Keeper of the Lost Cities: Rebuild [COMPLETED]

Chapter Twenty-One - TAM

"How is that a choice?" Tam snapped. "Volunteers or not, they don't know what they're getting into. What if they get their memories or whatever and have to go back to their old lives? They're essentially alone in a world where no one understands—and they never asked for it."

"No matter what, they get compensated for it," Sophie argued, as if that made everything better. "There's no easy way to go about this, Tam—we're just doing our best."

"So they're paid to get their minds tampered with. Sounds lovely."

"Oh, get over it," Marella snorted. "It's not like everyone has your trust issues."

"You want to speak about trust issues? That's rich coming from you."

"Guys!" Sophie shouted, holding up her hands. "We're not here to argue—and we're not here to talk about the moral conundrum of what's going on in the Forbidden Cities. The only thing we should be focusing on is convincing Hylda to—"

"I don't get it," Marella interrupted. "You keep saying 'Hylda,' like she's your bestie or something. What's up with that?"

Sophie groaned. "Can we just—"

Two sharp knocks cut her off, and the female guard called, "Five minutes!"

"Actually, I think we're ready now," Sophie yelled back, standing and smoothing her ebony dress. She shot a look at Tam's rumpled clothing and raised an eyebrow. "If you need time though—"

"I'm fine!"

"I'm surprised you didn't try to cram in five more minutes of lecture-lecture stuff," Marella told Sophie dryly, standing as well. "You must be really nervous."

"It's fine—I've got it all in my head," Sophie assured them. "Hyl—er, Queen Hylda will refer to me for the most part."

Marella smirked, obviously proud her earlier comment had been considered, and followed Sophie as she walked to the door.

It took Tam a second to remember he was supposed to be moving too.

"I'm Hallah, by the way," the female goblin told them as Tam stepped into the hallway. She waved for them to follow her—they were going right, which was the direction they'd come from last time.

Tam tried to plot their movements in his head, but the heavy breathing coming from Mr. Grumps behind him was too distracting. He lost the mental map twice before they reached the apparent destination—two large doors, inlaid with gold. That was all he could see since the shadows were gathering in his periphery like armor.

Four warriors stood sentinel on either side of the doors, and at Hallah's nod, two of them grabbed the ornate handles and pulled them open.

A blast of sound filled Tam's ears, and his senses sharpened, shadows reaching out, feeling the space, his eyes darting back and forth. They had entered an arena-like room; it was circular, bleachers wrapping around. They were filled with goblins—too many to differentiate between—all looking down at the "bowl" of sand. In the middle was a golden platform, and upon that a golden table, and that was where Hylda, as well as a few other goblins—presumably her most trusted advisors—sat.

"Uh, what's with the audience?" Marella squeaked.

"The queen doesn't see the point in keeping her most important meetings a secret," said Hallah, "so she makes it public. I hope that doesn't change anything for you."

"No, it doesn't," Sophie said, shooting a look at Marella. It seemed to say, Go with the flow, which almost brought a smile to Tam's face.

But then the shadows hissed, and he shifted his gaze until it locked on Hylda. She was staring straight at him.