The Goblin's Throne

Chapter Nineteen: Moving Forward

Demetrius' voice shredded through the heavy blanket of silence that had fallen over the room since Knut's message had ended. "Mother?"  He called to Titania. Titania remained as she was as if she hadn't or couldn't hear him. She was on her knees, her hands pounding and clawing against the marble floor.  "Mother, we have to release her now," Demetrius said and my heart did a flip as it leaped into my throat. Home. I could very well be sleeping in my own bed within hours. 

As if she could sense my swelling hope, Titania was quick to squash it down again. "We do not have to do any such thing." Titania snarled, slowly lifting her face. Her eyes were still wide with fright, but anger, hatred, was quickly flooding in to take its place as she dragged herself to her feet. Her eyes, full of pouring rain and flashes of lightning, snapped to me. "I do not believe your husband's lies. Everything is affected by the tides. That was nothing more than a bluff."

"Does The Hollow wither during the Solstice?" I asked, taking a jab at her flawed logic. 

Titania's feathers ruffled. Lightning split the skies, lighting the room in flashes of bright white."If that thing were truly a god it wouldn't let a savage command it!" She bore her teeth and her eyes bulged as she continued to try to convince the others and herself that they had not already lost. "That creature cannot be on par with The Hollow. The Hollow is our creator, our world. Nothing is its equal. Bran is nothing more than a demon Mab pulled from The Void."

  Was she that deep into her denial that she could actually look at Bran and not realize what he was? I had never before seen just how much she had changed since Oberon's death. Her fear, her anxiety and honestly her prejudices had stolen something from her. She was once proud and powerful and wise, a woman I myself had respected somewhat. I saw only a raving lunatic in front of me now.  

"You remember what it felt like when Bran flew over us at The Upheaval. You know what you're saying isn't true. You've felt its power. It's why you went through all this trouble of taking Matilda, to begin with." Lysander said, stepping in between the two warring queens as if I needed protection from her. As if I asked for it.

"I do not doubt it is powerful, Lysander, I doubt that its a god. There can be only one god, as far as I see it, and if it is not a god then it is bound by the same rules as we are. It was Midsummer, what we felt at The Upheaval was its power at its peak. It will be affected by the sea's low tide just as well. Knut is merely trying to intimidate us to get us to give in to his demands. If we give her back now he will kill us." 

"And if you're wrong?" Demetrius asked, sighing softly. He was looking at me pityingly as he spoke and I wondered what kind of expression I was making to cause it. "If we don't give her back and what he said turns out to be true then we'll all die anyway."

"Yes, we could die, that is a possibility, but if we give in, it is a certainty no matter what."

"So we should just wait and see?" Lysander huffed in annoyance. 

My insides dropped so suddenly I nearly pitched forward onto my face. My legs wobbled and I instinctively reached out and grabbed his tunic where it slung across his back. He cut his eyes towards me at the swift tug. They were questioning and more than a little hopeful. I quickly let him go and clung to the wall behind me instead. 

The Solstice was still almost four months away and even knowing that I would be going home then didn't help the fact that I would be spending all that time waiting. An hour more was too long to stay in this place. I wanted to go home. Now. This very second.

"So long as we have her, he cannot kill us. The minute we let her go, we are done. It doesn't matter what he said, that will be the end result of any show of mercy. Remember, he made no promise to spare us even if we gave her back this very day."