Uncle "Hawk-Ruler"

I furrowed my brow. “How can conquest possibly solve the dispute between the Laie and the Esyces? Please, tell.”

My uncle spurred his horse forward. “It negates the problem from its core, which are the self-centered interests of the subtribes. If they no longer require competition with one another, and instead draw breath to serve the greater kingdom, they would naturally cease their oppositions, resolving their political stalemate.”

“Hmm,” I averted my gaze to the landscape as I considered his words. “I’m no conqueror, and I don’t wanna be one either. However, you are correct that if they were to be united under someone’s rule, they would have no choice but to settle, or tone down their controversy.”

“I fail to see how so,” Wergnarinth noted.

My uncle rolled his eyes at both my disdain for conquest, as well as my friend’s ignorance, all the while I simplify the situation for my pal. “In a nutshell, the two subtribes are in constant competition with each other. If one gains the advantage over the other, they will most likely assume full control of the other subtribe. However, if someone else is lording over them, they can’t compete with each other, since their overlord would not allow it. Basically, you can’t become ruler over another tribe if you’re both the subjects of one already.”

“Indeed,” my uncle affirmed, “though some realms foolishly do not outlaw internal wars between vassals, it is of utmost importance that we do not follow in their godforsaken footsteps, and I am grateful to see that our high chief is agreement.”

I nodded. “But the question remains: how can we make the Laiesyces join our cause?”

Wergnarinth shot me a contemplative look. “…High chief, wasn’t your late mother from the Laie?”

“In addition, you are betrothed to the daughter of the Esyces’ Gnobble,” my uncle added.

***

We arrived at Brigadunum, the main estate of the Laie subtribe. You might be wondering,

O Your royal, honorable, great Highness. Weren’t you off to Coidunum? Have you by any chance become distracted again?

Nay, dear subject of mine! I shall tell it to you, as I have told your forefathers of times gone by! The town of Brigadium is but a day’s travel removed from our main destination. In fact, it is ON the way to our destination, so this is no mere distracted fool’s errand, you best believe it. This town is not just any settlement, as I have stated prior, for this is indeed the HQ of the Laie tribe, where their Gnobble’s family and kinsmen live, as well as most of the Laien Highgoblins. The Esyces also possess a town that serves as their main estate, but it is located in their territory, south of our Coidunumian objective.

You might then presume,

O noble ruler of the Ausmulii, you who is of Austrian blue blood. Have you come to this town to curry favors with but one of the subtribes? Have you lost all impartiality, because you are half Laien yourself? Do you seek to betray the subtribe of your fiancé? Scoundrel.

Nay! My lovely, silly, little subordinate of mine, you must surely know that I would never commit such injustice. It is true that the Laie are my kin, and that I have thus decided to pay them a visit, perhaps I may meet my aunts, uncles, and their children—my cousins. However, it must be known that I plan not to grant them the benefit of any doubt, for I am simply here to see if there can be future collaboration once I arrive at Coidunum. Perhaps I can convince the subtribe to join me, and when I meet their Gnobble and the other subtribe’s ruler, they shall be more inclined to follow in their footsteps, and swear fealty.

You might then suppose,

Buddy, do you even know what you’re saying?

No clue!

Idiot.

Hey!

On a serious note, I came to this town to gauge my family’s opinion of me. My mother was married to my father through a political marriage, yet despite that, I was only born more than a decade after their wedding. Maybe my mother, and her family, didn’t really like us Ausmulians that much, and maybe the marriage was a purely political tool to establish peace between our tribes?

My silent pondering was interrupted when we were stopped by the town gate’s guards. I introduced myself as the high chief of the Ausmulii, and after he took a better look at my skin tone and hair color, and those of my two companions, he let only us three enter. Wergnarinth had no political acumen, really, and my uncle and I were the ones who held some familial relationship to the Laie heads. So instead, I put him in charge of our men while my uncle and I went on inside. They would make camp slightly further up the river that watered Brigadunum.

Back to my pondering, because I was struggling to come up with a way to get these subtribes to join me. I wasn’t sure if I could bet on my family ties to carry the negotiations, and who knows if my betrothal to one of the Esycesians was still legitimate. My uncle said this betrothal was agreed upon when he, my father, and I travelled all around Gobland and we stumbled upon the Esyces. Since the Laie already had ties to my father, they wanted to ensure that my father would not shift the balance of power in the Laie’s favor. They agreed that I would marry a Gobkin named Astvid once I became of age. This way, the future Ausmulian ruler would be related to both diarchs and could be a knot tying the bond of the two diarchs together. This was apparently ten years back.

