by Alexis Ward
By the time we were within a hundred paces of the gate, there were a handful of goblins with bows atop the walls, standing atop the edge to be able to see over the top, and more goblins funneled into the gate, armed with crude wooden spears and shields, until they formed a crude shield wall that blocked the whole entryway. Towering above them stood Marybeth, her dark hair tied in a loose ponytail, with a large sledgehammer held in both of her scale covered hands. As we got a little closer her voice boomed across the open field that separated the castle from the forest around it. “Hello Clive and Sasha!” she shouted, as she handed off the hammer to a goblin near her, who almost fell over as the weight dropped into his waiting hands.
I raised my hand and waved at her as she squeezed past the goblins to meet us at the opening of the gate. The goblins were already dispersing their formation and disappearing back into the courtyard. A short while later, we all stood together at the front of the castle. The field was covered in snow, but the sun was shining brightly. If you could ignore the biting chill of the wind, it was almost warm out here. Or maybe I was just adapting to the weather. “So, how goes the progress on the walls Marybeth?” I asked.
She shrugged. “Fair enough, given our workforce. I’ve got them going slow, making sure they do it right the first time. In a few more weeks, the walls should be complete. I see we have a visitor?” Marybeth said as she looked over at Stella.
I shook my head. “Kind of. Stella is a duelist. She’s teaching me a thing or two about swordplay.” I said.
Stella nodded. “Indeed. Visiting this country has proven quite profitable. And fun. This little fortress is quite impressive, thus far. My compliments to the masons.” Stella said with a small bow toward Marybeth. Marybeth smiled, which was actually quite unnerving. Her teeth were all pointed canines, smaller than regular teeth.
“Thanks. Any other news?” Marybeth said.
“I’m officially a Viscountess. A member of the royal family vouched for me during the Winter Festival.” Sasha said.
“Congratulations, I suppose? That kind of stuff is over my head.” Marybeth said.
“Thanks. I think. More immediately, we were warned that there may be enemies creeping on our borders, both foreigners, and possibly men from Baron Hightower. Seen anything strange lately?” Sasha asked.
Marybeth shrugged. “Nothing but bricks and goblins for me. Maybe ask Feera. She stays out in the woods pretty often, since she recovered.” she said.
“Aye. We should probably check on everyone. Think we’ll all fit in the dining hall?” I asked.
Marybeth shrugged. “Probably? Hasn’t been much use for it with just Tabs, Feera, and I here. Feera is a bit of a loner, Tabs is not very conversational, and I’ve had work to do. I suppose there’s the Goblin Queen too, but she mostly just sends messages to us with runners.” she explained.
“I guess I’ll just track everyone down individually then. Sasha, can you go ahead and find Stella a room and give her the tour?” I asked. Marybeth stepped forward.
“I’ll go too. I’d like to get some input from Sasha on where to focus my efforts after the walls are done.” Marybeth said. I shrugged.
“Go for it.” I said. Soon I was standing alone in the courtyard inside the castle walls. Well, not entirely alone. There were goblins up on the walls, both standing guard, and laying bricks on the unfinished portions. I decided I would look for Tabitha first, and stepped through the doors into the castle itself, the same direction that Sasha and company had just gone. Out of habit, I adjusted my rifle on my shoulder, and checked that my sword was exactly where I wanted. All was well.
The first change I noticed was that the hallways were lit by torches, spaced every twenty or so feet, just close enough that there wasn’t much in the way of shadows to hide in. Probably a good thing, since I assumed the castle was still not fully under our control. We hadn’t explored the lower floors yet, after all. As I rounded a corner, I heard the sound of bare feet slapping on the stone floor, then a short blur of skin, clothes, and pink hair collided with me at high speed. Tabitha. I stumbled backward and collided with a wall as she did her best to hug the life out of me. “Ow… squeezing. Missed you too.” I grunted.
