by J G Jerome
He bows his head and says, “Yes ma’am.”
We rush back to the elevator and up to the Executive Duplex Suite. I walk in and I’m blown away. The Goodwin is a class act, but I’ve always stayed in a standard room. The opulence and space blow me away.
Supreet leads us to the master suite. We immediately begin to strip off. I watch Solange remove her blazer and then start to open the buttons on her dress to reveal her beautiful toned body encased in a silver lace bra and matching bikini-cut panty. Her stockings are a lucky pair of her thigh-highs that get to hold tightly to her legs about four inches below her treasure chest. I might be staring at her.
Solange frowns. “Close that gaping mouth and stop ogling me, you silly man. I’ll give you a show when we’re done with business,” she says as she sashays to the loo.
I shake my head and murmur, “Sorry” before resuming my quick change.
I quickly pull on my jeans, tac boots, and the tech fabric t-shirt. I unpack my shoulder holster and then clear and function check the Glock from my portfolio before loading and holstering it. I pull on my car coat and put my phone in the right-hand pocket. I pull Eventide from the portfolio in lock-back configuration. I clip her to my right hip pocket. I pull my larger electronics out of the portfolio and lock them into the safe with Solange’s. I drain another water bottle and then drain Little Jack again. I walk out to find Solange in her Raven tac uniform, with a tight, tech fabric t-shirt under her blazer. She’s holstering her firearm and looks up at me. “Ready?” she asks.
“Ready,” I confirm. Supreet meets us at the door and leads us out. She hands us each a key card as we walk to the lift. Twenty minutes after we arrived, Supreet is handing the valet another twenty. We mount up and head out of town.
Supreet drives northeast on Interstate 84 to Sturbridge, and then we merge onto Interstate 90, AKA the ‘Massachusetts Turnpike,’ which takes us due east to Auburn. From there we take Interstate 290 into Worcester. We turn off at Hope Avenue, and drive from there to turn right on Webster. We take a left on Mill Street, and then pull into a strip mall with a laundrymat, a Harbor Freight store, a Chinese buffet, and a huge gym on the end called ‘GK’s Fitness and Fighting.’ Supreet pulls around the side to where there are two standard fire doors and a garage door visible.
“Goblin King’s Fitness and Fighting? Really?” I ask.
Solange chuckles, “No one ever accused the Goblin King of being subtle. They also own the garage across the parking lot.” She points back over my shoulder. “Also, the funeral home across the street.” She adjusts her indicator, and I check them out. “That’s all we know about, but we’re pretty sure they have a variety of businesses around the university and airport.” She looks at me and says, “Ready to call our Queen, my Lord.”
I pull out my phone and call Peg’s. Myra answers, “Hello, Jack.”
“Hello, Beloved.” I respond with a smile. “We’re ready to roll.”
She says, “Great, Jack. Minor change on my end. Liesl and Geri are in Trina’s room. They don’t want to leave until you’re out safely. I called Trina and she pushed their uniforms through her laundry. They will meet you with Esmi...er...Esmerelda.”
I nod, “Okay. We may still need you to send them back through a portal when we’re done. We only have one SUV. I’d say it’s a five-pax model. Otherwise, I don’t see any problem with that. I plan to pull Lili through as soon as we’re inside. Then I’ll make a short detour to say ‘hello’ to the King before meeting...Esmi?”
Myra says, “Yes.”
I continue, “So I’ll arrive with Solange, Supreet, and Lilli to meet Esmi, Geri, and Liesl. How’s Corrina?”
“No change, I’m afraid. Plus, Esmi has learned that Laurel is coming for a visit. Given what you told us at the arena, I’m really worried about what she might do to Mommie-Dearest,” Myra explains.
“Understood. That kinda of foils the plan a bit. I think the first thing is I put Laurel to sleep, then have your mother release Corrina, and then have her pull the girls through. Unless...if you have Trina call your name would you be able to open a shadow portal to her?”
