Ask wheeled a cart loaded with our breakfast into the room. I shut the book I'd been struggling to read as soon as the smell of it reached my nose and I bounced off of the bed, eager to fill my rumbling belly. Too impatient to get fully dressed before tasting the delicious food, I threw on the closest thing to me, one of Knut's shirts. Though he was slight, his torso and arms were so long that the bottom of the shirt hung to my knees, and I had to roll up the sleeves just to free my hands. It had been two weeks since my visit to Jasper's cell. Two weeks since I'd even thought of him or my brothers' swinging corpses. The food tasted better on my tongue, the fabric of Knut's shirt felt softer against my skin, and the air smelled sweeter. My feet itched with the want to dance. "Where did Knut run off to?" I mumbled through cheeks full of grapes while I smeared peach preserves over a slice of hot bread. "I didn't feel him get up this morning." I shifted on my feet, making up steps to a dance all my own.
Ask never stilled. She was always working. She scurried around the room picking up my discarded training leathers and under things that I'd hastily stripped off me after the prior day's strenuous training. Llinos showed no signs of ever letting up on me. His training was only getting harder. I was so tired the day before I'd fallen asleep in the bath. I didn't remember ever making it into the bed.
She nodded towards the door that led to the study. "He's been studying scout reports and maps, planning our campaign north since before dawn."
I eyed the study door curiously. Since when did old maps hold more appeal to him than lying next to a naked wife? "When am I supposed to meet with Llinos for training?" I asked, taking a big bite of the bread.
Ask smiled with a little lilting laugh. "Don't worry about that old bird, I'll take care of him. Take your time. You can resume your training after lunch."
"Ask, is Cat awake yet?" I asked, stopping Ask in her tracks as she turned to leave.
Her smile grew. "I just delivered her breakfast."
"Is she feeling better?" I mumbled softly, absently chewing.
"She's eating much better today, and she hasn't hidden under her bed in days. She is improving." Ask said.
I took a plate of almond cookies from the cart and handed them back to her. "Give these to her. Hollow knows Knut doesn't need them."
"Yes, My Queen." She nodded. Folding the cookies into a handkerchief, she slipped them into a pocket on her apron and left to do my bidding.
"Don't tell her they're from me!" I shouted after her as the door closed. I heard her laugh through the thick wood.
I took my bread with me into the study. My eyes scanned the tall bookshelves packed with hand-written books and the overflow that was piled into towers all around. I'd rarely spent more than a few minutes in the study. When I wanted or needed to study, I either met Ib in the dining hall or read in bed or while I was draped across the lounge on the balcony. I preferred studying in comfort than sitting stiffly at a desk, besides the musty old tomes smelled awful. It was Knut that haunted the place. While Llinos was beating skill into my bones and Ib was filling my head with knowledge, he could usually be found either at the Hollow making goblins, adding to our army, or here, plotting.
Amid the chaos, Knut was bent over his desk, moving a long finger across it, marking an invisible path. He looked up at the sound of my padding steps and smirked. His eyes flitted up and down my frame, twinkling with delight. "Nice outfit." He said, his happy gaze on the bare skin between my breasts where the shirt hung open and my iron pendant lay against my breastbone. "I dare say it looks better on you than it does on me." He added with a lecherous chuckle.
"Ask brought us our breakfast," I said, carefully squeezing between two enormous piles of books.
"I had some tea earlier." He muttered. He brushed aside layers of paper and picked up an almost empty teacup from the mess. He drained it of the small bit of ice-cold tea that remained before reluctantly tearing his eyes away from me to refocus on his work.
I leaned my hip against the desk, tearing my bread into pieces as I ate. The desk he sat at also served as a basic map. A layout of the entire Hollow was etched into the old wood, burned black into it. He trailed his finger from the Underground, which was illustrated by knotted roots, to Mab's tall tower on one of the uppermost branches on the east side of the tree that jutted out into empty space, toward a dark knot in the desk's wood that I knew deep down in my soul was the hole. He referenced a notebook he had laying open and frowned.
His eyes were steely with focus as they poured over his notes. His gray hair flopped into his face. He ran his long fingers through it to push it back, but it flopped over his brow again anyway. His mouth was a tight line, covering those sharp teeth. So serious. You could practically see the gears of his mind moving as he plotted. It was at these rare moments when I actually got to watch him work that I remembered who and what he was. My heartbeat picked up speed. "What are you doing?" I asked, resisting the urge to play with his hair. His mind was full of war, but mine was running rampant with other things.
"Since you're dead set on dealing with Titania, we can no longer bide our time. We are growing short on time. Midsummer is less than three months from now, so I'm planning our route for the invasion." He sat back in his chair with a sigh, pushing his hair out of his face again irritably. There's no direction to go but up, but there's still many paths we could take. We could take the direct approach and hit her head on," he began to retrace his earlier route, dragging his finger from the Underground straight up the Hollow's trunk to Mab's palace, "but she'd be expecting it. We'd run into the most opposition that way."
