1.2 Motives

"So, you say the human servant woke up late..."

A goblin taller than any other stood firmly by his black boar's side, arms crossed, as his squire and direct servant, a smaller but strong goblin, spoke.

"Yeah," Boss said, sweating.

"And then, you say he boastfully vanished with the princess without reporting back to you?"

"That's about it, O great Chief Tulag, then they rode East."

The chieftain's eyes widened, and he closed the gap between the two parties, and glared at Boss straight in the eye, making both Bongo and Ganga tremble behind their leader. Boss was already considered a hulking and strong goblin among the young, be even he cowered before his tribal leader's sturdy chest and arms.

"Where again, did you say they rode to?" Chief Tulag said.

Boss gulped, "East, my chieftain."

The chief considered him for a moment before grunting and walking back to his mount, looking at his squire.

"You three take care of the sheep, as you were, we will deal with the human servant, the chieftain is... sorry that you had to experience this," the squire said.

"We're the chief's humble servants, and this is his cattle," Boss retorted bowing down.

The two boar riders humped on their saddle and grabbed the reins, as the other three goblins returned running toward the flock.

"My chieftain Tulag," the squire said, "what does this mean? Why would the princess ride east with the human servant?"

"Winds blast her, what has she done?" Tulag roared, "If she ventures deep into the mountain..."

"That's the wilderkin's territory..." His squire said, as if completing the chief's fears, "The main herd of woolen rhinos will still be in their territory for a few more days, if the winds blow right this year."

There was a pause, but then Tulag opened his eyes in realization.

"Send word to my Keshig guard."

The squire turned to him in shock, "My chieftain, you don't mean—"

"Princess Mesui is clearly avoiding her responsibilities to the tribe, we'll make sure we show her that we fulfill ours to our kin."

******

"Princess?" Arsec said, shivering as the sun set red over the horizon.

"Call me Mesui," the princess said, bluntly.

"What?"

"Call me Mesui, we're alone here."

She lay on the grass, looking at the mountains before them. They were still a mile away from them, but it was enough to send a chill down Arsec's spine. He didn't know much about politics in the Steppe, but he knew one thing: Tulag goblins and the Wilderkin from the mountains did not get along well. It was something about a lasting war between the two centuries ago. Now, they had an uneasy peace—an uneasy truce.

"Mesui?" he corrected himself.

"Yeah?"

"It's been two hours, how long are we going to stay here?"

"Not long, hopefully, be patient."

"Patience's not the issue," he said, looking at their boar mount to see if it was still there, "the sun is almost out, and... well, I'm not an expert in territorial boundaries... but I'm pretty sure your father said these mountains were off-limits."

"They're off-limits," she agreed, "What's the hurry? You weren't doing anything important anyway!"

"I was doing something important!" he said, clasping his hands nervously, keeping them warm, "Taking care of Malimali is important to me! Besides, I need to set the score straight with your father."

"What the? Set the score straight? Do you want to ask for my hand in marriage or what?" she said, smiling.

"What?"

"I said—"

"Princess..."

"Mesui."

"Mesui, why would I do that? Even if I wanted to, I would not get excited because after this, it would be practically impossible for a slave like me to even hang out with you, no matter what you do... that is, if we're not dead at the table of some rabid giant rodent." 

Mesui remained silent. Arsec twitched his head a bit, off guard. His goblin friend always had something smart to say. Her demeanor had suddenly changed.

"Prince—Mesui... I mean Mesui... I want to go home," Arsec complained, "by now we would be eating some nice bread."

"You want bread? There's some in the backpack."

"I mean, I'm cold, tired, and hungry; the tent can fix all that plus the bread."

Mesui sighed and sat opposite him, leaning her back on his, and her head on his.

"What are you doing?" Arsec asked, taken aback by Mesui's strange behavior.

"Shut up, let me be."

The wind blew their hair. Arsec found himself oddly appreciating the sudden warmth their two bodies produced together. Still, if someone were to see them like this...

She would get scolded again—he would probably die.

That's how it used to be.

"Maybe we can be like this," Mesui wondered.

"Like what?"

"Like this, just the two of us, on the road—free."

Arsec turned to her, confused.

"Um, Princess..."

"It's Mesui."

"No, I mean... Princess," he asserted, "What's wrong?"

Mesui clicked her tongue, looked at the clouds forming up in the sky, as if they conspired with her to come up with crazy ideas.

"Maybe the marriage thing is not a bad idea." 

Her words sent a chill down his spine, body heat be damned.

"Come again?"

"If you ask me to marry you, maybe I would..."

The young man looked at her, coldly making such declarations. Arsec babbled, mumbled a bit, he blushed, and thanked the winds for the fact that Mesui was back to back, looking elsewhere.

"Princess, don't play like that, please."

She ignored him.

"We could go West, to the port city of Ostarg, start a life there, I thing I have kin working in a wool shop. If we kill a woolly rhino here, we could start by selling the wool and bones to the traders there and earn enough money to start a home..."

"Hey, hey!" Arsec began to panic, "That's... very specific?"

"If my father goes as far as to pursue us there, we could easily use the money to ferry us to the Beast peoples. I heard the Khan has had no luck in bringing them to their knees."

"Which is exactly why they would kill us on sight!" Arsec retorted, trying to find respite in Mesui's plan.

He stood up, uncomfortable.

"All right, all right, hold on a minute," Arsec stepped up, "What are we really doing here? Why do you want to marry me all of a sudden, and why are you considering the idea of leaving the tribe? This isn't you."

Mesui, again, just sat there and stared at the gray mountains, still waiting for a single woolly to show up by those rocks. She then sighed and stood up with him, crossing her arms.

