Chapter 9
Bog mumbles incoherently as he shifts in the bed before reluctantly waking and sitting up. For a minute he stares around the unfamiliar room with unease before his groggy mind remembers the events of the past few days. Bog looks down at the clawed hand clutching the fur blankets but starts at a knocking.
"Are you awake, sire," Thang calls? "Sugar Plum asked me to check on you and to tell you that it's time to eat!"
"Aye, I'm awake," Bog answers, leaving the moss bed.
The little goblin tentatively opens the door and grins up at the halfling king when no rebuke is given. Bog returns the smile as he grabs the pendant, twirling it slightly before following Thang through the hallway. The respectful nods and bows as they enter the dining hall make Bog blush a little but he swallows down his nervousness and takes his rightful seat. The gremlin chef fidgets a little after he places the season broth in front of the monarch.
"Forgive me, sire," Nex whispers. "I've not made season broth before, so I'm not sure how well it'll taste."
Bog smiles reassuringly before standing to address the waiting forest fae. The eager faces remind him that most have never celebrated the season's first day before, survival taking preeminence over custom, and their joy quells his worries.
"Though this new day of winter is nearly done, I greet ye all with blessings of the royal house," Bog recites, this time with joy. "Yer king and queen wish ye warmth, food, and comfort this season. May this be the start of our prosperous kingdom. Blessings be!"
Grabbing the soup bowl and raising it toward the crowd, Bog lifts it to his lips to sip the broth. The waiting chef watches with trepidation as the warm liquid is swallowed and breathes a sigh of relief as Bog nods to him. The crowd cheers at the approval and take their own bowls to raise toward the king before sipping the soup.
"You're stepping into your duties quite well," Plum praises as Bog sits down.
"Thanks. Learning royal protocol from Marianne's point of view helped but Da taught me a lot," Bog remarks. "He said that it was my duty to learn his clan's ways even if I chose not to follow them. Aunt Plum, why didn't Da ever tell me that I'm a halfling?"
"Because you are a human halfling and the first royal human halfling at that," Plum comments. "Humans, in general, become enamored with the fae realm, even more so with halflings and Loch felt that it would be wrong to let you know everything too soon. So, he made sure you learned everything you needed as the royal heir by disguising the lessons as stories and using vague references to prepare you but at the same time, he made sure you learned everything you needed as a human. He wanted you to choose with a fair mindset with nothing persuading you but your own heart."
Bog opens his mouth for another question but the field sprite points to his food with a stern look. He chuckles at her mothering before heeding her demand and eating his dinner. King or not, Plum was still his aunt and had no qualms bossing him around. For his own good, she insisted once the army returned to the forest castle and Plum had shuffled him into the royal bedchambers. Even Babba had quaked under the sprite's glare when the forest fae was curious about their new king.
"What about the farm and the McIntoshs," Bog asks after a few minutes?
"Don't worry, dear. Everything was already planned," Plum replies, giving the young king another pointed look towards his food. "When I visited last spring equinox, your parents and I had a long talk while you and Angus were plowing. Your mother was quite certain that you would choose your fae heritage and insisted that they get everything prepared then. The only difference to the original plan is rather obvious, so I merely told the McIntoshs that I was taking you with me and asked them to look after the farm until we returned in the spring. Humans are easily susceptible to magic and a few tricks convinced them that it was you saying your goodbyes when we left the farm by mid-afternoon."
"Return in the spring," Bog questions? "I thought I couldn't leave the fae realm or I would die."
"As a halfling, you're not confined to either world," Babba explains. "You'll be able to travel back and forth like any full-blooded fae."
"The original plan was that one of us would return each time the portal was opened to see how everything was, take care of any business needed to be done, and then leave the McIntoshs to take care of the farm," Plum comments. "From what Tavish told me yesterday, Loch had already made such arrangements with him by telling him that he was planning on visiting his clan for a few months and I mentioned that was where I was taking you. Angus had quipped that you might be able to find a girl that was as crazy as you."
"I can't wait to see Angus' face when I tell him that I did meet a girl," Bog chuckles. "That's a good enough reason to explain why I'm not returning to the farm. They'd understand when I tell them that I just want to check on everything but I don't want to stay there anymore. How am I going to be able to explain why they can't contact me, though?"
"Also taken care of," Plum insists. "Loch explained years ago that his clan preferred the old ways and that was why the only modern convenience on the farm was the car. As far as anyone knows, Loch's clan is unreachable by anything but an in-person visit and that is nearly impossible because they don't like uninvited guests, so they never give out their location. Everything is taken care of and will be explained later, dear nephew. Your dinner is getting cold."
"One more question and then I'll finish my dinner," Bog pleads. "I've always wondered about it and now I want to know. What did ye do that caused Da and Ma to make ye my aunt?"
Plum and Puck's boisterous laughter resonates through the room. The sprite's grin looks no different from the imp's as she illustrates the story.
"Loch may be a worrier now but when he was young and impetuous...Oooh, he was so in love and threw caution to the wind when Griselda turned eighteen. Your mother, being the ever-sensible one, had to remind the love-struck man of his duties that spring equinox or he wouldn't have made it back to the portal in time," Plum starts, her giggles nearly over-powering the story. "Loch didn't feel that it was right to let Griselda join him in the fae realm because after all, your grandparents were still alive and their daughter was their only living relative left. So he worked hard to get everything ready for his temporary departure but a few months passed and because your parents were so impatient...well Loch nearly had a panic attack when he dreamt of your mother getting a positive pregnancy test. He came to me for my help and I agreed to go to the human realm to help your mother. There is always a complication when dealing with halfling birthings, especially ones born in the human realm. Imagine our surprise when you were born human or so it seemed."
"He was born with a glamour," Waylay questions?
