Heart Of The Goblin King (The Realm Trilogy Book 1)

by Lisa Manifold

  Keeping his hand in the air, he and Drake began to make their way down the hill. Brennan took another stone from his pouch and held it in front of him, casting a protecting spell ahead of them.

  “Bren, I got her! Get Scarry!” Drake shouted. “Go! Get him before he vanishes!”

  Another indiscernible cry from the trapped woman. Brennan broke into a run, not wanting to lose the mage.

  He didn’t take his eyes off the man, who had his hands out in front of him, and Brennan could feel…something. Some sort of large gathering of magic—what was the man doing?

  “Stop! You murderer! Stop it! Leave him alone!” The woman screamed.

  Brennan altered course slightly so that he could avoid the woman and get to the mage. He was close—so close! One hundred feet, seventy-five, then fifty…he would make it. He readied his stones and opened his mouth to cast the binding spell when the scarred man flung his hands wide.

  It felt as though time stopped. He couldn’t see anything other than a blinding light that obscured everything else.

  Then a blow to his chest…a dagger? How had Scarface gotten that close?

  Then…then…the light began to darken around the edges of his vision.

  His chest no longer felt as though a dagger lodged there. No longer felt anything. Good. A glancing blow, at best.

  The light in front of him grew smaller and smaller. Drake must have struck out at the mage, stopping whatever it was he planned to do.

  Brennan was glad that he had Drake with him. He could rest. He felt tired, so tired that he could barely hold his eyes open…a rest would be good.

  In spite of his earlier resolve, he hadn’t purged thoughts of Iris. She persisted as his last thought—what was she wearing? She didn’t look human at all. She looked over her shoulder at him, smiling. The thought made his heart lift with a hope he thought he’d squashed before he closed his eyes and all went dark.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Iris

  I sat at the kitchen table, watching and listening to my parents and Mara. The level of joy floating around the room could have choked a horse. Mom had come straight in and made lunch for all of us with a happiness I hadn’t seen in forever. Everyone, even Dad and Mara, beamed at one another. I didn’t mean to complain, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of loss that persisted.

  Loss of what? I had nothing to lose.

  Don’t you? A small voice whispered within.

  I felt the hair on the back of my neck rise and without warning, my vision blinked and I felt as though I’d run into a wall of fear, pain and anger and…something else I couldn’t identify.

  “No!” I cried out, stumbling to stand up and move away from the table. Momentarily blind again. This had to be something to do with Fae. The pain overwhelmed everything else.

  “Iris?” I could hear my family call my name but I couldn’t focus on them.

  “Brennan!” I cried out. “Oh no, he’s hurt! He’s hurt!” I didn’t know how I knew it this came from Brennan. I just did. My hands scrabbled at my chest, trying to stop the pain. I couldn’t breathe. My mouth opened but no sound came out.

  “What are you talking about, Iris?” Dad asked.

  I staggered towards the chair at the table, grasping it now that I could see again so that I didn’t fall on my face.

  “I don’t know. All of a sudden, I saw him, and he was lying on his back, and there was blood, and his eyes were closed…” Just when I didn’t think it could get worse, I burst into tears.

  I covered my face with my hands, not wanting to see anyone else. I didn’t have anything for anyone other than the vision I’d seen.

  Finally, I got my sobbing under control, and looked up. Mom, Dad, and Mara were all watching me as though I were a stick of dynamite, about to explode at the worst possible moment. Fair enough. My outburst probably didn’t make sense.

  But…I looked at my grandmother again.

  “What?” I asked her. Her expression held more than mere trepidation.

  “What happened when you met Brennan for the first time?” She asked. Her gaze fell to the table, and she fiddled with her fork, not meeting my eyes.

  I hesitated in my answer. Not because I didn’t remember, but because I did. In Technicolor.

  “I went to the game…”

  “With Heath,” my mother interrupted. “What happened to him, Iris?”

