[Sticks]

Episode I – Coronation Surprises

Note contains spoilers re Season Four

Isn’t it funny the way things can turn out? One minute you are dragged through an inter-dimensional gate by a big bunch of trolls and a few years later they come to your rescue, like they did last year when I ran in to a man possessed by the spirit of an ancient Egyptian god that took umbrage at being rebranded as a mere major spirit of vice.

I had assumed I had seen the last of the Prince Low troll


Especially as he had been engaged in a bloody civil war in that alternative universe known as the Mystical Realms.

It had also been quiet on that front since I had helped rescue from an out of control government agency the former Spirit of Fidelity. I say former, because with the help of two American FBI agents and a couple of leprechauns, who worked for the Irish government, we had managed to reunite her with her long lost sister, the Spirit of Fancying, and out of their own free will, they gave up their status of being minor spirits of virtue, and became normal mortal teenage twin sisters of the age of 15. Fidelity, as she became, went to live with her twin sister the former Spirit of Fancying who went by the name Caer, who had been adopted as a baby after she was rescued and left by the fairies at a Dublin police station, Caer’s adoptive parents then successfully applied to adopt Fidelity, where upon she became Fidelity O’Docherty.

but I digress

As I was saying, I did not expect to see the Price Low Troll, until he showed up in my apartment unannounced.

It was opening time, and I had just finished reading Caer’s blog about how she had been helping her twin sister recover from a traumatic upbringing that had been filled with physical abuse and pain. I had agreed to meet Angela my friend from the coffee shop, where she was the manageress at only 27, down the pub, to share the latest news from the former twin spirits of virtue. Angela had taken a special interest in Fidelity, because she had been an orphan too and had been raised by her aunt, whom she lived with until a few weeks ago, when her aunt had died of breast cancer.

I closed my laptop to be shocked to see the Prince Low Troll in front of me

I immediately thought of the twins, “You can not touch those two now” I told the Prince Low Troll, “They are mortals now”

The Prince Low Troll rolled his eyes up and then said in exasperation “We have no interest in them now”

Then he winked and added “Nice job, two less meddling Spirits off of the books, although for Spirits of virtue they were quite well behaved”

“Then why are you here” I asked

“I have come for you”

“Why, what have I done now”

“Graeme, my friend” The Prince Low Troll added, “You have been appointed our new leader in the Mystical Realms”

“ME????”

“Afraid so” confirmed the Prince Low Troll, “You were the only one I could think of”

“Why?”

“I will explain on the way to the way to the Troll citadel at Karam-Tag-Chou”

I suddenly remembered Angela at the pub, “I am sorry Prince Low Troll”, but I have arranged to meet with a friend down the pub” I tried to explain.

The Prince Low Troll was having none of it, “This is no time to be carousing with fellow mortals, this is serious”

“How Dare he” I thought, “Was this also interfering in the affairs of mortals, the hypocrite”

“Prince Low Troll, so is this visit to my friend, I promised her”

Suddenly the Prince Low Troll’s countenance changed and he started grinning “Her?” he asked, “Is this friend a female mortal human?”

I wondered what the troll was getting at so I just uttered “er yes?”

“Is she a close friend” The Prince Low Troll asked.

I was suddenly suspicious of him, what was he planning, so I walked around the table and told him straight out, “leave her alone, she’s my friend”

The Prince Low Troll cocked his head, “So you two are close then”

“I met her when your father’s goons kicked me out of the Mystical Realms.” I explained, “She was there when the dimension gate opened” I added.

“And you have been close friends ever since?”

“Yes” I replied, then suddenly I noticed he had added the word close.
The Prince Low Trolls eyes lit up and he clapped his hands “This is excellent, Framena will be relieved”

“Who?” I asked, the Prince Low Troll was not making sense.

“We must go now” The Prince Low Troll insisted.

“I told you” I objected, I was about to add about seeing Angela when the troll butted in
“We must go to this pub”

“Ok” I said, “But won’t you get noticed.

“Not really, I am a dab hand at this” the Prince Low Troll, and put on a parka jacket and put the hood up, “You humans get so wrapped up in your affairs that you seldom notice us” he added, then produced an amulet, “plus I have an amulet of distraction”

I packed up my laptop and the pair of us walked down the street to the pub where Angela was waiting. After her aunt’s death, the coffee shop chain had given her a month off on compassionate leave and outstanding leave.

