The Grey Forest had changed a lot since the last time Fionna had been here. For one thing, the gates protecting the interior of the forest had been cleared of debris and wrecked buses. For another, the main entry was now flanked by a wildly vibrant red-light district with sights that made adult-Fionna flush. There were scantily-clad girls everywhere you looked, and a couple of them might actually have been taking care of dudes right on the street! Riding through all that in her dad's limo, she found herself reflecting on something her stepmom had said. She was sheltered. Her parents had sheltered her growing up. She–or Star–could easily have been one of those girls.
The death of Penny had freed her from looking over her shoulder, but instead of relieving her of the burden of worry, that had awakened new worries. She'd been proud to be Fionna the Human Girl, little realizing how that made her a target. She'd learned that ugly people could have ugly desires for the unique or exotic, and now she was going to have two daughters of her own. And somehow she had to protect them from a world that was full of evil. Of course she wasn't alone with this. Wrapping her arms around her dad's arm, she lay her head on his shoulder.
"I thought things would slow down, daddy," she sighed. Finn chuckled. She really was just like him. He had been a naive parent in the early going with no idea what he was getting into. Of course Finn had nobody to catch him a clue about just how much he didn't know. "Let you in on a secret, Fi," Finn murmured. "When you're a parent, things never slow down." The Bad Bunny sat up and stared. Finn chuckled, "you used to give us every kind of shit about sneaking a piece. What you didn't know was that sometimes that was all the time we got to ourselves..." Fionna's jaw came open. Turning to face his kid, the big man told her, "you're going to work your ass off to raise Mona and Nadine, Fi. There's going to be days where having time to snuggle with Patrick will seem like a dream. There's other days where you'll feel like quitting."
The pretty blonde seemed like she could only sit there staring, open-mouthed, at him. Smiling fondly at her, he told his daughter, "Patrick's going to have it even tougher than you, Fi. There's going to be times in the early going with the babies, that you won't be able to go out and work. That's truth. There's more than one reason your mom stayed home all those years. Pat's going to be running to keep you all fed when you're laid up. You're going to be down more than you realize because kids pick stuff up and bring it home. Mom always gets it first. Back Pat up. Look out for him, cause it's easy for dudes to get burned up taking care of their families."
It was a shocking revelation. At the same time, it was exactly what she had to hear. Wrapping her arms around him, Fi tried to hug the stuffing out of him. Just then, the driver rolled down the window, revealing the sight of the King of Ooo's head squished against his daughter's giant knockers to the scowling guard, dealing a massive body blow to the King's dignity. "Oops," giggled Fi, as she released her dad. Straightening his tie, the King told the guard, "I'm here to see the Matriarch. It's urgent business." The suspicious nymph insisted on looking around inside the van. Finn put up with it. It was important that they were taking care of the place. He owed Talia a massive favor for her help in protecting them already.
After giving them the fisheye, the guards passed them onwards. Rolling down the road towards the primary town, they found the highway had been straightened and carefully marked. There were even patrols out. It was clear that the mistress of the forest wanted no-one wandering off the road. Of course, they were being threatened by invasion. Finn's eyes carefully sifted the sights around them. His lady was making good moves. As they rolled into town, they found the place alive with traffic. Folk were out and about, and the buildings and structures looked much improved.
"Stop," Fi suddenly shouted! The driver glanced back at them. "That's stone from one of the castles I smashed," said the Bad Bunny. She was looking at one of the new buildings on the square. The young heroine flung the door open, forcing the driver to stop. Finn climbed out after her, following his daughter as she strode straight up to one particular block of stone and fit her hand to a handprint there. "This was the third castle I smashed with Princess Ingrid, father," she said. He knew the answer even as he asked, "are you sure?" "The stones tell me, father," she said. Finn sighed. Now he somewhat understood the armies at the gate and his wife's behavior. She was stealing, and she knew it.