  I shrugged. “It’s not important, Mom.” Although I felt guilty that I hadn’t texted him or anything. And I’d been so worried initially. It didn’t matter. Not now. I promised myself I’d text him something. Soon.

  “Go on, Iris,” said Mara. She lifted her head, and I sat back a little under her piercing gaze. Why did every fae I’d encountered always seem to be looking at you like they knew something you didn’t?

  “I was in the restroom at the stadium and there was a flash of light and Brennan and Drake were just there. In the ladies’ room. Then I tried to run away, and one of them zapped me or something, and I woke up with them carting me along back to Fae.” There was a lot more than that, but I didn’t want to get into it.

  Mara eyed me intently. “What happened—I mean, what did you notice, or how did you feel, when you first encountered Brennan?”

  I got the impression she knew a lot more than she was telling, and knew that I hadn’t really told her anything.

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. What do you want to know?”

  Mara stood up, coming closer, and peered at me. “It’s not what I want to know. Do you want to know why you saw what you did? It’s not me that’s having visions.” She stepped back and shrugged.

  Holy hell. My grandmother had to be more maddening than almost anyone else I’d ever met. My mouth opened to say…what? Then I noticed my mom smirking.

  “This isn’t funny, Mom!”

  She compressed her lips, trying to erase the visible humor. “I know it’s not, but it’s funny to hear Mom go at someone else like she did to me all throughout my childhood. You may as well tell her what she wants to know.”

  I sighed. “Does it matter? Something is wrong with him, and he needs help.” I couldn’t focus on anything else beyond the rising sense of dread I felt. Even though I’d gotten my crying under control, the emotion behind it threatened to overwhelm me.

  “It does matter. There’s a reason you’re feeling what’s happening to him.” She said, like that answered a question or something.

  “This is actually happening to him? He’s actually hurt?” I looked down and saw the bag that Taranath had given me. I could go to him and—

  My grandmother’s hand stayed me from anything I might do in that moment.

  “You cannot go to him, Iris. Not like this.”

  What the hell? Could she read minds? I stared at her, wordless.

  “Tell me what happened when you met him.” Her voice softened, but the steel of command lay beneath her calm words.

  “I stared at him,” I whispered. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone more beautiful. He looked at me, and I felt like everything stopped.”

  The words came out on their own volition. I didn’t want to say any of this in front of my parents, but I couldn’t resist Mara.

  “Mom! Stop it!” My mom pulled her away from me.

  “What is she doing?” Dad didn’t look happy.

  I shook my head a little. What had that been?

  Mom glared at Mara who amazingly looked rather guilty.

  “She’s really good at getting people to say what’s really in their heads. I never understood how she did it, although I do now. You don’t get to use magic on my daughter!”

  Now Dad glared too. “What the hell, Mara? You’re back for ten minutes and already meddling? I think you need to leave.” He stopped when Mom put her hand on his arm.

  Now my grandmother straightened her shoulders, and did a little glaring of her own. “You can fuss at me all you want. There’s a reason Iris can see what is happening to the Goblin King. Ignore it and toss me out
if you want, it doesn’t change the fact that I would bet he’s hurt, and it happened recently. Don’t you want to know why she sees this?” Amazingly a note of impatience had crept into her tone. My grandmother had some serious nerve.

  My dad rolled his eyes. “All right, since you’re dying to tell us. Why is it exactly that Iris is affected by that guy calling himself a goblin?”

  “He is the Goblin King, whether you buy it or not, Paul. In Fae, most people can’t see what happens to others. Not even parents have that ability with their children.”

  “What are you saying?” Mom asked in a small voice. Like she knew.

  “Iris has a tie to Brennan. There is nothing else that makes sense. I don’t know why, or how, after meeting only such a short time ago, but she could not have such a vision otherwise.”

  “I am right here. You can talk to me, rather than about me,” I said. I still felt awful. It didn’t get better, only worse. My chest felt as though something huge sat on it. I leaned on my hand, unable to keep my head up on its own any longer.

  “Honey, are you okay?” Mom leaned into me.

