Page 73
“They’re giving up their weapons, but only because they have others. I have never seen goblins like this,” Lerolian said. “They have spines coming from their forearms and they look twice the size of the goblins that Pehine tried to sell. Rede brought back one of the goblin slaves with him to translate, but I believe the deep desert goblins speak more Imperial than they let on.”
I glanced at Tallu, but his expression was placid, as though he hadn’t heard anything. Not for the first time, I wished that my own training had come with the ability to pretend I didn’t hear what I clearly had. Goblins twice the size of their brethren? Goblins with spines on their forearms, and who knew what other modifications to their bodies?
As far as I knew, no one had ever heard of such a thing. So either that was more of Bemishu’s secrets or he had never made it far enough to reach these other kinds of goblins.
The questions would have to be answered later. One of Saxu’s men pushed open the flap to Tallu’s tent and General Saxu entered, followed by goblins who had more than a head of height over him. The goblins we had met so far were shorter than me, coming up only to my shoulder. They were more slender than me, even though I knew their strength was the same if not greater.
The three goblins entering Tallu’s tent now were tall enough that the tips of their horns spiraled up and scratched the top of the sand building, causing it to rain down on their shoulders. Lerolian was right, they were massive with spikes embedded in their forearms. I had assumed they were piercings like some of the clans in the far north did with whalebone. But these looked like they had grown out of the goblins’ skin.
They had brilliant red eyes that were a contrast to the browns and golds of the other goblins we’d met. Even their hair was different—a pale white instead of the black of their eastern brethren.
“Your Imperial Majesty,” Commander Rede said. “May I present Zoigei, councilmember of the hidden waters. These are his kin.”
“As emperor of the Southern Imperium, chosen by the last of the dragons, I greet you,” Tallu said, raising his chin, but without making it look as though he had to crane his neck to see Zoigei. Tallu gestured at one of the cushions his servants had left out. “Join me.”
The goblin looked at Tallu for a long moment before turning away, his eyes fixed on me. “We’ve come for the one the prophecy spoke of.”
Twenty-Six
It took a moment for Zoigei’s words to land, because the smaller goblin needed to translate for the imperials in the room. But, when the words were known, the reaction was immediate.
General Saxu’s face twitched, his eyes fixed on Zoigei, his glare boring a hole into the man’s skull. The Dogs around Tallu moved just slightly, their hands on their weapons. Even Sagam’s face went dark.
My own mind twitched back to the sight that had caught so much interest: the strange lights in the sky that had reminded me of the dragon seer’s temple. The liquid I had drunk at the Still Mist Tribe.
In the Imperium, that liquid was controlled by the dragon monks, but here was it something that anyone could drink? Or did they have their own seers?
Tallu leaned back, resting against the fur of some imperial animal. I had no idea where Pehine had gotten the luxurious pelt, but the dark fur was from some creature far from the desert. Tallu considered Zoigei’s words.
Then he looked at me, and from the slightest tilt of his chin, I knew what he wanted.
“His Imperial Majesty offers you a great honor,” I said to Zoigei. “You are surrounded by men who want to kill you for the offense you give him.”
The goblin we had traveled with translated for Zoigei.
“You think we cannot kill all these men?” Zoigei asked. The translator didn’t hesitate, which told me that he also believed Zoigei could make easy work of the most lethal men in the Imperium.
“I think that, as a man of war, you learn the value of avoiding battle for pointless reasons,” I said. I let my eyes trail to General Saxu, who was the one I was most concerned about. If he took offense, if he distrusted our new allies, we were going to have larger problems than one goblin refusing a seat.
Looking into Zoigei’s eyes was like the first time I had seen Naî in her human form. The shape was similar to what I knew, the expression mimicked human, and all of the correct features were there, and yet there was something so utterly foreign that it made it impossible to attribute human emotions even to an unmistakably familiar expression.
Normally, I would have said that Zoigei was amused, but with his proportions, with his strange alien eyes, I wondered if instead he was mocking. Did he see us as that small? Was he not amused, but instead humoring me?
Zoigei turned away from me for the first time, looking at General Saxu. The amusement fell off his face.
“You have killed a great many goblins. I can see it on your soul.”
This time, the translator did hesitate, although I couldn’t tell whether that was because he had not wanted to think about how many of his brethren General Saxu had killed, or because even he knew it was a provocative statement.
“A long time ago,” General Saxu said, clearly still unhappy, but willing to let his own feelings fall beneath the weight of an imperial order.
“A long time ago, and yet the sand remembers.” Zoigei looked at me, then glanced at the translator. “Do not speak this.” Then his eyes were fixed back on me. “You understand me. You are the one our prophecy spoke of. One who speaks our tongue, who speaks all the tongues, despite never having visited the desert. The one whose magic was stolen and given back. The one who can learn from all of the waters.”
“What is he saying?” Tallu asked, his voice going sharp.
The translator shifted, moving his body so he was just slightly behind Zoigei. If Tallu ordered his Dogs to fight Zoigei and his men, the translator clearly knew which side he wanted to be on.
Before it could devolve into bloodshed, I said, “Lord Fuyii taught us some of the desert language. I believe he is saying that one of their seers had visions of someone like me.”
