Blofm elected to come along. The more-gruesome fey I encountered often seemed to fall quickly into curiosity – perhaps it was just that they were lonely. Seeing the continued intrigued looks on the twins’ faces (and knowing I surely looked just the same to them) I let it happen. It wasn’t like the sibling bonding-time was going well anyway, was it? We needed something to do. Seeing the twins, after Zyger – I’d thought it would fill me up, I’d thought it was all I’d ever wanted. But now I had them again… I was at a loss. I was suddenly floundering.

A new eldritch was at least something to provide us a topic of conversation.

“What’s it like, being a goblin?” Jaroan asked as we strolled along.

She glanced at me before replying; I smiled to indicate my intent, doing my best to drag my damned foot and keep up.

“Gruelling,” Blofm said. “We wait, without patience. We take, but never keep. We are the lowest of the low.” She grimaced at me toothily. “But I don’t hate us.”

“I don’t get it, though,” he muttered. “Why can… why can he control you, when you’re under the control of a goblin-queen?”

She glanced at me again, and I sighed through my nose.

“You wouldn’t be the first of my fey to have second thoughts about coming along, once exposed to mortal inquisitiveness.” I remembered that early morning, that first trip to Etherium. “I’ll introduce you to Zab, later. I’m sure the two of you will have a lot to talk about.”

I turned to Jaroan. “The way I think it works is – correct me if I’m wrong, Flobm –”

I felt her glare at me.

“– that they have a king or a queen or whatever, just like a human might… But that ruler doesn’t control them – not like a sorcerer does. Right?”

The wretched creature nodded cautiously. Her eyes were burning with a muted green fire.

“It’s different, somehow, with the ones they call their lords. Fey-lords. Demon-lords. Undead-lords. They come in different shapes and sizes. The undead ones are sometimes former people. Not just the lich-lords.”

I noticed as my goblin looked away.

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“Or am I wrong, Blofm?”

She looked back.

“Oh, I don’t know much about undead.” She growled a bit. “Or them lords, as you sayin’. My queen ain’t hardly her own boss, don’t yer know.”

I stopped. I needed another break, already, anyway.

“What do you mean?” I asked sharply. “She’s being controlled?”

“Well, how else you gonna get loads of us to do what yer want?” She acted like it was the simplest thing in the universe; the straightforwardness of it all to her terrified me. “Not like that many can be dominated all at once, oh no… an’ it’s easier that way, ain’t it?” She scoffed a little, a horrid, snuffling sound. “I mean, ain’t like even Her Majesty could kidnap a unicorn, is it? Pretty sure she got given him…”

The dreamy quality returned to her voice, just the same as when she first discussed Bircanos, and she seemed to lose the flow of her speech.

I was, however, frozen in a sort of horror.

Of course she meant that all along. How stupid are you to have not seen it?

The elf and the unicorn… they’re prisoners.

“And you know where this unicorn is being kept? The elf, too?” I thought I did a pretty good job of keeping my voice level.

“Well, o’ course!” Blofm sounded offended. “They’s in the queen’s dungeon. Third floor, behind the waterfall.” She seemed to catch herself. “Now, hang on… You wouldn’t be wanting to go there, would yer now? Thatter be dangerous! Very, very dangerous!”

Maybe this goblin wasn’t so lonely as she might’ve appeared.

The wind picked up, spiced cherry almost searing my nostrils. In the distance, the blossom-river bucked and broiled.

“What do you think, Jaid?”

I looked at my sister, and she looked back.

“Me?”

“Her?” Jaroan blurted.

“It’s… a unicorn, Jar.” Gilaela, screaming, a single endless note as she hangs there in the air, punctured by the thorny vines. “I don’t think we can… we can just leave it.”

“So why’s it up to her? I don’t want to leave it, in fact if –”

“Both of you, then!” I wanted to sigh, I wanted to cry all of a sudden. “You both decide – I don’t know what to do, always know what to do…”

What did I let that guardian thing do to her? Gilaela…

My mouth was still running. “It’s – if it’s dangerous –”

“It’s what the gods would want.” Jaid’s composed voice cut through my wittering. “If we are to die… so be it.”

“Yer… yer all mad!” Blofm’s wispy eyebrows shot up, like excited little strands of spider’s-web. “Whatter you sayin’? You wanna go into the dungeon?”

“I…”

I wanted to grab Jaid, shake her, shake not just answers but this whole damn mood out of her –

Jaroan was trying to hide his exultant grin.

But maybe she’s right.

“I think we do.”

The goblin started to cackle, until she was hacking laughter.

“Oh… oh this is rich. She’s clever, ain’t she?”

“Clever? Who?”

“The queen!” Blofm started turning around as if to lead us back up the hill. “The Queen o’ Moths! Sent me out here for kids. Said it’d be easier ‘n it looked. An’ now! Yer blummin’ walking right in!”

She stopped, swinging her filthy hair around as she looked back at us.

“Well? Are yer comin’?”

* * *