The Goblin's Throne

Chapter Four: Upheaval

The palace was a flurry of commotion and garbled whispers as the entire empire readied for the sixth annual celebration of The Upheaval, the day the unseelie fell from the sky and the goblins rose up. Servants of both races rushed to do our bidding, setting out the food, polishing the gold utensils, decorating the cavernous throne room with greenery, and ensuring my special throne gleamed like a star in the bonfire's writhing light. The chaos grew more rampant as the other guests began to arrive. The new aristocracy of The winter Branches (I had murdered all the old ones) appeared at the city's entrance on pitch black wings wearing livery and gowns spun from pieces of nature, the deep red of rose petals, the delicate gray of snow filled clouds, the nearly translucent blue of rain. For once I was glad that the brooding chamber had no windows. Just the glimpse I'd had of them as I made my way back to my children had been enough to send my heart into a panicked flurry. Some motherly instinct in the very marrow of my bones protested loudly at their presence so close to my boys. I'd be beyond happy when they were finally old enough that I no longer felt the need to sit on them like a hen.

I smiled up at Floki as I buttoned up his green jerkin. He wouldn't look at me in the face. He watched my hands, his bottom lip trembling as the unshed tears he was fighting back glistened in his eyes. "What's the matter, Floki?" I asked softly, reaching up to smooth his golden hair out of his eyes. "I'm not angry anymore, I promise." 

"I'm sorry we made you cry." He whispered hoarsely, his throat raw from crying. It had taken ages for him to calm down. His face was still flushed. "We didn't mean to be bad."

"Don't let your father hear you say that." I chuckled. He brightened at my laugh. A small one of his own joined with mine. "We rarely mean to be bad and there's nothing wrong with a little misbehavior. However, there's plenty of time for that when you're older. Right now, you're still so small. I worry about you." I squeezed his small hands in mine. "Don't make your mother worry. Frit does enough of that for all three of you." We both glanced over to where Frit was leaping about the room, bouncing from bed to bed as he chased an invisible assassin. 

"Come back here you mangy scourge!" He shouted, swinging a toy sword through the air as aimless and wild as ever. I wasn't entirely sure he knew what scourge meant or where he'd heard it. "Taste my blade!" He swatted Ask in the backside and swiftly got strung up by the ankles. 

Ask was having none of his nonsense. "That's enough of that, Little Princeling. Time to finish getting ready. We still have to put on your stockings and shoes." She carried him upside down back to the wardrobe, paying no mind to his flailing and cries of protest.

Floki and I laughed at his expense. Frit was always good for that. "With the new baby coming," I patted the curve of my belly, "I'm going to need your help keeping the others in line. Can you do that for me?" 

Floki grimaced, "I don't know. Frit has a hard head. He doesn't listen to me much." 

"Well make him listen. Be my enforcer." I said, poking him in his chest. "Use that ferociousness. If Frit is doing something that could get him hurt or get the both of you in trouble, make him behave. You're a lot larger than him and I'm sure you'll be a massive man when you grow up. I very much doubt Frit will grow very much at all. Just throw him over your shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Tie him up. I give you my permission to sit on him if you have to."

His brown eyes met mine and he smiled, his button nose wrinkling in that adorable way I loved and remembered. It was Rolland and Rhys' smile only Floki had much more teeth. "That sounds fun." He giggled delightedly. His eyes were no longer filled with unshed tears, but the brightness of innocent joy. I wondered if I had ever worn such an expression when I was young...or ever. 

The door of the brooding chamber burst open with such sudden force that my heart leaped into my throat. I whirled with a snarl, baring my teeth. Only to find Ari standing there, lowering her taloned foot. "Hello, Future Husbands!" The she-goblin bellowed as she sauntered into the room with her claws on her waist. She wore a gown of vibrant purple silk. The skirt was cut shorter in the front, as to not interfere with her talons, with a long train slithering behind her. She entered the brooding chamber as if she owned it and if she had it her way, one day she would.