Before long, evening was coming on and I could hear a carriage pulling up outside and bustling downstairs, as Father and my sisters prepared for their visitor. The door opened, followed by a burst of enthusiastic welcomes.
“Let me get Sabela,” Father said. His footsteps creaked up the stairs.
When he opened the door, I was sitting on the bed, trying to look harmless enough. “Mr. Vedast is here. Hopefully you’ve had some time to calm down.”
I refused to show how nervous I was, but my clammy palms threatened to betray me. I swiped them on my apron.
Mr. Vedast was standing in the center of our parlor. He was tall and good-looking in a conventional sense, with thick brown hair and green eyes, a strong jaw, expensive clothes that fit well to his broad frame. For a merchant, I thought, he was not just a man who sat behind a desk.
He smiled when he saw me, in a confident way that suggested he didn’t expect any trouble from me at all. Taking my hand, he gave the top of it a peck and said, “Miss Sabela. You are truly as beautiful as I remember.”
The compliment had always left me cold, but especially now. With the eyes of my entire family on me, I just curtseyed in response. I could at least endure this dinner with politeness.
“But, as your father may have told you, I was particularly impressed by your bravery. For a girl of your station to venture alone to the goblin king’s lair, well, it must have taken no small measure of courage.”
Lair? I would not call it that. The word suggested more of a dirty hovel than the glittering, spacious rooms of Nyar’s caverns. I just smiled.
“Sabela has always been courageous,” Father said, before hastily changing the subject to the current market for spices and urging Mr. Vedast to sit down. Clearly, he didn’t want me to talk much.
The dinner itself wasn’t so bad, all told. The cook had prepared a magnificent spread of roasted chickens, potatoes with cream, and spring vegetables, just like the old days, and since I could tell no one really wanted me to say much, I could just focus on the food as my sisters chattered away. I think Marta really hoped he would somehow fall in love with her instead. Father seemed to genuinely enjoy discussing business with the man.
So maybe there was nothing wrong with Mr. Vedast. I was just…left cold, that was all. I had seen another world.
After dinner, we moved to the parlor for some after-dinner drinks. More of the same.
I’ve almost made it, I thought.
Mr. Vedast got to his feet. “I should probably be heading home…” He looked at me.
“It was nice to meet you,” I said dutifully.
“Beauty, perhaps you’d like to see Mr. Vedast to his carriage,” Father urged.
Was he going to try to kiss me? Ugh. I was already planning my polite rebuttal, but I followed him out. The night air was cool tonight. I shivered, unable to help it. He started to take off his jacket for me.
I held up a hand. “Please, no, no. It’s not bad. I’ll be going back in soon enough.”
“It depends. I have a few things to say to you.” I didn’t like the serious look in his eyes.
“Mr. Vedast…” I sighed. “I don’t know what my father told you, but…I don’t feel ready to get married. I really shouldn’t get married before my older sisters, in fact. I just got home from a rather intense experience—”
He took my hand. “Sabela, I hate to think that you were driven to offer yourself like that. No girl as beautiful as you should ever stoop to that. But it shows your loyalty to your family. Personally, I’ve been thinking for a while that we should take care of the goblin menace once and for all, and hearing your story, I’m resolved. I have a group of strong men ready to ride for the hills. Many have tried and failed, but perhaps the gates will open for you.”
I could only imagine the look on my face. I had to clutch the handkerchief in my pocket. “Mr. Vedast, you don’t understand. There is nothing menacing about the goblin king. He only accepts women who come willingly. And—he’s cursed to do it. Otherwise, we would never hear from him.”
“You seem quick to defend him. Don’t tell me…you liked it.” He gave me such an expression of disgust that a chill went through me. I knew he would do something terrible if I didn’t play along.
“No,” I said quickly. “No, I didn’t like it at all. I just pity him.”