  The day didn’t seem as bright or cheerful anymore. A shadow lay across the day, and I couldn’t shake it.

  “Iris, you are tied to him. What else happened while you were in Fae?” Mara knelt down next to me, her hand on my knee.

  “Nothing. I don’t know, I don’t think anything major happened, other than we didn’t get along because he wasn’t very nice to me.”

  “What do you mean? I can’t believe he was rude,” My grandmother said.

  “Not directly, no. But he couldn’t wait to get rid of me.”

  Mara leaned back on her heels and a small smile appeared. “Did he say that, Iris? That he couldn’t wait to get rid of you?”

  I shook my head. “But all he wanted was to find Taranath, and send me home.” I’d wanted to go home, I told myself. I’d wanted to, yet I’d been angry that he wanted to send me home.

  “What else?”

  “Mara, can’t you see she’s not well?” My dad came to stand next to where I hung on to the table. “Ease up.”

  “She’s not well because of something going on with Brennan!” Mara snapped, standing up, hands on hips, to glare at Dad. “Unless we figure out what their tie is and why it’s affecting Iris as it is, she’ll be unwell until…” Her voice stopped as she looked at me, lounging in a heap against the table, “Until she goes to him.” Her lips pursed at the thought. “Little though I like it.”

  “No. She’s not going anywhere.” My mom put her arm around me. “I don’t want her to go back there again. You heard what Ta—Ta—” She tried to get out Taranath’s name, and then gave up. “That magic guy said! The place nearly killed her! And you said she couldn’t go! You’ve changed your mind already?”

  I looked at Mara from where my head lay on my arms. She had a look of resignation that showed no signs of being moved by my parents’ statements. She gazed steadily at me, and I knew. I knew I would have to go back to Fae, because otherwise, whatever the hell this was, it wouldn’t get any better.

  “What do I need to do?” I asked her. My head still felt too heavy to lift.

  “Use the bag that Taranath,” She didn’t stumble over his name as Mom had, “Gave you and go to him. Tell him you must see Brennan. Tell him what happened here.”

  “Can you come with me?” The thought of navigating Fae on my own scared the crap out of me. I’d only seen one room and nearly died because of it. What else lurked that would be dangerous—possibly life-ending dangerous—if I were somewhere that Brennan had been hurt?

  Why did I care? I’d screamed that he’d been hurt, but really, why did I care? I looked at what I felt, what I thought and realized I did care. A lot. More than I’d ever cared about anyone else.

  “Why do I feel like this?” I said quietly, not really talking to anyone else.

  Mara heard me. “Because there are times when fae meet, and their souls know one another. They are right for one another. Remember your initial impression of Brennan? Before he hurt your feelings? Time stopped.”

  This felt wrong, this clinical analysis. What happened to things happening like they had started to with Heath? The butterflies, the nerves, the anticipation? I didn’t want to examine my thoughts or whatever about Brennan. I didn’t want to accept that what Mara said had any merit at all.

  We weren’t from the same place. We weren’t even from the same world. He couldn’t stand me, and I couldn’t stand…I stopped. I wanted to think about how much I couldn’t stand him, but it wasn’t true. At all.

  “I couldn’t stop looking at him,” I said quietly. “I should have been scared to death, and a moment later, I was. But right then, I couldn’t move, couldn’t stop looking at him. All that I kept thinking was…” I looked away, trying to remember what I had been thinking. “Was, You’re here.” Something in my tone made both my parents look at me.

  They exchanged one of those married looks I loved to see.

  “Looks aren’t everything, honey,” Mom said, equally quiet.

  “I know that, Mom,” I couldn’t keep the impatience from my voice. “Obviously. His manners leave something to be desired, and…”

  “He came here to help your mom.” Mara crossed her arms. “You don’t know that world, Iris, but I do. He didn’t have to do that. Brennan, from what I remember, is a good ruler. A kind man. He’s done well with the Goblin Realm. Much better than the last one,” she snorted, her eyes going distant for a moment. She focused on me again. “I have never heard of a ruler putting themselves out like that. Of course,” she looked down, again lost in her own thoughts, “He would be more kind than most.”

