drizzt replied.He let go of his hands, as if this simple gesture said it all.Bruno's expression still showed a firm refusal, but the same stubborn dark elf immediately made further persuasion, "You need to be responsible to your people, Nesme will be a valuable trading partner and a strong ally. And , we should also forgive a city that is often in danger for its reaction to the dark elves."

"Bah, your heart is too soft, elf." Bruenor's deafening roar turned into a helpless mutter, "You also made me like you!" He looked at the barbarian who was as fierce as Wulfgar, nodded. "We welcome Nesme, but I need them to report the number of people who have come!" The barbarian gave Drizzt a grateful look, then bowed and left.But his disappearance didn't end Bruno's muttering. "Just to give me trouble, Elf." The dwarf complained angrily. "You want to make your daughter's wedding the greatest celebration in the history of this continent." Drizzt reminded him.

"Well, I'll do my best." Bruno agreed with Drizzt's thoughts, "She deserves it, my Katie. All these years, I've always wanted to give her everything, but..." Bruno Spreading his hands, he looked at his short and thick body.It was a constant reminder that he and Katie weren't even of the same race. The dwarf sniffed twice, and Drizzt hid his smile well. "But there's so much trouble!" Bruno yelled again.His fleeting sentimentality was gone in an instant. "The king's daughter must have a decent wedding, but I'm not asking anyone to help me!"

Drizzt could appreciate Bruenor's sense of powerlessness in this regard; the dwarf could only look to Regis, a former guildmaster with a knack for etiquette, to plan the grand celebration.Not long after Regis arrived, Bruenor told Drizzt privately that the trouble was over, "Glutton will take care of everything." In fact, Regis did take on many tasks, but the tasks were not completed as brilliantly as Bruno expected or demanded.It was difficult for Drizzt to determine whether the reason was Regis' incompetence or Bruenor's overpowering. A dwarf rushed in, presenting Bruno with twenty different plans for the layout of the Great Ballroom; another dwarf followed, with banquet menus piled between his arms.

Bruenor sighed, looking helplessly at Drizzt. "Everything will be fine," Drow assured him, "Katie will definitely think this is the grandest celebration." Drizzt wanted to say some more comforting words, but he suddenly thought of what he said, and a look of concern Locking his brows, it didn't escape Bruno's eyes. "Are you worried about my daughter?" the dwarf asked him concerned. "More for Wulfgar," Drizzt admitted. Bruno laughed "hehe", "I asked three masons to repair the wall of that kid's house. I don't know who made that kid so angry."

Drizzt could only nod his head, he hadn't told anyone about that battle, let alone tell others.If the barbarian had won at that time, he would probably kill himself blindly. "The kid was just nervous," Bruno said. Drow nodded again, though he wasn't sure he agreed.Wulfgar was tense, indeed, but he was moving beyond that.However, Drizzt had no better explanation.And, after that incident, Wulfgar had once again shown friendship to Drizzt, and seemed to be his old self again. "After that day is over, he'll be at ease," Bruno went on.It seemed to Drizzt that the dwarf was comforting himself.Drizzt also knew that human orphan Catti-brie was Bruenor's daughter with all his heart.She was that soft spot in Bruenor's rocky heart, the only unprotected crack in the dwarf king's solid armor.

Wulfgar's eccentric brusqueness did not escape the wise dwarf king; but, though Wulfgar's attitude was seriously troubling Bruenor, Drizzt didn't think the dwarf would do anything—unless Katie asked for his help. Drizzt knew, too, that Catti-brie was as proud and stubborn as his father, and that she would never ask for help, not to Bruno, not to him, Drizzt. "Where'd you hide, you little liar!" Bruenor's suddenly raised growl startled Drizzt out of his own contemplation, and he looked up to see Regis entering the hall, the halfling looking rather disturbed. "I just finished my first meal of the day!" Regis didn't show weakness at all, his innocent little face was covered with a bad expression, and he put one hand on his "cuckling" stomach.It looks like a stomachache.

"It's not time to eat!" Bruno's voice continued to rise, "We have..." "Lots of bloody trouble to do." Regis finished speaking for the dwarf, and raised a plump hand again, desperately begging the dwarf to back off. Bruno stomped his foot heavily.Rushing to the pile of menus, "Since you like eating so much..." Bruno gathered the documents together and threw them at Regis. "There will be many elves and men at this feast," he said to Regis, who was hastily sorting out the files. "Give them something they will never forget!"