"It would be stupid to attack her directly. What are our other options?" I asked.
"The Hollow is completely hollow all the way up. We could climb it internally and emerge through one of its many wounds higher up, catch her by surprise." He frowned again. "However, this is a very safe method. I don't find it very...interesting."
"Because of course it has to be amusing."
"Why do anything if you can't enjoy it? Besides, I don't think the Hollow would appreciate us running amok through its innards."
I shook my head at him. "Goblins." I couldn't help the soft smile warming my face. "So, do you know a strategy that is more to your liking?" I took the last bite of my bread.
"As a matter of fact, I do," He smiled back at me, showing teeth that glinted in the light of the flickering candle that sat in a puddle of melted wax. "Although, I don't know how much you'll like it, given how friendly you are with Tova."
"I am not friendly with her." I hissed.
"It would definitely be the most interesting plan, but it also entails a great deal of risks." He went on. He dragged his finger from the Underground up The Hollow's trunk, past the land of men, then curved westward as he reached the Boughs, the territory of the elves. It was illustrated by overlapping branches that formed the shape of an elf's elongated, narrow face and earthly crown. "We could cut through the Boughs." His finger continued, making an arcing path by Oberon's garden palace. It was a domed castle covered in flowers; half hidden by branches laden in faerie fruit. "Then we could skirt past the Summer Branches and circle around, hit her from the westward side." His finger came to a stop on top of Mab's palace. "Since she thinks she has made friends with Oberon, she won't be expecting an attack from the west. Ever since your declaration of war, she's begun to move her war camps southward, so if we go this route, we'd avoid a great deal of conflict. And as you know, the fewer goblins I have to remake, the better for me. I'd rather save up my energy for the deciding battle than waste it on skirmishes."
His words were like music to my ears. He'd put a lot of thought into this. I was impressed. "Yes, it's a good plan, but I don't think the elves, or the Seelie will like us trespassing. Deal or no deal."
Knut's smirk turned as sly as a fox's. I suddenly felt very warm. "It's not trespassing if we ask nicely." Knut hummed. "The elves are nothing if not loyal. They don't do anything unless they are told to. I will wait until we're almost out of the Boughs to summon the hoard. Before that, we'll pretend to just be visiting. I know how badly you've been wanting an elven-made cradle." He snickered at my sour face. "Knowing the elves, they'll welcome us in with open arms, feed us, maybe even throw us a party."
"And if things go badly? If we're caught the Seelie could be suspected of helping us, risking what possibilities of alliance we have."
"Yes, that is the risk I mentioned." His finger slid backward to a spot on the northwestern edge of the Seelie's territory. "The main reason I want to go this way though is that my scouts have spotted Kieran at a war camp here. No doubt he'll be biding his time there until after his wedding." He tapped his nail against it, driving it down like a knife through a heart. "If we can take out Kieran and solidify our alliance with Titania before we're noticed, then we technically would no longer be trespassing."
"We'd be killing two birds with one stone." I grinned, pondering his plan. "We can kill Kieran swiftly and move on to Mab's palace without even a pause."
"Precisely." He leaned back in his chair with his arms behind his head.
My eyes scrolled over the map, taking it all in. The fae's realm was vast. In comparison, the land of men seemed minuscule. Humans had but the surface, while the fae possessed all else from the earth beneath their feet to the heavens beyond their sight. And the poor sods had no earthly idea. Our ancestors blinded themselves very well. Licking the stickiness of the peach preserves from my fingers, I tapped a finger over a strange symbol on a branch beneath Mab's palace, a tangle of briers with a crescent moon hanging over it.
"The City of Thorns." He answered without me even having to ask what it was. His eyes narrowed as their gaze settled upon that spot. "It's where the majority of the Unseelie people live."
"Why does it look like that?" I asked.
His gaze flicked towards my dangling pendant. "The briers are a symbol for magic...I think. This desk is quite old. According to legend, the city is surrounded by tall walls imbued with powerful magic. Mab's ancestor built it with the last reserves of his strength just before he died in a desperate attempt to save his people. The magic keeps the city hidden from outside fae much like your brother's home with its iron and wards. The magic keeps the city safe and keeps us at bay. They say that the only way into the city is if you're invited in."
"They say? You don't know?"
He shook his head. "I've only heard of it in stories, but we have no doubt it exists. No one outside of the Unseelie court has ever seen it, much less entered it, but the Unseelie must live somewhere. They can't all live in Mab's palace at the end of the world. The craziest thing about it though is not the walls, but the fact that the city seems to have a life of its own. It moves."
