Aisling groaned and doubled over. She clutched the back of her head in anguish.

‘Why? Why did I do that? I gave away my golden egg, just to bring the weight up a bit,’ Aisling mourned.

‘I think you saved our skins,’ remarked Irene.

‘The attention you gave it wasn’t healthy,’ said Flora. She wiped a final tear and took a deep breath as she calmed down from the terror of the Duchess.

‘Something’s been bothering me about all that. From what I heard of Edwald and Bard’s conversation, they mentioned objects that would bring longing to those that see them. Was there something about the nugget that was unnatural? I mean, that made an unnatural longing?’ Percy thought aloud.

‘Other than the fact that it was a huge lump of solid gold?’ Zachary scoffed.

‘Yes, I mean, I wondered if it had some kind of special power over people,’ Percy faltered. ‘It was like Aisling was under a spell. Then the Duchess found it straight away and couldn’t keep her hands off it.’

Aisling groaned again in sorrow. ‘I couldn’t help taking it. I don’t know why I did,’ she said.

‘Then you told the Duchess that you mined it, and now she wants more,’ Irene reprimanded, in a flat, accusatory tone.

‘Well, that was a development!’ Henry gave a dry comment as he emerged from the shadows.

‘Tell me Irene, when the Duchess asked what you needed, why did you ask for cloth of all things?’ Henry asked.

‘I don’t know, I had to think fast. I was panicking!’ Irene replied.

‘You could have asked for bricks, mortar, timber, anything to repair the chapel. New mining equipment, bedding, a mine cart… I suppose we’ve got a clock and a pair of scales at least,’ Henry’s voice bristled with discontent. ‘Percy had the right idea asking for eggs and butter.’

‘But we do need a clock and scales!’ Flora protested.

‘We’re doing just fine without!’ Henry grumbled.

‘I can think of lots of uses for cloth. There’s so many things you can do with it that would be quality of life improvements. It will be useful,’ Irene gave a petulant response.

Henry shook his head in disappointment.

‘Now we’ve got to mine the Company more gold when I’ve never seen more than a crumb of it. There are stacks of useless iron pyrites. They are going to be disappointed, and you can guess what that means for us. I don’t know what we’re going to do.’ Henry shrugged his arms with a weary flop.

‘It appears you have a dilemma, but have you considered all of the puzzle pieces?’ a voice asked from behind the miners.

The miners turned to see Bard, who sat on a nearby boulder and gave a thoughtful strum of his lute.

‘You’re fae. A fully fledged boggart no less, Bard, or Wakeman; whatever your name is,’ Henry accused, and wielded his staff.

‘Oh, accusations! Oh, mercy!’ Bard gave fretful strumming on his lute and looked wounded.

‘Give over,’ growled Henry.

‘Fine,’ Bard said, with a scowl. ‘I am a trusted advisor and purveyor of knowledge, this is the task of the town crier and court minstrel; hear ye!’ Bard parped on his horn and rattled a tambourine.

The miners stared.

‘Quite the fraught relationship between these men of ambition, wouldn’t you agree?’ Bard pondered in conspiratorial tones and strummed his lute. ‘It is one born in betrayal and mistrust. However, it is not an even relationship. Edwald feels threatened by all of Gifrey’s might, but should Edwald’s need to lean on Gifrey’s industry be undermined, then the bucket shall be kicked and Gifrey left dangling. The capstone shall from the house’s foundation be plucked, and down it should tumble…’

‘We get it,’ said Zachary.

‘Why not approach master Edwald with your problem, and offer a solution to this most uneasy peace? Although come penitent, for you took something of his that he did not give freely. I bid you all a fond adieu, know me as your trusted friend, ever with sage wisdom and advice.’ Bard sprung to his feet, and with a tootle of his whistle, he pranced out of sight behind the boulder.

There was a susurrus of chuckling in the background hubbub from the cavern’s fae.

‘What can we even do? We know you can never trust the fae because it’s going to be trick, but he also has a point.’ Percy sounded depressed.

‘What is he talking about? We can never go back to Edwald, we would get blasted with lightning!’ Irene cried.

‘How could we even approach him to apologise?’ Zachary whined.

‘With caution,’ Henry gave an acidic reply.

