The Goblin's Throne

Chapter Fifteen: Leave it Burning

The screaming lasted for days. It grew so loud at times the guards that came out periodically to make sure I wasn't in danger of dying threw up bubbles of silence around themselves for relief from the torturous sounds emanating from the elf kingdom below. For me, however, their screams were like the singing of angels, each cry of anguish a gift from the man I loved. Even as my throat ached from thirst and my skin boiled and blistered beneath the constant sun, my smile remained bright and gleaming. 

Finally, Magni was getting the justice he deserved. Those that killed him were no where near paying the full amount of their debt but it was a start.

"I heard Titania say she's going to let you off the pavilion tomorrow." Cerise whispered as she tipped a waterskin against my mouth. I gulped it down, suckling it as greedily as a piglet on a sow. Cerise came as often as she possibly could, appearing more than the guards did, always with at least a waterskin of chilled water if not scraps from her own meals. 

"You think my skin will survive until then?" I rasped. She peeked at the ruin of my back, at the blisters popping up along my shoulders and the angry red color of my hide. She grimaced and I tried a brittle chuckle. "That bad, huh?" There was an obvious downside to having your body strengthened by The Hollow's sap. Were I just a mere human, I probably would have been dead by now, my brain boiled in skull. I may not have been changed to the extent of Ib, but my body could still endure a great deal of misery. Lucky me.

"Your back looks like cooked meat." She said bluntly, curling her lip. 

"I hope it at least looks delicious." I laughed hoarsely.

"I've never been a big meat eater." She said, smiling softly at my weak chuckle. She fed me pieces of bland tasting bread so stale it almost made me weep. The old me would have thought it delicious despite its overly dry texture and nothing taste, but I'd grown far too accustomed to goblin cooking and this was just plain awful. Even my favorite food the faeries managed to ruin.

"Enough," I jerked my head away from her outstretched fingers as she offered me another morsel. "One more bite and all that water will come back up all over you. Jesus, it's awful!" 

With a nod, she put the remaining bread away and again held the waterskin to my mouth.  "They've lost contact with Tova and with The Boughs completely." Cerise explained. They've tried to open windows, to peek into the elf kingdom and watch Knut but every window is slammed shut each time by unseelie magic. They considered sending scouts to spy on him, but Titania doesn't want to risk them being discovered. It could make Knut think they aren't going to keep their promises."

"They haven't already." I replied. "They promised they wouldn't harm me, but look at me now. I wish I could talk to him now, tell him just to attack and not worry about me."

"You know the conditions of her spell. You'll die the moment he makes his first move of attack."

"I know, but it would be worth it. As long as I got to drag them all to hell with me, it would be more than worth it." The elves howled from below and the cheers of goblins echoed them.

"No it wouldn't." Cerise scowled, her hazel eyes taking on that glassiness again. "You and Knut are no longer alone against the world. You have your children and they need their mother. Would your revenge be worth never seeing them again?"

I shifted my eyes away from her and looked out at the sea of magic. It went on and on forever, fading into the dark smoke hazed sky. "Of course not. I know what it's like to grow up without a mother, without parents. I'd never want that for my boys, but I hate knowing that I'm holding Knut back. It isn't the first time my being human has limited him. He can't just remake me like he would a goblin wife. He's always worrying about my safety and it keeps him from reaching his full potential. What the elves are going through now, is him holding back. Just think of what he could do if he didn't have to worry about me. None of this would never have even happened. Titania and her manchild son would never have risked crossing him." My shackles clanged as my hands tightened into fists. "I'm his weakness. She was all too right about that. When he married me, he might as well have cut off his own arms."