The Goblin's Throne

Chapter Five: Stolen

A sharp pain in my neck shocked me awake. In its wake, a wave of fire washed down my spine and into my muscles and bone, searing them black. A roar broke free from my lips as I seized, muscles unlocking with each twitch. An endless eternity passed with me convulsing on a cold floor before, slowly, my vision cleared, black lightening to golden sunshine. Sound once again flooded my ears. The flutter of small wings and pretty birdsong amidst the cold clank of chains and my own garbled groans as I shook. Finally my body stilled. I lay there, blinking in confusion at the marble floor, the soft colored roses climbing tall pillars in the distance. I watched a blue bird flutter passed and sit atop a flowering branch of The Hollow and peck at its sweet fruit, picking a worm from its pristine flesh.

"Get her up." I heard a familiar voice command. 

The chains binding my hands behind my back tightened, pulling me up off the floor so that I was sitting on my knees. A male hand fisted in my hair and yanked my head up, making sure I could see exactly who it was that had betrayed me.

Demetrius sat in a gleaming throne covered in flowers. A stag's antlers grew from his head in a striking crown, their many points painted in gold dust. Within their curve blazed a sun as bright and hot as his father's before him. As was very common in Seelie culture, he wore very little clothing. Only a shier bit of cloth of a pure white draped over his lower half. The pale cloth and the bits of gold from his antlers, sandals and a band around brow complemented his dark bronze skin and black curls perfectly. 

As lovely as he was, however, my eyes went immediately to the woman standing beside him. She stood tall in a light dress of deep red. Her long black hair undulated like waves around her as a storm raged within her sky-colored eyes.

"I should have known," I muttered, testing the ability of my tongue. It stung. The taste of blood was in my mouth. I was certain I'd bitten it along one side, but thankfully I was no longer slurring my words. "I should have known you'd be responsible for this. Tova is always oh so eager to do her mistress' bidding." I growled, my chest aching in protest. My body was weak and still ached horribly. "Where is she! Where is that sniveling dog!" I raged, ignoring my pain as I twisted and pulled against my chains and the guards holding me at bay. I searched the room for the elf queen, but she wasn't there. I found instead Aurora nearly hiding behind the throne. Her red head was turned away from me, her expression so pained it was as if she could feel every bit of my suffering. I'd soon make her feel three times that. I found Lysander as well. Of course, he was there, but he did not stand with his brother. He was off to the side, watching from the edge of the throne room where the palace gave way to the abyss. He wore robes of dark blue, his stern, handsome face turned towards the view. He looked as if he were admiring the sea of magic below, but his eyes were on me. I could feel them scouring my skin. How they'd bulge from his head when I ripped off his wings and pushed him off the edge into the sea.

Traitors.

 Traitors all of them.

They'd die like traitors too.

"Release me!" I screamed at Titania. "You will release me now if you value your lives!"

Titania's lips tweaked in their corners, threatening to form a smug smile. "You are no longer in any position to spout orders," Titania said in a loud, triumphant voice. The speech of a returning hero who'd just slain a dragon. "You are not master of this realm. The Summer Branches is Demetrius' to rule." Titania moved towards me, her every movement filled with confidence. Stepping down from the platform on which her son's throne sat, she came to stand before me. She glared down at me, not with anger but with indifference, as if I held no value whatsoever to her. I was not loved enough to be a friend or hated enough to be a nemesis. "You know I cannot release you. We've passed the point of no return."