Regis gave Drizzt a pleading look, but the drow just shrugged, and the halfling sauntered away with the pile of parchment. "I thought this guy would be a good wedding planner." Bruno said loudly enough for the halfling who had just walked out the door to hear. "Not so much when fighting goblins," Drizzt replied, recalling the halfling's outstanding performance in that battle. Bruenor stroked his bushy red beard and looked towards the empty doorway, "Compared to us, he spent a lot of time on the road." The dwarf concluded. "Too much." Drizzt's words were no louder than his breathing, so low that Bruenor didn't hear him.Drow knew that Bruenor thought their halfling friend's sudden appearance was a good thing, though he didn't think so himself.

※※※※ Moments later, Drizzt arrived at the door of Cooper's chapel with Bruenor's mission, and he discovered that Bruenor was not the only one in chaos preparing for the upcoming wedding. "Don't pile all the mithril in Mithril Hall on me!" he heard Katie shout hard. "Be reasonable," Cooper's voice was full of complaints, "your father didn't ask you to do that." Drizzt entered the room and saw Katie standing on a small dais with her hands resolutely on her waist, and Cooper standing in front of her, holding aloft a gem-studded apron. Katie saw Drizzt and shook her head tremblingly. "They want me to wear a blacksmith's apron!" she cried, "and make me wear a damn blacksmith's apron on my wedding day!" Drizzt carefully realized that this was not the time to laugh, and he walked up to Cooper solemnly and picked up the apron. "This is the tradition of the Warhammer family." The priest said angrily. "Any dwarf would be proud to wear such a dress," agreed Drizzt, "but should I remind you? Catti-brie is not a dwarf." "It's just a symbol," said the crimson-haired woman. "The dwarf woman has to work in front of the furnace all day. I haven't even touched a blacksmith's hammer, and..." Drizzt comforted her with gentle touches and sympathetic eyes. "She's Bruno's daughter," Cooper continued, "and it's her duty to please her father." "True," the smooth-wristed Drizzt agreed again, "but she's not married to a dwarf, and Katie has never worked in front of a furnace..." "It's symbolic," Cooper countered. "...Also, Wulfgar only used the blacksmith's hammer when he was in Bruenor's service, when he had no choice." Drizzt ended his speech without a pause. Cooper looked at Katie.Looking back at the apron again, he sighed, "We'll find a compromise." He managed to get the words out. Drizzt winked at Katie, but was surprised to see that his efforts hadn't cheered the young girl up. "I'm from Bruenor," the drow ranger said to Cooper, "and he mentioned testing the holy water for the ceremony." "It's 'taste'." Cooper corrected Drow's pronunciation, and started running around the room. "Yes, yes, mead," he seemed very excited. "Bruenor is going to use mead as the theme that day." He looked at Drizzt. "We all think it's too much to entertain those soft-bodied guys from Silvermoon City with such a good thing." After running around, Cooper poured barrel after barrel of mead from a row of holy water jars along the wall.Katie shrugged suspiciously at Drizzt, who asked her silently, "Holy water?" Most clerics of the pure faith concoct the blessed waters with precious ointments.But for Drizzt, who had lived beside the big boss Bruno for many years, this holy water made with hops did not surprise him. "Bruenor told you to bring some more," Drizzt said to Cooper, but such instructions were unnecessary to the excited priest, who had already filled a cart with holy water. "We're ready for that day." Cooper officially announced to Katie. He trotted to the door, and the kegs of holy water on the car bounced all the way. "Don't think you have everything done!" Katie yelled at him, but Cooper, who was running at full speed, was already gone. Drizzt and Katie sat together on the small table, neither of them speaking. "Is that apron really bad?" Drow finally mustered up his courage and said such a sentence. Katie shook her head, "That's not the problem, I just don't like it. In two weeks, I'm getting married. I always think now, my adventures, my battles, this is the end, the rest The only one left is my destined husband." The blunt words hit Drizzt's heart, but made him feel a sense of relief. "The goblins all over Faerûn will be glad to hear that." Drizzt tried to create some excitement.Katie, who understood Drizzt's intentions, forced a smile, but the sadness was still deep in her blue eyes. "You are no worse than anyone," Drizzt went on. "Don't you doubt that?" Katie's voice suddenly became as sharp as the blade of Drizzt's magic scimitar, full of disgust. "Are you always this easy to get angry?" Drizzt's accusatory question silenced Katie immediately. "I guess I'm just scared right now," she whispered back. Drizzt nodded, understanding his