As we walked down the street I asked why the trolls had elected me to be their leader, when a few years ago they beat me to a pulp on a trumped up charge by this particular trolls father’s orders. All I got from him was “all in good time”

We reached the pub and entered, it was half empty, being a Tuesday. Angela was at a table tucked away in the corner, sipping on a white wine and soda.

“Do you want anything?” I asked the troll
“Not for me thanks, we do not have the time”

Do not have the time? What was he up to

Instead of buying a drink straight away, I followed the troll to where Angela was sitting, and he sat at the table across from where she was sitting.

As I approached, she got up and gave me a peck on the cheek, “I was beginning to worry that you may not be coming”

“Sorry I’m late” I apologised, “something came up” I added pointing at the Prince Low Troll, then I sat down on the chair at the end of the table.

“Who is your friend?” Angela asked, a little concerned, after all this was supposed to have been a private drink to discuss what to do with her time off from the coffee shop.
The Prince Low Troll pulled his hood down, and Angela did a double take.
I thought it best to introduce them
“Angela” I said, pointing at the Prince Low Troll, “This is the Prince Low Troll, he sent the snatch squad to save us from that Egyptian god Set I mentioned”
“Oh” Angela replied, “Thank you” she added and offered her hand to the troll. The Prince Low Troll was obviously schooled in human etiquette and took her hand and gently kissed it. “My Pleasure”
“Prince Low Troll, this is Angela Roberts, my close friend, who helped me kind of look after the Spirit of Fidelity when you told me to take her to this world”
“Well I did what I could your highness” Angela replied, blushing slightly, “then added to what do we owe the pleasure of your company?”

This must have been what the Prince Low Troll was waiting for, he was itching to explain, why I was to be the leader of the Trolls. “Well Miss Roberts” he started, then stopped “Are you married?”

What kind of question was that? – What was he up to?

“No, you highness, looking after my aunt, I kind of got left on the shelf” Angela replied

This was true, while her friends went dating, the aunt that had brought her up, had been ill and so she had sacrificed going out on dates to care for her aunt. It was only now after her death, was she getting out. When we went to Ireland to be present at Fidelity’s adoption in to the O’Docherty family Angela had had to arrange with cover from social services, as she was by then her official carer.

“This is most excellent” The Troll beamed, “Framena will be so relieved”

“Prince Low Troll” I butted in, “Who is this Framena?”
The Prince Low Troll looked round at me, “Why she was the troll female that was to be your consort”
“My what?”
“She was so displeased as she had been seeing someone in the Troll guards, but was prepared to put duty first” The Prince Low Troll went on, “Now as you have a close female human companion she will do instead”

“A what?” Angela asked incredulously

Suddenly, the Prince Low Troll produced a dimension jump orb and activated. In seconds, we were all engulfed by a ball of light.
“Graeme, what’s going on” Angela asked in a stern voice
I could not answer, as I had not a clue.

After a minute of being in the ball of light it faded to reveal that we were still seated at the pub table, but now it was in what appeared to be some great stone hall, and it seemed quite cool compared to the pub we had been in moments before.



“Where are we?” Angela asked, somewhat alarmed
Before I could answer, the Prince Low Troll jumped in, “This is the Troll citadel at Karam-Tag-Chou in the Mystical Realms, the royal palace of the Emperor of Trolls, where you Graeme, shall be crowned emperor of the Trolls, along with your consort Angela,
“Why?” I asked
“Because Angela is your companion” replied the Prince Low Troll
“No why am I your new emperor, I am not a troll”
The Prince Low Troll suddenly became serious, “Graeme, this civil war had to end, we were in stalemate, with no side having victory in site. There were trolls along side the orcs fighting trolls alongside the other races. We managed to broker a deal with those clans fighting along side the trolls for them to cease supporting their orc allies. We promised that we would bring back the ancient office of the Emperor of the Trolls, who would with the trolls rule the Mystical Realms, and force the orcs to disarm and allow the other races to live in peace and paying us tribute”

“Paying you tribute I suppose” Angela interjected

The Prince Low Troll was unfazed by this interruption and continued, “Yes, paying us tribute, just like you in the realm of mortals pay taxes for protection. Anyhow, there is still a lot of distrust between the clans, and the alliance of the clans is fragile. No one could agree which head of which clan would be Emperor of the Trolls, because they believe, who ever it is, would show favouritism. As the last heir of the last Troll leader, I was honoured to nominate a leader”

“So you chose me” I asked

“Yes Graeme, you were seen as neutral. You had been on the receiving end of Troll police action, yet in battle you fought along side a troll”

“You” I interjected

“Yes, and I got them to grudgingly accept you”

“Thanks, I think”

“Your welcome” The Prince Low Troll answered.

