Free The Boy with the Hidden Name by Skylar Dorset

story.
    “In those days,” he continues, “I was young, and I was
    daring. I would save my people, I thought. It is how youth is.
    You are foolish and headstrong and think you can do every-
    thing.” He sighs heavily.
    “You’re a king,” I point out to him, feeling he is in need of
    comforting. “You were just doing what you had to do to save
    your people.”
    “Oh,” he replies. “I wasn’t a king then. I was just a boy.
    I was a boy with a plan, to use my one great talent to save
    my people.”
    “And what was your talent?” I ask, transfixed now.
    70
    BoywiththeHiddenName_INT.indd 70
    6/9/14 1:15 PM
    The Boy wiTh The hidden name
    He looks at me for the first time, and he sends me a smile
    that is simply breathtaking in its suggestiveness. “ Seduction ,”
    he answers silkily.
    I swallow thickly. “Oh,” I croak.
    He looks back into the fire, breaking the spell. “All goblins
    are natural seducers, of course, but I was the best seducer
    in generations. Or I had that reputation in those days. The
    Seelie Court doesn’t pay attention to the reputations of gob-
    lins. Why would they? So I got myself chosen to be the goblin
    that delivered the latest shipment of treasure, and then it was
    easy. They are surprisingly susceptible to seduction, Seelies.”
    He falls silent.
    “And then?” I prompt.
    “And then I stole the talisman. Broke the enchantment.”
    “What’s a talisman?”
    “The physical embodiment of an enchantment. All truly
    strong enchantments have one.”
    I look down at my sweatshirt.
    “Once you have stolen the talisman of an enchantment
    from the person or people to whom it is entrusted, the
    enchantment ceases to work properly. It begins to crumble.
    And that’s what happened. I stole the talisman, and we gob-
    lins emerged from the mines where we’d been imprisoned,
    and we came here, to Parsymeon, which has been a dream
    of a place. We’ve been very happy here.” He looks almost
    wistful now.
    “And is that how you became king?” I ask him.
    71
    BoywiththeHiddenName_INT.indd 71
    6/9/14 1:15 PM
    Skylar DorSet
    “Yes. The goblins hadn’t had an Erlking for generations.
    While the Seelies had ruled us, we’d fallen into disarray. Upon
    being made free and independent again, we reinstituted the
    Erlking, and I was voted into the position.”
    “That was after you came to Parsymeon?”
    “Yes.”
    “So that’s why Will calls you by your name?”
    The Erlking shrugs. “It isn’t quite my name, although it
    is close enough.” He leans back on his elbows, looking into
    the fire. “He knew me before I had a title. There aren’t many
    beings around anymore who remember me from that time.”
    “Do you like it? Being king?”
    He looks at me. “I thought you wanted to know how I was
    going to get you into the Unseelie Court,” he remarks wryly.
    “Oh!” I remember. “I do.”
    “The Seelie I seduced, she was flung from the Seelie Court.
    Do you know what happens to faeries who are exiled from
    the Seelie Court?”
    “They don’t get named?”
    “Not right away. Seelies like to play with their prey first.
    Haven’t you noticed?”
    I had noticed that actually. I shudder and look into the fire.
    “So if you’re an exiled Seelie trying to avoid the inevitable
    naming to come, you go to the Unseelie Court.”
    I stare at him. “You’re going to get us into the Unseelie
    Court by using an ex- girlfriend?”
    He looks grimly at the fire. “Not pleasant, I know. Will’s
    72
    BoywiththeHiddenName_INT.indd 72
    6/9/14 1:15 PM
    The Boy wiTh The hidden name
    lucky I like him. And that, well, I don’t really have a choice
    if I’m going to save my home. The clock is ticking.” He
    takes out his pocket watch, glances at it, and then shows it
    to me. 11:13.
    “But doesn’t she hate you?”
    “Hate me?” he echoes blankly, looking at me in bewilder-
    ment. “Why would she hate me?”
    “Because you stole the talisman from her and got her exiled
    from the Seelie