When Truffle was awake, I stayed by her side as much as possible, though, making sure Ivory had time without me there as well to spend with her. When she was asleep, I entertained the goblins who had come, both to see Truffle and Button, as well as to witness the huge fucking bear that was somehow not reducing the large stone kitchen table to rubble.
Lily had dropped by with Orchid and Lilac in tow, and were welcomed to the feast. They just had to take their pieces out to the fire pit and cook them first. Sadly, I haven't yet managed to make an oven. I will, eventually. It just hasn't happened yet. The bath has become the official social spot now. It was quite funny when Truffle first went in, her breasts just started leaking all over the place.
I was a bit worried about Button going number one, two, or heaven help me a three in the bath. But with the temperature turned down just a tad more than usual, for Button's sake this time, she was having fun poking at the water while sitting on her mother's lap sharing the same sleepy look on their faces.
All the goblins I cared about were assembled, and even a surprise visit occurred from an unexpected source. The cinnamon-haired Fish-catcher who was also sporting a bit of a baby bump. When she saw everyone hanging out in the bath, she was not hesitant at all about joining.
"Husband, never come cave-hole."
Ah, that's true. I didn't. Well, a lot of things happened after that night. I know I'm probably at fault, though. I didn't have the first clue about it, but Prima had looked in after her when I left her damn near paralyzed after our night together. I still hadn't settled on a name for her. But it's good enough to know that she wasn't avoiding me on purpose.
I decided to remedy that right now.
"I'm sorry, Pepper."
"Pepper?"
"Your name. I had a hard time choosing it. Unless… you might prefer being called Cinnamon?"
She tilted her head curiously.
"What name Husband like more?"
"Pepper."
"Want name Husband like more."
She let me hug her and I introduced her properly to the others with her new name. I should have done it long ago, but sadly I realize only now how hard it is to juggle so many goblin wives. Hopefully I can work on that. Honestly, after the addition of Vera, it's gotten hectic. It turns out that Pepper is quite close with Jewel and Toy.
The only person not hanging out in the bath right now was Stella. Orchid and Lilac were getting into a splashing contest with Button already. Diana was watching them closely, almost like a mother hen now since she also was trying to be a big sister to Button, and I… was wearing very thick horse blinders.
When Truffle began falling asleep again, I took a moment to move her to the makeshift resting place near the trophy room, and then popped into my Stella-occupied room to see how she was doing.
"Hey, you okay with all the goblins here?"
"I'm fine. It's a celebration for them, right? Another… goblin was born."
"Her name is Button, y'know?"
"Button? What the hell kind of a name is Button to give to a kid?"
"What's wrong with it? My other daughters are Diana, Orchid and Lilac."
"Diana is nice, but what's with your naming sense?"
I think she was trying to cope with the situation by making fun of me, and if that was what she needed to do I was fine being the butt of any joke. She was just sitting on the straw bed and covering up with the large rag. I might as well call it a blanket at this point, even though it was just a large rag of cloth.
"I know you'd probably rather strangle me, but would you like a hug? I promise I won't touch you anywhere strange."
"Just sit there." she pointed at the spot right next to the straw bed.
I did as she asked and she just leaned her shoulder into mine. That was it.
"I'm… going to have to go through that now… aren't I?"
"Maybe. You might not be pregnant at all. I'm pretty sure goblins are way more fertile than humans."
"You've knocked up every goblin in this room right now, haven't you?"
"Yeah… two more to go and it'll be pretty much all of them."
"I can't say I understand it completely, but I guess I understand why you won't escape now."
My head drooped.
"When I first saw most of them, they were covered in dirt and the only hygiene they even understood was going in the shit-pit. I promised them a quality pregnancy if they just kept a few parts clean before coming to use me for my big seed as they call it. Now… They're socializing in my new bath almost daily. Instead of leaving the mother and child to starve and fend for themselves after giving birth like they would have done… they killed a fucking bear to hold a birth feast so they wouldn't need to worry about where their next meal was coming from. I know that I'm doing something good here. I'm just beyond sorry that you ended up being dragged into something you can't ever forgive me for."
"I guess I won't be staying here for much longer." She said with a thousand-pace voice.
