It wasn’t possible for goblins to steal them away from here. Their property was warded, just like the town. Goblins couldn’t step foot through the talismans, and that meant they were perfectly safe as long as they were in the bounds of their property.
Well, she supposed if they had made a goblin deal, then perhaps the faerie creatures could. But neither she nor Esther had bought anything from them.
She pressed a hand against her heart, feeling the rapid thump beating beneath her ribcage. Everything was fine. Everything had to be fine.
“Esther?” she called out.
No one responded.
Her sister wasn’t so foolish as to walk out and greet the goblins when they were riding back to their realm. Esther had grown up being taught of the dangers these creatures brought with them. She wouldn’t have wandered out into the forest without at least telling Freya she was going.
Wouldn’t she?
Better check, just in case. Her sister was many things, and reckless was at the top of that list.
Freya knotted the towel between her breasts and stepped out of the shower room. She tried to be positive. Esther had learned alongside Freya what to do if goblins passed by their house. They could watch as long as the wards glowed brightly in the bark of the trees. Maybe that’s what her sister was doing.
The sound of bells had come from the front of the house. She was certain of it. The sound had long since died down. She could only hope that meant the goblins had already passed their home, and that Esther was likely buried in a book somewhere and ignoring her calls.
So when Freya strode around the corner, she fully expected to see nothing. Just the trees she remembered with moss growing on their trunks. Perhaps a few pollen motes fluttering in the air and birds chirping.
What she found was a full goblin market set up outside her house.
The market was more beautiful than ever. The jewelry was blinding with gemstones and gold so bright they rivaled the stars and the sun. The fabric was even more vivid than she remembered. Every bit of food smelled divine and threatened that only gods should taste their glorious bounty.
Freya was safe within the wards, she reminded herself. Her eyes flicked to the runes carved into each tree that surrounded their hut. Every ward was still there, glowing because the goblins were far too close.
Movement caught her eye, and she stared, horrified, as she realized Esther was right at the edge of the wards. She was talking to a goblin boy with the face of a rat and a tail that flicked back and forth behind him. Their mouths moved, but she couldn’t guess what they were saying.
“Esther!” she screamed.
Freya ran. She threw her body into motion and hoped she could get there in time, but it seemed as though time was against her. Everything moved like she was running in place rather than sprinting across the meadow to her sister. She hauled herself over the tiny fence where they kept their garden and further to the other side. The wards were so close she could have touched them, and yet it seemed like she was miles away.
The rat-faced goblin held out something in his hand. A necklace swung from his fingers. The silver, crescent moon glinted in the sunlight.
“Esther, no!” Freya cried out one last time.
Esther didn’t listen, or perhaps she couldn’t hear her sister through the spell the goblin had cast. She reached through the wards and grabbed the swinging necklace in the goblin boy’s clawed hand.
Freya felt the wards shimmer, shudder, and then shatter as her sister broke them. Each and every one. They popped with little explosions all around the circle of their house. Each one sounded like the cracking of glass on stone.
At the sound, Esther flinched. She jerked away from the goblin boy as though she could retreat to the safety of the wards, but they didn’t exist anymore.
Freya grabbed her sister around the waist and pulled Esther into her arms. At least her little sister had the where-with-all to bury her face in Freya’s shoulder.
The necklace dug into Freya’s ribs, clutched in Esther’s hand. The tiny prick of the moon gave her some semblance of bravery, although it would leave a mark in the morning. Either way, Freya had to protect her sister. No matter the cost.
“Begone, goblin folk,” she growled. “You’ll find no business here.”
The rat face boy grinned, then bowed like a prince at a ball. “We weren’t looking for business, miss. Just wanted to give a charming thing to the prettiest girl in the village.”
As if she would ever believe his poisonous words. Freya knew their kind, and they never gave anything away for free. Hissing out a long breath, she bared her teeth in what she hoped was an intimidating snarl. “Get off my property.”
Another voice interrupted them. “What wards will keep us away?”
The sound of burbling deep waters, the grumble of sea, ocean, and lake, could only be one goblin. The one she had met before. He stepped from the mass of feathers, fur, and claws, then let the cloak fall from his shoulders. As the fabric slid away from his face, so did the magic that kept his true form hidden from her gaze.
He really was made of moonlight. Shimmering silver skin, almost like metal but moving like the shadows of a forest in starlight. His pointed ears had tiny tufts of fur at the end, and when he caught her staring, he touched claws to his face. He grinned, revealing sharp canines.
“What?” he asked. “Not what you were expecting?”
His voice was the only thing he couldn’t change. Smooth as the sound of a storm rumbling in the distance. He was a tempest, that was for certain. Something to be feared.
Esther pressed her face against Freya’s shoulder and shuddered. “I want to go back to the house.”
“We will.” But she didn’t know if that was a lie.
The goblins could come through the wards now. They could walk onto their land with nothing inhibiting them. And no matter how hard she tried to stop them, they could do anything they wanted.
Her mother’s words bubbled in her mind. “Goblins can only make deals with the willing.”
Her hands clenched on Esther’s shoulder. “Did you make a deal?”
“No, of course not.”
“Did you buy something from them? Did you buy the necklace?” She pulled Esther away from her shoulder and shook her sister hard. “Did you buy it?”
“No!” Tears ran freely down Esther’s face. “I’m not so foolish. He gave it to me, Freya. It is a gift.”
She’d never heard of that before, but she also knew the goblin rules. If no deal was struck, and no payment was made, then perhaps her sister was safe.
Drawing herself up strong and straight, Freya glared at the silver goblin. “Get off my property. No deal was made and until then, you are not allowed here.”
“Big words for one so small.” He looked her up and down. Then those sharp teeth flashed again.
“I am not small. Nor will you make me feel weak. Leave, goblin, or I’ll go back into my home and get my shotgun. I know you might be made of magic, but sometimes iron is the only answer to an intruder like yourself.”
She met his gaze head on and told herself she wasn’t afraid. That her sister shuddering in her arms would not make her break. To her great surprise, the strange goblin relented. He bowed his head, then swept his arm out in a grand bow.
“Lady of this keep, you have banished us. As you wish, we goblins will retreat.”