The Reeve Amidst The Green (24) Weighty Pronouncements

The next morning, on the common in the middle of the Goblin Market, the human Arnuvel and the goblin Jeeka stood before the tables and benches of the common and made a speech. There was quite a turnout, as Morr had announced that the humans’ leader wished to address the goblin leadership and the goblins as a whole. This had never been done before, and nearly everyone was interested. However – goblins being goblins – perhaps half the tribe had shown up.

Adii and Morr sat at a table well off to the side, and listened carefully. Arnuvel took a tubular case from a bag hanging across his shoulder, and removed a scroll of paper from it, and upon noting that he had the crowd’s attention, began to read aloud in a clear voice, one well accustomed to addressing a group and projecting to be well heard. He read in short bursts, and paused periodically to allow Jeeka to repeat what had been said, but in the speech of goblins. When she stopped, Arnuvel would read perhaps another paragraph, and then pause to allow Jeeka to translate again. The speech was short, but certainly seemed to be important, at least to the human Arnuvel.

“I’m not sure I followed all that,” said Morr. “Did you?”

“As near as I can tell,” said Adii, “he says that he, as the representative of the humans’ king, has recognized the Tribe of the Stag’s Antlers as a group to be acknowledged and treated fairly, and that it shall be entered into their laws that we have a right to be here and to do business peacefully with the humans, as we see fit.”

“Generous of him,” mused Morr.

“I talked with Jeeka about this,” said Adii. “It’s a thing with human law. Their laws are based on whatever laws they already have. He’s doing this so that human law will have to admit that goblins exist and have rights and they can’t just kill us or whatever.”

“That seem strange,” said Morr. “Can’t they just say that this law exists and be done with it?”

“No,” said Adii. “The humans have a lot more laws than we do, and they’re all written down. Books and books of them. That way, it’s harder for new kings or chiefs or whatever to rearrange the laws to suit themselves and screw everyone else.”

Morr thought about it. “That’s actually kind of clever,” he said. “Perhaps we should write our laws down as well.”

“It might take a few years, the way you write,” chuckled Adii.

“I take pride in my penmanship,” said Morr stuffily. “Don’t the humans have a thing where you can pay someone to write things down for you? Perhaps we should do that.”

Adii thought for a moment. “That’s not a bad idea,” she said. “That way, we could post the laws so anyone who can read could know them. Might encourage more of us to learn to read.”

“We’ll have to start a school at this rate – whup, here comes the Reeve,” said Morr, as Arnuvel approached, with Jeeka at his side. He smiled and bowed, and offered the tube to Morr.

“We’re done, Sir Morr," he said. "This copy is for your records. Thank you for your time and efforts. I know this doesn’t seem very important right now, but I believe it will prove to be very important further on in the future. If nothing else, it is now entered into the human records that Goblin Town exists, and is recognized by the Crown and the mapmakers, and that its inhabitants are protected under the same laws that protect the humans of Refuge.”

Morr took the tube, smiled, and nodded back.

“In the interests of fairness,” said Adii, with a hint of sly sarcasm, “we offer you the same rights and privileges. We recognize your right to exist, and to do peaceful business in Goblin Town, protected by goblin law.”

“Moth-ERRR,” growled Jeeka, warningly, in the speech of goblins.

“You do?” said Arnuvel, looking delighted. “Lady Adii, you are most generous! You’ve saved us all considerable time! I will enter this into the human records immediately upon returning to Refuge! Thank you, milady, for your incisive wit and rapid action!” Arnuvel seized Adii’s hand, surprising her, and bent and kissed it. Turning to Jeeka, he said, “Lady Jeeka, I thank you profusely for your assistance and guidance in this matter, but now I must return to Refuge, and record this splendid development in the annals of Crown law.” Turning and bowing to Adii and to Morr in turn, Arnuvel turned on his heel and headed up the River Road on foot, headed for Refuge.

“What just happened?” said Adii uncertainly.

Jeeka crossed her arms and frowned. “You just issued the same protections to him, and by extension, all humans, that his document just gave us.”

