iii

The new day dawned.

It found Gwendol already awake, as was her custom. Ever since she became an elder—which, for goblins, started in the early forties—she had found she needed markedly less sleep than she had in her youth.

While her grandbabies were barely stirring from their slumber, Gwendol had already chopped the day’s wood, foraged for bird’s eggs at the edge of the Murmur, started a fire in the clay oven that stood outside her cottage, prepared snacks for their trip into the woods, and begun preparing breakfast.

It was a relaxed morning, and she smiled as the youngsters woke up, one after the other, and joined her morning routine.

“What can I help with, grandma?” asked Malin politely, appearing at Gwendol’s right elbow.

“You could, um, cut the bread,” Gwendol said.

“How about me?” Memphis asked, popping up on Gwendol’s other side.

“How about you set the table?” Gwendol said. “Make sure everyone has a knife and fork.”

Memphis nodded. Both siblings set to work.

Gwendol paused for a moment in her own tasks, more than a little taken aback at the children asking if they could be of help.

When I had kids of my own, they went on a rampage in the morning, jumping up and down and hollering up a storm. Too much energy. She thought of Madden and shook her head. No, even Madden wasn’t this calm and helpful.

The children were still trying to impress her. Trying to show her they were on their best behavior. But Gwendol could not fathom why they were working at it so hard. Even the little ones were fairly quiet despite surely having awakened full of newfound energy.

The littlest ones, Gweneth and Neon, seemed a little homesick—Gweneth had started crying, and Neon looked like she was holding in tears too—but their brother Corin comforted them and started reading them a story about a toy rabbit.

Gwendol could only shake her head.

They really are like little angels. Is Madden certain they’re related to us? He didn’t find some very well behaved orphans left on his doorstep with a note?

Gwendol finished cooking the bird’s eggs and served them up atop the slices of bread, then sat down beside the children at her table to eat the food. The space was a little crowded, and the food was nothing exceptional, but it felt like a special day.

Because I’m not here on my own, Gwendol thought. The children are with me.

There were some days when she did not even bother to eat breakfast, because she had less appetite these days than she once had. But with the kids around, she found she had a reason to keep active. It was a nice feeling.

The breakfast table talk was about the dreams the children had the previous night, and the day’s activities.

“I dreamt that we went swimming,” said Embrus. “I think we should really do it.”

“In my dream, we found a huge chest of gold,” said Raucus.

“Never mind, we should do that instead!” said Embrus.

“Well, in my dream, we was baked into a pie,” said Neon.

“Were,” corrected Memphis. “We were baked into a pie.”

“When did that happen?” Corin asked. “I would remember that!”

Gwendol chuckled at the children’s silly chatter. People had often had strange dreams where Gwendol lived, or so she had heard in years gone by, when more goblins lived here. She had never experienced this herself. But maybe it was the influence of the environment. That strange forest had a different effect on everyone who lived near it.

“Today, kids, I will take you down to the Murmur,” she said. “Your father and his siblings used to love to play there when they were young. Malin, Memphis, it’s a big forest, so I’ll be relying on you two to keep an eye where I cannot. Easy to get lost.”

“You can count on me, grandma!” Malin said.

“Happy to watch the others anytime,” Memphis added.

Malin shot Memphis a look at that, which Gwendol found strange.

Did he say something wrong? she wondered.

After Gwendol and the children were ready, and they had all begun the walk down the mountainside, Gwendol let the little ones and Memphis take the lead. She gently placed a hand on Malin’s shoulder and pulled gently backward, signaling for her to slow down so the two of them could chat separately.

“What’s going on with you and your brother?” Gwendol asked once they were out of easy hearing range.

“I don’t know what you mean, grandma,” Malin replied, her eyes darting away from Gwendol’s.

One day, you’ll learn how to lie effectively, dear, Gwendol thought. Until then…

“Don’t try that with me,” she said. “Out with it. What was it about Memphis saying that he would be happy to watch the kids anytime that bothered you so much?”

Malin bit her bottom lip. “I thought you might interpret it the wrong way,” she said finally.

“What way would that be?” Gwendol asked.

Her mind was racing, trying to understand the implications of what Malin was saying. What’s there to interpret in what Memphis said? He’d watch the smaller ones anytime. So what?

“You can’t tell dad I told you,” Malin said.

Gwendol waited, then gave Malin the slightest of nods. “It will be between us.”

“I think he wants to ask you to move in with us. And everyone wants to see more of you, so they’re all trying to be on their best behavior. When Memphis said he would watch them ‘anytime,’ I guess I thought he was giving it away.”

