Chapter Fourteen

Head bowed, I collapsed to the ground. How could my father—or, I guess he was Archer to me now—lie to me? I’d spent my entire life with him; how was I supposed to change my feelings? My hands fisted, and I pounded on the marble blocks.

“This isn’t fair.” My wails filled the yard.

Pudge stood behind me, stroking my hair as if to comfort me. “Ivy, please tell me what’s wrong.”

I lifted my gaze to meet his. “I’m King Starshooter’s daughter. This whole time, he never wanted me. He dumped me off on my fath—I mean Archer to raise me…he never gave two shit cakes about me.”

Pudge’s mouth dropped open. “Whoa. So that’s what Dorian wanted you to see the king about?”

“I think so. Hag, this hurts so much,” I said, clutching my chest again, like that would stop the pain. “Everything, my whole life has been nothing but a big sham. And they all knew the truth—they kept so much from me. They lied to me.”

He tugged me to my feet and wrapped me in his arms. They were like a big warm blanket—comforting me, making me feel like I wasn’t totally alone. “Things will get better. And I promise, Ivy. I’ll never lie to you. You know that.” He wiped the tears from my face. “The Ivy I know would march back in there and demand to be claimed. Then, as your first order of business, punish Vane Girt to gutter duty for the rest of his life.” Pudge laughed.

I half snickered, half cried. “Well, there is that. Hag, I’m a mess.” I pulled back, wiping at my face.

Just then, the ground rumbled beneath my feet. I reached for Pudge to steady myself. What was going on? My gaze roamed over the ground, waiting for it to open up and swallow us.

“What’s that?” Pudge took several steps back.

I turned to see the statue of the Hag’s eyes glowing deep blue. “I—I don’t know.” The wind shifted, touching my cheek as if a ghost stroked it. I sucked in a deep breath.

One by one, the other eleven statues in the courtyard turned to look at me. Each pair of eyes glowed a different color, and each hand rose to point a finger in my direction. Goose bumps prickled across my arms and legs, and the hair at the back of my neck stood on end.

“Um, Ivy, what’s going on?”

“I don’t know.” But it reminded me of the night I’d gotten the tattoo. Fear rolled through me, but I was frozen in place.

Everything around me went quiet, and then the statues picked up their feet and moved toward me. The marble cracked beneath each footstep, and the ground shook as if someone had picked up our world and tossed it against a wall. They circled until all twelve surrounded me.

They raised their hands to touch the sky. The clouds parted, and an orb of light burst forth, falling like hail. I had no time to jump aside. Searing pain ripped through my body, and the orb struck me. My skin burned like someone tore my bones out.

A scream echoed in the night—and I realized it was me, begging for mercy. Why was the Hag torturing me?

My eyes flew open.

“Ivy!” Pudge raced toward me, but he couldn’t break through the circle of statues.

Something burst through the roof of the Gob Archives. Great wings unfolded, revealing white feathers, and an eagle the size of a dragon swooped down toward the circle of statues. It hovered above me, the Sword of Avarik gleaming in its talons.

“Scree-caw!” the bird cried out, then dropped the blade.

Instinct took over, and I reached up and caught the sword. Another jolt tore through my body. I fell to my knees once more, pain taking over, clouding my mind.

“Accept it,” the voice echoed.

What was this?

“Accept it,” it said again.

Through gritted teeth, I yelled, “I accept it!”

Thunder shook the very foundations of the Archives and the courtyard while lightning cascaded like liquid fire across the darkness. The statues leaned down, each one touching a part of me. And with each brush of marbled hand, the agony subsided, and my eyes fell shut.

My face pressed against the cold marble. I lifted my head, allowing my eyes to come back into focus. Before me stood the Gob Archives and the statues unscathed. Had I dreamed that?

“Are you okay?” Pudge finally fell to his knees beside me.

“I—I think so.” I forced myself to my feet. It felt like I’d been shoved inside a dragon’s arse and then crapped out of it. My fingers held tight to the hilt of the sword as I stretched my body.

“Whoa, where did you get that?”

“The statues, or rather, the giant bird thing. Pudge, do you know what this means?”

“I think the Hag really has marked you, Ivy. For something big.”

“Like rescuing my brother?”

