Chapter 15

Eastmarket District Oldtown

The female goblin, whose name was Goldeneyes, sat on her office balcony that overlooked the north entrance to the maze of tunnels that made up the Desolate. The tunnels of the abandoned salt mine beneath the city were the first stop for poverty-stricken refugees escaping from the other realms with only the clothes on their backs. Oldtown had no social safety net. You fought with tooth and claw to survive, or you perished. Her foremothers had done just that—fought, bled, and died so she and her sisters could escape that underground hell and have a good life. Sitting there, sipping tea from a penthouse in Eastmarket and looking down on the entrance was a daily remembrance of their sacrifice. The view also served as a cautionary reminder of where they would end up if she made a misstep.

The events of the last two days threatened just that.

She took a sip of herbal tea and grimaced at the earthy taste of Valerian Root her servant had added. The herb was a mild soporific. She did not dare use anything stronger to the blend to soothe the constant ache in her spine, the result of a long-ago gang skirmish.

Although she had despised and hated the fat toad, this day she missed the Leprechaun. His death elevated her clan to be the ones responsible for carrying out Ogden Silverbirch’s plans. He was the master of the Carter’s Guild and leader of the syndicate maneuvering for control of the city. Her challenge was that Silverbirch was stupidly arrogant, with a history of volatility when he didn’t get what he wanted. If her clan threatened his ambitions, they would be instantly discarded and probably eliminated root and branch. He played his cards so close to his vest, so she had no idea what his plans for an end game were. This was what kept her up at night. She desperately needed a Plan B in case of his failure—without one, the clan would be the scapegoats.

And now she had the problem of her stupidly greedy niece.

Her mouth firmed. No need to put things off. Unpleasant tasks were best faced and dealt with.

“Summon my sisters,” she said to her chief bodyguard.

The windows of the inquisition room were shrouded with heavy room darkening drapes. The senior Six of the clan’s sept-siblings knelt around a white circle etched in the concrete floor. All were female, males did not rise to leadership roles in a goblin clan. A small female sat bound hand and foot on a stool in the center of the circle. The female named Aqui had once been a high-status sister of those who now stared implacably at her. Urine seeped from underneath the coarse canvas dress she wore. She well knew what was in store for her.

“Let us begin.” Goldeneyes’ voice shifted to solemn. She raised her hands, closed her eyes and sang out, “We live and die for our clan.”

The sisters stiffened and intoned after her, “We live and die for our clan.” The clan meeting ritual was complete. She motioned and the six females knelt.

She turned to the prisoner. “I hear tales of a disturbance in the Shambles recently.”

Her niece looked up, her face pale, her limbs trembling. She appeared to gather herself and raised her chin defiantly.

“Yes, there was, Aunt. I set the Ebonflayers to do some slave-taking there. They ran into an unknown force. I am investigating the incident, or I was until your guards seized me.”

“Aqui, the Ebonflayers are were-hyenas. I wasn’t aware the Clan retained any of the Kin as slave-takers.” Goldeneyes’ look was unreadable. “No matter. We can soon have the chain of events in our grasp. There are always watchers in Oldtown. We will soon find who destroyed your ‘agents. Tell me, where is the Artifact that was entrusted to your care?”

She watched as the knowledge dawned in her niece’s mind that the entire tale was known. Her niece looked to the right and into the triumphant eyes of her sister.

Her rival.

“You bitch,” she said venomously.

“SILENCE. You were ever a greedy kit. I have lauded your ambition, but stupidly in these times cannot be borne. Your actions have endangered the Clan. I will strike your name from the rolls of our ancestors if it is the last thing I do.”

Her voice rose in pitch at the last as she fell into the uncontrollable rage that was endemic among goblin-kind.

“My sisters, the Prince entrusted the ripper into our care. Aqui was to watch it and guard the Daoine. Instead, she took part in his disgusting experiments. Her actions have attracted attention to us at the worst possible time. What is worse, she lost the artifact. Now, the street gossip tells of a powerful witch and a shifter enforcer wandering about investigating her actions.”

She has endangered the clan. The penalty is death.

She turned and made a small signal. Instantly, her orc chief guard drew his curved sword and struck off her niece’s head.