"I'm glad he's enjoying himself now," Marianne murmurs, watching the little imp scurry around with goblins his age.
Bog hums his agreement before sitting on the ground next to his mate and setting the tray of food before them. He laughs as the imp's nose twitches before his ears turn toward them. Within moments, Marianne's lap becomes occupied and begging trills fill the air.
"Alright, Puck," Marianne chuckles. "You did bring enough for all of us, right?"
"If I didn't then I'll just go back for more," Bog remarks, handing her the plate of cooked meat.
Warmth fills his being as he watches Marianne feed Puck pieces of meat. She's such a good mother, so gentle with the young one's fear of taking food for himself with people watching.
It was heartbreaking yesterday when Plum revealed the extent of the poor thing's trauma. They had only wanted to know his age and name but they also learned that the six-summer-old Puck had seen his pregnant mother murdered last autumn for just trying to get food and then he woke up from winter hibernation a few weeks ago to find his father dead from starvation, the elder male having given most of the stolen food to his son. He had barely managed to get enough food without being seen and when he overheard the plan to threaten war on the Light Field, he decided that if they wanted war then he would give them war by making the other kingdoms so angry that they would punish the ones who killed his family.
Puck just didn't expect to be caught. Normal reasoning for a young male, as his mother remarked.
Plum had also revealed that Puck's clinging to Marianne and Bog was his petitioning to them to be his new parents. A revelation that helped when they had to return to the Light Field for the other delegates' arrival that afternoon. The poor thing was bawling when they tried to leave without him, refusing to settle even when they explained that they would be around the Breezy Meadow subjects and would be back that evening for dinner. Griselda had disappeared for a few minutes before returning with a satchel and the pixie handmaidens carrying Marianne's daggers.
The silent threat worked immensely or maybe it was the wicked smile that Marianne wore that dared the Breezy Meadow subjects to do one thing to set her off. Vincent had barely gotten away with mentioning about an imp's appetite again, to which Marianne pulled out a strip of dried meat from the satchel and gave it to Puck, who only ate half before declaring himself full.
He couldn't believe that they never thought that maybe the imps couldn't sustain themselves on the food available in the Breezy Meadow, hence why they had to eat a lot of it to survive. Once the imps traveled there and were forced to spend the winter, they couldn't leave because they didn't have the energy to. Puck had only managed to leave the Breezy Meadow because he stowed-away on one of the pack rats.
A whole clan wiped out like pests just because they traveled through the wrong kingdom.
"Your growling," Marianne points out. "What's bothering you?"
"Just thinking about how stupid the Breezy Meadow denizens are," he admits. "Not that I'm saying Vincent is like them..."
"Vincent is like an elder brother to me but he is nearly like the others of his kingdom. He just knows very well that the Breezy Meadow will lose the war if one happens between our kingdoms," she chuckles, fisting her hand with a smirk. "The Breezy Meadow may outnumber the Light Field by four-to-one but we're stronger. As he found out when I was six and he was eight. Grandpa and Dad couldn't stop laughing when Mom had to stop a trade meeting to drag me off the bigger-than-me Vincent. He's called me snarky ever since then."
"I'm curious to what the fight was about," Bog chuckles.
"I can't quite remember what it was but I'm very sure it was about females being unable to fight or something like that. Which is ridiculous since both his mother and Vesper commanded an army. Although, now that I'm thinking about it, I've never seen either of them touch a weapon," Marianne mutters.
"You don't need to be able to fight to be able to command an army," he mentions. "As for the threat of war, I think your comment to the Breezy Meadow delegates has sufficiently kept them from ever entertaining the idea ever again."
Bog joins Marianne in her laughter at the reminder. At least the fools had started the conversation before the other delegates arrived but it was still a mistake to even bring up their concerns of war between the two kingdoms. Before Vincent even had the chance to rebuke them, Marianne told them bluntly that it would be a war between three kingdoms because the Light Field would be defended by the Dark Forest. Both fairy and goblin royal guards didn't help matters when they offered their agreement.
The funniest part came just before they returned to the Dark Forest when the Shallow Cove ambassador mentioned about how unusually docile and polite the Breezy Meadow delegates were being.
"Did you manage to speak with Ambassador Aquanna this morning about Lizzie?" Bog questions.
"Yeah. She accompanied me and the other females during the sunrise dancing in the Light Field," Marianne answers. "We first talked to Lizzie before she went to sleep and Ambassador Aquanna says she knows the type of reptile Lizzie is and where she belongs. So, after the trade meetings are all done, Lizzie will travel with them to the Shallow Cove and then she'll be able to find her way home from there."
It is good news but he'll kind of miss the large creature. If it wasn't for her, they might not have been able to find each of the potion's victims in time to stop anything damaging from happening before the potion wore off last night and they might not have caught Puck without killing him.
Puck purrs as Bog reaches over to scratch the top of his head.
"I also talked to Yemma this morning at the Sacred Spring," she continues.
"What? Marianne," he murmurs worriedly.
"It's alright. I know we were going to let Griselda handle the matter since she agreed with Dad's suggestion but I didn't feel right not trying to talk to her myself," Marianne admits. "I also wanted to make sure to get rid of any ill feelings before the purification bathing, so I took her aside while the fires were being kindled. I even followed the laws of judgment and included the elders and Lyla as witnesses and counsel."
"What happened?" Bog asks.