Heart Of The Goblin King (The Realm Trilogy Book 1) Read online

  The mage ran his hand above Iris. He stood up straight and whirled around to face Brennan as Drake came back into the room.

  “She’s not sleeping!”

  “What? Of course she is!” Brennan stepped closer to look at Iris. “I put her to sleep myself.”

  “She is not sleeping, Majesty. Not the sleep of the dream world. She is sleeping the sleep of death. We must send her back. She is dying.”

  “What are you talking about? This is not complex magic. I know how to cast a sleeping spell!”

  “I do not think it your spell, Majesty, but something within the girl. We must wake her up.”

  “That will undo whatever Brennan has already done.” Drake broke in.

  Taranath gave him a stern look. “Good. For whatever reason, she’s dying from the magic practiced upon her. I know you have no wish to have this on your head,” he looked at Brennan.

  No one spoke. Brennan saw that both the mage and Drake waited for his answer. “Very well. I don’t want her to die merely because she accidentally came upon us.”

  “The spell might yet still work. We shall see when she awakens,” Taranath said before turning back to bend over Iris’s sleeping form.

  She doesn’t look to be in distress, thought Brennan. The pink is still on her cheeks. What did the mage see that he couldn’t?

  Taranath ran his hands above Iris again, and Brennan could see a faint lilac glow.

  Iris sat up suddenly.

  Chapter Six

  Iris

  “What are you waiting for?” I glared at Brennan. Oh, great. Drake and some other guy were there, all peering at me like I’d grown another head.

  “What am I…?” Brennan trailed off.

  “Yes! Why are you just standing there? Get on with it! Take care of my memory and send me back.”

  “Miss, what do you remember?” The new guy asked gently, leaning in towards me. He looked at me as though I were a bug in a jar.

  I didn’t like being a spectacle, or a curiosity. “I remember everything! From the moment I went into the bathroom, to your freak boys dragging me here, and him,” I pointed at Brennan, “Promising to send me back! Every moment you wait makes my life harder! This isn’t my fault! It’s yours! So fix it!” I could tell my voice raised while I spoke. I didn’t care.

  “The bathroom? The room where you bathe?” Drake asked.

  ”No, the room where you…uh…” How the heck did I translate what a bathroom was?

  Drake laughed suddenly. “Oh, you mean the necessary. We landed in a necessary, Brennan!”

  The other two men looked taken aback. Brennan crossed his arms and glared at me. “I don’t see the need to dwell on it. Nor will getting angry help you, Iris.”

  “Well, since you’re not listening to me, it’s apparent that I need to tack and change course.”

  No one responded immediately. Perhaps they didn’t understand the sailing lingo. I didn’t care. I wanted—needed—to get back.

  “Your spell didn’t work,” Bug Man said to Brennan. He peered at me again, reinforcing the idea of a scientist peering at a new and interesting specimen. “I cannot tell why, but it sent her into a sleep that would have ended…Well.” He stopped. “It’s lucky that I got here. You’ll need to tell me what you said, Your Majesty, as best as you can remember. It should have worked.” He tapped his chin, lost in thought.

  Great. He was a scientist. No wonder he was looking at me like a specimen. And just how would the spell have ended? His changing the subject abruptly made me nervous.

  Drake stepped in. “How has this become so complex? Wipe her memory, Taranath, if you please, and let’s get her back to the Human Realm. We have greater concerns that need attending to!”

  Bug Man—the mage?—held up a hand. “It’s not that simple, Lord Drake. She’s human. The realm of the fae is not kind to humans. They don’t have the resistance to the environment.”

  “What are you talking about?” Drake interrupted.

  “Have you forgotten that many human children who arrive here don’t live past a year? This environment is hard on the human form. You are one of the few who survived and adapted. This young woman’s body has resisted magic that ought to work on her and in doing so seems to have accelerated the process of decay. If we act in haste, we may kill her.”

  “What are you suggesting we do?” Brennan still sounded calm.