"Then how do you know it's here?" I asked, staring at the city encased in thorns.
"We don't. That's just an educated guess. My grandfather swore he ran into it once there, literally, but I couldn't tell you if it's there now."
"Hasn't anyone interrogated an Unseelie to find out more about their city?" I asked, furrowing my brow in thought. Something about it seemed familiar.
"Past kings have tried, but the minute an Unseelie opens their mouths to spill information, their heads explode."
It hit me like a wave. I'd just read about a place like The City of Thorns in one of the books Ib had me translating from English to Goblin. I'd been reading it just that morning. "So no one's ever attacked the city?" I asked, my voice shaking a little. An idea was taking shape in my head. If I was right...if I could make this idea work...
"Not since the wall was built." His eyebrows rose. "Why?"
I darted back into our room and returned a moment later with the book. "It reminds me of a human city." I dropped it onto the table, rapidly flipping through it until I came to the page I sought. There was an illustration of a city surrounded by tall walls. A city once thought of as impregnable. "Paris." His eyes alighted. He tilted his head curiously at me. "It too is surrounded by a series of walls and there was once a time when it was believed that those walls would never be breached, but a bunch of barbarians from the north were able to do it after several attempts."
"You want to sack The City of Thorns?"
"Paris is the capital of France, the center of its commerce. The City of Thorns is the same for the Unseelie Court and unlike us, Mab's men need food, clothing, and new recruits to replace their dead. If we were to take their city, the flow of supplies would stop. Her men would starve and if we solidify our allegiance with the Seelie and the elves, even if she screamed and begged no reinforcements would come to her aid. She'd be dead in the water." I clasped my iron pendant. "The city is invisible to you, but I have iron. So long as I wear my pendant, I could see it just as easily as I saw my brother's house. The City of Thorns may move about, but it must stay within the boundaries of the Unseelie's land. If I were to fly overhead with one of our winged goblins, the iron would help me see through its spells and I could find it. Its tall walls would be easy to spot from the air. The goblin wouldn't be able to enter the city, but he could drop me behind the wall."
"Once you're inside you could...invite me in." He jumped to his feet. His chest heaved with excitement. His dark eyes shifted, following the paths on the map. "And the gates of The City of Thorns would open wide for me." He chuckled, bracing his arms on the desk. The look on his face was...hungry. "Better yet, once Kieran is dealt with, we could divide our forces. You could take your half to lay siege on the city. Even if you don't succeed, it would no doubt earn the attention of every fae in the Hollow and we could use it as a distraction. While they think we're attacking the city, the rest of the hoard and I will slip through the Seelie's territory unnoticed. We'll be well into Mab's territory before they realize their error."
My heart did a little flutter. I blinked at him with surprise at how much he seemed to like my crazy idea. He didn't tell me no. He didn't tell me it was too dangerous. He was giving me authority, trusting me not only with an important task but with taking a city that had never once been so much as seen by goblin eyes in centuries. Once again he dangled power over my head and laid it in my grasping fingers with a grin upon his face. "You would...leave the siege solely to me?" I asked, swallowing.
"Why not?" He asked. "You dragged my carcass out of the pit, I think you can handle this little trifle." Those hungry eyes scoured me, devouring every inch of bared skin. His silver tongue darted out to wet that wicked mouth of his. " I have no doubt in my mind that you'll make the Unseelie kingdom tremble. My only regret is that I won't get to see you do it."
Heat pooled in my belly. The urge to touch and the need to be touched became overwhelming and I ceased to resist that most powerful of magics. I prowled around the desk, swaying my hips enticingly. I pressed myself against his back. "Get on the desk." I breathed into his ear, stroking his arm from shoulder to bicep. I felt his muscles tense through the fabric of his clothes at my touch.
Slowly he turned to face me. "Hmm? Did you say something, Little Mouse?" He cocked his brow, pretending he hadn't heard me. Desire burned as hot and vibrant as the ancient bonfire in his dark eyes.
"I said, 'Get on the desk.'" With a heated snarl, I shoved him backward.
His head hit the hard wood with an audible smack. "Oww," He whimpered. "No need to be so rough. You could have asked nicely." I was on him in an instant, straddling his waist, ripping at his clothes. "Please be gentle." He snickered between breathless kisses. His hands slid up my bare legs, bunching up his shirt. "You know, I was a little disappointed you didn't say that the first time." His claws lightly scraped against the sensitive skin along my ribs, eliciting a shuttering breath from my lungs. "But then again, that's not really your preference. Is it, Mouse?" He laughed against my mouth as I bit at his bottom lip. I yanked his shirt up over his head and tossed it onto a pile of books with his jacket. I finally stopped my assault on his thin lips to pay special attention to his ears. The pointy ears were one of his most sensitive spots. He moaned as I nibbled his earlobe, all language failing him. For a second. "You know we have a perfectly good bed in the next room. This desk is so old I'm afraid we're going to break it." He said but made no move to push me away. His grip on my thighs only tightened.