After a few moments more of enthusiastic hugging, she released me and took a few steps back, then looked up at me. “I take it you missed me just a little then?” I asked. She nodded then patted her clothes and her belt energetically. She stopped suddenly, looked at me, then looked up at the ceiling, a frown on her face. “You forgot your writing pad?” I asked. She nodded again. “Well, lead the way, let’s go get it.” I I said. She grabbed my arm, gave it a squeeze, and then led me through the variously sized halls of the castle till we arrived at a room familiar to me. The room I’d slept in last time I was here.
There were a few changes. One corner of the room had been taken over by a large writing desk, and a cushioned chair. The desk was piled high with papers, quills, inkwells, and a large wooden abacus. Tabitha stepped over to the desk and rooted around till she found a small pad of paper, then started to write on it. She held it up when she was done. “Damn right I’ve missed you. It’s lonely here with no one to talk to but workaholic Marybeth and hates-the-world loner werewolf girl.” she wrote.
“Fair. So how are things on your end?” I asked. She turned to a new page of paper and wrote some more.
“I expect our treasury, if it can be called that, will be dry by the end of the next two weeks, unless we want to stop work on the walls, and start hunting for all our sustenance. We’re going to have to buy supplies from Doubel, or go even further out of our way for the things we can’t make ourselves, at an increased cost. If there are indeed more gems to be found beneath the castle, we’re going to need that income soon.” she wrote.
I sighed. “Alright. I kinda expected that we would reach that stage sooner or later. I’ll bring it up to Sasha soon.” I bent down slightly and planted a kiss on Tabitha’s forehead. “Looks like you’ve kinda taken over this room. Do I have a room somewhere in this maze? Be nice to not carry this backpack everywhere.” I said. Tabitha nodded, carefully tucked the paper pad, a couple quills and a vial of ink into a pocket of her shirt, then led me to my new chambers.
The room was large, but mostly empty. There was a coat rack, empty bookshelf a small bed, a pile of blankets, and a metal bathtub. Tabitha pulled her pad and wrote. “Wasn’t sure what you wanted, so kept it pretty empty. Let me know if you think of anything? Lots of old unused furniture around.” she wrote. I nodded.
“Got it.” I set my pack down at the foot of the bed. “Think I should check in with Feera or the Goblin Queen, whoever’s easier to find. Any suggestions?” I asked. Tabitha nodded and wrote another line down.
“Feera is normally asleep for most of the day. Dunno about the Goblin Queen. She mostly stays in her own little corner of the castle. I can get you to Feera’s room if you like?” she wrote. I nodded.
A long while later we arrived at a long hallway with one door at the end. This hallway had no light sources. Tabitha handed me a torch that she liberated from another nearby hall, then while I held the light, she wrote again. “So, yeah, she can see in the dark, and isn’t too fond of her sleep cycle being interrupted. But she does ask about occasionally. So… maybe it’ll be okay if it’s you. Good luck!” she wrote. She left that page in my hand, and then wandered off back the way we came. I heard a door close in the distance, and then I was left alone in silence and near darkness, except for the light of the torch I held. I advanced down the hallway slowly, till I reached the door on the far side.
“Feera, you alive in there? It’s Clive, I’m back from town.” I said a little loudly, hoping it would carry through the wood of the door. I heard a faint scraping noise on the other side of the door, then a loud snap, followed by lots of crunching. It reminded me of the sound of ribs being cracked from a strong impact. A few moments later the door opened. On the other side stood Feera, her upper body wrapped in a thin brown blanket, and her lo
wer half entirely bare. I got an eyeful of long, scar covered legs, hair between her legs, and her muscular midsection. She let out a low growl, which caused my eyes to leap back up to her face.
“You need something? I was sleeping.” she said. She made no move to cover herself, nor did she seem to notice how cold it was. Even in my clothes, this section of the castle was a bit too chilly for comfort.
“Just checking up on everyone now that I’m back. Heard you would be the one to talk to if anything weird was happening in the forest, or on the borders. Marybeth said you’d been spending your nights outside or something?” I said.
