King of the Goblins 2—Chapter 4

As Kord dragged on about numbers and finances in his dry voice, I found it a real struggle to focus on his words. My mind kept going to Zia and how her body felt. Every few minutes she made sure to reach over and touch my arm or say my name, anything to interrupt my thoughts. She really knew how to make my blood boil, even in the throne room.

At least what I managed to understand of Kord’s monotony was positive. Ralcor had driven the goblins deep into debt and had basically threatened to kill anyone that reminded him of it. Since I had taken over, things had vastly improved. Average wages were up, and our trade with the elves continued to grow. The royal coffers were still basically empty, but our future was bright.

My chief economist even suggested sending an envoy to the orcs, in order to further grow trade. While it would take nearly a week to reach their nearest town, they made the finest steel around. Goblin ore could be smelted and forged there. Or, we could simply be a supplier.

“Aren’t they prone to attacking people, though?” I asked. 

Kord pursed his lips. “Good memory, my king. Yes, the orcs can be…testy at times. As long as one does not offend their sense of honor, they are usually reasonable people.”

“Are these the sorts we want to do business with?” I asked, leaning over to Zia.

She thought for a moment. “Well, if we want to see continued growth, we’ll have to move beyond the elves. Don’t get me wrong, they’re great. I think our cultures blend together very well. But we could expand even further if we began trading with the orcs.”

“We also should talk about the city itself, Your Majesty,” Kord said. “Under your rule, the people are quite happy. Happy people have children. We have been keeping track of our census, and at this rate we will need to dig another district in five more years, ten at the most.”

“Wow,” I said. “We’re growing that much, eh? Perhaps we should look somewhere other than just beneath this mountain.”

“That is what I wanted to talk to you about,” Kord said with a slight bow. “We need to make plans for expansion in the future. Instead of adding more here, I believe it makes sense for us to establish a second location.”

“A second goblin city in the area, eh?” I asked, looking over at Zia. I gave her a grin. “This is great. We can live somewhere other than beneath a rock.”

“Hey,” she said. “We like living underground. It’s safe.”

“Yeah, and difficult,” I said. “There’s only one way in or out, which yeah, it’s safe, but it’s a pain in the ass in every other aspect. No sunlight, fresh air requires magic to bring inside. Hell, just making a place to grow our food took months to complete.”

“Okay, so you’re right,” Zia said. “But convincing our people to live somewhere else is going to be difficult. We don’t always like change.”

I thought for a moment. “Well, we can start building right outside the mouth of the tunnel, I guess. At least then the new districts would be close. That would help, right?”

Kord shrugged. “Possibly. I believe this would be an opportunity to look elsewhere, Your Majesty.”

“As in further away?” I asked.

He nodded. “If the people wish to stay underground, we could always find the nearest appropriate mountain and start building inside there. It would be familiar, reasonably close—at least, I hope—and would grow your empire considerably.”

“My empire,” I said quietly. “Huh. Never thought of it that way. What do you think?” I asked, turning to Zia.

“I think that’s the best idea,” she said, tapping her bottom lip as she pondered our situation. “There’s another mountain just a few miles to the south, so it would be close. We could even connect them, eventually. But otherwise it would be a separate city, still run by you of course.”

“And I think we should extend the city a bit to the area in front of the mountain as well,” I said. “That way, the entire thing isn’t underground. At the very least, our farming should be done outside, in the sun.”

“I’ll concede to that,” Zia said. She preferred using magic for everything.

“An excellent decision, Your Majesty,” Kord said.

“Ah, I just pay you to say that,” I told him, meaning it as a joke.

“But it is a good idea,” he insisted. “Expanding your kingdom to another nearby mountain? That is a most excellent idea, I believe. It will be just as safe as this one, being within the rock, but it will have farms outside, and perhaps some buildings for those that wish to be in the sun more often.”

A man in a decorated gray jacket walked up the steps and stood at the top, waiting patiently with his hands clasped behind him.

“And easily defensible, which will make General Rolf happy,” I said, then raised my voice. “Come on in, general.”

Kord straightened up. “I suppose that’s a dismissal for me, Your Majesty?”

“Yeah, I think we covered everything,” I said. “Oh, wait. I almost forgot. I want to make a new tunnel, going up from the Tunnel District. It’ll exit the side of the mountain about a hundred feet in the air, towards Caelora.”

“Are we trying to connect with them?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said. “We can use all the leftover stone to build a bridge towards one of their great trees. They’ll make a branch meet up with the stone bridge. That’ll make moving between our cities easier and safer, especially with what’s going on in the forest lately. That should be everything. As always, thank you for your hard work, Kord. I appreciate it.”