The ride to Marphisa's place was taken under a pall. Finn knew he couldn't ignore what the nymphs had been doing. They were taking advantage of the war's outcome. He'd given them the former Duchy of Nuts, but he couldn't let them take Peanut Kingdom piecemeal. Of course arriving at Marphisa's tree to find a raucous public house at its base–built of more stolen stone–helped the mood not at all.
Inside, the former madam was holding forth from a corner near the back door, looking dapper in a yellow dress. Finn instructed his driver to wait with the van. Leaving Fionna at the door, he went to Marphisa alone. Her eyes followed him as he crossed the room. Honestly, he'd have to admit he was never quite sure where he stood with this woman. Marphisa Baudin had issues piled on issues, and though he had long considered her the most honest woman in this place, he never trusted her. Not really.
Rising, she greeted him with a polite, "Finn..." "Marphisa," he responded. "Can we talk?" After a moment's pause, she said, "alright..." She led the way into the passage behind the back door. Finn immediately realized this was the way up to her apartment. "I came to see Emeraude," he said. "I need a place to stay that I can trust..." "I'm not a hotel, Finn," she retorted. Nodding, Finn replied, "you're family. I also need to know what's going on with my wife. Really." Her face flushed, and she glanced away. The big man waited. One beat. Two. The plump woman sighed, "well, I suppose having Royal connections would be useful. Come on then... Side door."
Finn went out the side door, gathered up his driver and daughter, and hauled their belongings upstairs to Marphisa's home. The nymph returned to her bar, leaving them cooling their heels for a few hours. Fionna spent the time quizzing her dad on all the subtle little things she didn't know or understand about being a parent. A distracted Finn did his best to answer while he thought about what Marphisa had told him before she went. Emeraude was being swallowed. The council's demands were eating her alive. Something had to change. A lot of things had to change.
In the end, Fionna hit the sack early. Being three months pregnant wasn't easy. Finn waited up a while, but when Marphisa failed to appear, he too went to bed. He'd begun to sleep better when the Dipped were defeated. He'd lay his head down and just crash. Tonight, he found himself tossing and turning for hours before sleep finally came. Waking up thirsty in the wee hours of the morning, he got up and went out to the kitchen in his boxers for a drink and found their missing relation there in the kitchen.
It wasn't the first time he'd seen Marphisa sitting at the kitchen table, staring into space or reading a book. It was probably the first time he'd seen her there dressed this way. She was mostly naked underneath her bathrobe, though her meaty thighs were encased in deep-green stockings that were held in place by a turquoise garter. Her heavy knockers swayed with every breath she took. Doing his best not to pay attention to her nudity, Finn approached the table, asking the obvious, "hey? You ok? Dreams again?"
The still-beautiful older woman flushed. At the same time, there was something there in her eyes when she stared back at him. "Well enough," she murmured, "and you?" "Concerned," he replied. A very carefully considered answer. He was not the same man that her niece brought here twenty years ago. Sitting down opposite her, he asked, "have you spoken to Emeraude?" The plump nymph considered her words carefully. "Her schedule is... managed..." Nodding, he asked, "who manages it? Marianne?"
He was very clever. It was a little disconcerting that he seemed blind to her charms. It was easy to manipulate a man with his eyes locked on your tits. Conversely, a disciplined man like this was very dangerous. "Anezka," said Marphisa. Nodding, Finn asked, "and who manages Anezka?" The plump woman flushed. He didn't press that question when he clearly could have, but she imagined he didn't have to. He had what he needed. Mostly. "And are you well," he asked? "You've been good to my family. I'd like to reward that..." The plump nymph's blush deepened. In trying to move the conversation onward, he was moving it further out of her comfort-zone.
