“Goblins, spread out and keep watch. Except for you three. You three watch him,” I say, pointing to Gerald.
“What are you doing?” Gerald asks.
“I’m going to see some things,” I say. I bend down by the pool and find a small rock. I carve some runes along the edge of the pool and once finished I step back. Who do I want to search for first?
The peasant woman. If she is out of the cave there is no point in continuing to pursue her. My job needs to be about containing her loss at that point. How many peasants will think they have a chance at defeating me if she leaves with tales of slaying my goblins?
I wave my hands over the pool and an image appears. There she is.
“Is that the woman you’re hunting?”
The image covers the whole pool and it is unavoidable to show Gerald. Well, Gerald can watch if he wants but if his friends found my traps he might not like what he sees.
“Yes,” I say.
She looks alive but her clothes are a bit ragged. They are splattered with blood and I seriously doubt it is her blood from the trail of goblins she’s been leaving. It pains me to even think that; a peasant leaving a trail of my goblins behind her.
Where is she? She has fashioned some crude torch, probably using part of her clothes, and she has a spear that I’m sure she took from a goblin. How is she making it this far? My goblins are inept, but they aren’t usually this inept.
It looks like she is still in a cave. That is good news for me; there is still a chance to grab her. I don’t know how far down she is. I can’t even begin to know where she is. It’s a cave. She could be ten minutes ahead of me or several hours for all I know.
The goblins should know. They patrol down here all the time. I turn back to look at the goblins. They might know but would I even trust their response?
No. I wouldn’t. I’ll just continue on and hope there aren’t that many more different paths to take.
“Are you still going to kill her?” Gerald asks.
“No,” I say.
“So, you’ve reconsidered?” Gerald asks.
“No,” I say with a smile.
“So she’s just a disposable tool to you, is she?”
“She is, but one worth more to me alive. What? You thought I was going to kill her?”
“Why wouldn’t I think that?”
“Why would you? I kidnapped her because I needed her. Alive. And I was going to return her. Alive.”
“Bullshit,” Gerald says. I just smile. “There is no way you were going to not kill her. Do you expect me to believe that?”
“I don’t care what you believe, priest,” I say. “But it is the truth. Waste not, want not, as they say.”
“So you were going to just drop her off? Just like that?”
“No, not just like that. I said she was valuable to me alive,” I say.
“Ah,” Gerald says. “You were going to ransom her back to her family.”
“Does that make more sense?” I ask.
“Sadly, yes,” Gerald says.
“I am glad you believe me. You shouldn’t jump to conclusions.”
“You’ve given me more than enough reason to think of the worst possible outcomes,” Gerald says.
“Because I’m a villain? So I must do everything as villainous as possible at all times? Ha! So I can’t have my own wants and desires?”
“Of course you can. All you want you take from the innocent. I thought that you wanted to take the lives from the innocent as well. How wrong I was.”
He’s being sarcastic. He still thinks he was right. He can’t admit he is wrong, can he?
“You still struggle with the fact that some of us aren’t content to sit in a hovel and play by your rules,” I say.
“So you just make up your own rules, do you?”
“Why not? You did it at some point. Somewhere, in your past, there was someone just like me,” I say. “But, let’s not have this argument again. Let’s see where your sister is.”
I wave my hand over the pool and the peasant disappears and the image of my old temple appears with Leo, Cassandra, and Katie inside, looking around.
They are still that far behind? To think, I was worried they were going to catch up to me.
Wait. Why are they that far behind? Ohh….no, no, no. Stupid…they raided my fucking bedroom! All my clothes are probably ripped, or stuffed in that endless pouch of Katie’s. What have they done to my bedroom? I need to see...
No. Gerald will see and I don’t want to give him any thoughts of hope. If I show him my destroyed bedroom or…or…
My heart drops as I think of my library. What if they saw through the enchantment? All my prized books…
Stop! You are master here Vivian!
“He was here!” Katie says rushing over to the pile of armor that Gerald was wearing when he entered.
“Katie!” Gerald yells.
“They can’t hear us,” I say. I smile and Gerald scowls at me. He turns back to the pool.
“But where did she take him?” Leo asks.
“Down that cave Cassandra blocked off,” Katie says.
“There is still more to explore. We might find Gerald and the Goblin Queen down the way we have not gone yet,” Cassandra says. She looks tired. They must have encountered some goblins in some of the other rooms. They don’t look any worse for wear but Katie is gingerly rubbing her backside…
No. I am not going to get upset again at what are now dead goblins who don’t know what a vital spot is. What is it about Katie’s ass? Is it because her butt looks like a pair of big shiny orbs and I just answered my question, didn’t I? Well, getting angry at dead goblins for ignoring my orders and teachings isn’t going to do shit. Serves them right though. Stab at a vital spot. They ignore me at their own peril!
I am going to think ahead to the future. Yes. That is what I am going to do. What is done is done. I can’t be concerned about it. Only the future concerns me now.
“Let’s look around first,” Leo says. “Make sure that nothing else was left behind.”
I took everything of value. Waste your time heroes!