“I was kidding…”

“I think he might have known that,” said Jeeka. “But as the headwoman of Goblin Town, he chose to take you seriously, and is now headed back to town to enter your decree into the humans’ records.”

Adii looked uncertain. “Should we … stop him?” She looked up the road at Arnuvel’s rapidly retreating form.

Morr grinned. “Too late. You gave away the fruit stand. Now the humans have rights, and you have recognized them.”

Adii opened her mouth, closed it again, and then said, “I can’t tell if you’re joking or not.”

Jeeka made a wry face. “Good thing we’d pretty much decided to treat them like anyone else, back when they started wandering into Goblin Town. But in the future, Mother, you might want to remember that Arnuvel’s a Crown Representative… and that you are the Headwoman of Goblin Town. Because anything you say that he can interpret to his advantage, I think we’ve seen, he will choose to do so.”

“That’s it,” said Morr. “Time to think about written laws around here. Jeeka, do you have any idea how I’d go about hiring a scribe?”

***********************

Breakfast at the Buds Farm that morning was filled with lively discussion.

“I think we should all go talk to the Magician,” said Oddri. “Shuffa will become a human, and you should fuck her.”

“I should not have spoken,” said Shuffa. “You two had a tender moment last night. You made a great trust, together. And … I … am not a part of that. I should have kept my mouth shut.”

“You are too a part of this,” said Oddri stubbornly. “I love you. If I could give you a baby, I would. Charli, what do you think?”

“I think I found out just last night that I’m gonna be a daddy,” said Charli, wielding a sizzling skillet. He approached the table and began shoveling ham and potatoes onto Shuffa’s plate, then his own, and then finally emptied the remaining two thirds of the skillet into Oddri’s mixing bowl. “I think I’m managin’ that pretty well. Are we in any great hurry?”

“Shuffa is getting old,” said Oddri. “We should give her a baby as soon as we can, before she gets too old.”

Shuffa rolled her eyes. “That’s … not quite how I would have put it.”

“Shuffa ain’t old,” said Charli, dropping off the skillet on the hearth, and collecting the little saucepan. Heading back for the table, he ladled a generous ladle of gravy over Shuffa’s ham and potatoes, then his own, and then dumped the remainder of the pan into the mixing bowl. “I reckon we can talk about this a little more before we launch into a magic and groja party. This is a big decision.”

“Shuffa should not have to wait,” said Oddri, frowning. “Ooo. Gravy,” she said, glancing into her bowl. Picking up her wooden spoon, she began to eat.

“Charli,” said Shuffa, “I am grateful that you are willing to talk about this. But I should unsay my words from last night. This is a lot on you, too fast. I … let my feelings get away from me. I should not have done that. You don’t owe me anything.”

“Shuffa, you said you want a baby of your own,” Charli said. “And you asked me if I would be a father for him. Maybe I’d like to hear exactly what you mean by that. Y’know, all the details.”

“Charli, you know where babies come from – “ said Oddri irritatedly.

Charli held up a hand. “We gonna let Shuffa talk?”

Oddri fell silent.

Shuffa took a deep breath, and put down her fork. “I … yes, I’m older than you. Both of you. And… I’ve made … mistakes. We talked about building new lives, out here. And that’s what we’re doing. And… yes, I want a baby. I’ve wanted a baby all my life, but I never had one. I spent my whole life waiting for the right man to come and marry me… and he never showed up. And… now… there’s Charli,” she said, looking at Oddri. “And… negoksa, last night you … did some scary things. I wouldn’t have blamed him if he'd jumped out the window and run for the hills. But he didn’t. He stood there and grabbed his woman and held her and took care of her. He showed us what kind of a man he is. You trusted him… and he was … strong enough.”

Shuffa closed her eyes, and breathed heavily, and composed herself. No one spoke.

“Charli loves you, and you love him,” said Shuffa. “And I was going to go and let the two of you be together. And… you didn’t want me to go, neither of you. You wanted me to stay with you, to … share in the… goodness that the two of you had, last night. And… I should not have spoken. I’m sorry. Last night was a time for truth. And… I have no truth to give you.”

Oddri looked confused. Charli raised an eyebrow. “Not sure what you mean.”

