Goblin Town

 The girl got closer, carrying the large box up to Sandra before setting it down. Clair and Measles ducked behind the back of the caravan, peeking around the corner to watch the exchange as Sandra smiled back pleasantly.

“C-Carrots,” the girl said with an odd twang in her voice, prodded on by a gentle elbow to her thigh from the goblin on the far side flanking her. “...For food trade.” She shakily gave the elaboration, looking terrified. Clair could see her eyes darting around, eyeing up the large men sorting out the goods for presentation. Other goblins were starting to huddle, crowding for views or dropping off various small goods in a growing pile; Clair spotted lots of vegetables along with a few wooden carvings of various animals and other fist sized sculptures. She couldn't help but scan over the small sea of a couple dozen goblins, each wearing almost the same of the two simple sets of clothing. She noticed that their skin came in a variety of shades of green, the darker and deeper ones looking slow and old while a few small bright lime green children ran around, gawking in excitement at the visitors. The two flanking the girl were somewhere in the middle, a fair bit deeper than Measles and Mumps, whose skin tones had always matched each other since their birth... or at least as long as Clair could remember.

“Oh, thank you!” Sandra smiled enthusiastically, her voice just a notch higher than normal. “The auction will start at noon tomorrow, after the community has been able to look over the goods, so you can set it with the others.”

The girl gave a shaky nod, quickly picking up the box of carrots and shuffling off to add it to the pile, followed by the goblin on her far side. Clair sighed with relief, not quite sure why she was holding her breath, until the other goblin, the one closer to them, wearing a dress, turned and spotted her and Measles.

Clair jumped back behind the waggon, quickly followed by Measles. “Why are you hiding!?” she quickly asked the goblin, looking down at her incredulously.

“Oh I don't know maybe because I don't speak Goblin!?” Measles quickly snapped back with a glare, eyebrows scrunched in annoyance and worry.

“Well, don't you know some words in Goblin from Mumps!?”

“Oh, right!” Measles exclaimed sarcastically. “So I can tell them where they can shove those carrots!”

“Come on, you gotta know something usefu-”

Measles grabbed Clair's shirt just below the collar and pulled down, bring them nearly eye level. “I. Don't. Know. Goblin.” She enunciated each word with an angered staccato. “I mean, just look at them,” she pulled Clair back around the corner of the waggon to peek again, “all sounding like chittering-”

“Bonnar dwa!” the same goblin shouted enthusiastically, suddenly startling them as they almost bumped into her while peering around the corner.

“GAH!” the two of them yelled in surprise. Measles' grip slipped and the two girls stumbled back, tripping and falling on their rears.

“Oh! Bonnar-kiku?” the goblin asked with a look of both concern and amusement, clearly addressing Measles as she only glanced at Clair. All the two could tell though from the intonation that it was some sort of question.

“Uh-um...” Measles faltered nervously, quickly occupying herself with standing and brushing the dust from her cloak.

“Oh,” Sandra appeared around the corner behind the goblin, quickly taking in the scene, “bonnar dwa.” She gave a half smile that the goblin returned before turning back to Measles, who had run out of cloak to pat down.

“Goblo Bones-nat,” she chittered on, holding out a hand.

Measles hesitantly took it, her mouth twisting in confused, uncomfortable grimaces. “I... no... Goblin...” she slowly said, appearing to nervously grasp for the words and just speaking her only language instead.

The goblin raised an eyebrow at her in confusion. “Oh, that's alright,” she chuckled. “You can call me Bones.” Both Measles' and Clair's jaws dropped open upon hearing that, not at all expecting it. Sandra however shot a hand to her mouth to cover her laughing at the reveal. “I serve as an interpreter here for the commune,” Bones continued without a hint of an accent. “My apologies, but when I saw you, I mistook you for someone who spoken Goblin.” She let go of Measles' hand and turned back to Sandra. “Your pronunciation has gotten better, miss Sandra,” she complimented.

