MGS ch 75

Chapter 75

Of course, the first thing on my mind was how badly Gumi needed a lecture on medical consent, but I willed myself to let bygones be bygones for the time being. There were bigger bones to pick.

“I want you to tell me everything you know about The Goblin Queen,” I said.

Truth be told, I’d been avoiding her on some level since recovering. Things had changed. She had changed, with them. A lot must have happened in my time asleep—to put it delicately—but I was blown away with how well Darkmaw and the Goblin Queen had been integrated into the daily life around Tater Town.

Gumi looked at me curiously, letting out a high-pitched trill as she assumed a posture that favored one hip. Daisy sometimes took that same stance.

“Bucky suspicious?”

“Curious,” I countered, shaking my head lightly. “Not suspicious.”

Gumi nodded, smiling at me. “Goblin Queen earn trust of monster girls slowly. Goblin Queen bring Bucky back after Keenfury Keep.” She shuddered, making her slime vibrate. “That was bad time.”

“You aren’t wrong about that,” I said. “But what happened after that?”

“Goblin Queen leave for a few days, say she send orc and goblin here to protect you. But she no send. Eventually, she come back with all.”

“With all? With her whole army?”

Gumi nodded. “Goblin Queen lost control of some orc after Keenfury Keep. She weaker now than before. Gumi think she feel safer with you close.”

That was a revelation. Safer with me? “Well, I won’t let anything happen to her, just like I wouldn’t let anything happen to you,” I said, to which Gumi cooed joyfully, making her arms extend and wrap around me, pulling me in to motorboat her warm, goopy breasts. “Gumi, stop! You’re gonna drown me!” I muffled it into her chest.

After a few seconds she relented. Then a more serious look fell upon her face. “Ivy and Etherea not trust Goblin Queen at first. They no like here. Say she bad, kill many monster girls in the past.”

“Is that true?” I asked.

Gumi nodded. “Darkmaw, no. But Goblin Queen Marrowheart sometimes lose control of orcs. Orcs bad. Goblin Queen not so bad. But when Goblin Queen weak, or tired—orcs kill, not just bully.”

I grimaced. “She should answer for that. How many?”

“How many?” Gumi repeated.

“How many did she let die?” I clarified.

Gumi shrugged. “Goblin Queen protect these lands from demons for hundreds of years. It hard to say.”

“That’s not good enough,” I noted. “She has a long road toward making things right. Am I to understand that even now, some of her orcs are rebelling, probably hurting people?”

“This time different,” Gumi said. “This time permanent. Orcs that stay with goblin queen stay out of choice. Them good. Orcs that not stay—they many, and bad.”

I furrowed my brow. “They made this sound like a minor issue, but it’s chaos, isn’t it?”

Gumi nodded, then she blushed. “Goblin Queen not tell anyone extent of problem.”

“How do you know, then?” I asked.

“Gumi can squeeze into tight places—Ivy asked Gumi to listen.”

“Does Autumn know the extent of this?” I asked.

Gumi shrugged. “Autumn suspect, maybe. Autumn not know.”

Frowning, I regarded Gumi carefully, making direct eye contact. “Gumi, listen to me. Do you think I should go through with the marriage?”

Gumi made a dramatic thinking sound. “Hmmmmmmmm. I think yes. I think Goblin Queen weak—you may make her strong again. She make mistake, but she key to peace. Bucky need Marrowheart. Marrowheart need Bucky.”

“It’s a lot to process,” I grunted. “I’ll be honest, Gumi—I hear you when you say that we need her, but I feel a bit conflicted. Her orcs are responsible for many deaths over the centuries. If this were my world, most governments would have her executed.”

“Then her power is gone,” Gumi said. “We lose weapon against enemy. Consider intent, not result. She want to help. She not all bad.”

I shook my head, though. “The result matters, too,” I said. “Especially when the result is killing others. Her orcs tried to hunt and kill Rainbow Sprinkle. That’s how I met her.”

“That not her orcs,” she said. “That Keenfury’s orcs—always traitors.”

“She made them,” I shot back. “At some point, it’s her responsibility, too.”