“He doesn’t deserve your pity either. A curse? A curse to have all the human girls he likes? Most men pay for that. Even if the women come willingly, they are certainly desperate, as you are. We should be rid of him. It’s a scandal that we have allowed a trip to the goblin king to become acceptable behavior.”
“But then what do desperate women do?”
“They can come to me. Once I have eradicated the goblin king and taken his gold, I’ll use the money to open a charity for women in dire straits. Much better for everyone.”
“You would choose who to give the money to, then. At least women could choose for themselves whether they wanted to go to the goblin king.”
“So you approve of prostitution?”
I stammered. Maybe he had a point; it wouldn’t be a terrible thing to offer help to women in the town who were struggling. But I also didn’t believe he would really do it. I knew he was just trying to placate me.
“You must come with me. You must know something about his caverns.”
I had a terrible feeling of dread. Inside, my stomach was starting to churn. Now I wished I hadn’t enjoyed the dinner. I shouldn’t have had dessert.
Mr. Vedast admired my supposed courage, then, because it fit with his own ambitions. He wanted to kill Nyar and steal his treasures. If I ran away to speak with Keely, by the time I got back, he might have already raided Nyar’s home. Maybe the cavern would be closed to him, but it was a risk. Keely was two days away by foot. On horseback, Mr. Vedast could be at Nyar’s door within hours.
If I went with him, at least I would have the chance to warn Nyar…
Or would I merely have the misfortune of seeing him die?
I realized I would rather die at Nyar’s side than live with myself, knowing I had abandoned him and even helped lead to his death.
“You hesitate,” he said, his lip curling. “I feared as much. That goblin made you his whore.”
“No, no, I…if I go with you, and you succeed…” My voice was shaking. “I want to run the charity myself. I want to help the women who have suffered.” I thought this was the only thing I could say that he would believe.
“Of course,” he said. “In fact, I wouldn’t want it any other way. Be ready tomorrow morning.”
Chapter Eleven
In the morning, I wrote a brief letter:
Dear Keely,
You don’t know me, but I wonder if you might have sent me a dream. My name is Sabela and I spent a week with the goblin king. I know that ten years ago, he seduced you and your mother was furious…but it seems as if she also imprisoned herself in her rage. I wonder if maybe I saw a vision of your story because you wanted to save your mother. If you are ever going to help her, this might be the time. The men of Fairhaven are leaving this morning, to kill the goblin king.
I kept the note vague, as far as my feelings about Nyar. I didn’t know if Keely might still love him herself.
I would need Mr. Vedast to take me to a messenger post. I couldn’t trust my family, because they would certainly know I didn’t have a friend named Keely at Pony’s Brook.
“Take good care of her,” Clara told Mr. Vedast when he came that morning. I knew she was really talking about me, suspicious that I had ulterior motives for going with him.
“I certainly will.”
I was trying my best to look demure and a little ashamed, like I was wrestling with my thoughts. All I was really wrestling was fear, that I would fail Nyar and his people.
Somehow I had expected Mr. Vedast to have a carriage, because wealthy men always had carriages. But outside of our house was a dozen or so well-armed men on horseback. They wouldn’t want to b
e burdened with a carriage if they were riding with all speed to attack Nyar’s caverns.
I didn’t think I could get any more nervous than I already was, but I was wrong.
Mr. Vedast helped me into the saddle. He seemed very focused. One thing I would say about him, I don’t think he was moved by my beauty in the least. I think he just wanted Nyar’s riches. A man who loves money, not people, I thought. It would explain why he was so rich, and still unmarried. He probably didn’t want to take the time.
But as his hand settled at my waist, maybe I was wrong. His touch was possessive, his fingers gliding down my side to my hip.
“Mr. Vedast, I have one favor to ask before we leave the city,” I said. “I have kept a long-running correspondence with a dear friend, and when I was away with the goblin king, I didn’t write her any letters. She’s been worried sick over me. I want to reassure her that I’m all right.”
“We don’t have time to worry over the post. You can send it when you get back.”