“Yeah. Good idea,” Katie says.
“She really does love loot, doesn’t she?” I ask.
“We all have our faults,” Gerald says. “Some of us just have more than others.”
“Are you referring to me?”
“See? Perception isn’t one of yours,” Gerald says.
Oh, trying to be funny, are you Gerald?
“Look!” Leo says.
I turn away from a smug Gerald to the pool and see Leo pointing to the floor where I had drawn the Sigil of Altazan.
“What was written on the floor? And why?” Katie asks.
“It was a sigil,” Cassandra says. “This could be bad.”
“How bad?” Katie asks.
“It depends on what was cast,” Cassandra says.
“There is another one over here,” Leo says. Cassandra rushes over, still remaining in that top! The metal holding her up is gone! It’s just…tied. It can’t be tied that well! Nothing could be tied so well to contain all of…her! Just look at them bounce as she walks! And she doesn’t need to adjust anything? Ever? The hell!
“That is where the Gildensnatches came from,” Cassandra says. “This sigil has been used up.”
Once a sigil has been activated it draws in a lot of mana and then dissipates it over time; some sigils lose mana quickly, others over a long time. Once that mana is gone the sigil has to be redrawn.
“And the other one?” Katie asks.
“There is too much damage to it,” Cassandra says.
“She poured water over it to hide it?” Leo asks.
Yes, obviously that is what I did. It isn’t like there are pieces of a cauldron nearby! You really don’t have to be smart to be a warrior, do you?
“This cauldron exploded,” Cassandra says. “Maybe that happened before the Goblin Queen cast her spell.”
“Then where is she?”
Katie asks.
“Not here,” Leo says calmly. “Let’s search here for a little longer and then continue on.”
They haven’t even reached the cells yet. This is good.
“She likes asking questions she knows no one has an answer to, doesn’t she?” I ask.
“She is concerned for me,” Gerald says.
“You don’t owe her money, do you?” I ask, smiling.
“It is something called love and affection,” Gerald says. “Something you know nothing of.”
“You’re right. I am just a cold, heartless being. So, why should I let you live?”
“Go ahead and kill me,” Gerald says.
He knows I’m not going to. It’s a worthless stand. No one here cares if you pretend to be the self-sacrificing type Gerald! The goblins don’t care and neither do I!
“Let’s continue on,” I say, waving my hand over the image. It fades.
I turn to Gerald and he is looking at the pool. I smile as I walk up to him.
“If you love your sister, you should tell her to surrender when we meet,” I say.
“So you can use us in your spells? No. It is better to fight.”
“No, it is better to be sold for a ransom and then continue on with your life. Surely there is someone out there that you love. A boyfriend?”
“No,” Gerald says. “I am single.”
“This can’t be the life you want,” I say. “A prisoner for a queen.”
“I want more,” Gerald says. “But not at the expense of others.”
“Expense of others? That kind of thinking will get you killed,” I say.
“You said you weren’t going to kill me.”
“I’m not. I was referring to other dangers out there,” I say.
“What brought you to this place?” Gerald asks.
“It was abandoned. Thirty or forty years I estimate,” I say.
“Why not just build your own place?”
“Goblins are not great builders, and my magic in that area is limited. But this is ideal. It opened up to an underground area for my goblins to build their warrens and the fortress is ideally situated; it is within striking distance of several ripe locations, including a couple of roads, and at the same time it is far enough from those roads that no one will come knocking. Unless I take some peasants from a nearby village, apparently.”
“It would appear that we didn’t even need to show up,” Gerald says.
“And yet you did. Did my taking of two peasants warrant your arrival from some far off land?”
“We just happened to be in the area, actually.”
“So, were you just passing by?”
“Yes. We had a quest over in Balmoria that was rather difficult and were on our way to let King Randolf know of our exploits.”
“Why tell him?”
“We helped him out in the past and the King and Queen of Balmoria wished King Randolf to know that everything was fine in the land.”
Working with Gideon and Rowena? What did they do in Balmoria?
“What kind of quest did you take on?”
“A vampire had been preying on people in southern Balmoria.”
A vampire? These four fools went against a vampire? Ha!
“You four took out a vampire?”
There is no way they did it. And yes, I can see how the King Gideon and Queen Rowena of Balmoria would want to let neighboring kingdoms know that a vampire threat is gone. Hell, I think I’ll let my sister know once I’m done with these heroes. Her kingdom of Karus is a neighbor of Balmoria after all.
“Turns out he wasn’t that powerful.”
“He’s a vampire! He can’t be ‘not that powerful’ because he’s a fucking vampire!”
“We were lucky.”
“You…you killed a vampire with luck?” I ask.
When I say that, it actually makes more sense that these idiots just lucked out against a vampire.
“Even with that luck we nearly died.”
“What happened?” I ask.
“He seduced Cassandra and we nearly lost her.”
Well that makes sense. Vampires may not have any balls between their legs but they are still attracted to large round objects. A rack like Cassandra’s is basically catnip to vampires.
“Is that why she dresses like that?”
Cassandra’s wardrobe suddenly makes more sense. I’d dress like that around a vampire too.
