The goblin cn has a queen.
It had been a topic of some discussion between the three mercenary women while they worked that week. Count Dorin Vasi had been polite, a little skeevy, and rather expositional about recent local history. Ademhill had a chief before the ceasefire, but he had been peacefully repced with the queen early during Thraes Hold's retions with the cn. She was a blue skinned witch named Zerel who built her influence by heading the negotiations.
They were currently talking about it over dinner, and Sherry was doubting the credibility of the guild deputy, Pylos. He was in their excursion group, and he had spun some wild cims about Queen Zerel. They weren't too unbelievable to Hilda, given some of the monstrosities in her immediate family, but Sheryl seriously doubted that someone could just hold a horsemaw's jaw open under her own power. This was clearly inferred from the catgirl's own experience with the beasts that day.
They had joined a small excursion to clear a red zone of said monsters. Horsemaws were not named for being horse-like; they were named as such for being much like a tyrannosaur with cwed arms and a mouth big enough to fit a small horse. Despite the clear terror of fighting such a thing, the felind girl had done well with Hilda's coaching. Sherry thought they were one of the scarier monsters in the south, but Hilda knew that wasn't quite true.
Sometimes stray kaiju-like things roamed north for unknown reasons. Pylos had mentioned a joint operation with Ademhill, a bit over a year earlier, to sy a hydra the size of a barn. The man was adamant, from his own experience, that no one short of an elite military battalion should consider fighting Ademhill's hobgoblins. The queen herself, for example, had magically enhanced physical capabilities on top of a strong grasp of most elemental magics - something that Hilda found interesting given her own proficiency with the same. The rank and file were more than proficient combatants and their senior witch, a turquoise hobgoblin named Ramel, attacked with rays of piercing hot light.
Hilda wondered if the deputy spread these stories with the actual intent of dissuading local mercs from fighting Ademhill. Vasi had been surprisingly open about the trade and ceasefire, and it was a profitable situation for the Count and his outpost. He'd also been surprisingly unconcerned about Hilda's letters home. It seemed the emperor and the lord of Beacon were both already aware.
After meeting the Count, they'd spent the st few days taking various shorter jobs before joining this venture. Hilda had picked up the rger tent, and tonight would be the first time they used it. All three women were feeling anxious for the night to come.
Sheryl was the most anxious. Dalia had made her interest clear multiple times - something Sheryl hadn't expected in the slightest - but she wanted to work out her feelings about Hilda first. Was she just clinging to the first person to be nice to her after becoming a free woman? She had contrived a pn to test that theory and now that she was out of doubts to express with regards to Pylos's tall tales, it was ostensibly time for action.
When Hilda wasn't looking, Sheryl quietly whispered to Dalia to ask if she could have a moment alone with the noblewoman before they settled in. With a diabolical grin, the elf whispered back, her lips brushing against the felind's fuzzy ears, which flickered at the contact, “of course you can, dear. Don't take too long without me.”
Sheryl's heart didn't stop pounding even when she was sitting in the tent with her newly bought nightclothes on. As Hilda finished changing, the catgirl steeled herself.
“Hilda,” she said, catching the noblewoman's attention as she packed away her garments.
“Hm?” Hilda asked, “What is it, Sherry?”
“Do you like girls?”
She froze. It was an easy question with an obvious answer: yes. Hilda preferred women to men a dozen ways. But people don't just ask a question like that. Unless.
“Yes, I do,” she said, observing the cat, “Do you?
Sheryl nodded, looking Hilda in the eyes and biting her lip. She whispered, “Can I kiss you?”
A twinge filled Hilda's body as she looked back at the cat that stole her tongue. She tried to reply, tried to think of something to say to the girl. Her face was brightening and her breath quickened. Having become outright nonverbal, Hilda just nodded.
Sherry was purring, loud. Outside the tent, Dalia suppressed a ugh at hearing the familiar sound from as far as she was.
When their lips touched, Sherry tasted like smoked meat stew, and Hilda tasted of spearmint. A long and chastely passionate kiss ensued before Sheryl pulled away, leaving both panting.
“More,” Hilda whispered. She didn't know how to navigate the situation so she just said what she wanted.
She received it.
About fifteen minutes ter, they were both startled from a post makeout cuddle when Dalia came back into the tent. Neither girl had been paying attention.