“Thank you, Bones,” Sandra cheerfully replied, looking pleased. She glanced back to Measles, who was taking a slow step back. “She's not going to bite,” she chuckled, prompting Bones to turn and flash Measles a toothy grin that appeared to have the opposite of the intended effect.

“So, what are your names?” Bones quickly asked, looking keenly interested.

“Uh, Measles,” the half petrified goblin hesitantly answered.

“And Clair.” Clair simply nodded, not too keen on Bones herself after seeing how terrified the human she had in tow was.

“Ah, such a beautiful name, Clair. And Measles, I take it you worked for nobles before? Born and raised?” she asked, a sense of kinship and excitement in her expression.

“Uh, n-no,” Measles stuttered nervously.

“Oh... well, you'll have to tell me all about your servant name later. Hold on, let me grab my girls; you two must join us for dinner!” she insisted, not waiting for an answer before scurrying off into the crowd.

“Well, she seems excitable?” Clair eventually said, not sure what else could be said.

“...Not usually,” Sandra replied, clearly at least a touch surprised. “She's really quite nice though, and one of the only ones here that speaks anything other than Goblin, so I recommend you take her up on her offer. This time of year she'll likely make her mushroom stew,” she said with a wink before turning to leave. “Now, excuse me, but I have to take care of something.”

Clair nodded, turning back to Measles. The other girl was just staring into space, at the corner Bones had disappeared around, with a vacant look in her eye. “...Servant name?...” is all Clair barely heard her mutter.

“Um, you okay there?” Clair asked her, chuckling nervously.

“Oh, what? Yes,” Measles hastily answered, snapping out of her stupor and standing up a bit straighter. “Sorry,” she chuckled back, “she just surprised me is all.”

“Well, okay then, if you say so,” Clair nodded, receiving Measles' side eye. “I wonder though what she meant by-”

“Bea riki jishu!” Bone's excited voice cut her off. The two turned as the older goblin rounded the corner again, dragging the human girl with her, hand in hand. “I can't find my other and my husband already went back home but this is Bea,” she proudly introduced. “Bea, Clair-nat. Measles-nat.” She quickly pointed to the other girls in turn, saving introductions. Clair noticed the girl, Bea, look over Measles without a second glance. But as she turned to Clair, she stiffened, eyes widening slightly. Her free hand clenched into a fist as she turned and shot the goblin holding her there an anxious, betrayed glare.

Slowly, the pieces started to click into place. The worried looks around the waggons. The shaky voice when talking to Sandra. The prodding and touching to keep her going... this girl isn't scared of the goblins! Clair's head seemed to spin with the revelation, the logical conclusion seeming contradictory to nature. It's the humans she's afraid of!?

If Bones had noticed the look she had been given by Bea, she appeared to act oblivious, swinging Bea's hand further in front. “Bea, lalesh-nat,” Bones said instead.

Bea grimaced, slowly pulling her hand away from Bones'. She clasped her hands overlapping, letting them hang, before bowing her head, facing the ground. “Clair dwa-dii bonnar nata. Goblo Beatrice-nat.” She stood back up, her face twisted in annoyance and nervousness.

“No, no, like we practised,” Bones urged, sounding a bit anxious herself.

“Tch,” Bea clicked her tongue, and Bones looked exasperated while the other two stood there, silent and very much uncomfortable with the situation. “Hello,” she started again, speaking their language but with the same odd twang that they heard from her earlier. “I Bea am.” She looked down in confusion as Bones lighting rapped a knuckle on her knee. “No... I am Bea,” she corrected. “Nice day... today.” Each word sounded stilted and awkward, as if pronouncing them went against the very structural design of her mouth. She appeared to deflate slightly with seeming to be finished, and either she was or Bones didn't want to push her because she just stood there silently, gradually inching back, feet shuffling on the dirt road.

Bones spoke up, “I thought that it would be nice for you both to join us for a meal this evening. How would that sound?” she offered warmly.

