To Wed The Goblin King (The Realm Trilogy Book 2) Read online

  To Wed The Goblin King

  The Realm Trilogy Book Two

  Lisa Manifold

  Copyright © 2016 by Lisa Manifold

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

  may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

  without the express written permission of the publisher

  except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  First Ebook Edition 2016

  Ocean Top Press

  Idaho Springs, CO

  www.lisamanifold.com

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  About The Author

  Dedication

  To Rachel and Corinne

  The Goblin King is here in part because of you both.

  Chapter One

  Iris

  This portal thing—the way you travel in the Fae Realm—is getting easier. Don’t get me wrong. It’s still not fun, and I usually feel like I’m moving through ripples of water, which is as sickening as it sounds, but since Brennan is driving, his portal moves are much smoother and more focused than mine. I’ll get better, he assures me.

  I should take his word for it. For the time being, I’m glad he’s driving, as it were. I’m nervous enough about seeing my parents. I’ve been gone for weeks. Taranath, the head magic man in charge in Brennan’s court, said that I wasn’t fit to travel between realms until recently. Even now, he had some head shaking and muttering to himself going on.

  Back to my parents. What am I going to tell them? Hey Mom and Dad! What’s up? Sorry I’ve been MIA for a month or so! I’m totally fine! I have some sort of magic thing going on, actual skills still to be determined, and I’ve nearly died twice, and I’m in love with the Goblin King—yes, there is such a thing—and I’m just here for a visit.

  Because while they know what’s happened over the last month, they don’t really know. They haven’t accepted it, if their behavior when I last saw them is any indication. They know I went to football game with a guy I was interested in; I think they were even more excited than I was. They know I ran in to—for lack of a better word—two men named Brennan and Drake, who are not human, but a race called the fae. Not fairies, mind you. I made the mistake of assuming fae and fairies were the same, and I was quickly corrected. Anyway, because Brennan and Drake were just as suspicious about how we ran into one another as I was, they took me back to the Fae Realm with them. While there, I nearly died a couple of times (I’m not sure how much my parents truly know about that, and I don’t think I will enlighten them).

  In the process, my parents and I learned that my maternal grandmother, Mara, is also fae, which makes me one-quarter fae. That fact explains why I have all sorts of magic power. While I was in the Fae Realm, my magic helped to heal Brennan, when he was attacked by an assassin sent by his brother.

  This magic also helped me to heal my mom. When I was taken—all right, kidnapped—by Brennan and Drake—my mom was sick. She had cancer. After I’d been in the Fae Realm, and Brennan brought me home, he and his court magician came with me to see if they could heal her cancer. They were doing well and I got pulled in by forces I still don’t completely understand. That’s when the truth about my grandmother came out. Until recently, my mom was estranged from her. But when everything happened with me disappearing and then reappearing, Mara became part of our lives again. And that’s when the truth of who and what she was came out.

  Amid all this, Brennan and I fell in love. I didn’t plan it. But things happen. This has made both Mom and Dad unhappy. So…thinking that I can just show up, wave, and run off to the Fae Realm with Brennan is not going to thrill them. They are already suspicious as hell about him and the fact that I love him.

  Yeah. That would go over great. Not even mentioning the fact that the death threats are still on the table with my beloved’s psycho brother, the one who sent the assassin. No need to tell them all that.

  I stifled a sigh. I had no idea what to tell them. Nothing would ease their worry. I also didn’t want to think about how they would react when I told them I would be moving to another realm. I hadn’t even been able to move into the dorms in college, although that was due to my not wanting to be away from Mom. But now that she wasn’t sick anymore…

  Now what?

  My thoughts were interrupted as we stepped into the backyard of my parents’ house. I had to lean over. I’d never felt this way after a portal before—like I was sick, like some disease had just washed over me like water at the beach. What did it mean? Was this me changing?

  “Are you all right?” Brennan’s warm tone washed over me. How did he do that? His voice used to annoy the hell out of me. Now, I’d probably get the shivers listening to him read a grocery list. It was that sexy.

  Love. I grinned, catching Brennan’s eye, and he gave what passed for a grin with him. It had to be love. Made everything look oh-so-fab. I forgot about the awful feeling right after we arrived and focused on the matter—the man—in front of me. He was amazing.

  Not that he was hard on the eyes even when he aggravated the hell out of me.

  “Do you ever get used to that?” I had to ask, even though I didn’t really want to focus on the fact that this trip was different from all the rest. Maybe he’d give me something that would calm my nerves. All of a sudden, they felt like they were on fire. What the hell?

  He steadied me and gave me an all too brief hug. “You will. Give yourself time, Iris. You’re new to all the things you can do. A lot of it takes practice. I’ve got a few years on you.”

  “Did you just make a joke, your Majesty?” Well, him touching me did make me feel better. My nerves weren’t settled, however. His touch just set off a different bunch of them.

  “I did.”

  I beamed at him. He relaxed more with me every day. In spite of how I felt, I loved seeing this from Brennan.