“Looks like you two are having a good time,” said the elf. “May I join?”
Hilda faltered quietly, “Dalia… I'm not really sure that I take after my mother like that.”
“What does that mean?” Sherry asked, confused.
“Didn't I tell you?” Hilda gnced at Sheryl, expining, “I guess I didn't outright say. I have so many half brothers and sisters because my mother has four spouses.”
Dalia's ears folded back, “Oh. Not husbands?”
Hilda shrugged, “Three husbands. One wife.”
Their brief diversion ended as Dalia got comfortable, sitting next to them on her own bedroll. She beckoned, “Hilda.”
With a questioning chirp, Hilda turned to the elf who immediately brought her face towards Hilda's. The swordswoman involuntarily took a deep, anticipatory breath, maintaining eye contact. Dalia slowed as she came near nose-to-nose, looking for assent in Hilda's eyes, which went to Dalia's lips. They became hooded and unfocused as Hilda returned to eye contact.
They kissed.
It was considerably more passionate than Hilda's initial kiss with Sherry. The cat blushed at the dispy. Minutes ter, Dalia kissed her, too. No sex was had, but the three woke up entangled in each other's arms. Returning to town that afternoon, they switched rooms at the inn to a suite with one rge bed.
All was well until the morning after their return to town, when one of Vasi's men was waiting for them outside the inn's entrance with summons from the lord. They answered the Count's summons and found themselves, along with the man who had fetched them, in the Count's dining room being served breakfast.
Sweeping into his seat at the head of the table, the Count addressed his visitors, “Lady DuSonde, Sir Aramis, Misses Sheryl and Dalia. Thank you all for coming. I have a job offer I'm looking to make for you all.”
“Of course, my lord,” affirmed the knight.
Hilda simply asked, “What might that job be?”
“The goblin queen is going on an expedition, herself, to check the status of Dé Cyon. As a sign of goodwill, and to boost credibility, she has requested an additional escort through our mercenary guild. The guild master and I agreed you three were the best to send along with Aramis, who is a respected combatant. If you accept, departure is two days from today.”
Hilda kept a straight face. She smiled politely and held the intensity back from her eyes at the mention of one of her goals. Her intention had been to visit Dé Cyon some months or years into her career, when she had the rapport to assemble an expedition. It wasn't a thing she had expected to come up so soon. Lo and behold, the goblins defied anyone's expectations.
She had occasionally entertained fantasies of sying the serpent that had cimed the temple sanctuary. Her dream of being strong enough to sy a godbeast went hand in hand with her dreams of becoming so strong that she could liberate the sves of her empire. Dé Cyon and the serpent were a more-or-less known factor compared to the foreboding glow of the Balreli capital. People throughout history reported seeing the city under the pressure of the serpent's aura.
No one returned from expeditions to the capital.
That was even before the opportunities it gave Hilda. She could find out more information about Ademhill for her sister, and build a first hand impression of their leader. Maybe enough information that ‘Princess’ Ana would owe her a favor in return, not to mention the update on the state of the wilds. It was the perfect job, and Hilda didn't need to think it over much.
They agreed, and started preparing that very day. The preparations took most of their attention when they weren't enjoying each other's company at the inn. Along with all the supplies, Hilda sent letters by bird to her sister and mother with updates on her pns and info.
Before they knew it, they were meeting Aramis and a couple hobgoblins outside of the palisade in the morning. They were first visiting Ademhill, then going further south with the whole expedition. Less than twenty people were going, but it included the storied queen as well as Isra, the witch that met them at the gates. She was accompanied by another hobgoblin named Irul, who was yellow eyed and dressed in a scout’s camoufge.
They ran into a sizable pack of Lindel hounds during the day, but more than half were taken out quickly with a pair of bsts from Isra. It was a peaceful leg of the journey otherwise.
The mercenaries engaged in light conversation with the goblins, who were thankfully friendly. Hilda got to ask Isra a question that had bugged her for a week and a half, “What did you mean about the queen looking for ‘eggs’ in Thraes Hold?”
Turning her blood orange eyes on the noblewoman, Isra shrugged, “She was looking fuh anyone interested inna alchemical treatment that's helped some cnsfolk. Do ya’ ever wish you were a boy, Hilda?”
Composure shaken by the abrupt turn, Hilda admitted, “No. Never.” Never again.
