Disclaimer: I own no rights to the Hollow Kingdom or to the song

Jolly Holiday

When Candace awoke, she went straight to her mirror. For some reason, she had dreamed that somebody had written on her. Staring back at her were bright blue eyes and long red hair. Her face that she had been so worried about, was perfect as always, and her arms were ink free as well. Satisfied with this, she began to get dressed for the day.

There was a knock on her door, and Nick entered the room. "Good morning, or should I say good after noon seeing how we all slept well past noon."

Candace looked at her phone, and sure enough it read 1:25. "Ugh, I love traveling but hate the jet lag part. What do you want to do today?"

"Well," Nick answered, "I thought we could go down to the village today, or what remains of today. The inn manager mentioned something the other night when we checked in about some sort of fair or carnival. Or we could go hiking and explore the forest."

Candace groaned. She hated camping. She hated the bugs, sleeping on the ground, and getting dirty. Her kind of camping was staying in an RV with all the comforts of home. "The carnival thing sounds fun. I wonder if the village looks like the ones you see in Harry Potter. You know, all cluttered together and quaint."

Nick chuckled at her reaction to his suggestions since she had completely skipped over the camping one. "I figured you would like the carnival thing more, but I still want to do some hiking while here. This land and the forests are well over a 1,000 years old, and there are thought to be some places that are still untouched by humans. Plus, Alice wants to do some sketching of the forest."

Candace sighed and said, "Alright. We can do the camping thing later this week. But you have to promise I won't see a single bug. And we get an air mattress to sleep on and not some dinky sleeping bags."

"Your wish is my command fair lady," said Nick as he did a mock bow. Candace just rolled her eyes at him. "I think we can rent some gear nearby and I'll ask about the bug spray. I think I'm still partially deaf from the last time a poor spider crossed your path."

Candace stuck out her tongue at him. "Are you sure that's my fault and not that music you blare?"

Nick stuck out his tongue at her and she laughed. "Oh, I'm quite sure. Now why don't you grab something to eat and I'll let Alice know we'll be leaving soon."

"Sounds good, Nick." Once he was out the door, Candace sighed. Of course he would invite Alice. She didn't hate Alice, but she wanted just Nick and her time, not Nick and his tagalong cousin time. Originally she had loved that he was close to his cousin, seeing how they were the same year. By going after his cousin, she could learn what he was interested in, and get an in with him through Alice. Now that she had him though, the tagalong cousin bit was starting to get annoying.

Actually the tagalong cousin wouldn't have been possible if Alice's sister hadn't decided to go to an out of state college two years ago. Before then, her sister, Alex, had watched after her and made sure people didn't bother her. People like Candace, the popular ones, who would often make fun of, or tease Alice due her height, shyness, or anything really. They would also take advantage of her shyness and the fact that she wasn't good at saying no. Then Alex had left for college, and Alice was all by herself. Seizing the opportunity, Candace befriended her, brought her into her circle of friends, and slowly managed to get Nick to go out with her; something so many other girls at the school had failed to do. Nick, wasn't the handsomest guy at the school, but he was charismatic, had a sense of humor, was an athlete, and unlike most jocks actually had a brain that he used. He was the kind of guy parents and teachers loved, the kind who was going places. Even now, they were both going to the state college in the fall. Along with Alice.

They soon arrived at Hollow Hill Village and Candace found it was not as Harry Potterish as she had hoped. In fact it was actually more modern than she would have thought. The buildings may have been much older than the ones she were used to back home, but they still gave off an air of being old and modern at the same time. Even though the three of them had driven through it the night before on the way to the inn, she was too tired to notice it in the darkness.

They—all three of them—visited the shops. Alice bought a new sketchpad while Candace bought a couple different clothing items—a scarf, some shoes, jewelry, and a new green jacket. Despite being May, there was still a bit of chill in the air. And the fact that it had been on sale and looked fabulous on her didn't hurt either. She couldn't wait to get home to show it off to her friends.

They also came across an interesting little shop called "Days of Yore". There were a number of antiques, but what Candace found interesting was the huge amount of merchandise of goblins, elves, and dwarves. There were t-shirts, keychains, postcards, books, statues, little figurines, and pictures. "Is this Harry Potterish enough for you?" asked Nick coming up behind her, followed by Alice.

"I don't know..." said Candace as she picked up a small figurine of an elf and looked it over.

"Our elves and goblins," said a voice near them, "Are much older than hers. In fact there are stories about elves and gobins in these parts going back hundreds of years." When Candace turned she saw a middle age woman talking to them. "My name is Martha Bigelow and my husband and I run this shop."

"Do people still believe in them?" asked Nick.

"Depends on who you ask. Most will say no. But that doesn't stop them from using the wishing wells that are said to be enchanted, or not letting their young daughters out at night alone."

Puzzled, Candace asked, "Young daughters?"

"The stories talk about pretty young unmarried girls kidnapped by the goblins and elves never to be seen again. If you want to read any we have several books containing the local legends."

"How clever," said Nick. "Use the stories to bring in business and attract tourists."

"Well, ever since Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter became popular, people are looking for 'magic' anywhere," admitted Martha. "It pays the bills and lets a new generation learn our stories and history. If you have any more questions or need anything I'll be up front."

Leaving them alone, Nick held up a t-shirt with the picture of a hideous goblin on it. One with fangs, wings, and claws. "So what do you think Candace?" asked Nick.

"It's disgusting," she said and shivered. "Why would anybody want to wear something so hideous?"

"Because it's so hideous and disgusting it's cool. Way scarier than those wimpy Twilight vampires."

Candace rolled her eyes and much to her dismay, Nick bought the t-shirt along with a couple other things of goblin merchandise. Candace herself bought a couple elf figurines, who in her opinion, were better than the goblins because they were prettier to look at. Alice ended up buying some postcards and a book.

Done with their shopping for the day and still waiting for the fair to set up, they stopped by a local pub and had dinner. Sitting outside on a bench afterwards, snuggled in Nick's arms, she looked up at the beautiful sight of the stars appearing in the night sky. She thought about how perfect the day had been—except for the tagalong cousin part, which Candace was willing to overlook. However, the perfect would not last long.

**Author's Note**

I would like to thank reviews from JayLah and Speederina. Sorry for forgetting to mention them last chapter. Reviews are always nice and welcomed. The next chapter is called Honor To Us All and will feature a king's Wife ceremony.

On a side note, some of you might notice this was updated on Thursday and not Friday. I normally update the story before I go to work at seven. But Wednesday I found out that on Friday I would have to go to another place for work, 40 minutes away and would need to be there by 6:30. So it was either update early or wait until about five o'clock tomorrow night. According to the story stats many of you read the update way before then, so I figured early was the way to go. And unless something unexpected comes up, Tuesday morning is when the next update will be.