Chapter three:
Over time Peppy came to realize that the only way he was ever going to get Poppy back to being her normal self was by bringing Branch back to her. The old King sent messengers and guards out from his kingdom in every direction to search for the blue troll but all of them much to the King's distress returned empty handed. The old troll often wondered what his daughter was doing when she sat in the window, but no matter how many times Peppy asked Poppy the now grey troll wouldn't tell him. As the year anniversary since Branch had left his kingdom came Peppy was glad that in accordance with ancient tradition the rulers of the troll clans would be coming to his kingdom for a meeting that was held between them all which was held in a different kingdom every five years. The old King hoped that since the rulers of the further flung clans would come to this meeting that maybe he could find out from them if Branch was a member of one of their families.
Creek would often spend time sitting with Poppy on the window seat, unlike Peppy the knight knew why the princes liked to sit here and said to her softly. "You're thinking about Branch, again aren't you?"
"Of cause I am…I think about him every day…I wonder if Branch is home now in the forest he told me about…? Is he standing by the lake of dreams thinking about me or has Branch decided that after the way my father treated him that he should forget about me find another troll to marry?"
The purple troll let out a deep sigh, Creek gave the princess a hug which she reluctantly accepted and when he pulled back from the hug the knight addressed his friend. "Poppy I doubt that Branch would ever forget about you and neither do I think that he would marry any troll other than you."
"I hope not…All I want is to see Branch again and become his wife."
"I know you do. We are doing the best we can, your father and I are both hoping that one of the clan's leaders will know of Branch." Creek told his friend trying to give the grey troll hope.
The princess managed to give the knight a small smile. "It would be wonderful if one of them could tell us were Branch is."
A few days after this Poppy sat in the same window seat where she always sat however her eyes were focused today as the princess was watching as the rulers of the clans made their way into the castle, it was amazing to see so many of them, they ranged in age, sex, colour and style of dress. Every ruler came with all those trolls with them that they might need the assistance of during their stay. There was however one group of trolls that Poppy was really looking forward to seeing, these were the Mystic trolls, the princess had read all about them, they lived far away from her home in the forests of Tilien, a land that was said to be so full of magic that it had become part of the trolls that lived there. The Kings and Queens of the royal line were all said to be blessed with three gifts, the first was great magic, the second was an ability to have visions and the third was the gift of true love. It was said that every one of the Kings and Queens of the Mystic trolls had married for true love and Poppy had to admit she envied them that.
Suddenly down below she spotted the Mystic trolls, they were not hard to spot, they all wore long all covering robes called hashta concealing their bodies completely, these robes fell all the way to the floor and had hoods on them which flattened their hair and hid their faces in complete darkness, the Mystic trolls even wore gloves to cover their hands. It was said that they covered themselves so completely only when they left their forest home, no troll was exactly sure why they did so, though stories and rumours about why were not hard to come by but no troll actually knew the truth. As Poppy looked the group over her eyes were drawn to one figure standing in the centre of the party, this was the current ruling monarch of the Mystic trolls, he or she…It was impossible to tell females from males due to the hashta, wore a shimmering blue hashta which was embroidered with golden swirls. Poppy knew from this gold embroidery that he or she was the ruler because only the ruler and their spouse were permitted to use gold and silver decorations in their hashta.
Reluctantly Poppy moved away from her window to go and do her duty by join her father in greeting the rulers of the other tribes. The princess spent what felt like an eternity, greeting monarch after monarch, all of them were polite, a few of them however greeted her father with some strain as their sons had undergone her father's test and failed. At last the Mystic trolls came, Poppy watched with interest as her father greeted them and bowed his head politely to the ruler of these trolls. The monarch in return kept their hands tucked away in the wide sleeves of the hashta, no words were spoken by this ruler but the monarch of the Mystic trolls bowed their head politely to King Peppy. Then the princess was looking up into the great dark space of the hood of the ruler of the Mystic trolls and Poppy found that her voice had fled. Slowly the gloved hands came out of the sleeves, gently the ruler took her hands, then kissed the back of one followed by the other and for some reason the pink troll found herself blushing. The monarch released her hands, then walked away from her to begin greeting the others present. Poppy found herself unable to take her eyes away from the ruler of the Mystic trolls, there was something strangely enchanting about the mysterious figure.
