CHAPTER 1
Let me begin by describing myself and a little about my life. My name is Khel, and I am an elf. I'm fairly young for my race, I suppose I'd be about the equivalent of early twenties if I was a human. I was raised from infancy in a theatre troupe and have come to fancy myself as something of an accomplished actor. The company consists of about thirty of us total, mostly elves and a few humans. Our caravan travels among the majority of large towns and cities, performing plays, juggling acts, songs and dances as well. I have a fairly distinct voice, perhaps high for most males, but the audience always responds well, saying how I inspired and moved them. Occasionally I am made to play female roles depending on what performance we are enacting. I don't mind, it's the sign of a great actor, I think, to be able to capably and believably portray either sex on the stage. Elves are fortunate as a race. We are long-lived, have beautiful, striking features and a certain grace to our movements, although the latter is learned behavior from our society. I have dark brown hair, cut very short to help with wearing any wigs or hats for performances. I have long, pointed ears, naturally. My eyes are green, a bright vibrant emerald color that has always served me well when seeking company for the evening in whatever local brothel or tavern we might happen upon in our traveling.
The last week's travels had brought us to entirely new territory, an immense subterranean dwarven city called Stonefield. It had only been in the past year or so that dwarves had begun allowing topside races into their underground settlements. The stout people weren't generally known for their hospitality, though to be honest, there wasn't much I knew for certain about them. I knew some dwarven fables of course, and had seen a scant number of individuals in large topside cities before, always merchants, selling their wares to humans and elves. It was quite exciting for our company to be invited to Stonefield. To my knowledge, we would be the first non-dwarvish performers ever here. Despite being deep underground, there was phosphorescent moss covering much of the cavern walls and ceiling as well as some sort of glowing gemstone in lamps all along the roads and in the windows that illuminated the city to a degree I would have thought impossible. It wasn't daylight to be sure, but we could see a good distance around in nearly every direction.
There wasn't much time to appreciate the architecture or craftsmanship as we had to begin unloading and setting up our wagons straight away. We were fluid and well-practiced in our routine. We could likely set up our caravan town and stage with our eyes closed by this point. It took a little under two hours to get everything ready at the edge of a large square near what I guessed was the center of the city. A pair of armed dwarven guards had lead us here riding on the backs of what appeared to be enormous, snuffling moles from the surface and had stood to one side watching us go about our work. In fact, as I looked to the surrounding buildings I noticed many curious round faces, most of them bearded, staring inquisitively out at us with interested expressions.
Once our set-up was complete, Joren our announcer and pitchman, a towering, well-built elvish fellow with short, straight blond hair and a tidy moustache began calling out to and inviting in our intended audience. Our stage was at the center of our convoy, on which Joren stood, garishly dressed, telling jokes and juggling as he beckoned to the curious stout folk who eagerly approached. Vahn, another tall elvish man with his long, straight black hair, stood at a booth nearby selling tickets with an infectious smile. I was backstage at this point donning a pretty gold dress and long yellow wig. My friend Aste quickly handling the make-up application to my cheeks and lips. She worked quickly but effectively to make me look my part. Tonight our performance was of a well known comedy called "The King's Unlikely Bride". It was a bit over the top, full of bawdy music, raunchy dance numbers and plenty of silly affairs. Our troupe had chosen this specifically because it was a story known all over, even to the dwarves we learned, so it became the ideal introduction to elvish theatre. I was pleased that it was chosen because of a moving duet between two of the potential brides, who became spurned by the king. I would be one of them and Aste would play the other. We had practiced this particular song together since we were young and loved being on stage ever since. I don't think we had failed yet in bringing a crowd to the verge of tears and beyond with our voices and emotion. I chuckled to myself, wondering if dwarves cried, or were as stone-faced as I had heard.
As the play progressed, we all watched the audience with great interest from behind the heavy curtains. It was clear that some of the finer points may have been lost on the dwarves but they clearly understood the gist of what they were seeing. They were even more stoic than expected, giving only small laughs when most crowds had given whooping cheers and applause. Still, they didn't look bored at least. I performed my scenes with well-practiced ability and perhaps even overacted a few scenes to ensure our dwarven friends weren't missing any subtleties. While I was backstage during the dungeon scene, Aste commented to me,
"I think you have a hairy little admirer." She said.
"What? Oh really?" I arched an eyebrow slightly. "Point them out."
She indicated from behind the curtains to a dwarven fellow with a great wide beard of fire-red hair about three rows back. He was bald on top and had thick red eyebrows to match his braided facial hair.
"Ugh, he's rather an ugly thing isn't he?" I sneered, then laughed.
"Whenever you're onstage, he sees nothing else. You should be flattered, I think he's quite handsome by their standards." Aste teased.
"As if you would have any idea at all!" I countered. "There's more hair on his face than on both our bodies combined. Yuck." I adjusted the front of my dress. "Almost time for our song, you ready?"
"Of course. Don't fuck it up." She winked at me.
