[Rock]It was a good thing Trent didn’t push it any further. It was bad enough that the other trolls thought I was weak because I was half-human. The mocking look Wylder gave me when Trent told me I could follow him out pissed me off. The wolf made it seem as if I was as weak as a softie. Queen Ivy made her way over to me. She looked a little sympathetic for a moment, then put her ‘queen’ face back on. It was enough for me to know she understood the insult I had just suffered in front of other trolls. When we made it out of this, Elbio would never let me hear the end of it. “You have a magic that could help save me?” she asked. “A barrier that earth cannot pass through. It covers a certain area around me and I can use it to keep you safe,” I explained. “A barrier that keeps earth away from a troll? That doesn’t sound like a gift the goddess would have given a troll.” “Half-troll,” Wylder snorted. I clenched my fist and my teeth. “My mother doesn’t have this gift. It may have been something that came from my father, but, as far as my mother ever knew, he was a human.” “Hmm.... It sounds an awful lot like your father might have been an earth witch,” Queen Ivy said with a smirk. Her supposition wiped the mocking looks off the faces of the other trolls. It was pretty hard to tell witches from normal humans unless they said something or started casting magic. My father might have known my mother was a stone troll and thought she couldn't injure him since earth witches are often resistant to earth-related harm. It happens, but rarely. I raised an eyebrow at her. “Perhaps it’s something we should look into after we handle this situation. I would certainly be interested in learning more about earth magic if that is the case. Though, I would have expected the seers to have said something when I was a child.” “The maturity of a witch and the maturity of a troll are very different things. They may not have been able to discern the difference between your natural abilities and witch magic. As you know, most witch families who originated in the northern hemisphere are descended from fae. You’re right, this isn’t the time to discuss it, but I would like you to listen to your instincts more while we’re dealing with everything here.” “As you wish, Queen Ivy,” I answered with a slight bow. She smiled at me and started looking around the small room. There were some larger stones on the ground, but I couldn’t sense where the magic was coming from. It was as if the room was empty, but I could feel the magic emanating from this room. “Do you have any way of tracking it?” I asked. “No fae can hide from a royal. It’s the power that sets us aside from other elves. This is strange, though. I can only barely sense the goblin. It’s in the room with us, but its presence is faint. I want a formation that has trolls circled around the smaller fae. Rock and Pyla, stay near me,” Queen Ivy ordered. We moved according to her orders. There was plenty of space for the dark elves to attack if anyone came out, but having the trolls on the periphery meant we could shield them from larger debris if the cavern collapsed. It was a wise decision. It was obvious she intended for me to lessen the chances of Pyla getting hurt as well as her. I’d never been in a battle before tonight, but Queen Ivy was definitely someone I would follow. “You’re hiding, little goblin. I can feel you. I know goblins are good at their glamour, but I’ve never heard of one making themselves invisible. Especially one a royal fae couldn’t see through. If you’re trying to stop us from killing your master, then you should stop. He is alive, and we left him at the bottom of this place,” Queen Ivy said to a shadow in the corner. The magic stopped trying to collapse the cavern. Then I felt an immense power go into the earth. It wasn’t focused on the upper levels, just the lower levels. I quickly told Queen Ivy in the language of the earth. She was old enough to know it and understood me. “Are you intending to bury him? You aren’t one of his people? Please, speak to me. I promise, no one will harm you.” Tunnels and chambers from the second level down started closing in and filling as if they had never existed. This was a single goblin? I was expecting about a dozen based on the power in the earth. “We will not stop you from sealing the rest of the caverns, but please don’t seal us in here. If you like, we can make sure you have someplace safe to live. There are a few clans of goblins who live here, and we can make the introductions,” she offered. A large stone broke off of the ceiling right above Queen Ivy. I knocked it away, and it crashed against the wall near the shadow. I growled at it. “You try to crush our queen again and the next one is hitting you,” I snarled. The lighter area on the wall flickered. The shadow disappeared as the pale glow I had assumed was a reflection of the light on the wall darkened. A familiar, tiny form started coming into focus. Soon, her glamour faded completely and Dolly stood near the wall where I’d knocked the boulder. She was right under where it had exploded and looked terrified. I took a step toward her and she ducked behind the stone she was near. “Dolly, I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was you. Were you hurt? Does Rhett