"Bingo! Loch made it to the house just in time for the birthing, so he, Puck, and I were waiting for whatever magical mishap happened...except that," Plum chuckles. "We were just about sure that Bog took after Griselda when the glamour broke to reveal his true form. That was just the start, though. It wasn't until both Puck and I returned to the fae realm the next spring that we realized that one of us had to stay in the human realm at all times to help Loch keep Bog's magic under control. Puck preferred to stay hidden but that's not my style and so I showed up every few months to help Loch reinforce the binding spells. The aunt part started half as a joke to explain my presence until Griselda realized how happy that made me and made it official."
"To be truthful, I wasn't all that surprised when Puck and Sugar Plum announced that you were Loch King's son. You very much like him and your grandfather," Babba remarks.
Bog raises his eyebrow at the troll but still keeps his eyes on the leaving field army. Once dinner was finished there were a few loose ends to handle and that meant a trip down to the dungeons to the captive audience. Even though Plum had informed them hours ago about the changes, no one had felt it was right to release them until he had given the order. After making sure that none were badly injured and that all were compliant to the new order of things, Bog informed them to report to their queen in the field palace but nearly lost his regal facade at their expressions of finding out just who that was. Seems that Plum had kept a few things back during her explanation.
"The way you hold the forest crown, using it to express your mood, it's just like they used to," Babba continues, nodding to his restless shifting of the pendant. "When you yelled at me yesterday, I had a flashback of Moor King doing the same to another when I was a young troll and then when you offered your ear on the dais steps, I was reminded of Loch King that first year he was crowned. Now, you're worried but you have no reason to be. You'll be a good king and you've proved that when you took charge even when you didn't realize that you had a stake in our affairs."
"My magic is erratic," Bog grumbles. "Ye heard Aunt Plum, it's always been that way. How can I be sure that I won't do more damage than good?"
"I remember when Loch King was just a child, about seven-autumns-old I think," Waylay mentions. "There was this bird that he wanted to ride but it was a raven, eater of our kind, and therefore nobody tried to catch it to be tamed. Your father was so upset about it. I don't know who was more shocked, us or the bird, but somehow Loch had magicked it smaller to about the size of a sparrow."
"That's not as bad as me turning Grandda's dog into a stuffed toy when I was a baby," Bog mutters.
"The point is, sire," Babba growls, stressing his title. "You being a halfling has nothing to do with the way your magic is, it's not that it's erratic but that you are very powerful despite being half-human and like the rest of your father's family, it's connected to your emotions."
"I learned to control my magic at the same time as Loch King and if you would like, I could teach you the things that were taught to him," Jamma suggests.
"I would like that," Bog agrees. "Though Da taught me everything he could and I learned so much through Marianne, it's not enough. I'm going to need all the help ye can give me. We only have a few short months before the meadow kingdom attacks and there is so much to do in so little time. To start with, does anyone of ye know of a forest sprite named Orchid?"
"There was a forest sprite named Orchid but she disappeared a year and a half ago," Fang mentions, the gremlin scratching his head. "If I remember correctly, she worked in one of the field counselor's home but I don't know which one."
"They claimed she left and didn't come back to work the next day," Jamma remarks. "Everyone assumed that she was eaten by something on her way home."
"She's still alive," Bog comments.
"How can you be sure," Babba questions?
"You can't threaten to kill someone that is already dead," Bog murmurs. "Marianne wasn't completely unconscious when they threw her in the dungeons and had overheard a conversation between Sir Roland and Councilor James. It was an argument about him going through with his marriage to Dawn. The meadow kingdom is using Sir Roland's love for Orchid to force him into compliance."
"A meadow fairy in love with a forest sprite," Waylay remarks! "The meadow queen must be furious!"
"Why would that make her mad," Thang asks?
"Most meadow fae and especially the royal family do not agree with marriage outside their own race, not even with their own race of a different kingdom. It's even a law that is punishable by death in the meadow kingdom," Jamma explains. "I had thought that the meadow queen made an exception this year because Queen Theresa was a meadow fairy herself."
"More likely, the meadow queen is still holding a grudge about Queen Theresa's father tricking her into letting his family escape into the field kingdom under the guise of trading his wares," Bog quips. "Hopefully, Marianne has already made a search of all the houses but I did send a letter with the army, just in case. I'm sure Orchid is somewhere in the field and that she is well."
"But that is not why you brought it up, is it," Waylay speculates?
"No," Bog admits, ceasing his shifting to lean the pendant's ornate head against his shoulder. "Advise me. How can I justly punish someone who committed a crime and did so with full knowledge but only as a result of protecting someone they loved? Sir Roland is guilty of multiple crimes against both the field and the forest, therefore he must be punished. However, it appears that he only committed those crimes because he was forced to do so. What's just in this situation?"
"That is a dilemma," Babba mutters. "I do have a suggestion, though. Since you already have each of the conspirators in separate dungeon cells, leave him there and if Orchid returns his love then allow her to visit him. When we defeat the meadow kingdom in the spring then you can figure out how best to be just but merciful toward him. That's the best advice I can give at the moment."
Bog gives his approval and gratitude at the advice. The rising moon catches his attention and reminds him that one day is nearly finished and another is soon to begin. The past two days were all about change in his life, some bad and some good but nothing was left unchanged. Bog shifts the pendant to allow him to see the amber stone and faintly he can make out his parent's form inside surrounded by those of his father's family long since passed. He smiles as the image disappears and turns his attention to all the fae nearby.
The halfling king knows the days ahead will be challenging to adjust to all the differences along with the added challenges of royal duties and an approaching war but it is comforting to know that he isn't alone. The thought of his waiting queen causes Bog's new wings to twitch. Yes, he isn't alone at all. Winter is the time to rest but spring will come and life will renew.