I sat up straight, looking directly into that lust-flushed ugly face and loving the sight of him beneath me. I pushed my hair back out of my face, tossing it over my shoulder. "Now where's your sense of adventure, husband? It's good to try new things." I giggled, moving just so that he sucked in a breath.
"Damn it, I love you." He growled. He sat up suddenly, grabbed my head and crushed my mouth to his again. Our lips clashed, devouring each other as if we hadn't kissed or touched in years. His hands moved over the naked flesh beneath his stolen shirt, molding me like clay. He felt so good. Why did he feel so bloody good? He was hideous and bony and inhuman, yet when we made love you'd think I were bedding Adonis. I was filled with bliss at his every touch. I craved it, hungered for him as much as breath. Did other women feel this way for their husbands? Did they set their senses on fire? Did a certain look from them make them shiver with need? Even husbands as unattractive as mine?
"You do love him, don't you?" Ib had said. More a statement than a question. Did I? Did I love this creature I held in my arms and kissed without a hint of fear? Was I in love with the man whose name was forever on my lips? I didn't know and I was honestly afraid of the answer and that wasn't just because I thought of myself as broken and incapable of it. I often wondered if it was my true feelings that made me want him or if it was part of being goblin queen. The blood of The Hollow had changed me in so many ways...I doubted there was anything in this world that The Hollow could not touch...and manipulate.
A boom shook the entire Underground. Its force toppled several book towers and knocked me clear off of Knut. "What in the hell was that?" I yelled, dragging myself to my feet only to find that he was already gone, bounding over scattered books to get to the balcony that overlooked the goblin city. I ran after him, but when I finally reached him on the balcony, my steps had slowed to a crawl. Down in the goblin city, an enormous serpent slithered. Its black scaled body wove through the city streets, filling them from doorstep to doorstep. It scooped up the goblins with its wide-open mouth, swallowing them whole with ease. Its tail thrashed, leveling the sparkling buildings. Beside me, Knut shuttered, and he braced himself on the railing as hundreds of souls returned to the seed in his belly all at once.
I stared at that snake; my chest heaved as horror washed over me. "No." I breathed quietly. Fear strangled me like a noose. The area where my bakery once stood was nothing but rubble.
"She did it. She actually did it." Knut panted. His face twisted into a large feral sort of grin that showed every sharp tooth in his head then he started to laugh.
"What are you laughing about?" I snapped. All I wanted to do was cry and he was laughing like watching his people be exterminated like vermin was the funniest thing he'd ever seen.
"Don't you see?" His voice was still tinged with laughter. "This is proof of how scared of us she is." He turned his head towards me, showing me a face twisted with rage and lust, not for me, but for blood. "The snake is a beast from the hole. She has no power over it. She's unleashed a thing she cannot control on us just for the chance of stifling this war before it starts." With claws dug into the stone, he leaned over the railing and roared at the top of his lungs. A cry of crumbling stone and cracking thunder. The goblins down in the city screeched in answer to his call. Those down on the ground, hurled themselves at the serpent, clinging to its body with sharp claws, biting and stabbing. Those that had still been within their homes poured out, rushing to defend our home. Our servants crawled out of the palace windows and down its sides. They passed by our balcony as they descended towards the serpent, their eyes glowing the unmistakable green of The Seed's power.
As the last of his call left his lips, Knut turned towards me just in time to see me shimmying into my fighting leathers. With a silent grin, he brushed past me as he stalked back into our bedroom. While the world shook with the serpent's every winding movement and the air filled with the sound of the goblin hoard's furious screeching, he pulled the leather armor he'd worn at his coronation from our wardrobe along with a new item I'd never seen before. A skull that had been turned into a war mask. The skull was that of no creature I had yet to meet. It had a long snout with two long, sharp front teeth that curved inward. A cape of fur was still attached to it. Fur the same color as Knut's hair, all mousy gray like a rat's. Donning the skirt of leather and bone, he set the mask into place last, his eyes burning like green flames within the skull's hollowed eye sockets. Right before my eyes, he transformed into the barbarian king the rest of the fae world thought of him as.
Taking up one of my favorite knives, I pulled my pendant from my neck and wound it around the blade, fastening it there tight. Knut crouched on the railing. A golden spear conjured itself into his grasp. "Get on." He said. I wrapped myself around his back, hooking one arm around his neck and clutching the knife with the other. He sprung from the balcony and, the both of us roaring, we plummeted down to the city below with the points of our weapons pointed down, ready to pierce the snake's ink black scales.
Mab had her monsters, but I had Knut, I had my goblins, I had iron.