Without a direct gate into Westbridge, the royal entourage was forced to leave the military camp and circle around before entering the city. By now, a few curious onlookers have gathered nearby to observe the procession, but outside of them and the bowing city guards by the front gate, there were no crowds blocking the road.

  The caravan leisurely traveled across the wide boulevards of the capital all the way to the grand castle at the top of the hill. Varre had spent an entire year in this world by now, so all these sights were very familiar to him. The city had not changed much in the last month. People wore slightly warmer clothes and the markets were a little emptier now that most food from the countryside was delivered to the cities, but aside from that everything was the same as he remembered it.

  The monarch’s arrival caused quite a stir in the royal castle itself. Almost the entire guard core came out to honor their liege. Almost, since a few had to remain inside. The most critical chambers of the kingdom had to be guarded at all times. No one wanted to risk having some clever thief using this window of opportunity to pull off the most daring heist in history.

  As soon as the royal carriage pulled to a stop and its most important passenger started to descend the steps, a horde of servants threw themselves at the wagons. Ceremonial greetings were for nobles. The common man had to make sure that the aristocrats’ furniture was in place, and that their clothes back in their wardrobes.

  The king walked past the two rows of kneeling Royal Guards, all the way into the grandiose chambers of the castle. Inside the spacious halls, the rest of his Council eagerly awaited his arrival.

  As soon as Varre got within talking distance, Steward Marna stepped forward to cordially welcome him. She got interrupted by both Nilo and Lester breaking rank and rushing forward to greet their friend with warm handshakes and smiles.

  “There you are Varre,” the alderman said, half-joking, “you were supposed to get here hours ago! What happened?”

  “I had to visit Duke Jan and check on the progress of my army. Gotta see where all my money is going you know? Can’t have you wastrels spending it all on wine!” the king shot back.

  “Ha! Says the man who once drank the whole Greenfish tavern dry! That merchant was so flush with your coin that he offered you rooms free of charge!” Nilo responded.

  “Don’t act like you weren’t there!” Varre laughed, “at least I can hold my liquor, unlike a certain someone! We wouldn’t even need your rooms if you just stayed awake.”

  “That was one time!” the alderman protested, acting offended.

  “Is there anything even left in Lindridge? Maybe I could turn a nifty profit shipping wine there after you went through all their cellars,” Lester said, looking up into the sky as if considering the idea.

  “I’ll have you know, I was up bright and early each morning, scouring the deadly Gomera Forest for deer and aurochs,” the king grinned, “unlike you pampered babies sitting here in the comforts of civilization.”

  “Aurochs? Really?” Nilo perked up at the statement, “I’ve only heard stories of people hunting them. Tell me, are they really as massive as they say?”

  The three friends would have continued for hours, so Benjamin was forced to clear his throat and interrupt them. “Forgive me your majesty, but if I may make a suggestion, perhaps you should retire to your room. Clean the dust of the road off your clothes, and we can continue this meeting inside the dining hall,” he said, in his most official sounding tone.

  “We may have gotten ahead of ourselves,” Varre admitted, scratching the back of his head. Noticing the awkwardly waiting rest of the council, he urged his friends to return to their positions.

  “Right…” Marna began, clutching her bundle of notes, “I am glad to see you reunited with your friends, your majesty! And all of us, I mean. The whole Council is happy. Overjoyed. Yes..” she stammered out. Clearly the sudden change of schedule broke the bounds of her prewritten speech.

  Chancellor Anastasia gave her companion an encouraging smile, and the Steward sighed. After clearing her throat, Marna decided to pretend the previous scene had not occurred.

  “Westbridge welcomes you, your majesty. We hope that your trip back to your home was fruitful, and your journey swift and comfortable,” she recited the speech from memory, as she bowed.

  “Thank you, friends. And sorry about this… confusion,” Varre gestured at the commotion behind him, as a stream of servants moved through the open doors to the courtyard.