friend's dilemma. "I have to go back to Bruno." He stood up and wanted to leave, but he couldn't ignore Katie's pleading eyes.Katie turned suddenly, the blue eyes under the crimson bangs staring blankly in another direction, bitterness flowing down Drizzt's eyes into his heart. "I'm not qualified to tell you what you should think." Drizzt tried his best to keep calm, and the young woman never looked at him again. "As a friend, I can do as much as you can in Calimport in the south. I was the one who was lost then. Now, I say to you: the road before you changes, but it is always you Your choice. For all of us, and for yourself, I pray that you make your choice carefully." He bent down, pushed Katie's long hair back, and kissed her tenderly on the cheek. He leaves the room.Never looked back. ※※※※ When Drow entered Bruno's audience hall, the wine barrel Cooper brought was half empty.Bruenor, Cooper, Dagna, Wulfgar, Regis, and a few other dwarves were talking loudly about which bucket of "holy water" was sweeter and softer, about another taste test that was sure to generate more talk . "This barrel!" Bruno had just finished drinking a barrel of wine, and lay back with a beard full of foam. "Only goblins would find that bucket delicious!" Wulfgar's growl was dull and slow, and his laughter stopped abruptly. Click on the wall of the barrel. "Maybe I was wrong." Wulfgar sat limply on the ground, his voice muffled by the resonance of the metal barrel. "Tell me what you think, Drow." Bruenor yelled at Drizzt, who had just entered, and handed him an unopened wine barrel. Drizzt blocked the dwarf's invitation with his hand, "Mountain spring water pleases me more than mellow mead." Bruenor threw the barrel at him, but Drow dodged it easily, and the dark golden liquid slowly dripped onto the flagstone floor.The sound of other dwarves accusing Bruenor of wasting the wine really startled Drizzt, but what surprised Drizzt even more was that for the first time Bruenor didn't scold back. "My king." The shout ended the deafening noise, and a heavily armed dwarf walked into the reception hall. His serious expression immediately drove away the cheerful atmosphere in the hall. "The seven clansmen never came back after they entered the new area." "Perhaps the journey was delayed?" Bruno asked. "They've missed dinner time," the guard replied. "It's troublesome." Cooper and Dagna said at the same time, and their faces became heavy together. "Bah!" Bruno waved his thick palm unsteadily, "There are no more goblins in those tunnels. Our people went there to find mithril. They must have found a vein. Tell you, such a thing will It's not surprising to keep all the dwarves, even to forego dinner." Drizzt noticed that Cooper, Dagna, and even Regis were shaking their heads in agreement.Knowing the dangers of the Underdark (the deepest tunnels of Mithril Hall are no safer), the wary drow beg to share their views. "What are you thinking?" Bruenor said to the drow ranger, seeing the concern evident on Drizzt's face. Drizzt considered his question for a while, "I'm thinking, maybe you're right." "It's possible?" Bruno's anger immediately rushed to his face, "Hmph, okay! I never convinced you. Then go and see, isn't this what you want? Take your cat, Go find our belated dwarves." Drizzt smiled wryly, Bruno's reaction was probably exactly what he wanted. "I am Wulfgar, son of Beornegar! I'm going too!" Wulfgar's statement was majestic, but the sound effects were hilarious with his head still in the barrel.Bruno punched the barrel again, ending his rambling. "Elf!" The dwarf king's shout made Drizzt turn around, Bruenor looked at him with a smirk on his face, and then turned his head to Regis, "Take the glutton, he has nothing to us here benefit." Regis' big round eyes suddenly became bigger and rounder, his chubby fingers stroked the curly brown hair, and fiddled with the earrings he was wearing unhappily, "Me?" He asked feebly, "Go back there?" "You've been there anyway," Bruenor continued to persuade Regis, but he was more like shouting at the other dwarves, "and killed a few goblins, if I remember correctly." "I eat too much..." "Go, glutton," Bruno snarled, leaning forward in his seat so suddenly that he almost fell to the ground. "This is the first time I've ordered you since you came to us. We know you're running away! Do as I tell you, and don't talk back or make excuses!" Bruenor's stern voice shocked everyone present, even Regis.The halfling didn't say another word, just stood up and walked obediently to Drizzt's side. "Can I go back to my room?" Regis asked Drow calmly. "I think I should at least take my hammer and backpack." Drizzt put a hand on the little companion's slumped shoulders and turned him to face him. "Don't be afraid," the dark elf whispered, dropping the onyx statue of Guenhyvar into the halfling's hastily outstretched hands. Regis knew he had a good partner.