[Sticks]

Episode IV – Ancient laws

”It’s all politics” Mac Taylor to Horatio Cain in the CSI Miami episode 'MIA/NYC - NonStop'

And so it is when troll clans get together, and the one reason I was summoned to the Mystical Realms, not as a criminal suspect as I was seven years ago, but as their Emperor of the Trolls, and leader, because they could not agree amongst them selves for an actual troll to lead them. It was also the reason that my long suffering friend from the coffee shop, Angela Roberts was dragged along, first as my consort and then after a bizarre ceremony as my queen and now mother to a five year old orphan girl I adopted here. A five year old girl that was orphaned when her father, her last surviving parent was murdered by some assassin that does not like the politics of the troll clans uniting to put an end to a vicious civil war in the Mystical Realms.

It was politics that lead one of those clans, on the wrong side as it were of that war to feeding me, my wife and adopted daughter to show up the clans that were supposed to be doing the job.

Now the politics are due to step up a gear when after I have summoned a convocation of the troll clans, the clan chief of the Yataxal, the clan that fought the fiercest on the right side of the law has been bound dead in our courtyard with bowie knife in his back

[img=200x200]http://www.harrisoncustomknives.com/collectorknives/9%20bowie%202.jpg[/img]

A knife that is not available here on the Mystical Realms as it comes from Earth. Guess which clan gets to go to Earth, The Manjura clan, whose very clan leader used to be the Prince Low Troll and the one who proposed me to be emperor


I closed the door to the royal apartment, I did not want Sarah seeing this, she had seen enough horror for a five year old in this strange world. It seemed odd seeing an actual dead troll, as when a Mystical Realms entity died in r world, they spontaneously combusted, but here the body remained. One of the trolls went to pull the knife out.

“Wait” I ordered and walked over to the body of the dead clan leader. I fished in my trouser pocket for a handkerchief and handed it to the troll and instructed him to hold the knife handle with it. I was dubious that trolls had prints, but it would not hurt to see, maybe later I could see what creature wielded the bowie knife. A stab in the back was an assassins trick, not that of a brave warrior in combat.

I had to assume that the convocation of troll clan leaders I had wanted to call might be delayed, assuming it went ahead at all, would the Yataxal now pull out and resume the civil war if they suspected on of the clans who had been fighting with the orcs. But still it came to the problem, the knife was from Earth, my world, were their rouge elements in the Manjura clan, still loyal to the memory of the Lord Low Troll. If it were an attack on me or my family as of two days previous, that would make sense with the simple motive of pure revenge for charges against me being dismissed seven years ago. The other explanation was a missing dimension jump orb not in the control of the Manjurea being used to set that clan up by using weapons from my world to which only they would have had access. And there was of course the possibility of orcs or their allies amongst the dark elves known as the drow, wanting to split the alliance up so they could regain their troll allies, but the war had reached stalemate, they still would not have much hope of victory.

The troll sentry removed the knife as I instructed and I carefully took it from him, holding the handkerchief around the handle. They were puzzled why I had requested this, but I was not going to give the game away just yet. I needed to speak to the Clan Chief of the Manjura first.

I ordered the trolls to remove the body and send for the Clan Chief of the Manjura then I took the knife inside and closed the front door. When I looked at the knife; it definitely was a bowie knife, or a bowie knife type blade. It was still covered in blood. I found some writing definitely from Earth, but it was not in English, I would have to somehow show it to Angela with out Sarah seeing it. I fond a high shelf well out of Sarah’s reach and placed the blade there.

There was a knock at the door, it was Frameana, fully clothed as requested and another female troll bodyguard, Merah, from the clan of Delethon, she was Germal’s relief at body guarding Sarah from the assassin that had dispatched all who had been responsible for Sarah’s orphaning abduction and enslavement. Framean had brought breakfast for us and another bag with clothes in, so I went in with the new troll bodyguard and knelt at the cot where Sarah was sleeping and gazed at her, still sleeping.

Frameana delivered the clothes to our room where Angela had just woken up, I went back into the main dining room

Angela walked in, dressed in a one piece white silk dress which ended in a skirt just above her knees, it must have been modelled on dresses from ancient Greece, as it had the right breast completely exposed, and perhaps because of this Angela had chose not to put her bra on. She gave a little twirl
“What do you think” she asked me, in a playful manner
“I think the trolls have some weird sense of humour or fashion sense, do you have something else to put on, I don’t want Sarah getting anymore strange ideas” I replied
“Sorry Graeme, but Frameana said I had to wear this dress today and this dress alone, she did not say why”
“Frameana does not tell you what to wear Angela” I countered irritated that a maid servant was giving bizarre orders to my friend, wife and queen.
“I know, but I was kind of curious and when I tried it on I thought that would have turned a few heads at some of the parties I used to be invited to”
“But you never went to them”
“No, I had my aunt to look after then”
Angela’s face fell as she remembered her aunt, the aunt who had brought her up when Angela’s own parents had died when she was a child and the aunt who had developed cancer when she was in her teens so roles had been reversed and she became the carer until her aunt had died.
“You do look beautiful in it Angela, but best to get changed into something else, remember how Sarah got confused and upset yesterday”
Angela nodded and went back into the bedroom

Frameana looked on with out commenting, after what I had said the previous day to her, this was kind of embarrassing, but then it had been on her instructions that Angela had put on this garment and this garment alone. I wondered where they had got the design from. Five minutes later Angela returned she said she had put some panties on, but on the top had just put a blouse over the strange dress she had been instructed to wear, probably still wary of troll customs, especially given what the Troll Chamberlain had done to her. Her get up, such as it was did look kind of odd and sort of worked, but I was going to be true to what I had told her about wearing what she liked. I just hoped Sarah did not notice.