Marphisa Baudin had money at the moment. She had always planned ahead for the ugly times that constantly befell her race. She'd only needed to find herself begging for food once for the lesson to stick. Even now, she was squirreling away coins from the pub to buy a life 'somewhere else' if things went south here. What she lacked was far more esoteric. It was also dangerous for both of them. Standing up abruptly, she jerked her robe closed. "I'm doing well enough," she said as she began to walk away. It was a strange ending to a strange conversation. Rather than worry at that, Finn's mind was on the expected unpleasant confrontation with Emeraude.
Morning found the King of Ooo facing the humiliation of having to wait like the usual run of random spanks for a few moments of the Matriarch's time. It reminded him of being stuck in line to see Marceline when he and Jake got thrown in jail in the Night-O-Sphere. Doing his best not to lose his temper, the big man waited on line as, one-by-one, the losers in that line were escorted in. Some came back pleased. Others looked as if they had lost big at cards. Many looked askance at him. Men didn't often come here to plea for something. Most often, they were sent packing before they even got in the line.
They announced him as 'Finn Mertens'. The big man merely smiled as he walked in. The room went silent as he came up the aisle. Anezka's master was obvious as the one face that showed no surprise. Striding past the pair of guards before the throne-like seat of the Matriarch, he stopped and greeted his wife with, "hey..." When one of the guards might have put her hand on him, Voletta warned her off. No, nobody here wanted any of what he could have given them.
"I sent word," Finn said. "We're meeting the peanuts. Noon tomorrow, east of the forest." Just like that. Emeraude's face went hot, and several sly faces exchanged speaking looks. Finn noticed them, but he acknowledged none of it. His eyes were on the woman who had the power here. If she let herself exercise it. More to the point, it wasn't as if he planned on giving her a choice.
Anezka's master spoke up at last, announcing, "you have no right here! This is the Grey Forest..." Finn ignored her. "This thing with stealing out of Peanut Kingdom has to stop, E," Finn said. "I can't defend you against them if you let the thefts continue..." Her face showed the briefest hints of alarm. She was surprised that he knew. He wasn't supposed to know what they'd been up to. That let him know that there might be more shoes waiting to drop.
Anezka's master rose from her seat, saying, "you are not in order, Master Mertens..." "It's Your Majesty," Finn replied. Turning to look at her finally, he announced, "I'm the King of Ooo. Who are you?" The woman was older. She might have been older than Marphisa. There was more wear and tear on her body. Her eyes were calculating, and Finn imagined her thinking she could control E, little realizing how dangerous that game was. When the woman might have tried challenging that, Emeraude, who well knew how dangerous that kind of challenge was, asserted, "the King has the right to come here, Gemma. You committed a grave error in wasting the King's time. We'll speak on that later. Right now, we should waste no more of His Majesty's time." Nodding at Marianne, the proud wizard-woman said, "cancel the afternoon audiences. We will hear what the King wishes to discuss."
Finn turned to Gemma and motioned for her to vacate her seat. There was a mild uproar, but it was hard for them to deny him when he was King of the world. Settling into the chair, he said, "we're in crisis today. The wild lands are starving. The people from the wilds are coming this way, and we'll shortly be overrun. I'm taking steps against that right now, but I need to know where the Grey Forest stands, Emeraude." "What do you mean," she asked? The words came out stiffly, and she was clearly under pressure.
"I don't have time for strife, Emeraude," he said. "I know you've been raiding the shattered castles and forts in Maudie's kingdom, harvesting the stone..." "What do you think you know," growled one of the other women?! He remembered that she was Clarice, the Matron of the Hearth. Finn replied, "let's just say that I know the new buildings in town here were made with stone stolen out of Peanut Kingdom, and we'll just leave it at that. How I know that isn't important. The only thing that really matters here is that I do. If you insist on stealing from them, I can't be responsible for what they do in response." Emeraude's face whipped around.
Finn said, "I'm prepared to put your taxes on hold..." "Taxes," she howled?! She was on her feet. Finn leaned his face against his hand, looking like he was bored. "Same deal everybody's getting, Emeraude. A hundred-thousand coins each year that your land is productive. Rebates for the years that you're not..." "And if I don't pay," she demanded? With a shrug, he said, "you know the answer. I'm your King today, not your husband." Her blush deepened. Her court–her top advisor–had chosen to start them out this way. She wanted to wring Gemma's elegant neck!
