Thud!

hand and touched a piece. A troll. A dwarf had chosen to play as the trolls. Vimes gave the hovering Bashfullsson a questioning glance, and got another smile in return.
    Okay, you got as many of the little sods as possible in a defensive huddle, right? Vimes’s hand hesitated, and shifted a dwarf across the board. The click as he placed it was echoed by the one made by the movement of Helmclever’s next troll. The dwarf looked sleepy, but his hand had moved with snake speed.
    “Who killed the four mining dwarfs, Helmclever?” said Vimes softly. “Who killed the boys from the city?”
    Dull eyes looked at him, and then, meaningfully, at the board. Vimes moved a dwarf at random.
    “The dark soldiers,” Helmclever whispered as a little troll clicked smartly into place.
    “Who ordered it?” Again the look, again a dwarf placed at random followed by a troll that was moved so fast that the two pieces seemed to hit the board together.
    “Grag Hamcrusher ordered it.”
    “Why?” Click/click.
    “They had heard it speaking.”
    “What was it that spoke? Was it a cube?” Click/click.
    “Yes. It was dug up. It said it spoke with the voice of B’hrian Bloodaxe.”
    Vimes heard a gasp from Bashfullsson, and caught Fred Colon’s eye. He jerked his head toward the cell-block door, and mouthed a couple of words.
    “Wasn’t he a famous dwarf king?” said Vimes. Click/click.
    “Yes. He commanded the dwarfs at Koom Valley,” said Helmclever.
    “And what did this voice say?” said Vimes. Click/click. And a third click from behind Vimes as Fred Colon locked the door and stood in front of it, looking impassive.
    “I do not know. Ardent said was about the battle. He said it was lies.”
    “Who killed Grag Hamcrusher?” Click/click.
    “I do not know. Ardent called me to the meeting and said there was terrible fighting among the grags. Ardent said one of them killed him in the dark, with a mining hammer, but none knew who. They were all struggling together.”
    All dressed alike, Vimes thought. Just shapes, if you can’t see their wrists…
    “Why did they want to kill him?” Click/click.
    “They had to stop him destroying the words! He was screaming and hitting the cube with the hammer!”
    “There are…sensitive areas on a cube, and it is possible that if they are touched in the wrong order, all the sound will vanish,” whispered Bashfullsson.
    “I should think the hammer would do the trick whatever it hit!” said Vimes, turning his head.
    “No, Commander. Devices are immensely tough.”
    “They must be!”
    Vimes turned back to Helmclever.
    “It’s wrong to destroy lies, but it’s okay to kill the miners?” he said. Click.
    He heard the hiss of Bashfullsson’s intake of breath. Well, yes, perhaps that could have been better put. There was no answering move. Helmclever hung his head.
    “It was wrong to kill the miners,” he whispered. “And why not destroy lies? But it is wrong to think these thoughts, so I…I said nothing. The old grags were angry and upset and confused, so Ardent took charge. He said one dwarf killing another underground, everyone knew that was no business of humans. He said he could make it all right. He said everyone must listen to him. He told the dark guards to take the body to the new outer chamber. And…he told me to fetch my club…”
    Vimes glanced at Bashfullsson and mouthed the word “Club?” He got an emphatic nod in return.
    Helmclever sat hunched in silence, and then raised one hand slowly and moved a troll. Click.
    Click/click. Click/click. Click/click. Vimes tried to spare a few brain cells for the game while his mind raced and tried to piece the random information spilling out of Helmclever.
    So…It all starts when they come here looking for this magic cube, which can speak…
    “Why did they come to the city? How did they know the cube was here?” Click/click.
    “When I went to begin my training, I took a copy of the Codex . Arden confiscated it, but then they called me to a meeting and said it was very important and they would honor me by letting me go with them to the city. Ardent told me it was a great opportunity. Grag Hamcrusher had a mission, he said.”
    “They hadn’t even known about the painting?”
    “They lived under a mountain. They believe that humans are not real. But Ardent is smart. He said there were always rumors that something had come out of Koom Valley.”
    I bet he is smart, Vimes thought. So they come here, do a little