Laryn prepared to cast an elemental [Bomb], selecting stone because that was his weakest affinity.

  Kenna screwed up her face, bracing for impact in such close quarters.

  “It’s fine, it didn’t work,” Laryn said. “But there is something down there.”

  “You tried it? Already?”

  “You were right. It blew shards of stone everywhere. It… wasn’t pretty.”

  “That was fast. I mean, I guess you just rewind time so… What a strange thing.”

  Laryn laughed. “I suppose that would be strange. Maybe I shouldn’t tell you in the future.”

  “No, I prefer to know. I think.”

  “There is something beneath us,” Laryn said. “The ground started caving in before I reset time. It might be possible to escape that way.”

  He moved back to wiggling the loose stone. “Maybe a [Dart],” he muttered to himself.

  “Someone’s coming.”

  Laryn stopped toying with the stone and brushed dirt and loose straw around the floor of the cell, trying to cover up his work. Then he leaned casually against one wall.

  Keys jingled from beyond.

  Making eye contact with Kenna, he tried to signal to her that this might be their chance to escape.

  “Humans,” said a familiar voice from the other side of the door. “Lobix isa bring you to see Zaremba.”

  “Zaremba?” Laryn asked as the key rattled in the lock.

  “The princess,” Lobix said, pulling open the door. “Zaremba wanna see human too.”

  “Bring us to her,” Laryn said. As he passed out of the cell, he whispered to Kenna. “Maybe the first plan is working.”

  “Or maybe she’s going to eat us,” Kenna hissed back.

  Laryn surveyed their surroundings as they walked through the winding halls of Grekhol. “No guards for us, Lobix?”

  “Lobix sorry queen lock up. Humans come as friend.”

  They soon arrived at their destination. Another dim, dank hole in the ground, like the rest of the goblin warrens. A few guards stood at attention in an antechamber, then Laryn and Kenna were permitted to enter. Lobix remained outside.

  The dimly lit room beyond was far less impressive than the throne room. It was smaller, and held less decor and ornamentation. No throne sat on a dais. A few soft seats arranged around a table suggested a space for a pleasant chat. A small tray of steaming drinks and refreshments sat nearby.

  Laryn’s sword lay on the table, alongside Kenna’s knife.

  Kenna started for the table but Laryn stopped her.

  “It might be some kind of trap,” he said.

  A curtain shifted across the room, and a woman entered. Little over a meter tall, green skinned, and dressed in an elegant gown, the goblin could almost have passed for a human woman. She had a certain beauty and grace about her, that Laryn had not seen in the goblin queen.

  To his eyes, this creature was far more shapely and symmetrical than Grimby.

  She swept into the room and took one of the seats near the table.

  “Please,” she said with a gesture. “Take a seat.”

  Laryn and Kenna sat.

  “My name is Zaremba,” she said. “It’s an honor to meet you.”

  “Thank you. I’m Laryn.”

  “And I’m Kenna.”

  “I understand you have already had the pleasure of meeting my sister,” Zaremba said, reaching for a drink from the tray of refreshments. As she brought it to her mouth, Laryn noticed that she was missing three fingers on her hand. He checked her left hand, where it rested in her lap.

  Two fingers missing.

  “We have,” Kenna said. “A great honor.”

  Zaremba scoffed. “She threw you in prison. And she’s not all that much to look at, not for a human. Symmetrical yes, but attractive?”

  “How do you know about humans?” Laryn asked.

  “I was trained in Alvanasara, the capitol of the elves,” the goblin said. “I had many opportunities to… consort with humans there. I know my appearance is much more to your tastes than that of my sister.”

  “Why did you bring us here?” Kenna asked.

  “To the point,” Zaremba said, with a smile that revealed sharp k-nines. “I like it. But I must gauge your understanding first. Do you know much about how goblins choose their queens?”

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  Laryn and Kenna shook their heads.

  Zaremba looked miffed. “Nobody bothers with that kind of education. Even if you’re trained, why learn about goblin culture? Ah, well never mind. I’ll fill you in.”

  She leaned back in her chair. “Goblins used to be the most symmetrical race on the planet. Everything was beautiful. Balanced and even. But The Liar Galwyn stole our balance, and we began to be born with strange defects, and lopsidedness.”

  Laryn’s brow wrinkled. “That doesn’t make any sense,” he said. “How could he steal your balance?”

  “It’s an old tale, it doesn’t matter if it’s true,” Zaremba said dismissively. “The point is, we yearn to return to those days. And those who are born with true symmetry are considered special, and specially approved to lead, rule, and reproduce. The royal measurements are taken, and the most symmetrical becomes the next queen.”

  “Forgive me,” Laryn said, “But do some things not count toward symmetry? The queen’s aged appearance made some parts of her seem uneven to me, and when compared to yourself…”

  Zaremba smiled, and nodded. “You recognize my perfection,” she said. “And I would have been queen, but for my older sister’s jealousy.”

  She held up the hand missing three fingers. “She removed one of my fingers, so that she would become heir to the throne.” She held up her other hand, missing two fingers. “I removed one of my own fingers, to bring myself back into perfect harmony. That did not dissuade her. She took another of my fingers. I, being stubborn, cut another from my hand.”

  Laryn grimaced, and Kenna looked horrified. Zaremba chuckled.

  “When she took the third finger, she told me she was ready to remove my whole hand if necessary. I believed her, and conceded.”

  “Why leave you alive?” Laryn asked. “You are a threat to her rule.”

  Zaremba looked aghast.

