19. CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Calista
B lack, thick, leafy vines with deep purple blooms the size of dinner plates climbed the walls of the castle. What was once barren reminded me of a Gothic scene of sorts. I wondered if it would swallow it whole in time. But as Astaroth stated, time didn’t exist. It just was. Whatever that meant.
As I approached, Astaroth stepped out from behind one of several partially finished columns. The closer I got, I noticed goblin faces etched onto them. He clapped his hands, the sound slightly muted by the gloves he wore.
“You did as I told you.”
I rolled my eyes. “I did as I remembered.”
His head slightly inclined, and I took that as him conceding. I needed a win.
“And much quicker this time. I expected you to come from there.” He pointed to a different area of the wall. “I do wonder how you discovered a shorter path.”
I shrugged off his question and intense gaze to take in the pillar. The details in the carvings were masterful and smooth; not a blemish to be found, which was amazing considering how ugly and blemish-riddled the goblins actually were.
“You could’ve created a shorter path by bringing us directly here,” I said, my finger tracing the face of an especially young and humanesque goblin. It reminded me of Kaiden’s when he was trapped in Astaroth’s cage. My chest tightened from the memory, and I dropped my hand.
“As I said—”
“You wanted another chance to kill me,” I snapped.
“I never wanted you dead.”
“Could’ve fooled me. And you have, every chance you’ve gotten.”
The drawbridge began rising to seal the outer wall of the castle. My anxiety spiked, remembering what happened next. Only this time, I wasn’t saving my brother. I had to find a way to save myself. Escape was no longer an option. I was officially trapped unless I found a way out of our agreement.
“I will prove it to you. But right now, you must go inside.”
I followed him to a door that opened as we approached. I hesitated at the threshold when I saw what awaited us. Did we have to enter here? Was this part of his power play?
He didn’t look back as he sauntered inside his throne room. A group of goblins loitered, awaiting their king. The ruckus rose to a loud clamber when they noticed Astaroth striding across the black marble floors to take his seat on the throne. That is new, I thought. Spikes fanned out from behind the tall-backed chair. The tip of each spike displayed a skull, and in the center, the mask he wore when he visited me stared straight at me. It was another reminder to me of who held the power in this hellhole.
The goblins dropped to their knees in reverence as he stepped up onto the dais and spun around. It painted a powerful image and would make one hell of a portrait. After a moment of silence, their heads turned in unison and black eyes stared back at me.
I trembled and braced myself in the door frame. A soft stroke to the back of my hand made me jerk away. One of the vines wavered as if ushering me inside.
One tentative step was all it would take, but I couldn’t do it. All I could see was my brother inside a human-sized bird cage dangling from the stone ceiling, his face transforming into one of the little mongrels in front of me now.
Before I could register the movement, I retreated and pressed my back against the outer wall. Each breath gave life to the fire burning in my chest. I’d like to believe that the smoke from that blaze was causing my eyes to water instead of the fear coursing through my veins. Maybe if I were lucky, they’d water enough to purge this feeling entirely and douse the flames. But I was never lucky. All my good fortune was thanks to this cursed wishing stone.
The pendant throbbed against my chest in a low steady thrum as if it knew I was thinking about it and hurt along with me. I gripped it with a tight fist, the chain tugging at my neck as I willed it to break so I could hurl it far away from me. I squeezed my eyes shut and fought the urge to scream.
A tickle on my cheek eased me. It followed the trail of my tears and wiped them away. What was with the vines around here? I reached up to push it away and paused.
Astaroth’s hand rested beneath mine. The fabric of his glove absorbed the stream and dried my cheek beneath it.
Confusion ate at me. I needed this kind gesture as much as I needed my next breath, but I wasn’t sure I wanted it from him. No, I know I didn’t want it from him. He did this to me. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for him.
“Calista—”
I turned my head, his hand lingering in the air by my face before dropping it at his side.
“Are we to go back to this?”
I grit my teeth together.
“We grew cordial in the labyrinth.”
My eyes snapped up to his, and I held his stare. I knew better than to gaze into their depths, but I didn’t care. Maybe they would suck me inside, and I wouldn’t remember the things to come.
