Still, I frowned at the swell of my breast and the curves of my hips and stomach. He wasn’t wrong about that. I’d filled out a lot more since becoming the stag, but not perhaps in a bad way. Food was still something I struggled with, but as I got stronger physically and mentally, I didn’t need to control how I ate to replace the lack of control in my life. At least, not as much as I had in a long while. Eating still came with a sense of shame though, like I was giving in against the strict discipline I’d forced myself to have for the past hundred years. It was silly, I knew.

But still, staring at my reflection was weird.

“I feel like I have to inform you that if you don’t put clothes on soon, I’m about to undo all the progress I’ve made in actually getting out of bed,” Soren said, motioning to his own outfit. Something hot pooled in my stomach as I pulled on my clothes.

“You’re very in tune with your vices, you know that?” I said, hopping on one foot to get my boot on.

“I’m merely aware of them and have no objection acting on most of them,” Soren said, smirking. “Our codes of honor are different.”

“I thought we agreed the whole ‘goblins don’t feel emotions’ thing was biased,” I argued.

“Never said anything about that. I feel a lot less sympathy for my dinner.” His smile grew wider, and I scowled at him.

“It’s weird to eat venison while also holding the title of the stag. It feels like I’m cannibalizing in some way.”

“See?” Soren said, making his point.

Breathing deeply and pinching my nose with my hand, I turned to him. “Let’s get the others. It’s time to plan.”

8

THE GNAWING SERPENT

EVERYONE SOREN TRUSTED enough for the situation turned out to be fewer people than I thought. We were in the solar that we’d converted to a war room a bit after we came into ownership of the Erkling’s palace. We’d replaced the furniture, which had been mostly chairs and loungers, with a large table that mapped the entire Permafrost both geographically and topographically, with a model of the nine worlds placed next to it in scale similar to the map.

I recognized every face currently standing around the table. Of course, there was Seppo, Rose, and Diaval, but also Seppo’s mother, Satu. A bright-haired goblin stood by the door, guarding it in case anyone tried to get in. I couldn’t remember exactly, but I thought his name may have been Landon. He’d been one of the few people that had stuck around after the Erlking’s death, one way or another.