  “Breaking limbs, removing digits, these are common goblin activities. Males will do it to each other if they think one looks too symet, too fem. Mothers will do it to their offspring to protect them from something more violent. But we do not kill each other.”

  “Never?”

  “Not without just cause,” Zaremba said. “And the punishment for death is always death. I do not think that even my sister, the queen, could evade that. She could not kill me, nor have me killed, without being killed herself.”

  “I have seen many would-be heirs to thrones killed in my life,” Kenna said. “Dead of mysterious circumstances, and nobody willing to accuse the king.”

  “Goblins are not like humans. You are more crude than we. We believe that the monarch sits in a role of protection. By failing to protect my life, Grimby would show her inadequacy for the throne.”

  “But if you were to fall from a window?”

  Zaremba laughed aloud. “Do you see many windows in Grekhol? If I died under circumstances even the slightest bit suspicious, Grimby would be forced from the throne, if not killed. The goblins involved in killing me would also be killed, so nobody would do that for her.”

  “What if she doesn’t kill you, but you die?”

  “If it’s suspicious? Doesn’t matter.”

  “What about the queens… children?” Kenna asked.

  Zaremba blanched. “You mean her ghostlings? Those horrible creatures are hardly goblins. But you’re right. I suspect that she is breeding up uncultured killers, who might be able to get away with killing me in some kind of accidental cave-in.”

  “So… if something happens to Grimby, you’re the new queen of Grekhol?” Laryn said. “But it can’t be in the least suspicious, or you’ll be killed as well.”

  Zaremba nodded. “You catch on quickly.”

  “I think I understand what you’re saying,” Laryn said.

  “I heard what you said to my sister,” Zaremba said. “I’m not as fixated on the past as she is. I don’t believe that your kingdom core will unlock the majesty of our past. I’m far more concerned about the threat to the north.”

  “The void mother,” Kenna said.

  “Yes.”

  “What is that?” Laryn asked, leaning forward. “Or who?”

  “We don’t know much about her. But many goblins over the last several years have had dreams, a call from a beautiful, perfectly symet fem, urging them to join her in the north. They leave, and never return. But year over year, the threat of the void increases, growing stronger as we weaken. Grimby will rule over a crumbling kingdom and lead us into ruin.”

  “Why are you talking to us then?” Laryn said. “How do we come into this?”

  “I wish to make an alliance with you,” Zaremba said. “With any humans who are willing to join with us to fight the void.”

  “What of Harrat?”

  “He has killed all my messengers.”

  “What power do you have to make an alliance?” Kenna asked.

  “I control my own forces. Lobix is one of my males, and will do as I say. He can be placed over more than a thousand fighting goblins.”

  “Grimby will not object?”

  “She will obviously object,” Zaremba said.

  “You want us to kill her,” Laryn said. “You’re asking us to be the blade, and make you queen of the goblins.”

  Zaremba looked horrified. “No! If you killed her… Especially after my meeting with you, I’d be killed as well. No confidence would be placed in me; I doubt even Lobix would be willing to follow a traitor like that. Despite my symmetry.”

  “So what are you asking us to do, if not move against your sister? You’re offering soldiers. What do you expect in return?”

  “Oh, a move against my sister is what I desire,” Zaremba said. “I mentioned my suspicions about her with regard to the void. It’s a concern shared by other symet goblins as well. I want you to reveal her traitorous behavior.”

  “How?”

  “A trusted ally has managed to secure a void spore and smuggle it into Grekhol. It is concealed beneath the palace, where it will certainly suggest Grimby knew of its presence. I want you to escape; and in the process lead guards to discover the hidden void spore.”

  “Ah,” Kenna said. “Political maneuvering.”

  “How will that change things?” Laryn asked. “She’ll still be the queen.”

  “With enough suspicion about her loyalties, allies will abandon her, and the common goblins will be stirred up. Most goblin rulers begin their reign by cleaning up after a storming of the palace.”

  “And suspicion won’t be cast on you for trying to kill her,” Kenna said. “And even if they are suspicious you had something to do with our escape, surely you wouldn’t have planted a voidspore in the heart of Grekhol.”

  “I am well known as the strongest proponent of fighting against the void,” Zaremba said. “I will not be suspected.”

  “And your ally?” Kenna asked. “Can they really be trusted?”

  “Of course,” Zaremba said.

  “When we escape, then what?” Laryn asked. “I don’t like being used as a pawn.”

  “I’ll send Lobix at the head of a contingent with you. We don’t have time to waste while I consolidate power. Drive Harrat back. Kill void. When I’m fully in control, I’ll send more reinforcements to you.”

  “What about escaping? How will that be done?” Laryn asked.

  “Details,” Zaremba said dismissively. “Are you willing to work with me or not?”

  “We are,” Kenna said.

  “I suppose,” Laryn added, somewhat grudgingly.

  “Then I’ll send you back to your cells, to wait for the right moment. Unless you’d like to join me in my chambers? I have an interest in human males; I find it fascinating how symmetrical you appear on the outside, and yet your insides are all uneven.”

  Laryn resisted a cringe. “I’ll have to decline your offer,” he said.

  “A pity,” Zaremba said, fluttering her eyelashes.

  She permitted them to take their weapons with them, and sent Lobix to escort them back to prison.

  When they were returned to the cell, Kenna laughed out loud. “Was she offering to sleep with you?”

  Laryn shrugged. “If she was, that was the creepiest way possible. It was either that, or she wanted to dissect me. Gave me the chills.”

  “You looked so uncomfortable!”

  Then they waited in their cell for the promised opportunity to escape.