Before the two had a chance to answer, Bea visibly stiffened. “Ara?” she seemed to ask, the question evident by her intonation. “Gara goblo-iin petter-munma-kiku acev flik-iin!?” she grumbled, clear and loud enough for all of them to hear, not that the other two girls understood a word of it.

“Bea! Lalesh-dan!” Bones frantically tried to interject. The older goblin's face was paling, almost to the point of matching Measles'.

“Goblo riki jishu-zapro-par-dan,” Bea muttered as she turned and left, just adding on, “Goblo jushi. Froukle...”

“Bea jushi-pappo-dan!” Bones called out after her, a weary look on her face. She turned back to the other two and bowed, her upper body nearly parallel to the ground. “I am so sorry for her rudeness. She is... just nervous.” She kept her head down for another few seconds before slowly straightening, looking tense and more embarrassed than Measles and Clair could understand the reasoning for. “Goblo fudnew-nat,” she said apologetically as she quickly dipped her head again and turned to chase after the girl that had already disappeared.

“I... don't know for sure, but she may have insulted us?” Measles said slowly, still trying to process the whole exchange. The pair just stared, confused, at the empty space their opposites no longer stood.

“So... you want to go if she comes back to invite us for dinner?” Clair asked eventually, uncertain herself.

“And get a repeat performance?” Measles answered the question in kind before shrugging. “Sure, why not?”

Clair nodded, curious if the only goblin here they seemed to understand would return.

§

“Honestly, Mumps, it was a bit bizarre,” Clair concluded, recounted the encounter for the absent member of their trio. “I wish you were there to talk with her. Make the whole thing a bit less awkward.”

“Oh, uh, of course, miss Clair,” Mumps nodded, pulling at his collar a bit. “If only I was; I could have talked to her no problem then.”

“Well, it doesn't look like either of them are back,” Measles announced as she rounded the corner to join them behind the rear of the caravan. “Just a few stragglers checking out the goods. Guess we aren't having mushroom soup afterwards,” she shrugged, appearing indifferently.

“No? Pity,” responded Sandra right behind Clair, rounding the other side of the waggon. Both Clair and Measles jumped in surprise while Mumps sat still on the end of the waggon, legs dangling nonchalantly. “Well,” Sandra continued, “it's been a few hours and nearly dark out,” she commented, the sun just starting to kiss the horizon, ready to plunge the landscape into night. “We're just about to eat; brown beans and buns. Come, it's just cooking at the front waggon,” she offered before looking a touch apologetic. “Sorry, we usually eat at the same time and I didn't realize you couldn't smell it back he-”

“Measles fa Clair riki-kiku?” a voice interrupted. All four turned to see a female goblin come around the corner from the main area, where Measles had just stepped around. She was dressed the same as half of the other goblins, a simple white dress, which Sandra had confirmed for Clair, Measles, and Mumps was for the females, while all of the males were wearing pants or shorts and a shirt. Her skin was a shade lighter than the twins, implying she was likely around three to five years younger or so.

She noticed the four turn to her and her eyes caught onto Measles before flipping to Sandra then Clair. “Measles fa Clair?” she repeated, pointing at them, looking anxious. The two girls just silently nodded slowly, confused, Clair pointing to herself before quickly lowering her hand. “Ah,” the new goblin sighed with relief. She ran up and took them both by the hand and started pulling. “Jishu. Jishu!” she repeated insistently.

“Hey!” “Woah!” the two of them protested, easily standing their ground but still having to pull back a bit to avoid getting tugged over. “Mumps? Sandra? What's she saying!?” Measles quickly asked as she finally slipped her hand out of the other goblin's grasp.

Mumps had already jumped down, but as he stepped up and opened his mouth, no words came out. Instead, Sandra was the one to speak first. “Lichen? Lichen bonnar nata-kiku?” she just asked, a bit concerned.

The goblin nodded absently before stopping her attempt to pull on Clair, letting her go. She looked up with a bit of surprise, face lighting up. “Sandra-nat-kiku?” she asked excitedly, receiving a nod in response. “Bonnar dwa! Goblo bonnar nata. Bones Measles fa Clair sorma-podra nata,” she seemed to explain.

