Irenie paced the confines of her small room in her night gown and robe. The princess hadn't so much as gotten a wink of sleep. It was nearly morning and the excitement of her previous evening had not worn off yet.

She had just dropped off the letters the previous day but what were the chances they would even be found? Or that the goblins would want them? Or could the goblins even read? Curdie had assured her that at least once while he was working in the mines, they had found a strongly worded wooden tablet for them but Irenie couldn't be sure all goblins could read.

All these thoughts were almost too much for the princess to bear and she felt dreadfully alone.

No one had ever tried to make peace with the goblins and Irenie had wagered every last bit of the freedom she still had on them. All she could do now was hope she was right. It could be weeks before anything came back, if they did indeed send something back.

As if providence had heard her nattering conscience, Irenie observed something very strange climb up over the edge of her balcony. The shutters were still closed so she doubted that they could get in, but the princess approached the strange slinking blur.

It was fast approaching summer but the spring showers had continued to persist. Irenie often kept the glass shutters closed to avoid any problem caused by an unexpected change in the weather. When the creature that had plopped onto her balcony began raking its claws on the glass, Irenie quickly jumped to attention and threw the shutter open.

The thing tilted its head in a peculiar way and her old cat, Turnip, who didn't do much of anything these days besides catch mice and sleep on her lap, leapt onto the floor to spit at the creature. It was fairly dark in her room, but the princess could see the bony outline of what was a twisted looking cat. It was long and skinny with dark fur and even something like horns were sticking out of its maned head.

The creature, which was most assuredly a goblin pet, slinked its way into the room, avoiding Turnip's hisses and came within an inch of Irenie's robes. They were called goblin pets because as much as the goblins were strange when compared to people, the pets the goblins kept in their caves were equally strange.

The whole situation for Irenie bore an incredible resemblance to another night when a similar looking creature had skulked it's way into her room to frighten her, however, she no longer feared the goblin beasts.

"Good evening," she whispered, tentatively reaching out a hand that remembered the keen scratch of the animal. She was careful but not afraid.

The creature shied away from her, exposing the letter that was attached to its neck.

"What's that you've got there?" she whispered.

The princess's eyes popped open to see that it was in fact, her letter. Except there was some writing on the back.

Then this had to be from the goblins! It would explain why one of their pets came straight to her door.

Carefully, Irenie retrieved the letter from around the slinky creature's neck. It didn't actively avoid her touch this time but remained anxious around Turnip who refused to stop circling and growling at the goblin pet no matter how many times Irenie tried to swat her cat away.

"Turnip-" she scolded him once again but her excited eyes strayed back to the paper.

The first words were scratched rather crudely into the surface but mostly it was all legible. The only difference was that rather than spelling, it seemed like the words had been written out as if the were spoken.

'This is Rattlestax, the Goblin King's best mowser. Hee is a gift for Prinsess Ireenee. Mae al yor mise die swift deaths.'

Well, they didn't get her name right but it was a fair bit better than what she had expected. If the princess was being completely honest, she knew nobles who were far less literate than whichever goblin had made the letter. Irenie beamed and folded it closed for a moment to stare at the goblin pet.

"You aren't by any chance going to leave, are you?" she asked the goblin pet and its ears flattened against its head and it sunk very low on its haunches. "I suppose not then," Irenie said after a moment, befuddled.

She scooped the momentarily startled creature up into her arms and snapped firmly at her own pet who had not yet stopped hissing.

"That's enough, Turnip," she said while crossing to her bed. "Rattlestax is staying, so you can't be spitting at them like that anymore," Irenie said in her very authoritative voice, before nudging Turnip with the toe of her foot. After Irenie's discouragement, Turnip took to lying on the pillow by the window, a smart glare in his tourmaline eyes.

"Although, I think I'll call you Rat from now on," she addressed the goblin cat who was already kneading her bed quilts with its long black claws.

Irenie continued to read the letter out loud as it made more sense than the words written as they were.

"Wee thank the sun-prinsess for her offer but the krown and kingdom wonder what is in it for al goblins to be 'frends' with the sun-people. Obviously, wee are stronger, better diggers and wee hav the best part of the mountain. What mite wee get from this allianse wer the goblins to aksept yor peece agreement? Yu mentioned a gathering hosted at yor mountain but goblins are very suspisious and some doubt yor genuneness. My opinion of yu is much higher than thares, but how mite wee konvinse them of yor good intensions? I look forward to yor future letters..." Irenie's eyes went to the bottom of the page where a scratchy signature splattered the paper. "The goblin ambassador to the sun-people."

The letter itself might not have been entirely positive, but by the time she had finished reading it, the princess was glowing. The goblins were suspicious but willing, and their ambassador had responded so quickly. That had to mean something.

Irenie folded up the paper, still grinning as she closed her eyes and laid herself on the mattress. The new goblin pet she had apparently been given curled up on the stone underneath her bed and Turnip took his place at her feet.