Trigger Warnings: It may surprise you that I originally meant for this to be a humorous, light story, with wacky hijinks and slightly low brow humour. What it turned to be was something a bit darker. I feel I need to warn about the following situations/issue which while not occurring 'on screen' or even being described in great detail, which is why I have not changed the rating to M, are discussed in this story: suicidal thoughts/depression, non-consensual body modification (body horror), emotional and mental child abuse, sexual slavery of a minor, torture, and killing of sentient beings. Really though, it isn't much worse then a traditional fairy tale.

This is a continuation of To Freak is Divine. I strongly recommend you read that first.

A short reminder of To Freak is Divine (spoilers!): Freak, after running from his cousin Dudley, slips through a crack in reality and ends up on top of a Mountain in Llewdor, which was being ruled by the wizard Manannan. Accepting his name change to Gwydion, he starts to get to know the land he has ended up in, and has to come to terms with the possibility that Manannan may mean him harm. Along the way he makes friends with Medusa, a half snake half women who helps him understand animals and Manannan's cat, who turns out is a be-spelled wizard. Eventually, finding out a plan to kidnap a Prince from a distant kingdom our hero turns Manannan into a cat, but its too late. Now the new king by conquest, Gwydion sets off, and after a number of disasters manages to rescue the Prince, earning the gratitude of his parents, the King and Queen of Daventry, who offer an alliance and lessons in rulership.

Gwydion, once known as Freak-Harry-Boy, was standing in the courtyard of the Keep waiting for the sun to rise. Today was a Daventry day. The days of the week didn't have the same names as before, and in fact there wasn't really a 'week' in Sierra, instead the days were counted from the full moon exactly 30 days until the next full moon. So Gwydion traveled to Daventry for his lessons every third day, which, even if they didn't add up, Gwydion liked to think of as Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Once Medusa had calmed down enough to even contemplate letting Gwydion out of her sight, she thought that an alliance with Daventry was a good idea, and took them up on the offer of lessons. The lesson were mostly things he probably would have learnt at school back Before, like reading and writing and maths, but he also had dance, etiquette, and horse riding lessons and sometimes had weapons lesson too. At home with Medusa (and sometimes Manannan and Letholdus) he had lessons about magic and history. He also had meetings, often about running the Kingdom, which Medusa mostly organised and took charge of. It was hard, but Gwydion was happy, especially when one of his teachers praised his work. He also had days (which he called Saturdays) when he was told to go out and play, explore the forests, laugh with the children who had returned to Llewdor after Manannan's defeat. He wasn't close to any, really, not with him being the King and all, but it was fun to play tag, hide and go seek, and make believe and not fear that any minute his cousin was going to appear.

Under Gwydion (and really Medusa) the trade routes had flourished, bringing people from all over. Gwydion could see from the courtyard the river which had replaced the tiny stream. Once Medusa, assisted by Geydion, had cleared the old banks of tree, the next rain saw the foot wide shallow stream become a 30 foot wide, at least 5 foot deep river over night. It was all to do with the magic of the land, and Gwydion, basically just by wanting it, had managed to open the trade route inland again. Now, at least once a week, slow moving barges could found making their way up to or down from the Kingdom of Évreux, or even further inland, all the way to Sovereignty of Serenia.

It had been a rather boring negotiation with the goblins, but in the end they had paid for half the repairs on the pier, and it wasn't unusual to see two or even three ships docked. From what Gwydion understood, Port Bruce was their only easy option for trade, as the Bog of Eternal Stench blocked their trade east, the Endless Desert their trade west, and the Great Northern Dark Forest their trade north. The goblins had been overjoyed that Gwydion not only allowed them to use the river, but that he had cleared the path himself.

Although the trade through Port Bruce didn't directly mean gold in the coffers, as there was no tax on goods sold or bought, the influx of people did. Four more houses had been built in town, and one Inn. The farms had tripled in size, and while not as productive as in Davenrty could now grow enough to sell the extra. To the west, things were just as obviously changed. The desert had been pushed all the way back to Medusa's Temple, which now stood sentinel over the entrance to the sands. Gwydion was still a little shocked at how quickly the trees had grown, doubling the size of the forest. At least two more cottages had been built in the forests, one housing the Bear's Cousins who had returned. It turned out the Bears were the old law enforcers of the area, and being unwilling to swear to Manannan had mostly left years ago. The remaining Bear family had survived on selling Mama Bears flowers and Papa Bear working as a lumberjack. Now, they had sworn to Gwydion and had returned to the constabulary. Gwydion was quiet impressed, no one was going to argue with a bear.

The other change, not visible from high above in the Keep, was the influx of non-humans. When Manannan had been in charge, Medusa and the Bears were the only non-human (outside of the Keep's chickens and Letholdus who most people didn't count) who lived in Llewdor. Now just under half of the ninety four citizens could claim non-human heritage, but as of yet still no other Old Ones. Medusa and Letholdus, after a long argument which Gwydion had to translate, had decided to not invite any Old Ones. Yet.

