Lily
Lily frowned in exasperation when she entered the area set up to mimic the undercity’s streets. Despite all her efforts to get them to rest, the goblin scouts were still going after their training like it was a priceless opportunity that would never come again if they didn’t continue to push themselves.
“Good evening, Song.” She said with a smile, coming up alongside the much shorter woman to watch the latest scout teams to face-off against one another. The goblin nodded at her presence but said nothing. “Still hard at work I see,” she continued in an affable tone. The patriarch… Lord White flame, had only been gone for three days. She’d extended the march date so they could come to terms with his sudden disappearance, but today was supposed to be their rest day.
“I hope you and your people will be able to get enough rest, Song.” She said, deciding to push a little harder. “Barring any further complications, we plan to march in the morning, and…”
“Thank you for your concern, lady Lily.” Song said, her melodious voice washing pleasantly over Lily’s ears despite the stern tone. “I assure you, we of the scouts will do our part.” Having spoken, the diminutive goblin Woman moved away from Lily to greet the losing team with reprimands and the threat of extra laps if their next run wasn’t better.
Lily sighed and shook her head. The White flame, her husband, was by far the single most savage and deadly man the former matriarch of the Gilded Lily clan had ever met. Despite that, his leadership skills were abysmal. He’d bitten off way more than he could chew in a crazy attempt to create a syndicate made from a myriad of diverse and, in some cases, incompatible races. She didn’t think he even realized just how tenuous the threads were, that bound these people together.
Most of the wood elves would have long since left, if they had a safe forest to run to. The bugbears weren’t as unified a force as he seemed to think either. The bonds of marriage and obligation the only thing keeping the old White mane clan together. If it wasn’t for that grizzled old Harken and her husband’s second wife, Vasylia, keeping pressure on the other family heads… Lily was sure the bugbear faction would have fractured already. She shook her head in frustration at her people’s ignorance. They didn’t have anywhere else to go and their numbers had dropped too low to contend with the other races in this too small valley.
It didn’t help either that she’d pushed for the position of first wife. At the time, it seemed the most advantageous move, set herself up in a position of power to keep her charges safe in an unfamiliar camp. Yet, with the benefit of hindsight, letting Vasylia take that most coveted position would have helped cement the bonds of loyalty between the White mane clan and the White flame syndicate more effectively. Since she was, herself, an outsider to that clan. Despite being from a clan a tier higher in their city hierarchy. With only her four closest and most loyal followers, and forty young girls that needed looking after, she had been tied completely to the White flame’s banner.
She smiled as she recalled the conversation where he demanded she submit completely to his will. He was fresh from the battlefield, still tired and high on the blood of his foes. Lily had personally watched him for days from the walls of her own city, as he slaughtered thousands of enemy drones before challenging one of their queens to mortal combat, on the steps of their own city wall. His strength was undeniable, and at the time she’d thought he knew exactly what he was asking of her, when he demanded her submission. Only later did she find out that his political acumen was next to non-existent. By that time, it was too late for her to negotiate her position.
She was bound to him now. Unless she wanted to forgo any hope of future power and set off on her own. Her sense of duty to her charges wouldn’t let her do that. No, for better or worse, she would rise or fall with her husband. Still, she couldn’t help being a little resentful.
The wood elves had been at odds with the bugbear for centuries, so she counted herself lucky Unyielding oak was even willing to work with her as much as she was. The bugbears of clan white mane were pulling at the frayed threads of their unity with every passing day. The human refugees from a dozen villages and towns were squabbling at each other, each trying to get their former settlements people a higher position on the sinking ship. Thankfully, not everyone was only out for themselves. She smiled widely as she continued to watch Song ream out her troops. She had to practice that smile, after all, her human husband liked looking at her canines.
“Vara,” she called over her shoulder to her second in command. “Go get Jewel, Amber, and Syl would you? I’m going to get us signed up for the next few rounds… let’s show these scouts what a real team of fighters is capable of.” The sleek, silver furred bugbear woman started to bow, before changing it to a white flame salute. Then she hurried off to get her sisters.
Lily walked forward with a confident roll to her hips, sharp smile still in place. The goblins might be the smallest, weakest member of the Syndicate, but they made up for it in shear, stubborn, loyalty. She would have preferred the backing of her own kind over these waist high goblin scouts. Still, they were warrior women, just like her former clan, and she would use whatever tools she had at her disposal to keep her position intact.
* * *
Lily
Lily stretched her tired body to work some feeling back into her sore muscles. It had been far too long since she let loose like that. Her duties as her clan’s matriarch had kept her from doing more than an hour or so of daily saber practice per day, and she had gotten rusty. Still, between her and her people they’d managed to walk away undefeated, even after they started running two scout teams together against her.