  “We’re just glad to see you return safely,” Marna said, with a warm smile, “we have prepared some refreshments for you in the feast hall. Would you like to freshen up first, as your chamberlain suggested?”

  “Yes, that would be best, thank you,” the king replied and returned to his familiar quarters.

  Though many of his clothes were removed and brought along with the liege for his trip, most of the rooms were spotless. Aware that the monarch was on his way, the servants had lit the fireplace ahead of time and even prepared a warm bath for him. Everything was perfectly cozy. A welcome truly fit for a king.

  There was no reason to waste their efforts, so the king begun by enjoying the bath. Within half an hour, he was changed and ready to return to his duties.

  The feast was rather extravagant. The council was eager to celebrate the return of their monarch, before throwing themselves into hard work the next day. Ironically, the chefs prepared a lot of venison tonight, the same meat Varre received nearly every night back in Ashbourne. Fortunately, he already had close to a week to get used to regular beef and poultry again, so he wasn’t sick of it. He even found it charming.

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  While the king did regale the others with tales of his exploits in the dangerous forest, the topic of the elves and the terrible war they waged against the goblins was bound to come up eventually. The council was already aware of it course. The communication wizard who travelled together with the monarch relayed the message immediately. Still, with the scale of the threat as terrible as it was, a deeper discussion was warranted.

  “So are we sure it was really Goblins? In Gomera Forest?” Steward Marna asked, clearly uncomfortable with the implication, “perhaps the elves were simply mistaken. Or they use that name for some other creatures.”

  “It’s not like I’ve seen them myself,” Varre shrugged, “but I have no reason to doubt them. But don’t worry, they weren’t anywhere close to our borders. I think. They are somewhere far away, wherever this elven kingdom is.”

  “I’ve never heard of goblins ever travelling that far West,” Chancellor Anastasia commented, sipping from a goblet of wine, “though of course, it’s not like we’ve ever had much contact with the elves. Perhaps this is a common threat there after all? Maybe they’ve been sharing a border for centuries.”

  “It didn’t sound like it,” the king protested, “it seemed… bad. Like they were losing. If this was a common enemy for them, I’d imagine they were more efficient at fighting goblins.”

  “No one’s efficient at fighting goblins,” Captain Hakon replied, “but yes. I felt the same.”

  “You don’t think the war could make it all the way to Logres, do you?” Treasurer Johan asked, gritting his teeth in frustration.

  Varre was about to answer when he noticed that the topic of conversation was starting to attract attention from the other guests. Plenty of officials were invited to the dinner. It was a large, official event, not some dinner between friends.

  Of course it was impossible to hide the truth in the long run. Dozens of servants already knew about what happened in Ashbourne. They would gossip and spread the word sooner rather than later. Even if they all somehow managed to keep these developments to themselves, Ashbourne wasn’t some locked down compound. Merchants and nobility travelled. They would find out eventually. And if they didn’t either, as soon as the kingdom decided to do anything to prepare for the conflict, such as talk to the military commanders, the truth would be out there.

  Still, that was no reason to discuss it out in the open today. “Perhaps we should continue this conversation during tomorrow’s Council meeting,” the king proposed instead, “away from… prying eyes.”

  With such a grim possibility on the minds of his advisors, the celebratory mood quickly deflated. Soon, everyone had returned to their quarters, eager to start their discussion as quickly as possible.

  The next morning, Marna began their meeting by laying out several tomes in the center of their table. “I sent out my people to scour our library and bring back any chronicles we’ve had about the Goblin Wars. This is it.”

  “I’m sure I can find more documents in my guild,” Elvira offered, “even more if I ask the adventurers. But what exactly are you looking for?”

