Prince Vandarok cleansed his face in the water from the golden sink, he washed his eyes and double-checked whether his ears were clean. He looked at himself in the mirror and it wasn’t the prettiest sight. He was hideous. He didn’t think about it on a daily basis or hadn’t thought about it at all before he saw Gustaw. His grandparents told him that human beings can be deceitful in their beautiful appearance and, gods of the underground, they were telling the truth. He ordered his soldiers to capture the king’s son, the famous knight whose reputation preceded him like a horse’s head in a race.
But Vandarok questioned him for the fourth time in a row and had to admit: either he was a complete idiot, who didn’t have the faintest idea about the army, wars, and battles, or he was a genius, who could deceive everybody that he didn’t know anything, but in fact knew quite a lot.
Gustaw played with his curly black hair, asked for tools for drawing and calligraphy, wanted to have gourmet meals put on his table, music played to soothe him to sleep, and knitting set provided to help him deal with boredom, migraines, and melancholic mood due to the lack of sun. And all this time, when he was asked about the number of troops, their positions in the conflict with the Turks, the weapons the army was in possession of, he shrugged his shoulders and answered:
‘I suppose they have a lot of everything. You know, horses, saddles, these things that you cut this metal stuff that protects your body...’
‘You mean swords, helmets, pauldrons, rerebraces, breastplates, gauntlets, poleyns, greaves...’ Vandarok started listing the knight’s armor parts.
‘Yes, these. They use it. It’s terribly heavy. When they dressed me in those I almost lost balance on a horse. I don’t know how you can fight in this...’
Vandarok gasped. They dressed him! As if he had been forced to take part in this battle.
Gustaw was useless. But once captured, he couldn’t be got rid of so easily. He was the king’s son and the brother of his soon-to-be wife, Princess Karina. Vandarok only heard about her beauty, but he was the first one among his goblin ancestors who would boast a human wife. He had already imagined their nights together, she under him, he in the sweet embrace of her naked thighs around his waist, he overwhelming her with a rain of kisses which she would gladly receive. Or if she didn’t want to receive, she would have no other choice than accept.
For once, Vangarok was sure that he would win this war. He collected an army of trained Goblins in the number of hundreds of thousands. He had trained them for months, making them resistant to pain, tiredness, and fear. He invested in the lightest and most secure armors, swords, bows, arrows, and machetes with precision so great it all formed a killing machine able to unleash hell. He had been building dames with the intention to flood human mines and the castle with neighboring houses. He administered the construction of catapults ready to destroy any fortification, wall, or tower within the distance of miles. What he had also done, and he was particularly proud of it, was taking a long journey to the East and bringing something unknown in the area. He brought gunpowder, able to blow anything in the nearest proximity with the help of fire. He was more ready for this war than any other war he had ever imagined taking part it, whether with the giants, elves, or dwarfs.
But fighting for land and gold was a different matter. Now he was fighting for the sun and dignity. He wanted to equal human kings. He wanted to rule the race of humans. He wanted to be the head of the country, the church (what was the difference between the gods of underground and human gods?). He wanted to have sexual intercourse with a human princess every night before he fell asleep. He wanted his Goblin subjects to raise fear among the humiliated people. He pictured his hungry soldiers taking advantage of human women. He smiled imagining the children born from these relationships, progeny bound to populate this land and then the whole Earth.
And now his plans were overshadowed by this brainless beauty, Gustaw. And Vandarok saw precisely how Goblin women looked at imprisoned Gustaw. He was perfectly aware that it was his own sister, Marva, who provided for him a knitting set, paints, and brushes for landscape painting. Apparently, Gustaw wrote for her a poem. A poem! In gratitude for her care and protection from hostile Goblins. An appreciation for her efforts.
If only Vandarok could raise such emotions in any of the Goblin women. If only he could trigger such a passion in any woman at all!
He decided to quit his negative thoughts. He had to focus on preparations and finally tear this human kingdom into pieces.
Princess Marva finally swam to the rock that was situated in the middle of the underground lake. She sang to raise the attention of the mermaid. The half fish half woman was known for changes of locations, from human lakes, through goblin lakes, to giants’ lakes surrounded by the mountains. She was famous for her traveling style, which Marva nothing but admired.
‘Yes, Princess, is there anything you want from me?’
Marva was a good girl. She was modest and hard-working, she didn’t kill anybody’s husband, she had never stolen anything, was helpful and could cheer anybody up. She didn’t think that she was better than her subjects and definitely didn’t share the attitude of her brother, Vandarok, to life. First of all, she wasn’t for this war.
‘I’m miserable, dear mermaid. I fell in love with the prisoners of ours. He’s terribly nice to me. He wrote me a poem. He is not like other Goblin men. He doesn’t talk only about war, duels, and using women. He is artistic. He paints. And knits. And he is beautiful!’
The mermaid laughed.
‘Marva, look at your reflection in the water. What do you see?’
Marva looked at her sad and greenish face, her swollen beetroot-like nose, her curved teeth, the hair that sprang from her cheeks and chin. She was hideous.
‘I see a monster...’
‘Exactly, Marva. You have other qualities. You are a talented Goblin with a good reputation. You are respected and admired by your people. You balance the choleric temper of your brother. You fight for the good in the underground world where this good is rare. What makes you think that someone like Gustaw will fall in love with you?’
‘So you know!’
‘Marva, the only person imprisoned in your underground prison is the king’s son. The rest are working with hunching weapons. May I tell you a story?’
‘Yes, mermaid. I’m all ears.’
‘I was not always a traveling type. I spent time in one sea, I didn’t jump from lake to lake. First of all, I didn’t cross the oceans. I was pretty shy and lonely. One time, after the storm, I saved a prince. A human prince, mind you. He was the most beautiful prince I have ever seen. I fell in love. But I was a mermaid and I spent time underwater. I couldn’t be with him. So I had a deal with the underwater witch. She would turn me into a human and I could be with my prince. But there was one condition, I would lose my beautiful mermaid voice.’
‘And you agreed?’
‘Yes, I did. So I was a woman. A real woman with two sexy legs. And it was a beautiful romance. Until the prince fell in love with another beautiful talkative princess and I was left with nothing. No voice, no tail, no family to go back to. Nothing. Nada. I left everything for him and he didn’t leave anything for me. He only left me.’
‘What’s your point?’
‘That it is not worth to sacrifice anything for anyone. I begged the witch to give me back my voice and my tail. I made use of my time and now I appreciate it. I’m waiting for someone who will accept me the way I am. With my voice, my tail, and my love for lake hopping.’
Marva thought about what the mermaid had told her and weighed every word.
‘Mermaid?’
‘Yes, Marva?’
‘Can I ask you for something?’
‘Yes, of course. What is it?’
‘Do you still have contact with this witch?’
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