  “Iris?”

  I jumped, not expecting anyone else to be there, and turned to the voice.

  My parents sat at a table out on the deck. They were having lunch. Both had expressions of shock.

  My mom broke the moment first. “Oh, Iris!” She stood up, knocking her chair over as she did, and ran to me, arms out.

  Brennan let me go, and I moved into her embrace.

  “Oh, baby!” She said into my hair. “Where have you been? We’ve been worried sick!”

  “Mom, Taranath came to see you, didn’t he? And gave you all my letters?” I gave Brennan a look over my shoulder. He’d told me that Taranath had been giving my parents updates. It was the only reason I hadn’t fought him harder on coming back here sooner. I knew they’d be worried.

  “He did, but it’s not the same.” She stepped back, her hands still on my arms. “Are you all right? You don’t look any different.”

  “That’s not entirely true,” Dad said, coming to envelop me in his hug. “Missed you, kiddo.” He kissed the top of my head.

  I felt the tears well up. “I missed you guys, too.”

  “Then why didn’t you come home?”

  My mom’s simple question nearly felled me. Brennan saved me.

  “We weren’t sure that she would be healthy enough to po
rtal. We didn’t want her coming back and collapsing.”

  Love that man.

  “We are capable of taking care of our daughter.”

  Oh, hell. Dad was on the warpath.

  “Dad, it’s okay. I was really weak and…”

  “Why were you weak? What happened to you? You were fine when you left here before!”

  Guess we weren’t going to join them for lunch and have a civilized conversation. He had already worked himself into a fit. Not that I blamed him. I felt torn, though. I was safe, and why didn’t they trust me? When we lived on board our boat, I was fit to pilot her with no supervision, even though theoretically I could have killed us all. So why, when it came to me meeting a guy and falling in love was I no longer trustworthy? “Dad, why don’t we all sit down and talk?”

  “This isn’t a garden party, Iris!”

  “What are you yelling at me for? I came here to talk to you, to let you know what is happening, and—”

  “You came here? To give us an update? We’re your family, Iris! I think we deserve a little more than that! Your mother and I have been worried for weeks!”

  “I’m sorry, Dad! I didn’t mean—”

  “Why don’t we all sit down?” Brennan interrupted. “It seems we all need to speak at length, and that will be easier if we’re comfortable.”

  Dad glared, first at Brennan, and then at me. “Don’t tell me what to do in my own house.”

  “Then do it, Dad. Or is this not my house anymore?” I wasn’t having this from him.

  “I don’t know, Iris. You tell me.” He turned and stomped back towards the deck, tossing himself into a chair.

  My mom gave me a look as if to say what can I do? I shrugged. Dad didn’t often lose his temper, but when he did, it was generally fairly epic. I knew he was angry mostly because he was scared. I really hoped that he’d be able to keep things sort of polite.

  I took Brennan’s hand, and we followed my mom to the table.

  “Would you like something to eat or…drink?” Mom offered.

  I could tell she felt Dad’s anger like I did. It made us both uncomfortable.

  “No, Mom, I’m fine. I want to talk with you guys.”

  “Then come and sit with us.” She took my hand and led me towards the table where they’d been sitting when we arrived.

  Brennan followed right behind me, and when I went to sit, he pulled out the chair. I gave him a silent thank you as I sat down.

  “Won’t you join us?” Mom asked him.

  “Thank you, Claire, but I prefer to stand.” He stayed behind me. His presence felt good, comforting, although I could see that it didn’t thrill my parents.

  Well, tough.

  Then I saw my mom’s face. Crap. It was going to be hard to keep up the this is my life thing when she had that face on.

  “So. Tell us. What exactly have you been doing for the past month? Why haven’t we actually seen you? Why does someone else always come and give us an update? Do you have any idea how worried we’ve been?”

  Hell and damnation. This was going to be a lot harder than I thought. What, exactly, to tell them? I opened my mouth to speak, but Dad wasn’t finished.

  “You know, Mara’s been talking with us. You did some things when you helped your mom that she didn’t understand. She’s not my favorite person, but if she is mystified about what happened, I think you have a lot of explaining to do.”

  Yikes. I tossed an oh no look over my shoulder at Brennan. We’d been talking about this a lot as I healed, and had nothing better to do. Neither he nor Taranath understood what had happened with my mom. Brennan alone should have been enough to heal her. But I’d done something and, so far, no one had a good idea of what the hell it was. Or whether my skill would be a real skill, would I actually live…I had to stop. This train of thought wouldn’t do anything for me. Or us.

  Add to that what I’d done to help Brennan—I got nothing. Certainly nothing that’s going to convince my dad.

  “Perhaps I should sit,” Brennan leaned down and murmured into my hair. I could feel him brush against me as he slid smoothly into the chair next to me.

  “Oh, that’s reassuring,” Dad muttered, rolling his eyes to Mom.

  Brennan took my hand under the table.

