The Gods That Keep Them

Broken Destiny

*AUTHOR'S NOTE* Though my story is not Mature, this chapter does have a little bit of sex. Feel free to skim over that bit if it makes you uncomfortable, and know that this is the only chapter with such a scene in the entire book. Thanks for reading!



"Take off yer clothes, then," Ceann Uldhe said as the human closed the door to her private room on the third floor of the tavern.

He grinned with cheeks red from embarrassment and ale, but he did as she bade him. His pants fell to the floor with a clunk, indicating a hefty amount of gold in his pouch, and also a rather large dagger. At least one thing he has is large, Ceann thought to herself upon inspecting the man's equipment.

The tavern owners knew what she did in there, but the old dwarven couple didn't mind so much because it kept customers coming to the Grinding Wheel. A dwarf or human male would often drink his fill in the tavern before heading upstairs to see Ceann, and also fill up on ale again once they'd drained their resources with the popular prostitute. Now, technically speaking, her line of work wasn't exactly legal in the Queen's capital city of Kelgrond, which lay under the mountain of the same name. But the Grinding Wheel had the odd fortune of being just outside the reach of that law while still being close enough for the Royal Army to protect the large tavern from outside threats.

The Grinding Wheel had been an institution in the olden days of adventuring and heroism in the dwarven kingdom. Days when the likes of Bellan the Fierce and Captain Haryen became legends with their feats of strength and prowess, both on the battlefield and in exploration, respectively. Lately, however, with things the way they were in the land of Kelgrond and beyond, dwarven folk just barely squeezed enough out of life to get by. The humans had become so numerous above ground they had all but driven the dwarves out of every single trade in the light of the sun. Below ground, though, dwarves still held the key to precious metals and the secret of fine dwarven arms and armor. If not for that specific skill, the humans would have no use for the smaller but sturdier race.

After a few minutes of pleasing the man with her mouth, he then took Ceann from behind for a few more minutes. The human wrapped up in record time and tossed her required fee, plus a generous tip, onto the bed and then fled the tavern before anyone could recognize his face. Humans were often attracted to Ceann and sought her services but were always secretive so as not to be mocked by their kin. Apparently, it was as taboo for a man to lay with a dwarf as it was for a dwarf to lay with a human. But in these hard times, Ceann took what she could get, because she was both.

She gathered the coins, eyes wide at the sizable gratuity he had included, and stuffed them all into her life savings, secretly tucked away in a hidden compartment behind the headboard. Ceann Uldhe almost had enough coin to leave this place and find her fate elsewhere in the world. It was all she thought of these days. Ceann was the daughter to Beartas, a dwarf woman considered the most beautiful in the kingdom many years ago. But she had been cast out by her family in Kelgrond, the city under the mountain, when she had become pregnant with a human's child.

Ceann, being half-human, did not fit in anywhere during her childhood. Above ground, she was shorter than the humans by a good deal. Plus, her well-muscled physique, courtesy of her dwarven ancestry, made her a better fighter and athlete than the human males. How they had hated losing to a girl at every single competition. Running, swimming, handball, hand-to-hand sparring, weapons training... you name it, and Ceann beat the humans at it. Every time.

When her mother had died in an "accident" at the human tavern, Ceann had returned underground to seek solace amongst her other kin. But they, too, shunned her as different. She was taller than the dwarves but weaker than them in all things physical. Ceann could not compete with dwarven work ethic either, as they put in long 10-hour workdays of back-breaking labor.