Astvid? I think I heard that name in a dream once? No, it was when that voice spoke to me in my sleep. Something about Frasmul wanting to protect his mother and Astvid. God, my head hurts…

My uncle put his hand on my shoulder. “A king should not stagger in public, my boy.”

“…” I took a deep breath from my nose, and exhaled through my mouth. I gave me uncle a reassuring nod, and he removed his hand.

“You said I was the knot that tied the two Gnobbles together, right?” I asked him.

“Indeed. As the nephew of the Laien chieftain Arnric, and the future son-in-law of the Esycesian chieftain Sigvald, you serve as a common bridge between the two Gnobbles.”

“Ok, good,” I replied, “In that case, that’s all we can go for.”

***

It was dusk. A time of peace for the townsmen. People remained home, and boiled water for some tea. Well, I say tea, but it was more of a spice blend mixed with water. Different from coffee and tea; a goblin drink. The Bugretanians enjoyed a similar drink around noon, but us Ausmulians and Laiens drank this exact beverage at dusk. Always. A commonality between us two. I had personally never tasted it because I only drink water. No lemonade, juice, or soda for me. Just water.

One of the guards from the gate had trailed after us to show us where we had to be. We arrived at the chieftain’s place, and just like back home, the ruler lived in a hall. It too was made from stone bricks and wooden planks. Of course, it goes without saying that my Great Hall™ was made of stonier stone and woodier wood, meaning MINE was better. But let’s not be silly now, because that was neither here nor there.

The doors of the hall were open. I assumed that they were always open, just like back home. I entered, and I heard the sounds of children playing about in a few rooms away from the audience chamber I found myself in.

A broad-shouldered figure stood by the hearth with his back facing me. “You Ausmulians usually have grey or brown eyes, your defining feature being your shiny, sparkling, silver hair. But us who descend from Laie have the same dark brown hair as most other goblins, with our defining feature being our violet pupils.”

The figure paused, and let his deep voice rest for a second. “Our kind rarely marries outside of our tribe, so when I heard from my messenger that a violet-eyed, silver-haired goblin was leading a band of Crawgoblins into our lands, it prompted but a second of contemplation.”

I drew near to the man in the midst of his monologue. He turned around, smiling warmly at me. “I knew it could be none other than my sister’s son, Frasmul. Well, I suppose you are now know as Albaric, the high chief of the Ausmulii. But deep inside, I know you’re still my little boy.”

The man embraced me with wide-open arms, and I felt a tear well up in my right eye. It didn’t take long for my left one to join in as well, as the tears flowed down my cheeks. I had never met, never seen, never smelt this man in my whole life. And yet, our “reunion” stirred me to sniffles and hiccups. I don’t think this is a natural reaction, right? I’m sure you cannot condition someone’s body to start sobbing the moment they reunite with someone. If that was the case, people with amnesia would be crying left, right, and center.

I reached for my head with my right hand. Was Frasmul still here upstairs? Alive?

The man let go of me, and walked up to my uncle, and extended a hand. “Aremfrid, it is good to see you again. How have you two been?”

My uncle reciprocated the handshake with a wide grin on his face, the first time I’ve seen him smile with genuine happiness. “Chieftain Arnric! The pleasure is all mine. We’re in good health, for your subjects have treated us well on our journey here.”

“That is delightful to hear,” my uncle Arnric replied, but his warm demeanor quickly changed. “My condolences for your brother. Albar was a good man. He was a dutiful husband, an exemplary father, and a kind brother-in-law.”

My uncle Aremfrid’s smile faded into a somber expression, but it quickly recovered. “You have my gratitude. He told me if he ever had another son, he would have liked to name him Arnric, after you.”

“That… He honors me more than I deserve,” he replied as he sniffed. He took a deep breath, gave a cough, and started anew. “So, what is it that brings you two Habzakii to our estate?”

We all took a seat on some pelt-covered chairs as we were all handed a cup of the goblin beverage to sip on. The stuff was pretty delicious, and the chairs were a lot more comfortable than mine back in my Great Hall™. I would have to keep both these points in mind for later, but now, I proceeded to explain my situation to my uncle Arnric. That I desire to unite all the goblin tribes under one kingdom, and that I want him to join me in my quest. I told he can continue to rule over his estates, but that the Laiesyces dual-tribe had to be disbanded, and that both subtribes should individually pledge their allegiance to me. If he didn’t want to join me, he was free to refuse; in which case, I would at least want to cement our relationship in the form of an alliance.

“I see. My nephew is also a Goblin King,” he responded, pondering the matter, “Well, I must say I’m glad that I postponed that summit meeting back at Coidunum to convene with you two. If I had to choose between my own little nephew and that tyrant from the Turacetae, I would not surrender a second of time to hesitation.”