know where you are? I thought Echo was watching you,” I said. “You know this girl?” Queen Ivy asked. “She was being taken care of by Rhett, the warlock. He had Carmen over to use her seeing magic to find out about her past. She lived in these caves, probably for her entire life. Oberon used her as a slave.” Queen Ivy frowned and turned her attention to the little girl who wasn’t answering my questions or moving. No one else moved. It was just Queen Ivy and me. I saw she wouldn’t come to us. When Queen Ivy took a step forward, Dolly yelped and hid behind the stone even more. It shocked the queen. I knew it was because all royals had similar features and she was afraid Queen Ivy would hurt her like Oberon had. “Someone needs to run for Rhett. He said he could only make one trip earlier. I don’t think he’s recharged enough to get here. I don’t think she’s going to collapse the cavern we’re in,” I said.“This is a goblin child... right? She doesn’t look too much like a goblin. I have the sense that she is one, but her skin tone and hair color aren’t right. Her face isn’t, either. And she is very tall for a goblin child,” Queen Ivy told me. “If she is a goblin, then she is fae and we need to be taking care of her, not him.” Dolly peeked out from behind the stone with big, tear-filled eyes, and I could smell her fear. Carmen hated my dislike for goblins affecting how I treated Dolly. Most people were bigger than goblins and, even though she was bigger than a goblin her age, she was still very small. I closed my eyes for a moment. When I opened them, I got down on my knees and sat on my heels. Dolly watched me carefully. “Queen Ivy, everyone is very big, and she’s scared. We need to send someone to get Rhett. She trusts him. Carmen said Dolly has become as attached to Rhett as any child with a parent. She wouldn’t be safe with other goblins. Dolly wouldn’t do well in the fae community at all. Too many people are like me and don’t like goblins,” I explained. Queen Ivy looked at me, then at Dolly. She turned to the group behind us. “Smaller fae, stay standing. Trolls, sit. Viola, have you seen this Rhett person before?” “I have.” “Go out and find him, then bring him back here. We will stay with the child until he comes for her,” Queen Ivy stated. “As you wish,” Viola answered before leaving the cavern. The other trolls grumbled but got down on the ground. I was definitely going to deal with a lot of pissed-off trolls in the future. We didn’t like getting down on the ground because of how difficult it was to get up again. Queen Ivy turned back to Dolly and got on the floor to sit the same way I was. Dolly was watching us carefully. I knew she understood what we were saying, so her trepidation had to be because I was the only person she knew and we didn’t have the best interactions whenever we met. “We will let you stay with the man who has been taking care of you. Trolls are very honest and Rock said you think of the warlock as a father. Goblins don’t attach to other people easily, so I do not want to remove you from his care. You don’t have to come any closer if this makes you feel safe. Can you tell me how you knew how to close the tunnels?” she asked. Dolly hesitated for a moment, but then slowly crept out from behind the stone. She looked at Queen Ivy, her eyes still full of tears, but she seemed to calm down. Dolly appeared a lot healthier than when I first saw her. Rhett was taking good care of her. “The not-master man told me how. He made me expand and shrink rooms or seal off tunnels when someone made him mad enough. He said if I didn’t, he would feed me to his demon,” Dolly answered. “The not-master man?” I asked. “He said to call him ‘master’ but Mama said we don’t have a master. We’re free.” Fuck. I felt bad for the kid. Carmen said Dolly’s mom died in these caves. It was the only home Dolly had ever known and her safe place until Oberon came and corrupted it and all her memories of it. “Your mama was right. I am a queen, but I’m not your master. I am here to help protect you and make sure you are taken care of. Do you want to stay with the man you’ve been living with?” Dolly nodded emphatically. “I want to stay with Papa Rhett forever. I want to marry him and only love him.” My eyebrows raised in surprise. He had gotten her hooked hard. Goblins didn’t have fated mates, so she could marry him if that was what he wanted. In a world of people who live to be a thousand or more years old, massive age differences weren’t uncommon. But I agreed with Carmen that it would be disgusting if Rhett raised her as her parent and then married her. “Carmen, my mate, says she can’t wait for the next time she gets to spend time with you. She enjoyed telling you stories the last time you were together,” I said. “The nice lady. Is she here? This isn’t a safe place. She shouldn’t be here.” “She is outside. Someone brought her here, but we came to save her,” I answered. “Save her?” Dolly asked. “We took her away from the bad people,” Queen Ivy answered. “If we’d known about you, we would have saved you.” “Papa Rhett saved me. I don’t need you.” That almost made me laugh. Queen Ivy just nodded at what Dolly said and tried to engage her in another conversation. She attempted to get as much information about Dolly as possible.