“Oh, please!” I gave him my best beseeching eyes. “She’s already been waiting for days.”
“What is this letter? Let me see it.”
“It’s—“ Now I hesitated. I could tell by his tone that he was going to tear the letter open.
“Let me see it!” he barked.
Reluctantly, I took the letter from my pocket. The handkerchief was wrapped firmly around it, so I couldn’t take out the letter without taking out the handkerchief too. As soon as I had it out, the handkerchief tugged from my hand, tumbling on to the ground with the letter caught up inside. It started rolling away, as if caught by the wind.
I drew in a sharp breath. Would Mr. Vedast see that the handkerchief was enchanted?
The handkerchief was quickly tumbling off in the other direction, getting filthy in the street.
“My—my—handkerchief—“
Mr. Vedast seemed relieved. “It’s too filthy to bother with. You can have one of my handkerchiefs.” He thrust a clean monogrammed square into my hand. “We didn’t have time for letters anyway. Come on, men!” He pointed his gang to the street ahead, and spurred on his horse, causing a little boy to have to dash out of his way.
I cast one look back and saw the handkerchief leap onto the back of a passing carriage. No one else noticed.
I would have to trust that the goblin would find its way north, and on the other hand, it might not even matter. Keely might not be willing to help. Mr. Vedast might kill Nyar before she could get there.
I could only count on myself.
Mr. Vedast and his men conversed on the way about how they might take down the goblin king. They tried to ask questions about his caverns. I played dumb as much as I could. “He doesn’t have any servants, sir. The castle must be enchanted to stay clean by itself.” “I don’t know where he keeps his gold…truth be told, I was locked in a single bedroom the entire time I was there.”
“You are not very forthcoming.” He spoke into my ear. He was riding a little ahead of his men now, and suddenly his hand dropped between my legs.
I went rigid.
“What are you in a twist about?” he asked. “You are no virgin now. At least I’m a real man, not an ugly trickster who lives in a hole in the ground. And soon you will belong to me.”
I wanted to throw myself off the horse to get away from him. But I forced myself to remain calm. “Please, Mr. Vedast. If we are to be married, at least let me see that you will treat me like a proper bride. You know I did it to help my family. Our wedding night will be more precious for waiting.” I almost choked on the last sentence.
“We will arrange things immediately when we get back,” he said.
The journey was so much faster on horseback. The roads I had slowly trudged down in the rain and mud now flew by. We passed the sacred stones and I knew it would only be a matter of time. Would the gates of Nyar’s castle even appear?
My heart stopped when we reached the bend where I had first seen the entrance. And there it was. The open gate, guarded by gargoyles.
“This is it, isn’t it?” Mr. Vedast asked me, and I had to nod.
I cringed as the horses passed through. Their hooves sounded to me like an army. It was still daylight and Nyar would be sleeping in his coffin of glass, helpless—guarded by the river spirit, but she might be perfectly willing to let them cross and drive their swords into Nyar’s heart.
The men slowed their horses to a walk as they came upon the rose garden. It was still every bit as enchanting, and even now a part of me wanted to pick another rose. The men seemed to have no such temptations.
I had some hope that perhaps Nyar’s castle had inner defense mechanisms, that perhaps the doors would disappear and the men would have to dig their way in to find him. Unfortunately, not only were the doors visible, they were thrown wide open.
If it were me, I thought, and I came to a man’s castle to raid the place and the doors were wide open, I might be suspicious.
But the men had no qualms. They hitched their horses at a row of hitching posts I had not even noticed the first time—admittedly, they were somewhat concealed by the tall grass—and headed for the door. They all had swords at the ready and packs that I assumed were holding more weapons and supplies. Mr. Vedast took my arm. “Stay close, Sabela. I promised your family I’d take good care of you.”
I barely suppressed a scoff.
The caverns were utterly quiet. The lanterns and candles that helped light my way were not just unlit, but nowhere to be seen, although the walls still sparkled and glowed. The goblins seemed to be hiding.
