"I still say you cheated," Bog grumbles.
"It wasn't against the rules, you sore loser," Marianne counters.
Bog shakes his head at the resulting snickers from the goblins that joined them for the trek back home and tries not to grin as he walks next to his mate's saddled squirrel. Hours later and their subjects are still happily discussing the match between their ruling royals. Or more accurately, congratulating their queen for her victory.
It's not that he is sore at losing the last round of the war game, he isn't, but how he lost was underhanded.
His faction's second match had lasted longer than the first one had and they barely won before the hourglass ran out. He even had to change his tactic a little because Sunny had counterattacked differently than he had during his own first match, making the opposing faction's moves unpredictable. Then when he finally caught up to his soon-to-be brother-in-law, what Sunny lacked in strength compared to the taller male goblin, he made up with an agileness that had made it hard for Bog to defeat him without hitting anything other than his own weapon. Not only would he have disqualified them both but he's sure that Dawn would have followed through with her repeated threat.
In the end, Bog had lost twelve fighters and gained an even higher respect for the small male elf.
He also gained a higher awe and fear of his own mate and her sister once their match against their father's faction concluded. The merciless duo had gone into battle with only seven less fighters than they started the game with and came out with only six fighters lost after decimating the numbers of the more experienced fighters. Even Captain Tigler had fallen after failing to beat Dawn before Sepphira traded the younger female fairy's place to quickly disarm her tiring father. The switching tactic had left Dagda without defense and the royal sisters pulled the switch on their own father as well, with Dawn delivering the disarming blow.
The break between the second and third round was only a short reprieve, not even enough time to relax before the call was sounded to reassemble. He had noticed that more goblins had joined the sidelines while he was busy fighting Sunny's faction and as he entered the arena again, he had realized that most of his kingdom had shown up to watch their ruling royals fight.
Bog smirks in remembrance at what a fight it was. Sunny was both right and wrong. Marianne isn't the queen of war, she's the goddess of war and he'd have been lying to say it was only battle lust coursing through him as he watched his mate ready her forces on the opposite side of the battlefield, his goblins surrounding her with a fierceness to protect her that was matched by the females of the Light Field.
He had ordered his fighters to try their best to keep the opposing faction from being able to pull their switching tactic, to use the rule of only one-on-one matches to their advantage and not let another fighter cut in. It had worked for the most part...until he realized that Marianne had ordered that he be left to her.
His once most loyalest subjects, Stuff and Thang, had cruelly played him, keeping him too occupied to notice the encroaching danger. Fighting Marianne was thrilling as always but there was the added trouble of both of them being forced to hold back their usual vigor, their wooden weapons not being able to handle the pressure that their steel weapons could. It was after they took a brief pause because of a cracking sound warning them of possible disqualification that it happened.
Marianne smirked before loosening her posture and leaned on her wooden staff in the most triumphant pose ever, Stuff and Thang copying her movements with their own smug expressions. Only an exasperating sound broke him out of his confusion and he quickly looked over to correct his sister-in-law's horrendous nickname for him, only to notice his bare arm and Dawn smugly waving the stolen colored band.
"You have to admit that it was clever planning," Marianne comments, breaking him out of his musing.
"Fine, I'll admit that it was clever planning," he mutters. "But it still felt like you cheated!"
"How else would either one of us win when using such feeble weapons?" she counters. "We would have kept fighting until the staves broke and then no one would be the winner."
"True," Bog concedes before chuckling. "I think the most surprising outcome of the war games is that trickster elf being the one to win the prize for collecting the most colored bands."
"That's not as surprising as Dorn being able to make it to the last round. I was expecting him to be taken out during the fight with Caphtor with how many were out for revenge for all his tricks," Marianne remarks. "He turned out to be a pretty good fighter for someone who always avoided being part of the war game."
"How did you even force him to join?" he asks.
"It was easy. I had Stuff trick him," she cackles. "She untied him and then she tripped him when he was trying to get up, causing him to hit Thang as he was falling. He knows better than to take a trash-talk bait but accidentally hitting someone counts just as good."
"Are you sure you don't have some goblin in you, my scheming queen?" Bog teases.
"Blame Mom. She encouraged my childhood exploits, to my nannies' constant complaints," Marianne quips. "Are you sure you don't want to ride with me and Puck? There's plenty of room up here."
Bog gives a soft refusal before guiding the hesitant Light Field squirrel to follow his subjects off the beaten path and through the brush. This way was much quicker to the castle than the main road and since flying was a tiring option after the long day, the shortcut was perfect no matter how rugged the terrain. At least Marianne hadn't resisted her father's suggestion of taking a squirrel mount but that only solidified how tired she is in Bog's mind.
Soon their traveling companions slowly trail off onto different paths to head back to their villages and only the royal guards are left to continue to the castle. He had to agree with the sentiment as Cynder gives a loud yawn.
"I can't tell what tired me out more, the fighting or listening to the Sugar Plum Fairy's lecture on Light Field wedding decorum," Cynder mutters, rubbing his snout.
"Definitely the wedding lecture," Dax remarks. "You fell asleep halfway through, remember?"
"Oh yeah," Cynder hums. "It was boring."
"The wedding ceremony isn't just as boring, is it, Your Majesty?" Adder questions, turning his attention to Marianne.
"Depends on your point-of-view. There is a lot of talking compared to the mating ceremonies of the Dark Forest, so it might be a bit boring," Marianne answers, wincing at the groans. "No goblin is obligated to come if they don't want to. Except for Bog. He doesn't have a choice in the matter."
"Poor Sire!" Fang laments before joining the loud laughter.
"He's the one who wanted to honor the Light Field custom, so don't pity him," Marianne chuckles. "The Dark Forest custom is so much better. State your acceptance vows in front of high-ranking witnesses at a collective mating ceremony and done. No need for individual formal ceremonies and long speeches."
"It's not just about fairness that we have a Light Field wedding that allows those of the Light Field to show their approval of our union but also to prevent any possible future resentments," Bog comments.
"Meaning, just because no one has a problem now doesn't mean that someone won't have a problem later?" Marianne guesses, getting a nod. "You're probably right. Dawn said something to that effect while you and Sunny were fighting. She mentioned that it might cause some problems with the other kingdoms and that they might not respect a king and queen that doesn't honor their own kingdoms' custom. It also looks better for us to have a Light Field wedding now before we gain the title of King and Queen of the Light Field then to be asked later."
"If that might be an issue then why hasn't anyone in the Light Field brought it up before?" Fang asks hesitantly.
"With everything that has been happening this past year, I think everyone is still reeling from all the changes," Marianne answers. "It wasn't until Thang mentioned it yesterday that most even realized that our acceptance vows were only witnessed by Dark Forest denizens."
"And that's why Thang became a royal steward at such a young age!" Cynder boasts.