Feera nodded. “Yeah. I go out. Hunting, smelling. Things are warming up, spring time soon. Lots of people and monsters on the old road. Harder to find good things to eat. Got any food?” she asked.
I shook my head and she bared her teeth at me, then closed her mouth and grimaced. “Thanks. I think. And no, I don’t have anything, but you’re welcome to come to the other side of the castle for dinner. It’s a bit warmer over there too. Come to think of it, I should probably figure out who exactly is going to make that theoretical dinner.” I paused for a moment and looked at Feera. At the mention of food her eyes lit up and she seemed intrigued. “Try and get some more sleep maybe? And we can talk about what you saw out on the road tonight, along with some food? Sound good?” I said. Feera nodded and started to close the door. I held up a hand and she stopped. “Ah, and probably wear a bit more clothing than that. I don’t want to disturb the others. Or make them jealous.” I added.
She shrugged. “Not cold enough for clothes, but okay. I’ll find something.” she said. She closed the door and I stood for a moment in the hallway. Interacting with her was going to take some getting used to.
It took me some time to negotiate my way through the more unfamiliar parts of the castle back toward goblin territory. On the way I ran into Sasha and Stella. Sasha was midway through giving her the tour, Stella seemed mostly concerned with her family history, and the defense plans for the castle, which were mostly non-existent. The three of us stood in a hallway briefly, though we needed to go in opposite directions. “So Sasha, we don’t really have anyone that’s a dedicated cook. Can you handle that for tonight? I’m inviting everyone important to dinner, get us all used to socializing.” I asked.
She shrugged. “I can try. In which case, Stella, tour’s on hold, we need to go see what’s in the pantry.” Sasha said.
Stella sighed. “Fine. But I’m not being paid to cook. I’ll supervise.” she said as we parted ways.
A short while later I found myself in goblin territory. I knew this because I encountered a couple goblins guarding a doorway at the end of a hall. These seemed more alert than average. They snapped their spears up crisply, and then clanged a fist on their armor in a crude salute. “Hail Mr. Dumont!” they shouted. The words echoed down the hail. I raised a hand and waved casually.
“Huh. Guess I’m popular. Where’s the queen at guys?” I asked. They both looked at eachother and started gibbering in their own language and making hand gestures enthusiastically. Eventually they calmed down and one of them opened the door and led me through a series of halls and chambers till I stood once again the room with two pillars, which I knew was the room right before Celia’s official throne room. The goblin that had been my guide stepped forward and talked to the two that guarded the door, then one of them stepped inside. My guide returned to me and pointed toward the door.
“Must wait. Queen said warn her of your arrival or she’d cut off our ears. So we wait. Please?” he said with a nasally accent. I shrugged.
“Sure. Nobody needs to lose any limbs. We wait.” I said.
It didn’t take long until the goblin that went into the throne room re-emerged. He came straight toward me, but stopped a few paces away. “The Queen wishes to know, is this a business visit or the other kind of visit?” he asked.
“Business, I think.” I said. The goblin nodded.
“Right into the throne room then.” the goblin said. He and I walked up to the door and he held it open for me. As I stepped inside, the blare of a crude trumpet sounded from the musicians area to my right. Celia sat as she had last I saw her, practically naked except for a few scraps of clothing, atop a crude chair made of a mixture of bone and wood, piled high with cushions and furs. She was still the prettiest, or rather, the only pretty goblin I had ever seen. The curves of her dark skin were alluring and her lack of clothes left nothing to the imagination. The only change I noticed was the thin iron collar about her neck, the same one she had worn the night she’d taken me to her bedchamber. On the left side of the room stood her various chiefs and other presumably important goblins. I only vaguely recognized some of them from the last time I saw them.
I stepped around the bonfire in the pit in the center of the room, and stood before Goblin Queen Celia again. “Is there a kind of protocol to be observed or anything?” I asked her.
