Gillian Summers - The goblin's curse

Tired and mad at the world, Keelie decided she might as well make her way to Finch’s office. She thought she’d take the path by the elven village in hopes of maybe seeing Dad or Sean. Give both of them a piece of her mind.

Crossing the bridge over the stream, Keelie listened for the water sprite, but she wasn’t revealing herself. If she’d had time, she would’ve tried the To See Truly spell. Cricket followed her, munching on bits of trash he found along the way. Knot kept step with her. He’d been by her side almost constantly lately. Good old Knot.

Sticks crackled in the bushes nearby. Keelie’s pulse quickened, but she steadied herself.

Keep calm, she thought.

She felt the Dread when she got within several feet of the path that, hidden among the trees, led to the elven camp. She clasped a polished rose quartz tightly and felt the elves’ strong aversion spell being beaten back by Earth magic. Her anxiety eased.

The bushes rustled again. Keelie’s heart raced with real fear as she searched the darkly shadowed trees for any sign of goblins.

An elf stepped out in front of her. She started to relax until she saw that it was Sean’s father, Niriel.

“Halt! Who goes there?” Niriel raised the sword in his right hand.

He knew who she was. Keelie lifted her hands to show she was unarmed. “It’s me.”

Knot hissed at Niriel.

“Identify yourself. You might be a goblin in disguise,” Niriel commanded.

Keelie sighed. “Keliel Katharine Heartwood, daughter of the Lord of the Dread Forest.” She needed to remember to act like the daughter of the Lord of the Forest when dealing with Niriel and other Council elves. “I was walking past the camp, and I thought I would see if Dad was out of his Council meeting.”

“Keliel, you may be the daughter of our Lord of the Forest, and some of the elves may think you’re special, but to me you’re an abomination, a mutt. Something that should not exist in this world.” Niriel narrowed his eyes. “Why you? Why were you chosen to be blessed with magic? I don’t understand.”

Cricket climbed up Niriel’s leg, chirping in delight at the chain mail leggings, which made an easy climbing wall of metal links.

“Speaking of abomination-this creature needs to be destroyed. The fewer of them, the better.” Niriel pulled Cricket off his leg. The goblin’s little legs scrambled in the air, looking for purchase.

“Hey, let him go.”

Niriel threw Cricket, not even turning to watch where he landed. “Take your goblin and get out of here. Your kind isn’t wanted. The Council has moved to banish you until the end of the faire. If I see you or that creature skulking in this area, then I will have no choice but to turn you in.” He flourished his sword at Keelie. “Or I may mete out your punishment myself.”

Keelie plucked Cricket from the ground and cradled him. “Banished? When did that happen?” She wasn’t upset, since hanging out at the elven village wasn’t among her favorite activities.

“At a recent Council meeting, according to our laws.” Anger simmered underneath Niriel’s cool elven exterior, and she had to admit he was scary.

“Glad to hear you get stuff done at those endless Council meetings.”

“You scoff, Keliel Heartwood, but you will find how serious a matter this truly is. It is good to see your father acting like a true elf.” Niriel peered down his nose at her. “I suggest you follow his example.”

“Come on, Knot. I know where we’re not wanted.”

“Smart move, girl. I never understood what my son saw in you.”

Keelie blinked back tears as she clenched her fists. She wanted to hurl a green energy ball at Niriel, but it would be considered an attack, and Dad would experience the consequences from the Council. She didn’t want him to lose his position because his mutt daughter had lost her temper and used magic against the elves.

She remembered what she’d said in the Redwoods, when confronting Bella Matera, the mother tree of the forest. She wondered if it would confuse Niriel.

“Ever heard of the karma fairy?” Keelie kept her voice calm.

He shuddered and his voice constricted. “Karma fairy?”

“She balances magic and punishes those who do wrong.” Keelie projected her voice like Mom would in the courtroom, making her appear more confident and stronger. Convincing. “If I were you, I’d be careful, because you know I have fae blood-which makes me, as you put it, a mutt. But the karma fairy still sees me as one of her own.”

“Then leave before you befoul me with your evil magic.” Niriel’s nostrils flared and his ear tips turned red as he shoved his sword back into his scabbard. “Be gone and take your creature with you.”

Keelie marched away with Knot following her. She grinned down at the fairy cat.

“Meow not trust him.”

“No kidding.”

As Keelie traveled up the East Road, she stopped in at Mrs. Butters’ and grabbed a turkey-on-whole-wheat sandwich. She just about inhaled it, she was so hungry. Shimmerlight and Lavender Lollipop were back in costume and character. They sat at a corner table along with Thomas the glassblower.

“I think we need to run Vangar out of the faire,” Thomas was saying.

“Hob’s got our back, but Finch doesn’t. How are we going to entertain the people when our jousting arena has been burnt?” Lavender said in a conspiratorial whisper. She caught sight of Keelie and her face flushed bright red.

“Poor Sean is beside himself,” Shimmerlight said in a very loud voice. “Lost his love, and now his jousting ring.”

It was time to leave before they broke out in song.

Keelie paid for her lunch. A lot of the faire folk were disgruntled, and she questioned whether the faire should open at all this weekend. But she also knew things would be worse if they were closed. If people started to put two and two together, they might think she was a jinx. But it was the goblins, and Peascod, and whoever controlled them who were making the faire a dark place.

She cut by the Muck and Mire Show stage and found herself on King’s Way. It all came down to discovering the truth about Hob, she realized. He seemed to be fanning the embers of discontent among the shopkeepers and performers at the faire. Finch might know what the next step should be.

Keelie shifted uncomfortably on one of the hard plastic lawn chairs that furnished Finch’s low-key office. Vangar and Finch were watching Sally as she hummed over her tarot cards, supposedly to tap into the energy field around the faire.

When Keelie had burst into the Admin building fifteen minutes earlier, she’d shared with Finch some of the conversations she’d overhead on her way through the faire. It made smoke billow out of the dragon’s ears-she wasn’t happy to learn that a lot of the faire folk were scared and unhappy not only because of the spontaneous nature of the fires, but also because of the way they’d been handled. There was no natural cause of the fires, yet also no arson investigation. The rumors that Vangar was responsible for the Heartwood fire were now circulating widely, and there was talk that the whole faire was cursed. The faire folk didn’t realize how close to the truth this was, Keelie thought grimly. The faire was cursed-with goblins, hiding Under-the-Hill.

As everyone remained hushed to allow Sally to concentrate on the cards, Keelie examined the fantasy-book-cover posters of dragons that decorated the walls. She recognized many of the artists, some of whom had booths and shops at the faire. One picture, of a red dragon with golden scales, looked suspiciously like Ermentrude.

Sally stopped humming and shuffled the cards. “I need a break-too many powerful beings in this room,” she muttered.