Chapter 7/Week Ten/Eleven Months Left
Bog breathes a sigh of relief as Chipper crosses the border into the Dark Forest and he hears Princess Dawn's whine of frustration. A quick look back confirms the tiny princess' location near the hedges, as well as a myriad of other creatures chattering discontentedly.
He can only be grateful the queen gave him the use of Chipper for the rest of his stay to escape the castle's populace. Their persistence only grew stronger since that morning they first escaped into the sanctuary of the forest three weeks ago and he's almost sure they'd try to lock him in the queen's chamber if they could only manage to keep them both trapped in it.
It was ridiculous! Anyone with eyes could tell the queen had no interest in him. She had no interest in anyone and that was fine by him. Requirements of Plum's curse or not, they had no right to try and force something that wasn't there.
Besides, the queen barely tolerated his presence as it was, and he did not need them to make things more awkward between them.
He sighs once more but it's more of a groan this time as his mind brings up the queen's recent avoidance. He had thought they were actually getting along. Not that he truly expected for them to become friends or anything, what with her being the queen and all, and him being what he is, but since the day he accidentally disturbed her in her chambers, she had been talking to him more. Even if it wasn't a full conversation every day, she at least acknowledged his presence if they happened to cross paths.
She had even invited him to morning tea a few times and they talked in length until her duties required her. He may be a peasant and her prisoner, but she never treated him as such. The whole castle was his to explore at his leisure, from library to armory and everything in between. It made the education his father instructed his mother that he receive that much easier to accomplish.
It was also probably the reason the servants thought the queen had an interest in him with her giving him such permission to do as he pleases. Which was ridiculous. Queen Marianne already told him that she felt guilty for his lengthy imprisonment, especially over such a petty crime, the same as she would have felt if his mother had stayed at the castle instead, and that she wished to make him feel more comfortable during his stay. Every courtesy she bestowed upon him was merely the queen's own natural kindness showing.
So, what if he had gotten used to talking to the queen nearly every day. She was the only one in the castle that wasn't trying to educate him on how to court her, so it was only normal he'd feel discontent that she seemed to be avoiding him for the past three weeks. Not that she was truly avoiding him. She did have matters of the kingdom to deal with and worked from sun-up to sun-down.
Her Majesty was just busy, especially since the officials who usually oversee each individual matter was trapped within the castle grounds thanks to the curse. She was too busy to waste time talking to him when there were more important things to attend to.
"Come on, Chipper, this way today," Bog murmurs, guiding the reins away from the worn path they usually take. "We're going a different route instead."
The giant squirrel gives a neigh in response and obediently follows the leading, bounding into untouched foliage with as much speed as his present form allowed. Bog keeps a wary eye on his surroundings as they travel through the forest. It was a foolish worry, but he couldn't help it. The queen had assured him that anywhere Chipper could go, he was allowed to go as well, so surely the queen wouldn't think he was trying to break his word.
He just really wished he had been able to talk to her about this first. To make sure there wasn't any miscommunication. Maybe he should have left a note.
It feels like no time at all before they near their destination and Bog eases Chipper into a walk as they travel along the forest's edge. Chipper chitters in frustration at the slow pace, pawing the ground and sidestepping before squealing in pain and jumping farther into the forest when his tail brushes past the bordering trees. The distressed giant squirrel settles under his rider's soothing, before startling once more when the back door to the nearby house slams against the wall as the enthusiastic woman speedily exits.
"My precious boy!" Griselda cries happily.
Bog's worries disappear under the weight of relief at seeing his mother running toward him and he guides the gelding to back up farther from the forest edge. Jumping from the saddle and swiftly attaching a lead rope to a nearby tree, Bog leans down in time to catch his mother in a hug.
"Oh, Mom, I've missed you!" Bog murmurs, burying his face into her shoulder.
"I've missed you too!" Griselda responds before leaning back and smacking his arm. "What are you doing here?! You swore to the queen that you would stay in the castle grounds if you didn't have to stay in the dungeons!"