  “I just want everyone to understand how devastating the previous conflict was,” the steward gestured to the books, “it took thousands of men, tens of thousands even, and the cooperation of multiple kingdoms just to push them back to where they come from. If they really come at us from the West…”

  “No one said they’d make it all the way here,” the Court Mage countered, “Gomera is massive. The elves traveled for weeks before they reached our border. Who’s to say they’ll make it? Hell, who’s to say they won’t be stopped by the elves all by themselves?”

  “I say so,” Varre replied bluntly, “I’m not going to ignore this risk, just because you think it’s unlikely.”

  “The people will panic, your majesty,” Johan protested, “is it truly wise to do so? Especially at this time?”

  “We’ve just stopped a rebellion,” Marna countered, “if there’s ever a time when we’re going to have the faith of the nobility behind us, this is it!”

  “I was talking about the land reform!” the treasurer shot back, standing up, “we’re already causing enough chaos as it is! Do we really have to…”

  “Enough!” the king raised his voice, before staring at the man, “thank you, but let’s take this one step at a time shall we?”

  Johan grumbled an apology and returned to his seat, cowed.

  “Now, I understand that no one wants to fight another war. Especially not if it’s going to be as devastating as the last one. But we have to consider the possibility and act accordingly. Alright?” Varre paused and slowly looked at each of his advisors, as if daring them to argue. “Good. Now, let’s start with the basics.

  “We know that the elves are fighting against the goblins right now and that they appear to be losing. They’re losing territory, and people. Many are forced to flee their homes. They’re even ready to brave a deadly forest, filled with monsters, just to get away. That is a fact.”

  “Do we know how powerful these elves are?” Lester asked, cautiously, “I mean, I understand how strong the goblins are, but maybe this is just a smaller offshoot. Or a completely separate group from the one that we fought against back in the day.”

  “A fair question,” the king acknowledged, “any ideas?”

  Elvira cleared her throat. “I’ve had the time to converse with one of their wizards. Though her methods were very alien to me, I could tell she was properly educated. She was skilled, and yet there were many teachers far beyond her in power. That tells me, that they must have a large, powerful guild. And that can only be achieved with a large, powerful society.”

  “Good point,” Varre praised, “I also recall speaking with Carlos, one of their warriors, who mentioned seeking help from other elven kingdoms. Though we have no idea how many of them they are, or how strong they could be. Or why they haven’t been helping each other before now.”

  “Carlos was confident in his victory,” the Court Mage added diplomatically, “though the other elves I’ve spoken to a little less so.”

  Marna slowly paled as the others discussed this point. “A large goblin army, fighting against an allied force of multiple nations… It sounds eerily similar to our conflict.”

  “Though we did win it,” Johan pointed out, “how do we know the elves will lose?”

  Varre ignored his point. “And how did we win it exactly?”

  “By sending thousands of men at the problem,” Captain Hakon replied bluntly.

  “Nearly all the knights from here, all the way to Schiefling, rode to defend the Kingdom of Wallenrod. It was one of, if not the greatest alliance in history,” Marna recalled

  The king nodded. “Can we expect a similar response if we were invaded?”

  “No decent, honorable ruler would stand idly by as one of his neighbors was threatened by the goblins,” Anastasia replied, “they know that if we fall, it’s just a matter of time until it’s their turn. Better to stop those monsters here.”

  “So we can’t depend on Langogne then.” Hakon spat.

  The chancellor chuckled. “No, captain. King Guillaume may be our enemy, but he is not suicidal. If we’re fighting a goblin invasion like that, I’m sure we can put our differences aside.”

  “Then victory is possible. But we’ll need time to gather our forces and push them back,” Varre mused, “how much would it take for the other kingdoms to respond and send aid?”

  “Months, at the very least,” Anastasia replied, with a sour expression, “the Goblin Wars took many years, before the monsters were finally pushed back, and it took many more for the border to be secure.”

  “Then we’ll need to be ready to survive and stall them for as long as possible,” the king looked back to the map, then smiled, “fortunately, we’ve already started building an army. Now we just need to make sure it’s ready.”