“Ah, okay,” Sandra sighed with relief before turning slightly to Clair and Measles. “This is Lichen, Bones's daughter. She was saying to come with her and that Bones is waiting, I think for you two... I'm pretty sure,” she relayed. “I guess you're having mushroom soup after all... jealous,” she giggled before taking her leave to the front of the caravan to presumably eat with the others.

As she left, Measles and Clair slowly gave Mumps the side eye, but either he didn't notice or was pretending not to. “I, uh, goblo-dii frat,” he slowly said, voice shaking a bit as he quickly pointed in between Measles and himself.

“...Tolu-dii frat-kiku?” she partially repeated, squinting incredulously. He nodded quickly and she just rolled her eyes with an annoyed huff; for a brief second, Clair could have sworn she saw the resemblance between her and Bea. She took Measles' hand and waved with the other for Mumps and Clair to follow, which they obliged as she led them away to the goblin hills.

Clair struggled to keep up as Lichen charged ahead, not looking back as she forced Measles to keep up, and Mumps seemed to have less difficulty. As they crested the hill, Clair looked down in confusion as all that seemed to lie before her was more darkened grassy plain and lumpy hill mounds, until a door in one of those mounds opened and light spilled out. Lichen let go of Measles and guided them to it where Bones was eagerly waving them inside with a welcoming smile.

“Hooser!” Lichen called out before embracing her mother. “Goblo jushi-par fa flik-iin grom,” she casually remarked before circling around and heading in, calling out, “Staku! Frolo! Goblo jushishu.”

Bones gave out a small stressful sigh before turning to Clair and Measles. “I'm so sorry, the pot kept nearly boiling over. I hope that she-” She stopped suddenly as she spotted Mumps behind the two of them. “Oh, hello. I am Bones. You are?”

Lichen beat him to it though. “Flik flik frat-dii Measles-nat warbla-par,” she laughed. “Flik gobwarb-dii tes-waple nata!”

“Lichen! Lalek!” Bones barked back with a sternness only a mother could conjure. “I am so sorry for her rudeness... she just found it amusing that you said Measles is your brother?” She left the statement hanging as a question, giving Mumps room to explain.

After a few seconds of silence he finally did. Or tired to. “Uh, goblo Mumps nata... Goblo-diin, uh, grimma-”

“It's okay,” Bones said kindly as she cut him off, gently putting a hand on his shoulder. “I speak Tallman fluently; you needn't over strain yourself.”

The look on Mumps appeared to Clair as if he wished the earth would just swallow him whole. “...Thank you,” he eventually said with a deep swallow, hanging his head slightly as he following Bones inside, following in turn by the other two.

Clair wasn't quite sure what to expect from inside the hovel but was pleasantly surprised. The interior glowed warmly from the five large lanterns in the corners of the pentagonal room. The walls were straight upright, any dirt held back by clean, unadorned planks of wood properly lined up by a worker who knew their trade. Clair would see that directly across from the door way the two opposite walls had smaller doorways that led downward into what she could only assume were bedrooms. To her left sat an enclosed fire, blackened and metal with a swinging door with a long wooden handle behind which she could hear the wood crackling. The chimney from it went to the top, disappearing through a wooden ceiling, though it was angled to a slight point where the chimney pushed through and Clair could see the thin vapours of smoke from the lanterns that lit the space filtering up and through tiny holes. The only evidence that the fireplace actually had a fire inside of it though was the metal pot of soup that sat on top, simmering away and filling the space with a rich earthy aroma. Clair could only assume that she had missed the light smoke due to the low light of early night. And while the air was a bit humid it was a nice change from the cooler evening atmosphere. But the soup at least smelt amazing, not that she had many mushrooms growing up as Measles rarely had an opportunity to forage any but she had nonetheless enjoyed their flavour.

