Marianne was angry with her father. Furious. After years and years of being promised she could marry for love, he had gone and promised her to a prince from a neighboring kingdom. And she was livid.
After letting her father, and probably the entire kingdom, know how she really felt about it she had retreated to her room and locked the door. Now she dropped down onto the bed to fume. And plot.
How could he do this to her? Had she not been the perfect daughter, always cheerful and obedient? Nothing she had ever done could have warranted such cruelty.
"But Marianne," her father had pleaded "our kingdom needs support. We grow smaller and weaker with each passing year. We need this union for the sake of our future."
That was another reason why Marianne felt so upset. She loved her kingdom and her people dearly. She longed to see them thrive. Her father was correct though; they were getting weaker by the minute. So many turns of bad luck had hit them over the years: Bouts of illness, bad weather destroying homes and crops, bandits passing through and taking what they wished. They needed help, but Marianne had been hoping it would not come to this. She hoped it would not fall to her to save them.
"Prince Roland is a good man," the King had told her.
Marianne scoffed. "Oh please, I know the rumors that follow him. He is vain, selfish, and a womanizer. I do not want any part of that."
"Perhaps marrying you will help him settle and influence him to be better. You are such a kind, gentle girl after all."
Marianne threw her shoe as hard as she could at the wall. It just was not fair. She did not ask to be born into royalty and have this responsibility thrust upon her. Why did it have to come to this?
There was a gentle knock at the door. "Marianne?" came the muffled voice of her sister Dawn on the other side. "Can I come in?"
"Just leave me alone, Dawn," she replied, trying hard to keep the anger out of her voice. It wasn't Dawn's fault, after all. Plus her sister was such a sensitive soul who got all teary-eyed when voices were raised. It would not do to take it out on her when she did not deserve it.
"Alright," she said, sounding a bit let down. "Let me know when you're ready to talk."
In spite of her anger, Marianne managed a small smile. Dawn knew her better than anyone in the kingdom. She respected her sister's space, and understood not to push her when she was upset. And she would open her heart to Dawn eventually, but not now. Not when she was ready to put a hole in the wall with her fist. No, now was a time for her to think. Time for her to plan what her response to this terrible news was going to be…
"You really should consider redecorating in here," sniffed Griselda as she sat down for tea with the Fairy King. She was out of her element in the fairy kingdom, being used to the dank and general crudeness of the Dark Forest dwellings. All the brightness and colors were making her ill, and the sweet tea they served at the castle was not helping things.
The king cleared his throat. "Yes well, I am sure you are wondering why I summoned you here and not your son."
Griselda gave up on the tea with a sigh and tossed the cup over her shoulder where it shattered on the ground. "Yeah, I was confused by your request. The mother of the Bog King being asked to take tea with the Fairy King? Just doesn't make sense."
He winced at the shattering of the innocent tea cup, but continued on as if nothing had happened. "My oldest daughter, Princess Marianne, is to be engaged to Prince Roland of the Green Hills."
"Congrats," said Griselda through a mouthful of biscuits. They were the only thing on the table that didn't make her gag at the taste. "Do you want me to plan the wedding? Because let me tell you, I am a phenomenal wedding planner."
"No, that's not it." The king paused and set down his tea cup. "I do have a…rather odd request to make of you."
The former queen squinted her already beady eyes at him from across the table. All of this secrecy and hesitation had her intrigued. And goodness knew she had not seen a good intrigue in many years. "What kind of request?" she asked, abandoning her occupation of consuming all the biscuits on the table in favor of giving him her full attention.
He sat up straight, took a deep breath, and began. "Your son, I take it, is a bit of a–ah–lonely person, correct?"
Griselda laughed, a sound that grated on the king's ears. "You have no idea! All he does is stay cooped up in the castle, doesn't even bother visiting other lands. And don't even get me started on his love life–"
"So you would agree he is somewhat off-putting?" the king ventured.
"Oh absolutely," said Griselda without batting an eye. "He's rough on the outside, though I'm sure deep down there's some good that just hasn't found it's way out yet. But what does this have to do with your daughter?"
Once again, the king cleared his throat. "Marianne is very upset about the betrothal. Prince Roland has a reputation that she does not agree with. This is making her agreement to the whole thing very difficult. My idea is to get her to spend some time with your son to see how much better Roland would be compared to, say, the Bog King."
Griselda stared. "So you want to show her what the worst is like so she'll appreciate what she has, is that it?"
"In a nutshell yes."
"That is the stupidest thing I ever heard. Count me in."
"So you will convince your son to have lunch with my daughter tomorrow?"
"I can try, but that boy is stubborn as anything. I guarantee nothing, but I will try. Who knows? This could lead to a very interesting turn of events."
The king finished his tea, content with this answer. He did not care about events, as long as they led to Marianne wedding Roland. He knew his plan was a bit of a stretch. However, he was confident that as soon as she spent five minutes with the Bog King, it would have her running to Roland's arms in no time.