Gumi sighed dramatically. “Bucky—even Ivy know this. Even Ivy want to move forward. Etherea examine Goblin Queen soul. Goblin Queen strong, but she not true leader. Bucky, you true leader. Maybe you can fix Goblin Queen problem.”

“So that’s the plan, them,” I grunted. Gumi nodded in response. I let out a breath of exasperation. “I thought everyone was protecting me from the truth so I didn’t do anything rash like go off and fight the rebel goblins myself, but that’s not it, is it?”

Gumi looked at me anxiously. “What Bucky mean?”

“I mean—you were hiding the truth from me so that I would go along with this marriage and become the leader you all want me to be.”

Gumi looked away. “Bucky make it sound treacherous. It not treacherous—we just believe in Bucky.”

My lips curled downward in a frown, unable to help myself. I understood their point, but I didn’t agree. Marrowheart was a villain by my standards—but Darkmaw respected her, and I trusted Darkmaw. And even my marked girls appeared to be in on this plan to some degree, with Ivy and Etherea being the apparent masterminds.

I told myself not to distrust—first of all, it was impossible for marked girls to behave traitorously toward me, or pursue something that was harmful to me at all. Those were the rules. So I knew without a doubt that they truly believed this was for the best, and that they weren’t trying actively to hide it—more likely that they hadn’t found the right time to talk to me about it all. There had always been something else to discuss, something else to deal with. Although it feels like I’ve been awake for a while, I had to remind myself, it’s only been a few days, and the only thing I really showed much interest in was my daughters. It makes perfect sense why my girls wouldn’t want to bother me with these things.

And yet it still sucked. I didn’t like feeling like I was on the outside of things, but I knew part of that was my own fault for—being unconscious? No, that didn’t sound right. But I definitely didn’t show much interest in politics, and, to be honest, I was happy to let all my hot waifus play Game of Thrones behind the scenes while I alternate between having wholesome fun with my adorable kids and raunchy sex with my sexy ladies.

But that apathy wasn’t really very becoming of me, I realized. I couldn’t afford to stay in the shadows and let others pull the strings while I pose for the proverbial camera or run off and play hero, ineffectually killing minor threats while a greater war looms on the horizon. I needed to do better. Not just better for myself—I needed to be a better ruler than Marrowheart was, be a better fighter than Darkmaw, be a better leader than Etherea, and be a stronger hero than Aldon.

At least I got that last one down.

Letting out a heated sigh, I lay on the grass to think. Gumi lay beside me, looking at me with a nervous expression. “Bucky mad at Gumi?”

I shook my head. I wasn’t really mad at her, but I wasn’t thrilled, either. Out of curiosity, I activated my Mood Reader feat, and sure enough, the heart was there over her head. It was mostly full. I wondered what mine for her would have looked like in this moment, if she could see such a thing.

“Are you aware that you’re technically marked to me?” I asked. It’s something that I never brought up before, at least not with her. I’d discussed it with Autumn and Daisy at different points, but I’d never really made the time to deal with the question with Gumi. Truth be told, I tended to neglect Gumi quite a bit, seeing her as simpler than the other girls, easier to keep happy—I never really gave myself the time to fall in love with her. I realized in this conversation, though, that she was more aware, more complex than I’d given her credit for. One more thing that deserved my attention and sorely lacked it.

She grinned. “Yes,” she said, her voice high and sweet as maple syrup. “Gumi wait for Bucky all her life.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “What does that mean?” I asked.

She giggled. “Gumi not sure. But Gumi know she make for Bucky to find.”

“Made by whom?”I asked. This was beginning to sound rather sketchy.

Gumi shrugged, still smiling, looking downright naughty in the natural light provided by the clearing. “It not matter.”

“No, it really does,” I insisted. “What do you mean, ‘made for me’?”

Gumi’s hand traced down my chest and landed on my crotch. “No worry, Bucky. It not matter.”

I groaned with irritation. “Do you really think my self-control is so abysmal that I’ll forget about this half-answer just cuz we have sex?”

“Yessss,” she cooed, grinning sweetly. “That exactly what Gumi think.”

I snorted, grabbed my pants, and pulled them down. “Ha! I’ll show you.”