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

by Lisa Manifold

  The mage cocked his head. “I have heard…rumors, Majesty. Is this something you wish to discuss?”

  Brennan sighed. “When I was told about this in the days before I took the throne, my father stressed the importance of this information not being shared. But given what you’re saying about dragon magic, I believe I must. When my father arrives, we will meet with him and his mage. Make sure Drake is present as well. Is there anything else I must attend at the moment?” A wave of tiredness crashed over him.

  The smile again. “Iris attempted to contact you, and is most insistent that you contact her when you awake. I persuaded her not to return to the Realm at the moment, but she is rather…upset.”

  That meant that Iris had yelled and Taranath had calmed her down. Brennen felt warm at the thought of someone other than Drake caring enough to yell about him.

  “If you’ll find my mirror, I’ll contact her now.”

  “A wise choice, Majesty. I doubt she’s sleeping.”

  Brennan found himself amused at Taranath’s expression. “How did you keep her in the Human Realm?”

  “Honestly, Majesty, I believe it was only by luck.” Taranath handed Brennan a mirror. “I’ll give you some privacy to speak with her, but I’ll need to check on you soon, Majesty.”

  Brennan nodded, and spoke to the mirror. “Iris.”

  She came into view almost instantly. “Where have you been? Did you just wake up? Why hasn’t anyone let me know how you were for over six hours? Do you know how worried I’ve been?” The last few words came out choked, and Brennan could see tears on her face.

  “I am sorry, Iris. I’ll give instructions that you are to be kept informed should something like this happen again. I am well cared for here, you know.”

  “Right, because your people let a weirdo psycho in a fire hurt you. Very well cared for.”

  He winced. She had a point. “We’re dealing with a form of magic that is not well known or used by many. For good reason,” he wiggled his shoulders, not liking the ache he could feel. “But I am also the Goblin King for a reason, Iris.”

  Her mouth opened, and whatever she’d been about to say stopped as she considered his words. “Sneaky, Brennan. Distract me. Okay, I’ll bite. What does that mean?”

  He glanced around. He’d mentioned it to Taranath, which meant he’d have to tell him, but he felt nervous speaking the words aloud. His father’s warnings from all those years ago rang in his ears, even now as he explained it to her. “There is a reason that magic is not completely out of control in the Fae Realm, in all the realms. When the Goblin King is crowned, it’s because he is a fae with many magical gifts and the ability to not only use his own gifts, but also manage the magic that is used by others in the Realms. Without the Goblin King, magic would have no rules and would run amok.”

  He could tell by Iris’s expression she didn’t understand. Or, he didn’t think she did. He remembered it wasn’t a good idea to assume with her. He’d already come off on the losing end of assuming anything with her. “What is it? I can tell you have questions.”

  “How do you manage the magic of others?”

  An astute question. He patted himself on the back for not assuming. “The Goblin King is part of the Realms. I can’t explain it, but when you take the Goblin throne, you become connected. You can tell when magic is being used for overwhelmingly negative reasons, or when things feel out of balance. That’s why I was chosen at a young age as the successor. The old King understood, but his family didn’t. They were very angry, and apparently that is one of the claims of the old King’s daughter— that I and my father stole her rightful inheritance. But the Goblin throne is not inherited. It generally doesn’t pass through families. A new king comes along every couple of thousands of years. The old King had been on the throne before my father took the Fae throne.”

  Iris held up a hand. “Okay, that makes sense, but didn’t you tell me that the old King’s daughter had a thing with Cian? I thought you also mentioned he and Ailla seemed really close, too? And if Cian is using old magic, why haven’t you felt it? What’s going on here?”