Finn was still speaking. Coolly, he said, "I'm prepared to play ball, Emeraude. I'm legalizing the Trade. Effective end of the month. I've already drafted the decree. Cherry's letting the Capos know it's coming." That was the limit! "Have you lost your damned mind," howled the Matriarch! She was on her feet, and she started shouting at him! It was hardly the reaction he'd been expecting. While he knew that his wife didn't really like girls selling themselves, he didn't think her dislike justified that reaction. Of course, shortly the entire room had erupted, and he couldn't get a word in edgewise.
Rising, he started walking. She could come and talk to him if she wanted to work this out. He left the room in a state of chaos with Auda's faction slavering over the idea of a free and legal sex-trade while the other factions variously crowed about how much they could tax it and others showing as much distaste for it as Emeraude herself held. Ironically, it was Apolline that saw the problem–the real problem. Right now, they had their ugly little carnival district, with its brothels and dance-halls. If he legalized it everywhere, how would they compete! That gave even Emeraude pause. She glanced to Auda, who she'd promised redress to. She couldn't keep her promise if he wrecked them out the gate!
Of course, if that wasn't enough, she was shocked and a little terrified that somehow Finn knew what they'd been up to. She'd thought that he was far too busy these last few months just cleaning up the mess. He'd been hunting down any sign that the undead could possibly still be alive along with looking for survivors from among the Hyoomen tribe. Where would he have found the time to be spying on her? And what would he do about it? She knew he could be stubbornly altruistic. Would he really punish her people for a few stones?
Gemma wasn't helping at all. In shrill tones, she demanded that they throw the King of Ooo out of their land. As if Emeraude would even dare. She was in an ugly and unwinnable situation. And when you added in the fact that Finn had already invited the peanuts to come calling, she was in kind of a bind. Pounding her fist into the arm of her chair, the wood-nymph wizard growled, "shut up! All of you! Next person to speak eats a lightning bolt!" By now they knew her temper. The gathering went deathly silent, with even Gemma clamming up. "I need to think," announced the Matriarch. Without a further word, she got up and strode out of the room.
Back in the Candy Kingdom, Blargetha sat on the floor behind her table, glued to her phone. Her strange benefactor had contacted her a couple more times after the first, always out of nowhere, but most often when Finn was out of the Castle. That suggested that it might well be somebody he knew or that came into regular contact with him. And that thought ratcheted up the danger. She'd gone around with that a couple of times, pondering and rethinking her approach to this, wondering if maybe it wasn't a trap or something. After all, if 'Letta could show Blargetha was angling to escape, she could demand Finn kill her sister.
There was a rather hard reality there, though. Finn could kill her any time he glob-damned pleased. He could have done it right after the last of her tanks was destroyed by the undead. He could have done it any time since then. She'd been coerced to participate by the simple reality that Finn wasn't going to have her carried out of harm's way. Maja had gone in willing and given nearly her life. That counted for something–rather a lot, even as Blargetha reckoned it. Finn had no reason at all to play games when he could just off Blargetha and be done with his troubles. It might even buy him into 'Letta's bed if he leaned that way.
Today the news was more grim. 'Letta was looking for people to take poison in to Blargetha's prison. She'd found numerous sources inside the palace who would have done it, but nobody had access to this wing of the dungeon besides Drew. While there was no love lost there, Drew wasn't going to murder a patient. They could have slipped the poison into Blargetha's food, but 'Letta wanted 'deets. She wanted to hear every ugly detail on how Blargetha left the world. She would have paid extra for pictures of the bloated corpse. It was shocking and terrifying news, suggesting that, with each passing day, the older sister was getting closer and closer to being rid of her hated sibling.