“She has always dressed like that. What’s wrong with it?”
“What’s right with it?”
“She dresses as many wizards do.”
“You don’t see me dressed like that,” I say.
“No, but I still like your outfit,” Gerald says.
“Oh, why thank you.”
“It needs a bit of a cleaning…”
“And if I had access to my private chambers I would change,” I say. “Assuming your sister didn’t pilfer everything that I own.”
“Well, that all depends on how valuable it is,” Gerald says.
So, yes, Katie took all of my clothes.
“So, what is your vice?” I ask.
I need to change the subject away from Katie stealing everything I own.
“My vice?”
“You have said that no one is perfect. Especially your sister. With that gold lust I see in her she is so close to being just like me. Or competition for the Thief of Dunmire. But it sounded like you weren’t talking just about Katie, were you? And clearly you weren’t speaking of Cassandra’s fashion sense.”
“I enjoy a good drink,” Gerald says.
“What about moderation?”
“I lied.”
No!
That was my mock ‘no’ by the way.
“How many can you pound away?” I ask, ignoring any jokes at Gerald’s expense. It just…it doesn’t seem appropriate. Maybe I just don’t need a laugh right now.
“Too many,” Gerald says. “A tavern is a good time for me.”
“A priest, drunk in a tavern? That is a sight to see,” I say.
“It can get embarrassing,” Gerald says. “Not everyone appreciates getting hit on.”
“Certainly not by you,” I say.
“I know, I know. Katie scolds me all the time but Leo watches out for me.”
“What about Leo?”
“What do you mean?”
“What’s his vice?”
“Solitude. He likes it too much,” Gerald says.
“There is nothing wrong with solitude. He must have been from a small barbarian tribe.”
“Oh, he wasn’t born into that role. He fell into it after many jobs.”
“What did Leo do before becoming a barbarian?”
“He started out as a rat catcher. Then a beggar and then a pilot on a boat. Next he found a job as a street sweeper and a town crier, then a stable boy, a street urchin, a coat check boy, a clothes washer, a hairdresser’s assistant, and a librarian.”
“A barbarian as a librarian?”
“He wasn’t a warrior until after that. He says that someone discovered him shelving books and saw greater things for him,” Gerald says.
“And you?”
“I’ve always been religious. Worshipping Shara just seemed like a good fit. She enjoys life, I enjoy life, I want everyone to enjoy life…”
“Maybe I should look into this Shara,” I say. “I love life too.”
“She doesn’t approve of kidnapping people,” Gerald says.
“Well, I’ll just take whatever the equivalent of her is for me,” I say. “What about Katie?”
“Why so interested in my sister and friends all of a sudden?”
Ah, he doesn’t want to tell me about Katie.
“I’m just making conversation. Everyone is so far behind us I have some time to get to know you better.”
“To what end?”
“Can’t I just make pleasant conversation? Fine. Don’t tell me about them,” I say. “Let’s continue on!”
“Yes
highness!” my goblins croak.
“So, how does a hero come stumble upon a quest like this?”
“What quest?”
“Why, to hunt down the Goblin Queen of course.”
“We didn’t know it was the Goblin Queen when we said we’d investigate the missing peasants.”
“Would you still have been here if you had known I was here?”
“Yes,” Gerald says.
I believe him. He is sure that he would face any danger and come out ahead. He has this, ego about him whenever he talks about questing. Challenges are something he never shies away from because he knows he will overcome them all. I’ll have to give him some humility.
“First,” Gerald continues, “We rode into town and we looked for a tavern.”
“Why a tavern?”
“A tavern is the heart of any town. You can find information, food, and maybe some rooms. So we headed there first. After inquiring about some rooms we got ourselves a table and sat down to eat. You don’t get to eat well on the road. It’s a lot of dried and preserved rations. So when we get to eat we splurge. Our waitress got around to us and let us know what was available. We went around the table giving our orders to her.”
“What did you have?” I ask.
“I had a roasted rabbit with some grilled potatoes and some asparagus on the side. And to drink I had a wine.”
“What kind of wine?”
“Red.”
Red? Red? Oh, he doesn’t appreciate the finer things.
“Cassandra had a pheasant in this lovely sauce with some green beans on the side with some wine as well and Leo, he had a whole chicken with an ale.”
“And your sister?”
“Half a chicken with an ale. So we sat there eating and drinking, listening to a bard play a song. What was it that he was playing? My Heart is in Greytown. A bawdy song that was perfect to go with our meal. So, after we ate we looked around and decided to see what mischief we could get into. Legal mischief, of course.”
“Of course,” I say.
“Katie found a game of chance in the corner of the tavern. Leo found a man who was boasting how strong he was. Leo wasn’t having any of that! The alcohol wasn’t helping him keep his cool either. So with some cheers he ended up arm wrestling this man. I’m not sure if he even won or not. Cassandra and I sat and drank. I drank more than she did. We told the waitress to just leave the bottle. It was hard to keep our conversation going.”
The Goblin Queen and the Sigil of Altazan (The League of Sinister Means Book 2) Page 16