Chapter 9
We stood in the triple moonlight outside the gates of an estate eerily similar to the one at the waypoint. Of course, the waypoint had been modeled after the goblin realm. It made sense that things would be similar… if it hadn’t been so long since the ways were severed.
I still stood clinging to Mistral as I asked, “Goblins don’t much care for home updates, do they?”
“Why should we, when we do things right the first time?”
With a scoff, Sebastian dropped my arm then approached the gates, his attention on the shrubbery shaped into wolves, or maybe dogs. Beyond the shrubs and trimmed grass was a gatehouse, its windows glowing yellow.
“At least someone is still here,” Mistral said, his tone different this time.
“Did you think your uncle might have left?” I asked.
“Goblins die, Eva. Even the most powerful amongst us.”
His shifting moods were giving me whiplash, but I decided to give him a pass until we saw what we found. If he didn’t actually know any of the goblins at the estate, they might not help us.
Sebastian was fiddling with the gates, there was a loud clank, then he stepped back, opening one side for us to pass.
Mistral took my hand and walked us over. “There was a lock on that gate,” he observed.
“Was,” Sebastian said. “The security seems rather lacking.”
“Goblins rule with the support of the land. We do not need… security.” Mistral tugged me along without another word.
Gabriel and Crispin followed silently. My, weren’t we a cheery bunch?
At least Ringo still seemed excited. He was a bouncing ball of energy on my shoulder.
Or maybe he just hoped dinner was nearby, and we wouldn’t be stuck with the rations that were nowhere near as good as the lunch we’d missed out on.
The door to the gatehouse creaked open before we could reach it, and out hobbled an absolutely ancient female goblin.
Her silver hair was a poofy, curly halo around her wizened skull, her skin stony gray like Mistral’s.
Skin color was the only similarity though.
She was tiny, hunched, and staring at us like she’d seen a ghost. Her nose hooked so low it obscured her upper lip.
Her eyes darted between us, then she spoke to us in Mistral’s native tongue, a language I only understood a few words of, and none of those words did she use. Mistral was smiling though, so it was probably a good sign. He answered her in the goblin tongue, then gave a deep bow.
Hopping up and down, she beamed at each of us, then raced off into the darkness like a hare.
Crispin moved to my side as we stared after her. “How the hells did she move so fast?”
Ignoring Crispin’s question, Mistral said, “She’ll alert my uncle that we are here. We can plan on a warm welcome.”
I blinked at him. “So he’s alive?”
He fought his smile, but it broke through. “Yes. That part, at least, has gone to plan.”
It was a warm welcome indeed. I wasn’t sure how Mistral’s uncle, Avery, had bedecked the massive table so quickly in the middle of the night, but I shouldn’t have been surprised.
Gabriel had performed the same feat more than once.
He now sat beside me, hand comfortably resting on my thigh as Mistral and his uncle spoke rapidly in their native tongue.
No one seemed to mind Ringo hopping around the table sampling desserts and roast vegetables alike.
Well, Gabriel glared at him from time to time, but he didn’t try to stop him.
Not when Crispin was just as bad, heaping his plate with everything in sight, mixing the sweets and savories all together.
Sebastian sat with only a cup of tea and a slice of cake with pale purple frosting.
Thinking the brown and hopefully chocolate cake was more to my liking, I started to reach for a piece, then realized Avery was speaking to me.
I glanced between Mistral and Avery, and it was a little unnerving because they shared so many similarities.
Far more than with Una, the wizened keeper of the gatehouse, who grinned as she watched Ringo enjoying himself.
Avery’s hair, the same perfect white as Mistral’s, was shorter, but just as silken, his eyes the same gray, his features both elegant and sharp.
He even wore a cream linen shirt similar to Mistral’s other than the blue embroidery at the collar.
He repeated what he had said, which sounded like a question.
Mistral winced behind his uncle’s back. “He’s asking about why the pathways were severed.”
It made sense, I supposed. My mom had basically cut and run, leaving most everyone on earth, save a few allies, questioning. Those who had known about the darkness had agreed it was better to leave everyone else in, well, the dark.
“Maybe we can tell him, but leave out the part about my mom being the one who did it?” I asked hopefully.
