Chapter Text
Extra clothes?
Check.
Toothbrush?
Check.
Comb?
Check.
Make-up?
Check.
Maps?
Check.
New trade proposals?
Check.
Sword?
Double check!
Marianne slung her full satchel over her shoulder and headed straight for her open bedroom window. Now she just had to hurry and get out of here before-
“Put down the satchel and step away from the window!”
-Dawn caught her.
Crap in a thimble!
“Now Dawn-”
“Don’t you ‘now Dawn’ me!” Her little sister retorted as she yanked the satchel away and pulled Marianne back into the main part of the room by the elbow. “You are not going anywhere! You’re sick!”
“I’m not sick!” Marianne tried to argue even as she let her sister steer her to her rose-bed and guide her to a sitting position. “I’m just a little run down from all the stuff I’ve had to take care of while dad’s away.”
Now that the cool autumn season had arrived, their father was currently visiting the far south region of the Fairy Kingdom, ensuring that everything would be in order once it came time for the winter migration. He wouldn’t be due back until the end of the month.
As heir, it was Marianne’s responsibility to rule the kingdom in his stead, and she had been doing a fantastic job of it, but unfortunately, it left virtually no time for her to spend with Bog.
Always willing to help, especially in matters of romance, Dawn, under the reasoning that technically she was an heir as well and could use the practice, just in case, had offered to take over while Marianne took a well-deserved, week-long vacation in the Dark Forest.
Apparently, she’d changed her mind.
“A little run down, my foot!” She scoffed, wrestling her sister’s boots off. “You’ve been achy and dizzy, you haven’t slept, nor touched a bite of food for three whole days and this morning your temperature started to rise! You know that’s a really bad sign, Marianne!”
The brunette opened her mouth to contradict, but thought better of it.
“I’m sorry,” her sister went on, “you know I’m yours and Bog’s biggest fan, and I know how much you’ve been missing him, but I am not going to gamble with your health like this.”
After a little more coaxing, Marianne ultimately gave in with a huff and let Dawn dress her in her nightgown and hand her a glass of water.
She didn’t want to admit how nice the icy liquid felt going down her itchy throat.
“Don’t worry about a thing!” Dawn chirped, fluffing the pillows and straightening the blankets. “I’ll take care of everything. I’ll fetch a healer, I’ll go to the council meetings, I’ll oversee the trades, and I’ll wait on you hand and foot!”
Marianne still pouted.
“I was gonna spend all of this week with Bog!”
“Well, now you’ll just have to spend all of next week with him! You’ll be better in no time and I’ll send him a message letting him know you-”
“NO!” Marianne exclaimed, seizing her sister’s wrist. “Don’t do that!”
“What?”
“Don’t tell Bog about this; about me being sick!”
Dawn’s brow creased in confusion.
“Why not?”
“I don’t wanna worry him.”
“Marianne, he should know! He’s your boyfriend!”
“Ugh, don’t call him that!”
“That’s what he is!”
“Well, yeah I know, but ‘boyfriend’ just sounds so…so…goopy.”
“Goopy?” Dawn repeated, nearly snorting with laughter. “Are you serious?!”
“Oh, shut up!”
“I am definitely getting you a healer now! I think your brain is starting to go!” The blonde briefly giggled before sobering. “But really, Marianne, don’t you think Bog would want to know if you’re not feeling well? Oh, what if he brings you a bowl of home-made goblin soup to make you well again?! Eee! That’d be so romantic!”
“Or,” Marianne cut in, “what if he freaks and drives me up the wall with all his fussing? You know how protective he is!”
“That’s because he loves you!”
“I know, and I love him too, but I’ve made my decision and I say don’t tell him! You said so yourself, I’ll be better in no time, we’ll just loose a few days, a week at the most! He’ll be better off not hearing anything about this, so he won’t get all worked up. Just tell him…tell him we had some nobles drop in at the last minute and I had to-”
“Oh no you don’t!” Dawn crossed her arms and stuck her button nose in the air. “I am not going to lie to Bog for you! My future brother-in-law deserves better than that, thank you very much!”
