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I couldn't believe what I was seeing. This was my father's kingdom reduced to nothing but ruins. A kingdom I was supposed to rule someday. But now it was nothing more than a ghost town, a shadow of its former self.
Moving away from the crumbling wall, my only option to avoid falling through the floor and descending to the level below was to approach a set of large wooden doors. Despite being charred by flames, the intricately carved doors loomed over me, featuring a beautiful design of twirling vines and blooming Mandevillas along the outer perimeter. The center of the doors displayed three large circles, with a hippogriff carved at the bottom and an eagle with outstretched wings at the top. The middle circle showcased a special character formed by blended initials, from which I could only make out the letters E and I.
After putting all my weight behind the doors and pushing them open, I entered a massive room. The stone walls were black and crumbling, with a few wooden beams still standing the test of time. Others lay broken and charred on the stone floor, indicating that a fire had once engulfed the space. The roof was long gone, exposing the remains of the room to the elements and the setting sun.
As I scanned the space, my eyes eventually landed on an object at the far end. The wind whistled through the holes in the walls, moving tendrils of hair across my face and neck and causing the skirt of my dress to flutter gently. I felt my breath catch in my throat as our eyes locked, his presence awakening something in me yet again.
The Goblin King.
There he was amongst the charred ruins of the room, lounging in a throne. He wore the same deep ocean blue vest and jacket from the ball. His boots polished and trousers tucked. He looked worse than before, as if he hadn’t bothered to change his clothes in some time. The throne he sat in was once gilded gold, marred by whatever had happened here. The room was in utter disrepair and destruction and yet. . . he seemed sad.
He looked so broken. Defeated.
The dark shadows under his eyes stark against his pale skin. His hair was still pulled back at the nape of his neck. His eyes tracked me as I entered the room, never leaving mine.
His smell; caressed every part of me that vibrated with longing. To be held by him. To get lost in his eyes. Touched by him in the most intimate of ways. My name on his lips as I gasped in need and desire.
“Princess.” His voice came out scratchy, horse as if he had been screaming. “I have done what you asked.”
Startled, I retorted, “You have only done what has been best for yourself, what benefits you.”
“I have been generous.”
The vision of him and the feeling he roused from me were long gone. My anger pushed me forward, toward the male that sat before me, toward the male I had dreams about, the one who haunted me in my waking hours. To the male who had until recently, held my heart. Marching up to the stone steps of the dais. I could not stop myself, not as I spat at him.
“Generous? What have you done for me that has been generous?”
“Everything!” He leapt from the throne, “Everything I have done, I have done for you! Serra, do you not see it?” His eyes flashed, the raw emotion there.
Stepping back away from him as he descends the step. His strides quickly stop before me. His hair was wild and his eyes dark. “I have done nothing but protect you!”
“Protect me from what? Because it certainly was not from you!”
He flinched. “Everything I have done, I have done because of you.”
“What have you done? What have you done because of me? What was sohorribleyou had to protect me from it?” My voice quivered as I spoke.
The Goblin King stared at me. “What is it you want from me? I have done everything you have asked. I have granted you every wish. Every dream. What more do you want?”
Tension crackled in the air as I stood before the Goblin King. I should demand the answers I was owed. My heart thudded heavily in my chest, I needed to know why he had brought me here, to this ruined kingdom, to the place my family had once resided.
“I need the truth,” I said firmly, trying to steady my voice. “You owe me that much.”
I could see a hint of something softening in his hard features. He seemed to be considering my words, weighing his response carefully before giving a single nod of agreement.
I wanted to ask him about the images that haunted me, the visions of this place that had been plaguing me. But instead, I gestured to the destroyed city around us. “What happened here?” I asked, my eyes sweeping over the ruins of what must have once been a grand throne room.
The Goblin King gazed around the room, lost in thought. “It was a coup,” he said finally, his voice low and heavy with emotion.
“A coup?” I repeated, my confusion growing. I had never heard of such a thing happening in a kingdom of fae and immortals.
He let out a heavy sigh, as if trying to decide how much to reveal. “There were those who believed that King Elias and his heirs were not the rightful rulers,” he explained his eyes flashing with hatred. “They thought his twin brother, Ezra, should be on the throne.”
I felt a chill run down my spine at the mention of Ezra's name. I had never heard of him before, but something about the way the Goblin King spoke his name made me feel uneasy. Something that did not sit right in me.
The Goblin King continued, his pacing bringing him closer to me. “Eighteen years ago, Ezra and his supporters launched a violent attack on the city,” he said, his voice growing darker. “They broke through the walls and slaughtered many of the people. By nightfall, they had breached the castle walls.”
He stopped then, lost in memory. I could see the pain etched on his face, the weight of what had happened here still heavy on his shoulders. “That was the night the King and Queen were killed,” he said, his voice thick. “Their son, the young prince, disappeared, presumed dead. And the princess. . .” He looked at me, his expression unreadable. “Well, until now, she was nowhere to be found.”