“But why me?” Angela asked, “why do you need a consort”

The Prince Low Troll was puzzled that this question should be asked, “Because it is part of the ancient law of the trolls”

The Prince Low Troll then lowered his voice, “The Troll Chamberlain will be here shortly to guide you through your coronation and celebrations which all the troll clans have assembled here to see. Do not refer to me as the Prince Low Troll, for reasons of expediency, I am now to be called Clan chief of the Manjura”

With that the Prince Low Troll, Sorry Clan Chief of the Manjura, departed.

“Graeme what have you dropped me in now” Angela asked

Before I had chance to answer, another troll in read robes, carrying a staff entered the room.

“Oh good you are here at last” He said in a croaky voice, indicating he was quite old, “I am the Troll Chamberlain and your guide in the proceedings”

Angela and I stood up to meet him, Angela did a courtesy, just to be on the safe side. The Troll Chamberlain looked up at her and smiled.

Suddenly he struck the floor with his staff and the table and chairs vanished. “They should be returning back whence they came” Explained the Troll Chamberlain

Then the Troll Chamberlain produced two large sacks and asked us to remove all our clothing and place it in the sacks.

“Why?” I asked, “Do you have ceremonial robes for us to put on?”

“No” Replied the Troll Chamberlain, “As part of the ancient law, centuries old, a new leader and his consort must walk the complete length of the hall naked, to symbolise they have no baggage and no hidden agenda and nothing to hide. At the coronation ceremony, you will receive appropriate garments to put on. Please it is the law” he insisted

“You have got to be kidding” Angela shouted angrily.” No way am I getting dropped in it where because of you Graeme, someone ends up stripping naked, again”

“Again?” I asked Angela, what was she talking about, and for a moment I forgot my surroundings

“Yes it happened before and that was your fault as well” retorted Angela

“My fault? How”

“Remember when you first brought me Fidelity after you got back from London on the bus that first time”

I dimly remembered this from the previous year, which seemed like a lifetime ago, “Vaguely I ventured, I left her with you and spoke for a bit before going to the hostel”

Angela shook her head at me in disgust, “You came in, and explained that this fifteen year old child”

“I thought she was sixteen”

“Irrelevant, you bring in this fifteen year old child, and I happily offered to employ her, and then I gave her a key to a staff room locker. Then you told Fidelity, that it was put her dress in when she changed into her uniform that I would give her”

I could just remember this, and added to the story “Yes and you said the uniform was a t-shirt and a choice of skirt or trousers for women, but you only had the skirt in that branch at that time.”

“But you told her to go to the staff room so she could get ready, so we could talk about how to deal with the paper work.”

“Yes” I replied, racking my brain at this, just where Angela was going with this, “we were talking ten minutes”

“Actually half an hour” Angela replied, and then continued “And when you left, I went to the staff room to find Fidelity sitting stark naked on the chair after she had obeyed what you told her and put her clothes in the locker. She was in a terrible state, because that staff room was like an ice box because the heater was broken and although she tried to hide it from me, she was in tears because she was so cold”

I had never heard this before, and it just highlighted to me my lack of care again, when I was sort of responsible for The Spirit of Fidelity as she was then, but for all physical purposes, a young teenager. I could tell this still rankled Angela, as I understood how she could identify with Fidelity.

Angela went on with her rant, “I was so glad Kevin was late that day, I told her that he did not mean to get undressed right away and even if he did, she did not have to remove her underwear. And do you know what she said”

I shook my head and said “no”

“She said she did not have any, and she had to make do without”

This annoyed me for some reason, “Angela, when I rescue a female spirit of virtue from certain death, asking if they have a fresh clean bra and panties does not come to mind. I would hardly think it was an appropriate thing to ask” Then I added “I can not believe we are having this conversation”

“Typical man, don’t care about details, leave that to us” Angela retaliated with, “I could not let her put the uniform on such as it was with her in that state we would all have been embarrassed given some of the customers we get, so I told her to put her dress back on, got Jenny to bring her a hot chocolate to warm her up, and told her that the coffee shop chain also supplied proper underwear as part of the uniform and that I would ring another branch to bring them across, with a pair of trousers.”

