In the Coils of the Snake

In the Coils of the Snake is the third novel in the Hollow Kingdom Trilogy.

Characters
Miranda Richardson - the human protagonist of the book. Originally engaged to the goblin King, Catspaw, Miranda ends up falling in love with and marrying the elf King, Aganir Ash.

Nir or Aganir Ash - the unknown elf King, Nir gathers together the remaining elves and returning to the elf King's Forest. After giving up his fiancee, Arianna, for a truce with the goblins, Nir finds Miranda.

Arianna - an elf woman of great power. She is engaged to Nir until a truce agreement between the elves and goblins forces him to allow Catspaw to marry her.

Catspaw - the goblin King. Though he is engaged to Miranda, Catspaw agrees to marry Arianna and signs a treaty with the elves. He develops an antagonist relationship with Nir.

Seylin - an elvish-looking goblin who acts as Catspaw's Chief Advisor.

Tattoo - a goblin guard and the son of Sable. He and the elf Hunter form a friendship while they stay in an underground prison with Miranda.

Hunter - an elf guard and Nir's friend. While he stays in the goblin prison with Miranda, he forms a friendship with the goblin Tattoo.

Sable - an elf woman who lives with the goblins. She deals with her prejudice against her own race through the course of the book.

Richard - the goblin King's Military Commander.

Marak Sixfinger - the goblin King. He raises Miranda to be Catspaw's wife. He dies at the start of the book.

Kate Winslow - an elf-human cross who was married to Marak Sixfinger and is Catspaw's mother.

Trina - Sable's goblin granddaughter. She looks elvish and wants to go live with the elves.

Fay - Sable's goblin daughter and the mother of Trina.

Tinsel - Sable's goblin husband.

Mongrel - a goblin guard.

Willow - an elf guard and a former member of Sable's band.

Plot
In The Coils of the Snake is the final book in The Hollow Kingdom Trilogy by Clare B. Dunkle. It follows Miranda Richardson, the daughter of Matilda (Til), the baby found at the end of The Hollow Kingdom.

Marak Sixfinger raises Miranda from birth with the intention of marrying her to his son, Catspaw. Though she grows up with her birth family, he visits her often, performing magic on her and giving presents. When Miranda is 17, he makes everyone in her family and the village believe she is dead and brings her down to the goblin kingdom.

After the death of Marak, Miranda becomes betrothed to his son, Catspaw. She is at first uncomfortable in the kingdom without Marak and is forced to put on an act, pretending she is happy when she is not. Sable realizes Miranda's pretense and befriends her. Just as she is getting used to goblin life, the arrival of a band of elves changes everything for her.

The engagement is broken when a mysterious elf lord called Nir shows up with his tribe of elves. Nir offers Catspaw an elf bride in exchange for peace. The new goblin king reluctantly accepts. Miranda is devastated. All her life, Marak had groomed her to be a goblin King's Wife. Now, without him there to guide her, and the future he planned for her gone, she decides to commit suicide. Nir finds her before she can do it and brings her to his camp where he performs a spell on her called the Seven Stars Spell. This enchantment keeps Miranda under Nir's control and protects her from harm. Catspaw is furious when he finds out what Nir did with Miranda but cannot do anything because of the truce.

In the Hollow Kingdom, Catspaw marries the elf woman Nir allowed him to take in exchange for peace, Arianna. She runs from him at every chance she gets. Her behavior gets her sick with exhaustion, forcing Catspaw to restrict her to her bed so she can get some rest. Arianna confides in Kate Winslow that she's afraid Catspaw is going to deform her. Kate tells Catspaw, who clears it up. He and Arianna start getting along. She tells him about Nir and how his magic killed his first wife. Nir and Miranda start getting along too as they live together and tell each other about their pasts. Miranda falls in love with him and refuses to take an opportunity to escape because she wants to stay with him. Sable badmouths Nir to Miranda, which makes the elf lord treat her harshly. Sable returns to the goblin kingdom and, upon reaching there, apparently dies. Meanwhile, Nir tells Miranda he plans to marry her as soon as she turns eighteen. Then he leaves for two weeks to perform a spell to protect his people.

While Nir is gone, Catspaw comes to the elf camp to get revenge for Sable, who is being kept alive by magic. To keep Catspaw and the other goblins from hurting Nir, Miranda agrees to go back to living with them. However, she cannot go back into the kingdom because of the Seven Stars Spell so she has to stay in an old elf prison with an elf guard, Hunter, and a goblin guard, Tattoo. Her guards become friends. Seylin visits her and gets her to tell him everything she knows about Nir. From that information he realizes Nir is not just an ordinary elf lord, but an elf King, the line of which had been thought dead and gone. Nir comes back to find Miranda gone. He immediately plans on attacking the goblins to get her back. Nir and Catspaw fight but neither can hurt the other because they are both the kings of their races and like brother kings. Seylin explains this to them and Miranda is reunited with Nir, who is now known by his true name, Aganir Ash.

Stemming from Hunter and Tattoos bond, the elves and goblins develop friendships following the struggle.