AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As if it had stepped straight out of my nightmares, the boar's tusks were decayed, its skin dry and scaly. The stench of rot and foam emanating from its mouth was putrid, like a mixture of swamp water and death. Even now, the smell remains etched in my memory. It stomped once before charging for me, the sound of its hooves hitting the ground echoed through the trees. All I could do was scream and cover my eyes. Resigned to my fate, I waited for it to attack me. But it never came. When I was able to look again it was gone.
It was like it never existed.
I never told anyone, convinced I had imagined the whole thing. I felt far more afraid then than I felt now. Because none of this was real, none of this was happening. Convinced this whole thing was my imagination. The Goblin King wasn’t here in front of me.
“Serra, you owe me something of value to you.” The Goblin King said, this time his voice was thick with impatience. “For the wish that I was summoned here, by you, to grant.”
Pulling me from my thoughts. “What?”
His annoyance at my response could be felt from where I stood. While he only stood all but ten feet away from me, the air around us remained charged, heavy and lethal. He was tired of waiting, and he was getting irritated. However, the threat of him and what he was,whohe was, did not deter me.
“I have nothing to give you. I own very little. This was a mistake. I didn’t mean it.”
“Oh, you didn’t?”
“No, I spoke rashly.”
“Regardless, I was brought here. You cannot unsay it.”
I stared up at him, he was going to grant my wish. None of them, not one I had ever asked of him had been in the past.
“Why now?”
He sneered, his lip lifting as he uncrossed his arms. “I have my reasons.”
The boldness I felt in that moment, “And what would that be?”
“That is not any of your business. Are you going to give me what I seek for granting your wish or not Serra?”
“I do not have anything, I already told you that.”
The Goblin King pointed a long delicate finger at the cottage, at the last remaining piece I had of Nona Luna. “You have that.”
It was easy to decline. “No.”
“I expect something, Serra.”
“I said no.”
“Hmm.” He smiles at me, his lips pulling across his teeth. My gaze snags on his canines as he steps towards me. I should yield, step away from him, but I don’t. I would not cower before him.
“Luckily for you dear Serra, I don’t want your run-downfarm.” he says, circling around me. His closeness makes me shrink away. But he takes a moment to stop behind me, lifting a piece of hair that had fallen out of my braid from the wind. Twirling it in his fingers before setting it back down. Wiping his hand on his jacket, like touching any part of me was beneath him.
I knew he was testing me, seeing what I would offer up. I had truly nothing. My wish was nothing but a mistake, I didn’t think it would be heard. None of my wishes had ever been granted. Folding his hands behind his back, head high as he walks to the other side of me. He was comfortable. Of course, I was no threat to him. I wasn’t underfed by any means, but we didn’t have the extra money to indulge either.
Occasionally, on my birthday Nona would surprise me with a small box of sweets, the tiny tin full of as many different kinds as she could get for me. And I would savor each piece, trying to stretch them as long as I could.
We had survived mostly on what we could grow.
The meat on our plates was never the prime cut, not even close. The juicy steaks and succulent roasts went to the wealthy, who could afford to pay top coin for their meals. We made do with the scraps and off-cuts - tough sinews, gristle, and bone. But even those were a luxury, traded for with whatever we could barter or beg.
It was the way of things in our corner of the world, a brutal hierarchy that left many hungry and sick.
As for me, I couldn't stomach the thought of killing an animal, let alone butchering it. My thin frame was a testament to my lack of meat in my diet. My arms and legs were long and lean, but toned from endless hours of work in the garden. My face was not something to be admired either, with my jawline and chin standing out because of my poor diet- except for my piercing green eyes that shone like emeralds against my tan skin. The color was so unique that it drew attention and compliments from everyone I met. They were captivating and I had grown tired of hearing the same comments over and over again.
It was a blessing and a curse, drawing attention to me wherever I went. I looked up at him, the Fae male who stood before me, and felt a shiver run down my spine. His expression was unreadable, inscrutable. His piercing gaze locked onto mine, and for a moment, I forgot all about the hardships of our world. All I could focus on were his eyes, which were equally captivating but in an entirely different way. I couldn't tell if he saw me as a threat or simply as prey. All I knew was that I was at his mercy, and my heart raced with fear and uncertainty.
“I don’t have anything to give you.” I said, my voice quivered slightly but I remained in control of the tremor that ran through me.