  Good thing, because listening to this was doing anything but calming me. I felt a scream bubbling up and I clamped my lips shut and squeezed my hands together. I could feel the sweat on my palms.

  “Miss, I know you are anxious to return home, but may I request some more of your time? Just to see why the spell didn’t work. I wouldn’t want to make the same mistake.”

  I heard Brennan make an impatient noise and had to hide a smile. Apparently he didn’t like being judged critically. Oh well.

  I could also see why this mage character fit right into my Bug Man descriptive. He wanted to study me before sending me home. I’m a sucker for people who love what they do, so I sighed. “Yeah, sure, I guess. Not long, though. The longer I’m gone, the more things fall apart for me.” Now I glared at Brennan.

  The mage looked at Brennan, surprise all over his features. “But why can you not—”

  “We will do our best to get you home in as timely a manner as possible,” Brennan spoke over the mage, who looked mystified. “Taranath, I do not want Iris wandering around the castle. You’ll need to make your observations here, in my chambers. We will, of course, surrender the lounge to you in order to facilitate your work.” He and Drake exchanged what could only be described as stink eye.

  “I’ll need a few things, Your Majesty. Would you please call for Riensea? She’ll know what to bring for me.”

  Brennan nodded, and swept from the room, along with Drake. I’d thought only women in long skirts could do that, but somehow he managed. I’d never met a more graceful man. I couldn’t help but watch him as he left.

  I turned my attention back to the mage, and found that he watched me, almost as intently as I feared I’d been watching Brennan.

  “We’ll need to know your history, my dear,” he said comfortably.

  “What’s your name?” I needed to have something other than Bug Man to call him.

  “Most people call me Mage.”

  I shook my head.

  “Very well. You may call me Ta—” and he said something that I couldn’t understand. “It’s my given name.”

  I tried it out. “Ta-ra-nath?” Whatever he’d said, it didn’t roll easily off my tongue. It sounded like what Brennan and Drake had said.

  Taranath smiled at my efforts. “See why Mage is easier? But Taranath will do.”

  His expression was so rueful, I had to laugh. “You can call me Iris.”

  He inclined his head. “It’s delightful to meet you.”

  “Personally or as something to study?”

  That made him smile widely. “Both, of course. I don’t get to see many people from outside of this realm. I prefer not to travel.”

  “Where were you when Brennan went looking for you? I thought he might burst a blood vessel,” I snickered at the memory.

  Taranath looked out over my head towards the window. “I had some research to do. Nothing more than poor timing. Let’s not waste any more of that, shall we?” He sat down in one of the chairs in front of where I sat. I hadn’t done much other than lay around on this couch. Oddly, I didn’t want to do anything else.

  Taranath began asking me about my parents and stopped when I told him about my mom. Tears welled up, and he waited for me to compose myself.

  “Sorry. It’s hard to think about losing her.”

  He sighed. “It’s so easy for you in the Human Realm to pass on. I am sorry, Iris. What about your father?”

  Before I could answer, the door swung open, and another goblin came in, carrying a bag. Behind her, as I guessed by the clothing it was a her, came a fae woman so beautiful she n
early made my eyes hurt.

  Taranath stood and bowed. “Your Majesty,” he said respectfully.

  She nodded. Your Majesty? Was this woman Brennan’s…wife? Why did the thought of him having a wife suck so bad? He meant nothing, so why?

  “Taranath, Brennan tells me that you’ve found something different with the girl.”

  Taranath looked at her calmly. “I have. The magic Brennan used didn’t work. She woke up unchanged. Other than the fact that the spell was killing her.”

  The woman sat down next to him, staring intently at me. It made me really uncomfortable. She had a direct stare like nothing I’d ever seen. “Nish, you may leave the Mage’s bag here. That’s all.” She never took her gaze from me.

  “I am Nerida, the Fae Queen. Brennan and Drake are my sons, and you are?” Her brows went up in a question.