“News to me?” I answered back, I did not think coffee shops provided such things” I still could not believe, that in Troll citadel at Karam-Tag-Chou in the Mystical Realms, the royal palace of the Emperor of Trolls we were talking about Fidelity’s first day at work and intermit details of what she was or not wearing

Angela, almost red in the face continued, boy was she mad, yikes! “WE DON’T I lied, I was able to judge what size Fidelity was and I gave my own money to Jenny to get five panties and three bras from Marks and Spencer’s, and got her to go to the other branch to collect the trousers, while I sat with Fidelity in my office, where it was warmer, with my coat around her. And when Jenny returned I allowed Fidelity to change in my office, while I guarded the door”

COUGH COUGH

It was the Troll Chamberlain, we had forgotten about him in our trip down memory lane.
“Please remove all your clothes now. I assure you they will be returned washed tomorrow”

Suddenly returning to the present, Angela shook her head “NO WAY, ABSOLOUTLY NO”

ZIP – The Troll Chamberlain banged his staff on the floor. Instantly, Angela and I were completely naked, and the two sacks were gone.

We were stunned for a moment as I gazed on Angela’s naked body, she looked beautiful and had a wonderful figure, and she gazed at my body, eying me up and down. As she looked up and then down my body, I thought for a moment she smiled. Then she came to herself, and so did I as we tried to cover ourselves with our hands.

THWACK, The Troll Chamberlain hit both of us with his staff. “You must go into the chamber with arms wide open, showing you have nothing to hide”

“Where did you get this law, PlayBoy Magazine or Nuts” Angela asked.

The Troll Chamberlain looked confused at the references to the lads mags

“Chamberlain” I asked the Troll Chamberlain, “I understand the symbolic reason I must display all for this coronation, but does it really matter about the consort”

The Troll Chamberlain shook his head, “It is the law, it always was”

“Chamberlain, I insist you return her clothes, and I will go naked for as long as you like and I will let them see everything” I tried, I removed my hands as a gesture I thought of good will

“No” He said firmly, “You must go into the chamber devoid of any clothes, both of you and hiding nothing”

Angela was resolute, “OK I will walk to the front naked, but I insist on covering what modesty with my hands, end of argument”

The Troll Chamberlain tapped his staff, suddenly, there was a metal collar around Angela’s neck, and her hands were held in restraints on two foot long bars from the neck.
“If you insist” The Troll Chamberlain said in a weary manner

“OK I give in” Angela replied, “Please take this collar off it hurts”

The Troll Chamberlain turned to me, “She is your consort, but she has shown herself to be too strong willed, do you want her collar to remain as her punishment for defiance of our sacred traditions”

I looked at Angela, she usually was a strong woman, with her own mind, something I quite liked about her, but now she was standing naked in a cruel manacle device. Apparently I had the power to release her. It seemed so tempting to let her be like that, just to exert that power.

“Hmmm” I started

Angela just glowered at me, and I then realised I did not want my friendship with her to suffer any more than it already had. I valued her too much.

“Release her” I instructed the Troll Chamberlain

Zap – the manacles disappeared.

Angela felt her neck, she was letting everything show now, but she was not happy.

I offered my hand to her, at least we could walk hand in hand I thought.

“NO” Shouted the Troll Chamberlain she must walk three steps behind in submission

“It’s ok Graeme” Angela said quietly, her head staring at the floor, “it’s no use arguing”

Angela giving up, had the Troll Chamberlain broken her spirit

I walked up to her and lifted her head, “Angela, you have a wonderful body, you have nothing to be ashamed at” I tried to reassure her, but it sounded corny even to me.

“Thank you” she whispered, “and so do you” and then she tried to smile weakly.

Suddenly the huge doors swung open, to an even larger chamber, full of hundreds of trolls. I felt a cool breeze come through the door, being a larger chamber it was obviously harder to heat. I stepped forward walking on the cold stone floor, with my arms out wide, I could not see what Angela was doing, probably seething at me for putting her through this humiliation. I was just glad that the Trolls did not have camera phones, just yet.

