The Song of Fern

The King of Nothing

Still trembling, Fern entered the room where her father and brothers had gathered. When she came in, Senna and Avery got up, and Maxen looked her up and down, looking for anything wrong.

'I can't marry him, I can't,' she breathed, wringing her hands. 'Don't make me marry him!' She dropped to her knees in front of her father and clasped his hands. Tears were now staining her cheeks as she went into a panic.

'You won't,' Senna grumbled. 'We will take you away from here.'

'Why can't you just tell him I'm not to marry him? Give me away to that awful Duke of Somewhere and be done with it.'

Her father sighed. 'If it's true what he says, it's not that easy. If you truly are... mated to him, mortal marriage won't stop him. The bond is ethereal. It's actually a blessing.' Horrified, Fern got up.

'You are not telling me to my face it is a blessing to be bound to a toad!?'

'Fern,' her father said softly, 'if he doesn't get his way, he will take Emerald. I can't let innocent blood flood the streets.'

'You don't have to if you give it to him! You promised me...' She turned to Kayro. 'He will kill you all. You know he will.' The Frog King had a reputation, in this world and Otherworld, for being a ruthless and relentless warrior, wicked and cunning and fearless. Finally, Kayro dropped on his knees, leaving his head hanging.

'You are worth more to me than any crown, Fern.' She felt the but coming, so she cupped his face with her slender hands and forced him to look at her.

'Let us retreat now, and plan for a surprise attack to take back Emerald. We can't possibly win right now. Strike a bargain with a Fae, you can never get out of those. Go to war against his army, we can never win that.' The princes remained silent.

'The princess might be onto something,' John spoke, 'you can't lose and the Frog King can't win if you leave before the bargain is struck. No good can come from a Fae bargain.' Fern nodded vehemently while her brothers thought about giving up their home and everything they had learned was theirs.

'Pack lightly,' the Now-King ultimately said. 'We will leave before he realises we are up to something.' He then turned to Avery with a grave look in his hazel eyes. 'I need you to buy us time, son. He expects you to fight him tomorrow. If you are here to meet him on the training grounds, he will not immediately know Fern is gone.'

'I will stay with him,' Zeno said. 'The Frog King expects me as well. Together we will buy you enough time to get to Grimswald.' Fern swallowed. She had only heard of Grimswald through John's scary bedtime stories, the ones she always wished she hadn't let him tell her.

'Then it is settled.' The King got up from his chair. 'John, can I trust you stay here and make sure everything is looked after?' John nodded curtly and the King turned to his sons. 'Again, pack lightly, but be sure to pack weapons and tools. Leave. I will see you on horseback at the edge of Grimswald. Kayro, I trust you with your sister.' Lastly, the King turned to Fern, who was shaking uncontrollably. He waited until his sons had left the room. A careful smile pulled at the corners of his mouth.

'He truly is a toad of a man, isn't he?' he mused to his daughter. She let out a nervous laugh before she started crying again.

'Maybe I should accept him,' she said, 'so you and all of Emerald are safe.' The King shook his head.

'Fae Kings are fickle. Now he seems, although rude and theatrical and greedy, rather reasonable. Tomorrow, it can be very different. If he gets in a mood, your head will roll. Fae tend to forget how very fragile the human body is. I cannot let that happen, Fern. I am now solely your father, King of Nothing.'

'We will come back, Father. I promise you.'

Since the Frog King slept in Fern's room, she couldn't take any of her stuff, but she really didn't mind. Instead, she packed two of her mother's dresses and her old riding trousers and tunic. She opened her mother's vanity cabinet and took out her mother's brush and mirror, and three very small items she could keep very close to her that reminded her of her mother and of home. Lastly, she looked around the room, forcing her mind to memorise the place, before she put on her cloak and left through a hidden door that would eventually lead her to the edge of the Sapphire Woods, where Kayro and Maxen would wait for her.

'Remember,' John said, when she got on her black mare. 'Words have power.' She took his hand and squeezed his fingers, smiling with gratitude and sadness, before she followed her brothers into the Sapphire Woods.

Grimswald was three days away. They would not rest until they got there.

***

When the Frog King awoke the next morning, he rolled to his side and brought the silk pillow closer to his face, so he could inhale his mate's perfume. He hadn't expected her to sleep next to him, and it didn't trouble him. In due time, she would get used to him and she would accept him. 

Whistling some Fae tune from a hundred years ago, he got dressed and followed the smell of freshly baked bread to the dining hall. There was a table with nine plates, nine cups, nine knives, nine forks and nine egg cups. A lazy smile spread on his face as he realised the ninth of everything was his. He looked to the two brothers who sat opposite each other and frowned.

'Where is your family?' the Frog King asked.

'Up early,' Avery replied with his food stuffed in his cheek. 'And Fern is probably up late.' The Frog King made his way over to the table and sat down. A slow smile played his wide mouth as he realised they outplayed him. He couldn't smell or sense Fern as strongly as he had the evening before. She wasn't here, he was sure of that. And her brothers had stayed behind to give her a head start.

He already enjoyed this far more than he would've thought.