“I made mistakes,” said Shuffa. “I trusted the wrong people. And I did bad things. I think if you knew what I am, you… would not want me here.”

“But you wanted to be here,” said Oddri. “You wanted us.”

“But you would not want me if you knew,” said Shuffa, looking up sharply. “Two years ago, I tried to burn the windmill. And last year, I tried to burn the House of Orange Lights. Do you still want me here with you, Oddri? With your baby?”

“That was you?” said Charli.

“Yes. Those were… the people I shouldn’t have listened to. Shouldn’t have trusted. They shouldn’t have trusted me, either. When the mill people fought back, I was afraid, and I ran. And the tribe punished me for my stupidity. Did I learn from it? No. I trusted a poisonous fool, and we attacked the House of Orange Lights, to burn it, to force the fire spirits to obey. And they fought back. And, again, I ran away. No one knew about that, though. Until now. Do you still want one like me in your house, Charli? With your child?”

There was silence for a moment. “I used the Magician, got him to help me,” Shuffa continued. “He pitied me. He gave me the money to buy the land. And again, I was a fool. I thought I could be a farmer. I couldn’t. I still can’t. And then you two came along, and helped me. You saved me. And I used you, too.”

Charli frowned. “And you came and did our laundry and cooked our meals and cleaned my house,” he said. “Was that using us?”

Oddri said, “When we were together in the bed, and you kissed us and made groja with us and you laughed and squeaked and made noises,” she said, “was that using us?”

Shuffa sat and looked at Charli and Oddri. “I… yes. Yes, it was,” she said. “I’ve been alone. Ever since that madness at the mill, I have been alone. I thought I had Fahks, but he was just using me. I was alone, all along, all that time. And then I had people. You and Oddri. And…” she turned to face Oddri, “The heat of your love… your feelings… they hit me. They hit me like the warm sun after a cold rain. I wanted that, so much. I wasn’t alone any more. And you,” she said, turning to Charli. “You gave me your home. You gave me a warm bed, a hot fire, good things to eat. You gave me the heat of your skin, the touch of you, both of you, and you plowed my field and weeded and harvested my crops, and you laughed while you did it and you didn’t ask for ANYTHING!**” shouted Shuffa, as tears began to trickle down her cheeks.

Oddri cocked her head, and turned to Charli. “When you came into the field to me,” she said, “that first night, and you brought me in for dinner and then we had groja… was that using me?”

Charli looked back at her. “Naw,” he said. “You were hungry, and I had plenty. And, well, I was a little stupid that night with the corn squeezin’s, and, well, you were mighty hot. Still are. And… well, one thing led to another, and here we are.”

“And here we are,” said Oddri, looking at Shuffa. “I was stealing Charli’s corn when he met me. I was using him. And he fed me. And he fucked me, on his bed. Is this… using each other?”

“I reckon… it’s more like… well, kinda needin’ each other,” said Charli. “We was lonely. And hungry, sure. And then, when you brought me that deer… wantin’ each other. I mean, I sure wanted you. And you acted like you wanted me. And didn’t we settle all this last night?”

“You say you used the Magician,” said Oddri, turning back to Shuffa. “Did you lie to him?”

Shuffa’s heart hammered in her chest. “I… no,” she said. “He… I asked him for money, for help with the bank. And he gave it, because he pitied me.”

“Did she ask us for anything, Charli?” said Oddri. “She never asked me for anything. Well, except for the tongue thing in bed.”

“Naw,” said Charli, looking at the agitated Shuffa from across the table. “We sorta moved in and took over on ‘er. I will admit, I pitied her. But I understood what it was like, tryin’t’start a farm from scratch. And bein’ alone.”

“Me too,” said Oddri. “I …don’t see the using. Why did you want to burn the mill, Shuffa? And the House of Orange Lights?”

Shuffa sighed, painfully. Here it comes. “Because I hated humans,” she said. “Because I wanted the world to go back to something I understood, with rules I understood, and to stop changing around me. And I was stupid. I thought humans were to blame, and they weren’t, not really. But I hated them anyway.”

