Free The Dragons of Ash and Smoke (Tales from the New Earth Book 5) by J.J. Thompson Page B

at the chambers around them and, when Simon looked back,
he noticed dozens of guards standing like statues along the walls,
almost hidden in the shadows.
    “ Now
wherever I go, I'm forced to bring along a compliment of nursemaids
with me. When I visited you, my friend, they waited nearby.”
    Stanis
looked at the council members sourly.
    “ My
advisors here think it is for the best.”
    “ My
lord, we must ensure your safety,” one of the female councilors
protested. She was wearing armor, simple steel, and had her brown
hair tied back in a braid that hung down her back. Her heavy face was
almost pretty but was dark with concern.
    “ We
have no way of knowing if all of the rot within our city has been
purged, and we simply cannot lose another ruler. It would shake the
confidence of our people at the worst possible time, especially with
the newest attacks on our perimeter by those cursed goblins.”
    “ Goblins?”
Simon blurted out. “You've seen goblins too?”
    Stanis
leaned forward and stared down at him.
    “ Too?
You have encountered these monsters, my friend?”
    Before
the wizard could answer, Opheilla interrupted.
    “ My
lord, our young guest is still recovering from his wounds. Could I
request a chair for him. He is sagging from the simple effort of
making this short trip.”
    The
king looked concerned and stood up abruptly. He clapped his hands
twice and from behind the dais two dwarves, one male and one female,
appeared. They were wearing simple white tunics with some device
embroidered on the chest.
    “ Your
majesty?” the female servant said.
    “ Seats
for our guests, please,” Stanis told them. “And some
refreshment. Hurry now.”
    Both
of them bowed.
    “ At
once, sire,” the man said and, more quickly than Simon would
have believed, they disappeared behind the dais and reappeared with
two comfortable chairs and a small table.
    Once
the wizard and the cleric were seated, Simon sighing with relief, the
two servants left and returned with a tray of cups of dwarven tea and
freshly baked biscuits that they left on the table between the
chairs.
    Stanis
had waited patiently while his guests were served and now smiled as
he watched them sipping their drinks.
    “ There,
that's better,” he told them. “I apologize for the lack
of manners on my part. Now, Simon, tell me about your experience with
these goblins.”
    “ Yes
sir,” Simon replied.
    He
began to explain about the air elemental scouts he'd sent south to
look for a new location to live in for the residents of Nottinghill,
back when they had decided to move because of wight attacks.
    “ In
the old country of Mexico, they came across these huge mounds,”
he said, using his hands to indicate the shape of the structures.
“Only two of the scouts that I sent down there returned alive,”
he added bitterly. “The others were destroyed by the goblins.
Apparently these creatures have magic-users among them. One of my
scouts, whom I luckily recalled while he was in captivity, claims
that he saw a goblin wizard.”
    The
councilors stirred and a ripple of uneasy conversation passed between
them. Stanis was frowning down at Simon, but he wasn't really looking
at him, but instead seemed to be thinking deeply.
    “ How
long ago did your scouts run into the goblins, young man?” the
female dwarf who had spoken earlier asked him.
    “ How
long?”
    Simon
tried to figure out how much time had passed. He'd been unconscious
for six months, and the people of Nottinghill had lived down south
for at least a month before that and...
    “ Maybe
eight months ago?” he replied hesitantly. “Possibly more.
I'm sorry but with all that's happened to me, it's hard to give you a
precise answer.”
    “ Understandable,”
she told him with a little smile and looked at Stanis. “Sire,
it has only been a few months since the first incursions by these
creature along our borders. They are obviously beginning to expand
and, if they act anything like the goblins from the