Sitting on the floor, riveted by the messages that were coming her way, Blargetha was vaguely aware of keys turning in the lock at the end of the hall. She'd gone just too long. Drew was coming. Slipping the phone in her pocket, the slime-woman gathered herself to her feet, dusting her ass off, as the tall doctor came up the hall. Drew stopped in front of her cell a moment, staring at Blargetha in puzzlement. "You haven't finished your lunch," she remarked? "Not hungry," rumbled the slime woman. Now the doctor fished out her key, as if she would come into the cell. "Are you well," she asked?
The questions began then, and a startled Blargetha put her off, actually backing away. The last thing she needed was for this woman to find her secret lifeline. "I'm fine," she muttered. Drew wasn't so sure. She'd been a little disturbed when she learned about the 'spell' Maja had used to transform the slime-people, and she'd gone over Hurletta as much out of concern for side-effects as for the other things. Just as she might have gone in the cell, Maudie declared, "take your medicine and let us die in peace, bitch! Can't you see we'd rather be dead than live out our lives here?!" Drew sighed heavily as she shut the door and locked it. Shaking her head, she went up the hall to Maja's room, leaving Blargetha alone.
Just as before, Drew found her patient snoozing quietly. She did that a lot when Finn was gone, almost as if he was her whole reason for still being here among the living. Drew carefully went and checked her pulse and breathing, then did a little cleaning. Maja's room was the sort of messy that was typical of a child–nothing like the meticulously organized woman who'd fought them in the war. When she was done, she picked up the bag of trash to head out. And that was when Drew saw the pieces on the Card Wars mat begin to move themselves once more.
She stood there a moment, watching and listening, as those phantom pieces marched across the board, while Maja mumbled incoherent things in her sleep. The doctor wasn't sure which would have been worse–to have the witch in the same condition as the others, which was to say confined to a tiny patch of ground for the rest of her life–or if this was the better fate. Maja was happy here. She was happy in her childish love for Finn and her endless games of Card Wars, and she couldn't threaten the civilized kingdoms ever again. As the phantom game wrapped itself up, Drew wrapped the sleeping madwoman in a blanket, leaving her alone there in her room.
That afternoon found Emeraude also alone and in a hell of her own making. She'd thought she was doing the right thing–going back to right the mess her mother had made. She'd intended to right the ship and get out of this place, but that seemed now to have been a fantasy. The problems had continued to come long after she'd hoped to pack her things for home, and she'd found herself honestly feeling like she was at the end of her rope.
She'd brought on advisors to school her on some of the things she was missing, but that now felt like a disaster too. Clarice was coldly mercenary and willing to throw anyone under the bus for her own gain. Apolline kept pushing for taxes their people couldn't afford to provide services of dubious necessity. And Gemma? While she had given the Matriarch sound advice on rewriting some of their laws, Emeraude sometimes saw things in her advisor that bothered her.
The people were starting to achieve a level of certainty and prosperity, and that counted for something. That was what kept the her going. At the same time, her advisors' antics were driving her to quit. They were just as bad as the princesses, but with the power and money of a pack of paupers. They just didn't fucking get that there were powers out there that could easily smash them.
After the disastrous meeting with Finn–a meeting that Gemma had tried to steer to her own liking–the former Huntress Wizard had retired to the garden to be alone and think. Unfortunately, the turmoil had come with her, and she'd spent much of the time going in slow circles wondering how she could get off this ride. In the end, she'd sent for Gemma, hoping that the older woman had calmed down and was now ready with some useful answers instead of anger. Now, as she waited on her chief advisor to arrive, Emeraude found herself pacing. Up and down, back and forth.
It was as she was making the fortieth such circuit of the Matriarch's private space, a plaintive 'mom' announced Fionna. Before Emeraude could react, Fionna had practically snatched her up off the ground and was hugging the stuffing out of her. Just like her dad. In spite of the fact that she was preggers. "Fi," the wizard complained! "You're pregnant! Again!" When Fionna let her down, the pretty blonde was all grins. She was just like her father. Still. Seeing the pinkish jewel embedded in her right temple caused Emeraude's heart to lurch. She was just like Finn in too many ways now.
