Bound (A Faery Story 1)

goes on at gatherings like this.”

Meg looked thoughtful for a moment. “What would goblins

trade?”

He loved her questions. She was the most curious woman he’d

ever met. “All manner of things. They tend to scavenge, so you can

bet they have items from other planes. If we had anything to trade,

I’m sure we could find something to intrigue you. The only thing they

make themselves is a strange form of liquor. It’s a brown drink they

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brew from beans they find in the mountains. It gets goblins drunk, but

it just makes me jittery.”

“Because, of course, you have to try Goblin moonshine,” Meg

said with an affectionate laugh.

Cian shrugged. “If someone tells me it’s liquor, I’ll try it. I didn’t

like this stuff, though. It smelled lovely, but it tasted bitter.”

Meg’s hazel eyes flared. She was very serious all of the sudden.

“Beans from the mountains? Makes you jittery? Would you say it’s an

acquired taste?”

“I don’t know who would want to acquire it.” Cian shook his head

as he thought about that drink. It had been very bitter and acidic, and

the goblins served it at a scalding temperature. “It makes you jittery if

you drink too much, and then it’s like you’re addicted. If you don’t

get it, you have a headache.”

“Like the one I’ve had for a freaking week and a half,” Meg

snarled. She took him by the shirt, fisting the fabric in her hands to

draw him close. “You will take me to the coffee.”

Cian’s eyes widened, and for a moment he wondered if the

dwarves hadn’t hit it on the head. His queen did, indeed, look a bit

vicious. “They don’t call it coffee.”