King of the Goblins 2—Chapter 32

Her name was Gallu. She was a bit shorter than Tressi but was otherwise built the same. What was most interesting about her wasn’t that incredible figure, or even her adorable face. It was her hair. Her hair was red. And not crayon red, but like born and raised in Scotland red. She was the only goblin woman I had ever seen with hair that color.

Well, the color of her hair was appropriate, as she was the strongest woman with fire magic in the entire city, and by a long shot. It made me wish we had her for the troll attack, but she had been recovering at that moment.

“Honored to serve you, Your Majesties,” she said as she bobbed a curtsey. 

“We’re glad to have you with us,” Silvy said, always the professional one.

Tressi on the other hand, walked right up to her and ran her fingers through Gallu’s hair. “This is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” she said while Gallu blushed. “Oh, this is amazing. And you’re so strong with fire magic, too!” She shot me a look, and I immediately knew what she was thinking.

Well, if she wanted me to help create more redhead goblins that were strong with fire magic, so be it. I’d do it with a smile. I looked over at Gallu’s curvy body, barely contained in her dress. A big smile, indeed.

Althidon and Taranath were there as well. The jovial elven archer hadn’t brought his guitar, but fortunately he did have his bow, with a full quiver peeking over his shoulder. Althidon wore a cloak of mottled green that blended in with his surroundings. I blinked a few times when I realized it wasn’t just the color doing that. His cloak actually faded into the background, and was a bit uncomfortable to look at. It made him look like just a disembodied head floating around.

“Well, good morning King Aaron!” Taranath said, clapping me on the shoulder when I came near. “You ready to kill a troll king?”

I gave him a smile. “I guess it doesn’t matter if I’m ready or not; that’s what I’m going to do.”

“That’s the spirit,” Taranath said, patting me on the back. “With that kind of positive thinking, we’ll be unstoppable. Should we clear out the harpy nests when we’re done?”

“Oh stop, you,” Tressi said, but she smiled at him.

“Let’s hope this adventure of yours goes better than the last one did,” Althidon said with a hint of a grin.

“Yes,” Taranath agreed. “And hopefully I don’t get hit with an arrow this time. I still have nightmares about that.”

“The rest of us have nightmares about your singing,” Althidon said.

“You packed light,” I said, noting how small their packs was.

Taranath smiled and tapped his temple. “Because I used this, my friend. You have tents and bedrolls, but we have magic.”

“How is my sister taking this?” Tressi asked.

Taranath straightened up and his jolly mood faded a bit. “She’s not happy about it, but she understands. She was with me when the trolls attacked, so she was able to see them completely ignore our arrows. She also managed to see a certain reckless human attack them, then run away.” He gave me a look.

I shrugged. “I had to, or else they would have burned your trees down.”

“Yes, we do owe you, my friend,” Taranath said. 

“He’s right,” Althidon added. “A lot of us saw you suddenly appear out of nowhere, shouting at the trolls in their own language. That impressed a lot of people. I think it was clear you were cursing at them.”

“Yeah, trying to get them to follow me back to Solace,” I said.

“Well, if nothing else you proved that you’ve got a spine. Maybe not a brain, but definitely a spine.” He grinned to take any possible sting out of the words.

“Everyone ready?” I asked the group. We were eighteen strong, and together we were going to topple the troll kingdom. Granted, it would only take killing one man, and I’d handle that. 

“Ready as can be, Your Majesty,” said one of the soldiers. Three chevrons on his sleeve marked him as a sergeant, at least I thought. I still wasn’t completely solid on our ranking system.

Each of the soldiers had a large pack on their backs, bulging with clothes, food, probably water even though I said not to, and a bedroll wrapped at the top. The soldiers were all incredibly fit and looked like they could walk all day without getting tired. As their king, I just wanted to make sure I set a good example. Even being taller, I’d have my work cut out for me, outdoing them. Of course, I had the women to think about as well.

Fortunately the spear worked as a walking stick. Unfortunately I had my sword belted on, so I had to be careful or it would bang against my leg with every step. Well, I suppose there were worse things.

“Alright, let’s go,” I said, and set off. 

I wanted to get there quickly, but I had to be realistic about the pace that I set. Silvy was probably the slowest of the lot—not only was she four feet tall, but she hadn’t done a ton of walking in the months since I had known her. 

We walked in a loose formation, with me, the elves, and the women in the center and the soldiers in a rough circle around us. Each soldier had orders to quickly grab food if they came across any fruit trees or bushes. Since we didn’t pack much food, that was important.

Silvy walked next to me, holding onto my arm. I let her set the pace, but didn’t tell her that. If she found out I was taking it easy on her, she’d probably snap my head off. I looked down and smiled lovingly at her, then again when I noticed her breasts moving with each step.