The passage shuddered.
You have passed my tests, you foolish girl…you resisted the beauty of the fair man sleeping in the grotto, you resisted the bag of gold, and now you have returned.
I looked up and so did everyone else.
“What does that mean?” Mr. Vedast asked. “You resisted a bag of gold?”
“I don’t know what she’s talking about. I was never offered a bag of gold!”
“You expect me to believe that? I’ve known all along, you’ve had your hands on his gold…”
The river fairy laughed.
Someone is with you? Oh, this is rich. You have passed the tests, but you brought an army with you…willingly, or unwillingly? The latter, I suspect. Before, it seemed you would do anything for the goblin king. He will not wake until you come and give him a kiss. Come and get him, if you dare.
“Do you know where he is, Sabela? Who is speaking?”
“The witch who cursed him.”
“You are the witch who cursed the goblin king?” Mr. Vedast called.
Yes, indeed. He took my daughter’s maidenhood.
“Then I assume you won’t stand in our way if we raid his gold and kill him in his sleep.”
Curiously, the river witch did seem to hesitate. Send the girl first, she said. Do not kill him in his sleep. That is too merciful a death.
Mr. Vedast looked at me like he thought this was a trick I had planned with Nyar.
“Now she’s telling the truth,” I said. “She almost killed me before, when she thought I was trying to help the goblin king.”
“Twelve against one,” one of the men said. “That shouldn’t be too hard. There’s obviously no one here. If they were here, they would have to come to town to trade for supplies. But no one’s seen a goblin in these parts since the king started demanding those girls.”
“Let’s find the gold first and get it loaded in our saddlebags,” Mr. Vedast said. “Just in case we need to make a hasty retreat. And as for you—” He took a length of rope from his pack and twisted my arms behind my back, tying my wrists securely. Then he tied my feet together so I could only hobble.
“I never trusted you,” he said. “But I don’t blame you. You’re just a susceptible young girl. When all this is said and done, I’ll still share the gold with your family. You might be useful yet. And I will still be happy to make you my bride. You won’t misbehave anymore when I’m t
aking such good care of you and your family, will you?”
I glared at him.
They strode forward into the main hall. Mr. Vedast put a hand on my back to make sure I moved along, and let it linger there possessively. “What a gloomy place,” one of the men said, as if he could judge fairly when the fireplace wasn’t burning.
Another one sneered at the painting of goblin maidens. “Do you suppose that’s worth anything?”
Mr. Vedast shook his head. “Probably something, but we’re not carrying that home. Find the gold first and we’ll worry about the rest later.”
They started raiding the room. Drawers were thrown open, furniture moved around in a quest for secret passages. Twelve men made more of a racket than I could have dreamed. I watched them raid the place in paralyzed horror, their dirty boots stomping on the rugs, the goblin maiden painting yanked off the wall and tossed into a corner. They dented benches, shoving them around, threw a whole shelf of baskets onto the floor.
These things felt like mine. This is my home!
But I couldn’t tell them to stop. They wouldn’t listen to a word I said at this point. In fact, I might only encourage them.
I was very worried for the goblins, though. What would happen when they got to the kitchens and pantries? I imagined all the goblin plates shattering as the men continued their careless raiding. Would it kill them? I couldn’t risk that.
I wondered if the river witch would really allow Mr. Vedast and his men to kill Nyar. She had given up her entire life to have revenge on him. It seemed to me she would want to kill him herself…
They moved on to the next few rooms with their plundering—a grand bedroom, a sitting room, a smaller reception room. They were getting less thorough and more careless by the moment.
“Nothing here!”
Then, the library. They started knocking over bookshelves. Bookshelves were a popular spot to hide secret passages, and clearly they expected to find something behind them. I felt almost faint seeing fragile old books tumbling from shelves, only to see those same shelves thrown on top of them.
Beauty and the Goblin King (Fairy Tale Heat Book 1) Page 9