Together, we made our way closer to the entrance to the goblin city. I popped the shadow stone in my mouth and released Zia's hand and tried to keep an eye open for anything suspicious.
As soon as we got close, I was grateful I had already decided to use the shadow stone. A dozen goblin soldiers were in the area immediately surrounding the spot where I had buried the one guard. They looked to be searching for any clues, and some of them questioned anyone that passed.
"I need you to take a few steps away and not react if I get questioned," Zia said. "These guys aren't very nice, but they're just doing their jobs. They won't do anything beyond annoying me."
I grunted. "Okay," I said quietly.
"Promise me," Zia said.
I took a deep breath. "I promise I won't do anything, unless they hurt you." That would have to be good enough for her.
She pressed her lips together in a tight line. "I just don't want you creating even more trouble for yourself. Or the rest of us, for that matter."
I hated it, but she was right. Defending her against one rude soldier could bring the whole thing crashing down on my head. My hand gripped onto the handle of the iron-strapped club hanging at my belt and I clenched my jaw. I didn't like this at all.
"You!" one of the soldiers barked when we drew closer. His angular face was twisted into a scowl that suggested everyone was already guilty of something in his eyes. One of his hands rested on the hilt of a club, the same iron-strapped type that hung from my belt. Boiled leather armor covered his torso and upper arms.
I took a few steps off to the side, my hand still on the handle of my club. I could already feel my blood pressure rising as the soldier walked closer. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself.
"What's your business in this area?" the soldier demanded. His eyes narrowed as he stood in front of Zia, examining her from head to toe in a way that I recognize. My hand tightened on the handle of the club until a knuckle cracked.
"I am simply gathering food," Zia responded. She set her bag on the ground in front of her and folded her hands at her waist. "Feel free to look through that if you need to."
The soldier continued eyeing her up and down as he walked in a slow circle around her. "Have you seen anything out of the ordinary around here? Heard any rumors?"
"I have not," Zia said simply.
The soldier didn't seem satisfied with her answer. "Someone is hiding something, and I'm going to figure out who it is," he said, his voice almost a growl. "Do you have any weapons on you?"
"Only this," Zia replied, patting her belt knife.
"We'll see," the guard said, his voice thick with suspicion. "I'm going to check you."
Zia nodded and kept her eyes slightly downcast. The soldier took a step closer to her and patted down each arm from shoulder to wrist. He then moved to her chest and gave each of her large breasts a firm squeeze while grinning at her. After that, he moved down, checking her waist and each leg. Finally satisfied—or perhaps a bit dissatisfied he didn't find anything—he stood up in front of her, looming over her.
"You be careful out here," he said, making it sound a threat. "There's something out here that's killing people, and we're the only ones that can keep you safe." He rubbed at his chest and suddenly coughed. "Don't you forget that," he said, his voice suddenly strained. He coughed again and took a few steps away, looking around in confusion. After a moment he hurried back in the direction of the other soldiers.
It was then I realized I had, in my anger at seeing him grope Zia, taking hold of his heart using blood magic. Without even realizing it, I had started killing the man.
Well, he would have deserved it. Anyone that touched my future wife that way would get what was coming to them.
Zia's head suddenly snapped over in my general direction, although she couldn't see me.
"I told you not to do anything," she hissed.
"He touched you," I said, my voice hard. But I released my grip on my magical powers. My grip on the handle of my club too, for that matter. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm my pounding heart. The time would come when I would change things. I would kill the king and change goblin society for the better. But now was not that time.
"Are you okay over there?" Zia asked. "I hear you huffing and puffing."
"I'm okay," I said, reaching out and placing a hand on her shoulder. She smiled and I gently squeezed her. "Come on. Let's go home. Or, to Silvy's place, I guess."
Saying that made me realize that at that time, I didn't have a home. I was staying with Silvy, which was certainly pleasant—she was a gorgeous woman, after all—but I had no place to call my own. That would change, soon enough, but the sudden realization brought me down a bit.
I left my hand on Zia's shoulder as she walked towards the entrance to the goblin city. Not too far away, several goblin soldiers stood, talking about the recent murder. The one that had put his hands on Zia nudged one of his buddies and pointed at Zia, said something, and they both chuckled. I reminded myself that their time would come, but the pettiness in me decided to do something about it at that moment.
Using my blood magic I reached out and took hold of the soldier's heart, the one that had touched Zia. The fascinating thing about blood magic, as I was quickly learning, was the amount of control I had over a body once I connected to it.
So I stopped his heart.
His eyes went wide and he suddenly staggered to his knees. His comrade tried to help him up and asked what was wrong as the soldier clutched at his chest. He wheezed, pounding his fist against his chest and breathing hard.
"Aaron," Zia warned in a quiet voice.
I released my grip on his heart and let it start beating again. For now that was enough. Would it teach him anything? Probably not, but I felt a little better.
"Even though I can't use blood magic, I can feel when you're using it. Their time will come soon enough," she said, echoing my own thoughts.
I squeezed her shoulder again, not wanting to talk. My voice tended to carry and goblins had sensitive ears.
I released her shoulder as we entered the entrance tunnel to the underground goblin city. Most times I walked the tunnel it was either early in the morning or late in the day and there was very little foot traffic. Not so this time. Goblins walked in both directions, both by themselves and in groups, chatting about every topic under the sun. That helped me to relax a bit, although I made sure to nudge Zia towards the wall opposite the one with the lights so I could stay hidden.
"Keep your eyes open out there," a passing soldier said in a loud voice that echoed down the tunnel. "Something is out there, attacking people. If you see or hear of anything suspicious, report it immediately to one of the tunnel guards." His tone absolutely made it an order, and one to be obeyed or else. His glare at everyone turned the order into a threat.
