"Still haven't gotten married yet, Prince Vincent?" Dagda questions.
"Alas, to the dismay of my poor soul, I have not. Still can't find a partner that can survive Aunt Vesper," Vincent remarks. "She's more cranky than a sleep-deprived goblin...Oh, I'm sorry, that was bad."
"It's fine," Bog reassures. "Although, I must say if Queen Vesper is worse than my mother when she needs sleep then I pity your kingdom."
"You're perfect," Vincent laughs. "You chose a good partner, Marianne."
"I think so, too," Marianne murmurs, grinning up at Bog. "I'm afraid we have to go now, Vincent."
"Do you have to?" Vincent asks.
"We have duties to fulfill back in the Dark Forest but we'll come back tomorrow when the other delegates arrive," Marianne answers.
The sprite prince's cheerful face is tainted by disappointment and Bog pats Marianne's hand that is laid on his arm. He quickly assures his mate that it's alright for her to socialize with her friend a little longer. There weren't many preparations left to do, after all.
Bog takes a curious glance at the gathered sprites, fairies, elves, pixies, and gnomes unloading the laden-down pack rats as he strides through the outer courtyard. It seems the Breezy Meadow is in for changes within their own kingdom if the hints Vincent started dropping after the elder delegates were escorted to their resting chambers are anything to go by. From what Marianne and Dagda had told them about the other kingdom then it can only be a good thing.
In his defense, he wasn't eavesdropping on purpose. It would have been impossible for him not to hear the conversation between the Light Field fairy guard and a Breezy Meadow fairy guard as he waited at the outer courtyard gate for Dax and Adder to retrieve their dragonfly mounts. He had ignored it at first...until he couldn't.
"That's your new crown prince, huh?" the Breezy Meadow guard questions.
"Yep," the Light Field guard answers proudly. "He's also the king of the Dark Forest, which makes Princess Marianne a queen as well."
"So I've heard," the Breezy Meadow guard comments dryly. "It's all anyone has been talking about back home since Queen Vesper received the announcement before the snows came. Kind of strange that you've decided to forget that you were their food."
"The last time that happened was generations ago during the great famine and the reign of two kings after it," the Light Field guard explains. "The goblins of the Dark Forest are actually very nice."
"Nice? You're pathetic," the Breezy Meadow guard chuckles. "Those monsters abduct your crown princess, does who knows what to her before your army shows up, and you seriously think your princess had a choice in marrying that creature? How could a hideous beast like that not resist defiling a beauty like Princess Marianne? Obviously, she was too traumatized..."
Bog doesn't hear whatever else was said as Dax and Adder come into view riding their dragonflies and he joins them in the air. He doesn't waste any time before flying quickly back to the Dark Forest. He doesn't pay attention as the Light Field villagers call out with happy greetings and wave excitedly as he passes by. Even as they make it back to the castle and he dismisses his guards before finishing the last preparations for the coming night, his mind is filled with that fateful day six months ago.
He doesn't even shoo away the pixies as they help him remove his formal wear and fuss over him before he leaves the bedchamber that he shares with his love.
Oh, he knows that Marianne loves him and she knows that he feels the same but it wasn't that way from the start. For spirit's sake, it wasn't until Cu-Sith nearly took her from him during Imbolc that he even admitted out loud that he loved her!
What he told her that early morning three months ago still rings true, it never really crossed his mind that they were forced into this and he had never felt that he was. But the truth of the matter remains and that is that neither of them had a choice in their mateship. It was either mate or kill. Killing her wasn't an option but neither was letting her kill him or he would have let her sword take his head instead of him taking ahold of her nursing breast and pleading for his life.
If it wasn't for the royal law then Marianne wouldn't have mated him. She still would have stopped the army but she would have left with them instead of staying. They might have become trading allies like the other kingdoms but she probably would have rejected his advances had he tried to court her.
Everyone knows it, too. They know that they were forced to become mates and despite how much they love each other, there will still be ones who'll look down on their mateship because of how it started. He's not foolish enough to believe that only those of the other kingdoms harbor that.
Maybe it would be a good idea to...
"Your Majesty."