  Brennan shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s playing a delicate game, trying to balance the affections of two women. Probably why Dhysara—that’s the old King’s daughter—was allowed to leave the Dragon Realm. So she wouldn’t know what Cian was up to with Ailla.” He and Drake had found Dhysara and Cian living in a remote cottage in the Dwarf Realm. He hadn’t known it was Cian at the time—only that this location was where the scarred mage who attacked him had been tracked to—but he remembered the way Dhysara had looked at Cian. She loved him. She had put herself in front of Cian to protect him from danger. That was love. “I know Ailla as well as she wanted me to, and I had no idea that she cared so much for the bastard. Or so Drake’s spy tells me. As for the magic, I haven’t felt anything specific. Although,” he thought about it for moment, “I have been uneasy and unable to discern why. I’d thought it was over you, but perhaps it’s more.”

  “I’m glad Drake has a spy, but is he trustworthy?” Iris changed the subject.

  “She seems to be, or so Drake thinks.” He liked that her mind worked on a number of levels at once. She was like him.

  “Is he the best judge of that right now?”

  “What do you mean, Iris?”

  She took a breath, obviously wanting to be careful of her words. “Because he believed Ailla loved him. Something about her allowed him to not see her lying-bitch self.”

  Brennan smiled. He loved how ferocious Iris felt about those she cared for. “It’s a legitimate concern, but I think any blinders he might have had are gone. He and I talked about Ailla.”

  He could see he surprised her again. “You did? I’m so glad to hear it! And look! You talked about feelings, and no one dropped dead! How is he doing?”

  “He feels guilty. I have assured him that he has nothing to feel guilt for. Whatever he may have felt, what is important is action, and Drake never took any action that would harm me or my kingdom. So he is excused for caring for my former fiancée. We even discussed it more than once. You’re right, no one dropped dead.”

  Iris laughed. “Your former fiancée? Why would you call her your anything, former or otherwise? Should I be worried you have some lingering thing for Ailla, Brennan?”

  “You have nothing to worry about, Iris.” It was funny how she latched onto his comment about Ailla.

  “Except you keep trying to get yourself killed. What is this, twice in two months? He isn’t going to stop, Brennan. I’m coming back.”

  “NO!” He shouted, sitting up and wincing at the pain the movement brought. “I cannot protect you when I am not fully recovered. Until I know what I am dealing with, you are still too vulnerable. I won’t let you, Iris!”

  She frowned at him. “I am not going to let you go through this alone, Brennan! I will be your partner for a long time, I deserve to share the burden with you.”

  A warmth landed on Brennan, as strong as a physical blow. It had been so long since he’d felt that he had anyone who would stand beside him as Drake did, and he certainly never expected that he’d find a mate who would do so. He’d always assumed he’d marry someone like Ailla, and it would be he and Drake standing together against anything that came their way. To know that this girl not only loved him, but wanted to stand up with him took his breath away and filled him in a way he’d not thought possible.

  “Bren?”

  He realized that he’d been silent too long. “I’m sorry, I was thinking how lucky I am to have you in my life, Iris. I appreciate that you are willing to stand with me but you are not ready to make such a stand. You need to become more fae than human, and right now, the opposite is true. You need to understand your magic better, and then you will be formidable. Once that happens, in truth, I think Cian should fear for himself. But you’re not there yet.”

  “How can I get there, as you put it, if you won’t let me come home?”

  Her words warmed him
again. She considered where he was home. Why didn’t he let her come home? Gods knows he wanted her here. He missed her terribly, even more so after speaking with her.

  “Because I am worried that I wouldn’t be able to care for you as I need to,” he said slowly, hating that he had to say the words, but wanting to give her honesty. “Cian is using techniques I don’t know. Magic I have not used and have no skills with. Yet,” he stressed, seeing her brows come together in displeasure. “He knows that I love you.” He smiled as he saw Iris’s face soften, and his hand rose and brushed the mirror. How he wanted her with him. “Therefore, you are a way to get to me, Iris. He probably doesn’t know of your abilities or that you are fae, and I’d like to keep it that way. I know this goes against how you live, but I am asking you to trust me. Will you?”

  “Of course,” her voice came across less strident than it had been. “I know you’re just looking out for me.”

