Goblin Queen: Katrina Baker Novel 03 Read online

  “I am Sia, the ship’s artificial intelligence. It stands for spatial and interdimensional access. But your mother calls me Sia for short.”

  “Sia, is this communicator always on, as in my parents are spying on me?”

  She heard a cough, and then her mother’s voice, “Spying is such a harsh word Kat, we’re just concerned parents keeping an eye our child. Sia does monitor the connection, but will only notify us of something if she determines you’re in danger. Otherwise we don’t listen, we do have better things to do than sit around and listen to your daily prattle. In the future, just say Sia’s name, and who you want to talk to, and she’ll connect us. I probably should have told you about this before.”

  Yes, long before, like before I had wild sex and wasn’t at all shy about my vocalizations, with the communicator just a few feet away. I felt… violated.

  “Mom!” I yelled, and then I felt like a teenager again.

  I just hoped it was true, that she didn’t listen, because… that was too gross to contemplate.

  “What is it Kat, you called for a reason?”

  I rolled my eyes, which made me feel ten years younger again, so much for me growing up the last few weeks.

  “Yes, can you check the lounge, I sent you a book on Chilik’s history. I want to make sure it got there.”

  There was a pause, and then Havoc said, “Yes, it’s here. I’ll have it scanned in. What’s the word on letting the king know?”

  Huh, maybe she wasn’t listening after all.

  “We’re going late morning to talk to him I think.”

  She replied, “Well, bring Gerard to see us before you do that, your father and I want to meet him. How about breakfast?”

  I felt suspicious, “Why?”

  She sighed, “Because he protected our little girl when we couldn’t dear, your father will behave himself, mostly. Yes, I do have other reasons too, but I promise they aren’t diabolical. If I told you it would ruin the surprise, plus I’d like to meet him before your both standing at an altar.”

  I snorted, “Okay mom, we’ll be there, or we’ll call.”

  After a moment, I felt like a brat and added, “And mom, thanks, for everything. It’s really good to see you again. I thought…” I trailed off as my throat closed off.

  She replied, “We love you too KitKat. See you in the morning.”

  I’d always hated when they called me that, but that time it made me smile wistfully.

  “Good night mom.”

  A few moment later the warm feeling was gone, the paranoia was back, and I was staring at the thing suspiciously again. No hang up noise, no disconnection, no beep, just no more conversation. Aha! A mute button! One for the speaker and one for the microphone. I activated the latter, and felt a whole lot better as I put the device down on the side table…

  Chapter Six

  Gerard said, “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

  Last night he’d come to the room a few minutes after I’d got done talking to mom. I’d told him about the invitation, and he looked distinctly nervous. My paladin was usually quite brave and in control, but I couldn’t really blame him. It wasn’t just meeting his future wife’s parents, he was meeting people he truly couldn’t understand, people that had an amoral philosophy that was at best, not quite evil.

  He was far from stupid though, and I hoped that would change. Even supervillains treated family and friends well. Most of them anyway, including my parents.

  I smiled, “It’s just breakfast. Then we’ll pop back here, make sure all is well, grab our horses and pop into the capitol. Is Cynthia really not coming with us, the easy way I mean?”

  He shook his head, “She said she likes the ride, and doesn’t like the capitol so isn’t in a hurry to get there. She can report when she gets back. All that’s true, but I think she also has a man in Linmoor she hooks up with every time she passes through.”

  I tilted my head, and wrapped my arms around him, resting my head on his chest. Which was hard, because he had armor on. I wouldn’t be doing that again anytime soon. I was wearing a flowing green dress, that I was sure my father would approve of. That I liked is as well was only slightly alarming.

  “You ready?”

  He kissed the top of my head, and I murmured a yes and I teleported us into the lounge room, which set off a loud alarm.

  “Sia, stand down.”

  To my surprise, that worked and the alarm shut off. Gerard’s eyes were wide as he looked around the room, and felt air conditioning for the first time in his life. I looked around as well, all the things that were normal to me suddenly stuck out. The latte maker, the large flat screen embedded in the wall which right now showed video of the goblin village outside the ship. Plastics, polymers, speakers, a smaller flat screen on the coffee table which was probably a touch computer, and the hum of the anti-gravity engine, or maybe that was the fusion core?

  Gerard was brave to a fault, and a good man who stood by his convictions. He wasn’t fast and loose, and adored me, obviously so. He was faithful, and worked for a good goddess, of battle. He was unlike any man from my world. He loved how I looked, but he’d always seen me as well. But, he wasn’t immune to culture shock. I led him over to the couch and we sat down.

  He asked, “This is what your world was like?”

  I nodded, “We didn’t have magic, but we had plenty of technology. My mother’s powers are specifically related to technology, so she has the best toys. For instance, the screen on the wall showing the outside, that was common to everyone on my old world. This ship that can move between dimensions? It’s unique.”

  He nodded, and a moment later the door whooshed open, and we stood back up as my mother swept into the room, my father trailing behind her.

  “Gerard, this is my mother and father. Mom, dad, this is Gerard.”

  Gerard cleared his throat, “Nice to meet you. You have a nice… home.”