‘We could have just asked Bard!’ Percy moaned in dismay as he realised.

Flora peered behind the boulder. ‘He’s gone,’ she observed with mystification.

The miners approached Edwald’s mansion by sneaking to it the same way they approached before.

‘Now what?’ whispered Percy.

‘Who’ll volunteer to knock?’ whispered Flora.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

‘Shall we call for him? Ring the doorbell?’ wondered Zachary.

‘You’re the theatrical one; pretend to be someone brave,’ replied Henry.

Zachary cleared his throat, stood up, and took a deep breath. Only a squeak came out. He ducked back down again and hid his face in shame.

‘That was pathetic,’ remarked Aisling.

‘We could throw pebbles?’ Percy suggested.

‘Too antagonistic,’ disagreed Henry.

Together, the miners crept up and with great hesitance, Henry reached around the porch and tapped on the door with his staff.

A window opened behind them.

‘Oh look, it’s the thieves,’ commented Edwald. He waited for the miners to finish their yelp of surprise as they scrambled to their feet.

‘Such brazen theft from an old man, and a sickly one at that.’ Edwald gave a sardonic pout on the part of his face that remained free of metal.

‘I suppose you have come to return the stolen item and beg forgiveness?’ Edwald asked.

Up close, the miners could see that Edwald had a new wound on his arm. A bandage was wrapped around it that was smudged with red.

What mesmerised the miners, however, was the eerie glow from the green eye that seemed to give a subtle pulse, as if it had a life of its own. His human eye looked tired and hollow.

‘Actually, we come to you doubly humbled. The item was confiscated by our employer, who has coerced us into providing a regular supply of such. We came to ask forgiveness, and offer the talents of our service in exchange for… more,’ Zachary announced with as brave a swell of the chest as he could muster, even as his voice stumbled.

‘Oho! More? Quite some nerve! You steal from me then have the gall to come back and ask for more?’ Edwald spluttered in disbelief. ‘What talents of yours might these be?’

‘I’m good with horticulture and can provide fresh produce,’ Flora spoke up, trying to mimic Zachary’s bravado. ‘Percy was a chimney sweep, Irene was a seamstress, Aisling was a scullery maid…’

‘Miners. We’re miners. We mine the iron ore. We can deliver you some,’ growled Aisling.

‘Hmm, I suppose I ever have the need of it. How much can you provide?’ replied Edwald.

‘We were tasked with producing twenty-six pounds per week. However, it appears we both have a mutual rivalry with Gifrey. His puppets contest our best ore seam. Can you help?’ asked Henry.

‘Oh, you know about my dealings with the big man? Well, I’ll have you know that we are not simple adversaries. Our relationship is fraught, yes, but it has gone on a great many years without you or your company’s interference. Yes, I know who you work for. Sordid business, that.

‘Anyway, old Gif and I have a fragile peace. I can’t be seen to give you anything that may jeopardise that. I’m afraid I have little confidence in pilfering vagabonds who show up empty-handed to their mark’s home, then have the gall to ask for more!’ Edwald asked them in his sneering tone.

‘Sordid business? What do you know about the Company?’ Percy asked, but Henry urged him to be quiet.

‘We’re miners, not fighters. I’ve seen the army of walking statues and how well they reduce a seam to rubble. We have no wish to have that force turned against us. It would be better to face the Company’s wrath than to be bludgeoned to a pulp by their tools,’ Henry said in a firm voice. If you’re not willing to help then we have no agreement, and you can continue to deal with Gifrey and his machine men by yourself.’

‘Quite the negotiator, aren’t you?’ Edwald gave a sneer. ‘I’m afraid I can’t give you anything to use against old greedy-guts directly. I can, however, tell you the location of all the seams in the area. I never mined them myself, but I have my information sources. If you aren’t willing to face the golems then you can work around them. It will, however, involve you going out of your way, with a fair bit of travel. Stay awhile, I shall produce you a map.’

With that, Edwald shut the window and disappeared into his house.

Edwald returned a good while later with a basket of goods.

‘Perhaps we got off on the wrong foot.’ Edwald gave an insincere grin that was quite unnerving to all who beheld it.