Clair turned to her right, seeing the table with its long side against the opposite wall, enough space to easily sit four while keeping the main area clear for foot traffic. An older goblin that Clair recognized as the other one walking with Bea earlier in the day, presumably Bones' husband, sat at a chair at the table, appearing to be reading over a small stack of papers. He glanced up at the newcomers following his wife inside and fixed them with a steely gaze. “...Bonnar Dwa, tolu-iin,” he mumbled in a gruff voice before looking back down at his reading.

“Staku, lalek,” Bones appeared to chastise him, plucking the papers from his hands and setting them in a wall nook. He narrowed his eyes at her then started arguing, the two on them quickly going back and forth so rapidly Clair couldn't even make out the sounds they were saying as they spoke over top of each other. The three shrank back more as the apparent argument grew louder, both of them standing and trying to loom over each other, resulting in them nearly butting heads a couple times.

Until Clair realized that they were trying hard not to smile, fighting back grins that strained their jaws. Soon enough though, Bone's husband cracked, letting out a mighty belly laugh and nearly doubling over. He quickly stood, straightening, and kissed his wife on the forehead. As she happily trotted to the stove, the clear victor of whatever the bizarre ritual was, he turned to the three with a friendly nod.

“Good evening,” he started, the gruff exterior seemingly melted away even with his baritone voice. He had a thick accent, even more than Bea's, clearly not sharing Bones' familiarity with a second language. “I am Stick. Nice to you meet,” he finished with a slight bow.

Ah, so close, Clair couldn't help but think. “I'm Clair,” she returned, subconsciously matching his smile.

“Measles,” the girl beside her added.

“And Mumps,” their third finished, the only one bowing slightly in kind. “Thank you for having us. This is a lovely home you have here.”

Stick stared at him with a friendly, blank smile, head tilting slightly. Bones called over something to him in Goblin and his face lit up a bit. “Thank you,” he finally responded gratefully.

“My husband doesn't quite share my proficiency with your language; I really do hope this isn't too awkward,” Bones explained as she grabbed an end of the table, pulling it into the centre of the room and revealing that three more stools were tucked under. “Dinner is ready though. Please, sit, make yourself comfortable,” she quickly prompted, guiding Clair to the only human sized chair of the bunch, which she sat in without a second though. “Bea fa Lichen, riki jishu,” Bones called out. “My apologies, my daughters aren't very social,” she said apologetically to which the three just nodded.

The final two family members, the human and the goblin, quickly popped out of one of the bedroom doorways. They were half whispering to each other, in Goblin, and without looking Bea reached out and grabbed the back of Clair's chair, pulling slightly before realizing it wasn't moving. She slowly turned to look down at Clair and just blinked, a stiff smile seemingly forced to stay on her face as her eyes did the exact opposite.

Oh... oh no! Clair thought as the realization dawned on her of why there was exactly one human sized chair. I'm an idiot! She quickly started to stand. “I'm so sorry,” she muttered as she felt her face growing hot.

“No, no.” Bones was already there, a hand on Clair's shoulder, keeping her in place, and another over Bea's hand, lifting it gently. “Bea roki vacta,” she instructed her human daughter, pointing to one of the revealed stools. Bea grimaced, slowly giving a nod, and she stepped over to her newly assigned seat. Clair felt miserable in the moment, while Lichen appeared to smirk as at the situation, joining beside her sister, ending up beside Clair.

“...Frolo,” Lichen whispered to Bea, just loud enough for Clair to hear. Bea shot back an angry scowl, opening her mouth then just closing it without a word. She made eye contact with Clair, who quickly looked away, instead turning to see Bones hoist the big pot of soup onto the table, setting it down in the middle. Stick appeared at her side, passing out carved wooden bowls and spoons to each spot before handing a large wooden ladle to Bones.

At the other end of the table sat the twins, Measles taking the remaining spot on the long side of the table beside Bea and Mumps sitting at the other short end. Stick took his seat on the remaining long side to Clair's right, across from his goblin daughter, while Bones shifted her seat over a bit so that she could start scooping from the pot. The ladle swooped in and out, a hearty portion quickly deposited into each person's bowl, Bones' expert technique not spilling a drop as Clair felt anxious like she was about to spill it on the table.