Astaroth leaned down, those specks in his eyes swirling as he lost himself in my own abyss of anger, despair, and grief.
“I understand your plight. I have been patient and kind,” he stated and lifted a hand to wipe the tears from my other cheek. I blocked him from doing so. His lips tightened into a thin line. “Or I can be as cruel as you, if you choose.”
The audacity of this… this… whatever he was. The gasp released like a volcano erupting. “How dare you.”
He ignored me. “You will enter the castle.”
“I will not.”
“It is safe there.”
“Not from you.”
Was that a quick glimpse of shock I saw on his face?
Rigid, he stated, “You will go to your quarters.”
One of my biggest fears dispelled and a weight lifted from me. A moment of joy seeped through my middle that I wouldn’t be sharing one with him after my failed escape. Another one settled in its place. If we weren’t sharing a room now, then when? And what would he do to ensure it?
What resembled annoyance flickered over his features when he noticed my little moment. I schooled my face.
“Enter.”
“No.”
“No,” he huffed. His teeth sank into his bottom lip, preventing whatever he would’ve said next.
“That’s what I said. No!” It came out on a screech as he hauled me up over his shoulder and carried my screaming ass inside the castle.
I beat at his back and tried to kick my feet, cursing his very name while trying not to notice how high above the ground I swung, but his arms clamped my legs to his chest.
“Put me down, or I swear to God, Astaroth, I will bite chunks out of your backside!”
He had the audacity to laugh. “Maybe I will make you share my quarters so you can fulfill those promises.”
“What?” My face burned as I looked around the now empty room, and I wasn’t one to embarrass easily. It sent me into freakout mode. I was glad his little minions weren’t there to witness any of this. I wiggled my entire body to break loose from his hold. “Put me down right now! Don’t touch me!”
Once again, he ignored me and kept walking.
The wishing stone swung from neck and caught my eye. I didn’t think twice. I was already here, what was the worst that could happen.
“I wish for you to put me down this instance.”
The stone pulsed so hard I could feel it vibrate up the chain. I wasn’t ready when he dropped me unceremoniously onto the floor. My ankle twisted under my weight as I tried to get my feet under me. I felt like a baby deer standing for the first time and failing, crumbling to the unforgiving, cold marble. It was jarring when I landed. My palms struck before the rest of me. I curled into a ball, cradled my tweaked leg to my chest, and rested my face on the cool surface trying not to puke. I’d spent too much time on the ground tonight, but at least the marble was cleaner.
When I looked up, confusion and anger met me. Only he wasn’t staring at me; he was staring at the wishing stone.
“Rise.”
I closed my eyes and curled tighter.
Without a word, Astaroth stepped over me. His presence drifted farther away. The sound of his boots indicated he walked back toward the door to the courtyard outside, but I couldn’t bring myself to look. What did it matter anyway? I couldn’t escape him here. Hell, I couldn’t escape him at home. It was safe to say I couldn’t escape him, period. There was no reason to get off the floor. That would make this all too easy for him.
His voice surrounded me and bounced off the inside of my skull. “I have infinite time.”
I laid there thinking about that, the entire time debacle confusing me until my brain started to melt, and I grew stiff. My bones ached from leeching the coolness from the stone around me. Through the crack in my lids, I watched the sky for the changing of the hour. Goblins returned tired from chasing the pixie and ran from the room as soon as they spotted me. Eventually, the sky lightened to the twilight hue I was accustomed to. As beautiful as it could be, I hated that time of day back home. It reminded me too much of here. Now I’d give anything to have it back and appreciate it because it wasn’t this dismal, grayish lavender. The color of death.
I would not shrivel and die here.
Astaroth
My brethren dispersed as we entered the Goblin Circle, trudging to their homes to find solace in their beds. We searched all night and found nothing. The newly darkening sky made it difficult to see anything with all the shadows. The pixie had evaded us.
Mergle stifled a yawn. “We will go out again after we rest.”
“No need.” I picked a burr from my sleeve and flicked it with undue force. “I do not sense it any longer.”
“I’d like to be certain.”