Celia cackled loudly, and the other goblins in the chuckled nervously. “Of course not. I mean, you’re welcome to grovel and scrape if you want, but that’s really something the others just do when they want to make me laugh, or get me in a good mood. So pretty much happens all the time. I assure you Dumonty, you needn’t rely on such blase trickery to get me in a mood. So what brings you to my little throne room?” Celia said after she stopped laughing.
“Just checking up on everyone now that I’m back. How are things on your end? The walls seem to be coming along nicely.” I remarked. She shrugged and held her hands palm up near her shoulders.
“Eh. It’s a strange project that. No fatalities with that devil-girl in the lead. Quite boring, haven’t kept up with it. More importantly, you’re back.” She eyed the others in the room, then pointed one long-nailed finger toward the gaggle of chieftains. “Everyone, out. This audience is now private!” she proclaimed. The goblin guards near the doors were the first out, followed by the musician, who stopped mid note and fled at a full sprint to catch the door before it closed. The chiefs were slower to move, some stopping to mutter amongst themselves, or glance toward me or Celia. After awhile they all marched out and the door closed behind them.
I watched as Celia gazed toward each door in turn, her eyes lingered for a moment on each, as if willing them to stay shut, or daring someone to step through and disobey her orders. Finally she turned her eyes toward me as she crawled off the dias, sauntered toward me, then embraced me in a hug, her chest pressed against my thigh. I reached down and ran my hand through her night black hair for a moment. “So, do you have time to play with me tonight Dumonty?” she asked as she unwrapped her arms from me and took a small step back.
I shook my head. “Doubtful. I am trying to invite all the girls, yourself included, to a big sit down dinner, but I already made plans for after. Think you’ll come?” I asked.
She wiggled her hips and shrugged. “Only if you make me come.” she said. I sighed.
“Not like that. Can you come to the dinner?” I said. She shook her head.
“I meant it both ways, dummy Dumonty. I have zero interest in meeting other humans, I’ve already got one, and one is enough for me. That being you.” she said.
I shrugged. “Well, okay. It’s not mandatory or anything. Just we’re getting to the point where there’s a lot of people involved in this castle project, and I can’t be the center of communication for everything. If it’s business, just direct it to Tabitha, okay?” I asked.
Celia stretched her arms over her head, then rolled her eyes at me. “What do you think I’ve been doing the whole time you’ve been away?” she said.
“Right, of course you have. Well, in that case, anything you needed from me?” I asked. She danced back toward me and patted my crotch gently with her hand.
“I mean… I’ve missed you quite a bit.” given where eyes rested, it seemed more like she was addressing my pants than me directly. I took a step back.
“I recall last time that… well, we needed a lot of t
ime for this sort of thing..” I said. She didn’t respond, instead she grabbed my belt and before I could move to stop her, she had freed my cock and held it’s half-erect girth in both of her hands. She gave it a gentle squeeze and a small shiver of pleasure ran up my spine. “Okay, I think you’ve changed my mind.” I gasped.
She winked at me. “Don’t worry, I’ll try to make it nice and fast for you.” she tugged me by my cock and led me to her makeshift bench throne. I sat down as she put both hands on my cock again, then wrapped her mouth around my tip. Then she dug her hands into my thighs and jammed my cock into her mouth. I could feel my cock strike the back of her throat.
She backed off till just my tip was in her mouth, then slammed down again, no gag reflex, no response to any pain that the motion might have caused. She throatfucking me in this way, rapidly increasing her pace. The only noises were the crackling of the fire in the pit behind us, and the wet sticky slopping sounds that emitted from her mouth as she rapidly brought me to the edge of a climax.
It only took a moment longer for her to bring me to a finish. As I convulsed she pressed her face down on my cock, her nose against my stomach as I poured into her. Throughout this process, she made a low, soft growl in her throat. As I slumped back onto the furs and cushions behind me, she released me from her mouth and licked her lips clean. “See, told you it wouldn’t take long? Now what are you doing laying around wasting time for lazy lazy Dumonty?” she said with a chuckle.