“No,” Myra says. “We already tried that. However, I can open one to your condo. I know it well enough to do that. The exterior door would be the easiest. Trina’s already got the Ravens on their way back to your condo from wherever you have sent them. Rather than having Mommie-Dearest do it, I’ll pull them from there. Once our family is safe. I’ll reveal myself, and you start healing her.”
“That might take most of the day - I really don’t know. However, you’re right. It needs to be a priority. I need to figure out how to take away Laurel’s ability to do that, too. Okay. Here we go. See you soon, Beloved Wife,” I tell her.
I hear the joy in her voice, “I can’t wait, Beloved Husband.”
We disconnect, and then we get out of the SUV. Supreet goes to the back and pulls the equipment bag. I raise an eyebrow and she responds, “I’m more than just your pretty serpent-girl-fiancé, Jack. The Naga are warriors. I am a blooded member of the host.”
I lean around the bag and kiss her gently. “I trust you with my life, Supreet. Let’s go to battle.”
She smiles and leads the way to the back fire door.
Chapter 38 - the Goblin King
(the Hall of the Goblin King - Worcester, Connecticut)
Supreet knocks on the door and stands in front of the peephole.
The speaker next to the door crackles until a voice growls out “Who are you, and what do you want?”
Supreet announces herself, “Supreet Mishra of the Host escorting Jack Jerome and Solange Schatten to the Winter Court. Lord Cernunnos called to arrange it.”
There is a pause before the speaker emits, “I don’t have anything on it.”
Supreet says, “That’s fine. We’ll wait here until you finish talking to Lord Cernunnos; although,...it might be better if we wait with you inside. I know the King doesn’t like to draw attention to this entrance.”
We wait for a few seconds while the muscle behind the door processes that thought. Eventually, we hear a couple of clunks and clicks before a ‘ka-chunk’ sounds, and the door opens toward us.
There is a big goblin standing in the doorway. He’s about two inches taller than me and has the build of a championship bodybuilder. He’s wearing black shorts, sneakers, and a tank top that looks about one size too small. He has tusks, but they are barely visible above his lower lip. He points to a bench. “Wait here,” he says.
“Uh excuse me,” I say. He turns to look at me, and I push my influence ability to him. “What’s your name?”
“Uh, Thorn,” he replies.
“Hello, Uh Thorn. I’m Jack. You will listen to me and obey.” He nods. “Answer these questions for me, Thorn.” He nods again.
“Did you send someone to call Lord Cernunnos?” I ask.
“Yes, Jort went to the Control Center to call” he says with a nod.
“How long before he gets back?”
“Uh, depends on how long it takes to get Lord Cernunnos on the phone.”
I nod, “Are there surveillance cameras watching this room?”
He nods, “Yes, Salt is watching the camera feeds in the Control Center.”
“Hmmm. Are you expecting anyone else to join us here before your colleague returns?” I ask.
He shakes his head, “Not unless Salt decides something looks off.”
I turn to Solange and Supreet to find Supreet standing up in her serpent, or Greater-Naga, form. I turn back to the goblin. “Thorn, why didn’t you tell me she was getting naked? I always hate to miss Supreet naked.”
The big goblin grins, “You didn’t ask, Jack.” I turn back to my ladies.
I see Supreet’s Naga form has also changed from the last time I saw it. “Honey, this form used to only be four and two, right?” I ask.
She answers, “Yessss, Jack. But you liked me ssso well with the sssix arms and sssix breasts, that ever sssince you first made
love to me, my naga form now has sssix and sssix. Mama thinks it’s a side-effect of your powers. My Baba was flabbergasssted when he first sssaw me like thisss for weaponsss training! He actually called me Kali! I was ssso embarrassssed.”
I tell her, “You look beautiful, Beloved.”
She smiles to me as she pulls on a burnished breastplate, “Thank you, Fiansscé!”
I turn back to Thorn and find him completely enthralled with Supreets form. “Hey, Thorn.” I realize he’s not under ‘influence.’ I try just asking him. “How do you like it here? Do you like working here? Are you treated well?”
He shrugs, “It’s not really your concern, Jack. But you were very gentle with me under influence. So...honestly, the work is boring as hell. We’re getting into more crime, and I don’t particularly like it. I like working in the garage, but I’m one of the few guys around here that can teach without getting fed up and killing students. So I end up doing a lot of personal training and some of the jujitsu classes.”