"It's fine, Mom. The Dark Forest is part of the castle grounds and Queen Marianne gave me permission to travel in it as long as I'm riding Chipper," Bog explains. "I just missed you and wanted to visit since you can't come visit me."
"Who says I couldn't visit?" Griselda huffs. "I would have gladly come if you sent me word that you wanted me to."
"You were bedridden for nearly three days after your trip to the castle the first time because of how sore you were after traveling that far a distance on foot," Bog points out sternly.
"Who told...Thang! You blabbermouth!" Griselda yells, glaring in the direction of the house. "I'm gonna wring your scrawny neck!"
"My mother, the violent one," Bog chuckles. "He's only trying to help, you know that. Besides, it's a bit obvious the trip is too much for you when you didn't come to the castle with them yesterday. The royal family praised your vegetables, by the way, and Princess Dawn said she never tasted strawberries so sweet before."
"They loved them, did they?! Well, my garden does grow the very best, after all," Griselda preens.
"A bit of goblin magic doesn't hurt, either," Bog mutters cheekily.
"Hush, you," Griselda grumbles before chuckling with him. "How long can you stay?"
"I should get back before Queen Marianne returns from the Judgment Hall, but I should be able to stay a few hours at least, as long as I stay within the forest," Bog answers. "I brought some sweets from the castle kitchen as well. They're supposed to be offerings for safe passage through the forest, but I figure the birds don't need any more fattening when we can enjoy them instead."
"Safe passage? Don't they realize there's no fae in the forest right now?" Griselda questions.
"The queen knows, and I suspect King Father Donald knows as well, but everyone has just assumed the goblins are keeping their distance because of the curse upon the castle. And I don't feel like telling them otherwise or I'd never get any peace from them," Bog explains.
Bog groans at his mother's interested look. Him and his big mouth! Why couldn't he manage holding his tongue better?! If it wasn't accidentally telling Queen Marianne things he shouldn't, it was letting his mother know something he really didn't want her to know about. He groans more at her prodding questions before reluctantly obeying and explaining what his life at the castle has been like for the past ten weeks.
Thang and Stuff bring out stools for them to sit on beneath the forest's canopy before quickly fetching a table and the mid-day meal at Griselda's urging. Their snickers add to the human woman's soft chuckles as they listen to the plight of their master's son. At the mention of Queen Marianne's weekly visits to the Dark Forest castle, though, the pair of glamoured goblins exchange worried looks.
"His Majesty isn't going to like a human being so familiar with his domain," Stuff grumbles, raising a teacup to her lips.
"Even if it's because she wants and needs the king's help? If he didn't close the portal completely in the first place, none of this would have happened!" Bog counters harshly.
"Bog," Griselda tries to soothe.
"No, Mother!" Bog growls. "I don't care what his reason is, the king is just as guilty as that useless meddling fairy!"
"Bog!" Thang and Stuff admonish with equal scowls on their human faces.
"You don't see what is happening in this kingdom! You don't hear what that fairy witch has caused!" Bog continues, rising from his seat to loom threatening over his father's servants. "Whatever His Majesty thought to gain by sending her through his kingdom's portal is no excuse for the chaos he created. It is destroying Queen Marianne, who has done nothing to deserve such punishment, and that sorry excuse for a king doesn't even care!"
"That is enough, Bog!" Griselda states softly but firmly, standing to position herself in front of her son. "Even though you haven't met him, the goblin king is still your king as he is your father's king, and you must give him the respect due to him. He would not have closed the portal if he did not have a good reason to."
Opening his mouth to argue, Bog chokes on his words when Imp jumps up onto the table and chitters at him with a wide grin. Dread fills his whole being as he follows Imp's gaze directed behind him only to see the queen landing beside the tree he tied Chipper to. Her calm expression as she walks regally toward the gathered group only adds to his fears.
Fears of what, he's unsure. But he knows for certain that there's no chance that she didn't just overhear what they were talking about.
"Your Majesty! What a pleasant surprise! I'm so delighted you've honored us with a visit!" Griselda cheers, curtseying gracefully after quickly maneuvering around her son. "May we offer you some refreshments?"