And then you ended up being the one to give it away. I wasn’t anywhere close to guessing that!

Gwendol smiled, put an arm around Malin, and gave her granddaughter a squeeze.

“That’s very sweet of you children and your father,” she said. “I’ll talk to him when he comes back.”

“You won’t tell him that I told you?” Malin asked. “He’ll never trust me with anything again!”

“No, no, I won’t,” Gwendol said. “I know how to keep a secret, dear.”

“And, um, what are you going to say? When—um, if—he asks you?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Gwendol said, genuinely uncertain.

“We could spend time together every day,” Malin said softly, her eyes gleaming with hope.

“Oh, my dear, I would love that.”

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“Then I’ll look forward to hearing what you decide to do,” Malin said, her voice positively buzzing with excitement. She hugged Gwendol more tightly and buried her face into the old woman’s side.

I think I’m being manipulated, and I’m not sure if I want to resist it.

But a decision like this was not simple. Would it mean giving up the land the King gave us? This quiet, peaceful place…

Land was more than wealth to Gwendol. More even than the natural beauty she took in free of charge every morning, noon, and night. When she was a child, her family had owned almost nothing. Only the clothes on their backs.

From that perspective, land was security.

It’s the only thing left when everything else is gone.

Still, she did not want to say no.

It could be so lonely on the mountain.

I need to think.

“Go back to your siblings,” Gwendol whispered into Malin’s ear, her old voice slightly teasing. “I need to think without your silver tongue influencing me.”

Malin giggled and ran down the slope to catch up with the younger children.

Gods, what am I going to do?

—

The new day dawned to find Geoffrey in an agitated state.

It was his own fault for sleeping curled up next to Cornelia. He had morning wood and nothing to do with it except try to hide it while everyone else moved around getting ready for the morning.

Geoffrey’s girl gave him a knowing smile before she too rose and began gathering her things.

He finally managed to get up and arm himself effectively for the day’s adventure.

They packed up their camp and set out, Cornelia in the lead. It was she who had heard the dying bandit’s last words, but even so, he had not been trying to guide her to the location of his group’s loot.

“All we really have to go on is a certain distance from the river,” Cornelia said, “and that we know that the guy couldn’t have gotten far with a fatal wound. We’ll walk a wide arc around Lord Crinus’s side of the river to start with, and then try the other side of the river as soon as we’re pretty certain the gold isn’t on this side. Maybe in the afternoon.”

There’s no way it will take until the afternoon to clear our side, Geoffrey thought. Nell is just scared of running into goblins. The Murmur formed the boundary between the human lands and the goblins’ hellish kingdom. But no one lives in this place. She has nothing to worry about.

The search began.

—

The first hour or two in the Murmur flew by.

The children swam in the river, played tag, and generally left Gwendol alone with her thoughts. Still, their jubilant laughter and the sound of splashing or running kept her from really focusing. She kept smiling and turning to look at the little ones instead of following a train of thought through to its logical conclusions.

I suppose that’s something of an answer in itself, she thought. Madden. These children of yours are a powerful motivator. You sneaky brat…

Little Neon ran toward Gwendol, dripping wet from the river, and Gwendol found her attention pulled to the present again.

“Grandma, I’m hungry,” the girl said, shaking herself off like a dog as she approached.

Gwendol reflexively blocked some of the water from landing on her with one arm, then stood up from the large flat rock she had been sitting on.

“That’s right,” she said to herself. “I meant to bring food…”

I can’t believe I left it all behind! What will the children eat?

She frowned.

“I suppose I’ll have to take you all back to the cottage,” Gwendol said.

“What?” Malin’s voice carried from around a body’s length away.

Gwendol looked over at Malin, who was watching Raucus and Embrus arm wrestle—refereeing the competition, Gwendol guessed.

“Malin, I realized I left the snacks I meant to bring down for you all in my cottage,” Gwendol called.

“Oh, I see,” Malin said. “Do you want me to run up and get—”

Gwendol shook her head. No way am I going to send you by yourself. It was unlikely that the trek to and from the cottage would be dangerous, but she was still uncomfortable with her granddaughter going for a walk along the mountainside alone when Gwendol knew it would take at least an hour.

“I think we should all go back together,” Gwendol said.

“Aww, man…” said Raucus and Embrus in unison.

There was a chorus of complaints from the other little ones all around.

“Do we have to?” asked Memphis

“I’m not that hungry…” said Neon.