Looking down, Clair was undecided if the dish should be called a soup or a stew, the viscosity of the broth somewhere in between. It was a deep brown and it took her a second to identify all of the little dark tan to deep brown chunks of mushroom in it, intermixed with broccoli and some sort of stewed meat that fell apart as she probingly poked it with her spoon.

“Ahem,” Bea cleared her throat, causing Clair to look up and make eye contact. Bea nodded slightly to her sister and father, each with their own portions but their spoons untouched. Clair quickly got the hint and silently set her own spoon down before Bones appeared to notice, serving up the twins then herself, audibly hitting the bottom of the pot.

Bones then set the pot beside the furnace and grabbed a smaller metal bowl, about half the size of their wooden ones, and placed it in the middle. “Goblo-iin jabulo-nat,” she said with a warm smile before picking up her spoon, along with the rest of her family. Their three guests quickly followed suit, readied by the aroma under their noses to eat. Bones' spoon went in first and scooped out what appeared to be the largest piece of meat, broth and mushrooms nearly spilling off, and quickly dropped it into the metal bowl. The other three family members did the same. Clair barely stopped herself from biting into the hearty spoonful nearly touching her lips and quickly dropped it into the bowl, along with Measles and Mumps, who were also clearly figuring this out as it went on. A piece of spongy mushroom slipped off of Clair's spoon as she moved it forward, squishing on impact. She dropped the rest of the scoop into the bowl as the last one, and panicked slightly wondering if she had committed a social faux pas before Lichen's hand shot out and snatched it between two clawed nails, quickly gobbling it up. Bones just rolled her eyes, clearly at her daughter, and Clair figured she was in the clear.

“Goblo jushishu-for,” Bones said as she took the metal bowl, now half filled, and stepped out of the hovel.

Clair looked around the table, as she saw the twins also doing, and saw the other three starting to dig in silently. Stick looked up at her and clearly saw her looking unsure. “Eat! Is good,” he said warmly after swallowing.

“Goblo Clair harnel-iin mumba-pappo,” Lichen cut in with a cheeky grin.

“Warbla-dan,” Bea responded with a roll of her eyes before Stick got a chance to, his mouth full again.

“Goblo jushishu. I'm back,” Bones said as she returned empty-handed. She took her seat beside her husband and scooted in, inhaling deeply from the vapours that rose to meet her. “My apologies if you were not aware of out customs,” she said, nodding apologetically while looking at her guests in turn. “ 'Goblo-iin jabulo-nat' means 'we are thankful',” she further explained. “On the days we eat as a family, we take a portion of our food and leave it out for any who don't quite have enough.”

Clair felt something at hearing that, an unexpected warm admiration for Bones and the community in general.

“Do you not usually eat as a family?” Mumps asked, picking up on what she said and apparently giving up on speaking Goblin for the time being.

“Oh, only for about half the week,” Bones answered. “For the other half of the week, we eat earlier, outside as a group before the sunset. But on hunting or working days we tend to eat later in our homes... Not that much work was done today with all of the excitement from your arrival,” she finished with a smirk.

Her family looked up and back and forth between Bones and the others. Bea and Stick nodded a bit, possibly picking up on enough words to understand the gist, while Lichen looked oblivious. “Nara-kiku?” she muttered in slight confusion only for Bea to lean down and whisper something to her that Clair couldn't quite hear but could tell was Goblin.

“Ah... so the food was for those that didn't hunt anything?” Measles asked, a smirk playing at her lips.

“...You were clearly raised by humans, then,” Bones replied after a brief hesitation. The words were biting but her voice held no contempt, though Clair saw the grimace as Measles squeezed her spoon harder, claws pressing into her palm. “Please, I did not mean that rudely,” Bones said with a light chuckle. “But it is a mindset of humans, ogres, and a few of our nomadic brothers and sisters. No, we do not set out food for those that don't work or hunt. We divide all of our catch and harvest between ourselves. But there are those of us too humble to take their needed portion in front of the others, so for them we let them fill up when everyone is in their homes.”

