The last person Alexander wanted to see at the beginning of the night was Sergey, who had to give orders to check on the baron's new bride and her father. Already approaching the cabin he realized that Sergey was awake. Not asleep at all. Groaning and moaning could be heard at a decent distance. The chief scout was getting a dose of morning sex. Or his lady was getting, if you look at it from the other side.
Excited by what was happening, the knight forgot about all he was doing and could only think of one thing. Spitting on everything at last, he went to the cottage where Stephanie and Sophie lived. The former maid was very happy to see him and thanked him for it. And then repeated several times, showing that she had not forgotten the lessons received from the Count.
When Alexander rode out of the village in the morning, two gendarmes were habitually attached to him, and a goblin was lying across the saddle of one of them. The rest of the picture was familiar. Well not to pay attention to the caustic glances thrown at him by some of the vampires. There was no telling what they were thinking! Though of course it wasn't hard to guess, Stephanie was a very temperamental and "hungry" lover.
Alexander decided not to think about what had happened during the night and turned his attention to the upcoming conversation with the Duke. Unfortunately, the Baron's blood could not help the vampire prepare for it. Yesterday they had talked about the current affairs of the barony and some common interests. Like hunting goblins! That would be a great gift. Just in time, the sentries came across the hunters.
As they approached the Sands, all three of them habitually took out their flasks and took a couple of sips. Human blood, taken before meeting humans, sharply reduced the desire to hunt them. And in Alexander's flask there was not just blood, but the already famous "Semyon's potion" - a mixture of blood of a couple of dozens of people. The liquid hit the brains no worse than a boxer.
And Sands and Torfyanoye passed without adventures and worries, but at the gates of the city we had to wait for the next caravan to leave, and then had to argue with the city guards about the goblin for a long time. Valiant guards did not want to let a living non-human into the city, and when they finally realized the purpose of this cargo, they began to demand a toll for it. There was nothing else to do but pay.
It turned out that we arrived early. The baron, who received the knight, embarrassedly said that his lordship was still asleep. But he was wildly delighted with the gift.
- A big one! Handsome! - He wailed, looking at the sleeping goblin, - I haven't seen such old ones for a long time!
After giving orders to the manager to pay the money, they went up to the office.
- I'm going to have a great hunt. You've made the old man happy. I didn't think you'd catch it so fast.
- It was an accident, Your Grace. The scouts stumbled upon a small band of hunters.
- They destroyed the ambush, good for them.
The knight bit his tongue, cursing his intemperance. Goblins were an intelligent race, but no one had any contact with them and did not know the inner workings of their lives, entering the caves either as food or as part of a punitive detachment. No one could even communicate with the aggressive cave people, trivially not knowing their language. No one in the whole world, except for vampires, knew the language of goblins neither now, nor before, in the times of the unified state. Communication with goblins had always been reduced to trying to kill each other. Even with trolls, goblins communicated with gestures! And he's talking about hunters! Good thing the Baron didn't even realize it wasn't a clause.
- Of course it's an ambush, Your Grace. And may I inquire about the inner workings of the Duke's court and his entourage?
The baron cast a quick glance at the door. Then he put his finger to his lips and waved invitingly toward the table.
- Such matters should be discussed quietly, my lord. Especially now that the castle is full of the duke's men.
Leaning almost to Alexander's ear, the baron continued conspiratorially.
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