"It's great to see you too, mom," burbled the pretty blonde.
She was faking.
That was the hell of it all. She was still pretty, blonde, dumb Fionna. Except she wasn't. Chattering away about nothing. Talking a mile a minute as if she feared she wouldn't get everything said. And all of it fake because she was probably the smartest person in the garden right now. Emeraude stopped her. Reaching up, she hugged her beautiful daughter one more time. "Mother," burbled Fionna? The facade cracked a bit. "I'm ok, Fi," Emeraude sighed as she kissed the tall girl's cheek. "I love you, baby," she sighed. The pretty blonde flushed to her hair and grinned for answer.
Stroking the baby-bump in Fionna's middle, she asked, "so do we know?" "Another girl," said Fionna. "Mom did her wiz-biz on me. No curse." That was quite a relief. "She have a name," Emeraude asked? Grinning, the Bad Bunny said, "was thinking of naming her after you, but mom got there first." Emeraude flushed. Jewel. Simone had named her baby Jewel. She felt... ashamed. She'd abandoned her family. Again. Still. Fionna and Star were both raising their own families, and she was here. She didn't get to see them anymore. And worse than that, she didn't see her husband, the great love of her life. Where had the time gone?
Fionna seemed to let that roll right off her back. Grabbing Emeraude by the shoulder, she dragged the older woman to the bench and made her sit down. Settling beside her, the tall blonde took her stepmom's hand and began to talk. She began to talk as if she fully intended to catch the older woman up on all that was going on. In spite of knowing that her advisor was likely waiting outside, the Matriarch decided that the time was better spent right where she was.
Fionna was in a wonderful mood as she walked home that evening. She'd had a great time talking with her mom. In point of fact, it was the best experience she'd had with her mom since she was a little girl. There was just something about their new roles in life. She finally understood. She understood the things that Emeraude had tried to teach her and tell her when she was a hard-headed teen. Back then, all she could think about was the fact that Emeraude wasn't her biological mom, and she'd honestly felt like Star's mom shouldn't really have authority over her. Now... Seeing past all those awkward moments, she saw the hard-won experience that her step-mom was trying to pass on, and now she wanted to learn all she could from the older woman.
She'd had an epiphany. At least that was the word that she vaguely remembered Shoko using. Now she wanted to share that with her father, and she could hardly wait to talk to him now. As she strode up the street towards the back door of her grand-aunt's home, the pretty blonde came across a shocking tableau. There was a dude there, and he was clearly angry and all up in Marphisa's face. Standing there in the shadows, the Bad Bunny decided to stand by and watch. She vaguely remembered the face from sometime in her past, but she couldn't have placed him if she tried.
Up ahead, Marphisa Baudin weathered the gale of her former boyfriend's anger with her usual outward calm. Dolf had gotten the boot from the forest for violence and stealing even before the crisis with the war and the undead. The last straw had been his attempt to make bank on the chaos after the last slave-raid. He'd gotten on the wrong-side of the Lawkeeper's Guard, and Marphisa had refused to vouch for him. Now she found herself a little terrified that he wanted to take it out on her.
As Dolf was getting down to the bottom of his list of things that he was angry about, Finn stepped out of the back door of the bar. Calmly, he asked his wife's aunt, "is there a problem here?" "Dolf was asking for help," Marphisa burbled. Finn could see she was lieing. He'd heard a lot of what had already gotten said, and he recognized the man from the day they'd come here to see Emeraude before the slave-raid. "Hey," Finn greeted him. "I can hire you a room at an inn..." Dolf glared at him. After a pause, he growled, "is this your new man, bitch?! Is it?! Replaced me just like that, have you?!" Finn replied, "Marphisa is my wife's aunt. You might know Marphisa's niece? She's the Matriarch..."
