Deep in the kingdom of Shahreza, along the winding trade road that connects the gilded city of Gonabad to the eternal capital of Astara, lays the quaint little merchant town of Abadeh. In this village, life is good for the wealthy, not so much for the poor, yet blessed, for none harbored any true malice in their hearts. None but one, that is. A seething creature of great darkness…

These ignorant humans. Hah! Like witless sheep, they’ve invited the wolf for supper—and I’m hungry. Once released from this crude prison, I will leave not a single one of these cretins alive. Bah! Do they believe iron bars can stop me? I say their contraptions are but minor obstacles on my path to revenge. For I —

“Oh, a puppy!”

The young werewolf snapped out of her ruminations. In front of her cage stood a woman with golden hair, amethyst eyes, and long ears pointing back, whose silken garb covered far too little of her jade skin.

… What did this unseemly dressed goblina just call me?

“I’m no ‘puppy,’ you feckless harlot! Hey! Human filth peddler. Tell this hussy who I am! I am Shahkhansheba’khalasi, princess of the Were—”

“Quit yer yappin’, Pup.” The merchantman hammered the raggedy cage.

Startled, the girl fell onto her rump. How dare a mere human treat her this way? She was Shahkhansheba’khalasi, princess of the Werewolves of Hufuf, not some mangy dog! And to make matters worse, the man’s most uncouth scowl turned into a saccharine smile when he addressed the goblina.

“Are you in the market for a new pet, my lady?” he said, greedily wringing his hands together.

“What?” Shahkhansheba’khalasi exclaimed. “You want to sell me to her?!”

“Be quiet,” the man growled through pinched lips.

“Oh, I don’t know,” the woman said, and she bent down for a closer look.

Shahkhansheba’khalasi bared her teeth, but for some reason, the leery expression had no effect on the woman. On the contrary, she even had the gall to smile back! Was this hapless floozie too slow to realize when she was being threatened?

“Aw—she sure is cute,” the Goblina cooed, poking the cage with her pointy finger. “Her skin is like lilac, but her hair has the dark gleam of a clear night. And—that void black snout looks so dangerous. And then there’s that white glow coming from behind her jagged teeth. It makes it look like—like—eternity burns within her… Does she bite?”

“Yer bleedin’ head off—”

“Oh, no,” the merchant said quickly, then hesitated. “Well, only for the first day or two. We do sell excellent muzzles, though!”

The woman straightened and clutched at her chest. “Muzzles? Oh, no, I couldn’t. Isn’t that too cruel?”

“Not nearly as cruel as my—”

“Not at all!” the man interjected again. “As a matter of fact, just for you, I’ll throw in the muzzle for free—eh, half-price!”

Despite the merchant’s best efforts, the woman was still teetering on the edge of indecision.

“Well, I do like bargains…” she said. “But I don’t know if I could take care of such a precious little thing. What does it even eat?”

“The souls of my—”

“Lest that not trouble you, my fair verdant lady. It eats whatever leftovers you have! And if you perchance happen to have any problems with rats, she’d be sure to take care of them too. Think of all the uses such an exotic pet would have!” The merchantman laughed, but beads of anxious sweat studded his temples.

“Wait,” Shahkhansheba’khalasi said. “Do you fancy me some sort of cat?!”

“Shut—up,” the merchantman muttered through the corner of his forced smile.

“Well, we don’t have any rats…” the goblina said, “and my master doesn’t leave much after he’s gone through a plate or six…” She suddenly beamed with an idea. “I’ll just have to experiment and see what pleases you. A little trial by error never hurt anyone.”

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“Why don’t you—! Eh?” Shahkhansheba’khalasi tilted her head curiously at the woman. “Wait. You’re going to give me whatever I want to eat?”

“Of course,” the Goblina smiled.

“… Oh.”

The merchantman eagerly stepped between them, squeezing his perfumed hands even tighter together. “Then I take it you will purchase the whelp, my lady?”

Shahkhansheba’khalasi blinked. She wanted to raise her voice in protest, but a low rumble in her belly stilled any argument. Though, the sheer humiliation of being treated like some market ware could not be overlooked. She should slaughter all of them, but—it would be good to get out of this cramped cage—and the tramp did mention food.

“How much for the puppy and muzzle then?” the goblina asked.

“Just five silor, miss. A real steal.”

Just five silor? I, the daughter of the Alpha Werewolf, sold for a measly five silor?

“Oh, that is a really good deal. Including the muzzle?”

“Of course, miss.”

“And a leash?”

The man feigned a dejected sigh. “My lady, you’re robbing me blind. But, I shall throw in the leash for just an additional two copper messaa.”

“That sounds fair—”

“No deal,” Shahkhansheba’khalasi said.

They turned their heads to the small wolf girl, one face curiously confused, the other contorted in anger.

