Dagda looked out of the window and sighed, realizing that it was the tenth time he did it in the last thirty minutes. How could he not? On his desk sat the formal peace proposal between the Dark Forest and the Fairy Fields, and it was the most reasonable thing he had read in the time he had been king. The only thing Bog couldn't be swayed with was the cutting of the primroses every spring, and even he agreed that those damn flowers should be controlled in case someone has the funny idea of making a Love Potion. Fortunately Dagda had never witnessed the damage from an outbreak of the potion, but he knew their history, and it was written on the records of cases when people thought it was a good idea to make someone fall in love with them against their will.
Anyways, he knew he was just stalling. What could he say? What could he do? He didn't really thought the idea would work and he was just as baffled as the Council. Marianne's idea was so wild and fantastic that no one really thought it could become reality. Not even him. He felt ashamed for doubting his daughter and treating her dreams like childish blabbering.
He just wanted the old Marianne back!
He didn't want to be friends with the Bog King.
The king sighed, again . He knew they didn't have to be exactly friends, but he was friendly by nature and couldn't imagine a peace treaty with no friendship between rulers.
It was Marianne's idea, after all, and it was her who wanted to be friends with the goblins and… what was that she said? Have adventures! It is her who should be managing all of this, he was just too old…
But she couldn't be Queen. She was not married! She could not be a ruler alone, it could only make them look weak without a proper King by her side. Why couldn't she just marry Roland and let her poor father retire? The young man was strong and a natural leader, and they looked so good together, Marianne looked good beside him. Happy, even.
What happened to make her call off the wedding? Roland swears it was just a misunderstanding, but his daughter hadn't said a word about what really happened and she was always out these days.
Dagda turned to the abandoned papers and frowned. If he wanted to support his daughter, the first step was to take this treaty seriously, and to do that he had to sit down and actually write a proposal to discuss with the Council, and then send it to the Dark Forest for a final approval.
Music from the outside distracted him from his task and the king looked out to see what was the fuss about. The Spring Ball! It was that time of the season again, huh?
A brilliant idea sparked on his head as he sat down again in front of his desk. Maybe…? No, the Bog King would probably refuse, but it would make Marianne happy to see him embrace this friendship with the neighbour kingdom. It was definitely worth it.
He pulled another piece of paper and started writing something more informal for the goblin King, half heartedly hoping that he would politely refuse.