| HERE FOLLOWS THE THIRD EXTRACT FROM THE BOOK OF THE ACTS OF KEMENDIL:
Chapters 7, 8
7.1 Now there was a woman named Bryd, of the children of the Foro; and she was married to Dreng the King’s Marshal, who still governed the town of Dunbury.
2. And the King had commanded Dreng to return to the City, that the twain might be reunited. For Dreng and Bryd had both rendered him great service, as it is recorded in the chronicle of Aldred the Punchkin.
3. But Dunbury was again harassed by retainers of Ostendil, with many wild men out of the grey lands; wherefore Dreng remained to keep command of the town.
4. And Dreng and Bryd had a daughter named Wencela, who since the end of the war had been dwelling in the King’s house with her mother; and they served the Queen.
5. And there was a certain Punchkin who also dwelt in the King’s house, for he served Aldred the King’s minister; and his name was Waltrot son of Paltoc.
6. And Waltrot desired to take Wencela for his wife; and she consented freely unto him. But Bryd her mother said, This marriage will be an offence and a stumblingblock to the priests, for that ye twain are of different kindreds.
7. Never before hath one of the Punchkins wedded a woman of human kind.
8. Wait, therefore, until my lord the King shall return. He hath goodwill unto ye both of you, and he will constrain the priests of the Temple, that they may do this office, and that ye may be lawfully married.
9. And so, when King Kemendil had returned from the lands of the South, Waltrot and Wencela laid hand in hand, and knelt before him, and besought him to command the priests to marry them.
10. And Waltrot said, Sire, let it not be done in the Temple, under the eyes of the multitude; but let it be done discreetly, in the chapel of this Your Majesty’s house. And the King said, Gladly; and he blessed them.
11. And he summoned unto him Sorondur the priest, which was now the High Priest of the Temple, and commanded him, saying, Grant that this pair may be married according to our law.
12. And Sorondur answered and said, Nay, my lord: for they are of different kindreds. Such a thing hath not been done before, and assuredly it is a blasphemy against Lord Dru.
13. But the King said, Nevertheless, see that thou do it: and if it be illegal by the law of the Temple, see that the law be changed. Have I not commanded that ye make a new dispensation?
14. Then Sorondur consented, for he feared the King; and the date of the wedding was appointed. But all the priests of the Temple, from the greatest even unto the least, were filled with hatred of King Kemendil.
8.1 Then Kemendil summoned unto him Tirmo, chief of the Aulendili, that is the brotherhood of smiths and artificers.
2. And Tirmo came into the King’s chamber, where Aldred was also; and he bare witness of what passed between Kemendil and Tirmo.
3. And Kemendil, having a mailed gauntlet on his left hand, said unto Tirmo, Still I seek for the cause of the sickness that lieth on this City.
4. But while I journeyed in the land of Daelum I heard voices of the birds: and behold, a little bird spake unto me, saying, Enquire thou of the second orb of vigilance.
5. And I remembered that Lord Melohtar spake once to me of these orbs; and he told me that the second orb had disappeared; and the tale of this disappearance was unknown to all save the Aulendili.
6. Then Tirmo said to the King, Alas, Your Majesty, the bird of the air hath deceived you: for we know naught of this matter.
7. And the King said, Yet maybe some unknown scroll or record yet lieth within the archives of your guilds. And Tirmo said, Many records of that earlier time were destroyed in the dragon-fires. Yet will I make diligent search and enquiry amongst all the guilds.
8. And the King said, I thank thee, Lord Tirmo; and I know that thou art a loyal subject, and so I trust that thou wilt do thine utmost for me in this matter; and there is my hand upon it.
9. And he clasped the right hand of Tirmo in his own right hand; but then, not releasing Tirmo’s hand, he placed it into his own left hand, that wore the gauntlet.
10. And the steel mail of this gauntlet was very fine and hard, being the subtle work of the Dwarves. And the King held Tirmo’s hand fast, so that he might not withdraw it. And he clasped the hand of Tirmo with great strength.
11. And Tirmo said, Let me go. And the King said, Nay: for I perceive that thou liest, saying thou hast no knowledge of the orbs. Therefore tell me the true tale: else will I squeeze thy fingers to a pulp.
12. And Tirmo wept, and said, Nay, Lord, verily I know not. And the King crushed his hand, so that the blood ran out, and the bones brake. And he said, Speak.
13. And Tirmo cried in anguish, saying, It is forbidden: let me go!
14. Then the King said, But speak: for I can grip thy hand yet harder; and behold, thou hast yet another hand and two feet remaining. So Tirmo told the tale of the orbs, saying,
15. In the time of Kedrahil Melhyg (which signifieth, Friend of the worm), son of Kedral Formendacil, him being the third of that name, in the eleventh year of the dragon-war, which was at the end of the fifth century after the fall of Sorgrim the Black Artificer,
16. The strength of Thandor having been spent in the war, and Fëaruk remaining undefeated, and the people being famished and full of despair,
17. In that time did the priests of the Erumar, with Curuor the chief of the Aulendili, call upon the ghost of Sorgrim: yea, Sorgrim the Black Artificer himself. For they sought some new counsel or means of artifice whereby the worm might be defeated.
18. And the smiths wrought a tall vessel of glass. And it was set in the midst of that secret place which hath now been cleansed; and the priests offered sacrifice to Sorgrim, both of beasts and men, and of children also. And his ghost came, and drank the blood, and formed itself as a column of smoke; and it held speech with the worshippers.
19. Then Sorgrim revealed unto the Aulendili the device by which the worm was to be snared: namely, the distilling of the blood of the rocks.
20. So they distilled it, and offered it to Fëaruk, and he drank it greedily, and became enslaved by his own thirst: so that the King (being ignorant of the ghost) might persuade Fëaruk to end the war, and to withdraw into the far North, and to bind himself by a treaty.
21. Thus the war ended. But the priests and the smiths continued to invoke the ghost of Sorgrim, for it showed them the means whereby their power might be increased.
22. And in the sixth year of the Regency that followed after the death of Kedrahil, there came to light the two orbs of old Athenor, which had lain in a treasury of old Amruminas, deep below the surface of the lake.
23. For the smiths, helped by the Dwarves and the advice of Sorgrim, had constructed a diving-bell and found the sunken chamber; and they brought forth the two orbs.
24. And the Regents presented an orb to Fëaruk, but it availed him not: he could see naught therein. And either because it had no glitter of gold, or because it was too hard and round, like an uncomfortable lump in his golden bed, he sent it back to the Aulendili as a gesture of goodwill.
25. And in the fifth year of King Oresgal, which was eighteen years ago, the ghost offered new counsel to the Aulendili, to wit, that by breaking open an orb they might learn the secrets of its making.
26. And so, desiring to make more of the powerful orbs, they did break one.
27. But it shattered into innumerable fragments like shards of glass. And these could not be gathered, but were carried away by the wind, for they were small and very light. And they were spread all over the Kingdom.
28. And some say that the true sickness of the Kingdom began at that time. For the little shards were easily swallowed, or they entered in the nose, or the eye, or the sheath of womanhood. And none who hath such a particle of glass in his eye can see the truth.
29. But that is not in our records, being merely an old wives’ tale. Now, Your Majesty, that is in truth all I know, and I beg you to end this torture. Yet you have marred my hand beyond healing.
30. And Kemendil opened his hand, and he released the hand of Tirmo: and it was marred. But Aldred lifted up his own hand, and said, Get thee to the witch: for she can heal aught that is broken.
31. And Kemendil said, Sayest thou so?
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