“We’re not engaged!”
“Well good! I wouldn’t wanna marry you either if you kept secrets from me!”
“What?! I-you-that doesn’t-! Oh for goodness sake, fine! Just tell him I’ll be there next week!”
“What about why-?”
“Say I’m…too busy to get away!
“…”
“Technically, it’s not a lie!”
Dawn glared at her, but eventually heaved a sigh of defeat.
“Alright, Marianne. Have it your way. Just don’t blame me if Bog finds out and wants your head on a stick.”
“Hey angry Bog, I can handle; but I’ll pass on hovering Bog any day. Besides, he won’t find out. I’ll be back on my feet in a day or two.”
“I still think you’re being ridiculous.” Dawn said, crossing to Marianne’s writing desk so she could get to work on her note for the Dark Forest’s mistreated king.
When Bog received the message he had, of course, been deeply disappointed that his plans with Marianne had to be put on hold, even if it was only for another week. He had been aching to see her, to hear her, to touch her.
Nevertheless, he understood all too well the ever-present demands of ruling a kingdom alone. He would be patient and wait.
…But Marianne didn’t come the following week…
Nor the week after.
By the third week, Bog was nervous enough to send a letter of inquiry.
There was no reply and no Marianne.
He sent more letters...
The fourth week began, still without an answer and without a princess.
Sunny paced the floor of Dawn’s bedroom as he waited for her to return from the hospital wing with, hopefully, some good news.
The past couple of weeks had been nothing short of hellish.
Within hours after Dawn’s note was sent to the Dark Forest, Marianne had collapsed on her way to the lavatory and had to be put in intensive care. Every available healer in the immediate vicinity had been summoned to the castle.
The elf had not been able to see Marianne himself, everything factual he knew had come from Dawn, but the rumors were raging through the kingdom that the eldest princess might not be long for this world.
Some were already leaving lit candles in their windows as a sign of mourning!
Sunny refused to believe such talk. The only thing that was for certain, was that Marianne had not shown any sign of improvement yet.
Word had been sent to the Fairy King, but reports said that the winds were very high towards the south right now, so the messengers had to resort to traveling on foot until the weather turned more favorable for flying. At this rate, the king would only learn of his daughter’s sickness the moment he returned to the main fields.
And Dawn!
Bless her, she’d been running herself ragged trying to keep things organized and look after her sister! She’d barely gotten any sleep and would’ve eaten even less, had it not been for Sunny’s stubborn insistence at monitoring her diet.
The last thing they needed was another patient.
Up until fifteen minutes ago, he’d wondered why the Bog King had yet to make an appearance. Surely he would’ve been at Marianne’s bedside in a flash as soon as he’d heard about how serious the situation was?
The reason, he’d discovered, was currently lying on top of Dawn’s vanity:
A small group of letters bearing the Dark Forest’s royal seal.
Dawn had been so frazzled lately, she must not have had time to answer them.
He shuddered to think what raw turmoil might be going through Bog’s mind right now and how it would undoubtedly increase to manic proportions once he found out just how much Marianne’s condition had declined since he’d heard last.
Or all of you will be NEXT!
Sunny did not want to know what would happen when a goblin’s temper was lost.
The sound of dragging footsteps coming through the doorway prevented him from dwelling on the subject any further and Sunny looked up to see the pale and haggard form of Dawn entering the room.
Her normally primped hair was mussed and flat. She’d been wearing the same dress for three days straight. It was spotty, the skirt was wrinkled and there was a rip along the right side of the hemline. Her once vibrant eyes were now glassy and bloodshot.
But it was her pure, heartbroken expression that struck him numb.
Marianne! No…no, she couldn’t be! NO!
“S-S-Sunny.” The princess whimpered before she shot across the room and into his arms, nearly barreling him over in the process.
“Oh, Sunny!” She pitifully wept, burying her face in his neck. “Sh-Sh-She’s not…any b-better! She’s m-m-mo-more r-restless than she-she was l-l-last night, b-b-but now sh-she’s…she’s in-incoherent! She w-wouldn’t answer m-m-me wh-when I tried to-to speak t-to her! Sh-She can’t…can’t tell wh-what’s going on around h-her anym-m-more!”