  “I am Iris. You’re Brennan’s…mother?”

  “Is that an odd thought?”

  Oh, great. I’d just offended the fairy queen. “You don’t really look like a mother.”

  To my relief, Nerida smiled. “Fae age differently from humans. I know you mean it as a compliment.”

  The goblin Nish set the bag down, bobbed, and with a quick, furtive glance at the queen, hurried from the room. Taranath reached for it and drew out something that looked like a wand. Oh, great. Wand waving, too. Before, I hadn’t been sure about having my memory wiped. Now, I wanted to forget all this. It was too much to take in.

  He actually waved the wand up and down from my head to my feet. Nothing beeped, or did anything. I waited.

  He turned to the queen. “My lady Nerida,” his voice came out far too calm. “She is still fading. But…not all of her is fading.”

  That made Nerida jump, just a little. She composed herself quickly. I got the impression I wasn’t supposed to see or notice it.

  “What does that mean?” Nerida had a very respectful tone towards Taranath.

  “I don’t know. I wonder, however,” he looked at me again, his gaze considering. “Iris, how far back do you know your lineage?”

  “My what?”

  “Your lineage. Your grandparents. How far back do you know?”

  “I know their names. Neither of my parents are close to their families.”

  “Why not?” Nerida asked.

  “I don’t know,” I shrugged before wondering if it was rude. “My parents have never been close. They always said that we were better off without them.”

  Nerida and Taranath exchanged a glance. “What are their names?”

  I gave the names of both sets of my grandparents, I didn’t really know any names beyond them. I’d been wondering, since my mom got sick, how we’d tell them. My dad’s parents, I’d never known if they disliked my mom, or found her lacking, or what. But my mom’s parents? Wouldn’t they want to know if their daughter was dying? Neither of my parents wanted to discuss it. It fell into the list of one more thing screwed up by cancer things.

  “You’re sure you don’t know any more names?” Nerida pressed me.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t.”

  “Very well.” She stood up, and I had the feeling I’d disappointed her. It didn’t feel good. Then I thought, Why should I care?

  “I’ll look into it,” she directed this at Taranath. She left the room, majesty trailing behind her with her skirts. I envied that presence.

  Taranath waited until the door closed behind her to speak. “Now I want to try and open a portal for you. If you reject the sleeping spell, there must be a reason. I need to make sure you will be able to pass through the portal before even attempting the memory spell.”

  “Why wouldn’t I be able to pass through?” I could feel my heartbeat speed up. I had to get back. I had to.

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. There is much about you that presents a mystery. If you could stay here and allow me to study you, I might have an answer. I think, however, that it’s nicer with you alive, so I shall be unable to do so.” He smiled to take any sting away from his words.

  I laughed. “I am sorry to be such a bad guest! The nerve of me, trying to die!”

  He joined me. “I do love the human sense of humor. You can take something horrid, laugh at it, and make your way through it without magic or spells or anything else. We fae are much more somber.”

  “So I noticed.” I thought of Brennan, and Drake. I’d seen them laugh, but it seemed like as much of a surprise to them as it was to me.

  “Would you lean back and relax, and let me see if I can open a portal for you?”

  “I don’t seem to be able to do anything else,” I said reluctantly.

  The Bug Man scientist came back instantaneously. “What do you mean, you can’t seem to do anything else?”

  “I was thinking that here I was in another world, apparently, and all I’ve done is lay around on a couch. Then I thought I really didn’t want to do anything else. The thought of moving around makes me tired.”

  He nodded. “It’s the effect of Fae. It’s very hard on humans. Something in fae biology has adapted to what is a more hostile environment than that of the Human Realm.”

  For the first time, I thought about that. “Am I really not on Earth anymore?”

  He tapped his lips with a finger. “Well, you are on Earth, but not the Earth you know. It’s very complex, how the realms all exist. How much do you want to know?”

  I shook my head, waving my hands in front of me to stop any further explanation. “I don’t want to know all that much. Only, am I really in a different world? You keep talking about fae, and the Fae Realm. What does that mean?”