"You're not the only one who's being 'punished' for burning mother's family heirloom. You know me, after these years together, I would've done the shepherd's job a hundred times over."

"What do you mean?"

"I had a marriage meeting with the Koltan clan of the Northern steppes."

Arsec's eyes widened. "You mean...?"

"I'm to wed the Koltan heir, if things go well."

"Go well?"

Mesui frowned, "I mean, if things go well for Mother."

Arsec scratched his head, "But... I mean, I would expect your father to enlist you in a company of boar archers, given how good you are with the bow and stuff, but when did chieftain Tulag change his mind about giving your hand in marriage?"

"Since Mother realized I was too problematic for the tribe, and that she always wanted to bring the Tulags and the Koltans together, since she comes from there... I guess that damn carpet we burned last month was the cherry on top, but I'm sure you remember everything is stacked up."

"Stacked is an understatement," Arsec said.

"Either way, I guess they had enough of me."

"Can someone get enough of you?" Arsec joked sarcastically.

Mesui walked in front of him, looking at his eyes, "I'm serious, Arsec, these days may be the last we see each other."

Arsec considered her. Her intensity was compelling, magnetic. That's how she's always been ever since he was bought by the Tulags to serve the chief's house. 

Suddenly, a blurring memory flashed before his eyes—a girl with similar hair to his, smiling, filled with trust towards him. He scowled, turning his back on her.

Mesui sighed, shook her head, a bit hurt, "Ever so the detached little human, right?" 

"You are a princess, your life has been a downpour of forgiveness and second chances. Mine, I've seen people I love come and go... taken away from me. You don't understand."

Mesui noticed how Arsec seized his arm rather tightly.

"I know one thing," she said, "that for all this time, I could've just forced you to do the things we did. I could've brushed you aside like a simple servant. You are not a servant to me."

Arsec looked at her, surprised.

The goblin princess took a deep breath, "All right, seems like we're doing this... Arsec, you're—"

The distant bellowing and sudden dust cloud in the air distracted them. The woolly rhinos were here, in the hundreds. 

"Look," she collected herself, giving her back to him and contemplating the rhino pack, "I've got so many things going on in my head right now, I'm sorry I put you up to this; you don't deserve to be punished for all the princess's mischief."

Arsec considered her, wondering what she meant to say. Deep down, he had a good idea.

"I suppose it was fun," He sighed as he joined her in seeing the rhinos, "You know, it kind of felt good vandalizing the camp with you."

Mesui snorted, "Liar, you hated every moment."

"Ah, yes, every moment, sure," he said, sighing. His tone softened, "but looking back, you gave me a respite in an otherwise oppressive and monotone life. No matter where I am, or where you are... I'll always have these memories with me."

Arsec smiled and gave her a gentle look. 

"So thank you for all this."

There was a moment of silence, but then Arsec heard a breath as deep as a cave, louder than the winds.

"I'm sorry I proposed to marry you and flee," she finally spoke, "It was... dumb." 

"Very dumb," Arsec agreed, "a goblin and a human? More so, a goblin princess and a human slave?"

Mesui giggled, "You know, I did something crazy."

"Hmm?"

"You know how the tribe's ugdan speak of how the Twin Sisters listen to nobility if they deem them worthy? Like, how Khenet Khan was heard multiple times and commanded the winds to grant him victory against the northern orcs?"

"I love that story, arrows of green wind rained down from the high skies and into the unbeatable orc berserkers," Arsec said, excited.

"Yeah, so I prayed," Mesui said.

"You... prayed?" Arsec echoed, "That's... odd." 

"How is that odd?"

"I mean, is there anything else out of character that you've done in these days?"

"Blasted winds," she scoffed, "Why do I bother with you? But I did pray—To the twin winds, to the sisters who always ride the skies—maybe this was the first time in my life."

"And?" Arsec asked.

"Then... I felt the wind change its course, abruptly. It was something strange because it always does that, but the timing just... encouraged me to believe that they heard me."

She walked towards the black boar waiting for them in the back.

"I followed the wind for a while," she continued, "Before I knew it, I was at your tent's entrance, and something made me ride towards the pastures, and the creek. The wind kept blowing until I saw you."

"And so you decided it would be a good idea to kidnap me." Arsec snorted.

"Hey! I asked nicely! And to be frank, I was genuinely going to leave you there when you rejected me at first, but... but then the wind blew again, and this time... it blew East, toward these mountains. And I... felt like I'm supposed to do something... with you."

"And the first thing you thought was marriage?" 

"Ugh, shut up, I'm trying to figure out my feelings here, trying to listen to powers beyond my understanding, and you're laughing."

"Sorry, it's just that you sound so poetic."

"Yeah, quite, I kind of like it, I've enjoyed it for its short duration."

Massive bellows grabbed their attention once more. Mesui smiled at first, ecstatic, but then her face quickly turned gloomy. 

"Well, I guess we have extended our stay in rodent territory for far too long. It was fun. Let's head back, Arsec," she said, saddened.

The young man looked at her, then at the thousand-member herd grazing the golden pastures. He sighed, knowing he might regret this later.

"Let's go," he said, grabbing his staff and climbing on top of the black boar, "We just need to hunt one, right?"

Mesui looked at him, surprised, "What?"

"Once you take it down, I can gut its neck to quicken the death, then we can use your mount to drag it or some part of it, or away from the camp... We'll choose what to do after we have our fun."

"You serious?"

Arsec reached out to hop her in, plucking her from her place and into the mount, "YOINK!"

"H-hey!"

"Feels horrible, right?"

"Shut up," Mesui said, blushing. 

"Ready your bow."

"Don't tell me what to do! I'm the princess here, I'm in charge...!"

Arsec smirked, "Sure you are!"