I blinked in the early morning light as I took my first steps out of Athane's nest. The wind bit into my skin with its chill, carrying with it fallen crimson leaves. Beyond the branch, there was the void, the inky blackness that existed at the edge of reality itself. Below us, the tree went on and on forever, baring the weight of all the other kingdoms.
In the Branches, the faeries gathered for their reverie, arrogantly parading their power and opulence. In the Boughs the elves groveled, licking the dirt at the faeries' feet, gnawing on the bones that were thrown to them. In the Trunk, humans crawled through their cities and villages like maggots through a rotting corpse, oblivious to the birds and beasts that ruled their world and feasted upon them. And down below, where the roots twisted, the goblins continued their age-old task of defending The Hollow's forest of saplings, serving their maker with the blind faith of children.
I craned my neck, peering up into the branches overhead. Above us, the upper branches swayed. Somewhere high over my head, was Mab's glittering castle and within that castle's deepest dungeon was Knut. Waiting for me.
"Are you certain you cannot stay a while more?" The branch beneath my feet creaked and bounced as Athane crossed its length to my side. Her body was that of an owl, though her face remained that of the crone.
I fiddled with the strings of my cloak, tying them tight at my throat. The fabric of midnight billowed around me, melding with the brightening sky. "Afraid not. Perhaps some other time." I said.
"That would be lovely." Athane smiled, her lips stretching grotesquely, squinting her eyes to near nothing. "Before you go," she began. Reaching into her feathers with wings tipped with fleshy hands, she procured a woman's slender finger. Only bone and bits of flesh remained, stretched taut over the bones and flaking away in the wind. Upon that finger, glistening in the newborn sun's light, was a large gold ring encrusted with an onyx as black as Athane's own eyes. She slipped the ring off of the finger and held it before my face. "Take this as a gift."
The ring was hideous.
When I made no move to take the gaudy ring, she snatched my hand and shoved it onto my finger. A gilded demon snarled at me with a wide-open mouth as it clasped the black jewel within possessive claws. Its forked tail wound around my finger tightly. The ring was warm. As warm as living flesh. I swore I saw its fingers shift, scraping claws against its jewel.
I yanked my hand out of her grasp. My finger was red from where she'd forced the ring on. I tried to pull it off, but the harder I pulled, the tighter the demon's tail wrapped around my finger. It refused to budge. I wore the ring, but the ring wore me in turn. "Get it off me!" I hissed.
"Don't be so ungrateful." Athane huffed, ruffling the mane of feathers around her round head. "You can't arrive at a royal wedding dressed in a dead man's clothes and your hair died pinkish with old blood, can you? I very much doubt that you were able to bring a wide selection of ball gowns on your war march." She snickered at my raging. "Turn the thing three times, and you'll be clad in a gown best suited to your person." A chuckle shook through her broad chest. "The faeries will dance in wisps of sunshine and frothy seafoam, but the goblin queen will come draped in death."
"I hope this dress is worth chopping off my own finger afterward," I growled, still trying to pry the vicious ring off my finger.
"It will also carry you to the wedding instantaneously. I suggest you do not lose it. The magic it holds is only temporary." She explained. "Once Midsummer is over, it will become an ordinary ring. Once that happens, you may toss it into your jewelry box at your leisure."
"Where did you get this thing?" I asked, shaking my hand beneath my cloak in a vain attempt to rid myself of the unnerving feeling that it was moving about.
"It belonged to one of my possessions, though it once held a very different spell. Humans were not always what they are now. Going blind is a slow process. At the start, they too had magic. Mostly, they used it for frivolous things like enchanted ball gowns, turning handsome men to beasts and glass slippers. Some, however, dared to slip into the Void to consort with my fellow brothers and sisters and they, like me, love making deals." Athane leaned towards me until her face blocked out everything else around me. The look in her eyes and the pleasure in her voice was chilling. "It is remarkable what a human will sell their soul for."
I felt like my blood was barely moving through my veins as I recalled the Serpent and the creature that had nearly killed me as I searched for Knut in Mab's prison. "The Beasts of the Void are your siblings too?"
