Contents
37. Fortune’s Crumbs
Overview
Kinch reels after the arena, fails to find a way to kill the goblin envoys, and instead discovers seawater in the tunnels. He witnesses Quiggles the cuttlefish secretly feeding the chained giant Pulhu and establishes communication, linking their curiosity and Hasp’s prior friendship.
Overhearing slaves, Kinch learns Galva survived and is being covertly treated by the king’s surgeon. Despair flips to inspiration as Kinch devises a bold, terrible plan for tomorrow.
Summary
Reeling from the day’s carnage and fearing Galva’s death, Kinch debates how to kill the guarded goblin embassy. After settling Bully Boy outside his tattoo, he slips into the sathium tunnels to scout the goblins’ quarters but finds them too well guarded to assault alone.
Noticing fresh salt damp in the tunnels, Kinch follows the trace to the cellar and the chained geigon, Pulhu. When the tunnel door opens, Kinch hides and witnesses Quiggles the cuttlefish arrive with stolen fruit, tenderly feeding the giant. Attempting to flee, Kinch is chased in the tunnel, then stops to negotiate, revealing his name.
Quiggles writes with iridescent ink on the wall, asking why Kinch hid, and they exchange simple ideas about curiosity. Kinch learns Hasp was Quiggles’s friend and that the creature must return to water soon. With no path yet to the goblins, Kinch parts from Quiggles, struck by the importance of its writing.
Returning toward his quarters, Kinch overhears house-slaves gossip that Galva survived and is secretly under the king’s surgeon’s care, with her survival hidden from the goblins. This news restores Kinch’s resolve to escape with her, though he still lacks a plan to kill the hivelings.
After re-inking Bully Boy, Kinch crashes into despair, contemplating suicide and futility. While sharpening his knife and thinking about last letters—one even in Quiggles’s script—the sight of those strange written marks sparks an epiphany. Despair flips to elation as he conceives a great and terrible plan for the morrow.
Who Appears
- KinchNarrator; scouts the goblins, traces salt in tunnels, befriends Quiggles, learns Galva lives, and hatches a dangerous new plan.
- Quiggles SilversidesCuttlefish who sneaks through tunnels, feeds Pulhu, writes with ink, and communicates curiosity and friendship linked to Hasp.
- PulhuChained geigon who operates the palace lift; tenderly fed by Quiggles; unwittingly shelters Kinch during the encounter.
- GalvaOffstage but pivotal; secretly survives her wounds and is treated by the king’s surgeon, renewing Kinch’s resolve.
- Bully BoyKinch’s cat familiar; briefly released, comforts him, then is re-inked as Kinch prepares for night risks.
- Two house-slavesGossip in the hallway, revealing Galva’s survival and the king’s secrecy toward the goblin envoys.
- King AgraiasOffstage; hides Galva’s survival from goblins and has his surgeon tend her, signaling conflicted priorities.