The bugbear women had played it off as best they could, but the goblins had come close, damn close in some cases to beating them. If they hadn’t been drilling together for years in the saber and dagger style their clan was known for, they might not have come out on top every time. Quite impressive, when she considered these goblin women had only been training together for just under four months. She shuddered to think what they could do in the undercity if they were given just a few more weeks to train. She shook her head again in frustration. Why did they have to move so quickly?
“Matriarch,” Jewel called out just before she entered Lily’s tent in the camp. She appreciated being given a tent inside the cave to share with her sister-wife, but she couldn’t bring herself to part with the sisters she’d grown up with in the Gilded Lily clan.
“It’s just Lily now Jewel.” She said, her voice patient as she could make it. “We have talked about this; I don’t want anyone thinking I’m making a power play. So, please just call me Lily.
“Of course, Matri… Lily.” Jewel said, with a scowl. “Anyway, Owl two and Benjamin would like to speak with you, if you have a moment, my lady.” Jewel said, clearly taking issue with lily’s perceived demotion.
Lily looked down at herself with a tired sigh. She was dressed in her leather armor, armor that Owl two had secretly worked his magic on to make it as durable as any of the white mane’s heavy steel plate suits. He’d managed the feat without changing the look of the armor at all, it would be a sad surprise indeed to whoever tried an assassination attempt on her. Still, she was sweat soaked and not dressed for a meeting with the council. She wondered if she’d have time to take a bath and get changed before her meeting, but judging from the hurried look on Jewel’s face, the matter must be urgent.
“Very well, Jewel.” She said, gathering herself together for another round of politics. “Lead the way please,” she said with a smile. The two men she was going to meet with were both brilliant in their chosen fields. Yet, thankfully, they were little better than novices when it came to the type of clan politics that Lily excelled at. She didn’t need to be dressed up to impress these two. Owl two wouldn’t notice at all, and Benjamin would appreciate the training she’d been doing even more than if she’d shown up well put together.
“You asked for me?” She said a few minutes later, entering the command tent, to find the human Benjamin and the enigmatic Owl two were the only ones in attendance. Her eyes lingered on the permanently helmeted man as she found her normal seat. Her mind played with an old problem, trying to figure out what he was. He didn’t smell like any race she’d come into contact with before. In fact, he smelled like the truck her husband loved driving around the valley, or the flying ships… perhaps that was because he was always working on them in his armor?
“We did.” His strange monotone snapped Lily out of her musings. She must have been more tired than she thought, losing focus in her chosen arena.
“What did you want to talk about?” She asked. “And with just the three of us?” She added, pointedly looking around the empty room.
“There are two main points we wished to discuss with you, Lady Lily.” The helmeted man said without inflection. “The first is that we can extend the deadline to march by several weeks, perhaps a few months if we feel it’s prudent.” Lily leaned back in her seat at those words, wondering what made Owl two so confident.
“Really?” She asked, looking to Benjamin for cues, because reading anything from owl two was useless. “I was outside the tent the day my husband vanished… not left mind you… vanished into thin air along with his assassin and that crazy moon elf.” She said, her tired mind letting her speak more candidly than she might otherwise have done. Taking a deep breath, she reeled herself back in. “By crazy moon elf I of course mean her near fanatic devotion to her people, and to keeping my husband on the straight and narrow path.” No, damn it. That didn’t sound any better than just calling her a crazy elf.
“What makes you think we have more time?” She said at last, not able to pick anything up from Benjamin’s countenance either.
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“I am in tune with my lord’s, time frame.” Owl two said, unhelpfully. “I knew the time frame was almost at an end before, but now I can feel it’s been extended by several fold.”
“Uh-huh,” Lily said skeptically. “You can feel, that we have more time. Why should I take that as more important than the words my husband said before he left us?” She’d be lying if the idea of another month didn’t excite her, even with that extra time, she didn’t know if they could do what he wanted of them.
“I have been with Lord Ronin since the beginning,” Owl two said. “I am aware of his actions on a level that goes beyond the physical. But I understand your concern. Then let me put it to you this way. Lord Ronin was on such a tight schedule because he wanted to complete the march on undercity before he had to leave us. He was unable to reach that goal before he was required for his other business, and now we have enough time to properly prepare.” The strangely monotoned man hadn’t moved and inch the entire time he talked. It almost looked to Lily like she was listening to a statue, rather than a flesh and blood person.
“I will go one step farther to convince you by bringing up my second point however.” He continued speaking, even when Lily made to interject on the last statement. “As things stand, the White flame syndicate is doomed.” After saying that last, dire, line he fell silent.
“Doomed?” Lily asked when it became clear that he didn’t intend to elaborate. “We might not be completely prepared, but I hardly think we would be doomed.” Truthfully, she thought no such thing, still, the promise of a new home was the only thing holding them all together.
