Mab's strides oozed regalness as she showed the new arrival to the library. Marten and Frik sauntered in her wake.

"You will learn to be a wizard, Marten." Mab hissed.

"Is there something wrong with your throat?" Marten asked casually.

"No."

"Maybe you should see a physician."

He turned to Frik. "Has her voice always sounded like that?"

Mab turned round. "Marten! My voice is perfectly fine.

We will begin your first lesson of magic."

/

"The good news is the boy wants to help."

Mab smirked.

"That is," Frik quickly added. " anyone but you.

He has improved many items of faerie technology and uses his developing magic talent to help your people whenever they call on him.

But he will not do what you want of him. The er expectations regarding his teaching and future life. He refuses to take orders from you. "

Frik quickly ran away as Mab released her powers all around the room.

Moments later he peaked back in.

"I will not have him wander about my palace," Mab whispered. Shattered crystals covered the ruined floor. "taking whatever he likes from what my realm has to offer him. I created him for a purpose!"

"That is exactly what he does, the wandering about, doing whatever he wants.

He spends most of his time building eh these roboty constructions of something called Anime." Frik answered, in a questioning voice.

"He achieves excellent grades though. Marten is an intelligent young man, ma'am. I think if he would study a bit more he could …"

"He does not study to the best of his abilities?" Mab slapped Frik. "It was your task to see that he does!"

"If I would force him, he would not do this good. He sees the studying as a pastime. I fear if we made him study anymore he would... refuse."

"Why?"

"He will not say."

"Why, Frik?"

"Because he does not like you."

Frik cowered before her. "He won't, I've tried."

"Then try harder!"

/

All the times Frik had tried to talk Marten into liking Mab Marten would ignore his words or make some disbelieving sounds.

Eventually Frik would sigh and ask: "Why won't you do magic for her, master Marten?"

No matter how many times Marten said Frik that he should call him Marten Frik insisted on the master.

Marten shrugged. "I hate her."

"But why, master Marten? What is it you hate about her?"

"Everything."

"Could you be more specific?"

"Nope."

"Could you tell me in teensy bits what it is you dislike." Marten remained silent. "Her appearance?" Frik asked.

"Ugly."

"Ugly?" His mistress would not be pleased to hear that. He dreaded her reaction to his next report. "What do you find ugly? Her clothes?"

"Yes."

"Hair?"

"Yes. I told you: everything. Yucky glitters, jewellery, voice" he snorted. "Personality."

Mab entered the room.

"I came to look how you are doing with your studies."

She wanted to take the book Marten was reading from his hands.

"Do not touch me with those.. nails." He said glaring at her.

Mab glanced at her purple nails. "What's wrong with them?" she asked carefully, a tone of voice foreboding punishment if the answer was not to her liking.

"It is ugly. Don't touch me." She glared back at him.

"Especially not when you are wearing make-up and junk."

"What did you say?" Her power smashed Marten into the wall.

"He called your dress junk, ma'am." Frik whispered.

"I heard that!"

Marten got up.

"Can't you be normal?" he asked frustrated.

Mab frowned. "What is it you mean?" she hissed.

Marten backed away from her. "Not that." he spat.

"Concentrate on the book in front of you." she snapped and disappeared.

"Maybe she could even … be cute." Marten said a while later when Frik had asked what he thought Mab would look like in a so called normal outfit. Marten wrinkled his nose. "Not much chance. At least she has the proper height for it."

"Height, master Marten?"

"She is small."

/

"Marten," she called.

He looked up. "There is something I want to show you."

She summoned an image in front of the fire place. "This is Nimue. As she will be."

Marten looked shocked. The woman in front of him was wearing Nimue's clothes. She had her hair tied up the same way Nimue had when they had met.

"That's not her." He protested.

"Yes it is."

"You can avert this future, if you pledge to do everything I demand of you." Her green eyes pierced into his.

"I will not. This is blackmail!" Marten shouted

Mab smiled sweetly. "And what if it is? What could you do about that? Take your time to think about it, Marten." She stepped closer to him. Not touching him. She saw the violence in his eyes. He would attack her if she dared to reach out for him. This amused her.

"Serve me, dear Marten, or your darling young Nimue will become Isabella Rossellini."

/

Frik stood shaky on legs. Marten was keeping him upright as they walked through the corridor.

"I daresay taking you in was the best idea she's ever had.

I could hug her royal faeryness here and now!"

There was an evil glazy expression in Frik's eyes.

Marten watched over his drunk friend. He could drink much without getting drunk, the gnome couldn't.

They had taken Frik's secret way through the caves to a pub.

Marten knew the drunken gnome was being too noisy to stay unnoticed for long.

There was a flash of lightening and there stood Mab herself.

"Madam," Frik bowed and stumbled.

"I was just on my way to tuck master Marten into bed."

Mab shoved him out of her way as she approached Marten, who looked surprisingly sober.

Frik lost his balance. "Beer does not suffer from gravity." He yelled, picking himself up from the floor. "I placed a pint on the ceiling, and and it didn't fall." He smiled stupidly.

Mab shot an angry look at Marlin. "Leave us, Frik."

"Very well, you maji…madgi magesy

I will write you a full report. Tomorrow.

I cannot seem to distinguish my hands from my feet at the present moment."

Mab cat-hissed at Marten.

The young man looked annoyed, and a bit angry at her for always demanding attention by making strange noises. It was improper and unbecoming.

"You are our last hope, you should be training to restore the Old Ways!"

"Please mother," He knew she'd hate that form of address. "stop saying that. You are not dying!" He walked away from her.

"I am! Marten? Stay here." She stamped on floor, it trembled. He walked further, in a relaxed manner.

The floor crumbled around him. He continued walking like he couldn't hear her.

She screamed her longs out. The destruction this caused did not touch him. He would not even look at her.

/

"He is shielding me from his mind."

"Yes," Frik said hesitantly.

"He is using his magic to block me out."

"Well that is a perfect training exercise."

"No matter how hard I shout. No matter what I do. He does not react.

He is trying to make me disappear by ignoring me!"

Stone walls cracked by the sound of her voice.

Mab rubbed her arms. "Sometimes I fear that it's working."

"I have a proposition, ma'am, a request by Marten."

"What is this proposition?" Mab asked with a sneer. Frik winced, she was in a foul mood.

"He thought well, you eh we might,

it might do all of us good to er take a day off?"

Lightening flared as Mab flashed beside him.

"He ordered you to…"

"Not directly ma'am,

I am here of my own choice. Having discussed the possibility at length with master Marten, I took the initiative to ask you."

There was a tensed moment of silence. Frik crouched, expecting a slap or worse.

Mab's intense gaze forced him to reveal what he had wanted to keep from her.

"We wish to go to the beach. We hoped you would take us. Since I er can't teleport without your permission, ma'am."

/

Review please

PS My brother once told me he liked young Nimue, but not older Nimue. Here I am abusing that information. :)