“But we’re having so much fun!” said Corin.

“They were just about to play hide and seek,” said Malin quietly, walking toward Gwendol now, Raucus and Embrus’s arm wrestling match forgotten. “If they have to go back to the cottage to eat, it will probably be too dark for them to play when we come back. If we get to come back.”

Gwendol looked up at the sky. The sun was at its highest point now.

The girl is right about that. In another two hours, the Murmur would be much more heavily shaded than it was now. Spending time in a forest that sat in the shadow of mountains meant that daylight was precious.

She began to consider whether she had to make the children cut their playtime short.

It would take around an hour to get to the cottage and back, probably. One unsupervised hour.

No one ever comes into the Murmur, she thought. I’m the only goblin besides Cerysa, and she’s harmless. I used to leave Madden and his siblings alone for longer when they were Malin’s age. The last time I saw a human in this place was the war. Still…

Gwendol felt somehow as if she would be shirking her duty.

“You already know I can watch them,” Malin said. Gwendol looked down and found that the twelve-year-old was standing close to her now, big eyes pleading. “I did it just yesterday in your cottage, remember? And my parents let me do it all the time.”

“Hm.” Gwendol’s frown deepened. Then she shook her head again. Well, I suppose the cottage was as vulnerable to bandits as the Murmur. More so. The cottage has things to steal. There are no valuables here. No wolves in this forest either. Malin’s probably as tough as me now, anyway. I’m old and decrepit. It’s not as if I’m much protection myself, these days.

“You’re right,” Gwendol said slowly. “I’m sure it will be fine. Yes… No one much ever comes into the Murmur. No humans, and rarely a goblin!” She spoke to reassure herself as much as to express her decision. Then she leaned in to whisper in Malin’s ear. “Just in case, though.”

I would rather that you kids live than me, if something dangerous does appear.

She yanked a ring free from her right ring finger. It was densely inscribed with arcane runes Gwendol could not begin to understand. She placed the ring in Malin’s right hand. And then Gwendol took a knife she always kept at her hip, still in its sheath, and put it in Malin’s left hand.

For the first time, Malin looked slightly alarmed. “Why are you giving me these?”

“Probably nothing will happen while I’m at the cottage,” Gwendol said, “but I want you to have them in case you need them.” She pointed to a particularly large symbol on the ring, which looked like an eye. “Rub that rune twice, and it will make you invisible. I took it off a human I killed in the war. And I think you can guess what the knife is for. If someone comes to bother you and your siblings, you can defend yourselves—” she lowered her voice—“or run away. You’ll be all right. I’m sure nothing will happen. But just in case something does, I want you to be ready. The woods shouldn’t have anyone here but you. If you do see someone, you should tell the little ones to run. If you have to distract a human or a wild beast so they can make a break for it, at least you’ll have the ring.”

Malin nodded gravely. “All right. I’ll make you proud, grandma.”

“I know you will. You’re in charge while I’m gone—” she raised her voice—“Malin is in charge while I’m gone. You hear that, Memphis?”

“Yes, grandma,” he said, rolling his eyes.

Gwendol smiled and gave those two a hug. Then she turned and began her ascent of the mountain. The sooner I get up there, the sooner I can get back.

—

“All right, it’s time to search the other side of the river,” Geoffrey said.

“Are you sure? We might have missed—” Cornelia began.

“It’s only a small area that we have to search on the other side, right?” Geoffrey asked. “We can try that area quickly, and if there’s nothing over there, we can go back and search this side more thoroughly.”

Sorry, Nell, but I am done indulging your worries about running into goblins. We don’t need to concern ourselves about that right now. We need to worry about what happens if we’re in these woods too long, and people start to wonder where we’ve gone. I’d say we have another two days, three tops, before someone starts questioning the various stories we’ve all told to explain our absences.

The group followed Geoffrey, Cornelia somewhat reluctantly, as he waded into the river.

—

“We’re going to finally play hide and seek now, Malin,” Raucus said.

“Is that all right, with you being in charge and all?” Embrus asked.

Malin gave them a crooked grin. “Sure. I give you my permission.” She made a dismissive gesture, as if she were the Queen sending one of her servants to fetch something from the kitchen.

The whole gaggle of her siblings began to walk off, except for Memphis, who was supposed to seek them. He sat on Grandma Gwendol’s big, flat rock with his eyes closed and his arm covering his face.

“Oh, but don’t go too far,” Malin added while the others could still hear her. “Stay within hearing distance of the river!”