“Got a funny way of showin’ me you hate me,” said Charli.

“I don’t hate you.” Shuffa snuffled, and looked from Charli to Oddri helplessly. “I… said I wanted… to be … I didn’t want to be alone. But I didn’t want to depend on anyone, either. I still want a baby, while I’m still young enough to… be a … mother, instead of a … vok, an old woman…

“The human word is family,” said Oddri suddenly. “Like social, but more. Charli and I are family now. We both say so. Are you family with us? I want you to be. I think Charli wants you to be. Will you be family with us, Shuffa?”

Shuffa’s mouth fell open, and she felt her eyes grow thick and wet, and she looked at Charli. Charli, for his part, looked at Oddri with a surprised look on his face.

“Godsdamn,” said Charli. “Oddri, I guess you cut it all good and short, didn’t you? I guess that’s it, then, Shuffa,” he said, standing up, and moving next to Oddri’s chair, he put his arm around her. “This here’s my ogre,” he said. “My big farm girl. She’s gonna have my baby, and none of us is ever gonna be hungry, not if I can help it. So I guess the question is, now… you just want me to fuck you? Or … do you wanna be my goblin?”

“OUR goblin,” said Oddri, insistently.

Shuffa closed her eyes, and some part of her hated herself as the tears came, rolling down her cheeks and dripping off her chin, for showing weakness, for having dared to trust. But, oh, she needed to trust. She needed … to not be alone. To be family…

“How can you trust me?” said Shuffa despairingly, her eyes closed tight. “How can you trust me like this?”

“Well,” said Charli. “I got to think about the worst that can happen. Worst that can happen with Oddri is that she’ll run off and leave me alone to raise a baby and run a farm, all by myself.”

“Not happening,” said Oddri firmly. “Farm girl now.”

“Well, that’s all cleared up,” chuckled Charli. “So now, it’s Shuffa’s turn. What’s the worst gonna happen? I give you a baby, you gonna run off? Burn down the farm? I mean, yeah, you did some bad things, but it looks like you paid for ‘em. And you came out here to start over. So… you gonna start over with us? You’re still free to go, if you want.”

Shuffa opened her eyes, and Charli and Oddri, still side by side, looked across the table at her. “You want me to be family with you? Me, and my baby?”

“Yes,” said Oddri.

“Seems like that’d be our baby, wouldn’t it?” said Charli.

Shuffa took a deep breath. “Yes,” she said. “It would. And … yes, yes, I want a family…”

With one arm, Oddri scooped Charli up, and with the other, she pushed the table aside by several feet, and rising to her feet, she stepped across the empty gap, and gathered up Shuffa, and together, they all held each other for a while, while Shuffa cried, softly and silently.

“Well, all right, then,” said Charli, finally. “Now if that’s settled, let’s see about finishin’ breakfast. Day or two, maybe we’ll run another load into the grain exchange, make some money, and I wanna order a cake at the bakery, I think. Do some stuff. And on the way back, maybe we should see if that Magician is in, hmm?”

************************

Wanna lay on the couch, nude, her legs splayed wide, her hands moving furiously between her thighs. She envisioned Arnuvel, great tall Arnuvel, and his human cock, sliding into her and out of her, his weight atop her, his arms around her, his pelvis slamming into her, his great human balls slapping against her ass with each great human thrust. She felt his hot breath on her forehead, she rubbed her face into the hair on his chest, feeling his thickness filling her, his thrusts bringing her closer and closer to the kzing, the overspilling orgasm, and her hands moved faster, and faster still, her wet fingers flickering between her and inside her….

And afterwards, she lay and breathed and twitched and basked in the afterglow, on the human couch, in her human house. She’d felt guilty, the first few times she’d done this, in her bed, thinking about the human man. She’d felt that she was betraying lost Isho, or that she was somehow dishonoring Arnuvel, who had shown her kindness and generosity, that she was… somehow… doing wrong.

And then, that morning, she had thought about it, and thought, “What would Bekk do?” And she tried to think as her eldest daughter would think.