Poppy was glad that she did not have to be present for the talks that were going on between the rulers of the clans, it seemed to her like long and very boring work. The princess knew that these talks were vital for trade and keeping the peace between all of the clans but still it felt to her as though it all went on for far too long. The pink troll much to her pleasure had discovered that the Mystic trolls were ruled by their King called Allious, she had also found out the King was quite young and sadly that he had been ruling the Mystic trolls for many years as his parents had unfortunately died when he was very young. Despite his youth Poppy had quickly discovered that the other troll monarchs had a great deal of respect for King Allious and would not dream of not treating the young King with the respect he deserved.
Creek sighed, he felt sad for Poppy, they had been friends since their childhood and he hated seeing her the way she was now. The knight like the King wanted the old princess back, the purple troll had even helped in the search for Branch but just like all the other trolls who had gone searching for the blue troll Creek had also come up empty handed. The knight had spent the past few days helping the King enquire from the leaders of the more distant clans if any of them had a Branch in their family but so far he had still not found a royal family at the clan meeting with such a relative. Creek was seriously beginning to think that the King might have been right and Branch had not been a royal at all, but at the same time he didn't want to give up hope that the other troll could be found.
After another long day of helping King Peppy in any way he could with the clan meeting Creek was sitting on a bench in his favourite place in the castle garden looking up at the full moon and relaxing. The purple troll was well hidden from sight by the foliage of some of the garden plants and Creek had to admit that in this moment he was rather enjoying the peace and privacy of this place. The attention of the knight was drawn away from looking at the moon as several Mystic trolls walked into the garden together. The purple troll could see that their King Allious was amongst them, the hidden King turned to one of his men and asked in a voice which had Creek freezing. "Do you think I am safe to come out from under the hashta for a moment?"
"There appears to be no troll here sire so yes."
The purple troll peered through the plants watching as the Kings leather gloved hands lifted and pushed back the hood of the all concealing hashta, sapphire blue hair stood back up slowly forming a shape which the knight instantly recognised. As the hair stood up once more it made sky blue skin visible and Creek quickly covered his mouth to stop himself from crying out with joy as seeing this sky blue skin confirmed to him that King Allious was Branch. This was when the knight remembered what it was he hadn't been able to remember when he had first met Branch, that feeling of power he radiated was his magic something all Mystic trolls possessed. Creek was pulled out of his thoughts and feeling like an idiot for not remembering this earlier by the voice of one of the other Mystic trolls who said to Branch. "Poor princess Poppy, is she the one you told us about sire?"
"Yes, Poppy is the one. Honestly what kind of test is putting a pea under twenty mattresses? It left me with a pea shaped mark on my left thigh that will not go away unlike all the others and I've tried everything I can think of to get rid of it."
Another of the Mystic trolls spoke up. "Forgive me sire but I would have thought it was obvious why you cannot get rid of that mark."
"It is not obvious to me Lendes so please tell me why will the mark not go away?"
"Sire, princess Poppy brought back your colours, for that to happen you had to find love, but you found more than love you found true love sire. The mark of the pea on your body will not go away because it is the mark of that love."
Slowly both the eyes of the blue troll and the hidden knight widened, the King placed his head in his hands and then said in a tone of disbelief. "Oh, it's a mark of true love…Of cause why didn't I see that?"
After hearing this conversation quickly but quietly the purple troll left the garden and once Creek was sure he was far enough away from the other trolls he broke out into a run. He dashed through the castle, to the room of the princess and when he got to her rooms Creek hammered on her door. When Poppy opened the door, she took one look at her clearly out of breath friend and pulled the knight into her room. "Creek what is it?"
The purple troll gasped for a few moments catching his breath, before grabbing the hands of the grey princess and saying. "Branch…He is here…!"
"What?!" Poppy questioned in clear disbelief.
Creek gave her a nod and spoke again. "I've seen him…Poppy you need to be brave, I know it's hard for you as you are grey now, but Branch was brave enough to do it for you and now you need to be brave enough to do it for him."
The princess frowned at her friend in confusion. "Creek I don't understand I need to do what?"
"Sing Poppy, go out on your balcony and sing…Sing true colours."
"I can't." Poppy said sadly.
Creek gave her hands a reassuring squeeze. "Yes, you can…You can do this I know you can. Branch sung that song for you when he shouldn't have been able to as he was grey and now you need to do the same. Sing for him Poppy, draw him out of hiding with your voice."
