Free In The Coils Of The Snake by Clare B. Dunkle Page B

right thing, of course. Everyone knew that.
Everyone except her, and she was the one who mattered.
    “I have to do
it,” he explained. “The elf lord gave us a bride. I wouldn’t have given you up for a regular elf, but
she’s an elf from the highest noble families. She’s very magical, and
that’s important for the Heir.”
    Miranda
fought back tears. Marak hadn’t raised her to snivel. He had
raised her to be a King’s Wife, but she wouldn’t be one now.
    “An elf bride,”
she said evenly. “She’s very beautiful, isn’t she? Of course she is,”
she said, tossing her head back. ‘All elves are beautiful.”
    “That
has nothing to do with this,” said Catspaw. “That’s not why
I’m marrying her.”
    “But she is,
isn’t she?” persisted Miranda, fixing him with a deadly look.
    “Yes,”
said the goblin King. “So are you.” He watched as she turned away and
glared at the wall. “Miranda,” he tried again, “I’d rather marry you. If I had my choice, I would
marry you. But I have to do the best thing for my people.”
    “And I’m not
it,” she concluded. “After all those promises. I’m not the best
thing, am I? And your people deserve the best.”
    He didn’t answer
her. There was no point. After all, it was true.
    “And
how convenient that I’m not one of your people,” she added. Her tone was still even, but her voice was
beginning to shake. “You’ll do the
best thing for them, won’t you, but it doesn’t matter what happens to me.”
    “Of
course it matters,” he said. “You know you matter to me. I’ll
do anything I can for you, anything.”
    “Except
marry me,” she said bitterly. She dropped her head and began
to cry. She didn’t care anymore that Marak hadn’t raised her to be a crybaby. He hadn’t raised her to be
anything, as it turned out.
    “I
know you’re upset,” Catspaw said. “But you’re so strong. You’ll overcome this. I’ll marry you to any goblin you
name and give you anything
you ask for. You know I’ll always care about you,” he added
coaxingly.
    Miranda’s
head came up slightly at this speech, and a dangerous look came into her eyes. “Will you really do that?”
she asked quietly. “Will you give
me anything I ask for?”
    “Of course I
will,” said the goblin, forgetting Seylin’s request. He was pleased to see
her recovering so quickly.
    “Then give me
my freedom!” spat Miranda in a fury. “Let me out of here! I don’t want to be around you for another minute, I don’t
want to be around goblins for another minute, and I certainly don’t want to
stay down here and marry one!”
    “I can’t do
that,” concluded Marak Catspaw helplessly, caught completely off guard.
    “Oh,
you can’t!” cried Miranda in disgust. “You can’t seem to do
anything I want, can you!”
    “You know you
belong in the kingdom,” Catspaw insisted rea sonably. “You’re the ward of the goblin King and always will be.”
    “I
don’t belong anywhere!” she cried. “You lied to me! You said you
would give me anything! But you’ve always lied to me, haven’t you? You said you’d
marry me, too.”
    Catspaw stared at
her for a long moment. Lying was a serious matter to a goblin King. “Very
well,” he said finally. “I’ll give you what you asked for.” He studied her distraught features with a wor ried
frown. “Where are you going to go?” he asked.
    “That’s no
business of yours,” she hissed. “I’m not one of your people.”
    “Where
are you going to go?” he repeated steadily. She wiped her eyes
and reflected that he hadn’t let her out yet.
    “I’ll go back
to my family,” she replied, looking away.
    “That’s a lie,”
he observed. She glared at him. How nice to be magical, she thought bitterly.
    “I’ll
go watch the sunrise,” she concluded more quietly. “I haven’t
seen it in months.” And because this wasn’t t a lie, he didn’t find the
danger in it.
    “All right,”
he said. She was calming down