  “I’m not sure his actions towards me in particular have been kind, Mara.” Yes, he’d helped Mom. Only because his mother dragged him here, and Mom was a fae in need of help. That had nothing to do with me, or how he felt about me. What did Mara mean, of course he would be more kind than most? I started to ask her but she spoke first.

  Mara shook her head. “I don’t think that is what you should be basing your opinion of him on.”

  Dad glared. “What are you trying to do, Mara? It almost sounds like you’re pushing Iris at that guy.” His brow furrowed as he waited for her to answer.

  I remembered that Nerida had said Mara was from an important family. It showed in the deliberate manner in which she turned her attention to Dad. In that moment, I knew my mom had been as brave as a lion to stand up to her mom. Mara epitomized intimidating.

  “I am not pushing my granddaughter anywhere, Paul. I’d prefer she not have a connection to Fae. I am also, as you may know, a realist. The reality is we all saw what happened to Iris. There is no getting around it. Better to face it and deal with it.” She looked at me again. “I think you need to accept that there is a tie between you and Brennan. Not,” She held up a finger, forestalling the protests from both of my parents, “That you have to accept it.”

  “What does that mean?” I got in before anyone else could.

  “It means you have a tie, but you don’t have to do anything about it.”

  “So what does that mean?” I tried really hard to control my mounting frustration. Part of it—a part I didn’t want to admit—was due to the fact that all this chitchat didn’t explain what happened to Brennan, and I had no answers to how badly he’d been hurt.

  The rest fell into the I’m mad that I care category.

  “The tie can be broken, but you will need to return to Fae. Taranath could probably do this for you.”

  I didn’t say anything to that. Did I want the tie broken? If I did break it, what then? My mom no longer had cancer. Well, I didn’t think she did. It would take a number of doctor visits to confirm it. We could move back on the boat. I liked college, sort of, but I liked the boat far more. College didn’t hold the same draw for me it had only yesterday. My parents would be happy to be out again.

  My life would be better.

  Right?

 
Right?

  “I don’t know if I want her to go back to…to wherever it is you’re talking about.” Mom crossed her arms and hugged herself.

  I knew that gesture. It meant she tried to contain her nerves.

  “I…I’m not sure I want to either, Mom. I think I need to, though.”

  “No, Iris,” Dad said. “Enough.”

  “I think Taranath knew I’d come back,” I said slowly, pushing myself up from the chair. “Why else would he give me the means to do it? I mean, if this was it, if he knew there’d be no reason for me to come back.”

  “You can’t know that,” Mom protested.

  “I don’t know anything. I’m guessing,” I admitted.

  “Are you sure it’s not just wishful thinking?” Dad put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “He’s a good-looking guy.”

  “It’s more than that, isn’t it, Iris?” Mara still had that intense expression on her face.

  I nodded, slowly. Sighed deeply. I didn’t know what I felt, what I wanted. I also knew that Mara had a point of some kind, and I needed to face it.

  “It’s kind of like the storm that covers the entire horizon,” I still spoke slowly, looking at my parents so that they would understand. “You see it all day, and there’s nowhere to go that doesn’t have a storm in the distance. So you prepare, and do the best you can. Sometimes it really sucks, but usually, you come through.”

  “Yeah, and sometimes you’re beat to hell,” Dad growled.

  I shrugged. “True, but when did we ever run from a storm? We either went through it, or found a way to deal with it. This is me dealing with it. I hope I don’t have to go through it but if I do…I’ll be ready for it. Maybe not prepared,” I laughed a little, thinking about how just unprepared I was. “But I’ll see it. It’s the best I can do, Dad.”

  “I don’t like it.” Mom still hugged herself.

  I ached for the pain I knew this caused my parents. Behind that lay an ache to find out what happened to Brennan. A part of me screamed to hurry this up, because he was hurt, and I needed to get my ass there pronto!