The Goblin Princess

Chapter 18

Lightening flashed just outside the window. The little princess held onto her twin's hand. She knew he was scared, too, but he wasn't showing it. He was good at that. Why were her brothers and her in the playroom in the middle of the night? They weren't supposed to be, of course.

"Why did you bring her?". Her eldest brother said.

Her twin glared at him, "you know she would had gone to Mommy and Daddy. This way we know it's not her."

Her eldest brother slowly nodded in agreement, but he still frowned.

Little Veena knew that she didn't need to go get her parents. More than likely her father already knew they were up to something. Well, she has seen the owl watching them as they had walked here. Of course, there were other owls beside her father.

Thunder caused the window to shake. The storm seemed to be getting worse. She squeezed her twin's hand harder. He turned slightly and looked at her but remained silent.

Suddenly, the room filled with the light from a lightening flash, causing her elder brothers to jump slightly. Little Veena on the other hand smiled slightly as she gently pulled on her twin's arm. He turned again to look at her. Slowly, he smiled at her before nodding.

The twins hid behind the massive toy box just as their father walked into the room.

"What are you lot doing out of bed?" He was clearly not happy.

The eldest stood frozen in place.

"All right back to bed or I'll make you clean around the bog."

The eldest two hung their heads as they walked out of the room.

Little Veena watched her father from behind the toy box.

"All right, you two come on out."

The twins slowly got out from behind the box and walked over to their father.

"Let's get you two back to your room, before your mother wakes up. For some reason, she keeps checking on the two of you."

Each of the twins took hold of one of his hands. Before, the trio left the room.

Chapter 18

The cottage was quiet. Well, it would be, after all the great care he had taken to make it safe for them. Slowly, he walked across the splintered wooden floor, boot heels clicking,

The Minotaur was far away terrorize another part of the Labyrinth. The Army was doing its best to keep it in that corner. She couldn't know Veena as here. That witch was not getting any where near her.

Quietly, he made his way to his daughter's sleeping form. She looked so much like her mother. He had of course seen her before, but never this close. He had done his best to keep his distance. She rolled over in her sleep. Veena had done a good job in leading them here. He had hoped she hadn't lost her connection to the Labyrinth, after being trapped in the forest for so long. Sighing, he walked over to the sleeping prince against the wall, giving the sleeping dwarf barely a glance.

Kneeling down in front of the prince, the Goblin King finally got a good look at the young man his daughter had been spending a lot of time with, and whom he hoped would be able to help her on the crazy quest he was going to send her on.

He had reordered time around the cottage to be sure the group would get enough rest before venturing further into the Labyrinth. Things had been relative easy for them so far. They would have to past the Bog to get to the other side of the forest. At least, he knew Sir Didymus would guard her well.

Sighing, he slowly stood up. The King glanced out the window as the sun started to rise. He needed to leave before any of them awoken. With a flick of his wrist, he disappeared, and an owl flew out the slightly opened window.

XOXOXOX

Veena slowly opened her eyes. Seeing the rising sun, she sat up quickly. What had happened? Adam was supposed to wake her up to keep watch. Glancing over at him, she smiled slightly.

He was sound asleep leaning back against the wall beside the fireplace. Slowly, she sat up. Cringer was curled up beside her twitching in his sleep slightly. It was a peaceful morning. So why did the single white golden feather on the floor worry her. It looked so much like the ones she would see at times while walking in the forest. As quietly as she could, Veena stood up and walked over to it.

Slowly, she bent down and picked it up. As she stood up, Adam moved his head slightly and began to open his eyes. He quickly glanced out the window.

"What happened? I closed my eyes for a second. I sware."

Veena gave him a slight smile, "I told you we all needed to get some sleep, Adam."

He frowned as he slowly stood up, "whats that?"

Veena looked down at her hand, "it's a feather."

"That ain't no ordinary feather. You father was here, Princess."

Veena turned towards Hoggle, "what do you mean by that?"

Hoggle sat up in his little makeshift bed and gestured toward the feather, "your father has the ability to transform into an owl as well as appear and disappear within his kingdom. So more than likely he was here last night, and is the reason that boy fell asleep."

"Why would he come here?" Veena looked back at the feather in her hand.

Hoggle shrugged as he stood up, "who knows? But we better get a move on. We should be able to reach the Castle before sun down."

Veena nodded slowly, "let's gather a few things, and we'll be on our way."

Adam nodded slightly before standing up, "I'll take a look outside to see what's left in the garden."

Veena nodded as Cringer woke up and shook his head slightly.

"Come on, Cringe, we're going outside."

The tiger slowly stood stood up, then stretched, and finally walked over to Adam.

Adam then walked over to Veena, "Ve, are you alright?"

She gave him a slight smile, "I'm fine. Go on. There's a few things I want to get first."

Giving her a slight nod, Adam began to walk away, "we'll be outside, if you need us."

Veena nodded, "kay."

Adam opened the front door and walked out, with Cringer right behind him. Hoggle then walked over to Veena.

Looking up at her, he frowned, "I didn't mean to make you upset. More than likely he protected us and made sure we would be safe here."

"I'm fine, Hoggle. Why don't you go help Adam and Cringer? I'll get what I want and meet the three of you outside."

Hoggle gave a slow nod, "alright, Princess." Slowly he followed after Adam, leaving Veena alone in the cottage.

The tears began to flow now. He had been around the entire time. That damned owl had been him. The only living thing she ever saw in the forest had been him. He hadn't left her completely alone, but why hide her?

Wiping her eyes, Veena glanced around. There wasn't much she wished to gather. In truth, she had brought them down from her room when she had gathered the blankets and what not for the night.

Taking a deep breath, Veena quickly worked the feather into her hair before picking up the bag she had already packed, as well as her staff. After taking a final look, Veena walked out of the door.