"I do not wish to impose. I merely came to check on my guest," Queen Marianne murmurs before turning her attention completely on Bog. "You usually don't wander this far from the castle."
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty," Bog responds quickly. "I didn't think it would be a problem and..."
"It's fine, Bog," Queen Marianne reassures, letting her silencing fingers linger a little longer against Bog's lips before removing them. "I just wanted to make sure Chipper wasn't giving you trouble. Morris had mentioned that he was beginning to act more headstrong."
"No, no, Chipper hasn't been giving me trouble. I think he's just enjoying the exercise and wishes I'd ride him more than only three days a week," Bog murmurs, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. "About...about what you probably overheard..."
"Bog is a goblin's child," Griselda states, causing Thang and Stuff to gasp.
"Mom!" Bog admonishes in horror.
"What? Her Majesty already heard it, there's no point in denying it," Griselda defends, before ordering Thang to get a chair for the queen and Stuff to get another cup.
"You're...you're not supposed to...to tell things like that!" Bog groans.
"You worry too much," Griselda comments dismissively. "I doubt Her Majesty would let something like that get spread around like gossip, anyway."
"Indeed, I won't," Queen Marianne reassures, nodding her thanks to Thang as she sits in the chair he brought. "Although, I am curious why you feel you can trust me with such a secret, one that could cause both you and your son to be put to death. I'm sure you're well aware of this kingdom's laws about dealing with...the good neighbors."
Bog tries not to shiver at the underlying warning in the queen's voice as he retakes his own seat. It was something he knew, something his mother had warned him about when he was old enough to be told about his heritage, and something that reinforced his father's order on not revealing who he is to anyone. The previous rulers of the kingdom had not looked favorably upon those who consorted with the fae that lived in the Dark Forest, creating laws that would punish anyone who was caught in doing so, and death to those who had children with such, whether it was by choice or not.
There were rumors that it was because they feared being overthrown by a subject who'd be tempted to make a deal to gain the power of the throne, the more traitorous speculating that the present royal family had risen to power by such a deal. The fact that each monarch of the royal blood died a sudden and unexpected death around the same age didn't help dissuade such rumors.
"Yes, I am aware of what would happen if others were to hear of this. It's been a fear of mine since Bog started showing goblin magic as a baby and I had to keep him away from others until he gained better control. However, and I do beg your pardon, Your Majesty, I know I don't have anything to fear from you," Griselda mentions, pouring tea into the new cup. "How can I be afraid of you because I made a bargain when you yourself have made a bargain as well? And I don't mean those rumors or that idiot Plum's curse. Stuff mentioned to me when she returned from the castle yesterday that she can see that you have a goblin's bargain magic on you, a strong one."
"You can see such a thing?" Queen Marianne questions sharply toward Stuff.
"Fae can see when a human is already contracted to another fae, and they don't take kindly to another fae messing around with one of their contracts," Griselda explains.
"Then why did Sugar Plum do this?!" Queen Marianne yells angrily, flaring her wings as she stands up to gesture harshly to herself.
"Fairies are foolish, and that one even more so," Stuff growls lowly. "She probably didn't even bother noticing the bargain magic around your heart, and if she did see it, she ignored it. It's bad enough she interfered with our master's contract, but to deliberately challenge another's contract with no just cause is unthinkable, even for a fairy."
"Maybe that's why His Majesty closed the portal," Thang suggests. "With Plum not being his subject, he couldn't punish her without the fairy king declaring war."
"You've been in the human domain too many years," Stuff scoffs, crossing her arms.
"I have not! You take that back!" Thang growls, grabbing Stuff's tunic with one hand and threatening to punch with the other.
"That's enough, the both of you! We have a guest and a royal one at that!" Griselda reminds harshly.
"Please ignore them, Your Majesty. Stuff only came to this domain right before the portal closed and she sometimes forgets that she doesn't have the same ranking here as back in the goblin kingdom," Bog explains, giving a harsh glare to the unrepentant glamoured goblin.
