The Goblin's Throne

Chapter Fifty Seven: Together

The morning after our meeting, I snuck out into the city while Knut took the boys to their lessons. Our date was planned for later that evening and I thought it would be nice to get Knut a gift for a change. He enjoyed spoiling me, always had, and I wanted to express that same boundless affection as much as I was able and in a way that words couldn't. A trinket or treasure that might give him some idea of what he meant to me. If such a thing existed.

I very rarely ever walked the goblin streets by myself. It felt a little odd to wander down those golden streets without clinging onto Knut's arm or holding a child's hand. There was something raw about it, the goblin empress striding through her city without any guard or grandeur, not in a glittering carriage or riding a white horse, but striding forward on her own feet dressed as plainly as any other shopper or merchant. The proud girl I'd been when Knut and I first married would not have stomached it. 

The goblins I passed met my eyes and grinned, some tilted their heads respectfully, but they kept going, kept moving towards the completion of their tasks. The faeries lowered their wings when they saw me and bent their backs to lower themselves in a show of respect towards the human girl that had so absolutely ripped the order of their world asunder. The humans smiled at me and waved, some of them beckoning me towards the shops in which they'd found work. I smiled politely back, but I kept moving just as the goblins did, still uncertain of them. In truth, no matter how kind or welcoming they were to me, I would probably always be more comfortable around the monsters I'd come to love than my own people who I had never understood. 

I perused a few shops, contemplated rings and amulets, feathered hats and new shoes, but nothing really stood out to me. I wanted to get him something unique, which was hard to find on a store shelf. I couldn't make a magic cloak or drag our enemies down into a pit for him to play with at his leisure. At least not yet.

 I eventually found my way to a seamstress' shop near the outskirts of the city where the golden cobblestones gave way to rough dark earthen paths. The shop was tiny, stuck between a faerie bathhouse and a pub called The Burning Feather. In the windows, the shop had displayed a number of garments, some tailored towards Unseelie tastes with their vivid, living fabrics woven from a clear blue sky, sweet smelling rose petals or cool shifting mist. Others bore the morbid details of bone lined corsets or spiderweb lace that the goblins and I preferred. There was a cape hanging from the shoulders of a stiff mannequin in one window that immediately caught my eye. It was made of fine silvery velvet and lined with a dark indigo fabric that bloomed into shades of blue, violet and red as I admired it.

A bell chimed as the door to the shop opened. "We're open, Your Grace." Said a human man. He wore a bright yellow coat with cream colored breeches. The vivid yellow beautiful against his dark skin. He smiled warmly at me. "Or were you just window shopping?" 

"Ah, I was just..." I stuttered. I'd never seen such a tall man before. He had to duck through the doorway. My toes twitched in my shoes, my feet aching to step away, to run back to the palace where I was surrounded by mostly goblin kind and not so many horrifying human faces. But...I still needed a gift. I glanced back at the cape, at those swirling colors hidden beneath that starlight colored velvet. "May I take a look at that cape there." I pointed to it. 

"Of course," he said cheerfully. "Miss Eadan will be glad to know it's caught your eye. She only just put it on display this morning." He held the door for me while I entered and he followed me inside. 

I stood awkwardly in the middle of the shop while he went to take it from the display. Spools of fabric lined the walls as well as more mannequins wearing more finished garments. There was a table with a spool of shining gold fabric spread out on it, a pair of scissors laid out beside it, ready to be used. Drawn by that pretty gold I went to it and laid my hand on it. I felt cold, slick metal. I lifted the corner between my fingers and felt the weight of a fistful of coins.