Grace was confused when Oaguz began to give out orders. More so when she found herself being led away by a green skinned goblin with brown hair in short, neat cut. The feature that stuck out the most to her about this goblin was her gray, almost silvery eyes. Besides that, her face was a little pudgy on her wiry frame. She was thankful to find herself sitting at a small bench by the street and being able to catch her breath.
"Thank you, Weye was it?" Grace gave the small figure her gratitude while confirming her name. Weye nodded in affirmation to the inquiry.
"That's right! There's no trouble now!" the strangely cheery goblin beamed. She then plopped down next to the princess unceremoniously," Not that it matters. I was getting tired anyways. I'm usually not part of the action anyways."
"Really?" The princess questioned. She was curious as to why a group of this size would deprive themselves of even one set of hands for moments like these. Were shook her head at the Princess's confused expression.
"Yup, really. Each of us have our parts to play in the stage of life," the brown hair goblin answered. The princess arched a brow at her. Weye nodded and continued," Grizt is usually the one running the show with Oaguz acting as her second. Shritoo can be quite sneaky when needed and is often times the perfect distraction. The three of them also provide the muscle. As for Stranbrai, she's the emergency planner. If Grizt needs something done and can't do it herself, it's Stranbrai's job to get drunk and make a crazy scheme."
"And yours?"
Weye didn't answer at first. She smiled serenely as she stretched her back with eyes closed," Depends on the day I guess. What part I have to play..."
Grace smiled in humor. It was clear that she wasn't going to get a straight answer from the cryptic servant at least not without abusing her power. That would be a pour way to build trust with her new maids. Though for how long that was the case all depended on her mother. She was not looking forward to how her mother was going to react when this mess was over. Fortunately, the only real damage had been property damage. Though she was not looking forward to if the guards managed to catch up or corner her. Somehow she couldn't imagine the now crazy goblin being subdued without casualties. It was all a mess.
"Don't worry. Things can always get better," Weye cut into her thoughts. Grace looked to her," Your face was starting to get all scrunched up like this!"
Grace couldn't help but laugh as the silly goblin grabbed her own face. She stretched and shaped it until it looked squished. It was definitely juvenile, but she really needed the stress relief.
"So, were you a comedian of sorts?"
"Of sorts. I guess that is in the job, but not quite the mark. Though I guess you could say I'm a wannabe," the goblin replied as she fell back looking at the sky," The truth is my father and brothers worked the stage. The problem is that it goes against tradition for a woman to do so. I could never be what I wanted."
"That's seems a little silly if you ask me," Grace noted with a light giggle," Do your people not have female roles?"
Weye pouted," Of course we do! I even pointed it out hundreds of times to my father, nooooo. Tradition says men only and that was that!"
"Well, who knows, maybe someday you can find that freedom in this country," Grace commented to the goblin's confusion," While it may be hard do to certain prejudices, there's no gender restriction for acting."
"Uhhh, one problem about that. I'm a slave now," The goblin pointed out as she looked down at the street and began to play with a pebble.
Grace stopped at this. She had gotten so carried away by the conversation that she forgot Weye was a slave. She shook her head slowly with a slight frown," Well, I know things don't look good for now, but Who knows, given enough time the laws could change and someone might even find a way to remove the tattoo."
Weye waved the idea off petulantly with a grunt. She knew very well the likeliness of that miracle. The simple fact was that the binding tattoos are unable to be removed. For this reason, slavery tends to be rather permanent. Sure, there were free slaves here and there, but they only gained it at the death of their master and had to flee to other lands to escape slavers who could easily capture them thanks to the tattoo. Not to mention, they were placed on the face so as to make it hard to hide. As for removing them, that was made nigh impossible thus far due to the magic being embedded into the soul. It was a very dangerous and highly regulated form of magic. After all, There was no turning back once marked.
The one good thing about all of this is the fact that this danger led regulations that put a huge damper on if not out right brought an end to black-market slavery. Especially since the punishment of illegally marking someone was punishable by enslavement. Those involved in the business knew better than to get involved in that type of business.
"Well, maybe I can work something out. I am supposed to be the Empress someday," Grace tried to cheer the now moody goblin up.
"Sure you can. All you need to do is for your mom to either kick it or wait spirits gods know how long for her to step down. Oh, and that's only if you can live that long," She retorted.
"Hey, It's not that bad. Also, I'm pretty sure I'll be fine for that long," The princess shot back.
"Oh sure, Miss 'I can't even walk outside without burning'! Look, I'm from Godara and this situation?" Weye barked a disparaging laugh," It never ends well. There's only one heir, the head honcho is single and not making anymore. Plus you're both crippled and you, the heir, are weak. Simply put. All it would take is for any number of people to get an idea and you'll be dead!"
"I-it's not that bad here!" Grace tried to defend, but it was betrayed by the slight stutter. She couldn't help but look at her missing arm and remembered what had happened. The look on her friend's face that day. She tried to shake the memory away.
Weye stopped for a moment before sighing," Sorry, I guess I needed to vent. Truth be told, I'm just not happy about anything right now. Sis is off on a rampage. My best friend is calling the shots at the moment. Oh, and let's not talk about what Shri and Brai are up to. Though know Brai, she's probably drunk off her ass now."
"Really? But isn't this an emergency!?"
"Yup, which is why she'll be drunk. She can't come to a decision or act on impulse without being knocked down a few notches in the old brain."
"That makes no sense!"
"'Course not. We're goblins. I mean, have you seen the fine mess we made Godara into. Sure it's finally united as a nation, but I doubt it'll last long. I mean after all, we could have had peace a decade ago. Instead, it all went downhill. War and senselessly is all we're ever known for to those on the outside!"
"That's hardly true. Your religion and myths are wonderful. I would love to see you sun goddess. Not to mention the legends of some of the more crafty figures in your history," The princess pointed out.
Weye looked to her speculatively," Really, then tell me. Why do you think we look up to the sneakiest of our champions rather than the strongest or most skilled?" Grace looked confused for a moment," I'll tell you why. Because all that matters in the end is the result. He was said to have taken a boat or and won against a sword. Most outsiders miss the point though. He won because he cheated. He had way more reach and the oddity of the weapon caught the other guy off guard. Sense dictates the stronger or the more skilled would win. However, that's not always true."
"Really? That sounds you are a philosopher," Grace spoke in awe.
Weye chuckled at first before she fell into a bout of giggles," Me? Yeah right! That was Sis's words. Not mine!"
"How odd, but didn't you say you sister was the one rampaging. I would think that Oaguz was your sister," She commented.
"Not by blood ya dummy!" Weye sat back to which the princess harrumphed at the disrespect," Look, I consider Grizt my sister because she found me at a low point in my life and let me have some of what my own family denied me."
"Oh," Grace mouthed as she got over the slight.
"Yeah, she just showed up one day and started talking. She just knew what ta say. Then the next thing I know, I'm part of her little group and helping out. Often times by putting my skills to use setting people up or getting info. Just like Brai, I'm more of a supporter for them..."
"Well, let's have faith in them. I-"
"Yeah, right!" A new voice interrupted. They both turned to see a swaying Stranbrai carrying something very familiar. It was odd how drunkenly she moved and yet her speech wasn't even slurred," Telling us to have faith is a joke. Heck, Oaguz is likely the most religious out of the bunch of us and she hasn't prayed to them since the day I met her! That being said, I have business with our naive owner. Isn't that right you little sneak!"