2. The Goblin Queen's three tasks

2. The Goblin Queen's three tasks The Goblin Queen has something Sela needs: a key connected to her effort to reach Limbo. Once Sela and Bolder have been captured, the queen also has a much more immediate form of leverage. Bolder can be hurt if Sela refuses to cooperate. She turns that position into a series of tasks. First, Sela has to recover one hundred pearls scattered across a field. Then she must retrieve the queen's crown from the bottom of a lake. The queen doesn't simply give her all the conditions and let her decide whether the bargain is worth making. She keeps control over what comes next while holding Bolder's safety over her. The tasks are answered through help Sela has earned. Bees gather the pearls, and a duck retrieves the crown. Those animals can do things Sela cannot easily accomplish on her own. Her earlier kindness has given her allies suited to the problems she is being forced to solve. The queen's last demand exposes how little security there was in the arrangement. The third task is to leave the chamber alive, with goblins around them. Completing the errands hasn't bought a straightforward release. That is the danger of dealing with someone who controls both the prisoners and the terms. Sela can do everything asked of her and still find another threat waiting at the end. The queen enjoys having the power to decide what counts as enough.