"They were born of that darkness were they not?" She said. "We share the same creator. We are not all created equal, however. There are some as mindless as your subservient goblins, but there are others even greater than myself lurking down there." Her head tilted at me. "Everything is connected, Matilda and everything has its purpose. Nothing is made without meaning. I would think, having been married to the goblin king all these months, you would have learned all that by now." She swept past me, creeping to the very end of the branch. The branch bent slightly beneath her weight. "Anyway, you've nothing to fear. Those lot are quite content staying in our mother's womb and we have more...pressing concerns. Are you ready?"
"Yes," I shook myself free of my chill. The Void and whatever secrets it held were not my concern, at least not now. I had to return to my war and bring it to a swift end. I strode to her side and laid my hand into the cushion of the soft feathers on her side. "Take me back to my men. I've something I need to finish before I can enjoy a party."
Athane extended her wings. The feathers flickered to white and her old crone's face became that of the lovely maiden. Around us little stars swirled and fell like snowflakes, bathing us in their silver light. "I will tell you this, about your future, girl. Your life is one only you could endure. Best of luck to you, Goblin Queen."
Her voice began to fade as the light grew brighter and brighter. I squeezed my eyes shut against the blinding stars and opened them again to the circular inner chamber of the council's tower.
"Queen Matilda?" Snorri's voice was the first to greet me, I stood beside him, looking out at the ruined city. Below us, the goblin horde was pressed into a circle at the tower's base. Magic flew in waves of fire and sheer power and the green mist of goblin souls filled the night sky.Snorri's clothing was torn and splattered with silver, but he himself remained strong and unwavering. Not a hint of fatigue showed in his grotesque features. He gawked at me with his jaw hanging open, showing all his oversized teeth. "You're back."
His words were followed swiftly by the exuberant cheers of the thousands of goblins that remained of the horde, both within the tower and those fighting down in the streets. Yes, indeed, I was back.
"How?" How did you escape?" Lir's voice trembled as he and his fellow councilmen huddled like corralled sheep. He stared at me with disbelieving eyes.
"Are you okay? Are you injured?" Snorri asked. His eyes bounced around, quietly searching me for wounds or a hint that I might be a phantom.
"I made a deal," I replied. I looked around at the goblins gathered there. Their gear was tattered, if not their bodies. My inner circle were all present, consisting of Snorri, Agi, Ebbe, Llinos and a few of the other brides, some of whom I recognized as those that had been killed by the serpent, but had since been remade.
The she-goblins, clad in thin leather armor, were enjoying sticking our hostages with their sharp daggers and even sharper claws. One of them, the bride with spikes protruding from her spine, Ketil, spoke up, her eyes discreetly searching the room. "What of Ari? She went to save you, didn't she?"
I turned my gaze away from her swiftly. "She nearly succeeded, but I'm afraid she didn't make it." My hands balled into fists beneath the cloak. "We'll remake her soon. I promise."
Ketil stared at me a moment, then slowly nodded her head in acceptance, poking the faerie closest to her with her claw especially deep, making him scream in torment to make herself feel a little better.
A tug on my cloak drew my attention to the child-sized Ebbe. The pig-nosed goblin held out his small hands to me. In them, shining brightly was my dagger, the pendant still wrapped around its blade.
A sighed with relief as I took the dagger from him. Slowly, I unwound the pendant from it and slipped the blade into my belt. I held the pendant in my palm, passing my thumb across the hunk of iron.
When I slipped the pendant around my neck, it fell more heavily against my chest than I remembered.
I stood before Mab's throne at the center of the room while the goblins circled me, their focus transfixed upon my face. "Give me a brief explanation of what's been going on here while I was away," I ordered, my voice strong, despite the nervous pains wreaking havoc on my guts.
"Mab kept to her word." Snorri began. His lips stretched into a thin scowling line. "Her best soldiers arrived not long after you were taken. They've been trying to force us from the city ever since. She's sent her best and it shows. We've lost the outer neighborhoods. All that remains within goblin control is the city's heart and this tower."