In her head, she’d heard Bekk’s voice, “Who is going to know, Mother?” she had said. “No one but me. Only I will know what I am thinking. Can I live with what I am doing? Who am I hurting? Who am I dishonoring? Would Father have wanted you to be miserable? We both know the answer to that. Papa loved you. And Papa would have told you that when he was gone and not coming back, if it pleases you to fuck a human, then ride that human until he collapses. I get it from HIM, you know. And if it pleases you to THINK about a human… well… again, who are you hurting, what harm are you doing with your thinking?”

And after that, Wanna had fed Arnuvel his lunch, and they’d enjoyed a chat, and he’d finished his cup of tea and headed off back to his office at the town hall, and in Wanna’s mind, Arnuvel hadn’t left at all, but peeled her clothes off, an item at a time, and kissed and tongued every inch of her as her green skin greeted the daylight, and Wanna had struggled and protested, but he’d been so insistent, and so strong, and she hadn’t really fought him THAT hard, until finally, she’d been quite naked, stretched out on the couch, so hot and aroused and he had done the romeh-lo-imta, the Eating of Green, and hadn’t his mustache tickled? But it had been glorious, and all the more so, after the first kzing, when, her will quite broken, she had begged him to fuck her, and he had stripped naked before her, right there in the living room, and climbed onto the couch with her and mounted her, gently sliding his dick into her wet and willing cunt, so much, so wonderful… his touch… his kisses…

Afterwards, she hadn’t regretted it a bit. Not one bit. Well, perhaps a little. She’d questioned her own sanity, actually. Right there in the LIVING ROOM? What if he’d forgotten something and come BACK, to find her stretched out on the sofa, her fingers jammed into herself clear up to the last knuckle? And then she’d had to strip and wash the cushion covers on the sofa; she’d been SO wet, and now the couch smelled like hot wet veema…

But no guilt. The guilt was gone. No feelings of betrayal, no residual sourness in her soul.

It hadn’t been bad. It’d been … sort of funny. Her fantasy had been ridiculous, of course... but it had been… fun. The first time in ages that sex (well, masturbation) had really been fun. The first time since she’d lost Isho. She still remembered Isho, of course, and she still loved him, as she loved the children she’d had with him, but… somehow, now, the Tunnel seemed less dark, less cold, less oppressive.

That evening, before Arnuvel had come home, she’d put on the dry couch covers, and rubbed them with mint leaves, just to be safe. She’d changed into one of her new dresses, one of the human style ones with the lowered bodice, showing a tasteful amount of cleavage, and the puffy sleeves and the knee length skirt. Perhaps it is time to stop dressing like a widow, she thought. Perhaps to leave the Tunnel behind, I might dress like… like I want to walk in the daylight again…

When Arnuvel had arrived home that evening, he noticed right away. “You’re looking … blossomy,” he said, smiling. “Like a Four O’Clock flower whose time has come. What’s the occasion?”

Wanna had smiled back, forgetting not to show teeth. Arnuvel didn’t flinch. He seemed like he hadn’t even noticed. Or perhaps he was just getting used to goblin smiles.

“Something different for dinner this evening,” she said. “I’m trying out something new on you. Goblin style. Obbla-skeen ki’weh kifte-weh ah vamma-noss.”

“Didn’t understand a word of that.”

“Roasted bullbird bites on a stick, with onion and sweet pepper, in a sort of garlic and black-pepper gravy sauce.”

“Sounds delightful!” said Arnuvel, grinning wider. Then he sniffed the air. “Does it have mint in it?”

**********************

Miles away, at the house they shared in Goblin Town, Teej and Jon were having dinner, too. Their methodology was a little different; Teej sat straddling Jon, in his lap, and with her right hand, reached out and picked up a fork from the table. Spearing a meat chunk, she smilingly brought it to Jon’s lips and teased him with it, and finally popped it into his smiling mouth, and kissed him gently as he started to chew. Grinning, he took the fork from her, reached out, speared another meat chunk with it, and brought it in towards Teej’s lips, and she opened her mouth…

“Y’know,” said Jon, as Teej chewed, “somehow I didn’t think bein’ married was supposed to be this much fun.”