I reach into my portfolio and pull out the cloth L’liana mentioned. I send to her, *L’liana, my darling. Are you ready to join us?*
I hear her answer, *Yes, my Lord.*
“Okay, Thorn. Hold this up to the wall for me, please.”
He says, “Uh…okay, Jack.” He takes a corner from me and holds it against the wall. I hold another against the wall and send to L’liana, *I think we’re ready. I don’t see any flap to lift.*
The cloth glows a violet color, and then L’liana steps through. “You did great job, Jack”
Thorn gasps and releases the cloth as he steps back from L’liana.
“Hey, Thorn!” He looks up and I light up influence on him, “You have decided to serve me. You will follow my orders until the sun sets as if they came from your king. Are you clear?”
Thorn nods, “As you command, my Lord.”
I fold up the cloth from L’liana, and I put it back in the pocket inside the portfolio.
L’liana is wearing what I can only call a body suit of some tech fabric. It has plates attached somehow to her chest, shoulders, upper arms, and shins. She has bracers on both wrists from wrist to about three inches below her elbow, and she is wearing a short metallic skirt reminiscent of Roman gladiators to protect the arteries around her hip.
“Thorn, please lead us all to the Control Center,” I command.
Supreet stuffs a scimitar into each side of her weapons belt. I see two more grips pointing up over her top set of shoulders. There are also two daggers tucked into her belt.
She picks up the equipment bag and slings it over her top left shoulder.
I pull out Louis’ Spatha and clasp the sheath to my belt. I make a quick adjustment until the reach is as close as I can get it to what I use with Tr’niel.
Thorn leads the way through a door at the back of the antechamber. I fall in behind him with my portfolio tucked into my left hand. The three ladies follow me. The Control Center is only a few steps past the antechamber. We walk in and see one relatively skinny and tall goblin with droopy ears talking on the phone. His dark hair is receding, but he is fit, cut, and wearing similar gym togs as Thorn. Behind the desk is a third goblin. He has some grey at his temples, but his hair is thick, dark, and slicked back like a character from Grease. He’s wearing a t-shirt and glasses. As we walk in, he removes the glasses and stands. He’s wearing black cargo pants, and he has thick, prominent tusks that extend half-way up his upper lip. I have to look up slightly to look him in the eye when he is standing.
He looks at Thorn, “Why are you bringing these people back here?”
Thorn starts to respond, “Salt, I…”
I interrupt, “I told him to.” Salt turns to look at me. “Hello, Salt. I’m Jack Jerome. I am the Green Lord.” I offer him my hand. “Has Louis arrived?”
Salt is confused. As a result, he reaches out to shake my hand. “Uh, hello Jack. Louis arrived early this morning. He’s in with the King, but he’s a mess. Someone butchered him,” he says as he releases my hand.
I nod, “I know. I did that to him. Please take me to your king.”
“Uh, no.” He says, “Why would I do that? The Green Lord? Aren’t those just old stories?”
“Well, they’re more than stories,” I tell him. “I am the Green Lord. If you don’t know what that means, then I will educate you shortly. As for your first question, you should do it because I asked you to. I suppose I could try to use influence ability on you, but if you don’t have some protection against that I would be appalled.”
The senior goblin stutters, “Uh…”
“Seriously?” I ask. “They leave you sitting here when someone like me could walk in and do something like this…” He looks at me, and I exert my will to influence him, “Salt, listen and obey.”
Salt mutters, “Oh shit. I fell for that.”
I tell him, “I’m impressed that you maintain enough presence of mind to say that. So, are you going to listen and obey, or do I need to kick it up a notch?”
“As you command, Green Lord. Please allow me to lead the way,” he says.
I tell him, “Salt, look at me.” He does, “No alerts. No drama. Walk me in, and ensure that no one tries to interfere with me or my party. Clear?” I ask.
Salt bows his head, “As you wish, Lord. Please follow me. Jort, you cover the desk here until my return. No need to alert anyone. Thorn, come along and guard our guests.”
