Love in the Little Kingdom

Love in the Little Kingdom Part 1

"The arbour is coming along nicely now, don't you think so, Ben?"

Ben looked up from his carving to where the Wise Old Elf had entered the workshop. All around them, elves were working hard, blowing glass for goblets, turning spindles for tables and chairs, sewing cloth for bunting and table cloths and gathering all manner of pretty items to adorn the ballroom for the forthcoming Spring Ball.

"Thank you, Wise Old Elf. It was an honour to be chosen to build the arbour for the ball."

"You are the best carpenter in Great Oak, Ben. You were the natural choice." Said the Wise Old Elf.

"Since my father passed." Ben replied, speaking that which the Wise Old Elf had politely omitted. Ben wished that everyone in Great Oak would stop tip-toeing around him. A year had already gone by since his fathers' death.

The Wise Old Elf came to sit on the stool beside him. He had grown more frail lately, finally beginning to show the signs of his advanced years. Ben felt a lump rise in his throat as he watched his careful movements, not wishing to contemplate that devastation that would one day befall the elves of Great Oak.

"Beltane fast approaches. It is only three more days until the ball."

"The arbour will be ready by then, Wise Old Elf, don't you worry." Ben said cheerfully. What did the Wise Old Elf want? He was as wily as he was wise and rarely stopped for a chat for no reason.

"I'm glad to hear it. Do you know what the arbour is going to be for?"

"King Thistle will stand beneath it to make his pronouncements for the coming season." Ben said, trying to keep the patronising tone out of his voice. Was the Wise Old Elf going doolally?

"We expect him to make another announcement this year. Something we haven't heard before."

"Oh?"

"King and Queen Marigold are coming to the ball with their son, Prince Thorn. King Thistle is going to announce their betrothal."

"King Thistle is going to marry Prince Thorn?" Ben said teasingly, applying his chisel to the fine carvings of the arbour pole once more. The Wise Old Elf pursed his lips.

"No. Prince Thorn will be betrothed to Princess Holly."

Ben paused, hammer and chisel hovering.

"She's never mentioned it."

"She doesn't know yet. The King is telling her today."

***

"Prince Thorn! But I haven't seen him for years! What if he's ugly, Daddy?"

Holly exclaimed, rising off the ground with a furious flapping of wings.

"Fairies are never ugly." Said Queen Thistle, seated in the throne beside her husband. "Come down from there, Holly, you are no longer a child."

"But Mama! The ball is in three days and I am to agree to marry someone I hardly know?"

"That is the way of things. Your father and I met at our Spring Ball betrothal."

"It was the best evening of my life." King Thistle said, placing his hand over the top of his wife's and smiling as she blushed. His beard, long and softly curling was streaked with silver but his blue eyes twinkled as he reminisced.

"What does Nanny say about it?" Holly said.

"I think its a great idea." Nanny Plum floated down from the gallery. Her indigo gown fluttered around her playfully but her expression was no-nonsense.

"The Marigold's Eastglade kingdom is rich with flowers which means nectar. And nectar means bees. And bees mean honey and you know what honey means? Honey means honeycakes."

"So I'm being married off so you can all stuff yourselves with honeycakes? What do the Marigold's get out of it?"

"Elves. They have no elves to make things and we have lots of those."

Holly's tone was lost on Nanny. Or she chose to ignore it. You could never tell with Nanny.

"I hope you choke on your honeycakes and all the elves runaway! I am never marrying Prince Thorn!"

***

Ben finished work early and walked through the meadow. The towering bluebells cast wide pools of shadow over the ground and tinged the sun's fading light a deep blue.

An early moth took off by his shoulder, buffeting him with the draught from its wings. He put a hand to his head to keep his hat on.

"Hi Ben."

"Hi Holly."

She was sitting on the stem of a daffodil that had blown over, making a chain from its petals and frowning.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Not even a little bit." She replied, spiking another petal onto her loop with force. "Daddy wants me to marry Prince Thorn from the Eastglade Kingdom and everyone but me thinks its a great idea."