“Hmmf,” said Teej, her free arm draped across Jon’s shoulder and neck. “Your problem is, your parents had to tie it down. They had you for an audience. Ever think about what they must have got up to when you moved to Goblin Town?”

“I can think of better things to think about, here and now, than what my parents might be up to,” chuckled Jon. “Day after tomorrow, for example. Are you ready for this?”

“I am ready,” said Teej happily. “Day after tomorrow, I must go visit my relatives, and your cousin from Ponce will arrive. And you will finally get to fuck a human woman.”

Jon chuckled and grazed Teej’s lips with his. “So… what’s my cousin’s name gonna be?”

“I have thought about that,” said Teej. “Her name is Leeja.”

“That’s awful close to Teej, ain’t it?” said Jon.

“Less confusing,” said Teej. “Less for Bekk and Grola and Adii to have to worry about. And it will only be for a month, until I change back.”

“Gonna be strange,” said Jon wistfully. “Lookin’ into eyes that aren’t yellow.”

“They are still my eyes,” said Teej with a grin. “I am still your woman. But I will be human. It will be different, for both of us. Think of it as something new, like a treat. For a limited time only! Teej will come back, and then things will be as they were.”

“No they won’t,” said Jon. “When Teej comes back… she’ll be pregnant. We’re going to be parents, Teej. No more sittin’ on each other, feedin’ each other dinner. We’ll have a baby. Together. And then we’ll have to feed him or her, instead of each other, and it’ll be all about gettin’ the food into the baby, instead of wearin’ it.”

“You have regrets?” said Teej. “Second thoughts?”

“No,” said Jon. “Does make me want to savor the moment, though. And maybe look forward to this new girl I’m gonna be sleepin’ with.” Jon leaned forward and kissed Teej, and for a long moment, there was silence.

“I do kind of wonder what she’s going to look like.”

“The baby? Or your cousin from Ponce?”

Jon chuckled. “Both, really.”

**************************

In the great mattress tick at the Buds farm, in the dark, there were the sounds of sleep. Oddri’s breathing was a soft rumble. Next to her, Charli could hear Shuffa’s soft nasal sounds. Both of them were well into sleep. Charli was glad. Been a hell of a day and a night, for all of us.

I’m gonna be a father. My baby’s gonna be a half-ogre. And my other baby’s gonna be a half-goblin… what are they calling those? Hobgoblins, was it?

Charli had spent quite some time thinking, after Shuffa and Oddri had drifted off, after considerable pillow talk. Shuffa, in particular, was over the moon about visiting the Magician. “I have wanted a baby for so long,” she’d said. “I thought a baby was the only family I would ever have.”

Charli thought about that. He’d been alone out here for three years. And he’d been lonely, sure. Bad lonely. And overworked. And a little crazy, even. And then, suddenly, one day he hadn’t been. And it hadn’t been long after that that Shuffa had been there too. And it had been good. Hell, it’d been great. Less work than ever before. So many words and surprises, in the course of every day. And now, he was … going to be a father.

Charli felt like he should be scared. Or nervous. Or… something. It almost bothered him that he wasn’t. Am I just thinkin’ about this all wrong? Am I bein’ too optimistic? Charli had thought about it. He had a farm. The farm was paid for. There was money in the bank, and more with each visit to the grain exchange. There was enough to feed the three of them, yes, even Oddri, all winter, and oh, so much more. Eggs, chickens, pigs, the cows for milk. Short of disaster, no one was going to go hungry. Would there be any better circumstances to finally settle down and raise a family?

Even a family as strange as this one was apt to be?

Charli stared out the window at the stars. He still wasn’t afraid. Let the morning come. We’ll deal with what comes, as it comes.

https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/draw/6b43dfb7e29de769b392d78c1da36154

Back to Chapter 23:

https://www.reddit.com/r/GoblinGirls/comments/10cstjt/the_reeve_amidst_the_green_23_a_tall_order/

Ahead to Big Ole Chapter 25!

https://www.reddit.com/r/GoblinGirls/comments/10fnvwp/the_reeve_amidst_the_green_25_goblin_kisses_pt1/