“Maybe.” His face scrunched up as he stared at me. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” Or at least I hoped I would.

“Ivy?” someone called behind me.

I turned to find King Starshooter. My father. Would I ever get used to that?

“Pudge,” the king said, “could you give Ivy and me a few minutes of privacy?”

“I—yes, your highness.” Pudge bowed, then scurried away.

When he’d disappeared, the king drew closer, and as he did, his eyes widened. At first, I thought it was because I held the sword, but he walked over to me, pushed up the sleeves on my gown, and revealed new tattoos. Then his gaze fell on my neck, and his fingers moved to trace the tattoo.

“Our family insignia,” he whispered.

My breath caught in my throat. With trembling hands, I reached up to touch my skin. “The Hag marked me.” I met his glance.

“Yes. You can have no doubts now that you’re my daughter. You’ve been marked as a royal.” His voice caught as he gathered me in his arms. “Forgive me, Ivy.”

Part of me wanted to hate him and tell him to forget it, that he had a chance to be my father and chose to dump me on Archer. But I knew I couldn’t hold a grudge—at least, not right now. Not that I accepted what he had done to me as okay, because I didn’t. There were just bigger things that needed to be dealt with. First and foremost, getting my brother back.

Brother. Not just friend anymore, or future husband in a politically arranged marriage. Dorian was my brother.

“I can’t promise I won’t be angry with you.” I stood still, not moving one way or the other. “It was wrong for you to keep this from me.”

“I know. And I’ve regretted it every day since you were born.” He brushed my hair from my face. “You look so much like your mother.”

“Do you have any paintings of her?” All I’d ever wanted was to know her. To put a face to the woman who’d given birth to me.

“No.” My father gave me a sad smile. “There’s so much I want to tell you about her, though. Things I want you to understand.” He released me and took a step back. “But…”

“But there’s no time,” I finished for him.

He sighed. “For now, I’m going to need you to keep this a secret. I need to know you’ll be safe.”

I looked away. Hag, I was sick of secrets. Why did it matter now? I didn’t see how it would keep me any safer.

“Maybe we should just forget about announcing it altogether. Save you the grief.” My eyes narrowed, blood pounding in my ears.

“That’s not what I meant.” King Starshooter paced in front of me. “I don’t want the council getting wind of this. Not until I have Dorian safely home. Hag only knows what they might try to accomplish if they have the information. As it is, Archer and I have our suspicions about them. And although I can’t go over it now, just know it’s best this way.”

With a nod, I agreed. Even I knew the council was a bunch of dragon sacks. “I’ll keep it quiet. But what am I supposed to do about the tattoos?”

He slid his cloak off and draped it over my shoulders, tightening the laces so the hood bunched up around my neck. “You’ll have to keep them hidden.”

“If you knew I was Dorian’s sister, why did you have him propose to me?”

He sighed. “For starters, the council knew you two had been caught in the Archives. They hoped that by forcing Dorian to propose, it might make the people decide not to support our family being in charge due to the fact that you’re not a full-blooded goblin. They hoped to create tension and chaos with our people. However, they underestimated the fact that most everyone likes you. It’s only some of the nobles who balk at the idea of our kind intermingling with others. Not to mention that, if anything, it shows we are more accepting and don’t discriminate.”

“Oh.” I guess that made sense.

“Come along. We can speak of this more later, Ivy. For now, we have other matters to discuss.”

Once the cloak and sword were secured, I glanced at the palace; candlelight and torches lit the walkways and the windows. No one would sleep this night. We were on the brink of war—I could feel it.

“What next?” I turned to Father. Hag, it still didn’t quite feel right calling him that yet. I mean, Archer was my father—or at least he had been. Now I didn’t know what he was to me.

“We tell the council you’re going on a Mission to retrieve Dorian.”

“They’re not going to like it.”

Clasping my arm, he led me down the path and back toward the palace. “Yes, well, they don’t have much choice. You’re one of the best warriors, Ivy. And you’re the most humanlike. You will have an easier time fitting in and hiding. Not just in the human world, but you could also pass for an elf, which will be helpful while traveling. You won’t have to expend as much power for a glamour like the others would.”