Llinos, standing by the crumbling outer wall, looking out of the city, spoke up and all other goblins lent him their ears. "The faeries are growing stronger the closer we get to Midsummer. Normally, it would be the same for us, but most of us' magical abilities are dependant upon the king. We are all connected to him. We feed off the seed's magic, but with the seed doing all it can to keep him alive, we're barely getting a trickle. The new goblins from Snorri's brood, however, are more...separated from the seed. They are able to use magic as they will almost like a prince, though not as strongly. They are the only ones still able to hold their own and they're the only reason the city has not fallen back into Mab's hand." Llinos smiled at me. "Knut was wise to give them will."
Snorri pounded his chest with a clenched fist. "We'll hold this city till the last man falls!" He bellowed. "We won't give it up without a fight!" The goblins around us cheered happily, dancing on thin limbs.
"Let her have it."
The cheers died almost the exact moment the words were out of my mouth. The goblins stared at me, then looked around at each other as if to make sure they'd heard correctly.
"L-let her have it?" Snorri echoed me, ending the sentence with a question mark.
"Yes," I said, "There's no point in trying to keep something that she's already won. Besides, I've already done the damage I sought to inflict. The majority of her people are dead. The markets are destroyed, her councilmen are our prisoners, and the city is in flames. The beating heart of her very society has been stopped cold. Her victory over me now relies solely on her treaty with Oberon and that I mean to tear down like the walls of her city." I settled into Mab's throne, my body melding with it just as comfortably as if the throne were my own. "So, everyone is to retreat back to the Underground until you are called for again. Tomorrow is Midsummer. It is a time of peace, after all." A wicked smile spread across my face. "And I have a wedding to attend.""You can't go to the wedding! Mab will murder you as soon as you walk through the door!" Snorri protested, exchanging worried glances with the others.
"He's right. It would put you at too great a risk." Ketil said. "Knut would unravel us all if we let you do something so reckless."
"I am going," I stated, my voice firm and expression unflinchingly cold.
The room filled with many voices, all warning me against following through on what I knew had to happen.
"She has a plan." Llinos' voice cut through the others like his swift, sharp blade. "Don't you, Blondie?" His shoulders trembled with laughter.
I raised my chin a little higher. "I do indeed. I will not lie. It is beyond risky, what I am planning, but I feel it is the only way we have even the slightest hope of saving Knut and taking what is rightfully ours." I looked around at my subjects, meeting each of their gazes from the small Agi to the large and powerful Snorri. "The peace between the faerie courts is a powderkeg. The slightest spark can ignite an inferno of war. I mean to create that spark."
The room once again erupted in jubilant goblin cheers.
"There's no hope of changing your mind is there?" Snorri sighed heavily.
"None at all," I replied, flashing him a somewhat apologetic smile. "However, if it will make you feel better, I would like you, Llinos, Agi and Ebbe to accompany me as my entourage."
"Yes, Queen." He bowed and as he righted the tension in his shoulders seemed to relax a little.
"Before we leave though, we'll need to make preparations." My gaze slid over to our hostages. Lir and the others knelt on the floor, their arms and wings tied down to their waists. "You'll need something to wear. You can't very well arrive at a wedding dressed in armor and leather. And it seems we no longer have any need for hostages."
"No!" Lir screamed over the others' wailing. "No! You can't!" The she-goblins giggled to themselves as they seized the faeries by their arms, hoisting them up off the ground with ease. "We've done everything you've asked! Do what you will with me, but let the others go!" Lir pleaded, his eyes were wide with panic.
His pleas fell on deaf ears. Knut had received no mercy and neither would they. "Rip the wings from their backs and toss them from the tower," I ordered, much to the faeries dismay and the goblins' delight. "Let's see how well they fly without their wings."
The goblins carried out my orders without batting an eye. First, the faeries were stripped of their flamboyant living clothing, leaving their pale arses bare to the world. The goblins tore the wings from the faeries' backs with the skillfulness of butchers. The tower filled with the sound of horrific screaming and the snapping of bones as the ground grew slick with faerie blood.
