Key To A Goblin's Heart

Victoria's POV

The whole room started spinning before my eyes, The Queen's figure blurred and for a moment I felt that I might faint. But that moment passed as immediately as it had arrived, and I clutched the nearest mantle stand for support. I realised that I had not eaten since morning, what with all that dreadful business about Mike, and now my stomach growled pitifully and my head felt as light as a feather. 

The Queen stared at me, concerned, "Are you all right?" She said, "You don't look too well though. Maybe, you should sit down."

I didn't know if I had enough voice left to reply to her. Somehow, faintly I said, "It's…. it's okay. I... I just skipped breakfast and I am feeling a bit dizzy. I.. I should go and get something to eat."

"Are you sure?" The Queen said, narrowing her eyes, "Do you want me to call the healer? Maybe he can give you something to calm your nerves. And, maybe you should get some sleep instead of loitering around the castle at all sorts of odd hours."

"I am fine." I lied, but what other option did I have?

"Okay then." The Queen said, not entirely satisfied, "You should go to your room and get some rest. Thank you for the diary though. And, I will send someone to your room later, and if you need something you can tell them."

"No...no!" I said in alarm, because Magnus was in my room and he would be discovered if the Queen sent somebody, "I…. I will get some rest. I would go to sleep and then, I will feel as fresh as a daisy again! Please, don't send anyone... I am a very light sleeper and if someone enters my room while I sleep, I will wake up instantly. I won't do good for my much needed rest."

The Queen nodded, still eyeing me suspiciously. 

I fled her company, with a little bow and ran along the palace corridors as fast as I could to get away from her. 

Reaching a safe distance from her, I stopped. Placing my hands on the pillars, I stopped to take a breath and exhaled deeply. I still felt a bit dizzy but that was somehow overcome by the adrenaline that rushed through my veins. My brains were hyperalert now, and even the minutest sound got to my nerves. 

I sat down at the corner, and started to collect my thoughts. My brain felt like a jumble of wires, entangled in a mess and I had to start sorting out the strands to make sense of my life. What I have just discovered, did nothing to alleviate my suspicions of the Queen earlier. In fact, it reinforced them, and I started suspecting her even more. 

But, the bigger question was, am I really her daughter then? There can be no other plausible explanation for what had happened. She herself admitted it to me, and even though she didn't know the whole truth, she had confessed before me her greatest secret. That diary could only be opened by someone who shared her blood. Now, that someone can only be a child or a parent. 

I am sure I can't be the Queen's parent though, and despite myself, I laughed at the thought. But, maybe a sibling? Can I be her sister somehow? That didn't make sense either. The Queen is atleast fifty or even more than that and I don't see how she should have a sister who is twenty-two years old. Well, it can be possible, but not very plausible though.

There's no other way that I can be relatedd to her. Maybe a distant cousin or something?

No no, I am deviating from logic now. It was quite clear by the way she said it, that only someone with a close blood relation can open that diary. That certainly rules out distant cousins or whatever other relations she may have. Also, it was already known that she had a previous daughter, whom she had sacrificed. Can I be that same person?

But, how does that even make sense? According to the Queen, her daughter had died at birth, after all her death had been the sacrifice that the Queen had to make. So, how am I still alive if I am her daughter? Also, how did I land up in the Human World? My head felt more dizzy as I clouded it with these troublesome thoughts. 

I tried to search my memories, tried to recall my days at the orphanage and whatever the nuns used to say to me. I was a particularly mischievous child, so I had to spend a lot of time in detention, while I had to forcefully listen to the nuns droning about karma and punishment. But, was there anything they had said that might give me a clue to my lineage?

"She was found on a stormy night." I remembered eavesdropping on one of them whispering to her fellow nun, "I remember that day clearly. It had rained since a week and there was a thunderstorm that night. The weather man had alerted of a typhoon that was to strike the East coast, and we were to be on it's way. I had put the children to bed earlier than usual, and was myself preparing for the oncoming storm, by fastening the windows. That's when I discovered her."

"While fastening the windows?" Her companion asked in awe.

"No, silly!" She replied, "I went out in the fresh blowing breeze, I had forgotten to close the stable doors, and they rattled in the wind disturbing the silence. I went near the stable,and found her there lying by the hearth, a tiny little emaciated thing shivering in cold. You can understand my shock! Which inhuman creature could have abandoned a baby in this weather, I thought. But, well…. I guess I understand now. This one is nothing but trouble trust me."

That's it. That was the only thing that I had ever heard about my lineage. That, I had been abandoned on a stormy night and there was no records as to who my parent's might be. So, can I really be the Queen's daughter, then? Did she, inhuman as she is, abandon me to the storm as a part of her sacrifice? Was she lying to everyone, including her husband, all along?

The more I thought about it, the more twisted it got. But then, there's one other person who may know the truth. That was Magnus. It was he, who had come to the conclusion in the first place, and I somehow felt that he knew more than he was letting on. 

Maybe, it's time to confront him. 

I entered my room with a dash, and immediately closed the door after me. Magnus was still sitting on my bed, just as I had left him, lazily playing with his golden curls. His gaze shifted to meet mine, and he smiled at my distressed face. 

"So, I assume you believe me now?" He said. 

"What more do you know about it? Tell me, Magnus. What are you hiding?" I stormed at him. 

"If you are so desperate to know, maybe you should say those magic words…"please"." He said airily, taunting me at my worst. 

"I am not in the mood for any games today. Just, just tell me the truth….or else…" I warned. 

"Or else what?" Magnus came close to me, looking at me with a piercing gaze. I could feel his breath on my face as he said in a strained voice, "What more will you do? You have already bound your soul to me, now will you kill me? So, go ahead…. I don't care, I have nothing to look forward to. But you, will never get your answers if I am dead."

I tried to meet his gaze with equal ferocity, but somehow my voice faltered as I replied, "Listen….just say the truth. I don't want to harm you."

"Everything comes at a price." Magnus said playfully, "You give my freedom back, and I shall give you the truth."

I growled in anger, like a mad animal at Magnus' impertinence. What does he think, this arrogant smug, that he can control me with his manipulation? I am twice what he is, and I was determined to show it to him. 

I encanted a spell, and immediately Magnus slouched on the floor, wincing in pain. It was a spell that gave him a terrible headache, and for a moment I smirked at his pitiable condition. 

He got up somehow, and dragged himself towards me. He met my eyes with his own grimaced face contoured with apathy.

"You really think you can extract the truth by playing these petty tricks on me? You forget, that I was a soldier and I had faced worse than this on the battlefield. Also, the Queen's Dark Magic had tortured me enough, to make me immune to all sorts of physical pain." He said with bated breath. 

"So why are you shivering in pain now?" I said defiantly, moving closer to him so that we now stood only a few inches from each other. 

His golden curls fell on his forehead, even as tiny trickles of sweat beads appeared on them. I felt my heart lurch, thumping at a break neck speed as I saw his face so close to mine. Maybe, Cassie was right, I thought…. Wasn't it so easy to fall for those blue eyes? Maybe, for the first time since I had known him, I could truly understand his appeal. I could feel the pull he exerted on other people, as strong as gravity itself. Maybe, if he weren't such a monster, I would have….

And then, just like that, the distance between us closed and I felt his lips pressing on mine.