"Are the conditions of where you were staying… bad?"
"If you consider being left alone almost all of the time bad. Aside from meeting with that thing… All I had was time to contemplate ending my life. I had no idea when something would happen to me… if I would be eaten or… worse."
When she said worse, clearly she meant what had happened by my own hand.
"I was kept in an open cave in a high up place. I could go outside, but it was only onto a short windy ledge that overlooked a large forest in every direction. I couldn't make out any towns or villages anywhere in sight, and if I took a single wrong step while out on that ledge it would be a long fall to my death."
"What about the necessities? Were you fed well enough?"
"I was provided food, but only when I was asleep. I'd wake up and it would be there, and whatever it was that brought it knew if I was faking. There was also a wooden bucket for going."
The silence that should have been in the bedroom was punctuated by the goblins in the nearby bath chatting loudly among themselves. Stella had continued to talk a bit more.
"When I saw you again, you looked healthy, and you weren't bound by ropes like I was. My only thought was that with you… we could escape. You were always a bit clever, Ark. Thinking calmly in situations where Kairos would just rush in with his sword drawn and worry about difficult things later. I was sure you would have been thinking of a way to escape, and having me here would have made it easier."
"Stella, if I could negotiate for your freedom, I would do it in a heartbeat. But I have no real leverage. I was tied up the same as you when I first came here, and I wasn't left alone in a cave. Prima was there to do to me what I did to you. When I am allowed to go out and see the sun every few days, my hands and ankles are still tied with ropes. What little freedoms I have… can be easily taken away. It's only because I've proven through actions that I can benefit them in a way other than just being tied up and raped for my seed."
She was looking down and I could see her eyes were staring at my cock, which was, unfortunately in this moment, erect.
"Did I at least… feel good to you?"
"Were you supposed to feel good in that state? I might be a monster for doing that, but… I couldn't enjoy it. At least for a human, that thing should be done willingly and with a person you like, if not love, shouldn't it? Something I'm clearly neither of to you. That's why you are free to blame me all you want. Anyway, I promise I won't force myself on you again. There's plenty of food to eat if you're hungry. I know it might be unreasonable asking you to get along with them, but they aren't necessarily bad goblins. It's just a difference of culture. You might not want to hear it, but goblins are just like humans, just without the bullshit mask we wear in front of others to hide our true natures."
I went to stand but she held onto my arm for a moment. She wasn't looking at me anymore, but she asked a question I myself wasn't ready to answer yet.
"Do you love them?"
"My daughters? Unconditionally. But the others… I'm slowly coming to."
I tried to finish rising but she hadn't let go yet.
"If I wind up pregnant… will our child also be loved unconditionally by you?"
"Without a doubt. At least that worry is one I can take off your shoulders."
Her hand lost its grip on my arm and it fell to her side. I made my way out of the bedroom and went back to Truffle's side, to play with my little ones and enjoy the new family I was a part of and helped create.
When the night came, none of the goblins returned to their cave-holes, opting to stay with me and sleep in the corner of the room I designed for entertaining them. With my vitality restored below deck, I won't say I wasn't put to the task with them. I was. Truffle had even pushed Ivory onto me, who, while wanting to be with Truffle more than anything, also rolled the dice to see if she would be the next lucky goblin to get a big belly.
When everyone was getting ready to wind down, Prima had left for a moment and returned with the lute, to which I played a couple of songs I knew, poorly. It was yet a new entertainment they were unfamiliar with and most of them were mesmerized. My fingers were on the way to having calluses by the time I was allowed to put it down.
The night passed and the morning came. Breakfast was more of the day-old gamey-tasting bear.
Lily had gone to cook my portion along with what was for Orchid, Lilac, herself, and at my request, some for Stella. Her portion of cooked meat was sitting in front of her, going mostly uneaten until suddenly she just found a piece of raw meat from the bear carcass sitting on the table untouched, which she then promptly snatched and tore into it with her teeth. I wondered what I should say or do, but Diana, who was there, eating with us, had gone and tore another piece from it, plopping it down in front of Stella.
Diana cast a glance my way waving her own bloody piece of meat and grinned.
Did she know something I didn't?