Chapter 2 #3
The goblin’s lips curled into a snarl. “Don’t make me tenderize you like this, Your Highness. Or should that be Your Majesty now?” Giggling. “Yes! I like that better. Eating a king is even more splendid than a prince!”
Talking to her wasn’t going to get me anywhere.
She stopped laughing and came back to me.
“I like you better. You’re the friendly one.
” She winked her green eye at me. “What else can be expected from pampered royalty? They live a life of privilege and power, never having to be polite.” She turned her head again.
“Always kind to your servants?” She snorted like a pig. “Is that supposed to endear me to you?”
If only the prince would shut up.
The goblin rolled her eyes, facing me again. “It will be a little wait until dinner. We have to make a broth, clean our meat, perform all the necessary preparations.”
Is there anything I can do or say to stop this?
“No, Kormac. There isn’t.”
Can we bargain?
“With what?”
I don’t—
“With him?”
I didn’t say that! I didn’t even think it!
“I know, Kormac Aeson. Don’t panic. I’m simply making conversation. I enjoy talking to you.”
How did I answer that?
“Shall we discuss your little soul bond? I haven’t seen or smelled one in a long time.”
You can smell it? I asked.
“Yes. It smells of blackberry pie.”
Really?
“At least to me it does.” She leaned closer, fingers on my torso.
“If things were different, I would offer you advice.” Closer still, her face almost touching my flesh.
“Soul bonds are strange things. Slippery, tricky. Often for life.” She grinned with pure menace.
“Life being the operative word.” She didn’t say anything else at first, glancing behind her to the cauldron.
“Say there was an accident, a moment you couldn’t possibly help with despite the bond longing you to.
It would hurt you to lose your bonded. It will break you.
But when the moment is over, when the freedom fills you up like a good soup, the pain will be a small price to pay. ”
An accident… Not saving Valance.
She shrugged. “But none of that matters now. You’ll die together.”
What if—
“No, Kormac.”
What if… What if… Gods, it hurt to even try to ask.
“You can’t say it.”
What if…
“Don’t waste your thoughts. Too exhausting. I will not be swayed.”
She left me alone, going off to inspect the table, talking to fellow goblins.
Lots of laughter, lots of unheard conversation.
The fire below the cauldron was loaded with more wood, stoked by bellows until flames touched the bottom of the pot.
Heat filled the room, steam curling from the water inside.
Gods.
Valance’s eyes met mine. Cold. Dark. They gave nothing away. He must’ve heard what the goblin said. Too bad. It wasn’t like our hate was secret. Only buried.
The goblin returned to me. “I’m Clementine, by the way.”
Okay.
“Shouldn’t you be saying how nice it is to meet me?”
Maybe if things were different.
“I understand, Kormac. I do try and make this as pleasant an experience as possible. But it always ends in screams. Never mind. You must always season your food, and fear is better than salt.”
Clementine. Please…
“It’s almost time for your first bath. A scrub in the tub before your second and final dip.” She laughed, the goblins at the cauldron joining in. “It’s getting nice and hot for you, Kormac. Isn’t it…” She stopped, frowning at Valance.
What has he said now?
“It’s not what he said, Kormac.”
I looked to him. Veins popped across his arms, his slender muscles tense. His fingers moved, curling into claws. Even his bare feet curled up and relaxed. Flexing. His chest rose and fell in frantic breaths.
What’s happening? I said.
Clementine cocked her head. “He killed… What is this? Not a simple murder? Something deeper. A curse upon the cursed prince? More potent rage than… What is this? Shadow magic?”
Clementine?
“Hush, Kormac!” she snapped at me.
I noticed the other goblins staring at the prince.
“How does he move?” a male asked. “Is the poison wearing thin?”
No one answered him.
A gust of fury licked at my soul. From him.
Oh, gods.
Clementine’s face met mine, full of confusion. “What aren’t you telling us?”
In that moment, I put some of my skills into practice.
I mediated often. It helped a lot to clear my mind, to keep me calm when I’d otherwise lose myself.
Perfect for emptying out my thoughts. Taught to me by my other lost friend, Leanna.
I closed my eyes, focused on the well. Always a well.
My thoughts pebbles and stones to throw into that well.
I picked this one up, this thought so close to showing itself.
Cradling it to my chest, I hurried to the well.
Careful, careful. No dropping. No tripping.
No reacting to the demands of Clementine in my ears. To the pain across my skin.
Drop it, I said to myself.
The goblin roared in the distance. If I opened my eyes, so much as gave her a reaction, I’d lose it. I’d give it all up to her. Show her the truth of the prince, why he was really cursed nowadays.
Drop it.
And I did. Down it went, landing with a splash. Safely away.
Then the horror show began.