The Queen of the Elves

Chapter 9

Mason didn't really know where he was, but he knew that something had gone terribly wrong. He couldn't move at all, and he was underground. His whole mouth and nose was wrapped up and tied, but a single fibrous tube penetrated and allowed breathing. He was basically buried alive and he couldn't do anything at all about it. He couldn't lift his arms, heck he couldn't even move his fingers! He had an idea of where he was, and it wasn't a good place. Last time he had been here was when he had tried to run away from Silvia two years ago. He assumed he was under her roots, though of course he could be under any tree, but there really was a courtesy between trees and their slaves: other trees could punish, but only if the owner was far and unreachable, or the slave had done something exceedingly terrible.

His mind raced. Caroline was still probably asleep and Richie and Bernard were probably dead by now. There was nothing he could do and he might as well forget about Caroline. She was under the queen's wrath. At least he didn't have to worry now about the goblins' love prophesy, but he still felt a sharp pain when he thought about the way she had looked at him on the roof of the school. He had promised he would rescue her. He had lied to her and failed her. She was lost.

He would be here for a while, a long while. It was a punishment and an unbearable one at that. Last time he had calculated it out and he had missed at least four months of life. The only way he would get through this time would be to completely cut off his mind. He sucked in his breath and tried to stop thinking.

*****

Arica had seen that the swarm of goblins was coming and would soon overtake Caroline and her friends. She also knew where Mason was and she decided that the best way to help her new friends would be to return to Gail with news. She had hurried as fast as her little legs could carry her, which was astonishingly fast compared to humans, and soon came to the tree's roots.

"Gail!" she cried.

The tree spirit appeared, this time in his true form, which I'm not allowed to describe.

"Oh dear, my little friend your face tells all. What is amiss? How may I be of service to you?" he asked earnestly.

"The goblins have overcome Caroline and her two Halfling friends. They have no means of escape! Their other friend, Silvia's slave, is being punished under her branches for two eclipses and is unable to help them. I am unworthy to ask any favor of you, for you are sacred among trees, but I beseech you to consider their situation."

"They are valuable." he murmured softly, "If you pay attention, but this time they must learn something. They will never be able to get on with life if they do not. Therefore I have considered their situation in full and have decided the best course of action on my part. Thank you for your boldness, I am greatly amazed by you little one. Now enough of this serious talk!" he let out a hearty and jovial laugh, "You leave this problem to me, I will see it through."

*****

And now we shall return to Caroline. She was in the midst of thousands of goblins and she could tell they were excited about something. She was now completely restrained, and her mouth had been mockingly covered by the bandana that Mason had given her to bandage her neck. But she was almost glad because it smelled much better than anything else they might have put over her mouth and it almost, when she closed her eyes, let her imagine that Mason was right there with her. She didn't know why she would want him to be here, because she didn't want to be here. She thought about for a minute, then sighed and decided she didn't care and it really didn't matter anyway.

Richie was also now restrained, but not physically, mentally. The queen had commanded him to stop thinking and obey everything she said. He couldn't think straight at the moment, but, well, he was only half elf. She only had so much power over him. They were on the march still, heading towards the Mound. Richie was carrying Caroline and Bernard was finally awake and stumbling along under the constant prodding of goblins. Caroline kept her eyes shut because she didn't want to see that horrible blank stare that now hovered on Richie's face. Bernard was also distressed at the horrible expression that was on Richie's face: complete loss.

They moved along almost numbly, knowing what lay ahead of them, and wishing they didn't. Caroline couldn't help wondering where Mason was, and what terrible fate had befallen him. She hoped that he would come and rescue them, but she had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that he was gone, or at least she would never see him again. But she wouldn't cry. She wasn't one to cry and if she did she never indulged in it for too long. She had learned that crying was weakness, and weakness was vulnerability.

So she stopped crying a long time ago. Now she was sort of just numb, but that was better, she told herself. She was surprisingly unafraid, despite her circumstances. She was rather nervous about the thought of death, but she had become talented in shutting emotions off. And that's what she did. I've found that once a heart breaks the scars are very hard to take away. Caroline Jones had gotten her heart broken, then before it was able to heal it had been wrenched again, over and over. Finally she came to a spot in her life where she could have peace for a while, but found that peace no longer existed.

A horrible shriek went up from the goblins as they finally came to the entrance of their labyrinth and small rays of sunshine pierced through an immense stone door.

Caroline let out a squeak, but it didn't penetrate through the bandana. She opened her eyes long enough to see what the goblins were doing and in that time saw a little recognition spark in Richie's eyes. He looked down at her and his eyes widened slightly, but then went back to a hazed over gaze. She let her eyes close hopelessly and put her head between her knees. She missed what happened next.

The goblins departed and went screaming back down into the black tunnels. Then the elves opened the door. Sunlight gushed in, but somehow that didn't make Bernard feel any better. He liked the dark just fine, but he was rather happy at the aspect of leaving the tight spaces of the tunnels. As soon as they walked out though he didn't care anymore. They were only a few yards from the Mound itself and he almost preferred the tunnels to the mound. It wasn't that the mound was a dark and scary place, in fact it was a rather bright and cheerful looking place at first glance. It wasn't the look of the place, but the feel of the place that made Bernard dread it. He knew all that had occurred at this place as well, and that didn't help. The mound was the place of elfin trials and the jurisdiction would be carried out only a little ways off of it.

As he walked up the hill he looked over at poor little Caroline. She would die too. All the trials of the past two days had been for naught. Now they would die, but they wouldn't have saved Caroline. They had given their lives for hers, and now hers was being snatched away too. It was terribly and overwhelmingly disheartening and he wondered if their lives were really worth that little. Here, he thought to himself, I will perish and watch my friends perish. Here I will lose all ability to feel and think. Here is where the story ends.