Free The Warble by Victoria Simcox Page A

reality of living in the dismal
palace with the self-absorbed queen was as far as he could see. He was a dwarf
of little faith, and he envied his brother, Rumalock, for opting to live a
simple life. Though Rumalock had to live poorly and spend a lot of his days in
search of the almost-extinct fairy blossom, it still seemed much better than
Ugan’s life at the palace. Luxuries and riches are not always what they are
chalked up to be . If he’d only listened to Rumalock’s advice years ago,
about not taking the position at the palace, he would have been much better
off. But then again, how was he supposed to know that Queen Sentiz had such a
plan to oppress and dictate over Bernovem? Her beauty and charm were so
convincing, and it just seemed too farfetched, all the talk among the so-called
believers about a Warble being returned someday to bring peace to Bernovem.
Besides he wasn’t the only one not taking it seriously; most dwarfs and gnomes
didn’t believe it. The believers were in the minority.
    Ugan thought again to
the task that lay ahead, and he hoped that Rumalock wouldn’t be home, so that
he could pretend that the cottage was his own. He took a deep breath and
started off toward it, hoping what he needed to do would just come to him as he
went along. He walked very quietly, so as not to be seen or heard. As he drew
near the cottage, he could see a light coming from the front window and smoke
coming out of the chimney. He peeked in the window. There was no sight of
Rumalock, but sitting on the couch were two girls, and in Rumalock’s armchair
sat a boy. The three of them were playing cards, and the boy was smoking
Rumalock’s pipe. They were arguing over the game.
    “Graham, I saw you looking
at my cards, you cheat!” one girl said.
    “I was not, Hester!”
Graham replied.
    “That’s why you’ve been
winning every time,” the other girl added.
    “Right, Davina. He’s
nothing but a dirty rotten cheat!” Hester went on.
    Graham took a big puff
from the pipe and then blew the smoke in Hester’s face.
    “That’s it! I’ve had it
with you!” Hester yelled, throwing her cards down. She reached out and grabbed
Graham by his hair, and just as they were about to fight like wild barbarians,
Ugan walked into the cottage. Hester let go of Graham’s hair and the three
children stood up, looking very surprised.
    “Well, well! I wasn’t
expecting company, but even so, I must say that I’m glad to see I have guests,”
Ugan said.
    The children looked at
each other, and then Davina said, “Aren’t you even upset that we broke into
your house?”
    “Upset? How could I be
upset at the sight of three lovely children as yourselves. An old chap like me
rarely gets such fine company.” Ugan hung his cloak on a wall hook.
    Graham hid the smoking
pipe behind his back, but Davina and Hester gave him dirty looks because of the
smoke and strong odor it was putting out.
    Ugan also noticed the
smoke seeping up from behind Graham’s back and said, “Oh, I see that you’ve
found my pipe.”
    Graham’s freckled face
went tomato red, and he became tongue-tied.
    “Well, I’m glad you’re
enjoying it,” Ugan continued.
    Once again the three
children looked oddly at each other because of Ugan’s reaction to the pipe.
    “You hardly look human.
What are you?” Hester asked.
    “I am a dwarf, and my
name is Ugan.” Ugan offered his hand to Graham. Graham thinking Ugan to be
strange, hardly touched his hand and when he did, he pulled his away quickly.
    “Welcome to the land of
Bernovem,” Ugan said and took each girl by her hand and placed a kiss on it.
    Hester gave Davina
another weird look at this gesture. “We want to know how we got here,” Hester
said, her snootiness rising up once again.
    Ugan didn’t know how to
answer, so he thought quickly and made something up. “You see, children, you
may not realize how very fortunate you are,” he said. “You have been chosen by
the most honorable Queen Sentiz of