“Yes, Salt,” they respond.
Salt leads the way, and Thorn takes up the rear. We walk down the hall and take a left under a big arch onto a wide, gently descending, curving stairway. We slowly make our way about two stories down before exiting into an arched hallway that is about thirty feet long. The hallway empties into a large audience chamber. I see Louis in front of a throne. He is surrounded by broken goblin bodies around him.
On the throne is a large goblin with a small crown on his head, a purple robe with ermine trim wrapped around his bulk. It looks like there is a significant pot belly under its folds. His hair is styled much like Salt’s, but receding. He has significant tusks poking up from his lower jaw. There are five naked goblin ladies around the throne. All are wearing collars with chains running from their collars to rings on either side of the throne. Two are sitting on the ground caressing his legs with bored expressions on their faces. Two are leaning on the throne caressing his shoulders with guarded expressions. The fifth is fanning him with a peacock fan. Honestly, a peacock fan! Dude must be an Edgar Rice Burroughs or Boris Vallejo fan.
Salt announces, “My king, I present the Green Lord.”
The king doesn’t even look up, “I don’t give a fuck. I’m busy.”
I walk up to Louis and pat him on the shoulder. He looks up, and I smile at him.
“Yes,” I call out. “I imagine it takes a lot of effort to sit on your ass, send your people out to make a big mess, terrorize my people, and build that belly. I think I could manage everything you do in about the first ten minutes of my day. Do you even train? I bet your muscles are as flaccid as your cock.”
The slave girls stop stroking him and back away. The ones on the floor move out of the way.
King Saureg bellows, “Who the fuck are you to come into my court and insult me?”
“Wow, I suspect that’s about the most effort you’ve expended in over a month,” I taunt him. “Be careful, Saureg. You might have an aneurysm.” The grey skin on his face is turning purple. I hold both hands in the air, “My apologies, King Saureg. You asked me a question; I haven’t answered you. I am Jack Jerome. In and of itself that is not noteworthy, but I recently assumed a new role in life. This new role is one of protecting my people, which is what a real ruler does. I am the Green Lord.”
Saureg scoffs, “The Green Lord is a myth that my people barely remember from thousands of years ago. There is no way you could be the Green Lord!”
I look at Louis, “Forgive me for using you as an example, Louis.”
Louis looks at me ear
nestly, “I tried, my Lord”
“I know you did, Louis. I can see the evidence. What instructions did I give you?” I ask.
Louis replies, “You said that if I survive to return to the grove of trees on your property south of Sedona, and that you would heal me and take me into your service.”
I nod, “That’s correct.” I look at the livid king. “Hey Saureg, you sack of piss. What did Louis Grimm tell you?”
Saureg sneers at me and says, “The fool said that the lord who did this to him was coming and that what he‘ll do to me would make his wounds look like flesh wounds.”
I turn back to Louis, “Sounds to me like you delivered the message I charged you with. It looks like you’re quite effective despite the handicap. You appear motivated to redeem yourself.”
The huge, maimed goblin looks me in the eyes and nods earnestly. I tell him, “Your choice, Louis. Things are getting adventuresome, so I’ll give you the choice. You can go back to the grove and await my return. I’m not sure how long that will take, but it should be within the next week or two. The alternative is you can swear yourself to my service now, and I will heal you right here in front of all these people.”
Louis stands on the stumps of his legs as tall as he can. “Lord, I offer my life and my service to you now and forever more.”
I pull Eventide and cut deeply across the remaining flesh of his right arm. Then I cut the palm of my right hand. “Louis Grimm, you offer your service, and I accept you into my service.” I press my bleeding palm over his bleeding wound. “For your service, I offer my service. For your protection of my family, which includes yourself and all those who serve me, I will protect your family. These commitments are valid from this moment forward until both our lines no longer exist. Thus mote it be.”
Louis replies, “Thus mote it be.” I bend down and kiss his brow and then will our wounds to heal. I look at Thorn, “Thorn bring him a big bucket of clean drinking water. He’s gonna need it.”
