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ChapterThirty
He must be bluffing. “What?” I asked him, trying to hide my fear.
“You, Serra,” he replied, his eyes piercing mine.
I hesitated, unsure of his intentions. I could feel the tension in the room, could feel the magic that simmered in this place. “I don't understand any of this,” I said, my voice quivered with each word I said, “You've been mixing truth with lies the whole time, and now you expect me to believe you?”
“Yes,” he said simply.
“Why should I?” I demanded. “You've lied to me from the start. What are you protecting me from?”
He hesitated and I knew there was more to the story, more that he wasn’t telling me, “The survival of this Realm depends on it,” he finally said. “You need to remember.”
“Remember what?” I asked, feeling my frustration mounting. “Why am I here?”
“You needed to come back,” he replied, his voice softening. “You need to remember.”
“I don't understand,” I said, my confusion growing. "Why can't you just tell me?”
“Because I can’t!” He sighed, his whole body tensed up again. “I cannot tell you. This is your journey, I cannot do it for you. All I can do is guide you.”
I felt a surge of anger rising within me, fueling the ember that had been smoldering in my stomach. “Enough with the games,” I said, my voice rising. “I need answers, and I need them now.”
He sighed heavily, as if struggling with his own internal battle. “I cannot tell you,” he said at last. “You have to do this on your own.Tryto remember.”
I closed my eyes, searching for any memory that could give me a clue. And then it came to me - Luna's face. “Luna was here,” I said slowly. “She pulled me from the hiding spot, the fire. . .”
The Goblin King nodded, his expression unreadable. “What else?”
As I spoke, memories began to resurface within me. Visions of a grand castle, filled with nobles and dignitaries dressed in their finest attire. I remembered being there, though I couldn't quite place why. I could hear the murmur of their conversations, though I couldn't quite make out what they were saying.
Then the memory shifted, and I was in a small room, hiding behind a hidden door, the large tapestry that had covered it. The room was engulfed in flames, and I could feel the heat on my skin. I could hear someone calling my name, their voice filled with urgency. And then Luna's face appeared, pulling me from my hiding spot and leading me to safety.
“I remember the fire,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “I remember Luna saving me. But there’s more. . . I just can’t-”
The Goblin King nodded, his eyes filled with a mix of relief and apprehension. “Try.” he said softly.
I searched my memories once more, digging deeper this time. And then it hit me- the curse. Someone had mentioned a curse, but I couldn't quite remember who or why. “There was something about a curse,” I whispered. “I remember someone mentioning it.”
The Goblin King's eyes widened in surprise. “Yes, what else?" he asked, his voice urgent.
But my memory was hazy, and I couldn't quite recall any more details. I looked at the Goblin King, hoping for answers, but he remained silent. I could see the weight of the situation pressing down on him, and I knew that there was more to the story than he was willing to tell me. But for now, all I could do was hold onto the memories that had resurfaced, and trust that they would give me the answers I so desperately sought. But I wanted to know something. . .
“Nona?” I asked.
He nodded.
“Who was she?”
He ran a hand through his hair, causing it to become even more disheveled. “Luna was an elf.” My mind reeled as the Goblin King revealed more about my past. “She found you, took you to Rothnia. She’d been asked to keep you safe and hidden away from this world. You would have remembered her as Ruthie. She was your mother’s lady’s maid.”
The world spun around me, Luna was Ruthie, my mother's lady's maid, and an elf. It all made sense now- her strange behavior and her fear of the Goblin King. It was because of me. Who I was. Her fear of me finding out whom I truly was. But part of me believed that she told me the stories so that one day I could find out.
But he went on, and it took more from me to understand what he was saying, even as I struggled to separate the truth from the lies. The world spun as the pieces of the puzzle started to fit together. The Goblin King words mingled and swirled around me.
“I found you seventeen years ago,” he said. “I went to Luna after, but she banned me from the cottage and cast a spell on the doors and windows, keeping me out. Keeping you safe. I couldn't come to you until she was gone. Her spell broke, she knew who I was.”
“How?”
