Lily stared at him, her pink lips pressed into a firm line. Her bright green eyes were narrowed in thought as she regarded him, and then her scowl deepened and she looked away, down at the twisting trees and the arrangement of rope bridges, platforms, and makeshift treehouses below.
"That's right." Venom dripped from her voice as she spoke. "Goblins prefer to twist their victims' minds rather than take prisoners. Your kind takes a sick pleasure in destroying other races. I've met three of your victims, you know. My pack is full of them. One of your kind had stolen his humanity and locked it inside him, forcing him to live as a wolf for two-thirds of his life. Lost to the animal and the wilderness. Another woman was torn from her mate, forced to say horrible things to him before she left to start a life elsewhere for fourteen years. Her mind was altered to believe that the child she carried when she left was from a one-night-stand. Back in Kaldron, my home, her mate twisted himself up into a wreak for the entire time she was gone. How fucked up is that?" The fire in Lily's eyes flared with rage and challenge. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
"I understand that from the outside looking in, such enchantments can seem ... barbaric," Theo chose the word carefully, trying to level with what he expected her opinion to be, "however, if the alternative is death, or imprisonment until they rot, is altering their memories and sending them on their way not a kinder punishment?"
Some of the anger in Lily's expression faded, but she stayed determined in her disagreeing stare. "True, maybe leaving them free, their lives intact, is the more humane course on the surface. But with how you goblins treat it, no, it's not. You can alter someone's memories without ruining their lives and torturing their loved ones.That'sthe part I have an issue with."
Theo gripped the rope railing, letting it carry his weight as he leaned forward. "What if I told you we have no control over it?"
"I wouldn't believe you," Lily said. "Most shifters might only have one kind of magic at our disposal, our ability to change form between our human and animal souls, butwecontrol it. Witches can control the effects of their spells. Same with the fae. You can't tell me that you have no control over what happens with your magic."
"Not all magic is created equal. Goblin magic is crude. I don't expect you to believe our magic is what made us a cruel species, too. It warps and twists the mind when the user tries to resist the magic's whim to perform cruel acts. We might be able to decide what the ultimate purpose of the magic should be, but it's the magic that decides how it enforces our wishes. We choose to remove one's memories when they find us in the wilderness. We do not choose to steal their entire lives away."
Lily wore a mask of disbelief, her lips pinched together. Even in a frown, they seemed so soft and kissable. Theo pulled his gaze away from her to focus on a group of goblins below, who were carrying a log longer than ten goblins across a log bridge. It was good that he was attracted to Lily; it would make bringing her to his side, and performing his duty with her, that much easier. But he was not the type to let his attraction control him.
After seeing what his father's uncontrolled lust had been capable of, Theo was very careful and selective of his use of it.
"What's it going to be for me?" she asked quietly.
His brow furrowed when he came back from his thoughts, not understanding the question. "What do you mean?"
"I don't want to be here. You know that. Since this whole arrangement was supposed to be built on a mutual agreement, it won't look good for you to have a wife who despises you and your kind."
"No, it won't. But as I told you before, I have no intention of making you do anything. It is my hope that by treating you with respect, you will provide me with the same courtesy. That is all."
"You call dragging me to your home against my will 'treating me with respect’?" Lily laughed darkly. "Can't wait to see what you consider 'goblin gentleness' in the bedroom. Are you going to make me humiliate myself, too?"
Theo winced, but Lily didn't give him a chance to respond.
She pressed on. "So what's it going to be for me? Are you going to alter my memories to make me believe I want to be here with you? Turn me into a willing slave?"
The other goblins had urged him to consider that idea; then, at least, there would be no threat of her rebelling against him or coordinating with the wolves to eradicate the goblins. Magic would make her loyalty undying, and the goblins would have to accept her, sooner or later.
But Theo did not want a slave, and he knew that should Lily interact with her former pack members in such a state, they would know that something was off with her. In the long run, forcing her to do anything wouldn't help him.
"I'm not going to do anything to you. We will marry, and our kinds will be united, and that is all. Should you come around to me at some point, that would be to both of our benefit ... but I expect nothing of you."
The tension in Lily's rolled-up shoulders relaxed somewhat, as did her death grip on the rope. "I thought I would get a better view of the compound from up here," she changed the topic easily, her voice betraying none of the fear she must have been feeling. Theo knew better than to call her out on it, though. He could see the way her hands trembled where they gripped the rope, betraying her nerves. There was more she wanted to ask him, but something held her back.
"It's lovely, isn't it?" Theo asked conversationally, leaning against the trunk of the tree and crossing his arms over his chest. "I used to come up here all the time when I was younger. My mother used to tell me that one day I would be king of this forest, and that I needed to familiarize myself with every inch of it."
"And now you are," she said, more to herself than to him.
"No. I'm not king, I am only a prince," he replied solemnly. "I never wanted to become king, although when we marry, I will have no choice but to take the title I've put off for three years."
"Why?"
Theo tilted his head, trying to decide what kind of answer she was looking for. Did she want the truth, or a noble lie? She crossed her arms as the silence stretched between them, looking at him with clear expectation. This woman did not trust him in the slightest, and he didn't trust her, either. But trust was earned. It grew. And here, Theo would place the first plank on that bridge with the truth.
"I saw what absolute power did to my father," Theo said truthfully. "It made him realize he could do anything, no matter how cruel and depraved, and the other goblins would still kiss his feet. Encourage his behavior, in fact. It made me sick to watch, his unnecessary cruelty, his constant attempts to eradicate and subjugate other creatures. And then when my mother became wrapped up in his schemes—" Theo stopped himself, realizing he was about to reveal a truth he was not ready to utter to Lily out loud. With a sigh, he shook his head. "In the end, the only way to stop him was to kill him with my own two hands. That is why I have long refused to be king."
"And what changed?"
The threat of rebellion. Of losing control. Of course, it was too dangerous to reveal these facts to Lily before they were married, but those were his primary motivations of securing an alliance with the wolves, marrying Lily, and finally taking his place as king.
He wasn't sure if he was prepared to avoid the pitfalls his father had failed to navigate. However, he knew he was more prepared than any goblins the revolution would attempt to replace him with, and so it was a gamble Theo had no choice but to take.
"There are forces beyond my control at work around us," Theo admitted. "I must take all of the power available to me in order to control it. I know you have no wish to marry me, but your cooperation is essential to securing peace. There are those amongst us who look for every excuse to destroy the Kaldron pack and all shifters. If you do not follow through with the wedding, I may be unable to prevent it, even if I claim my place as king."