It was a very subtle warning about the risks of what Dolf was doing. The forest's rules had changed under the new Matriarch. Emeraude had never liked the abusive boyfriends and assorted hang-arounds who sometimes terrorized her people. Voletta strictly and coldly enforced the dictates of her new mistress. It could be worth your life to harm a woman here.
Angry, the rude man shoved Finn. Terrified–she'd seen what happened to men who crossed her niece's mate–Marphisa began pleading with him to go before he pushed Finn the Human just too far. Dolf turned and backhanded her, nearly knocking her down. And that was very nearly the last thing he ever did. The grass-sword snatched him up in its tendrils, and it looked very nearly as though Finn would tear him in half on the spot. "I think you need to leave, Dolf," said the King of Ooo. "I think you should go forth from the forest and never come back. If you leave now, we'll pretend that this never happened... that you didn't touch a member of the Royal Family..." When the big man let him down, Dolf tore out of there in a state of terror. He ran into the shadows and out of sight. Finn took hold of Marphisa's arm and steered the sobbing woman back inside and up the stairs to her house.
Dolf ran straight into an enraged Fionna, who'd just seen the sort of ugly thing that her parents had tried to hide from her most of her life. In his panic, Dolf snarled, "out of my way, bitch!" The Bad Bunny saw red just then. "I saw what you did," she growled. Her eyes glowed with a bright reddish-pink fire, and Dolf goggled at her. Reaching out, she grabbed him by the throat, her diamond-hard nails digging in. Panicked, the angry man tried to tear himself away, but it was already too late. Crystals grew up along his legs, encapsulating his body, imprisoning him for eternity. As the strange crystal coffin sank deep into the ground, Fionna strode towards her aunt's home, her good mood evaporated by the awful sight she'd just seen.
Inside the house, she found her father standing on the far side of the room from her aunt, talking to her in a quiet voice. She knew instinctively what that was about. This wasn't something her dad really could do. It was something boys weren't good at. It wasn't something you could smash or grow or turn a wrench on, and her dad was one of the few to know and admit it. Striding up to her aunt, the tall girl threw her arms around the older woman and hugged her. Marphisa goggled at her. Kissing the plump woman's cheek, the blonde girl murmured, "I love you, aunt Marphisa."
Unaccountably, the plump wood-nymph flushed. Then she hugged her step-niece back and whispered, "thank-you, child." Shaking off the ugly incident that had happened earlier, she said, "come on. I'll teach you to cook something. If you're going to keep getting pregnant, you're going to need this." Fionna pitched in to help cook up dinner while her dad sat himself at the table to watch, listen, and wait. Fionna did all she could to distract the older woman, saying not a word about the mark on her cheek or the obvious signs that she'd been crying.
Morning found father and daughter standing in the empty plains that had once been a bustling part of the Candy Kingdom. To the south lay an arm of the forest that was the former Wildberry Kingdom. To the southwest was Cocoa City. To the east sat the Duchy of Nuts and beyond it the Peanut Kingdom.
Fionna scanned the scene before them with a bland expression, unconsciously mirroring the icy serenity of her father. They were becoming so alike that nearly everyone noticed it. The young soldier who was their driver found himself wondering which of the two would be more likely to just snatch his butt up and haul him to safety simply because that was what they were. They seemed to almost seethe with barely-leashed energy. He wondered what they saw when they looked out on the world. Perhaps the countless threats and ways there were to die? Or maybe it was the wonders that they so often sought to protect? Neither really spoke much, which sort of added to the mood.
"She'll come, father," announced the pretty blonde girl. It was the sort of sudden that the driver had become used to. "She's still my mother," said Fionna. "We're still her family, even with the other things in the way..." Finn nodded. He'd shamelessly used his daughter as a lever on his wife, leveraging her pain and angst at their current circumstances to compel her to come to the table. It didn't feel right. He didn't like to do this to Emeraude, when she'd suffered so much already. At the same time, well, what choice did he have? The things Marphisa told him were worrying him. He worried that this burden was killing his wife, and there seemed no relief in sight.