I expected some wolf whistles at either me or Angela, but the trolls kept a dignified reverend silence. It was indeed a solemn occasion, even if it had been designed by some pervert centuries long dead. I noted that there were different troll standards, this was a meeting of all of the troll houses, and this was how significant this ceremony was.

I could also hear the Troll Chamberlain walking behind us.

We walked for about the length of two football fields, the chamber was enormous and cold, and I was shivering a bit, and I assumed Angela was too. I just hoped the ceremonial clothes we would get would be warm.

At what looked like an alter, two troll guards stood with halbards
[img=100x300]http://images.onlinegalleries.com/gfx/24888.jpg[/img]

The Troll Chamberlain came around with a book, from which he started reading a prepared speech about the ancient order of the emperor and how we had shown that we had walked in, with nothing to hide. It seemed to go on for ages as we shivered naked in the cold. Then it was time for the oath swearing, and I swore on my life and honour as a troll well an honorary troll to deal fairly with all troll clans and keep the troll law. Standard stuff I thought.
I was then given a kilt to wrap around my lower half, ”Oh well a Scottish influence then” I thought

Then I was given a pair of sandals, and then a war green tunic, and finally a red robe. The phrase “Red and Green should never be seen” was obviously lost on the trolls. But I was now installed as the new Emperor of the Trolls

The Troll Chamberlain then boomed “Do you take this female to be your loyal consort”

“Yes” I replied

“Step forward consort and receive the garment of the consort” Boomed the Troll Chamberlain

Angela walked forward, shivering, her arms now around her chest, she was expecting to be clothed as I, but all she was given was a skirt and a pair of sandals.

“Chamberlain” I asked, “Does she not get a top to wear”

The chamberlain shook his head, “Certainly not, The consort always goes dressed like this, how else can the emperor tell if he likes what he can see and asses if she has the womanly assets to nurse his offspring”

I looked at Angela, standing there topless; arms folded to try and keep warm and preserve her modesty. For some reason I could not help saying to her, “come on Angela it’s not like you have not gone topless before, remember Majorca last spring”

Angela was not happy, “Only because someone, not a million miles from here did not notice that the bikini top was not included when they bought me a cut price swimming costume”

Oops – I remembered how embarrassed she was, when she came out of the changing room then, especially as we had to wait two hours before we could get access to our clothes due to some foul up at the hotel

Then Angela, started to look at me with pleading eyes, “Graeme it was a lot warmer in Majorca, I’m cold”

That was it, I could not stand this any longer, Angela was not a troll, and neither was I. I felt the robe, it seemed sufficient for me, so I told the Troll Chamberlain ,”I do not care if this starts a war, but I am not going to let my consort and friend, Angela suffer like this”

I removed my robe and laid it on the alter rail, and then removed my tunic, walked over to Angela and told her to put it on and hang the consequences. She took the tunic with one hand, while still trying to cover herself with one hand, then smiled and let her other hand hang down, “do you like what you see” she said softly.

“Like I said earlier, you have a beautiful body, Did you like what you saw?” I asked in return. She gave a brief smile, blushed and stood there shivering with the tunic in her hand. I grabbed the robe to put that back on and told her to put her tunic on.
Angela whispered a thank you and turned her back on the trolls and slipped on the tunic, even without any underwear, I could tell she was a lot happier that she was covered up at last, especially with something warm.

Suddenly there was a massive wall of sound as the trolls cheered. Angela and I were taken aback.

“What is going on?” I asked the Troll Chamberlain above the dying cheer.

“Well” the Troll Chamberlain started to explain, “When an emperor gives his ceremonial tunic to his consort, that means that he has decided that her womanly assets are for his eyes alone and that they are then married under Troll lore and she is his queen.” Then with a twinkle in his eye, “Congratulations on your wedding”

I was shocked, my attempt at gallantry had resulted in Angela and I getting hitched, I thought she would be mad at me for sure now.

The Troll Chamberlain then snapped his fingers and a new red tunic was brought to me, which I put on.

Angela had overheard, “So you I am now your WIFE!!!”

