King of the Goblins—Chapter 48

“A cup of wine for our way out, please,” Althidon said, and Alenia nodded and went back into the kitchen.

Leena moved so she stood next to me and kept smiling at me. I smiled back, but inside I was a tornado of emotions.

“Ah, shit,” I said. “I completely forgot about Taranath, with all that’s going on.”

“I already told him last night,” Althidon said, waving his hand.

“How?” I asked. “You didn’t even leave the house.”

He gave me a wry look. “It seems you have a lot to learn about magic, Aaron. I sent him a message, which he received. It’s one of the few things I can do with my limited magical abilities. He should be here any moment.”

Alenia returned a moment later with two silver cups of wine in her hands, and gave one to me and one to her husband.

“A dash of liquid courage to calm the nerves,” Althidon said when he saw the question in my eyes.

Just then, a knock came at the door. Leena left my side and pulled the door open, revealing Taranath. She hugged him and pulled him inside.

“Aaron, I am sorry for what happened,” Taranath said as Leena pulled him into the room by his hand.

“I’m going to be one of his queens,” Leena said proudly. She shot me a smile.

“Uh, what?” Taranath said.

“Once this is done and Aaron sits on the throne, he has agreed to take me as a wife,” Leena said. “He agreed just before you got here.”

At that moment, Alenia brought a third cup of wine and gave it to Taranath. He accepted it with a nod of thanks.

“So human Aaron will be a goblin king, and elven Leena will be a goblin queen? In that case, may you have many years of happiness,” he said, raising his cup and giving a good-natured chuckle.

We all drank to that.

“Sounds like you’ve had an eventful morning,” Taranath said with a grin.

“To put it mildly,” I said.

“I’m ready when you two are,” Althidon said, then downed the last of his wine. “We need to stop by the armory to get you a proper spear and shield, Aaron.” He frowned at the goblin sword I held. “Well, at least it looks like you finally got some experience with a sword.”

“My bow is just outside your front door,” Taranath said, although I noticed he had a large quiver on his back, with the fletched ends of the arrows peeking over his shoulder. “I didn’t want to accidentally knock anything over with it.”

Althidon nodded. “Good. We should get moving.”

“Thank you for everything,” I said, not sure who I meant it for. 

“Of course,” Althidon said, taking it in stride.

I went to the front door and opened it, then set the sword and shield on the ground. After that, I went back inside and gave Alenia a hug. Her eyebrows rose slightly at that, but I hugged her the way I would my mother. Then, I kissed Leena on the cheek and hugged her as well.

“This time tomorrow, we’ll be celebrating,” I said.

“And cleaning up,” Althidon said with a grunted laugh.

“That’s dark,” Taranath added.

I grabbed the sword and shield on the way out and followed the other two men. Taranath’s bow was nearly as tall as he was, so I understood why he left it outside. I noticed neither man wearing a cloak—I hadn’t worn one for a few days either, but just because it got in the way sometimes. Then, I realized that was exactly why they weren’t wearing cloaks.

We walked towards the training grounds, but kept going when we got there. On the other end of the same island, a large building grew from the wooden floor.

“A moment, please,” Althidon said, and entered the building while Taranath and I waited.

“So, marrying Leena?” Taranath asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “Kinda caught me by surprise this morning.”

He chuckled. “That sounds like her. I’ve known her since she was little. When she gets an idea into her head, nothing will budge it. So you’re stuck with her for the rest of your life.”

I gave him a wary look and he laughed.

“I don’t mean that in a bad way, don’t worry. She gets a bit haughty at times, perhaps due to who her father is, but she has a heart of gold. You should count yourself lucky she chose you. I think nearly every man in the elven kingdom has had their eyes on her since she was forty, but none of them have been up to her standards. Also, due to her father. No one wants to risk Althidon’s wrath.”

“What about you?” I asked. 

Taranath smiled. “We’re only friends. I have yet to find a mate for myself. I’m in no rush, even if it takes another fifty years.”

“Wait a minute. How old are you?”

“One hundred fifteen,” Taranath said. “A little old to be getting married, but I’m picky.”

I blinked at that. My earlier thoughts with Silvy about celebrating a hundredth anniversary looked to be true. Hell, I might even celebrate a two hundredth anniversary one day.

Althidon returned a moment later with a shield and spear in hand. We traded, and he set mine inside the armory. 

The shield he gave me was made of hardened leather, and notably lighter than the thick wooden practice shield I had been using. It was roughly an oval in shape, and large enough to shield a good section of my body. After a closer look, I realized the shield was actually made from the leaves of the great trees, same as Althidon’s armor.

The spear was similar to the practice spear I had been using, but this one was topped with a foot-long steel point that gleamed in the morning sun. I noticed a few barbs further down the blade, and the base of the spear point had wicked hooks meant for catching on clothing or tearing flesh. Jesus, these guys meant business.

“Ready?” Taranath asked. From the light tone in his voice, you’d never guess he was ready to overthrow a king.

“Let’s get this done,” I said, my voice much calmer than I felt inside.

We walked through the city, drawing a number of stares. Several people shouted out greetings to Althidon, especially after seeing him in armor with a sword belted on. I assumed that was a rare thing.

We took a different tree down to the ground, which only left me slightly confused about our location. They told me we were closer to the entrance to the goblin city, though.

“So, how does this change our plan?” Taranath asked.

“Not by much,” I said. “I’ll do my share of freezing people or killing them, you hit them with arrows, Althidon can take care of anyone that gets close.” I looked down at my spear. “I suppose I can, as well.”

“And Ralcor?” Taranath asked.

“I can slow him, just slightly,” I said. “At least, I think. The best path to defeating Ralcor will likely involve Althidon fighting him while I try to stick him from behind, and you can pepper him with arrows.”

“Not a very honorable way to fight,” Taranath said.

“Yeah, but I don’t care,” I replied. “Fighting honorably would just result in me getting killed.”

“Good point,” he said.

“I saw a troll through here yesterday, so be careful,” I said after a few minutes. “Damn ugly thing. Huge.”

“Trolls are dangerous, but often stupid,” Althidon said. “You need a group of men with very long spears to even attempt to fight one. Or better yet, magic. Best bet is to just avoid them.” He looked around for a moment. “I don’t hear anything, but if one comes around, we need to run for the stairs on that tree. Aaron, you can slow him with magic.”

“Done,” I said, and nodded.

I switched the spear over to my shield hand and reached into my pocket, feeling for the shadow stone. Once my fingers touched it, I stopped. I wouldn’t need that, today. Everyone would know I was there. Besides, if I went invisible, that would just make my two companions more obvious targets.

“It’s just up here,” Althidon said. He placed a hand on his sword hilt and eased the blade in its scabbard.

Taranath still held his bow by his side, but reached up and grabbed an arrow. I gripped my spear and tried not to let fear overwhelm me.

When the entrance to the goblin city came into view, we stopped. Althidon took a moment to check both of us, ensuring our weapons were ready and nothing was out of place. Taranath and I did the same. We were as ready as could be.

As we walked closer, I saw two goblin soldiers standing in front of the mouth of the tunnel. While both of them had the customary iron-banded clubs hanging from their belts, these men also had long spears leaning against their shoulders.

We entered the clearing between the forest and the mountain, and the goblin soldiers noticed us. They lowered their spears, almost casually. Next to me, Althidon unsheathed his sword.

“There’s the fucker,” one of the goblins said.

“We’re supposed to take you alive,” the other soldier said. “Doesn’t mean we can put a few holes in you first.” He hefted his spear as if he couldn’t wait to strike me with it.

“This is it,” I said as I reached out and filled my body with magic. “Let the killing begin.”