He had little time to spend on those problems though. Reports and rumors from the east suggested that the human flood of hungry and starving people was coming fast and strong. Survivors of the destruction in Elbow Kingdom, people from the uncharted wastes. All were coming to the civilized kingdoms in hopes of finding food to sustain them. They were bringing families and whatever baggage they could carry, but they were also bringing violence and disease. The Lich had left him with a mess, and his options were growing very narrow with summer fading and winter coming on fast.
As his mind was working on the problem, a cloud of dust in the distance announced that one of his negotiating partners had arrived. The peanuts were here, and they were coming early. "Soldiers, father," announced Fionna. "A lot of them." Finn sighed. It appeared that his would-be prince was choosing to be a fool. He had hoped for better, but he was prepared for this eventuality. With his daughter at his side, he was prepared for this, though he was sick of slaughter and death. "Sire," announced the soldier. "There's a car coming." Finn sighed his relief. Emeraude. She was here after all. He just hoped she was in a mood to be reasonable. He didn't want to sanction her too.
The Matriarch arrived in a heavy, off-road car like the one that had brought Finn. An additional car brought a select few members of her cabinet, including Gemma. Finn greeted them all with a polite 'good morning' as they exited the two cars. Emeraude frowned at him. She didn't like to be compelled. At the same time, she'd been caught doing something she'd known going in would be trouble. She'd signed off to get a quick fix for some of her worst problems, but she'd never dreamed the consequences would be so severe.
It helped not at all to find herself dealing with 'New Finn' or 'the King' as Gemma called him. The King was an unreadable enigma who could be tender and kind one moment and a cruel bastard the next. This sucked worse than when she and Simone had walked out on him. Underneath all the passive-aggressive anger, Finn had still been reaching out to them to fix things. Now...
As if in confirmation of the Matriarch's fears, the King of Ooo turned first to her Lawkeeper. "There's a man named Dolf, Voletta," said 'New Finn'. "He's an abuser of women and should be barred from the Forest." Gemma's mouth came unhinged as the big man calmly described the man in question and laid out exactly what should happen to him if he returned. He was giving their Lawkeeper orders. Confirming her fears, Voletta replied, "it will be as you say, Your Majesty."
Finn moved on. Heedless of Emeraude's staring, he strode off towards the very hostile delegation that had split off from the army in the distance. His would-be peanut prince was waiting. "Come along, mother," said Fionna. To Voletta, she said, "he's gone. I took care of it." The Lawkeeper flushed as she guessed just how Fionna had 'taken care of it'. Taking the Matriarch by the hand, Fionna stepped off.
As they followed her father, the Bad Bunny told her stepmom, "he doesn't need to know. The problem's gone. Aunt Marphisa will be fine." Emeraude's head whipped around. "I took care of him, mother," said the Bad Bunny. "He won't ever return." Emeraude's face became clouded, and she twined her fingers in her stepdaughter's. She was ashamed. She was ashamed that Fionna had even had to see that. "I'm an adult, momma," said Fi. "I had to see it sometime. Not all men are my daddy, but most men aren't Dolf either."
They found the peanuts waiting on them at the appointed place, looking hostile. Some came armed, and Voletta opined, "this is very dangerous, my King." Finn smiled that cold smile that gave Emeraude the willies. Striding up to Baron Rolf, Finn offered the angry peanut a hearty handshake. To Fionna, he said, "a table worthy of parley, General..." Closing her eyes, the Glass Witch caused a table of pure crystal to form in the field. That gave the angry peanut pause. Finn took a seat at the head of the table with his daughter standing at his right hand. Motioning for his unwilling 'guests' to sit, the King said, "let's talk."
It's hard mixing business with pleasure, so don't play...