The Goblin Market (Into the Green) (35 page)

The sigh that deflated Christina then was full of thoughtful immaturity. “I always thought we’d grow old together, just the two of us, old maids up on the hill.”

Meredith chuckled before she tightened her mouth into a stern smile. “I have no intention of becoming an old maid up on this hill, and neither should you!”

“No?” It was quite sudden and unexpected then that Christina stopped Meredith in her tracks and spun her hard so they were face to face. “Are you planning to run away then? Leave me here all alone?

Was she that easy to read, Merry wondered? Meredith had never considered her sister to be tuned in when it came to other’s or their feelings. Was it possible that she had been wrong, that Christina was on to her, and that she knew Meredith was leaving? Meredith steadied herself and brought her hand up to rest over Christina’s arm.

“Don’t be silly, Chrissy. I will always be with you in some way or another.”

“You must promise it,” she insisted. “You are the only thing I have really got in this world.”

“That’s not true,” Meredith hushed her. “You will have a husband who loves you in just two days time, a mother-in-law to look after you. Soon you and Will will have half a dozen babies of your own to worry about. I can’t stay on and take care of you forever, Chrissy. It’s time you grow up, I think.”

“Christina!” Maggie Grisham’s shrill call echoed from within the house.

Christina shuddered, and closed her eyes. “She will be the death of me, you know.”

“You have been through far, far worse,” Merry said. “Trust me.”

Maggie’s wail filled the garden. “Christina, come inside at once, and try this gown on again!”

“My goodness! I’m coming already!” Christina cried. She hurried forward on the cobblestone path, but glanced back over her shoulder just long enough to whisper, “The death of me!” There was a subtle shimmer in her eyes that told the truth about her feelings: all along a doting mother figure was exactly what Christina wanted in her life. While Meredith had done her best to love and care for her sister, she would never be a mother to her. Maggie would slip easily into that role, Christina would be well cared for, and Meredith could leave her sister without fear or worry for her future.

She watched her sister disappear into the house and then she turned back to the horizon. Two nights before he returned for her. Two nights until she said goodbye to everything, every memory of her life, but her sister would be safe and that was all that mattered.

It was better to let it all go, and perhaps in due time she would find some joy in being a queen. Was it not the dream of every young woman… to not only be a princess, but to become queen of her own realm? She vaguely recalled a conversation she had with Kothar about bringing peace and balance to his kingdom.

Queen... she wanted to laugh at the very notion.

The sky beyond their little hill yielded blushingly to oncoming nightfall, and Meredith turned away. There was just one more night after that one, and she would leave behind all she’d known in her mortal lifetime.

One more night, and she would be a queen.

*****

Shadow by shadow, she retreated from the garden, from the bubbling joy and laughter that dreamily wafted into the night and toward the stars. While she knew she should have felt warm at just being a part of her sister's simple, but beautiful wedding, the truth was she had never felt so cold or alone in all her life.

The only part of her that felt even a tingling of warmth was still too small to be noticed, but growing every day inside her. She prayed for a moment that one day the warmth of that child would be enough, but as she leaned into the full shadow of a tall oak overlooking the shaded valley where it had all begun, she felt only fear and anger.

For one brief moment she contemplated running headlong down that hill, through the empty Goblin Market and into the safety of Sylvanus’s forest, but she convinced herself that he would never offer her refuge. He had already done more than he should for her, and she would never disrespect his generosity by bringing havoc down upon his realm.

A chill rippled across her skin, leaving its upraised marks for a moment before she tried to warm herself. The sounds of the reception seemed to grow further and further into the distance as, the moon’s daughter preceded her mother’s rising by illuminating the mountaintop in a bright, silver glaze. It seemed so cold, she thought, not near as warm or inviting as when she’d first come to understand the presence of Moon’s daughter in Ambiance Grove.

Once more her mind turned to Sylvanus. She remembered his request for her to keep his brother well on their journey, and the misery of her failure inspired the sting of tears at the corner of her eyes. She pulled her lips between her teeth and bit down hard from within, refusing to allow herself to cry. She had let everyone down. She was on her own, and she knew that.

As the round-bellied moon heaved herself over the last jagged ridge of the mountain, silver light flooded into the valley below and lit up the night.

He was coming for her; this was the end.

EPILOGUE: THE GOBLIN QUEEN

Some days when the sky is overcast, when thick, silver clouds colored in darkness hang heavily over the Goblin Kingdom, not even the darkest cloud is able to wash out the starlight that shimmers endlessly in the Nether Lake that borders on the Darknjan Wald.

On days such as this she can be seen on the shore, cloaked in rich purple, her hood drawn to hide her face. Those hidden eyes overlook the surface, lost to their own purpose.

She waits, watching the lake for some kind of sign, but day after day nothing comes, and just before nightfall she turns away and walks silently back toward the castle she calls home.

Behind her a bedraggled servant follows, and the sound of his voice can be heard endlessly babbling, desperately trying to gain her amusement, but the queen never laughs, and she never smiles.

She simply is, and nothing more.

Despite the bulk of her thick cloak, there is no mistaking the swell of her belly, the evidence of the first newborn life in the Goblin Kingdom for centuries.

At last an heir to the throne, some say, and the buzz of this new life brightens the kingdom in ways that displease His Majesty.

Some have rumored this displeasure lies with the origin of the child itself, and not his reluctance to turn over his kingdom, but there is no evidence. At all times he appears most happy with his queen, for with her presence and beauty alone, his dark

spirit has been lifted, and temporary peace reigns in the Goblin realm.

Lo, it does not take a soothsayer to foresee that there is infinite darkness on the horizon. Whispers of a malediction circulate the far reaches of the underground, faerie and goblin alike. Endtime prophecies spread like murmurs of disease, and not a single being dares to step too close to the mortal realm for fear of being the gateway for such horrors.

Goblins, though they revel in worry and in fear, take little heed to such warning, and so for now the kingdom lulls itself into a false sense of security as it awaits the birth of a goblin prince.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jennifer Melzer spent the majority of her life as a writer denying she actually liked to write romance, only to wake up one morning and discover that every single tale she'd ever written had somehow revolved around the heart.

She has since given into the whim, spinning yarns of love and firmly believing that everyone deserves a happy ending.

Jennifer lives in Northeast Pennsylvania with her husband and daughter, but dreams nightly she is laying on the beach watching the stars fall over the Atlantic Ocean.

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her official website: JenniferMelzer.com, for updates on upcoming books.