King of the Goblins 2—Chapter 20

I stood there for a moment, holding her tightly. She had only been gone about a day and a half, but I had missed her.

“Let’s go inside so you can clean up and change,” I said. “Then, you can tell me everything.”

She wrapped her slender fingers around my arm and we walked down the tunnel, happy to be together again. Tressi smiled up at me every few seconds, practically bouncing on her toes with excitement.

“That’s an awful lot of workers carrying away loose stone,” she said as two men passed by us, pushing a cart filled with stone.

“Yeah, it’s for the new tunnel,” I said.

“The one that will connect with the elven city? Wonderful. I’ll have to stop by and help if I can.” She beamed another smile up at me.

“Okay, go ahead and tell me,” I said. “I can see you’re eager.”

“So, the next suitable mountain is about two miles south of here,” she began, speaking excitedly. “There are some between, but their structure is all wrong. There are massive cracks and splits in the stone, which would make them unstable. But we found one that’s perfect.”

“That’s great!”

“Not only that, but once we dug a few feet into the rock with magic and started delving through it, we found all types of things. A little bit of silver, some gemstones, and a lot of iron. Even a bit of gold!”

“Oh, that’s exciting,” I said. “Maybe we can all have new crowns made.” My current one was made from steel. Not the most pleasant thing to wear, nor was it particularly impressive. I actually hated wearing the thing.

Tressi nodded in agreement. “The amount of iron in the mountain shocked me at first. All three of us checked, just to make sure we weren’t mistaken. There is so much iron in that mountain that we’ll have trouble figuring out how to use it all.”

“Oh, I have a few ideas,” I said. “The orcs make the best steel from what I’m told, so maybe we can form some agreement where we send the iron to them and they return us good quality steel. They can keep some as payment.”

“That’s a good idea,” she said, looking at me with pride in her eyes. “King Aaron, making friends with everyone. Any news on the trolls?”

“Nothing good,” I said. “I’m thinking they’ll be here late tomorrow. I’ve been told trolls are lazy, so I can’t see them rushing to get here. They’ll probably rest for the night, then show up.”

“How prepared are the elves?”

I chuckled. “It’s doubtful the trolls will even get near us. I’ll put it that way.”

Tressi nodded. “Well, that’s exactly what I like to hear. It’s good to know that we’ll be safe. How are my wives? I miss Zia.”

“She misses you too,” I said. “Otherwise, they’re doing well.”

“There’s something in the way you said that,” she said, looking up at me. “What’s going on?”

I was going to tell her it’s nothing, but this was Tressi. I couldn’t keep anything from her. Besides, she’d find out soon enough on her own.

“Zia has all the maids and servants flirting with me. She even had their dresses altered to show more cleavage.”

Tressi laughed. “Oh, that’s just like her. She’s always enjoyed watching other people be intimate. I’ll bet she likes it when you get all hot and bothered.”

“Yeah, she’s said as much. Things are starting to get ridiculous, though. I think she wants me to bed Alena.”

“Oh, that’s your personal servant, right? She’s a pretty one.”

I looked over at Tressi. “That doesn’t bother you?”

“Why would it?” she asked. “You’re the king. You’re supposed to take many wives and have many children.”

“Yeah, that’s what they said,” I replied. “I guess it just feels strange because things were different back on my world. Most people were strictly monogamous there.”

“Did your kings take multiple wives?”

I shook my head. “We had a president, not a king. And he only had one wife. None of our leaders took multiple wives. Some of them cheated, but marrying several women at once wasn’t even legal in my country. I think most places outlawed that.”

“By the gods, why?” Tressi asked.

“I think some guys abused that,” I replied. “Religious cults and stuff. Old men would convince teenage girls they were the savior of mankind, and then once the girls became legal adults, marry a bunch of them.”

Tressi frowned. “Well, that’s certainly not the situation I was expecting. So powerful men really didn’t take many wives back on your world? Strange.”

“That sort of thing was generally looked upon in a very negative manner,” I said. “Hence my hesitation to impregnate the entire royal staff, like Zia seems to want me to.”

Tressi laughed at that. “Oh, Aaron. You are a strange creature at times. An absolute delight, but strange. If you don’t want to father a hundred children, I won’t push you to. Just as long as you know what the people expect of you.”

“Well, maybe I’m just changing things a bit,” I said. “Four wives is enough for me.” I reached over and patted her hand, which still gripped my arm. “Especially when they’re as pretty as you.”