“But,” Clair tried to stop herself but the question forced itself out without her control, “how do you make sure that other goblins won't just take more food than others?”

Bones clicked her tongue, tutting lightly. “Why would they?” she asked. “What's good for the community is good for the individual.” Her expression softened as she looked at the three bewildered faces. “I understand your confusion. I too was raised by humans as a slave in a human household. As you may have guessed, my full name is Broken Bones.” At the mention of that, Lichen's head shot up and she hissed under her breath. Bea put a calming hand on her shoulder but her stare was far away. “Lichen, Lalek; bonnar nata,” Bones told her daughter softly, which seemed to calm her as she went back to eating. “But like you, I was given a malady, my name being a curse they wished to attract to me and away from the lord and his family.”

Clair's head reeled, spinning with this sudden information. She looked at Measles and Mumps who did not appear the least bit surprised by it though. Brow furrowed, she quickly mouthed “Talk later” at Measles, the only one looking at her while Bones was turned to her and Mumps.

“But,” Bones continued, “I was given my freedom many years ago, my master was a kind man you see, and settled down in this Goblin Town.” She looked over her husband and kissed him on the cheek. Lichen and Bea opposite them gave a “bleh” and eye roll respectively, which their parents only responded to with smirks.

Clair nodded, taking in the story, surprised by it, not that she had any idea what to expect from the odd group. She finished up her soup, seeing the others doing the same, with the exception of Bones, who had spent most of the time talking. Bones took Stick's and Lichen's bowls, stacking them with Measles' and Mumps'. Clair politely pushed hers forward as she saw Bea also doing, but Bones seemingly ignored them as she set the stacked bowls beside the furnace. She picked up the pot again, ladle inside, and put it back on the table. “Double portions for the humans,” she said with a motherly smile, this time scraping the bottom of the pot and tipping it to split the rest between the two bowls. Clair was surprised by the second helping, not expecting that and it happened before she even spoke up, but looking at it, she was very grateful.

“Uh, thank you,” she said awkwardly as she pulled the bowl back. She picked her spoon back up and started digging in, savouring the still warm dish. The earthy taste from the mushrooms matching the gamey meat that Clair guessed was venison, a taste she enjoyed when Measles would get lucky.

“I hope the soup is to your liking,” Bones said as she finished her own soup, a knowing smile on her face as Clair scrapped the bottom of the bowl.

Clair looked up quickly, caught off guard by the questioning statement, the voices of Lichen and Stick chatting in Goblin being the only thing for the past couple minutes which had faded into the background for her. “Oh, yes, delicious!” she quickly answered, nodding emphatically. “I've never had anything like it!” She caught Measles giving her a cold stare before nodding to herself in silent begrudging agreement.

“Good; that deer was the only thing Stick caught today. One of the young ones came running that the caravan came a day early and that was it for hunting,” she said with a laugh as she cleared Clair's and Bea's bowls, along with her own, all of them now done eating. “Toblen explained that there was some sort of situation in town and you left a day early. Have the three of you been travelling with the caravan long?” she asked, seemingly making conversation.

“Only a few days,” Mumps responded as Clair tried to figure out the best answer, “since we joined them from Bedelfer.”

“I see. It's such a nice town. So you grew up there then?” she asked, looking at Measles.

Say “yes”! Clair screamed mentally, realizing where this line of questioning was going. Of course it was a 'no' though; Clair realized that normal goblins wouldn't be given those names in a town without nobles.

“Uh, no,” Measles answered honestly, giving the barest truth she could in just a single word.

“Oh,” Bones appeared surprised but Clair worried that it was feigned. “So then,” she started.

Please! Please don't ask that! Anything but that! Clair thought frantically as Bones turned to her finally.

The goblin woman looked her up and down with a friendly smile that seemed to be solely to disarm her, before the inevitable question came out.

“Then where are you all from?”