IDWTBTHQ Chapter 76 - Always Expect the Unexpected

It was almost noon when the caravan arrived in sight of the village.

“Hey Klara, is that our destination?” Marcus asked.

“Yeah, that's Stonebarrow.” The girl replied, “We should get there in about half an hour.”

“Good.” the Vex Queen sighed, “I can't wait to get down from this cart. Sure it is better than walking, but now my... ” he stopped, suddenly realizing that he lacked the Imperial translation for a word he was very fond of.

“Say Klara.” He asked, pointing at his ass. “What do you call this part of the body?”

Klara blinked in surprise at that question and blushed a bit.

“Uh, well...that's... the butt?” she stuttered in response.

“Yeah, I think that's the word.” Marcus nodded. “Thanks Klara. Anyway, as I was saying, sitting for so long made my butt hurt.”

“That's hardly surprising.” The girl replied. “We've been riding for a day and a half. That's bound to hurt, especially if you're not used to it.” She stopped for a moment and that's asked: “Have you ever travelled on a cart before? In your old life, I mean?”

“No, we did not use carts in my old world.” Marcus replied. “Well, actually in some places people still use carts, but for the most part we ride cars.”

“What's a car?”

“Oh, it is still basically a cart, but much faster and without horses or anything else that pulls it. It is also usually much more comfortable than a cart, cause the seats are padded and not just raw wood.”

“Well, carts with padded seats exist.” the girl replied, “And those are pretty comfortable, it's just that our carts are cheap ones. But you said that nothing pulls a car, right? Then how does it move?”

“I... I don't think I can explain it right now.” the Vex Queen shook his head. “I know how it works, but I still do not know the right words to tell you.”

“Don't sweat it then. You'll tell me when you'll be able to, if you want.”

Marcus nodded, with a little smirk on his jagged lips. He and Klara had chatted a lot the previous day and the girl had asked him all sorts of things about his old world, and he had answered to the best of his ability, happy to talk about his previous life with someone. Sure, some of the arguments he brought up were rather painful for him, as they reminded him of what he had lost, but for some reason he felt better after speaking about it.

Klara had proved to be a good listener too, paying attention to whatever he said and only asking pertinent questions from time to time. She had also suggested to wait a bit before sharing these revelations with Felix, since the boy was in a delicate mental state and he could react poorly to unexpected news. Marcus didn't really like keeping secrets, but he could see her point and so he had avoided speaking of his past when they had made camp for the night, trying to keep the conversation as neutral as possible to avoid stressing Felix.

But because of this, he didn't even speak about his plans for the future, since they would probably be even more stressful for the apprentice sorcerer. With the goblins within spitting distance of his new home, he felt justifiably worried about his security and he was currently trying to develop all kinds of counter plans against a possible attack.

First off, the previous night, during a moment when Felix was distracted, he had asked Hoggs if it was possible for the goblin shamans to use their magic against him. But luckily the old man had replied negatively, explaining that due to the nature of their magic the shamans wouldn't be able to use their powers until they had bonded with the spirits of their new territory, a process that would take at least half a year.

That was music to Marcus's ears, since apart from using magic he couldn’t think of any other way the goblins could stop him from escaping through an underground tunnel, should his life be in peril. And if everything went according to his plans, by the time the shamans had bonded with the spirits, he wouldn't need to run anymore.

The main reason for his confidence was inside a bag in the back of the carts: there were three Broodmother eggs, one for making Workers, one for Warriors and the last one for Heavies. He had laid them over the course of a few days, ever since Golam had given him use of that warehouse as a nursery, and now he was carrying them to his new hive together with the prototype of the Wyvern drone.

Since he had laid the Broodmother eggs normally, without the extended gestation, they would take at least a month to fully mature even after hatching, but that was fine since he could use that time to accumulate enough provisions to feed a sizable army. According to his calculations, he just needed three months to make a host of drones big enough to fight the goblins on equal ground, and that was with just those three Broodmothers. He also planned on making more of them as soon as he reached his destination, but those would take even longer to mature and start producing drones.

So it all hinged on those first three months, during which the hive would be vulnerable, but since Hoggs had confirmed that the goblins couldn't use magic to attack him, he had the option to simply run away if push came to shove —even though he loathed the idea of abandoning his hive once again.

Anyway, for the time being he would have to focus on expanding his Hive while keeping his eyes open for any sign of danger. It wasn't exactly an idyllic situation by any means, but he could still live with it. After all, sharing a hivemind with his drones made for a very efficient security network, and he was confident that no goblin could enter his territories undetected.

So, in the end, he would almost certainly be fine, unless something completely unexpected happened.

“Hey who's that?” Klara suddenly said, pointing at the village.

Marcus looked in that direction and he saw someone approaching, a lone figure riding a horse.

“I don't know.” He replied with a bitter sigh. “But knowing my luck, it is probably something unexpected.”

