“Yes!” Sera said, high-fiving him. “Do you know what this means?”
“That we can forge all the weapons and ammo we need,” Styg said.
“And make tools,” said R?k.
“We can light the entire camp,” chimed in Mulmig.
“And stew our enemies,” added Garstig.
Mulmig held her hands out to the bubbling lava and smiled with pleasure. “It’s been sooo long since I felt the heat of a lava pool,” she said. “Holy Kupfernickel, I missed it.”
“I miss glasses of nice, thick r?k?,” R?k said wistfully.
Sera knew r?k? was a drink made from fermented snail slime. Goblins were partial to it.
“And snask,” Mulmig added. “What I wouldn’t give for some right now.”
“Snask?” Sera asked. She hadn’t heard that term before.
“Pickled squid eyes,” Mulmig explained. “Soooo good!”
Garstig, grinning, pulled a little cloth bag out of his breast pocket. “My wife sent these by manta ray,” he said, opening the bag and passing it to Mulmig. “Have some.”
Mulmig’s eyes widened as she looked in the bag. “Snask!” she said excitedly. “Garstig, thank you!” She popped one in her mouth and chewed it, rolling her eyes with pleasure.
“Why don’t we sit down by the lava for a minute?” Styg suggested. “We need to figure out how best to channel the seam, and we might as well be warm while we’re doing it.”
“Hang on a minute….” Becca said, as the goblins moved toward the lava.
Oh, no, Sera thought. She’s going to scold them, or tell them to get back to work.
Her heart sank. As a leader, Sera knew that these small moments cemented the bonds between soldiers. They might cost a few minutes, but they repaid that investment tenfold by bolstering morale. Becca undoubtedly thought they were a waste of time.
But Becca surprised her.
“Before you sit down, I need to apologize,” she said.
Eyebrows shot up. The goblins looked amazed. Sera did, too.
“I didn’t trust you to do your jobs, and I should have. You found the lava seam we desperately needed. And,” she said sheepishly, “you stopped me from killing us all. I’m sorry. And thank you.”
The goblins nodded in acceptance and appreciation. Sera smiled at Becca. Becca smiled back, then turned and started to swim away. Sera swam after her.
“Hey,” Sera said, as she caught up to her friend. “I’m going to sit with the goblins for a minute. Why don’t you join us?”
“Sorry, I can’t,” Becca said. “I have so many things to do.”
“Sure, okay,” Sera said, disappointed. She’d been so certain that she’d be able to get Becca to confide in her. “I’ll see you later.”
“Yeah, later,” Becca said.
But then, as Sera was about to return to the goblins, Becca reached out and touched her arm. “Listen, Sera…there’s something else I need to apologize for. My, um, bossiness. I know it’s been over-the-top. I’ll try to take it down a notch.”
Sera decided to try one last time. “Becca, whatever’s going on with you, it’s about more than bossiness. Talk to me. Please.”
Becca backed away. “I—I can’t, Sera. I just can’t,” she said helplessly. “And you don’t want me to, trust me. Because it’s bad. Really bad.”
A cold dread seized Sera. For an instant, she wondered if Ling was right. Could Becca be the spy? But she quickly pushed that thought from her mind.
“Becca, we’re dealing with a spy, food shortages, and a coming war,” she said. “Oh, and an unstoppable monster, too. Almost forgot about him. Is your thing really worse than all of that?”
Becca hesitated. In her eyes, Sera could see fear warring with trust. She hoped with all her heart that trust would win.
Becca clenched her fists. All in a rush, she said, “I’m in love with Marco. And he’s in love with me.”
Sera blinked, barely able to believe what she’d just heard. “Is that what all this is about?” she asked. “Marco from the infirmary? The cute doctor? Why would that upset you so much? He’s wonderful!”
Becca pressed her palms to her eyes. “Um, no, Sera. Not that Marco.”
“Hmm,” Sera said, puzzled. “I don’t know any other Marco.”
“Actually, you do.”
“No, I really don’t, Becs. I mean, there’s Marco the duca’s son….” She laughed. Marco was a human. One of the good ones. He’d saved Becca from the Williwaw. “But of course it’s not him,” she added. “Because you wouldn’t…he wouldn’t…” She stopped talking. Her smile faded. “Oh, no. Holy silt, Becca.”
“Exactly,” Becca said miserably. “It’s a total disaster. He’s the most wonderful boy I’ve ever met. He’s good and decent and kind, and it’s all wrong. No one in my world would accept him, and no one in his world is even supposed to know I exist.”
“Hold on a minute,” Sera said. “It’s not wrong to love someone who’s good and decent and kind just because someone else disapproves.”