  “Trust me also that when you are no longer at a disadvantage, I expect you at my side,” he added. He’d said it to make her feel better, but as he spoke, he found that he meant it. “I would value your insight on matters.”

  “Such as?”

  No luck that she’d let that go. “Such as,” he said, thinking out loud, “how is it that Cian seems very much the boy I remember? We’re grown, far beyond the trappings of childhood. How is it that he doesn’t seem to be?” As he spoke, he realized he was voicing something that had bothered him when Cian appeared in the fire in his courtyard.

  “Because he never had the chance to grow up. Sometimes, people get stuck. Did he learn how to be a grown up or was he always treated as poor little Cian, hurt by his brother, cast out by his parents, blah blah blah. When you grow up like that, you don’t really have to go through the stuff most people do to grow up.” She shrugged. “It’s a weakness, and anything that makes him weaker is a good thing, in my book.”

  “That’s very astute, Iris. I shall make note of it and how best to use it. Enough about me. My troubles—”

  “Our troubles,” She corrected.

  “Our troubles won’t go anywhere immediately. Let’s talk about you. How is your mother? What are you doing?”

  Iris sighed. “Mom is good. Dad is in a permanent bad mood made worse by the fact that Mara and I are friendly. I guess I’m supposed to hate her, but I kind of think he’s taking this a bit far. I can’t tell him that of course.”

  Brennan thought about his own parents and how they weren’t speaking to him, either. “I don’t have any good advice, Iris. I’m not doing well with my parents, either.”

  “Yeah, well, yours sold you down the river.”

  “I don’t understand what you mean.” He thought she referred to the fact that his parents allowed him to believe he’d killed Cian, and never corrected him in that believe until Cian showed up in his castle only a few weeks ago. He wasn’t sure, though. Her phrases mystified him at times.

  “Never mind,” Iris waved a hand. “It’s a human thing,” but her grin showed him that she wasn’t annoyed.

  “I miss you,” he said, surprising himself.

  “I miss you, too. I don’t want to be here too long.”

  “Are you that tired of your parents?”

  She shook her head. “No, I’m worried they’ll get too used to me being here and think I’m kidding or something about going back to you. I don’t want them to get too comfortable.”

  “They went their own way once they fell in love,” he said. “They’ll understand at some point.”

  Iris snorted. “Yeah, because that idea’s worked so well in my family.”

  Brennan laughed. “Well, maybe that wasn’t the best example. But you’re an adult, and we’ll make the decisions for us. I want you here as well, but I am worried about Cian and what he seems to be able to do. Until Taranath and I get a better grasp of how to defeat him, I want you to stay there. You’ll be safer.”

  She pouted at him. He couldn’t remember the last time anyone pouted at his words. It stirred him in ways he didn’t expect. Were she with him in the moment, he might not be able to control himself. Maybe it was safer in many ways that she stayed in the Human Realm. Maybe he ought ought to be concentrating on how to keep his realm safe and not the little things Iris did.

  Maybe.

  Maybe not. Maybe the little things Iris did were exactly the sort of thing to concentrate on. They were worth fighting for.

  “You’re frowning,” she said.

  “I’m imagining you here with me,” he said. His voice had gone hoarse with longing.

  Iris might be hundreds of years younger, but she caught exactly what he said, and what he didn’t have to say.

  “I want that more than anything,” she said.

  “Soon, and then we will have all the time in the world.”

  She smiled a little. “Doesn’t mean it feels like anything but forever right now.”

  “Will you be able to sleep now? You look tired.”

  “Now that I know you’re okay. You cannot—you aren’t allowed to die on me, Brennan. You’re my life now.”

  “As you are mine,” he said.

  She blew him a kiss. “I love you.”

  “I love you.”

  He stared at the mirror for a long time after she had gone.

  Chapter Seven

  Iris

  I stared at the mirror. I missed him. Like crazy. But I could hear the worry in his voice, even if he tried to play it cool. I wanted to be with him so badly, but his reasons for me staying here made sense.

  Damn it.