"Fae are the highest ranking in any kingdom," Stuff mutters before yelping in pain from a bite on her ankle and glaring at the cackling Imp. "You truly have become a real imp. How did Plum even manage to cast such a powerful curse, anyway? She's not that high-ranking a fairy, and that bargain should have repelled any magic of hers with how powerful it is."
"Shouldn't such a high-ranking goblin know?" Griselda mocks. "Now, both of you get back to work if you're not going to behave in front of Queen Marianne!"
Bog tries not to groan out loud when the two full-blooded goblins start bickering all over again as they grab their stools and head back to the house. Some days, he really wished his father hadn't sent Stuff to warn his mother about Plum. Not only was the warning just a tad bit late but when the goblin king closed the portal, he did so before Stuff could get back through and that made one very grumpy goblin to deal with. A grumpy goblin that gets grumpier with every passing month that she's stuck in the human domain.
"My apologies, Your Majesty. I didn't mean for it to go so badly but I forgot about Stuff's animosity towards humans," Griselda sighs.
"You only wished to make sure I knew that you had the knowledge of my bargain to persuade me not to think of revealing yours," Queen Marianne comments.
"What? Oh, no, Your Majesty, nothing like that! I merely wanted to assure you that we understood and wouldn't tell your secret," Griselda corrects quickly. "You have my word that not one of us will reveal your bargain to another, no matter what you do."
Watching the queen raise the teacup to her lips, Bog breathes a sigh of relief when her eyes turn from the hardened amber it was earlier to liquid honey. The change in her mood is confirmed when she compliments his mother on the tea's unique flavor before accepting an offered pastry.
"You speak very freely of your bargain. I thought such a thing was not permitted. Or was it just the conditions of my bargain?" Queen Marianne wonders out loud after a moment.
"Speaking of your bargain is not allowed by either fae or human except with the one the bargain is made," Griselda confirms. "However, once the bargain is fulfilled then they can speak freely. I've already fulfilled my end of the bargain, so I am no longer bound by it."
"And your son is your end of the bargain," Queen Marianne states knowingly.
"That is a story of how a goblin got...out-goblined," Griselda chuckles, causing Bog to groan when the queen's eyes alight with curiosity.
"Mom, please," Bog pleads in embarrassment.
"No, please go on. I'd like to hear the story, if you don't mind," Queen Marianne encourages.
"She doesn't mind. She'd tell the story to everyone if she could," Bog mumbles before sighing in defeat. "Well, go on, you know you want to."
"I don't know why you're so embarrassed by the story. You should be proud to have such a smart mother," Griselda teases.
"A smart mother, yes," Bog agrees with exasperated fondness. "But you tricked a high-ranking member of the goblin kingdom's royal court into a lifelong deal where he got the lesser half and you're insufferable about it."
"I wouldn't call you the lesser half, my son," Griselda comments before turning her attention to Marianne. "I won't bore you with a story of my life, Your Majesty, but I had been in the care of my uncle for years when he announced, just after I became of age, that he had betrothed me to a man he had done frequent business with. I had not minded it at first, as I have no good feelings toward my uncle and was glad to be rid of him, but then I met my betrothed, a much older man who didn't even have the sense to treat his horse well. Taking everything I could of what my parents had given me, I took my father's old stallion and ran away as far as the aged horse could stand to travel.
"Regrettably, it didn't take long for my uncle to find me, and hiding in the Dark Forest had been my only hope. I knew that the only thing that could get my uncle to leave me alone is if he got more money than what my betrothed bought me with. Since I had already decided to ask for help from the goblins and knew the price for my freedom would be high, I figured it would be smarter to make sure I was secure for the rest of my life as well. No sense saving myself from my uncle if I was just going to get into a bigger mess because of a lack of prospects, now is it?"
"There were no other options besides the goblins? Not even petitioning the ruling monarch as you did a few months past?" Queen Marianne asks quietly.
