Fear filled Calista’s eyes. “Please, stand up.”
The maids bowed at the waist and nearly touched their noses to the floor.
With a frantic whisper, she said, “Tell them to get up.”
I smiled and kissed her scarred palm before rising. Placing her hand in the crook of my arm, I opened a portal to the arena. She kept her attention on the maids who hadn’t moved as I directed her through.
We stepped out at the top of the arena stairs to the stands full of cheering goblins. Calista gripped my arm as she took in the scene. The entire realm had shown up for the games andimpending celebration. Once it was over, our thrones would be carried to the center of the arena where Calista would take her place next to me for all to see and receive offerings from her subjects.
“There are so many people here,” she breathed.
“They are here to see you.”
Sadness came through our bond, and she looked up at me as I covered her hand. “That’s not what I meant.”
“I know.” And I did. She had never referred to the goblins as people before. Interacting with them and learning a touch of our history had opened her heart and mind to them. She forced a smile and beamed it to the crowd. It warmed me, and I hoped, over time, she would soften and open her heart to me, as well. “Ready?”
“Nope,” she said still smiling and acknowledged a group waving flags with the Thistlyn tree on them to get her attention.
I smirked and led her halfway down the stairs to our special seats. Once we sat, a horn blew, and the crowd calmed. A goblin flew over the field on the back of a tamed hog blowing a horn. Soldiers marched into the arena behind him. Calista watched raptly. It wouldn’t surprise me if she was stitching every minuscule detail to memory with the way her attention bounced around. While she watched the goblins fall into formation and go through their drills, I watched her. I had seen it a million times and knew they would perform it to perfection. She leaned forward, eyes wide, with a smile spread over her face. Every time one of them flipped their weapon into the air, she jumped in her seat, excited they caught it. I tried to think back to the first time I saw them perform, but the memory was gone. This one would stay.
Calista
The goblins cleared the field and began setting up contraptions. I turned to Astaroth, vibrating with energy. This was the most interesting thing I’d done since going to market with Jessandra. “That was amazing!”
He laughed and motioned to the field. “It’s only the beginning.”
“What will they do next?”
Astaroth leaned toward me and kissed my forehead. “Telling you would ruin the experience.”
The goblins around us watched as he took my hand and kissed it, too. Their expressions said it all. They were giddy seeing us together. Once again, I was reminded how many of them were in the realm. How many were tossed here like trash to be forgotten. I plastered the smile on my face so they couldn’t see the sadness I felt for them, or the guilt creeping in again for wanting to return home. I didn’t belong here. Neither did they. Torn… that’s how I felt. Part of me wanting to go home, part of me not wanting to abandon them, too.
Astaroth gave my hand a gentle squeeze, and I looked at him sheepishly. He knew. He could feel my mixed emotions, and that was something I needed to learn to keep from him. Privacy wasn’t something he understood, at least not mine. He understood his own just fine, though, and would cut me off just like that. I closed my eyes and imagined walls around myemotions, thick like the castle, and him on the outside. I raised the drawbridge so he couldn’t enter unless I wanted him to. I was alone in my deserted fortress. Balance reestablished within me, and I felt peace for the first time in a while. When I opened my eyes, his brow was furrowed. It must have worked.
Movement down in the arena caught my attention. I slipped my hand from his as groups of goblins, big and small, lined up. They began with a foot race, and it was surprising how fast the smaller ones could move. Some of them ran between the legs of the bigger ones, tripping them up and making them fall. I covered my mouth when I started laughing, but I couldn’t help myself and ended up rooting for them to win.
During the next event, they raced beasts. Some of these animals were new to me, while others I had encountered during my first trip here and on the hunt. But the event that really had me laughing was the jousting event. They rode each other’s shoulders, knocking each other off, and if they lost their sticks, they went hand to hand. It brought back memories of doing it in Gina’s swimming pool during sweltering summer days. A pang of grief ebbed in my chest. I missed my best friend. I think after an initial panic attack, she would love it here. And Kaiden might overcome his fear and love it. too. I could introduce them to everyone I knew, take them to the market, and share Ziggy’s amazing pizzas. They could try the everberries, and we could explore together. Not at the same time, though. That was a recipe for disaster.
No.I stopped those thoughts in their tracks.I want to go home. None of this craziness. A normal human existence. On Earth. Wherever that was in comparison to here.
But the more I watched and looked around at the crowd, I knew this was becoming home, too. I sat back in my seat and glanced at Astaroth out of the corner of my eye. Even in his relaxed state, he was coiled and ready to spring. Would heperform tonight? What would that look like? I found myself wanting him to, to see what he was capable of, but then remembered his injury. My eyes traveled down to his stomach and wondered if it had healed any further.
Without looking at me, Astaroth took my hand again and placed it on his wound. The welts had decreased, and with that knowledge, so did my worry. This also concerned me, because I didn’t want to worry about him. I didn’t want to feel anything for him. Yet, the feel of him beneath my hand and the warmth of his body soothed the anxiousness coursing through my veins, similar to how I slept more soundly when he was beside me. My fingers flexed slightly at that realization. I never let anyone stay over with me. I always slept alone. What was he doing to me?
I startled when Astaroth slid his hand over the top of mine and wove our fingers together to keep me from pulling away. He turned my chin to him with a fingertip and let it linger as he gazed at me. “Are you enjoying yourself?”
I smiled softly. “Very much so.”
“Wonderful.” He brushed a light kiss over my lips, and I found myself drifting closer as he pulled away. “Then get out of your head. You are missing the games.”
I quickly sat back in my seat and faced the arena. The way his thumb stroked my skin as he chuckled made me gulp down the erratic butterflies going wild inside me. No, not butterflies. Icky spiders. I doublechecked the drawbridge was still raised, and he couldn’t steal inside. That helped me focus on the games. They completed their track and field of sorts and retrieved sticks three times their size, lining up even with one another.
Astaroth sat straighter, a devious smile curling his lips when he looked at me. He nearly took my breath away. “Should we make it… challenging?”
My head bobbled like an idiot. I’d agree to anything if he looked at me like that. As if knowing my exact thought, he movedmy hand to his thigh and covered the hardening length growing in his pants. Eyes wide, my gaze bounced around us. Thankfully, no one paid us any attention.
Pointing a finger at the goblins, he said, “Watch.”