“Afraid so” I told her, “I’m sorry if that embarrasses you further. I did not realise, but I could not let you shiver there, and even if I knew, I would still do it”

Angela walked towards me and placed her fingers over my lips and a smile cracked over Angela’s face, “What you did was lovely, and being married to you I can live with”

I remembered her earlier answer to the Clan chief of the Manjura, about being left on the shelf, and put my arms around her. I felt her relax in my arms and she felt so soft, we rested our foreheads together then I whispered to my new wife, “I will try to be a good husband”
“You better” she replied “You have been the only offer I have ever had”

All these years we had known each other and perhaps there may have been a latent attraction between us, maybe this sudden accidental wedding was for the best, we weren’t getting any younger after all.

“It is time to go to the celebration dinner now” shouted the Troll Chamberlain and pounded his staff on the floor, then he turned to us and said, “Don’t worry we have arranged human food to be served to you”

The Troll Chamberlain lead the way towards a side door, and I noticed only the Troll officers coming through. The rest of the troops did not get to eat with us at the top table. I took Angela by the hand, and we walked to the banqueting hall hand in hand, like two teenagers in love.

It took about twenty minutes for everyone to be seated. Angela and I sat in the centre at the top table, to our right sat the Troll Chamberlain and to our surprise on our left sat the Prince Sorry Clan Chief of the Manjura

“I knew you were close friends” Winked the Clan Chief of the Manjura

“I don’t think we knew how close we were I told him”
Angela grabbed my arm, and smiled at the troll

CLAP CLAP CLAP

The Troll master of the banquet started the proceeding. “Bring in the wine” He ordered.

Then through another door, it looked like a line of troll children carrying various jugs, but no they were goblin servants, all just wearing kilt like skirts. Behind them was a hobgoblin carrying a whip.

Then I looked again, and in the line, looked like, a five year old human girl, looking cold and miserable.

I turned to the Clan Chief of the Manjura, “Is that a minor Spirit?”

My troll friend looked puzzled, “Not one I know of”, then he pulled from his pocket a small mirror and pointed it at what looked like a human child, and then gasped, “She is human”

Just then the girl, tripped and smashed the jug on the floor, spilling wine. Instantly she screamed as the whip lashed against her bare back. I could see blood had been drawn.

Suddenly I noticed that Angela was not beside me. I looked up and saw her running headlong at the hobgoblin. Instantly, he was floored. I forgot that Angela was a brown belt in karate.
“Don’t touch her, you b******d” she screamed.
Angela then returned and helped the child stand up. The girl was in absolute terror. Angela spoke softly to the child, but I could not hear what she was saying. Then I saw Angela remove her tunic and place it on the weeping child, and she picked the child up and brought her to our table. Suddenly preserving her modesty did not matter any more, comforting this little girl did.

The goblin servants, just stood there for a few minutes, then the lead one motioned to the others to continue serving. The hobgoblin just lay on the floor and started to get up. The Clan Troll Chief of the Manjura called over one of his officers, and the Hobgoblin, was arrested and dragged away. The Clan Troll Chief then passed me a small glass vial



I recognised it and handed it to Angela, “Get the girl to drink this” I told her, “It’s a healing potion”
Angela took the stopper off of the vial with her teeth and spat it out, then told the girl “Sweetheart this will make you better” and gave her the vial.
“Yes your majesty” The child replied took the vial and drank it down in one go.

Angela pulled up the back of the tunic on the girl, and we watched as the cut from the whip healed before our eyes, along with some earlier wheals from earlier whippings. Then she pulled the tunic down.

Another Troll appeared at our table, apparently at the behest of the Troll Chamberlain, and offered Angela a red tunic,.
“Thank you” she said and handed me the child, who I sat on my lap
Angela took the tunic and put it on, and then sat down and requested I hand over the child, which I did.
I then asked the child as softly as I could, “Princess, what is your name?”
“Sarah Smith Your Majesty” the child replied. Sarah was still quite nervous, she must have been drilled that we were very high up by the way she had called Angela and I, “Your Majesty”
“Where are you from?” I continued to ask, as her accent was definitely not British and sounded antipodeans
“New Zealand” she replied
“Does your mummy and daddy know you are here” Angela asked
“I don’t have a mummy and daddy any more your majesty” Sarah replied and then burst into tears, and then through the tears told us “Mummy went to heaven after I was born and a monster appeared and killed daddy on our plane, before he took me” Then the child’s weeping made her incoherent.

Angela, held her in her arms, trying to comfort her.

