Escape wasn't in the cards now, not when she was finally uncovering the truth of why Theo had been so insistent upon their union and the alliance between the wolves. The threats. Had his assurance that the wolves would be destroyed if they didn't marry truly not been his own desires, but rather, his fears of what would happen if he lost control of the goblins?
As the cart finally lurched to a stop, Lily peered out the window to see nothing but darkness. Even her wolf senses did nothing to help her here; she saw textured rock around her, but nothing else. Her nose picked up the musty scent of the earth and ancient dust.
Theo jumped down and came around to help her out, his grip on her arm tight as he led her into the inky blackness.
"I can't see anything," she whispered, feeling as if she were walking into her own grave.
"That's because it's dark," Theo replied, his tone dry. "And you're human. Trust me, I know where we're going."
He said it as if it were an insult, but Lily chose to ignore it. After all, he was right: she was human, and there was nothing she could do about it. But that didn't mean she had to like his sharp tone.
Theo produced a small lamp from his pocket and lit it with a flick of his wrist, revealing a long tunnel before them. Lily's heart sank when she realized just how far underground they were going to be. She hadn't seen where the entrance was, or how they'd gotten here. Did they have to hide in some hole somewhere just to escape the goblins who wanted Theo's throne?
Had he given up on trying to stop them? What would that mean for her pack?
The questions swirled in a never-ending anxious spiral. Her stomach tightened, and she felt lightheaded from not having enough answers.
"I didn't know the goblins had any settlements underground," Lily said tentatively, trying her best to assume that there really was a purpose to our trek.
"Most goblins don't live in trees," Theo said, his tone sharp as ever. And then, after a pause, he took her hand in his with a squeeze. "It's not our real home, but a fortress to protect the land that's truly ours: the Underland. You'll see."
"How long will it take us to get there?"
"A few hours, if we hurry."
And so they began the long journey through the dark tunnels of the Underland, their footsteps echoing eerily in the silence. Every now and then they would come to a part of the tunnel that split into two or more pathways, but Theo always chose one direction without stopping to hesitate at all. By the fourth path, Lily had lost track of the direction they'd gone, and she knew she would be stuck down here without Theo's help getting out.
Before long, the darkness ebbed, and Theo put out his lantern. They came upon a great ledge and a wide cave mouth that opened into an enormous cavern teeming with life. The city was an enormous warren of tunnels and living spaces and storehouses made from the bounty of the earth, with an empty well at its center, as though it had been built on the world itself, and, as Lily looked beyond the city, she saw thousands of glowing blue eyes embedded in the far-off ceiling, like stars winking.
"Welcome to the Underland," Theo said, "my home."
"It's ... I don't even know what to say," Lily murmured.
Should she be terrified that this place existed right under her pack's nose for decades, if not longer? How many goblins lived here? She tried to absorb as much information as she could see, facts and images to report back to Ryel to confirm that the goblins would be a threat despite the wedding and their supposed alliance.
Before Lily could stare for too long, Theo tugged Lily toward an ancient stone staircase that she hadn't seen before. They went down deeper into the city, through the bustling goblin activity. Some were laying the foundation for a new building by hand, others were sharpening spears, and she glimpsed the edge of a market where goblins bartered fish for strawberries. Other goblins were fighting in the arena, and a group of them were playing what looked like a game of football, except the players were wielding torches.
Lily glanced at Theo and saw a hint of a smile on his face, as though he was remembering the games from when he was a child. But then something shifted in his expression, and a deep sadness seemed to loom over him like a dark shadow. She wanted to ask him what he was thinking, but considering how cold he'd been since last night, she hesitated to speak until he was ready.
So quickly that Lily almost didn't notice what was happening, Theo bartered a flower merchant on the edge of the market for a red rose, then they carried on their way. He stared at the rose absently, twisting the stem between his fingers despite being pricked by the thorns.
Without another word, they continued down the narrow staircase until they reached a point about halfway to the bottom. There, they turned off to the side, following a thin trail that wasn't paved like the rest of the city, which led to a sharp cliff that overlooked much of the Underland from above. Theo slowed when they reached row after row of small mounds of dirt with intricately carved wooden doors covering them all.
To Lily's surprise, there were fresh flowers placed atop some of them, and lit candles flickered from atop wax-covered headstones.
"Are these ... graves?" she whispered, taking in all the markers.
Theo nodded solemnly and gestured for her to follow him as he made his way toward one grave in particular that had been adorned with many more flowers than any other marker. Most were withered and old, the leaves and petals little more than paper, but whoever had been put to rest here, they were surely loved. The door above the grave was weathered and cracked open slightly; it had once been painted bright purple with gold trimming around its edges, but now there was only faded color left behind on its surface. She followed Theo until he stopped in front of the grave and bowed down low before it on one knee.
"I offer you this tribute," he breathed reverently before gently placing a single red rose onto the grave marker beside him. "For your sacrifice and love." A moment of silence passed, and then Theo lifted his gaze to look at Lily. "This is where my mother has rested since my father went into a rage and murdered her."
His voice cracked as he said the words aloud, and Lily's heart clenched and her breath caught in her throat as though her heart were about to break, too. She reached out to place her hand on top of his. "It seems like you cared for her very much; I'm very sorry for your loss." The words came, but she realized that they were not nearly enough to comfort the man who had become her husband, if comfort was what he was truly after. "And I am sorry for all the horrible things Bite said about her."
Despite the emotion pooling in Theo's eyes, he did not cry or otherwise break his mask of indifference. It was only that Lily had seen deeper, to the man that he was, not the one he acted like on the outside, that she could tell how difficult it was for him to be here. What a show of trust it was for him to take her here.
Theo nodded at the grave marker. "My mother was the only person in the world who loved me unconditionally. She did not care that I was the spawn of the evil goblin king who had subjugated her and forced her to birth me. She did not care that I was an abomination, as Bite so succinctly put it. She was too kind a soul for these wretched goblin tunnels, always encouraging me to find the light inside myself, even when darkness threatened to take me at every corner. No matter what I did or how badly I messed up, she was always there to help guide me back on the path I belonged on."
"How did she become your mother?" Lily asked gently, the question thick on her tongue. "If it is so disproved of for goblins to mate with other kinds."