Trouble in the Land of Dwarves
Chapter 20
The Submarine
The Submarine was by far the
greatest invention Nataleigh and Maid
Madelyn had seen since arriving in the
dwarven workshop. Constructed of wooden
planks and reinforced by riveted iron bands
from top to bottom, it boasted of sturdy
craftsmanship. And it was heavily
equipped; complete with a winch and diving
cage, clear glass front for underwater
viewing, perriscope, and torpedo lauchers.
It was even built with a huge drill on it�s
front end for underwater digging if
needed.
�So you like our
submersible digging machine, do you?�
Hiendel asked, practically bursting with
pride as he realized what the princess was
admiring.
�Uh huh.� Nataleigh
nodded in agreement. �Can I see the inside
of it?�
�Vhy of course you can.
But first I think ve must have a look at your
condition. Vun must not procrastinate vhen
treating medical conditions. You never
know vhen it could suddenly take a turn for
ze vorse! You don�t vant to get as big as
zat two ton horsee over dere now do you?�
Not waiting for an answer, Hiendel looked
at Frangen. �Did you have ze young lady
finish zat paperverk I gave
you?�
Frangen glanced down at
his empty arms as he shrugged sheepishly.
�Um...no, Hiendel. I left it upstairs by the
front door vith their vindrunner. I�m
sorry.�
Hiendel�s face grew sour.
�Frangen, you know our policy! �No
Service vithout Paperverk in order.� Vhat if
she has allergies or s..... Did you say
�vindrunner�?�
Frangen nodded
excitedly.
�Remarkable!�
Hiendel turned back to the princess with
renewed interest as Boz finally reached the
top of the ladder and joined them.
�Young lady,� he inquired with
excitement. �how did you come to befriend
one of ze sacred ponies of Ivory
Mountain?�
�My father gave
Jewel to me when she was just a foal.�
Nataleigh said matter-of-factly. �We�ve
grown up together.�
�Your
father?� asked Hiendel his eyes widening.
�You mean...?�
Suddenly Maid
Madelyn jumped in, beginning to lose her
patience. �Yeah, yeah. Her father, alright?
She lives on Ivory Mountain and she came
down for a visit and now we�re here to
borrow your underwater ship thing down
there so we can save Darrowold from evil.
Do you guys want to help us out or what?
�Cause we�re losing precious time here and
we�re going to need someone to drive that
thing.�
The three dwarven
inventors looked at each other in shock, not
believing their own ears. Then they looked
at Princess Nataleigh and back at each other
again with new understanding as if seeing
her for the first time.
Finally
Hiendel spoke again. �If you are from
Ivory Mountain, then you live in Amiera,
Palace of the Heart...�
Frangen
continued. �Then you are not a dwarf
maiden, but....�
Boz finished.
�Your majesty!�
All three
dropped to their knees and prostrated
themselves in front of the princess.
Nataleigh was embarrassed..
�What are you doing? Get up.� she
said. �I�m just a girl. It�s ok. You don�t
have to treat me special.�
Finally after more coaxing, they
finally stood and Hiendel spoke with great
reverance. �Your majesty, ve are your
humble servants. How may ve three be of
service to you?�
�You can stop
calling me, �your majesty�. My name is
Nataleigh.�
�Princess Nataleigh!�
Maid Madelyn corrected.
The
princess sighed. �Ok, Princess Nataleigh if
you must give me a title. I really don�t care,
but we need to get on with our mission
before it�s too late!�
�Vhat
mission, your highness? Ve are at your
service.� Hiendel repeated.
Maid Madelyn took over.
�The princess has come here from
Ivory Mountain to request the use of your
ship. We need it to find and recover a very
powerful stone called the Serpent�s Eye
which is somewhere under Skull-Rock
Island in an underwater cave. King
Kugelbone and Captain Claw are already on
their way to find it with the help of
Panganiban the wizard and the sea witch,
Hagwig! If they get it before we do, it
could mean the end of Darrowold, so if
you�re going to help us, let�s get a move on,
shall we?�
She clapped her
hands twice for effect as if she were the
princess and the three brothers were
snapped into action!
Hiendel
immediately began giving orders to the
other two. �Frangen, gather our supplies
and our gear for the trip! Don�t forget ze
ice-maker in ze kitchen. Bozwin, refill ze
pool and do a systems check on ze
vessel!�
Frangen ran off
immediately with a �Yes, your
majesty!�
And Boz just stood
there, saluting the princess like she was a
military general until Hiendel gave him a
small shove and sent him on his way.
Within the hour, the submarine was loaded
and ready for launch and the small group
was ready to begin the journey.
Nataleigh could hardly wait.
Unfortunately, Jewell would have to
be left behind, but the inventors provided
her with plenty of fresh oats to eat and a
swinging door that allowed her to get
outside when she needed to. Nataleigh
assured her that she would be fine and said
her farewell to the loyal pony with a big
hug. Jewel was obviously upset by the
separation, but nothing could be done about
it. The submarine just wasn�t big enough to
fit an animal of her size and where they
were going was not suitable to a creature of
the air.
And so it was
that the next leg of the quest had begun.
Nataleigh stood in the front of the sub,
looking out through the clear glass front as
the massive mechanical doors cranked open
in front of them mixing the waters of the
dwarven ocean with the pumped in waters
of the underground pool. Then she heard
the docking clamps release and watched as
Boz guided the vessel out into the open sea.
Her heart raced as she realized
that they were off! Nothing now lay
between them and Skull-Rock Island. Soon
they would find the hidden cave and
Princess Nataleigh would be the hero who
found the Serpent�s Eye and saved all of
Darrowold!
�Surely
father couldn�t punish me for that.� she
assured herself. �And won�t Nathan be
jealous when he finds out what he�s
missed.�
The
End of Book 1
Book 2 - Prologue
Book 2 Table of Contents
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