“Come now, lady lily,” Benjamin said, speaking up for the first time. “You know as well as I do how fractured these people are. They aren’t ready to fight in a coordinated army, even in a straight-line charge at the enemy. Most of them would break and run the moment they made contact. And you know as well as I do that, we aren’t in any shape to make a straight-line charge. The batlins would destroy our lines before we made it halfway to the city walls.” His gaze was intense, and his voice pitched to play to her sympathy. She didn’t know what their game was, but she knew they were after something.
“I can’t disagree with you on principle.” She said, deciding to feel them out a little further. “But what can we do, even if we train for another few weeks, we’d have a hard time overcoming the odds stacked against us down there.”
“Exactly,” Benjamin said with a winning smile. The lines that age and a lifetime of fighting had carved into his face looking much deeper at the gesture. “We need time to train. Time to gather those like-minded forces within the syndicate together. To make a plan that results in, not only victory, but an overall more positive direction for our people to move in going forward.” Lily didn’t blink, not so much as a batted eyelash as she heard Benjamin talking about what sounded a lot like treason.
“What exactly are you suggesting, counselor Benjamin?” She asked, her voice neutral and her face calm.
“Nothing as ominous as his poorly phrased sentence sounded, I assure you.” Owl two cut in, still sitting motionless as a stump at the table. “Merely that there are untapped founts of potential in the syndicate that have, as yet not made themselves known to us as a whole. A sizable portion of our population who feels that their talents haven’t been utilized to the fullest extent possible.”
Lily, not knowing what would or wouldn’t be safe to say, simply nodded.
“That’s right,” Benjamin said cutting back in. “Owl two hears everything that happens around here. He’s been gathering those untapped elements together, slowly. We just need a little more time to get them prepared. Time, we hope you can buy for us by giving those little gr… the scouts, some extra missions to free up training time with the simulators.” He really wasn’t as well versed in diplomacy as he thought he was, Lily thought with an internal sigh she didn’t show the two men.
“But, why not?” She asked herself before answering. “Why not at least see what they’re up to? Owl two at least, is no fool. If he’s involved with this, then it must be for my husband’s benefit.”
“I think I’m going to need to hear a little more before I can make an informed decision on what you’re asking me.” She said cautiously. Leaning back in her chair as casually as she could manage. It was strange, for as clandestine this talk was turning out to be, she’d have thought the lights would be dimmer. As it was, the LEDs lit every corner of the large command tent as if they were outside at noon. Such a marvelous invention, but not suited to the current mood.
“Again, I fear our military commander’s lack of tact might have given you the wrong idea my lady.” Owl two said without inflection. “Let me explain a few things, and if you see merit in anything I have to say, I only ask that you visit this tent, shortly after midnight.” Moving for the first time since she entered, Owl two placed his finger on a large tent that had been set up as a communal gathering place to play and trade the card game her husband had invented for his people.
“…I can do that, if I agree with what I hear.” She said at last, committing to at least that much. There were still three hours till midnight, so they had time to convince her.
“Thank you, my lady.” Owl two said, moving his finger back to the exact location from where it had been resting before he moved to point at the tent. “Now, as I am sure you are aware the goblin’s have been widely accepted as the White flame’s favorite race among the syndicate. Even though most of them are…” As he continued to talk, Lily began to nod her head, because everything he was saying made a mad kind of sense.
* * *
Lily
“…that’s why I think we need to stamp them out!” the voice she heard upon entering the tent made her reconsider this entire venture. If that was the leadership of this movement, then it was already doomed. Moving through the sizable crowd, Lily found a seat at one of the magically smoothed and polished wooden tables that had been created in the ‘fabricator.’ She tugged the hood a little lower over her face, not wanting to be recognized unless she chose to act.
The speaker was an absolute brute of a human. Standing well over six feet tall and thick with muscle. Despite his size, he still looked diminutive beside the bugbears present. A fact Lily could see galled him greatly. He stood in a small clearing at the center of the tent, where the tables had been pulled back to make a clearing.
“Thank you, Thomas.” Said another human man, raising to his feet and ushering the much larger man back into his chair. Lily took in this new man with a trace of surprise. She recognized his blonde hair and slender build. The man smiled out at the crowd for a while, letting the muttering die down a little before he began his own talk.
“I know many of you feel similarly to our friend Thomas here.” He said with an indulgent smile for the man who had spoken before. “I don’t mind telling you that my heart was stirred during his impassioned speech either…” he was moving while he spoke, walking around the small opening in the middle of the tent and smiling or nodding at people as he passed. He waved his hands to casually emphasize his words as well. Lily had to admit, his showmanship was exceptional.