She looked up at me and returned my smile, then noticed where my gaze had fallen. “Oh, you are insatiable,” she said, slapping my arm. “Tonight, though. It’s been a while for me,” she added in a softer voice.

I patted her hand with mine and tried not to get a boner at the thought of being with her. I didn’t play favorites, but Silvy was special. She always would be.

“So, what’s your plan?” Althidon asked as he fell in step beside me.

“Pretty simple,” I replied. “We get close, quietly killing anything that gets in our way, and figure out where the troll king lives. I have a feeling they don’t live in a city with high stone walls surrounding it, so that shouldn’t be too hard. Once we find him, I’ll use the shadow stone, slip in unnoticed, and kill him. Then we can be on our way.”

“That’s it?” Althidon asked. 

“Well, we’ll set fire to some things on our way out,” I said. “That’s one of the main reasons for Gallu coming with us. We’ll teach them a lesson for attacking Solace.”

Althidon nodded. “Good. The trolls respect strength and little else. And they see violence as strength. If you tried to reason with them, they would laugh, then step on you. But killing some of them will make them back down. The more you kill, the longer they’ll back down.”

“And getting rid of this king will help, too,” I said. “He was the driving force behind their attack.”

“Yes, so I’ve heard.” Althidon rubbed his chin. “How is my daughter? She told me she’s fine, but I wanted to hear it from you. Even if she lost a leg she probably wouldn’t tell me. I think she just doesn’t want me to worry, but I’m her father, so of course I do.”

“She’s fine,” I said. “Her and Zia are running the city while we’re gone.”

“Good,” he said. “I’m glad she isn’t trying any of this hero bullshit.” He looked over at me. “Eh, no offense. This type of thing just isn’t for her.”

“She’s more capable than you think,” I told him. “But you’re her father, so I understand.” I sighed. “I guess I’ll get to experience the same thing soon.”

Althidon barked a laugh and slapped me on the back. “Ah yes, the goblin king takes many wives and sires many children! That has always been their way. What are you up to now? Do I have any grandchildren on the horizon?”

“One, possibly two,” I said. “I think Leena wants to wait a bit. As for the rest….” I looked over and saw Tressi and Silvy walking with Gallu. From the way they smiled and talked, it looked like they were learning everything about her they could. It also looked like they approved. Tressi saw me looking at them and flashed me a smile that spoke volumes.

“So, the goblin tradition is that the king is often the strongest, so he selects the best and most beautiful women to have children with,” I explained. “And it goes beyond just my wives, which is something I’m still getting used to. Before you punch me, Leena understands and approves of this as well.”

“Interesting,” he said in a flat voice. “Explain.”

“There was a woman that helped us when the goblins attacked. Not only is she beautiful, but she’s incredibly strong with magic, specifically moving stone. The goblins want that sort of thing to live on, so my wives want me to have a child with her. Do you see the way they’re talking with Gallu over there?”

“I do,” Althidon said.

“She’s the strongest goblin woman with fire magic in our entire city, and the only one with red hair. Those are two important things, although the magic more so. I can tell by the way Tressi is talking to her that she wants me to have a child with Gallu.”

“To make your people stronger,” Althidon said, showing he was following my explanation.

“Exactly,” I said. “They’ve been doing that for a thousand years, and it’s the reason the men are so fierce and the women are so beautiful. They have literally been bred that way. As king, I am expected to continue that tradition.”

“Well, I see their point,” Althidon said after a moment. “Different cultures, different values. I don’t know if I envy you or feel sorry for you.”

I laughed. “Oh don’t worry, I understand exactly what you mean.

We kept walking for hours, passing through the forest. The massive great trees provided enough shade that the undergrowth wasn’t too dense, and they kept us from getting sunburns. They seemed to go on for as far as I could see in every direction.

“I didn’t realize there were so many great trees,” I said.

“More than we can count,” Althidon replied. “We focus on a few dozen of them, where our city has been built, but we do send people out every month or so to take care of the rest.”

“Take care?” I asked.

“They use magic to keep the trees healthy,” Taranath added. “We might expand that far one day. Plus, it’s part of our agreement with the trees. They provide us with almost everything we need. In return, we take care of them, all of them. Here you go.” He handed me something that looked like a plum.

“Thanks,” I said, taking the fruit. I examined it for a moment, then took a bite. It tasted rather like a plum, just less tart. “Hey, this is pretty good.”

“I found it in a pile of wolf droppings,” Taranath replied. “It’s still intact, so I guess they don’t like fruit.”

I spat out my mouthful.

“Oh, I’m just kidding. I wouldn’t do that,” he said. Both he and Althidon broke out into laughter. One of the soldiers overheard, and laughed as well.

“Okay, you got me,” I said, and continued eating it.

“Just doing my best to keep this trip from being boring,” Taranath said, wiggling his eyebrows.