Chapter 19: Declaration of war

Chavu stared at the body of the goblin with clenched fists. He knew that some of his loyal goblins and gnomes might get into accidents. Yet, this did not look like an accident.

It was murder, pure and simple. The female goblin, who turned out to be the deceased Bas's older sister, was still crying. Chavu resisted the urge to glare at her.

She had been the first one to make it to the site of the fallen goblin. The face of whom was bashed in so hard, Chavu couldn't recognize any features.

If Goglina had thought he was so stupid as to believe that the giant had been the one to kill Bas, then she had another thing coming.

Yes, the giant had been the one to uproot the tree and break Bas's leg, of that much, Chavu had little doubt.

Would have eaten him, too, more than likely. Yet, the face was bashed with something too small for a giant to handle. The rock with which the unfortunate goblin had been killed was not on the murder site, yet it looked to be a small one. Something a goblin could handle with ease.

Goglina was not as smart as she believed. She was also not getting away with this. Chavu could figure out why Bas had been in the forest, away from the town.

It had been Goglina who had caused the commotion in the dumping site. And Bas was found next to giant's footprints.

Chavu could imagine what had happened.

Goglina and Bas, perhaps the entire of Alaric's council of five, had plotted against them. In their little, single brain-celled minds, it was probably logical that they should go back to living as rejects, as long as at least one of them got to rule.

They were ready to plot in the dark and take risks. Chavu had to be careful when he was rooting them out. There was no telling how many goblins supported the five, or could it be just Goglina now that Bas was dead?

Chavu couldn't afford to just kill the goblin woman. He had to be seen exposing her for the traitor she was. To show the other goblins that the one they wanted to be led by had killed her own flesh and blood to keep her plots hidden.

Then, much like how Alaric had handled the old chieftain, Chavu would step back, and eat Goglina's heart when the dust settled. Chavu slithered towards the still sobbing goblin woman, and he placed a kind hand on her small, green, shoulder.

"I can't begin to imagine what you are going through," Chavu spoke in the softest tone he could manage. He had always been good at keeping his emotions in check. "But know that I am here for you."

"Why didn't you protect him? He was not right in the head, everyone knew that," Goglina pointed an accusing finger at Chavu. She was a good actress, would have become an even better peddler. Chavu had to give her that much.

"Not right in the head, how?" Chavu asked. The dead goblin had appeared normal on the outside.

"He heard voices," Goglina said. "Only he could hear them."

Chavu looked at the bloody mess that was being extracted from beneath the tree. So, the cold murderess had sacrificed her sick brother? Oh, he was going to make this slow. Bas might have plotted against Chavu, might not have. But he was sick, therefore easily led.

"I will cover his funeral," Chavu told her, his voice allowing for no arguments to be made. "He will have a black granite tomb stone. And a giant's bone as a trophy, lying next to him in his coffin."

"You will give him all the honors a chieftain usually gets?" She gasped.

 Chavu grinned internally.

"I would have spoken with Alaric to install one of the five of you as a permanent chieftain. Alaric is a prince. He has many duties to see to. As capable as he might be, he simply cannot divide his attention between so many positions," he said calmly, digging the dagger of truth into the traitor's black heart.

 Guilt passed through Goglina's face.

In truth, Chavu was never going to ask Alaric to step down. He was an important figurehead. Plus, a lot of the goblins liked him. Let Goglina think she killed her brother over nothing. Let the guilt and regret eat her from the inside out, so she could slip up and be punished.

Goglina began to sob louder, and Chavu left her to her grief. Her tears did not look faked, this time. Chavu was many things, but cruel he was not.

What he was, was pragmatic.

Those that let others become strong on their watch ended up displaced or killed. The goblins shouldn't have given Alaric the rule of their tribe, if they had wanted to keep their ways of doing things.

Yet, they had made Alaric their chieftain, and Alaric had handed them over to Chavu. This had to be handled delicately. With well-thought-out actions that would see all the traitors punished, one way or the other.

Chavu stopped before the goblin. The last message from the system the green creature had gotten was about all the insurances he was entitled to.

Had Bas felt hope, after reading the system's message? Had he wanted to change his ways? To become a loyal follower? Chavu would never find out.

He liked to consider the goblins as little green people. Not born foul, but becoming such because of the misery of their early childhoods.

"I will change everything in your tribe," Chavu promised the corpse before him, just as the body was finally tugged from underneath the tree. The leg looked folded, and boneless. They would need to place it in a cast.

A hand was placed on his shoulder, and he turned to see Marcellus.

"Do you buy the story Goglina is selling?" The vampire asked, ready to talk some sense into Chavu if he was so easily fooled.

"I do. Do not place your mistrust into a sister's grief," Chavu said, yet he nudged the system to send a private screen to Marcellus.

<I don't. We will need to make an example out of her.>