“…It was a moving speech. Still, I can’t help but feel that it isn’t our goal to rise by putting others down.” He said, moving to the center of the circle and slowly turning as he spoke. “No, my friends. I believe that we shouldn’t think of ourselves as better than our goblin allies. We aren’t here because we want to put ourselves above them. I think we just want to be recognized as their equals. After all, don’t we all have talents, and strengths of our own? Don’t we all bring something to this syndicate that deserves admiration and acceptance? Aren’t we, the humans, bugbears, and wood elves with a trade, as worthy of our lord’s notice, as those who learned how to swing a sword at an early age, or shoot a bow a little better than we can?”
Lily could tell that his words were gaining traction with the crowd. A crowd that was made up entirely of the three races he’d spoken about. There wasn’t a goblin of any breeding present, nor were there any Kaldarr or moon elves.
“Yea,” shouted a voice from the crowd. “I’ve been a blacksmith for fifty years. I know metal like I know my own palms. Yet who is it with the fancy workshop? The lord’s second wife! Her skills fall far short of mine, yet I don’t even qualify to use her forge. I’ve been relegated to carrying wood to the fires while she teaches goblin spawn and unwanted wood elf brats how to make cutlery.” There were several cheers from the crowd at that outburst, but there were also a few muttered curses from the wood elves present.
“I don’t know about your smelly forge young man, but I’ve been an animal trainer for three centuries.” Called out a wood elf who hadn’t cursed the old bugbear. “I’ve practiced my trade since before your grandfather was born, but what do I get to do for the great White flame syndicate? Teach farmers how to properly care for chickens. Chickens! As if they required more than some land to forage on, and a place to lay their eggs. It’s an insult to my ability, I should be working with the white goats. But no, only Unyielding oak and her favorites are allowed to touch the White flame’s ‘gift.’ As if any human can tell the wood elves what animals we can or can’t work with.”
There was an uproar at that. It seemed that even here, with tempers running high, insulting their new lord, was more than most of these people were willing to do. Lily was glad to see that. It meant at least that most of them didn’t see him as the direct cause of their suffering.
“Friends, friends.” The young blonde man said loudly, patting the air in a calming gesture. “We know things have been rough, but please remember… we won’t get anywhere by blaming each other based on our race alone. That type of thinking is what’s gotten us into this mess to begin with.” He said with a winning smile. “We need to rise above those differences and come together to make our syndicate the best place it can be… for all of us; Human, bugbear and elf alike.”
“What about the kaldarr?” Called a human man wearing the uniform of the guard. “I work with several of them, and they aren’t too happy about the way they’ve been held out of the fighting for so long.” There were a few muttered agreements, about how strong an ally the kaldarr could be as the man spoke.
“Absolutely not!” snapped the blonde man, his face going hard. His words quieted the crowd, who looked at each other awkwardly as his eyes bulged and he started heaving for breath.
“Please, pardon my husband.” Said a sweet voice from the crowd, as a lithe bugbear woman moved into the circle and took the panting Eric’s hand. “You all know his situation. Forced to live under the yolk of slavery by those brutish, grey-skinned monsters. I beg you to pardon him as he relives the trauma, they inflicted upon him.”
She was really laying it on thick, but the crowd was eating up her words. More likely, the supple curves of her lithe, tan fur covered body, barely concealed below a shear white robe, was capturing the crowd’s attention. She looked very much like the late Safie, complete with the jingling disks of silver hanging from her waist and wrists. Lily recognized her as the former wife of the family head the White flame’s assassin had killed with a shot to the head.
“We are all here because we want equality. We desire freedom from the overbearing hands of those who would keep us down. The white flame’s lackeys like Harken and unyielding oak, not to mention those gruesomely mutated kaldarr warriors who stick so close to his side, are the ones we need to be mindful of, if we are ever to gain our fair share of the spotlight in our lord’s eyes.”
“But… how do we get a chance to ever show him what we can do?” Asked a subdued voice from the crowd as everyone nodded along with the beautiful bugbear woman’s words.
“that’s an excellent question, my friend.” Eric said with a fresh smile, having collected himself once more. He gave his wife’s hand a squeeze and kissed her cheek in a way meant to convey affection to the crowd. “Thank you my dear.” He said before turning to the man who’d spoken out. “The quickest way to get his attention is to…”
“Let me handle that.” Lily said rising to her feet and throwing off her hood, to the gasps of the crowd. She’d learned enough, and this was the perfect time to intercede. Owl two was right, this situation could benefit from her touch. “I’m sympathetic to your plight, and now, when my husband isn’t here to handle this himself, it falls to me to ensure you all get the attention you deserve.” She finished, moving forward to take her place in center stage, as she flashed the crowd her brightest, winning smile.