I glared down at him. “Do you not trust my judgment?”
“Your judgment is impeccable, Your Highness.”
“And, yet, you don’t listen.” I stopped walking and threw my arms out. “It is not here!”
“I am listening. I also see. Your focus is in another place.”
“My focus is on the coming war.” I walked away from him, but he chased after me.
“Which is upon us. They felt your magic in the human realm.”
“The stone has been returned home. They will not sense it there again.”
“No, but they saw you there and will feel the power tenfold once you reclaim it. And now a pixie has disappeared from the realm. He could come here—”
“They wouldn’t dare the risk.”
“Yet you risk her.”
I spun around and Mergle halted. “This has been the plan all along. Why question it now?”
“I don’t, Your Highness. Only stating the obvious. If someone wants something badly enough, they will accept the risks.”
I bit the inside of my lip, wondering if I should tell him or keep the information close to my chest, but it leapt off my tongue. “She used it against me.”
He remained quiet with a dumbfounded expression.
“My magic,” I whispered almost nonexistent words, as a group of droopy goblins and redcaps trudged past toward their homes and the castle. “She made a wish on the stone.”
Mergle gasped, turning some of their heads. “That is impossible.”
“Shh.” I nudged him to the side. “I thought so, as well.”
“How?”
“If I knew,” I growled, “we would be having an entirely different discussion.”
“Yes, yes. What I meant was, in what way.”
“She wanted me to put her down.” My teeth felt as though they would crack. “And I dropped her.”
Mergle winced.
“Exactly.”
His gaze flicked around and locked on something behind me as his brain worked through it. He tugged down his shirt sleeves and tucked a hem that had come loose back into his waistband. “I will talk with Jessandra.”
I kept a straight face. He knew we butted heads, but I was certain that Mergle had a bit of a soft spot for that pain in my ass. I could feel his energy shift as he thought about being in her presence.
“Calista will adapt,” I muttered, more to myself than Mergle. She had no other choice, and I needed to believe that she could.
“She will, Your Highness,” he said as he brushed dirt off his pants and fixed his shirt again. “Things will be set right.”
I rolled my eyes and continued our journey home. “Stop primping.”
“Appearance is expectation.”
“We spent the night fighting and running from creatures, crawling into spider infested holes, and wading through sucker ponds.” I reached over and plucked one of the slimy offenders off his neck. “Our appearance,” I sniffed my shirt and grimaced, “and smell are a telltale sign that we need bathed and rest. Nothing more.”
Up ahead, near the market street, Jessandra rounded the bend with purpose. From this distance, she didn’t look any better than us.
Mergle ran his hands over his head to push down stray hairs. All he accomplished was rubbing a clump of mud through it.
Calista’s image formed in my mind. Magic pooled around me, and I reached out to connect with the wishing stone. This time, instead of feeling a jolt, I felt a measure of resistance that I pushed through. Her emotions cascaded over me. She was lonely, tired, and hungry.
Mergle jumped to the side when a portal ripped opened in the blink of an eye in front of us.
“Expectations will bring you misery,” I said and stepped through the portal to chase my own.
I came out inside the guard tower near the courtyard where she sat. The guards leaned against the wall, splitting their focus between their returning brothers and Calista. After her little escape heist, they didn’t budge from the gate.
I leaned against the window, taking refuge in the shadows so she wouldn’t see me and leave. It brought me little comfort compared to the stone around her neck, and even that was iffy as of late. She should never have been able to use it against me, yet with one wish, she commanded my entire being. It seized me, stripping me of control physically, then emotionally. I had no idea what to do or what she would or could do to me with the aid of the realm. The only thing I could think to do in that moment was put as much distance as possible between us. Although I knew it was a lost cause, I went in search of the pixie. It was a failed distraction attempt.
As the sky changed, I learned how to bypass the stone and tap into the realm to feel Calista. Her volatile emotions ebbed out through the realm, creating discord throughout all life. I spent the better part of the morning watching her from the guard tower and learning how to soothe her through the stone. Eventually, her emotions leveled out and the chaotic energy settled back into the peaceful flow we were accustomed to. All but her hunger. That I could remedy.