"You finally got a son, King Dagda, and as a bonus, he can tame your wild daughter," Sir Thadius chuckles.
"Tame? Not likely," Dagda scoffs. "Bog is as wild as she is. Wait till I tell you what they did the Day of Brigid."
Marianne laughs as her father walks away with Sir Thadius, most likely headed for a glass of aged dandelion wine with Captian Tigler. Turning her attention to Vincent, she raises her eyebrow at the sprite's focused attention on her husband's departing form as he passes through the ivy acting as the inner courtyard's roof and gate.
"He's a good male, yes?" Vincent questions softly.
"You've heard something?" Marianne asks instead.
"More than what King Dagda's announcement said about the circumstances surrounding your unexpected union and it's from former citizens of the Light Field," Vincent admits. "Did you truly make your decision without some...form of persuasion?"
Waving off the growls emanating from Romulus and Remus, Marianne smirks at the shorter male and folds her arms. She was expecting this kind of inquiry during the trade meetings. After so many generations of hostile feelings between the Light Field and the Dark Forest, it would come as a shock to the other kingdoms about how quickly and easily they've gotten along. She didn't expect Vincent to be the first to pose the question, though.
Then again, maybe she should have. The sprite has been more of an elder brother to her since the day they met when he was three-autumns-old and she was one-spring-old.
"I'm sure they told you all about my 'heroic' action in flying off to save my sister but here's what they didn't tell you because they didn't know. I fought Bog half-naked and nearly killed him but when he got the advantage, he didn't take advantage of me," Marianne explains. "Because my dress was damaged in the fight and I was on the verge of winter-chill, he wrapped me in his cloak that he needed and kept me close to his body to keep me warm. Yes, he did put me in his bed but that was because he knew that his bedchambers would be warm and yes, he did join me in his bed but that was at the insistence of the master healer because he had put himself at risk for winter-chill. He had only gone to sleep and did not touch me inappropriately. The only form of persuasion I dealt with is a law in the Dark Forest that forced a choice between actually killing him or getting married to him. Finding out that he is very honorable made killing him not an option. Truthfully, had that law not even been a problem, I would have courted him myself."
"That's all I needed to know," Vincent remarks. "I figured they were telling a tall tale when they painted you as in distress and traumatized but you know Vesper, she's been trying to break up this alliance since mother agreed to it. She's gotten more vocal about now that King Dagda proposed in his letter to include the Dark Forest in the trade alliance."
"So that's why you arrived early," Marianne comments. "I figured that she was probably trying something."
"That something is any excuse to keep me from taking my rightful place on the throne," Vincent mutters, looking around for eavesdroppers before continuing. "I found a law hidden in the old archives that can bypass the royal law that only a married royal can be the ruler of the Breezy Meadow. Since Vesper isn't a royal by blood, has no royal blood offspring of her own, and her partner is no longer alive, she doesn't have true claim to the throne. That leaves the Breezy Meadow without a ruler and in that circumstance, the next-in-line can take the throne without being married even if they're not of age. She knows it and I think she knows that I know."
"So what do you thi...," Marianne starts before a loud commotion rings out.
The two royals quickly head out to the outer courtyard with the goblin guards following diligently. Spotting the source of the commotion, Marianne growls out a groan before sighing and taking flight toward the fighting guards.
"That's enough! Stand down now!" Marianne orders.
The Light Field fairy guard is quick to obey but Marianne grabs the fist of the Breezy Meadow fairy guard when he tries to land a cheap shot on his opponent. She nearly laughs as the Breezy Meadow guard's eyes widen dramatically when he tries to remove his fist from her hand and can't.
Weakling.
"Explain the meaning of this!" Marianne demands.
"I'm sorry, Your Highness. It's my fault. I lost my temper and threw the first punch," the Light Field guard admits.
Marianne's urge to laugh intensifies at the Breezy Meadow guard's look of astonishment as the Light Field guard removes their helmet to reveal that the guard is a female, the glamour dissipating and causing the black and white androgynous wings to turn back into her true black-spotted pink butterfly wings. It seems that it is this particular guard's first trip to the Light Field if he didn't know about their camouflage tactic.
Both guards avoid her and Vincent's questioning about what started the fight and the witnesses also keep silent. With a sigh, Marianne orders them both to be confined in the barracks for the rest of the day.
"See if you can find out what happened, Vincent. I have to get back to the Dark Forest," Marianne comments, chuckling as Romulus and Remus quickly run off to retrieve their dragonflies.
"They're excited," Vincent notes, joining her laughter.
"The Mid-Spring Wild Hunt is a very big deal to Dark Forest courting goblins. Prospective mates pair up and hunt together to gauge how well they'll fit together. If the hunt goes well, then they'll make an announcement accepting each other as mates at the mating ceremony during the Beltane festival, which is at sunset the day after tomorrow," Marianne explains.
"Really? They don't have individual bonding ceremonies?" Vincent asks.
"No. They only become mates during a mating ceremony either during Beltane or during Lughnasa at mid-summer. Bog and I are unique," Marianne chuckles.