The rider got closer, until it was possible to recognize her features: it was that old female knight, Belinda. She quickly approached the Vex, and kept riding until she was right next to Marcus's cart.

"Good day!” She saluted. “Welcome to Stonebarrow, lady Marcus.”

“Good day to you.” the Vex Queen replied automatically, feeling his cheeks blushing. He still hadn’t completely gotten over his embarrassment after the drunken incident.

“Good day.” Klara said as well, raising an eyebrow. “You're the leader of the Knights of the Rose, aren't you? Why are you here? Shouldn't you be watching the borders with the goblins?”

“Yes.” the old woman replied. “That's our current mission. But something rather unexpected happened that required our presence here.”

“Bloody typical.” Marcus thought, “I should change my name to Cassandra, because I fucking called it!”

“What happened?” He asked. “Are the goblins up to something?”

“Probably.” Belinda shrugged. “But I don't know exactly what. All I know is that this morning a group of goblins approached our outpost carrying a white flag. They told us that they wanted to send an envoy to this village to talk with the Queen of the Vex.”

“What!?!” Marcus cried. “How did they know about me? And that I would be coming to this village!?!”

“Well, it's not exactly a secret.” Klara chimed in. “They could have just eavesdropped a few conversations in Brettholz.”

“Exactly.” Belinda nodded. “Though that's worrying in and of itself, because it means that they have still someone hidden in Brettholz who is passing information to them.” She turned to Marcus: “Anyway, we've agreed to accompany a single goblin envoy to the village, but it's up to you to decide whether or not you want to meet him.”

“Me?” the Vex Queen asked. “Why me?”

“Because technically you are the ruler of this territory.” the female knight replied. “If you don't want to speak with the goblin, no one will force you. By the way, we've already informed the marquis about this and he has given the goblin his permission to speak with you, under the condition that the conversation will be relayed to him. But even he said that ultimately it depends on whether or not you agree to talk with that goblin.”

Marcus remained silent for a moment, thinking carefully about the situation. He didn't like goblins, since the little grey buggers had tried to kill him multiple times, and he certainly didn’t wish to speak with them. He also couldn’t imagine a reason why they would want to talk to him either, as his minions had killed scores of their numbers, thwarting their plans to conquer Brettholz in the process. But at the same time, he was curious. He had never spoken with a goblin before —they were always too busy trying to kill him to make conversation— and he didn’t know what they were like when they weren’t fighting. 

And even if they proved to be the little conniving, murderous bastards he thought them to be, he could certainly benefit from some insight on their way to think. Knowledge was power, after all.

The opposite was also true, however, as the goblins could possibly see a weakness in him and use it to attack him. It was a big gamble, since those humanoids had proven to be much more skilled at scheming and deception than he was, but the potential benefits outweighed the risks in his opinion. He would just have to be careful to not reveal too much, and maybe he could even take advantage of his telepathy —even if he had no idea about how to use it properly— to sense any possible danger or duplicity. Plus, with Belinda and all his drones protecting him, he would be relatively safe.

“Ok.” Marcus finally replied. “I will meet this goblin. Where is he right now?”

“He’s waiting in the middle of the village, surrounded by my subordinates.” Belinda said. 

“Wait!” Klara interrupted them. “What about Felix? We can’t have him see a goblin in his current state! He could literally blow up!”

“Right.” The Vex Queen nodded. “That could be a problem. Is there a place where I could meet this goblin without being seen by my companion?”

“Well, there is an old quarry nearby.” the knight replied. “It’s right next to the village, but it can’t be seen from it. Would that suffice?”

“Yes, I think so.” Marcus nodded.

“Very well.” Belinda said. “I'll take the goblin there and wait for your arrival then. Is there anything else you need?”

“No, I don’t think so.” the Vex Queen replied. “What about you, Klara?”

“No, I think that’s all for now.” the girl said. “Thank you for coming to tell us in advance, lady Belinda.”

“Don’t worry, it’s my job.” The old woman replied. “I’ll see you later, then.”

And after these words she rode away, quickly returning to the village.

“Well, that was a surprise for sure.” Klara said, “I hope that nothing bad will come from it though.”

“You and me both.” Marcus replied. “And I hope that Felix won't find out about it, at least for the time being.”

“I'll keep Felix occupied during the meeting, don’t worry.” The girl reassured him. “Just focus on dealing with this envoy.”

“I will. Any suggestion on what to say?” He asked.

“I don't know. I'm not a diplomat.” Klara shrugged. “But, in my opinion, you should try to talk as little as possible. You are usually pretty honest, but keep in mind that any information the goblins get, they can use against you.”

“Noted.” the Vex Queen replied with a smile. “I'll try to keep my big mouth shut then!”

“Good.” the girl nodded. “I'm sure you will be fine then!”

But, for some reason, that last phrase didn't really cheer Marcus up. In fact, he felt even more worried, and he spent the rest of the trip to the village trying to think of ways to not make a complete fool of himself.