Zia muttered something under her breath, but it was so quiet I couldn't make it out. I thought I heard a few curse words in there; if nothing else the tone of her grumbling sounded like a curse.
I kept myself low and stayed right behind her, trying to keep below eye level. I wasn't completely invisible, just mostly, so I wanted to avoid any chances of someone seeing something that didn't look quite right.
Of course, it also gave me a splendid view of her ass moving with each step she took. It was a good thing no one could see me, or they would have seen the goofiest grin on my face.
We reached the end of the tunnel and two guards stood there, watching everyone with suspicion. They questioned people at random, asking what business they were on. One of them called out to Zia.
"Where are you coming from?" he asked in a no-nonsense voice, but I could tell he was tired of asking so many people the same question.
Zia held up her bag that was filled with fruits and vegetables. "Just gathering food," she said, not slowing.
"Be safe out there," he said, and moved on to the next person.
I stayed behind Zia as she turned onto the small path that circled around the outer edge of the city chamber and led to Silvy's place. After a few minutes we arrived there. As she grabbed the door handle, she turned and spoke over her shoulder.
"Are you still there?"
"Yeah, I'm here," I said, placing my hand on her shoulder.
She smiled and turned back to the door, then pushed it open.
I spat the shadow stone out of my mouth and slipped it into my pocket as I entered the room. A goblin woman was seated at the table next to Silvy. It was Tressi. I had never seen her before, but she looked just like Zia's description.
Most goblins had hair that was nearly black, sometimes with faint tinges of color—Zia had hints of green in her hair, for example—but Tressi's hair was a rich, dark auburn in color. Whereas most goblins had bright eyes in blue or green or some shade between, Tressi's eyes were large and dark brown that almost matched her hair. She saw me and smiled, and I gave her a smile of my own.
"Well, I wasn't expecting to have you two come back at the same time," Silvy said. "Aaron, are you responsible for this mess I've heard about?"
I shrugged. "You remember that guard that hit you the first day we met?"
"Yes," Silvy said, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"You remember when I told you that I wouldn't let anyone hurt you?" I asked.
"Aaron," Silvy said, sounding like she was about to curse me out.
I decided to quickly cut her off. "The good news is that I finally got some practice with blood magic. Looks like I'm pretty strong with it, or so it seems."
Silvy gave me a hard look. "I appreciate you standing up for me, but you're being brash and risking everything. If you draw their attention, they'll come here and I'll be the one to pay the price." She looked over at Zia and Tressi. "We all will."
"I know," I said. "And you're absolutely right. I just can't sit by and do nothing when one of these assholes harm the women I care about."
Next to Silvy, Tressi looked up at me and smiled again. I suppose those were the perfect words to say.
"I admire your sense of honor," Silvy said dryly. "Just don't let it get us killed."
"I'll be careful, I promise," I said.
She kept her hard stare for a moment, then lightened her tone. "At least you learned how to use blood magic a bit, though. I suppose I should focus on the positives. It also appears that Zia's hypothesis was correct." She turned to face Tressi. "Tressi can learn magic as well. Elemental, same as Zia."
"Oh, I knew it!" Zia said. She rushed forwards and hugged her best friend. The sight of their bodies pressed together, large breasts fighting for room, made my blood boil.
Zia kissed her friend on the cheek and then turned to me. "By the way, this is Aaron."
"A pleasure to meet you, Tressi," I said, wishing I had some catchy pickup line to use on her. I racked my brain for the cheesiest one that would be perfect in a women's romance novel or hallmark movie. "Zia told me of your beauty, but I see words do not do you justice."
Tressi blushed from her neck to her hairline at that. "Thank you," she said, and took a few steps around the table towards me. She offered me her hand and I took it in mine, and then bent down and kissed it. Her eyes widened a bit. I suppose she hadn't been expecting that.
"I know we haven't seen each other in the springs yet, but I hope you'll choose me as one of your wives when you become king," she said, her voice slightly shy.
My eyebrows raised at that. Zia hadn't told her about my plans to kill Ralcor, which meant Silvy had. Tight-lipped Silvy that was cautious about any information leaking out. I looked over at her and she shrugged.
"You'll need all the help you can get," she said. "Besides, I think she's trustworthy. And they both know what I'll do if they betray you."
It would be just like Silvy to sneak a threat in there. I looked down at Tressi again, and she looked up at me. I gave her my best smile and pulled her into a tight hug, and she wrapped her arms around my waist and squeezed me in return.
"I can't wait to make you all my queens," I said.
Zia blinked and looked over at me. Tressi pushed away and looked up.
"Queens?" Silvy asked.
"When you become king you will have us as wives," Tressi explained. "Not queens. Wives."
Well, that didn't feel right.
"If I'm king, then as my wives you will be my queens," I said. I mean, it seemed pretty cut-and-dry to me.
"No, that's not how that works," Zia said. "Your wives are not queens. They are just your wives."
"What the hell?" I said, running my fingers through my hair. "How does that even make any sense? No, when all this is said and done, you will be my queens. If that's not how things have been in the past, I don't care. That's how they're going to be in the future."
Zia looked confused, but Silvy's lips slowly curved into a smile. Tressi just looked up at me. I tried to explain my position better.
"If I'm going to marry the three of you, then I want your lives to matter. I want you to be important and to help me be a better king. If—"
I cut off as someone knocked loudly on the door.
"Open up. We need to speak with you," said a man's gruff voice.
The women looked at each other, concern on their faces. I pulled out the shadow stone and popped it into my mouth.
"Aaron, you need to stay calm and collected," Silvy said quietly. "I can handle this. If they get rude, just don't react or you might ruin everything."
"I already tried that with him," Zia said with a quiet chuckle. "He's not very good at listening."