“Perhaps you didn’t hear me, floozy, but I am Shahkhansheba’khalasi, daughter of the alpha Werewolf and princess of Hufuf. This human will never sell me for a measly couple of silor.”

“You shut your mouth!” the merchant exclaimed. “My lady, heh, heh. The little runt has a sense of humor. Ha-ha-ha.”

However, the man’s attempt at distracting the goblina was fruitless, as the woman had directed her full attention toward the mouthy werewolf pup.

“Oh, I didn’t realize I was in the presence of royalty.”

“That’s right, missy,” Shahkhansheba’khalasi said, crossing her arms.

Color drained from the merchant’s face as he saw his chance to finally rid himself of the troublesome pup slip through his fingers.

“Then—” the goblina nibbled her rather full purple lips, “then, what would you say is a fair price?”

“My lady, please—” the merchant tried desperately, but a wolfish snort cut him off.

“There really is no price you can put on royalty,” Shahkhansheba’khalasi said. “Why, back home, I have enough gold to bury this little town twice over.”

“Really?” the goblina asked in awe.

“It’s the truth. But, I understand that you’re just a lowly ignorant savage, so I will give you a real bargain.”

“My stars, you’re too kind! And I do love bargains.”

Shahkhansheba’khalasi grinned. That’s right, be impressed, Toots. By Luna, how dim is this girl? She’s eating right out of my hand. Now, to settle on a price. She doesn’t look too rich, so I should probably lowball it.

“Ahem. Normally it would be at least seventy silor, but for you, just today, the price is seven silor!”

Hehehe.

“Oh, by the Spirits, what an incredible bargain!” The goblina immediately went to ruffle through her purse.

Ha. Gotcha. That saves at least some of my dignity. Oh, father, how did I ever get into this position? If only I hadn’t lost my moonstone…

“Oh no…”

“What? What’s wrong?”

The goblina’s eyes turned glassy. “I’m so sorry. I thought I still had seven silor, but I just remembered that I gave two silor to a beggar child just before I came here.”

Shahkhansheba’khalasi gawked, stunned. She gave a mere street urchin that much?

“Oh, that’s no trouble,” the merchant said. “The original price—”

“All I have left are seven tal. Would that do?”

“S-seven tal!?” the merchant and werewolf exclaimed in unison.

How-how did this bimbo get a hold of seven tal? She casually carries around a small fortune and seems utterly ignorant about it!

“Y-yes? Is that not enough? I knew it was too good to be true…” The goblina sighed.

“N-no! Not at all!” the merchant cried out, and Shahkhansheba’khalasi swore she saw tears of joy in his eyes. “That’s just right and, I should say, a fair price for such an exotic creature, my lady. A veritable treasure. The sweetest pet in the world. Hahaha.”

“Oh, thank the forest spirits,” the goblina said, and she dropped the valuable coins in the merchant’s shaky palms. “Had I not been able to take her with me, I’d have been inconsolable for hours.”

“As would I, my lady, as would I,” the merchant said as he reverently stroked his finger over the stamped profile of King Jahrom XXIV, Shahreza’s Kobold monarch. “It’s real. It’s actually real…” he whispered softly.

“Eh, sir?” the goblina asked, breaking the merchant’s trance-like spell.

“Hm?”

“I would like my new pet now.”

“Pet? Oh! The pup! Right.” The merchant secured the coins in the teller unlocked the hatch.

“Hey, watch it!” Shahkhansheba’khalasi cried as his meaty hand hoisted her up by the hem of her frilly burlap shirt. A moment later, he’d plopped her onto the counter like a dilapidated bag of turnips.

“Thank you,” the goblina said, but the merchant wasn’t done yet.

“My lady, please. You can’t take her royal highness like this! Why, your master will think me a swindler—a charlatan—a fraud, even! And my reputation as an honest purveyor of quality goods would suffer unduly!”

Ah—so the human filth peddler isn’t as dumb as I thought he was. He’s already recognized that whatever wealth this girl has is actually her master’s riches. Smart play, old man, smart play…

The merchant produced a bottle of perfume and, without warning, misted it lavishly on the pup.

The sharp, musky male fragrance pricked her poor nose, and the pup sneezed and coughed.

“Hey, what’re you doing? My nose is sensitive! Stop! It stinks!” Shahkhansheba’khalasi flailed to get away, but the man wouldn’t let her.

“My lady, would you like a ribbon for in her hair?”

“A ribbon?”

“What? No!” Shahkhansheba’khalasi barked.

“I’ll make a nice bow out of it. I’m quite the expert bow-tier, you know? The perks of having seven daughters,” the merchant chortled.

“Oh, yes. That would look so adorable!”

“Woman, I will end your entire race!” the young werewolf cried, but to no avail. “No! I’m not wearing a—”

Shahkhansheba’khalasi kicked and swiped, bit and scratched, but in the end, she did look quite adorable.