I noticed the king hadn’t mentioned anything about the other races. Goblins didn’t have many allies. Trolls and dwarves definitely didn’t like our kind, and elves had been a longtime enemy, until recently. Of course, I had no idea if any of the others had relations with the humans. According to all the books I read, humans were beautiful but dangerous. They didn’t like things that were different. Which didn’t bode well for us.

This gave way, though, to other thoughts. Humans had taken Dorian. A race that I shared blood with, one I’d been fantasizing about for years. But did I truly want to be associated with them when they held my brother captive, doing Hag only knew what to him? Queasiness churned in my stomach. Did these thoughts sicken King Starshooter as well?

Our footsteps clicked against the stone, and guards bowed as the king passed through. Taking a deep breath, I readied myself to face the council when we arrived outside the heavy wooden door.

Patting the sword beneath my cloak, I pulled my garment closer, not wanting them to see the weapon. Was this truly meant to be? The sword was only supposed to be seen by those it found worthy and during a time of need.

Relief flooded through me when I spotted Pudge and Grr standing outside the chamber doors, waiting for us. Pudge gave me a sympathetic look while my dog nudged my leg.

“You still okay?” Pudge whispered when my father went in ahead of us.

“Not really,” I said. “But I don’t have time to think about it.”

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ve got your back. No matter what.”

“Thanks.”

The council’s loud voices rose as Pudge and I stepped inside. This was the last place I wanted to be. Standing in front of a bunch of pompous eejits. From across the room, I caught Archer’s eye and gave him a wave. I wondered if he’d still let me stay with him and Cook sometimes. Or if I’d be confined to the palace, playing princess. This also gave way to thoughts on whether or not the king would allow Pudge and me to still be around each other—and would he be allowed to claim me during the Choosing Ceremony? I definitely couldn’t marry Dorian now.

This changed everything.

“Silence,” King Starshooter called.

Everyone grew quiet, eyes focused on Father. Councilor Dundry glared, his jowls trembling with anger as he glanced at the other members.

“Ivy Archer is assigned the Mission to bring back my son, along with Pudgeons Wayfarer,” Father said. He stood erect, staring them down as if to dare them to speak against him.

Finally, I was going to get my chance. Yet this wasn’t how I wanted it to come about. Why was it that everything with me had to happen the hard way?

“She’s reckless,” Birdie’s mother said. “You can’t put the safety of our prince in her hands.”

Councilor Girt nodded his agreement. “I don’t believe sending her is in our best interest. After all, she’s your son’s betrothed. Is it wise to send her out, too?”

My jaw tightened, and I moved forward. “Remind me again—whose sons were with the prince when he was kidnapped?”

Councilor Girt reached around the table to grab me, but Archer got between us. “Enough of this. The king has given his order. My daughter has trained for this. If anyone can return Prince Dorian home safely, it’s her.”

“Then I want Vane to go along.” Councilor Girt sat back down, his black eyes focused on me.

“We will send soldiers with them,” the king said.

“Honour Wayfarer and his crew will see Ivy and Pudge to the border.” Archer strode forward, placing a hand on my shoulder. “She’s been marked by the Hag.” He lifted only the section of the cloak that concealed the Hag’s sign but kept the Starshooter family crest well hidden. “I cannot go against the Hag’s wishes, nor should you. Like the king said, we’ll send a small retinue with them. However, they’ll wait at the border of the human realm while Ivy attempts to find Prince Dorian. We need to know exactly where he’s being hidden before making a move.”

“And what of the ransom the humans are demanding? This Lord Frederik made it clear that we were to send gold along with the Crest of the Hag.” Councilor Dundry eyed everyone around the room.

“We don’t have the Hag’s Crest, nor do we know how any human would know what it was—unless, of course, someone has been communicating with them?” the king said. “As far as gold, we will send some with Ivy and the others, but it will only be presented when we know for sure that my son lives.”

“Ivy, we have a time limit,” Archer said, leaning closer to me. “According to the letter sent back with the younglings, we have only three months to comply with the demand. It will take you at least half of that to travel to the human world, if not more.”

“I understand.” Shite. Everything was riding on my shoulders. If I failed, Dorian would be killed.

Murmurs broke out between the council members, but there was nothing more they could argue. The king and the Hag had spoken.