Even though the awaited news was still profoundly disappointing, Sunny felt his pulse decelerate in relief that it wasn’t as dire as he’d initially feared. He stroked Dawn’s back to soothe her.
“Do y-you know wh-what the l-l-lead standing he-healer said to-to me just now? He s-s-said…he said…he said I…I sh-should pre-prepare f-f-for the worst!”
She wailed and clutched Sunny tighter.
“Hey now!” The elf said, leaning back to cup her face in his hands. “None of that, do you hear me? Dawn, you know your sister’s tougher than caiman hide. She won’t let this bring her down.”
He thumbed away her tears.
“Don’t listen to that guy! We’re still waiting for Master Philip to get here, remember? He’s been known to turn a diagnosis around, no matter how fatal it looks. When do you expect him?”
“We-We finally tracked him d-down in the…in the-the Zoysia Hills a f-few days ago. He sh-should be here be-before sundown.”
“See? There’s still hope.” He kissed her forehead. “Every little thing is gonna be alri-.”
He was interrupted by a hesitant knock.
“I’ll get it.” He offered, knowing Dawn would prefer not to meet anyone with red, puffy eyes.
He opened the door to reveal a castle attendant holding a familiar, crinkly ocher envelope.
“From the Dark Forest, sir.”
Sunny took it from him with a low thank you and returned to Dawn, who had moved to perch on the edge of her bed.
“It’s another message from Bog.”
“What?!”
Dawn snatched the letter from his hands and blanched in horror. She staggered up to her feet and her frantic gaze flew to the matching pile sitting on her vanity top. She spun around with a wild gasp and her hands fisted in her hair.
The released letter fluttered to the ground.
“BOG!” She shrieked as panicked tears brimmed over again and she sank to her knees. “Oh no, poor Bog! I forgot all about him! How could I be so stupid?! He’s gotta be worried out of his mind by now!”
She covered her face in her hands and rocked back and forth in her anguish.
“I’m such a complete idiot! Bog and Marianne! It’s all my fault! Oh my goodness, what am I gonna do?! What am I gonna DO?!”
“Dawn, Dawn!” Sunny shouted, grabbing her shoulders and giving her a shake. “Honey, breathe!
Her desperate eyes met the elf’s cinnamon orbs and she hiccupped.
“It is not your fault, Dawn! None of this is! You’ve been amazing these last weeks, ruling the kingdom by yourself and helping take care of Marianne. Nobody could’ve done better! You just got swamped, that’s all. No one’s perfect, but you can’t blame yourself! It’s okay, I’ll go get a scribe and we’ll have an urgent message sent to out to Bog, right away. Then I’ll draw you a bath and get you something to eat and we’ll play a game while we wait for Master Philip, alright? I’ll be right back!”
He was halfway to the door when Dawn’s choked, guilty voice stopped him short.
“Sunny…Bog doesn’t…h-he doesn’t kn-know about this.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“I mean he doesn’t know Marianne is sick…at all. She w-wouldn’t let me tell him. She thought she’d…be fine in-in just a couple of days…and she didn’t want to upset him, so she…she asked m-me to say that…that she was just really busy and that…that she’d come to the Dark Forest as s-s-soon as she could.”
Sunny gulped as his earlier apprehensions spiked.
This was very bad.
It was one thing if Bog was just anxiously waiting for an update on Marianne’s state of health, but it was a whole other hornet’s nest if he hadn’t known anything about her illness in the first place!
…and with her growing weaker by the day!
Darn that Marianne and her pride!
If she…died…or even if Master Philip arrived in the next second and cured her, heads were going to roll for this.
“What’ll w-we do?”
Sunny bit his lip. Despite his dread, there was only one thing to do.
What should’ve been done from the beginning.
“The right thing. We’ve got to tell Bog, now.”
Without another word, he left Dawn in her room and ran through the castle in search of a scribe.
In less than a half-hour, a new message was on its way to the Dark Forest.