Tauron reaches into the pack on the back of his own horse and pulls out a small leather satchel, large enough to fit the bushels in the witch's hands but not much more.
When he moves to take the plants from her, she shakes her head. “The Goblin King was very specific about his agreement for me to take the plants. We can take only whatIcan carry.”
Tauron’s eyebrows pinch together, and he glances at me. “You told the Goblin King what you were doing here?”
She nods sharply. “He has eyes everywhere in his kingdom. It's not as simple as taking a few plants and riding to the fae door without drawing attention. We’d have a swarm of goblin soldiers waiting for us. They’re ready to kill us all and be done with it if we take anything without his permission.”
She ties the satchel securely to her own saddle and, without preamble, swings on top of the horse and steers Northern Star back onto the path. We set off once more, and after a few paces I nudge Nightspark until I fall into line next to the witch. She doesn't react except to send me a sidelong look, distrust woven into her features as she readies herself for an attack.
“What did you speak to the Goblin King about?”
She's expecting this question and has had more than enough time to prepare her answer for it.
The cold and empty smile that stretches across her lips is very different to the one she gave him. “I don't know why you ask, Prince Soren, when you have every intention of dismissing my words as lies.”
I watch as the green fields around us sway and murmur with life. The peace I feel in these fields is an insult to the rest of the kingdom, the damage wrought there by her kind. “Tell me anyway, and I'll see if I can find it in myself to believe you. Swear it on the baby and maybe I will.”
Her eyebrows rise but her focus doesn't stray from the path ahead. “He asked me who I was and where I came from, and I told him. The goblins haven’t forgotten the way of this world, and my name means something to him, enough that he offered me sanctuary in Goblin City.”
My head snaps toward her, but she ignores my reaction, her tone unchanging with her calm delivery. “I told him that it’s my fate to stay with you and that I wished to take the milk thistle. He already knew the curse was broken—he felt it. When he asked about it, I didn’t answer for fear of the princess’s safety. I don't believe the Goblin King would do anything to harm her or the baby, but there are too many ears in the kingdom to risk such words.”
I have no doubt of her protectiveness toward Airlie and the baby. She wants them alive. My concerns are her motives behind that desire, but for now, I’ll use her knowledge and skills to ensure their safety.
We fall into silence once more, and it's not until the horizon before us turns white and the horses begin to climb the beginnings of the mountain that the fae door rests at the bottom of that she speaks again.
“He offered me some marriage advice as well, but I told him it wouldn't apply in our case.”
My gut clenches, my tone harsh as I snap, “You truly believe I'm going to marry you?”
She huffs out a chuckle, adjusting her hands on the reins so she can stroke Northern Star’s neck. The beast is bewitched by her, calming under her sure touch.
“I believe you have no other choice, Prince Soren. I went to the Northern Lands in search of a different fate and found nothing but disappointment and heartache, a glimpse into the future if we choose to ignore their demands.”
She speaks in riddles, the worst sort of conversation, because she knows more than I do, or at least she thinks she does. No matter what else she does, whatever acts of service and loyalty she shows, I can’t trust her for this reason. Her motives will always be her own, while mine must always consider my people, my hands tied from birth.
When I can’t bear her silence any longer, I ask, “Why won’t it apply to us? If you're so sure of this future, why does his advice not apply?”
The horses’ hooves crunch on the ground as we reach the edge of the frozen land, the green disappearing under the slurry of snow that’s begun to build until it’s all we can see once more.
“He told me the Fates know better than we do, and if they placed us together, then we can trust in that. He’s sure that someday, we will find our way to one another, not just in our physical forms but in our hearts as well.”
She turns to me, her silver eyes flashing in the icy, white depths of winter’s hold. “I don't see any danger of that happening here, do you, Prince Soren?”
* * *
The witch is silent for the rest of the trip through the Goblin Lands and doesn't speak again until we have made it through the fae door and back to Yregar. The soldiers that wait for us there all bow their heads in respect to me as we pass through.
The soldiers' presence here has tripled, just as I instructed, but the horses are slower as we work our way back toward the village in the darkness, only the stars above to light our path.
I watch the tense lines of her shoulders grow even more taut the closer we get to the castle, her apprehension of what we’ll find there a mirror of my own. I have no idea where I'm going to put the witch now that the dungeon is no longer an option.
I’m busy considering this when she breaks the silence. “The trading routes will feed the castle and the villagers until the winter solstice, but what are your plans after that? Are you going to trade with King Salem forever?”
Tauron huffs out a breath at her presumption, questioning the heir to the Southern Lands on his plans for the kingdom, but the small scraps of information that we've found out about her have come from Tyton’s open questioning, from Airlie accepting her help, and from the Goblin King, his eyes filled with respect as he hung on her every word.
Conversation isn't so difficult, not when the welfare of my kingdom rests on my shoulders.
“With three trading passes until winter solstice, if we are able to purchase enough and transport it through the kingdom without the witches taking it or destroying it, we’ll be able to survive until the spring. The Fates have decreed I’ll have the throne by then, and many things within the Unseelie Court will change.”
