The Goblin's Crown

Chapter Thirty Two: I Have Iron

Ask wheeled a cart loaded with our breakfast into the room. I shut the book I'd been struggling to read as soon as the smell of it reached my nose and I bounced off of the bed, eager to fill my rumbling belly. Too impatient to get fully dressed before tasting the delicious food, I threw on the closest thing to me, one of Knut's shirts. Though he was slight, his torso and arms were so long that the bottom of the shirt hung to my knees, and I had to roll up the sleeves just to free my hands. It had been two weeks since my visit to Jasper's cell. Two weeks since I'd even thought of him or my brothers' swinging corpses. The food tasted better on my tongue, the fabric of Knut's shirt felt softer against my skin, and the air smelled sweeter. My feet itched with the want to dance. "Where did Knut run off to?" I mumbled through cheeks full of grapes while I smeared peach preserves over a slice of hot bread. "I didn't feel him get up this morning." I shifted on my feet, making up steps to a dance all my own.

Ask never stilled. She was always working. She scurried around the room picking up my discarded training leathers and under things that I'd hastily stripped off me after the prior day's strenuous training. Llinos showed no signs of ever letting up on me. His training was only getting harder. I was so tired the day before I'd fallen asleep in the bath. I didn't remember ever making it into the bed.

She nodded towards the door that led to the study. "He's been studying scout reports and maps, planning our campaign north since before dawn."

I eyed the study door curiously. Since when did old maps hold more appeal to him than lying next to a naked wife? "When am I supposed to meet with Llinos for training?" I asked, taking a big bite of the bread.

Ask smiled with a little lilting laugh. "Don't worry about that old bird, I'll take care of him. Take your time. You can resume your training after lunch."

"Ask, is Cat awake yet?" I asked, stopping Ask in her tracks as she turned to leave.

Her smile grew. "I just delivered her breakfast."

"Is she feeling better?" I mumbled softly, absently chewing.

"She's eating much better today, and she hasn't hidden under her bed in days. She is improving." Ask said.

I took a plate of almond cookies from the cart and handed them back to her. "Give these to her. Hollow knows Knut doesn't need them."

"Yes, My Queen." She nodded. Folding the cookies into a handkerchief, she slipped them into a pocket on her apron and left to do my bidding.

"Don't tell her they're from me!" I shouted after her as the door closed. I heard her laugh through the thick wood.

I took my bread with me into the study. My eyes scanned the tall bookshelves packed with hand-written books and the overflow that was piled into towers all around. I'd rarely spent more than a few minutes in the study. When I wanted or needed to study, I either met Ib in the dining hall or read in bed or while I was draped across the lounge on the balcony. I preferred studying in comfort than sitting stiffly at a desk, besides the musty old tomes smelled awful. It was Knut that haunted the place. While Llinos was beating skill into my bones and Ib was filling my head with knowledge, he could usually be found either at the Hollow making goblins, adding to our army, or here, plotting.

Amid the chaos, Knut was bent over his desk, moving a long finger across it, marking an invisible path. He looked up at the sound of my padding steps and smirked. His eyes flitted up and down my frame, twinkling with delight. "Nice outfit." He said, his happy gaze on the bare skin between my breasts where the shirt hung open and my iron pendant lay against my breastbone. "I dare say it looks better on you than it does on me." He added with a lecherous chuckle.