Mistral winced again. “He does speak some English. Most of the nobility learned when the celestials were still amongst us. Though I cannot say how much he remembers?” He turned toward his uncle.
“Her mother?” Avery replied, and I slumped in my seat.
Mistral launched into an explanation, once again not in English, before his uncle could fully react. Gabriel patted my leg and put a slice of cake on my plate.
Now that I looked closer, it wasn’t quite brown, but very dark red. At least if it wasn’t chocolate, it wouldn’t be the worst thing that had happened to me all day.
By the time we reached one of the rooms we’d been offered, I was full and finally relaxed.
But only because I was a little bit drunk.
As Avery interrogated me, with occasional translations from Mistral to help his rusty comprehension of the English language, I had sipped goblin wine to give myself pauses from answering.
It hadn’t been all that bad, really, but Avery had been cut off from his sister and nephew without warning or reason.
It was normal for him to want answers after all this time, especially since his sister had passed away on earth, unbeknownst to him.
And in return, he’d provided answers as well.
He’d seen a few living shadows here and there, and had heard stories of goblins going missing, but they were isolated incidences.
Nothing huge. If the darkness had started seeping into the goblin realm, my mother had cut it off before it got too far.
Once Avery understood the danger, he seemed more at ease with my presence.
In theory, my mother had saved his realm from ruin.
Now the only goblin I was worried about was Mistral. This was our first moment alone while Avery provided a tour of his estate to the others. Even Sebastian had seemed keen. It wasn’t often one got to explore a far realm.
Mistral sat on the deep stone windowsill, watching me as I explored our temporary living quarters.
The bed was huge. We all could have fit in it, though we all had our own rooms. Mistral had told Avery of my joining with him, but as far as I knew, he had left out my relationship with the other guys.
Fire crackled from a fireplace made of small stones that swirled upward, reminiscent of a river.
While the one exterior wall was also stone, the rest were dark, aged wood.
Two cushioned chairs sat in front of the fire, between them a table with more goblin wine.
The lighting was dim, but I had a feeling it could brighten with just a thought from Avery.
The blown glass lanterns were all powered by goblin magic, linked to the owner of the estate.
Finished looking around, I glanced at Mistral, still unable to read his mood.
I knew he was thrilled his uncle was alive, and that nothing terrible had happened to his homeland while he was away, but something felt off.
There was something he wasn’t telling me.
And now we no longer had a bargain of truth between us.
“You’re concerned,” he said when I started fiddling with the bedspread. It was forest green and soft as a kitten.
I glanced at him again. “Am I?”
He tilted his head, draping silken hair down his shoulder. “Yes, but about what?”
“Are you sensing this alleged concern through our connection?”
I glanced at him again to catch his smirk. “I have been alive a long time. I may not understand all human customs, but I can tell when a woman is concerned.”
I finally faced him, crossing my arms. “Do I have anything to be concerned about?”
His brow twitched. “You’re being coy, but there is no bargain between us now. You may lie if you wish.”
I sighed loudly, then approached, sitting opposite him in the windowsill.
The stone was cold from the outside air.
I looked out the window at the stars, unable to see the three moons from this angle.
“It’s good that there’s not much darkness here.
We won’t have to be concerned about something following us back to earth. ”
“It is certainly a relief.”
I turned my head to study his face, but he was an ancient goblin. He gave new meaning to the term poker face. “So you’re relieved?”
“Why don’t you just ask what you wish, Eva? The others may return soon.”
Why didn’t I just ask?
Probably because I was terrified of the answer.
“Once this is all over…” I trailed off, my eyes slipping back toward the glittering stars. Only, the stars gave me a sick feeling in my gut. If Mistral ultimately wanted to return to his home realm, I might lose the stars that were always erupting between us.
“You wish to know if I still view this realm as my true home.”
I whipped my eyes back toward him. “Um. Yeah.”
A small smile played across his lips as he turned his gaze out the window. “Let me ask you, do you feel any increased magic through our bond here?”
I thought about it, but everything felt pretty much the same. “No. Not any more than when we’re in the Bogs. Should I?”
He looked at me again, as if willing me to understand. “If I were still the rightful ruler of this land, its magic would have flowed through me the second we stepped through the pathway. I knew it was not so the moment we arrived.”