“Then ya're not an egg. What about you two?” She asked the other girls, who both denied the idea, “Well, if any of ya wanted, we could get yer a potion that will, over time, turn yer into a boy. Some of our cnsfolk have done so - don't ask who, it's impolite - and it helped them quite a lot.”
“How would that help?” Asked Dalia.
As Isra expined, Hilda marveled at something novel to her. She'd take transgender goblins over svery any day.
After a cozy night in the tent, they made it to the fortress the next day, and Hilda realized just how much the goblins had outpyed the typical tactics taken against their people. The whole encve was surrounded by a fifteen foot tall crenneted stone block wall. One would need siege engines or very powerful mages to breach Ademhill. It was also clear that they wouldn't be going inside. The queen and the rest of the expedition were waiting at the gate.
Hilda nearly froze up when she got in range of the goblin queen. Despite her mild distaste for bloodline magic, Hilda used her own hereditary magic quite often. Herself and her siblings all had the same innate knack for their mother's only real spell. Verea DuSonde was known for never losing a battle because, with her limited abilities in magic, the duchess had invented a cheap and subtle spell to tell how formidable something or someone was compared to herself. Verea stayed out of fights she knew she couldn't win.
Hilda often used it on strangers just to know whether or not she was safe by her own merit.
The little tug of mana informed Hilda that the goblin queen was absolutely not to be fucked with. Maybe with Aramis, she could hold off the hobgoblin witch, but in a three on one with the girls? The queen could probably crush Sherry, and might outright ignore Dalia's arrows.
She also had an hourgss figure that Hilda hadn't seen on any other goblin, though she was shorter than expected. The bombshell witch was in a bck combat dress, with bck leather boots, and had bck cquered nails. Her gold eyes and bundled bck hair contrasted her steel-blue skin in a striking fashion.
Zerel caught Hilda staring and fshed a smoldering grin at the noblewoman, who blushed a bit.
“Sir Aramis,” she acknowledged the knight first, “good to see ya’ gain.” Turning to Hilda, she continued, “you must be Lady DuSonde an’ her mercenary party. Great ta meet ya, dies. I'm sure you'll be excellent escorts .”
There was a glint to the uncrowned queen's eyes that left all three adventurers uneasy. Sir Aramis spoke first, giving a middling bow, “Queen Zerel. It is good to see you as well. I’ve brought a couple of messages from the count for you.” He handed a pair of letters to the queen.
Approaching, Hilda curtsied while intoning, “It is an honor to meet you, Queen Zerel. You may just call me Hilda while we travel together.”
Zerel nodded, smiling, “Okay Hilda. You can just call me Zerel, then. The same goes for the whole expedition. Iss not like I'm queen a’ more than one pile a’ bricks.” She turned and cpped, loudly barking, “Let's get moving, everyone! We can talk more on the trail.”
When they were on the move, the queen grouped up with a couple of the other goblins, reviewing the letters from the count. Isra was in the queen's little group, and Irul spirited away to scout ahead with Dalia following, leaving Sherry, Hilda and Aramis with some hobgoblins they didn't know. It quickly became a busy day getting acquainted with the rest of the expedition on the road and eventually setting camp within the territory around Ademhill.
Zerel gave the girls a knowing grin when they set up a tent for three. As they settled into their combined bedrolls, Hilda continued to ponder something that had been in the back of her mind all afternoon. Zerel spoke with an unheard of imperial nguage version of a Boston accent and Hilda couldn't decide if it was just strange, or oddly endearing. The queen even seemed to be influencing the goblins around her, as if she speaks the ‘Queen's Imperial’, which was sort of pusible but Hilda couldn't help but wonder what resulted in the goblin speaking like that. She eventually slept in the arms of Dalia and Sherry, settling to solve the conundrum sometime in the following weeks.
Then, at breakfast the next day, Zerel started hitting on Hilda.
Spoiler This is the news zone!
Announcement With this chapter, ISEKAI TRANS PANIC will be going weekly updates. I wanted to see if I could pull off something biweekly with this series, and while I found that I can, it's a bit much while I bance my day job and Synaptic Eclipse. I may start up a patreon soon with a goal to increase chapter frequency, but for now, I'm just trying to make it through 2025 without burning out to ashes. Thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed the story so far.[colpse]