The grey princess gulped she looked towards the balcony, Creek let go of her hands, the knight gave his friend a nod and then a gentle push in the right direction. Taking her bravery in both of her hands Poppy walked out on to the balcony, she turned her gaze up to the full moon leant on the balcony railing and then lifted her voice in song. Just as she was about to give up and stop singing a voice joined hers, a voice which had Poppy's eyes widening and the princess looking down. Standing bellow, her was Branch, she recognised the hashta he wore as that of the King of the Mystic trolls and realized the one she loved had been here the whole time and she hadn't known it. As their voices joined together Poppy smiled down at him and he smiled back at her, the princess quickly realised that the King was glowing blue slightly which she knew was a mark of not just love but of true love which made her smile grow. As their voices grew in strength Poppy watched with joy in her heart as her true colours swept up her as they had done for Branch last time this song had been sung.
As the last notes of their song died Poppy now glowing with pink light vaulted over the railing of her balcony, she knew that Branch would catch her, sure enough a few moments later sapphire blue hair wrapped carefully around her waist and she was brought into the safety of Branch's arms. The King looked down at the princess in his arms, Poppy looked back up at him and then put her arms up round his neck. "Branch…I suppose I should feel angry at you from hiding from me but I can't be…I'm just glad you are here with me again at last. I have to ask this does Allious mean Branch?" She asked him softly.
He smiled at her and gave the princess a nod. "Yes, it does but I would like you to continue to call me Branch, it is your name for me and I like hearing you call me by that name."
"No wonder my father couldn't find you. You told me Branch was a translation of your name into my language…I'll admit I'd forgotten all about that until now." As Poppy admitted this to the one she loved the princess blushed.
Branch chuckled, it was at this moment that the other Mystic trolls walked up to his side and one of them addressed the King. "Sire?"
The blue troll still glowing turned to them with the still glowing Poppy still in his arms and smiled round at his people. "This is princess Poppy my true love." As he said this the princess moved her hands into his hair, Poppy pulled his head down, closed her eyes and kissed Branch. The King closed his eyes and he surrendered to the love he felt for the troll in his arms, fulling returning the kiss the princess was giving him. The other Mystic trolls looked to each other before turning back to watch the young couple, knowing that these two trolls were truly in love they knew not to come between them. It was the blue troll who broke the kiss, he gave Poppy a mischievous smile, Branch placed the pink troll on her feet, flattened his hair, before he drew up the hood of his hashta back up and then lifted her back into his arms. Once she was in the blue troll's arms the princess quickly put her arms round the shoulders of the King and frowned into the darkness of his hood with confusion. The King looked to his companions, gave them a nod and together they walked into the castle, as the group walked past other trolls in the castle Poppy found herself blushing with embarrassment and hiding her face in the shoulder of the hidden Branch.
Eventually they came to the throne room where King Peppy was, as the old King spotted Allious and that he was carrying his now once more pink daughter his eyes widened with surprise. Quickly Peppy rose from his throne onto his feet, his orange eyes went from the hidden King, to Poppy and then back again. "King Allious…Poppy you have your colour back…" Slowly the princess turned her head to look at her father and smiled at him, Peppy almost wept with joy at the sight of his daughter's smile. "But how is this possible?" The old King asked the two trolls standing before him.
Poppy looked into the dark hood and slowly the hidden troll lowered his head and gave the princess a nod of permission. Smiling brightly the pink troll carefully pushed the hood back, as Branch's hair stood back up into its normal shape Peppy let out a gasp of surprise and said in a shocked voice. "Branch…But your name is Allious."
Slowly Branch smiled at him. "Allious means Branch. I did tell you I wasn't a prince King Peppy and that I was royal…To me the answer to what I was seemed obvious, but I guess it wasn't for everyone else."
"Well no wonder we weren't able to find you…We had the wrong name…I owe you an apology, my behaviour towards you was appalling. I have already apologised to all of the other royals for my tests…I should have trusted Poppy and let her follow her heart from the start. Now my daughter has found you once more I have no intention of preventing you both from being together."
Happy that King Peppy was not going to stand between them again Branch carefully placed Poppy down on her feet and gave her a brief hug. When the young King released her from his hug, the pink troll went over to her father and gave the old King a tight hug of his own which he quickly returned. After a few moments they broke the hug, father and daughter shared a smile Peppy was so glad to see his daughter was happy again. The princess quickly came back to the side of the blue troll, once there she took one of his hands into hers, then Poppy turned back towards her father and said softly but firmly to him. "I will never be parted from King Branch again father."