Medusa had also won the argument for a new servant, as Gwydion had neither the time nor would Medusa let him fill that role. The servant, called Zilya, was only just taller then Gwydion, and had fiery red hair which became red feathers at the temple and odd yellow eyes set in golden skin. Gwydions still wasn't sure if Zilya was a very pretty boy, or a somewhat masculine girl. What he did know was Zilya was a race of people closely related to firebirds, a magical race who were less human then even the goblins. Zilya had wandered into town looking for work and Medusa, after a few questions, had hired them on the spot, as firebirds couldn't lie. Zilya wasn't the smartest person Gwydion had meet, with a personality which strongly reminded him of Kenny the dog, but after very happily taking over the tower room, and had fit in well. And their cooking was really good, much better then Gwydion's, because they could control the fire as part of their magic.

Zilya had even cooked a giant cake for Gwydions eighth birthday!

Gwydion had gotten presents from all over, from Kingdoms he had never even heard of. Fine silks, strange foods, jewellery, and even swords and suits of armour. Medusa had let Gwydion keep some things, but most the rest had gone into the Kingdom's coffers, as Gwydion didn't need 30 feet of purple fairy spun silk, or a solid gold dagger. His family at the Keep had made a beautiful stone charm made from a what Medusa called 'callais' in the shape of a snake eating its own tail. It had been heavily enchanted to ward away evil magic, and they had spent a wonderful day going over all the spells and runes that made it up. One of the less exciting things had been Medusa insisting some of the fabrics were made into new clothes for Gwydion. He had found he disliked fittings immensely, having to stand still while being poked with pins was not fun in the least. As a King, Medusa had said he should expect some presents, but this year there were more, sent as celebration for defeating Manannan and becoming King, not to mention killing a dragon.

Medusa had made Gwydion talk about how he felt, not just killing the dragon, but accidentally killing the maid. Gwydion hadn't really believed her words about him not being at fault. It had been surprisingly Manannan who had somewhat gotten through to Gwydion in the end, saying "It's in the past. You can't change it. If the prince asks if you regret saving him, will you bitch and moan and say yes, that the maid who kidnapped him, who would have also been eaten, should have lived for a few minutes more at the cost of his life?"

Gwydion's answer, of course, had been no.

Medusa had taken the dragon carcass and had it properly butchered, and had sold some parts to foreign magic users, but had kept back a lot for them to use in the future. She had said that when Gwydion was a little older and no longer growing, she would get some dragon armour made. Gwydion wasn't sure he wanted to wear the bright green scale, but kept quiet for now.

Everything was perfect, and he couldn't help but smile as the sun rose, and with a loud CRACK he disappeared to Daventry. So when, greeting Graham and Valanice, as he arrived for his lessons, it was a great surprise Graham went suddenly pale, his breathing becoming laboured, and he clutched his chest in pain.

"Help me," he rasped to his wife. She quickly screamed for the guards, who ran over and helped him up and into the castle. Graham's favourite hat, from his adventurer days, laid in the dirt of the courtyard, forgotten. The servants rushed to his aid, hustling him off to bed and calling for a doctor. Gwydion followed quietly unable to stand by and simply watch, and was swept up in the doctors wake and into the royal bedchamber. King Graham lay weakly in bed, and Gwydion imaged he could almost see Father Death hovering near. Gwydion listened as the doctor sadly explained that the King's heart was failing, and magic could only give him a few days at most. "Oh, Graham!" Gwydion felt like sobbing. While Medusa, Letholdus and Manannan were his family, he had come to love in his own way the royal family of Daventry, for they had shown him nothing but kindness. "You're still young; you should have many years ahead of you! Oh, I wish I could help you!" Gwydion couldn't help but feel a deep well of grief, so much so he ran blindly from the from the room.

Unable to keep from crying, he fell down on the steps in the throne room, trying to muffle his voice against his knees. "I wish I could do something!"

"Do you really mean that?" A voiced asked softy.

Gwydion looked up but saw no one. "Who's speaking to me?"

Just then the mirror, the magic mirror, glinted on the wall "I am, look in the mirror."

Gwydion looked in its depths and saw an image, a beautiful blonde women in a long white robe fluttered on butterfly wings. A fairy!

"Wh-who are you?" Gwydion queried.

"I am the fairy, Genesta. In my land of Tamir there is a remarkable tree. This tiny tree needs one hundred years to bear a single fruit. But, this is no ordinary fruit; for if a person were to eat it, one would find that good health and well-being would be theirs for many years."

Gwydion felt a swell of hope at that news."Where is the land of Tamir?"

Genesta smiled. "Tamir is very far away. But with my magic, I can bring you here. However, once I bring you here, I can't send you back; you will have to help me first."

Gwydion knew that there was more to the story. Of course, magic offers always have a price. "But, I suppose there are some problems?"

Again, Genesta smiled. "Yes, you are correct, Gwydion. If you are willing to come to Tamir I will explain the situation."

Confused, Gwydion said, "What if I can't help you or find the tree? How will I get back then?"

Genesta pleaded, "You must decide NOW, Gwydion. My powers are growing weaker by the minute." By now, the fairy was but a faint glimmer, and her voice barely audible. "If you care for King Graham, say 'yes' now!..." And as suddenly as she had appeared, she was gone.

Gwydion, desperate, screamed, "Yes!" before feeling the telltale hooking sensation in his stomach of magical travel. The comforting weight of the belt around his waist reminded him he wasn't as powerless as many thought.

He would save the King, he would not lose this gamble. No matter what.