Chapter 5/Week Four/Twelve Months Left

Bog quickly closes the door behind him and holds his breath as he hears his pursuers continue past. Who would have ever thought that he'd miss and prefer his mother's overbearing presence? Only four weeks and he's not even sure he's going to survive another twelve months of this.

"So fearless against a monstrous queen but as timid as a mouse before others," Queen Marianne muses aloud, causing him to jump.

He quickly turns his attention to the queen and gulps as he takes notice of her relaxed form. Her lounging figure upon the settee is a clear indication that he happened upon a rare time of peace for the queen.

"Forgive me, Your Majesty, I didn't mean to intrude," Bog murmurs. "I happened to notice how they avoided this door and thought the room would be a good place to hide."

"They avoid that door because this is my personal chamber," Queen Marianne explains.

"My sincerest apologies...," Bog starts.

"Hush," Queen Marianne interrupts, waving a hand to a nearby chair. "Sit. I have plenty of refreshments to satisfy us both for the time being and I'm sure you don't have any desire to take your chances with that bloodthirsty lot."

"They're not that bad," Bog chuckles as he sits on the indicated seat.

"Yet we are both trying to avoid them and for the exact same reasons," Queen Marianne points out.

"You mean to say they're truly serious about us...uh, I mean about what they keep talking to me about?" Bog questions.

"Yes, they're truly serious about us marrying," Queen Marianne confirms, smiling gently when he cringes. "You need not worry. Such a thing will not happen, no matter their persistence or desires."

"Of that, I have no doubt," Bog mutters bitterly.

"It is not something against you personally, Bog. It is merely a thing that cannot happen," Queen Marianne murmurs.

"And it's not something against you personally either, Your Majesty," Bog assures. "I just...love is dangerous! It weakens and rots and destroys order! Causes nothing but heartache and pain!"

"Your mother said something about you experiencing rejection from a woman, that you were acting like a sulking dog," Queen Marianne mentions.

He changed his mind. He didn't miss his mother's overbearing presence, after all. Peeking through his fingers from where he dropped his head, Bog can't help smiling despite his embarrassment as the queen's soft laughter disturbs the room and seems to take away all the stress lining her face.

Though he had only been in her presence just a few times since the night he bid his mother goodbye after helping her into the carriage the queen had offered to carry her home, he had never seen the queen appear like the youth she was in all the glimpses he managed to catch of her. It wasn't any mystery why she was so stressed with how the other residents of the castle acted and he doubted she wasn't aware of the words he himself has caught being whispered among her subjects. With the weight of the curse baring unto her, along with the weight of the kingdom, he wondered if she had any happiness in her life at all.

"It's not really her rejection that hurts," Bog admits, lifting his head. "We grew up together, in a way. We were friends and I thought she loved me as much as I loved her. Except...I guess when children grow up, they sometimes grow out of who they were and into a different person and love blinds you to seeing it."

"Was it...that or was it something you saw but didn't want to see?" Queen Marianne questions.

"I certainly didn't see her as being willing to cast away an old friend on the word of a stranger," Bog answers bitterly. "We have the same cursed acquaintance, Your Majesty. Sugar Plum."

"That horrid witch? What dealings did you have with her?" Queen Marianne asks.

"The day she arrived in the kingdom, she came to the village of Glenndale first in the early morning and announced that she would tell love fortunes to all the young unmarried women for no fee. She told Angelina that I was a liar, lying to her specifically, that my love wasn't any good for her, and that I would cause her nothing but misery," Bog explains, sighing sadly and leaning back to look up to the ceiling. "Angelina believed her. Believed her without even giving me a chance to defend myself."

That was what hurt the most. He was willing to ignore his deeper feelings of love for her if she chose not to accept him, but he never imagined her rejection also meant their friendship ended as well. Weren't they friends first, after all? Yet, their friendship seemed to mean nothing to her.

It stung that even defying his father's orders to explain, to tell her the truth about everything, had done nothing except horrify her even more. They knew each other for almost all their lives.

"She accepted a marriage offer soon after and left the kingdom to join her new husband's family," Bog continues softly before returning his attention to the listening woman across from him. "I had tried talking to Plum but it had done no good and...well, let's just say you weren't the only one she cursed that day."

"She cursed you as well?" Queen Marianne questions, getting a nod. "I should have had her executed when I wanted to."

"Unless you had used iron, it wouldn't have done any good. Can't kill a damned fairy that easily," Bog laughs.

"A fairy?!" Queen Marianne repeats in shock.

"Uh...wait, wait, wait! That's...that's not what I meant!" Bog denies quickly. "I meant...uh...what I mean is...um..."

"You're terrible at trying to lie, Bog," Queen Marianne points out.

"I know!" Bog moans, cringing as he tries to make himself smaller. "You can't tell anyone! I'm not allowed to reveal someone like that!"

"Do you mean to say that you can tell when someone who looks human is actually one of the fae?" Queen Marianne asks.

Bog groans at the queen's interested look and drops his head into his hands once more. It's just his luck that he'd have a slip of tongue around the one person who'd take him seriously. Anyone else would have just brushed off his comment as idle talk. Even those that feared the Dark Forest didn't truly believe that it was an entrance to the fae's domain, most believing that either thieves or the royal guard were responsible for all those that became missing after wandering into the thick trees.

"Your Majesty, I beg you, please just let the matter be and let my words be forgotten," Bog pleads.

"I cannot. If she is as you say, then that would give some explanation why the goblins closed the border between the realms," Queen Marianne mentions.

"What?" Bog questions in confusion, lifting his head to stare at her.

"Surely you know that there has been no sign of any fae in the Dark Forest for the past year," Queen Marianne comments, getting a slow nod. "The goblins closed their kingdom's border the same day Sugar Plum arrived in my kingdom. A fact I know because I went to the ancient tree in the hope they could reverse this curse but no one responded."

"You went to the goblin's castle?!" Bog whispers.

"Unfortunately, it did not offer any help," Queen Marianne sighs. "I've known that Sugar Plum has taken residence in my kingdom, but I hadn't known her connection to the goblins. I can only now assume that they're trying to keep her out of their kingdom. But if she's a fairy, why doesn't she just go to a different entrance into the fae domain?"

"Another portal could be days away and she just might wind up in an entirely different location in the fae domain," Bog answers before amending hastily. "Not that I know! I...I...I'm just guessing!"

"You're terrible at trying to lie, Bog," Queen Marianne repeats, smirking as he moans once more.