He looked even frailer than before and his skin tone was anaemic.

‘Here’s something for you; a little motivation for the task ahead. I too have my supply needs, after all,’ Edwald told the miners.

‘For you, young lady, I have a gift,’ Edwald announced. He passed the first item to Aisling, whose face lit up in surprise and astonishment.

‘This is an ornamental clock which counts the seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, and even years. Its furniture is white quartz and gilt leaf. The face is obsidian,’ explained Edwald.

The sight of the clock brought murmurs of admiration from the group.

‘For you, young sir, I have something I hope you’ll enjoy. A costume of the wizard Prospero, and a script of his lines.’ Edwald handed a robe and leather-bound booklet to Zachary.

‘The garment material is crushed velvet in Tyrian Purple, trimmed with ermine. The booklet is full-grain leather with gold trim,’ described Edwald.

Zachary received his gifts with a religious kind of awe.

‘How could you tell? Now I can be like the lead actor, the star of a Shakespeare play; The Tempest no less. It’s like I always dreamed. Thank you sir, I can’t tell you what this means to me,’ Zachary gabbled.

‘For you, young lady, I have a most precious gift. A rather bonny decoration that I think would suit you.’ Edwald passed a jewellery box to Flora.

‘This is a tiara made of twenty-four carat gold. Leaves of jade are arranged around its circumference. The droplets at the front, evocative of plant shoots, are emerald. Fit for a horticultural queen!’ announced Edwald, to Flora’s astonishment.

‘I’ve never owned a piece of jewellery in my life, but many a time I admired the collections of my house master’s mistresses. I don’t think I’m worthy to wear this!’ Flora exclaimed.

Flora took the tiara from the box, and slid it over her brow with great care. Straight away, she seemed to rise up with pride, and a blissful light filled her eyes.

‘Now I do feel like a gardener queen, and shall tend my plants with honour,’ Flora stated, with a regal smile.

‘For you, young sir, I have just the thing to suit a perceptive eye and enquiring mind. This is a powerful looking-glass made from chromium-alloy steel, with adjustable flawless crystal lenses. With it, one could see every detail on the moon!’ Edwald proclaimed.

Percy received his gift from Edwald with trembling reverence. Straight away he uncapped the ends and looked about at the caverns around him. After a while, he managed to stammer his thanks.

‘For you, madam, I have a keepsake that I hope you’ll cherish,’ Edwald announced, and handed the last gift to Irene.

‘It’s a solid gold locket that may be worn as a pendant. The interior has a portrait of your late parents on each side with the family names engraved together on the back,’ described Edwald.

Irene’s hand shot to her mouth. ‘How?’ Her voice was barely audible.

The thrill of the miners turned to stunned quiet.

‘The eye, dearest; the eye. Through it, I see what people want and am inspired to create things of beauty, even from using the earth’s basest materials,’ replied Edwald.

‘You, however, are hard to read,’ a grimacing Edwald said, and turned to Henry. ‘You keep yourself covered with this appalling, crudely made carapace for yourself that somehow seems to block my… intuition.’

The unsettling green glow of Edwald’s false eye focused on Henry, who stared back with his helmet’s glaring eye slits.

‘I’m not even sure if you would appreciate it if I made you a new suit of armour. There’s no pleasing some. Instead, you can just have this.’ With a sniffy disdain, Edwald handed a cardboard canister to Henry. ‘It’s a map of all the caves.’

Henry seized the canister and his gloved hands fumbled with the lid. With great care, he slid the papers out of the tube. They folded out to display a map detailed with minute precision.

‘Incredible! It’s vast… even more so than I thought. Just as I suspected… the flow of magic is a continuous circle; but it reaches for miles! Where are we, here? Every place I’ve ever been could fit between the hours of seven and eight on a clock face. I’ve barely seen any of it, even after all this time…’ Henry’s voice was taken away with awe.

‘My deal for you is this: bring me twenty-six pounds of charged iron ore each and I shall give you half a pound of gold. Each. Per week. I can see that these items have made quite an impression on you. Work hard and there’s more where that came from. Now go, run along. I’m rather tired. I need to rest,’ Edwald said, in a faltering voice. He closed the window, and staggered off to the interior of his mansion.