  “Paul, Claire, while Iris is only one-quarter fae, she has the skill and power of a full fae, but we have not seen anyone who can do what Iris can. It’s a gift. She’s helped others since she helped you. It does seem to be activated by stress on her part.”

  Okay, really? Did he really just say that to my parents, who are already in super-duper lockdown mode? I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

  “All the more reason she needs to stay here,” Dad slapped his hand on the table.

  “I would enjoy talking with Mara and hearing more of the personal family history,” Brennan leaned back in the chair, obviously not distressed at all. I wanted to kick him.

  “It won’t change anything. You don’t know what’s going on, she doesn’t know anything, and my daughter isn’t home where she ought to be!”

  Mom put her hand over Dad’s. “There’s something else, honey.”

  Whatever Dad had planned to say, that shut him up quickly.

  “What, Mom?”

  “Well, I’ve been going to see my doctors…” Mom began, and then stopped.

  Chapter Two

  Iris

  I looked at my mom. My dismay must be showing, because her face darkened slightly from the happy glow the appearance of her missing daughter had brought her. “Mom, what do you mean? You’re all better! We healed you!”

  Mom gave Dad a quick, fleeting glance before meeting my eyes and answering. “Yes, honey, the cancer is gone. The doctors don’t understand it, though. So they’re being…cautious..”

  “They wouldn’t understand Fae healing,” Brennan interjected. He leaned in closer to me in spite of being in a separate seat and slid his arm around my waist. It felt right. Natural. He felt big and enveloping. Safe.

  I needed that right now, to feel safe and secure. I knew we’d healed my mom. But this made me question what had happened. And it scared me for her. I rested my head on his shoulder, taking strength from him.

  Dad’s eyes narrowed as he watched us. He crossed his arms and leaned back, never a good sign. “Be that as it may, it requires us staying here and Claire being monitored. We want you to stay here with us, Iris. Just…” He didn’t finish.

  “Just in case,” Mom said quietly. She took Dad’s hand. “Not that I am not eternally grateful,” She addressed her words to Brennan.

  I could feel Brennan stiffen next to me. “You will not have any further issues, Claire,” Brennan said. “Regardless of your doctors’ concerns.”

  “We don’t know that!” I could tell Dad was close to losing his temper.

  “I do,” Brennan’s calm response seemed to only anger my dad further.

  “You’re not going anywhere, Iris! You’re staying here, where you belong!”

  I could feel the heat in my cheeks, a sign that my own temper was going from worried to pissed. “What do you mean, ‘Where I belong?’ I’m not a little girl! I can make my own decisions! Where I belong is for me to decide, not you!”

  “You want to be somewhere that you have no one else like you? Where no one loves you? Where you have no family?” Dad pulled out the big guns, and the ferocity of his response stunned me.

  “She does have family. Imara’s family still lives in Fae. And she definitely has people who love her.” Brennan’s arm squeezed me closer to him. Mom and Dad didn’t need to know that I’d yet to meet Imara’s mother. Or anyone else in the family. He’d evaded that.

  But his touch comforted me. I knew that being with him was right. The right thing. The right place for me.

  “You’re not family yet,” Dad crossed his arms. “There’s no guarantee you will be.”

  I could tell that he meant his words as an insult, that there was no guarantee Brennan and I would marry
. I opened my mouth to protest, but Brennan beat me to it.

  “Paul, you cast a slur not only on me, but on your daughter. We have every intention of marrying, and would prefer your blessing. As an adult in both your world and mine, Iris may make her own choices, but I know that she would rather have your approval than not.”

  I smiled up at Brennan. He was handling this well, which is more than I could say for myself. I wanted to scream and yell at my dad, but his calm manner made me restrain myself.

  Although screaming and yelling might feel better.

  Whatever my dad planned to say, or what I wanted to yell—it all went away.

  Mom got up from where she sat and came and took the hand not hugging Brennan.

  “Sweetie, I feel like we haven’t had much time together over the last year. With me getting sick, and all the things that came with that—we were all waiting for me to die. That’s no way to live. All I’m—all we’re—asking is that you give us some time as a family not living with cancer hanging over them. Please. For me.” Her eyes filled with tears.

  I couldn’t look away. The tears spilled out of my eyes as well.

  I looked up at Brennan.

  Brennan

  He couldn’t believe it. One crying mother and Iris fell to pieces. What sort of mother used guilt to chain their offspring? What sort of adult fell for it? Not that Nerida hadn’t tried the same sort of behavior with him, minus the tears. He just knew it for what it was.

  As Iris should.

  Her mother was healed. Her parents should be thrilled that their daughter was the beloved of the Goblin King. He offered her a life she would have never have had otherwise. She’d be able to see her parents whenever she chose. But her home was with him, in his kingdom, by his side.

  Not in the Human Realm.

  Shame washed over him as suddenly as the anger had moments before. He’d not faced the possibility of losing his mother. Iris lived that possibility. No sooner than he’d helped to heal Claire, Iris had left her.