“Perfect,” Dubheasa declared as she came back into the room holding a glass vial aloft. “Steady her head.”
The men held my head still as Dubheasa brought the vial up to my face and scraped some of my blood into it. I scowled at her, wondering what horror she had planned. A faerie gathering blood was never a good thing. With the non-killing law in Faerie, even during war, trophies were important. The Red Caps proudly wore their bloody hats to show off how many faeries they had wounded. And their magic kept the blood flowing forever. But I didn't think Dubheasa was taking my blood as a trophy.
Did the Water Queen know some evil spells?
Probably.
Oh, jam it.
But then Dubheasa said, “We'll see how your king reacts to a gift of blood and a vow to take much more from you every day he delays in granting my wish.”
She nodded, and the men released me, jumping back out of my reach.
I sat up, ignoring them to ask Dubheasa, “What did you ask of him?”
“Nothing much. Just a unit of Goblins to serve me.”
“Goblins? To serve you in what capacity?”
“In whatever capacity I deem fit.”
“Slaves then.”
She grinned.
“King Arach will never give you his people to enslave.”
“We shall see.”
“Why do you even want that?”
“To knock him down!” Dubheasa hissed. “The Fire Kingdom and their king have always looked down on the rest of us. They think they're better because they have the Wild Hunt and the Hidden-Ones. They hold it over our heads. It's about time we showed them that the rest of us are just as fearsome.”
“I don't like arrogance either,” I said. “But in his case, it's not without reason. You fucked with the wrong king, bitch.”
Dubheasa snickered. “Have I? Or has your king made a grave mistake? We may not have the Wild Hunt, but what we do have is the most easily defensible kingdom in the realm. And I've flooded the tunnels today.” She waved out my window.
A glance told me that the city gate was indeed closed. Both physically and magically. My dragon sight easily noted the sheen of a ward.
“All you've done is ensure the flooding of Under as well,” I said. “Dragon-Sidhe helped build those crystal tunnels and a Dragon-Sidhe will take them down.”
“Let him,” Dubheasa said.
Her guards, however, looked worried.
“You don't care if Under goes under?” I asked.
“Everyone here can breathe water. They will not be hindered by it.”
“Maybe not, but their homes and possessions will be ruined.”
“They can be rebuilt.”
That earned her some deep frowns from her soldiers, though she didn't notice.
“And your king will have to get through my ward first.”
“That may buy you some time,” I agreed. “But you can't hide in here forever. If King Arach can't get past the ward, he'll rampage the rest of your kingdom.”