  I leaned back against my headboard, thinking. I wasn’t ready to head back out into the family room. Dad had rolled his eyes and made one of those guy noises when I left the room to talk to Brennan. While I kept the mirror with me at all times, I didn’t need or want my parents listening in.

  And while I loved when Brennan talked sweet, what I loved equally was that he talked to me as his partner. He didn’t spare me information. He maintained a Mr. Cool demeanor, but I chalked that up to being a guy. If I asked him something about his asshat family or what was going on, he’d tell me. It reassured me, even though I could feel all my what if… anxiety creeping in. I’d managed to put on a good show for Brennan, but that only made my inner voice worse.

  A knock on my door startled me. The door swept open before I could say anything, and Mom stuck her head in.

  “You want to come back out? We’re about to sit down and eat, and we’ve…got company.”

  I got up. “I didn’t know it was going to be more than just us, tonight.”

  “No need to worry. It’s just family and friends.” She turned and went down the hall.

  I stopped. That was cagey as hell. A sure sign that Dad had invited Heath again. I just knew it. But since she’d said family, maybe that meant Mara, too. I’d have sort of an ally, if so.

  As I headed towards the family room, I could hear voices—yep. Heath. I knew his voice. I’d spent a lot of time crushing on it. And Mara. I called it.

  “There she is!” My dad smiled at me, and it nearly looked genuine. “How about we put away the phones and…all that,” he obviously didn’t want to mention the mirror, which made me smile, “away for the evening?”

  “You’re not glued to your phone?” Mara asked from the couch where she sat across from Dad and Heath.

  Heath opened his mouth, but Dad answered. “When we were on the boat, we often didn’t have much of a signal when cell phones came out. Then as things got better tech wise, we chose not to. Too many other things to do.”

  I had to hide a grin. We didn’t have a lot of family that would have been calling either. We kept in touch with our boating friends via radio and email.

  “I like having the phone,” Heath said, causing my dad to frown. “I keep up with my parents and my little sister. If they’re not around, I make sure she gets to wherever she needs to go, and it makes it easier.” He smiled at me.

  His smile did nothing for me anymore. It
made me kind of sad that he was coming around now, encouraged by my dad, when there was no chance for him. I’d have to try to talk to the man again and tell him it was cruel to keep encouraging Heath.

  Although this kind of made me wonder about Heath. What guy keeps coming over because a girl’s parents are inviting him? It felt weird. Wouldn’t he rather hear from me? I shook my head as the thoughts began to bounce around like bingo balls.

  “You all right, Iris?” Mara asked, leaning forward.

  I realized that everyone must have seen the head shake. “I’m fine. Just thinking to myself.”

  “Well, enough of that,” Dad grumped.

  “Sit over here,” Mara patted the couch next to her. “Let me be the doting grandmother.”

  I laughed out loud. Whatever Mara was or would be, she didn’t fit my mental picture of a doting granny. “You going to bake me some cookies while you’re at it?”

  She frowned. “No. I’d rather take you to a nice tea, if cookies are what you want.”

  “Oh, good. I was worried for a minute.”

  “We were just talking about going out for a sunset sail. Maybe grab dinner on the water somewhere,” Dad said.

  I could tell that he didn’t like the direction of the conversation.

  “No practice tonight?” I asked Heath, ignoring Dad.

  “Done for the night. You should come over to the field some time,” Heath looked easy and relaxed. “We usually go out to eat afterwards. It’s fun.”

  “That would be great, wouldn’t it?” Dad asked me in a pointed manner.

  For fuck’s sake. I felt like a ten year old kid with no friends getting a pity play date. He was laying it on a little thick. A lot thick.

  This was going to be a long night.

  ***

  I stared out towards the horizon, watching the colors of the sky as the sun set. I usually loved being out on the water at sunset, but not tonight. True to his word, Dad had shuffled all of us out onto Sorcha after more awkward conversation.

  The crazy thing was I could tell he really liked Heath, and as far as I could see, the feeling was mutual.