A troll captain returned while we were speaking to Sarah and spoke to the Clan Chief of the Manjura. Once he had gone, the troll relayed that the hobgoblin had confessed to buying the child as a slave from a troglodyte, and insisted that he did not know she was a mortal.
“Someone” uttered the Clan Chief of the Manjura, “has been illegally interfering with the world of mortals”.

Something was wrong, oh so very wrong, but what?

Then the Troll Chamberlain piped up and told us that this was unseemly and that we should send the “brat” back to the scullery so we could continue with proceedings.

I turned to the Clan Chief of the Manjura, as he had been a friend sort of, “As Emperor of the Trolls, can I make a proclamation, a decree or anything like that”

My troll friend nodded, “You pronounce it in your authority as emperor and it is law. It is a rarely used privilege as it can so easily be abused”

I knew what I wanted to do, first I called for an extra chair to be brought, so Sarah could be sat between Angela and myself, and I called for a small plate of food be brought to her, along with some goat’s milk.

Then I stood up and addressed the banqueting chamber. “Fellow Trolls” I started, “By my authority as emperor, I decree, that this child” I placed my hand on Sarah’s shoulder, she looked at me, still with awe. I then continued, “shall no longer be a slave, but she of this moment has become our daughter, and we are her new parents. She shall be treated accordingly. She is to be known as Princess Sarah, daughter of the Emperor and Queen of the Trolls”

I sat down, and suddenly there was a sound of the trolls banging their fists on the table, it seemed frightening, especially to Sarah.

The Troll Chamberlain turned to us and told us, that the Troll officers had just shown their approval.

Then suddenly, the trolls in unison, shouted “Long live Graeme Emperor of the Trolls, Long live Queen Angela, long live Princess Sarah”. Angela held her hands over Sarah’s ears to protect them, it was quite a sight to behold. Angela smiled broadly at me, and put an arm around Sarah, I then did the same. Suddenly I had a wife and daughter, and it felt good.

After the noise died down, Sarah turned to Angela and asked if we were her mummy and daddy now, Angela assured her, that was the case, and kissed Sarah on the top of her head.

Something still felt wrong though, why was Sarah’s original father murdered by an entity from the Mystical Realms, a heinous crime, and why was she abducted? I put that aside and told my new daughter, “You can call us mummy and daddy if you like, you don’t have to call us Your majesty”. I gave her a hug with one arm, just as Angela had done and kissed her on the head.

“I love you mummy and new daddy”

“We won’t let any one hurt you again, like that nasty hobgoblin” Angela told her, “We will look after you now” she added looking straight at me and smiling.

“Absolutely my princess” I added.

The rest of the meal passed off with no further incident to annoy the Troll Chamberlain’s insistence on protocol. Even Sarah, for a five year old ate all her meal up. She was a real gem, and it made me burn with anger at how she had been put through what she had been through.

As the night wore on, I noticed Sarah drifting off to sleep, so I used this as an excuse for my instant family to retire to the bed chamber we had been given. They had even arranged a cot for Sarah, where I laid Sarah down to sleep.

Angela and I went through to the main bedroom and looked at it.
“That was lovely what you did for Sarah” Angela told me as she sat down on the bed.
“I just had to do it” I replied, “it seemed the only thing to do”
I then wanted to go on about how I was uneasy I felt that Sarah had been abducted in the first place, and her original farther being murdered, but then Angela removed her top, kicked off her sandals, and then removed her skirt, and patted the bed.
“Come to bed, husband” she instructed me.

I pulled off my tunic.

“DADDY DADDY A MONSTER” Came a sudden scream from Sarah’s room.

Angela instinctively grabbed the blanket from the bed and started to cover herself with it as she ran to attend to Sarah.

I followed briefly, to see Sarah sitting up in bed, crying her eyes out. She had had a nightmare about what ever entity, possibly the troglodyte, had come onto their plane, killed her father, her last remaining parent and abducted her to be sold into slavery.

I let Angela sit with Sarah, comforting her, reassuring her that although her first mummy and daddy were no more, we were the new ones who loved her very much.

So much for our wedding night I thought, and went to the bedroom to get Angela’s clothes, but there on the bed, was an Equatorial Spitting Cobra



It had been disturbed by Angela taking the blanket from the bed, so someone or something and placed it in there.

Someone had just tried to kill us…

To be continued