Lir was the first to be dragged to the tower's crumbling side. He was a shell of the warrior he had been before I arrived. He hung in the she-goblins' arms, completely void of strength. Whatever courage he'd still had, had been ripped away from him with his wings. "Please. Please." He muttered as I left the throne to stand by the wall, eager to watch them plummet from the sky they thought they owned. His eyes were hollow, filled with nothing but grief and pain. "My son. I just want to see my son again." Tears spilled down his cheeks.
Agi passed me a bottle of faerie wine. I tipped it over Lir's head, covering him in the red nectar. He sputtered, spitting out the wine that seeped through his lips. His muscles twitched as he flinched in pain at the wine that got into the open wounds on his back.
Ebbe handed me a newly lit torch. "Then go and be with him." I sneered and set the torch against his skin. The fire ignited the wine saturating him, engulfing him in flame. He screamed in agony as his skin began to melt, his limbs flailing in a vain attempt to put himself out.Snorri kicked him in the back sending him hurtling through the crumbling tower wall. The screams grew more distant then ceased abruptly.
One by one, the other council members followed him, each of them falling to the earth like doomed stars, streaking the dark sky with bright, violent light.
I watched them all die, watched the dead pile up on the ground below and a moment of unbridled terror pass over the faces of the faerie soldiers she'd sent. Their eyes followed the falling flaming bodies to the crumbling upper reaches of the tower, where I stood.Let them see me.
Let her know I am back.
"How do they fit, boys?" I asked my entourage. Outside the fighting grew louder. The faeries were pressing further in as my goblins began to retreat.
Snorri and Llinos stood before me, tugging uncomfortably at their stolen faerie clothing. Sadly, there was nothing that would fit Ebbe and Agi. Their usual uniform would have to do.
Snorri fiddled with the buttons of his coat of billowing clouds that barely contained his muscled form. "It's a bit...small." He muttered.
Llinos began to roll up the too short sleeves of his wine ensemble, filling the room with the scent of a freshly opened bottle.
"You look ridiculous but its better than walking in there looking like you're ready to start a fight. Time to go. Touch my shoulders and we'll be off."
Snorri gave me a questioning look but laid his hand upon my shoulder obediently. Llinos did the same while Ebbe took hold of my pant leg and Agi sat on my foot.
"We won't be needing your wings this time, Snorri. Athane was kind enough to give me a gift." I lifted my hand from beneath my cloak, showing them the hideous demonic ring. With my thumb and pinkie, I turned the ring.
One time.
Two times.
Three.
We rushed through the flow of time and space with a force that sent my breath rushing from my lungs. The demon on my ring sprung to life. It skittered up my arm. It grew and grew, swallowing me up and setting my whole body on fire as its very skin merged with mine.
Then, just as abruptly, I popped back into reality. I stood in the tall grass of the garden I'd seen in Athane's visions. In the distance, a bonfire burned as beautiful faeries twirled around it, tossing flowers into the flames.
"That was...unpleasant." Llinos groaned as he rolled his shoulders and dusted off his clothes. He picked up my cloak from the grass and shook beetles out of it, carefully tucking my dagger into its magic pocket.
As I turned to look at them, Snorri and Llinos' mouths dropped open and their eyes widened."What's wrong?" I asked. "Athane gave me the dress. Is it strange? I stroked the silk skirt that billowed around me, noting the strange bobbles sewn onto its hem. I raced to a nearby pool and peered at my reflection.
The skirt didn't have the large hoop that my more extravagant gowns had. It fit more closely to my body and pooled at my feet with a long train that trailed behind me. The chest was open, baring the soft flesh of my throat leaving the iron pendant on display, the sleeves hung low off my shoulders in thin vapors. It would have been a lovely dress if not for the rather gruesome embellishments.
"The goblin queen will come draped in death." Athane had said and every word had been truth.The silky fabric was the color of ashes. The bodice was lined with what seemed to be human bones, with intricate patterns carved into them. A rib cage was my corset and my throat was ringed with a ruff of finger bones that fanned around my head. My hair had been twisted into twin spires, much like how I'd often worn it in the Underground, giving the impression that devilish horns grew from my skull. Tonight, I truly did look like a devil that had crawled its way out of hell.
It was absolutely perfect.