The old King gave his daughter an understanding nod but before he could say anything to Poppy the King of the Mystic trolls, held her hand firmly in his own, looked down at the one he loved and spoke. "Well my love if you truly wish to never be parted from me again, then with your father's permission I shall make you my wife and you can return to my home with me at the end of the meeting of the clans."
Poppy smiled widely up at the blue troll clearly pleased by his suggestion, before she then turned to look at her father again, Peppy smiled at her and said softly. "As long as Poppy is in agreement with you, then I will not object to your marrying my daughter."
"Of cause I agree!" The pink troll said with excitement, before she took her hand out of the King's hand, then flung her arms around the one she loved and hugged Branch hard.
With a chuckle the King of the Mystic trolls returned the embrace, as they drew apart from the hug the blue troll looked at Peppy who said with a wide smile on his face. "Well then I suggest we begin to organise the wedding." So, it was with great joy that the three royals came together to begin to plan the wedding.
The wedding took place at the end of the week, the three royal trolls had purposefully kept the wedding small and simple so that it could be held before the meeting of the clans was over. The young royal couple were being married in the castle chapel with all of the rulers of the clans in attendance. Poppy wore a simple white wedding dress, she was carrying a bouquet of sweat pea flowers in honour of the pea which had brought them together, the same blooms were also woven into her hair and made into a circlet that rested on her brow. In honour of the ceremony and the traditions of Poppy's country, Branch was not hidden away as he had been before. Instead he wore dark blue trousers, over which was a long sleeved, lighter blue tunic cut at a diagonal at the bottom and decorated at the wrists and neckline with a gold celtic knot pattern. The King wore a simple gold crown, it had no decoration it was clearly a very old crown but one that had been well treasured by Branch's family. The simple ceremony did not last long, they exchanged vows which were short but heartfelt and when Poppy and Branch were declared husband and wife they shared a short but loving kiss. As they pulled apart from the kiss one of the Mystic trolls stepped forward, he brought with him a second simple gold crown, Branch gave the other troll a smile, he took the crown from him and then placed it onto Poppy's head marking her out as his Queen. Side by side the newly married couple led those attending their wedding to the ballroom where the feast and ball to celebrate their union was to be held. When the feast had ended, the newly married couple took to the floor and danced together, they were soon joined by plenty of other trolls, which got the celebrations really under way and the party lasted well into the night.
As the meeting of the clans wound down, Poppy started to pack for her journey to Branch's home, she had to admit she was looking forward to seeing her new home country. The pink troll was glad that the King of the Mystic trolls had said they would make time to come back and visit her home country as and when they could. Poppy didn't want to lose touch with her father, Creek or all of the goings on in what would one day be her Kingdom. After their wedding Branch and Poppy had talked at length about what they wanted to do when the time came for the pink troll to take over ruling the country from her father. Eventually they had decided that they would use the magic of the Mystic clan to travel back and forth between the two Kingdoms as much as they needed to as well as to keep an eye on Poppy's home country.
The new Queen of the Mystic trolls looked across the room towards her very own hashta, at least now Poppy knew why they wore these hashta it was to stop their magic leaking into the air. It turned out that it was this power she had sensed coming from Branch when they had originally met. Poppy had been told by her new husband that the Mystic trolls always leaked magic they couldn't help it, mostly they only leaked a small amount which caused no trouble, but if a Mystic troll became frightened then their magic would naturally spike to protect them which could have unforeseen consequences. The hashta had special spells woven into the fabric to stop a magic flaring escaping for any reason but did not stop the Mystic trolls still being able to use their magic if need be. Branch had also explained to his new Queen that she would gain magic as it was literally part of their land, it was in the water and the plants which meant as she ate their food and drank their water it would become part of her too.
When the at last, the day came for Poppy to leave her home with Branch and his people, the new Queen was both excited and nervous about everything which was to come. Carefully Poppy put on her hashta, the pink troll really loved her hashta it was a soft grey pink which was decorated with lovely delicate sky blue flowers which were detailed with silver thread. Over the time which had passed since her wedding the princess had made sure to spend time getting use to walking around in the hashta, the last thing Poppy wanted was to trip over in it and make a fool of herself in front of any of the other trolls. The pink troll had also begun to learn the language of her new people and she was studying magic so that she would be ready for it when the time came. The new Queen said a tearful goodbye to Creek and her father before leaving her old home at the side of her new husband and setting off into her future beside Branch.