The farther I moved from the protection wards, the lighter my mind felt. I couldn’t believe how strong the spell was after all of these years, though it was definitely weakening. She was a powerful enchantress indeed.
I would have to ask her about this—or maybe it was the reason I was sent here, to finish her work.
Go away! The compulsion came again.
“Yes, Mother,” I murmured aloud. “I’ll leave for now, but I will be back.”
When I returned to my room, I noticed the saucer I had left out to entice a fey now lay shattered on the floor as the moonlight shone through the curtains. I had forgotten to refill the milk or biscuit tray, and someone wasn’t happy.
Muffled cussing filled the air, but to those who didn’t know better, it would sound like twigs breaking. I knew the sound of fey, however, and followed the noises back to my wardrobe.
Casting a mage light above my head, I opened the door, clearing my throat loudly.
I was expecting a gentle hob, elf, brownie, or even a pixie, despite their penchant for tricks—not the spindly green-hued goblin before me, not much bigger than a toddler, with a sharp nose and long pointy ears, wearing an overly large white silk dress and my satin slippers. He grinned at me, his mouth filled with needlelike teeth, and didn’t seem to be ashamed in the least at wearing my nightdress.
Being careless and leaving an offering of milk smeared with blood, I had accidentally indentured a goblin. Great.
“I’d much appreciate it if you would put the dress back,” I said, trying to keep a straight face at my cross-dressing goblin.
“Furfmuggin,” he said loudly in complaint, and I snorted at the foul fey word he was dropping in my presence. He did sashay out of the wardrobe and toss my dress on the floor in a fit, but he was more hesitant about giving up my slippers.
When I held out my hand, he stuck his red tongue out at me and dropped another curse. Well, now I understood why no one wanted to have an indentured fey here, if this was the only kind the land of Baist attracted. It would have to be a hearty and strong fey to survive this magic-starved land.
“Do you have a name?” I asked as he took off my slippers and proceeded to pull my new gown off the hanger and make a bed within the wardrobe. It seemed this foulmouthed goblin was here to stay.
“Gobber. Gobbersnot,” he mumbled. Before any other words came out of his mouth, he flicked his hand at me, signaling a very inappropriate gesture, and closed himself back inside the wardrobe.
I couldn’t help laughing at my newfound companion. Gritty, tough, and rough around the edges, just like me. He would do.
The two of us would find our way in this magic-barren land together.
Chapter Eight
Her fear smelled oh so sweet as she ran from me. Slipping on the grass, she fell into a puddle, the mud obscuring her face. Crying, she wiped it away and desperately scrambled to her feet, her blue shoe abandoned in the grass behind her.
Oh, little girl, why did you stray out at night into my territory? Were you looking for me? You must have known I was here. That I was waiting for you.
A grumble came from my chest, and she turned to look at me and screamed.
I fell out of my bed, a tangle of sheets and quilt wrapped around me as I hit the floor. The cool press of the stone against my cheek made me aware of where I was. I was here. Safe.
Sitting up, I tried to unwind my legs from the sheets and saw it—the mud that splattered my legs, the grass stains on my feet.
Hearing a thump from my wardrobe, I opened it and saw Gobbersnot snoring peacefully. His mouth was covered with fresh blood, and on his head as a hat was a familiar blue shoe from my dream.
An anguished cry fell from my lips, and I turned and flung myself back onto my bed, burying my head under the pillow. Then I screamed, releasing my grief, sorrow, and fear into the mattress.
The wolfsbane tea wasn’t keeping the visions and the blackouts away. Why? Why now? What reason would I have for them to come back?
Wiping my eyes, I knew I needed to find out what happened. I dressed quickly and used my magic to bespell the guards into a deep sleep so I could slip out of my room. Right before I closed the door, I heard my wardrobe open and the pitter-patter of goblin feet as he slipped out the door after me. I couldn’t see Gobbersnot but knew he would be hiding in the shadows—my small rabid protector.
Making my way out the servants’ entrance of the palace, I headed toward the woods and felt the intense pressure in my head resume.
Go away!
Leave here!
But the compulsion was weaker, not as strong as before.
Kneeling, I brushed the leaves aside and saw the great stone with the engraved sigils of protection. I mentally traced the location of the wards in the garden to my location out by the woods and realized it was a giant circle. A protection spell. More of my mother’s handiwork that was safeguarding the palace against magical beings. This constant thrum of power would also drive most fey away; to them it would be like wearing a bee’s nest over their head.
But there was another symbol hidden within the ward. Translated roughly in fey, it was the word “shift.”
The farther I traveled, the closer I came to the woods. I turned to look back up at the palace on the hill. Lights shone from a few windows, casting a glow around the area. Even in the middle of the night, it looked like a signal shining far into the valley and the woods beyond.
The woods. That was what drew me. The dreams and feelings were coming from here. Having to use the land drained me, and a mage light would take too much power, so instead I pulled out a glass marble and used it to amplify the moon’s light, lighting my path like a torch.
There, in the tall grass at the edge of the woods, I saw her.
Her face was turned down, her legs sprawled at awkward angles with one blue shoe still on her small foot. I couldn’t breathe. The world started spinning, and I collapsed next to the girl. It was Herez.
Gobbersnot moved over to the girl and picked up her hand, about to take a bite out of her finger.
“No!” I shooed him away. “Don’t!
“Furfmuggin,” he grumbled angrily at me, then moved down by her feet. Giving me his back, he proceeded to try and pry off her other shoe to add to his collection.
“Gobber, no!” I chastised my goblin, but his hand came up, sending me a signal of his disdain. If he couldn’t have meat, then he wanted the shoe.
Sighing in resignation, I reached out to touch her cool skin, and her death washed over me like a raging river. I felt her fear, her terror rising up inside my own stomach. She had snuck out to meet a boy and had run into something much more dangerous. Herez knew she was being hunted but was cut off from the palace, so she ran for the woods instead. The beast chased her down, and she slipped in the mud. When she looked up, all she saw were teeth, dark fur, and claws. Then it was over.
I shuddered and gasped, trying not to throw up what was left in my stomach.
Poor Herez.
A loud crack echoed around me. My head snapped up as I stared into the darkness.
I wasn’t alone.
Rising to my feet, I caught a glimpse of a large shadow moving through the trees and heard a threatening growl.
Before I could attack, Gobbersnot let out a war cry and ran into the woods. The silky dress he wore made him look like a screaming will-o’-the-wisp as he ran.