We both gave our all to our voices and performance. The melody had an unexpected faint echo from the monstrous cave around us and when it was my voice alone I played with that echo, using it to heighten the melancholy and pain in my words. As the song continued on I couldn't help but notice my admirer in the crowd. He really did seem to be quite taken by me, or at least the character I portrayed. I remembered they had never seen a topside play before and I briefly remembered how moving it had been for me the first time. My voice combined with Aste's at the climax of the song and we both hit the highest note, perfectly in sync, allowing the final sound we made to drift away into the cool air and disappear. As our stage crew doused the lights at the conclusion of our duet, I noticed my admirer's eyes had become very red and his eyebrows had knit together. He looked utterly desolate. Apparently it was the most that could be hoped for in terms of any visual response that I could read on the dwarves' faces. Again, there was no applause, just some small whispers in the audience. It was disappointing to be sure, but I had given the role my all. It certainly wasn't my fault that these cave-dwellers had no taste.
At last the play drew to its close. Our lead, Vahn, who played the king ends up alone, and utterly deflated but still has his court jester by his side. It made for a tragic conclusion but fitting for the ridiculous royal. The lights over the stage were doused again to silence. When new lamps were lit, it was time for our ensemble to face the audience and bow in unison. It was almost like an earthquake the way the noise hit us as we bowed low and then straightened again. The applause was cacophonous. It echoed loudly in the cavern all around us. There was cheering, laughing, hooting and hollering. It was in that moment we all learned that dwarves hold in all of their reactions until the production has completely ended. Surprisingly respectful, actually, I thought. I was quite pleased at how well it had been received, in the end.
The cast shook hands and gave one another smiles and nods at a resounding success of what we hoped would be many more performances for our new dwarven benefactors. Once the commotion had died down, and Joren had bade the audience a good night, the dwarves began returning to their homes for the evening. This would be about the time where most of us would head to the local tavern to order drinks and celebrate an profitable first night. As is the custom with elvish theatre troupes, we celebrate wearing the costumes of the evening's performance, so I would continue playing the part of the pretty, yellow-clad damsel. It made little difference to me, elvish culture found the act of crossdressing humorous at worst. What could be said? A well-dressed elf in finery, be it male or female was something to be enjoyed and spectated. In tomorrow's production I was set to play a prince so this uncomfortable dress would only have to get me through the remainder of the evening.
The majority of our cast found its way to the nearest tavern called 'The Empty Cask' which was still quite a trek from our camp. We poured inside and set to ordering some of the dwarven ales the bartender recommended to us. It was in many ways a bar just like any other, although the walls and floor were all stone and the barrels which lined the back wall were larger than any I had seen and made of metal. The dwarves who frequented the establishment were nervous about their local pub being invaded by outsiders but their curiosity soon got the best of them and they began sitting with us, asking questions and telling jokes. We all drank and had a good time together. I sat with Aste and a few others from the troupe as we celebrated the night's resounding success. In too short a span I realized I had over-indulged in ale. My gods but the dwarves made strong drink! Aste laughed at me as I stood from my chair with some difficulty.
"A little too much drink, is it, milady?" She asked me with a wide grin. A couple of our friends at the table snickered as they watched me teeter.
"You can all just fuck off." I replied, though she was clearly right. "And though I am loathe to admit... I think I should be heading back to my wagon."
Her eyes grew somewhat wider. "Was that two mugs, truly? Should I escort you back, then?" She asked with obvious laughter in her voice.
"Despite my lovely gown, I am very much a male and capable of finding my own way home, thank you." I nodded to her curtly and began to weave between tables back to the front of the tavern.
As I approached the door I wobbled slightly and began to slip.
"Oh fuck." I said quietly.
I had thought there was a pillar closer to me than it actually was, but instead I began to fall over when suddenly an arm caught me on my way down. I looked up suddenly to see that the red-haired dwarf from the play had caught my arm as I descended and gently helped me back to my feet.
"Easy lass." He said quietly. "I suspect dwarven brew might prove a bit much for those not used to it."
"It-it has a kick to it." I replied lamely. It was very out of character for me to be this drunk, and I became quickly embarrassed. I wondered briefly what lass meant, it was not a word I had heard before.
The dwarf led me to a nearby chair and offered me his hand to help me sit. I waved it away.
"I saw the play tonight." He began. "It was something else. It was very moving, I've never seen anythin' like it before." His face was very earnest, it was cute in a way, how the stout folk lacked any sense of subtlety to their expressions.
I smiled. "Well I'm glad you liked it, sir dwarf."
He pulled his own chair in front of mine and leaned closer. His face suddenly turned quite red to match his facial hair as he prepared to say something that clearly made him uncomfortable. "I think, ye were the finest part of it." He gave me an awkward smile under his thick moustache and looked down. "Ye have a beautiful voice."
In spite of myself I gave him a smile in return. Though I hear many compliments regarding what I do, I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy them. However I knew too well not to lead men on that I didn't intend to bed. This shaggy fellow was certainly in that category. "I appreciate that, sir." I said kindly.
"Brom," he said.