  She smiled, “Thank you, it’s nice to meet you as well. Thank you for looking after our daughter.”

  Gerard said, “It was my pleasure, and we looked after each other.”

  My mother turned to me and looked smug, “I moved the ship last night, forty miles.”

  I frowned, not really getting her point, “Okay?”

  She shook her head, “And you had no trouble teleporting to it, think about what that means. You told us yesterday you could only summon or send things to a place that remained in one place, where you could perfectly picture it. That’s obviously not true.”

  “You tricked me?”

  She nodded, “To show you the truth. I suspect your mind just needs the feel of a place, the signature of it on a quantum level, for you to teleport there. I also believe you can summon anything, no matter where it is, as long as your personally familiar with it.”

  I sighed, “So, I should be able to summon anything I own or have touched, but not something I’d never seen even if it’s similar or even identical, like a drinking glass? I was already worried that I’d failed that test simply because I thought it should fail. Are you done scanning the Chilik book?”

  When she nodded, I didn’t think about it too hard, I just imagined the book itself, with no location, and summoned it. Damned if it didn’t work this time and drop into my raised hands, and then I sent it back to the bookshelf.

  She turned to Gerard and smiled ruefully, “I’m sorry, I get a bit excited about my daughter and her accomplishments. Join us for breakfast?”

  So far, my father was being quiet, and I had no doubt he was rummaging around in Gerard’s mind. I was keeping a few spots blocked though, there were some things a girl didn’t want her father to see.

  Gerard said, “Of course, no apology needed.”

  We left the lounge, and walked down the hallway to another door, which had a kitchen table, and an overly complicated looking range, stove, and other kitchen devices. The table was already set with bacon, eggs, sausages, pancakes, muffins, and a bowl of fruit. They were supers too after al
l, we all ate a lot.

  We sat down and started to eat.

  “So Gerard,” my mother said nonchalantly, “When is the date of the wedding?”

  He and I exchanged a look, and Gerard said, “We’ve already had it delayed once, unless the king objects, we planned for tomorrow evening, in Magehaven’s temple district. We’re actually going to have two ceremonies, one at the temple of Arella, and the other at Ictia’s temple.”

  My father asked, “And where will you live?”

  Gerard said, “Eventually we’ll find a house together, but for now, the married paladins that work for the king get a small suite of rooms right in the palace.”

  I nodded, “We haven’t really discussed it yet. I do want a house though, for us. I don’t want to live in the castle all the time when I’m off duty. I want our own space where we aren’t watched all the time by other paladins, servants, and the king.”

  Gerard laughed, “I’m not going to argue with that.”

  I asked, “City, say the merchant district, or were you thinking out in the country?”

  Gerard sighed, “City, only because outside of vacations, which are exceedingly rare, I need to be accessible to the king if he needs me. In the city, he can send out a page.”

  A page being a messenger person in uniform, not a text.

  “That works for me too, the city I mean.”

  Then my mother asked the pushy and embarrassing question all mothers do, “So, how about children, I’m ready to be a grandmother.”

  I choked on a piece of bacon, but managed to recover.

  “Something else we haven’t talked about. I’m just eighteen mom, give us a few years.”

  She looked like I’d said something hurtful, and I suppressed an eye roll at the guilt trip.

  Gerard cleared his throat, “I definitely want a family, but considering what we both do it may take some time before that happens.”

  My father asked, “And you have no concerns your children will be unique, like their mother?”

  I wanted to kick him, but I settled for a glare.

  Gerard smiled though, “Of course not. I just care that they be healthy.”

  It quieted down for a few minutes, as we all ate our breakfast. It had never even occurred to me Gerard may be upset by such a thing, and I was glad to find out he wasn’t. I was also now determined to keep my mother from trying to tweak things when I did get pregnant. Most doting grandmothers made cookies, I was sure my child’s grandmother would want to give out DNA upgrades, like she had for me.

  When the conversation started back up, it was more normal everyday conversation than probing and obnoxious questions. When breakfast was finished, I relaxed a bit and enjoyed the hot latte, which was almost worth the questioning price of admission. It could have been a lot worse.

  When we left, I promised my mom I’d call when I knew for sure on the date and time. Then I teleported us back to Southwater.

  “So, what did you think of my parents.”

  He smirked, “Absolutely terrifying.”

  When I gaped at him he winked, “Much better than I expected. I have to admit though, it was all a bit surreal for me. Being on a floating ship made of an alloy of metal I never knew existed, and all the wonders inside it, but no magic. I don’t think I’ll have any trouble getting along with your parents though.”

  Oh good, he’d been teasing about the terrifying part, right? I was too afraid to ask and find out. Although, I’d felt a little normal anxiety from him meeting my parents, but no true fear.

  He said, “I’m going to check up on things before we leave.”

  Stormy felt a bit excited, and was a bundle of energy.

  “Alright, I think I’ll change into riding clothes, our horses look like they need exercise. Ride for an hour, then we’ll teleport the rest of the way?”

  Gerard kissed me, and nipped my bottom lip, “Alright, thirty minutes back here.”