"Forgive me, Your Majesty, but the former queen was a harsh ruler to live under. Queen Erica was, in fact, the reason my uncle discovered my location," Griselda admits. "I had petitioned her for intervention, trying to reason my uncle had no true claim over me as he was my mother's step-brother, and then to reason that my father had living relatives in the kingdom that could be required to take responsibility if she would not permit me to be responsible for my own care. When my father's brother argued against the request, Her Majesty summoned my uncle and ordered me to submit under his authority since I owed him my life, never mind that the fiend was a vagabond pauper until my parents' death."
"Mother," Bog cautions softly at the anger coating his mother's voice and expression.
"My apologies for my rash words of your mother, Queen Marianne," Griselda murmurs.
"It is excusable. It was a harsh ruling, and your anger is justified," Queen Marianne agrees. "Much like your son's anger over imprisonment for picking a flower."
"After dealing with those wretched flowers for ten weeks, I can now say your ruling was completely justified," Bog quips, relishing in both women's soft laughter. "Now, tell the queen the rest of the story of your cleverness, Mother, so we can head back to the castle before it gets too late."
"Very well," Griselda chuckles. "Now that you know how my uncle caught me, it was shortly after we left the castle that his horse had gotten spooked by a rabbit running from the forest and I spurred my horse to run into the thicket, knowing that my uncle was terrified of the Dark Forest and wouldn't pursue me. I didn't have much of a plan at first until my horse stopped suddenly at the tree's edge and I was thrown into a small misty glade in front of a large tree. Imagine my shock when a tall, beautiful man stepped in front of me to demand what I was doing there."
"The goblin," Queen Marianne states knowingly, getting a hum of agreement from Griselda.
"I told him I knew who he was, so he could drop the glamour, and my bluntness shocked him so much that he actually did," Griselda laughs. "I explained to him my circumstances before asking if he could help me. As I said, I knew the price for my freedom was high, the standard price for freedom being that the firstborn child is to be given to the fae, so I bargained that the goblin would make sure I was taken care of for the rest of my life as a husband would for his wife. He warned me that I could not change my mind, that a bargain made is a bargain done, and I would have to follow through with my end of the bargain no matter what. You would have thought he'd be thrilled when I agreed but then he insulted me, saying that my horse had more sense than me!"
"And then she punched him for it," Bog mutters.
"And then I punched him for it," Griselda smugly repeats, grinning wider at Marianne's loud laughter. "I wasn't about to let him insult my intelligence, especially when the one who lacked sense with that bargain was him. As he soon found out. I waited until after he glamoured himself and tricked my uncle by pretending to be a foreigner passing through that I happened to run into, and then set up the arrangement for the land and the house there, but when he went to leave, he reminded me that he would check in frequently to make sure I kept my end."
"And?" Queen Marianne coaxes when Griselda pauses to take a drink.
"I reminded him that his end of the bargain was to take care of me as a husband would for his wife and that if he wanted my firstborn child bad enough, he'd have to perform the deed himself," Griselda answers.
Bog's own embarrassment at his mother's bluntness is pushed aside when he notices a rising blush covering the queen's cheeks. Her attempt at hiding her embarrassment by giving a delicate cough into a fist doesn't help when her large wings flick open slightly, causing her blush to deepen. He couldn't help admitting silently that it was very cute to see her so flustered. She was always so careful with her emotions, most times only her expressive eyes giving him clues on how she was feeling.
It was another side of her, and he wondered, not for the first time, what she was like before Plum's curse burdened her so.
"I hadn't thought he'd take me seriously, as I had said such just to tease him," Griselda continues. "But, in truth, I hadn't been opposed to the idea. He was very striking in his human glamour and his goblin form was appealing as well, but mostly it was his mannerism being so gentlemanly that I couldn't help my infatuation with him."
"Clearly, he took the offer," Queen Marianne comments.
"Not quite," Griselda chuckles. "First, he fell over his own two feet into a mud puddle, and then he disappeared for a few days. I was quite shocked when he returned to tell me that I was an infuriating female, fit to outrival any high-ranking gobliness, and he'd be a fool to pass up the chance to have his heir mothered by me."