Snippet #2428291

When Keeflo saw the goblin's face the first thing he noticed were her red, inflamed eyes. Something's sure got her upset. By the looks of it she's been crying for quite the while. "Oh!" the goblin said, grinning a little. "You're a fish beast-man..." Keeflo wasn't about to correct her mistake, the less she knew about him the better. She sniffled before wiping her eyes and hauling her feet onto the deck. "Sure, hi," She said as she stood to her full height and extended a hand. "...You can come aboard... I was just..." She paused as she began to sniffle harder. "It doesn't matter. Come aboard, please."

Relieved, Keeflo couldn't help grinning as he took her hand and placed the other on the deck and heaved himself out of the water. "Thank you, ma'am. I appreciate it."

Keeflo looked the goblin right in the eye, despite their height disparities, wondering how he could convey his gratefulness. But as he looked at her red rimmed eyes he couldn't help remembering another time he had encountered such sadness.

Fifteen year old Keeflo was lifting sacks of grain into a cart to be transported away when a keening wail suddenly pierced the air. He dropped the bag haphazardly on the ground and rushed in the direction of the sound. It can't be Grandmother, it can't! he thought. The one he referred to as Grandmother was an old, motherly goblin whose job was to watch the younger slaves. As she was advanced in her years, Keeflo had overheard older slaves talking in worried tones about her.

He reached Grandmother's room, where the goblin lay on the ground making choking noises. As he had seen others do to people with things stuck in her throat he whacked her on the back. This seemed to help a little, but Grandmother kept crying. Keeflo, already twice the size of the tiny goblin woman, picked her up and cradled her, feeling for a pulse and listening for a heartbeat. Although her heart was beating fast, otherwise Grandmother seemed fine. "Keefy, they're selling Silas," Grandmother said in subdued tones, quietly hiccoughing.

Keeflo felt his tail stiffen in surprise. Silas was Keeflo's friend as well as Grandmother's last blood relative. Grandmother had had a daughter who had died in giving birth to Silas and the father was the property of another lord. Silas was only thirteen. At the time Keeflo thought it was bad enough to lose one of his best friends and how much worse it must be for Grandmother to lose her grandson. He had spent a good while sitting in the small room, rocking the old, heartbroken goblin.

He had been beaten for abandoning his job after that, but the intensity of Grandmother's sorrow hadn't been knocked out from him. Now he saw a similar look on this goblin's face and despite his exhaustion he had to keep himself from reaching out to her and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Ma'am, is there something you need to get off your chest?" he asked, the words out before he could stop them. Now, though he couldn't back out on them, he just hoped he could stay awake long enough if she decided to start talking.