  I didn’t sense any alarm from the villagers, all the way to the wall, but I knew he’d want to check it himself, so I didn’t bother saying anything about it. It wasn’t that he wouldn’t take my word, it was because it was his duty to check it for himself, a first-hand account for the king.

  I went up to our room and got changed, and grabbed my saddle bags. Everything else went back to my room at the temple except the saddlebags with water and oats, and my sword, dagger, and the cell phone which I slipped into a pocket.

  I packed up Gerard’s stuff as well, and went back to the stables where our horses were already saddled. I tied on our saddlebags, and verified the saddles were tight, all while sending calming thoughts and images at the horses. They were ready to go.

  I wasn’t looking forward to another debrief with the king all afternoon, but the sooner it got done and we could verify we had the time, we could get our wedding back on track.

  Gerard returned a few minutes later, and thanked me for packing as we mounted up. It was a beautiful day, and I enjoyed our short ride, and the company, before we returned to Magehaven…

  Chapter Seven

  Just a week.

  The king had promised Gerard two months off just last week, until it was interrupted by my parents and the elves. After another grueling afternoon of debriefing to cover the last week with the elves and then down south with my parents, I’d escaped and abandoned Gerard to continued debriefs. Before I left however, the king had congratulated us again on our upcoming marriage, and had given Gerard a week off. With the marriage tomorrow night, that meant a six-day honeymoon.

  Better than nothing, I just hoped Arella was also willing to give me a week off.

  The sun was low in the sky, but the city was still packed as I moved out into the streets, and went to one of the nicer tailor shops in the quarter. When I went inside, the tailor was already talking to a customer, so I spent some time looking at all the dresses that were out on racks, and saw a few nice ones. I definitely needed more, and I wanted a couple of others that daringly showed my ankles and came almost scandalously close to showing cleavage, but didn’t quite make it.

  I stifled a giggle at the thought, those dresses were really the most risqué that were allowable in this society. But it didn’t bother me, because I liked the way I looked in them, and I loved the way Gerard looked at me when I wore them. By the time the tailor was free, I’d picked out another six dresses, of varying shades of lighter blue, green, and one yellow.

  The tailor was an older gentleman, in what passed as a nice suit on this world. He also had a measuring rope laying over the back of his neck.

  The tailor said, “Can I help you miss?”

  I nodded, and pointed out the dresses I’d chosen, “I’d like these please?”

  He replied, “I’ll need to take your measurements, though they look close already. I should have them ready for you by tomorrow, late morning.”

  I smiled, “Perfect.”

  He came over, and used the rope to take several measurements, muttering under his breath the whole time. Curiously, I watched him walk back behind the counter and start writing out all the numbers from memory. He wasn’t even trying, and had obviously been doing this a very long time.

  “You’re name?”

  “Katrina.”

  He grunted, “That will be three silver on delivery.”

  It didn’t sound like much to me given my finances, but I knew a half silver for a dress was ridiculously high, even in a higher end tailor shop.

  “The dresses are beautiful, but not lined with gold. How about one silver?”

  He frowned at me in an intimidating way, but I felt his amusement as he answered firmly, “I couldn’t possibly take less than two silver and five bronze.”

  I sighed, “I need new clothes, but I also need food good sir. How about two silver?”

  He laughed, “Done.”

  I knew I was bad at haggling, I think he’d taken pity on me. I was used to prices being set. I usually knew with my powers what the end price range should be according to
the seller, but it was getting there that was the problem.

  “Thank you sir, I’ll see you in the morning.”

  He nodded, and I left the store and headed back up to the castle. I hadn’t expected Gerard back for another hour or two at least, but to my surprise, he was already in my assigned guest room.

  I teased, “Wow, you’re back already?”

  Gerard laughed, “It’s not that bad. It only went on so long last time because the elven prince had shown up, and there was an endless amount of politics.”

  I nodded, and gave him a mock expression of disbelief.

  “Dinner?” I asked.

  Gerard smiled, “We already had a new suite assigned to us, instead of a room, the servants moved our stuff and I was just waiting for you to get back. I took the liberty of asking to have dinner in our new temporary home, join me?”

  My eyes sparkled at the heat in his, and his mind wasn’t on dinner at all.

  “I’d love to…”

  The next morning, I woke up alone, and rolled to his side of the bed to take in his scent. Much like my world, there were rules about the groom seeing the bride on the wedding day. After an amazing evening together, which might have included me wearing one of those sexy elven dresses, he’d waited until I fell asleep in his arms, and then had left to spend one last night in his old room.

  He’d also volunteered to go by both temples, to make sure we were scheduled in for the weddings, and from what I gathered there’d be a large reception in the dining hall. Really, it’d be a normal dinner for those in the castle, but with us as the guests of honor. Apparently, the king had insisted, both because he owed me and Gerard, plus it was good for morale.

  I knew my parents wouldn’t be attending the reception. That would just be too uncomfortable. They’d just leave after the weddings. I got up, took a bath and got ready for the day, and then headed for breakfast. The food as usual was incredible in the palace, it was the one thing I’d really miss about the place when we got around to getting our own home.

  A paladin dropped into the seat across from me and said cheerily, “Good morning.”