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If they thought that Diane would leave peacefully, they were wrong. She stormed into Abby’s bedroom as Ducky and Gibbs figured out what was needed to free Abby and Bert.
“They’re mine. Give them to me.” Diane pointed to Abby and Bert.
“They are my subjects and definitely don’t belong to you.”
Diane laughed. “It’s a hippopotamus toy and a mechanical figurine. They’re not your people.”
Ducky felt the magic that she used effortlessly try to take effect. His wards prevented it from working on him, but he worried about the effect it would have on Gibbs. He’d done his best to protect his king from spells, but it obviously hadn’t worked well given the king was now rather furry and beast like.
Gibbs glared at Diane and then shook his head. “They are mine. I will take care of them.”
Ducky nodded to Abby and Bert, “Come on, Jethro let’s take our guests somewhere more pleasant for them.”
Gibbs picked up Abby and Bert and nodded as he followed Ducky out. Diane tried to stop them, but Ducky’s defensive magics allowed them to continue on their way. On top of that, the entire castle was distracted, including Diane, by a bumptious fellow that showed up at the palace gates.
He introduced himself as Tobias Fornell. He didn’t bother asking permission to enter the palace or to stay; just barged right on in. Apparently, he was a travelling bard, though a rather terrible one.
His singing voice could definitely use some work, but his playing of the fiddle was decent. Everyone quickly protested him singing, but it didn’t bother him in the slightest. He felt he belonged there for some reason, mainly that he was an old friend of King Gibbs.
Gibbs and Ducky had put Abby and Bert in the King’s private chambers for now and Ducky had bespelled it as best as he could so that Diane couldn’t enter it. They’d then been accosted shortly after exiting Gibbs’ rooms by a guard about their new “guest”.
They’d followed the guard to find Fornell holding court with a number of people just eating up his stories of adventure. Gibbs shook his head and took his normal place at these kind of gatherings. Fornell immediately moved to join Gibbs as soon as he finished the story he was in the middle of.
Ducky retreated to the corner to watch. Now, he was always on guard and he would be until Diane was gone for good. Of course, Diane had never been good with being left out and immediately joined Gibbs and Fornell.
Gibbs stared bemused as Fornell and Diane hit it off immediately. He worried for his friend, but at the same time hoped that whatever happened between the two of them would distract Diane from him and his kingdom. He wouldn’t interrupt whatever was going on between them now, but he would make sure to pull his friend aside and warn him about Diane.
Fornell was an adult, but Gibbs wouldn’t feel right without warning him. Of course, Fornell might deserve it given that he hadn’t even blinked at Gibbs’ furriness. Gibbs wasn’t sure what to make of the unusual response from his friend.
Usually, Fornell was all over making fun of him. It would be one thing if he hadn’t recognized him and thought he was someone else, but Fornell had been talking to him the way he always did. Eventually, Diane and Fornell both made their excuses to leave and the party in general started to disperse about the same time.
Ducky took advantage of the party breaking apart to join Gibbs again. They both headed back to Gibbs’ rooms. There was still a lot that needed to be done for the room they planned to keep Abby and Bert in.
With Diane distracted, now was the perfect time to do it. Gibbs focused on making the room physically more inviting for Abby and Bert. He couldn’t really ask Bert what he wanted in the room as all Bert could do was fart, but he did use sign language to converse with Abby about what would make the room better in her opinion.
He shook his head when Abby requested he make a vampire coffin for the room. He would do a lot for his daughter, but he wasn’t sure about that request. While Gibbs worked on the physical aspects of the room, Ducky focused on the magical aspects.
Ducky made sure the energy of the room was positive. He added wards to protect against magical attacks and put up his best single target defensive spells to keep Diane out in particular. He did everything he could think of to make it a sanctuary for Abby and Bert.
He just hoped that it would be enough for whatever was coming next.