The Goblin's Heir

Chapter Eighty: Grandmama

I dug another clam from the soggy sand of the shore and chucked it into my pale with the rest of its load. Another shadow, tall and broad beside my own appeared on the sand, reaching into the waves. I watched it grow larger as I plucked out a clam from my pale and slurped out the tasty creature before wiping my sandy withered hands on my damp skirt and hoisted myself up from my crouch. My bowing old legs protested mightily but I would not face the changeling squatting in the mud. I'd never hear the end of it.

He still looked the same even after the years since Knut's passing. Still lovely and young while  I had withered and my spine bent near to the point of breaking. Bastard. "Matilda," he greeted with a cocky grin. "You're looking more ancient by the day."

"Fuck you," I shot back with a wry smile. "What do you want, Ib? It's not time for one of your impromptu visits." I hoisted up my pale to make way for the cottage. "It's not Ari, is it? She should have a couple of months left to go."

"No," he said in a way I didn't like.

I stopped and whirled back around, sloshing mussels back onto the sand. "What's wrong?"

His smile was gone. Ib was wearing his serious face. Never a good sign. "Magni's been challenged."

"Oh, again?" I scoffed, continuing up off the beach, following the walkway Hughes had made for me. "Do tell those boys of Odd's to settle down. They've still got a few years to wait until they can be taken seriously."

"Ulf, Garm, and Sten are all in their twenties now." Ib reminded me, a look of concern darkening his gaze.

"Oh," I muttered feeling my face flush. "Don't look at me like that. I'm not going senile. Time gets away from you when you get old. Has it really been that long since last time?" I continued trudging through the sand.

"About a dozen years or so."

"Well, they're still not ready to challenge Magni. I've seen their footwork." I chuckled. 

"It wasn't them that challenged him."

I stopped again. My breath shuttered. "I see." I stared at the red door of the cottage sitting atop its hill. He didn't even have to say who it was making a claim for the Underground throne. If it wasn't one of Odd's baker's dozen then there was only one grandchild old enough and cocky enough to go for a throne the minute they were old enough. I wasn't exactly surprised. "Give me a few minutes to clean up and gather my things."

"Hello, Mr. Hughes," Ib greeted as we burst into the cottage. "Matilda still hasn't run you off?"

"Not for lack of trying." Hughes chuckled, chopping off the head of this morning's catch. Just the one. The man couldn't fish for shit. "Everything all right, Tilly?" He asked watching me bustle about the cottage throwing clothes into a truck while I grumbled beneath my breath.

"Magni's being challenged for the Underground. She's none too pleased to be witnessing another coronation." Ib said perching at our small dining table. 

"I'd hoped I'd be dead before the next one came round." I huffed, slamming the trunk closed.

"At least it's not like it used to be," Hughes said, trying to calm me and achieving the opposite effect.

"Killing each other may no longer be a requirement, but it doesn't mean bad things won't happen," I growled. "I'm going to swat that brat good for this. Go get your junk together. Forget the damn fish."

I stared out at the empty blackness as Ib's carriage raced us down the Knut's spine and down into The Roots. I picked at my nails nervously until Hughes reached over and stilled my hands. "It will be all right. Try to see this as a good opportunity for a long visit. You haven't seen some of the babies since they were born." He said.