Authors note:

I got one of my friend to help me with an area map, which it will contain a bit of spoilers. I have also started writing the final chapter and epilogue of the whole story. Don’t worry, I am not ending this any time soon. I am the type of person that likes to know where I am heading and make sure I don’t stray from the path. I am debating if I want to post it online. If I do post it, it will be on my wordpress page instead of RR.

Also, I am in desperate need of an editor.

Chapter 20- Ultimatum

Day  28 (Night)

***Cani's Cave***

***Cani***

          Damn it. Not everything went according to my prediction. After hearing that the her tribe has been wiped out, Sylva finally broke down and bawl her eyes out. It was certainly my goal for her to break down, however, what I did not expect was the amount of crying she would do. She just wouldn’t stop. In the end, we couldn’t get any negotiations done. This totally ruined my flow and vibe. I feel bad about forgetting this part. Next time, I need to take this into consideration and step up my villain game.

          We decided to leave the negotiations later tonight, after the dinner. Out of the generosity of my heart, I even provided dinner for the three goblins and Sylva. Tonight’s dinner was fish soup, fresh from the ex-washroom. My soup was extra tasty since it was seasoned with tears of a fallen princess. After finishing the dinner, Sylva finally settled down and stopped crying.Hence, we  agreed to continue with our negotiation. She wiped away her tears and try to feign her resolve in front of her subordinates.

“First things first. Since you are the daughter of the matriarch, it is clear that you must take her place. Do you and those three goblins agree to this?”

They look at each other gave each other a nod.

“Yes we do.”

“Congratulations, you are now Queen Sylva. Nice to meet you, my queen. I believe I have yet to introduce myself. My name is Cani, the leader of this humble tribe, at your service.”

I gave a quick bow as I said that.

“I must say, this is one hell of a coronation. I doubt that there will be other queen with a coronation like this anytime soon.”

         I told the guards to untie Sylva.

“Wh-why did you let me go?”

“ I would like to negotiate with you instead of those three, since you are the queen. If I didn’t release you, it would not have be a negotiation. It would simply be a blackmail.”

“At this point, what is the difference?”

“There is a huge difference. With blackmail, you have exactly two choices. You either do exactly what I tell you or you die by my hands. With a negotiation, I give you an offer. If you don’t like my offer, you can propose a counteroffer. We do this until we are both satisfied with the deal. If we can’t reach an agreement, you can simply leave.”

“Don’t lie. After everything that have happened, you are saying that you won’t hurt us and simply let us leave?”

“Didn’t I tell you before that I dislike needless killing? Of course I will let you leave. I may even give you some provision and send you on your way, depending on my mood of course. However, if you refuse to negotiate with me and leave right now, you have no place to return to. If the four of you meet a pack of wolves or a bear while camping in the forest middle of the night, that is none of my concern. There is no blood on my hand. However, the blood of those three goblins will be on yours. As their leader, you chose to decline to my offer.”

A slight grimace slipped out of Sylva’s face.

“So what do you want from me?”

“It is simple. I want guards. I desire soldiers. I yearn for power. Now that I have stated what I want, you must be fair to me. Tell me, what is it that you desire, Queen Sylva.”

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“Couldn't you tell already? I want my tribe back. I don't want it to die out.”

“That is something I am powerless to offer. With only the four of you left, your tribe is doomed to wither. However, I may be able to help with saving your bloodline.”

“Are you willing to provide me with a male from your tribe to preserve my bloodline?”

“Remember what I desire? I am not willing to lose a single goblin from my tribe. On top of that, even if you managed to convince me to give you one of our males, you still have no place to live. The conclusion is clear. Your only choice is for you to join our tribe. As much as I would love to let the four of you join our tribe, I cannot. If I were to provide food, shelter and safety for the four of you, all of you must submit to me. You, as the queen of your tribe, would still have power over those three. I simply cannot allow that to happen.What else can you offer me to change my mind and let you join?”

“We will swear our loyalty to you.”

“I cannot accept and believe in some fickle words like loyalty or allegiance. I need something with a bit more, how should I say it, more substance. For example, something like my own bloodline, that is something I can absolutely put my faith in.

Sylva closed her eyes and delve into a deep thought, processing everything that I have said. After several minutes of silence, she opened her eyes and answered.

“I understand. We will submit to you and your tribe. I will bear children of your tribe as the proof of our submission and loyalty. In return, you will provide us with shelter, food and safety."

“Sound suggestion! As expected of the queen to come up with an excellent solution to both of our problem. Now that we have concluded the terms, let us move on to the conditions. Because you are the queen, we only dare to offer you our strongest male as your mate. I don’t like to boast, but the strongest male happens to be me. Also, as much as I would like to trust your words, I still need to confirm everything that those three goblins told me was the truth. I will send a scout to confirm the existence of the dwarves. After our scout returns with the information, we will celebrate the union of our tribes. Until then, the four of you will be guests of our tribe. As our guests, I insist that you must stay within the comforts of our caves. You will be escorted by our guards wherever you go. This is for your safety. We cannot risk any injuries to our noble guests. Is there any conditions that you would like to contest or include?”

“Captain, you don’t need to do this! We can find a place to stay on our own! After that we can go and kidnap other males to restart our tribe! We don't need to submit to this male.”

 Sylva held her out her hand to silence her followers.

“It is too risky for us to leave here. With only four of us, it is likely that we die before finding shelter, let along being able to capture a stray goblin male. This is the only thing I can do to secure the safety for all of us. If you still treat me as the matriarch and captain of this our tribe, you will respect my decision."

"We submit and obey."

          With a sliver of tear in her eyes, She turned back and faced me.

"Cani, there is one condition that I would like to add.”

“Oh please do tell. I will try to accommodate your needs as the best of my abilities.”

“All of us will be treated as though we are from your tribe. We will not face any discrimination.”

“But of course! I will make an announcement that all of you will be treated the same as the other goblins. If anyone harass any of you because you were not originally from our tribe, they will be met with punishment.”

“I accept all the of the terms and conditions.”

          I kissed the back of Sylva’s hand.

“And so do I, my dear Sylva.”