“I shall send a man, Your Majesty,” Kord said as he bowed low. That was his way of saying he’d pester me about it later. He turned, offered a greeting to the general, and then stepped out of the throne room.

General Rolf was Kord’s polar opposite: whereas Kord was spindly and frail with a thin, old voice, Kord was a strong man with a determined pride, and spoke loudly, with confidence. Considering his station, that was appropriate.

“Good afternoon, general,” I said.

“Your Majesty,” he said, bowing. “I’m going to jump right into it, Your Majesty. Something is going on in the forest.”

I frowned at that. “I’ve heard as much. What have you learned so far?”

“Sightings of harpies and gnolls have been on the rise,” the general explained. “Three people were attacked by gnolls yesterday evening. They were injured, but managed to drive the gnolls away. I spoke to them after they were healed.”

“What’d they say?” I asked.

General Rolf hesitated a moment before answering. “They said the gnolls seemed afraid, frantic almost. Like they were running from something when they came across the foragers. They weren't interested in eating goblin flesh, as usual; the gnolls attacked out of fear, the way a scared animal will attack anyone or anything that comes close.”

I looked over at Zia. “That’s weird.”

“You’re telling me,” she said, then turned to the general. “How many gnoll sightings over the past week? How many harpies?”

“At least a dozen, my queen,” he answered. “Fortunately for us, they have been running away when spotted, instead of fighting. The attack yesterday was an outlier.”

“Do the gnolls all live somewhere?” I asked. “Is there a gnoll city, or town?”

“They’re tribal creatures,” General Rof replied. “I wouldn’t call it a city by any means, but yes, there is an area they mostly stick to. A settlement.”

“And where is that?” I asked.

The general thought for a moment. “To the east. You could walk there in three, maybe four days.”

“What about the harpies?”

“Also east,” the general said. “North of the gnoll settlement, but still east of us.”

“So, is something driving them this way?” I asked.

He took a deep breath. “That’s what I’m afraid of. Both gnolls and harpies are good at staying hidden when they don’t want to be seen, so for us to see as many as we have…. I would guess at least ten or twenty times as many have passed through here in the past few weeks.”

“And why here?” I asked.

“Both goblins and elves cultivated this part of the forest with magic for hundreds of years,” Zia explained. “Before Ralcor took over, of course. That’s why so much food grows here.”

“My queen is correct,” General Rolf said. “Gnolls prefer the taste of goblin flesh, but they’ll eat berries to stay alive. Especially if they’re fleeing something.”

“And that’s the big question,” I said. “What is scaring the gnolls and harpies?”

“I’m going to send a patrol of men each evening to investigate the forest,” the general said. “Hopefully we can learn something.”

Zia suddenly sat up straight. “Wait a minute. Silvy used magic on you so you can understand any language, right?”

I nodded. “Yes, that was one of the first things she did.” I smiled at my beautiful wife, then turned back to the general. “My wife has an excellent idea. Taranath and I were already planning on checking the forest tomorrow afternoon. We should accompany one of your patrols. If we run across any gnolls, I’ll be able to talk to them.”

General Rolf nodded slowly. “Yes, that would be a huge help. We cannot risk your safety, though. I will send a full squad of men with you.”

“One of us should go as well, in case you run across any harpies,” Zia said. “Women are immune to their magic.”

“Well, sounds like my evening is all planned, in that case,” I said. “Is there anything else going on, general?”

He shook his head. “Nothing that you need to concern yourself with, Your Majesty. The elven Sword-Master, Althidon, spoke with me about training some of our more talented soldiers. I’m glad I see eye-to-eye with the elf. They’re as safe as can be, up in those trees. With the increased threat of the gnolls and harpies, I think it would be especially good to have some of our men better trained with the sword.”

“And we’ll need that for a second city,” I said.

“Second city, Your Majesty?”

“Yeah, our population is growing so Kord spoke with me about establishing a second goblin city. It’ll probably be just a few miles away, in one of the nearby mountains, although I want to build part of it outside the mountain as well. Farms, at the minimum. Your soldiers will help keep things safe.”

The general nodded. “That sounds wonderful, Your Majesty. Splitting the population up would also help guarantee our survival, should anything truly horrible happen.”

“That’s a dark line of thought, but I agree,” I told him. “Well, gnoll attacks not withstanding, I think this is a sign of a good future for our people.”

General Rolf bowed his head. “May your reign be long and peaceful, Your Majesty,” he intoned.

And I knew he meant it. After dealing with Ralcor for so many decades, people were glad to work for someone that appreciated them and truly wanted to help the goblin people.

And I did. The goblins were wonderful, and my skin might be different, but I was one of them.