  “You live in the Human Realm, Iris. The realm humans inhabit. You are currently in the Fae Realm, ruled and inhabited by fae. But we’re not the only creatures here. We have goblins, as you’ve seen, and dwarves, trolls, and dragons. Each race has a place that is theirs, although the races may live wherever they choose. The entire thing is ruled by Brennan and Drake’s father and mother, the Fae King and Queen.”

  My head spun from all the information. I felt sick.

  “Can I get you something?” Taranath looked worried.

  I waved a hand again. When I could, I looked at him. “I’ll be okay. It just hit me that this isn’t a dream, is it? And you reciting the facts and history so…so matter-of-factly, it made it real.” I knew that I made no sense. But I’d been ignoring that I might actually be in a different place, a different world, altogether. Being concerned with the immediate need to get back home allowed me to ignore anything else. Sitting quietly with Taranath talking let my brain wander.

  “I’m sorry,” He said simply.

  His manner calmed me like no one else had so far. I guessed a mage was something like a doctor in the Fae Realm. He had the comforting bedside manner of a good doctor.

  “Why am I dying?”

  “Because Fae is hard for humans. I don’t know why.”

  “Is that why so many babies die here?” I couldn’t get Glynan’s words about little babies not making it to one out of my head.

  Another nod. “They are wished here. They were not wanted in their own world, and they end up here.”

  “I thought that was just some horrible, old story!” I hadn’t believed Glynan when she said the babies were sent here.

  “When parents wish to be rid of their children, sometimes the goblins hear and will steal the babies away.”

  “They might not really mean it!” The thought horrified me.

  “Then perhaps people should take greater care with their words?” His brows raised.

  He had a point. A horrible point. I didn’t want to admit it. “So they are stolen by goblins, and then what?”

  “They foster with a fae family. If they live, the family will adopt them. It’s what happened with Drake. He came here many years ago as an infant and grew up with the royal family. Eventually—” Taranath pursed his lips. He looked like he was considering his next words. “Drake was adopted formally by the king and queen.”

&nb
sp; “That explains his relationship with Brennan. They’re like brothers.”

  “Do you have brothers?”

  “No. It’s just me. They remind me of what I think brothers would be like.”

  Taranath continued the lesson. “When human children live to about five, they begin to take on the characteristics of the fae. It is possible for humans to survive here, but they grow into it. Most have never seen an adult human, an actual human. This world is too harsh for you.”

  “So you’re saying I should be dead?” This got better and better. I started to think that Brennan owed me a hell of a lot more than just an apology. Maybe a wish or something—although that was more of a genie thing.

  “I don’t know what you should be. I am surprised the spell didn’t work. Other than that, I don’t know what to expect. You’re the first, my dear.” He beamed with scientific pride, as though he’d brought me here himself.

  “Well, let’s see if we can get me back to where I belong, I guess,” I didn’t feel confident after our depressing talk.

  “I think we need to. After all, you’re an unknown!”

  Did he have to be so cheerful?

  “Relax, Iris, and imagine where it is you wish to be.”

  That was easy. In the bathroom, after Brennan and Drake took their magic carpet ride out of the ladies. I closed my eyes and concentrated hard.

  “Here we go.”

  Chapter Seven

  Brennan

  He paced along the corridors, heading back to his rooms. Where was his mother? When they’d left his rooms, leaving Iris in the hands of Taranath, he’d gone in search of his mother, wanting to know more about Scarface—he laughed to himself at Iris naming the fae— and to see if she’d spoken to his father. He knew, in spite of her earlier words, she hadn’t left. He could always tell. Their family all could. Even Drake, once he formally became a member of the family.

  “Where is she?” He ground out to Drake, who’d tromped along with him all over the blasted castle.

  “I don’t know,” Drake spoke calmly. “Why are you so out of sorts? I know the girl is annoying, but she’ll be gone soon.”