Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 132625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
How long did I sleep? I feel better than when I called for my goblin, but weakness still nips at my heels. Maybe I just need some food. It’s been too long since I’ve eaten anything.
You need the Sword of Fire. You need to find Mordeus and fix what you’ve done.
Coffee. Food. I just need something in my stomach, and I’ll be okay. Then I can find my way to Feegus Keep and hunt down the sword that legend says can kill anyone.
Food. Sword. Mordeus.
I still have the ring. I can do this. I meet the elderly faerie’s eyes and let the Enchanting Lady’s thrall fill my voice as I say, “Could I trouble you for some dinner?”
She shoves the steaming mug into my cold hands, ignoring my request. “Hurry now. Drink more of this.”
I bring it to my lips, greedy for more of the sweetness she used to wake me. “Thank you.” I sip, and this time I’m awake enough to identify the flavors dancing on my tongue. Warmed chocolate spiced with cinnamon and clove.
The concoction soothes my riotous stomach as it goes down.
She studies me. “I trust you slept well.”
“I—” I shake my head. Who is this female? She called me princess. How does she know who I am? “Yes, thank you. Could you please make me some food?”
She rocks back on her heels and frowns as she looks me over. “Stick with the drink for now. It’s too soon for food.”
I frown at my ring. This ring makes everyone do my bidding. The only ones who have been immune are Abriella and Kendrick. And now this faerie. “You don’t want to make me food? Even if that’s what I want?”
She props her hands on her hips. “You should consider yourself lucky I didn’t kick you out of my house. Ungrateful child.”
Her house. Does Gommid know her? Did he know he was bringing me to her house? “I’m sorry. I thought . . .”
“You think I should be bowing at your feet because of that ridiculous ring. I know.”
I instinctively check my mind for the shields Misha taught me to hold in place before realizing it shouldn’t matter. I shouldn’t need my shields when I’m wearing my ring.
“If you hadn’t noticed, goblins are immune to that particular enchantment.” She sticks out her hand. “Fherna, pleasure to meet you.”
I blink at her as I take her hand. A goblin. Of course. I should’ve realized sooner. “I’ve never met a female goblin before.”
“You probably have. You just weren’t paying attention. Just because our male folk spend their time escorting ungrateful creatures around doesn’t mean there are no females. Didn’t your mother teach you about the birds and the bees, my girl? About how babies are made?”
I bite my bottom lip to hold back a laugh before I realize—I feel like laughing. The cloying sickness from wearing the ring during the day has dissipated.
“It’s the drink,” Fherna says. “It mutes the pull of the magic.”
My heart sinks and I put down the mug. “I need my magic. I need—”
“Don’t be foolish,” she says, nudging the mug back toward me. “Your enchantment is intact. The drink mutes the magic’s ability to draw from your life force.”
I glance down to my mug and then back up at her. I don’t know anything about this creature, so I’m not sure I should trust her so readily, but I’ve already come this far—sleeping in her bed and drinking her offering. I might as well listen to what she has to say. “Explain?”
“Magic is life, my dear. Life is magic. A ring that powerful was brought into being only because you sacrificed so much of your life to have it, but magic takes on the qualities of its creator. A magic like this is hungry. It takes and takes. It will draw from you until there’s nothing left.”
I shake my head. “I have until my eighteenth birthday. I have—”
“Don’t misunderstand,” she says, “that ring won’t kill you. He’s worked too hard to let that happen. But he wants it to keep you hovering around death until your bargain is complete.”
I set the mug down on the bedside table and gather my thoughts. It’s getting easier. Whatever she put in that drink is allowing me to think clearly for the first time since leaving Kendrick and the others. “Why are you helping me?”
Her face goes solemn. “Because if I don’t, everything changes.” She nods to my cup. “If you plan to find a way to defeat Mordeus, you best finish that.”
My breath catches. “How do you know all this?” This is why Kendrick never wanted to use the goblins. They know too much, he said. It seems they do.
She narrows her eyes. “I understand your exposure to goblins was limited when you were a child, but nearly four years you’ve lived in this realm. How do you understand so little about the creatures around you?”