“Flattery will get you far, Aaron,” Tressi said with a smile. 

We exited the tunnel and stepped into the Tunnel District. As expected, the group of soldiers waiting there all stood and saluted us. Our eyes were on the new tunnel, though.

“They started that after I left?” Tressi asked as she took a few steps closer.

“Yep,” I said. “Zia put together a pretty big team for it. I think there’s about a dozen women, with three times that many men hauling away the stone.”

Some of the women resting on a bench nearby stood when Tressi walked up to them. She hurriedly gestured for them to remain sitting.

“No, please rest,” she insisted. “Your progress is incredible.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” one of the women said with a slight bow of her head. “We’re working in shifts, day and night. Queen Zia said she has a surprise for whoever moves the most stone.” The woman looked at me and smiled. She was a pretty thing, with big eyes and black, shoulder-length hair.

“Is that so?” Tressi asked. Her eyes were still focused on the tunnel. “I’ll stop by tomorrow and help out how I can.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” another worker said.

Tressi rejoined me and held onto my arm again. Together we left the workers, walked past the guards, and went through the tunnel that led to the hot springs. As usual, plenty of people were bathing there at that moment. Tressi pulled me to a stop and gestured at a woman bathing in a nearby pool.

Her hair had traces of violet in it, something I hadn’t seen before. She was a bit more muscular than most other women, but still covered with soft curves. We watched her for a few seconds as she ran her hands over her full breasts and down her arms, cleaning the sweat of the day from her body.

“Do you mean that you don’t want to be with her?” Tressi asked.

I shrugged. “I guess I just haven’t really thought about it that in-depth. I mean, she’s absolutely beautiful, and I’m sure she’s a lot of fun in bed. But the truth is, I’m happy with you four. To be honest, I’d be happy with just one of you, any one of you.”

Tressi laughed. “Oh, you’re silly, Aaron.”

“I’m serious.”

She looked up at me. “What do you mean? Like a commoner?”

“I mean you’re all wonderful. Sure, other women are beautiful, but I love you, and you make me happy.”

Tressi’s serious expression turned to a smile. “You keep talking like that and I’ll never let you go.” She squeezed my arm for emphasis.

I reached down and placed my hand on top of hers. “Good. I’m keeping you forever.”

“Promise?” she asked.

“Of course. Besides, I already have four beautiful wives. I don’t want to get greedy. Come on, let’s go.”

Tressi looked across the hot springs. “There certainly are a lot of beautiful women there. If you ever have some extra energy, let us know. Consider it part of your duties as king. We’ll pick out an especially pretty woman for you.”

I laughed. “I think Zia already has.”

“Who?”

“Alena, my servant.”

Tressi smiled. “As I said, she is quite pretty.”

“Yeah, but she works for me. I don’t want to abuse my power by taking advantage of one of my subordinates. It just feels…wrong.”

“I’m glad you’re a morally sound man,” Tressi said. “That makes me feel at ease when I wonder what direction you’re taking our people. But as I said, think of this as part of your kingly duties.”

After that, we walked away from the pools filled with bathing beauties and crossed the cave. Silvy didn’t like it when I referred to the districts as “caves,” but that’s what they were. Giant caves, connected by tunnels. 

“Your Majesties,” the royal guards said as we entered the tunnel that led to the Royal District. They saluted, fist to chest and I returned the gesture.

“Kord will be pleased with what we found,” Tressi said.

“Do you need to go report to him?” Although the moment the words came out of my mouth I realized it was ridiculous, the thought of a queen reporting to anyone. Except to a king, I suppose.

“No, you silly man. Cinda is. She wrote down everything we found in great detail—a habit she picked up from you, I believe—and she’ll be seeing Kord soon. Probably right now, actually. He’s not the most patient man. She’ll fill him in on everything we found.”

“I kind of like that about him,” I said. “He gets stuff done quickly. And he works for me, so I don’t really have to worry about him pestering me. Well, usually.”

“Did anything else happen while I was gone?”

“I don’t think so,” I said. “Leena’s wild side is coming out a bit more.”

Tressi smiled. “I love that woman. She is something else. Never thought I’d share a man with an elven woman.”

“Not just a man, but a king,” I reminded her.

“How could I forget?” 

“I try to sometimes.”

We both laughed.