I got Angela to wake Sarah and do the things mothers do when they get young children up in the morning. Needless to say there were tears from Sarah as she woke, but that was to be expected.

It took about fifteen minutes for Angela and Sarah to be ready to join me in the main room for breakfast, which this time was a bit more substantial, Manjura and Delethon were not going to be embarrassed again by having the royal family go hungry. They also brought in extra logs for the fire to keep it going during the day.

After breakfast I asked Merah to go and help Sarah get ready to go outside, as a way of getting Sarah out of the way so I could show Angela the inscription on the knife. She was just as concerned as I was that the Clan Chief of the Yataxal had been murdered with it. According to her it was some name of a manufacturer and the language was in Spanish, also the design on the handle reminded her of South American art, but she was not sure which country. The fact that the plane Sarah and her father had been on was flying out of South America, was also worrying, it looked like there was a definite link between Sarah’s arrival here and the latest assassination of a troll clan chief.

It was unsettling

I then remembered the previous day, she had got Sarah drawing in a book with blank pages, like some kind of ledger. Had Sarah drawn the monster that had attacked her on the plan. Angela told me she had not, she had drawn the kind of picture a five year old draws when they were drawing their house. Sarah had drawn what looked like a trailer home with stick figures to resemble her, first daddy and on a cloud, first mummy, who she had never known as she had died shortly after giving birth. Sarah never knew what of, but then you would not expect that of a five year old. Angela had told me it was so heartbreaking and that she had had to comfort Sarah again when after she had drawn it, she stared at the drawing and started to cry. Angela admitted that she cried too, and just kept telling her that she loved her and she was her mummy now.

“Could you try and get her to draw the monster” I asked, “it would help to track it down”
“What?? - NO WAY” Angela seemed angry at me for asking “I WILL NOT PUT HER THROUGH THAT, HASN’T SHE SUFFERED ENOUGH?”
“Sorry” I said and then turned round to see Sarah standing there in her hobbit cloak, and bare feet.
“Where are your socks and shoes” Angela asked her with uncharacteristic sternness, I was now hoping Sarah had not heard my request for her to draw the creature that had abducted her.
“The new lady troll said hobbits did not wear socks and shoes” Sarah replied, confused as to why her mummy had turned on her so when she had been again trying to do the right thing after obviously getting the wrong end of the stick from something that the troll bodyguard had said.
Angela’s understanding deserted her as she grabbed Sarah’s hand and started to drag her back to her room, “YOU MY LITTLE LADY ARE NOT A HOBBIT” she angrily told Sarah
“ANGELA STOP!” It was my turn to raise my voice, and then softly “It’s me your angry at, not Sarah”
Angela stopped in her tracks, let go of Sarah’s hand and stood there in the realisation she had allowed her anger to get the better of her, which was not often and it had been vented at a frightened and confused little girl, eager to please her new mummy
“Sorry mummy“, Sarah said, and burst into tears.
Angela got down on her knees so she could face Sarah, then gave her a cuddle, “Mummy is sorry, I did not mean to shout at you Sarah, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, mummy still loves you”
Angela looked at the ground as she hugged Sarah, I came, over, knelt down and gently lifted Angela’s head by the chin, she was silently crying.
“I’m sorry Angela” I told her, and put my arms around both of them, “I love you guys” I told them. We stayed like that for about 3 or four minutes in silence apart from the gentle sobs from both, Sarah and Angela. We were just being a family trying to get along and a family under a lot of stress.

Eventually I got up, and so did Angela and gently lead Sarah in to put her socks and shoes on, so Angela, Sarah and the body guard could have a brief walk in the palace gardens. Even with the bodyguard, I felt uneasy allowing either of them out of my site, but I had to attend to affairs of state.

But why was Angela told to wear that dress that was a bit too revealing to put it mildly

While Angela and Sarah were out, looking at the gardens near our royal palace stroke apartment, the Clan Chief of the Manjura arrived, breathless. He had been running, given that a fellow clan chief from the same side of the war as him had been murdered, I was not surprised.



I allowed him time to catch his breath, and then he asked me what was the problem.
“You are aware that the Clan Chief of the Yataxal has been assassinated”
“Yes your majesty, most likely by a hot head in an enemy clan, like the Rachtal, the Najav or the Clavial. They fought with the orcs during the war. The Yataxal killed many of their troops as they were the fiercest, but even the mighty Yataxal could not win the war decisively.”
“I do not think it was any of those troll clans” I told the troll
“How can you be so sure, they fought with the treacherous orcs”
I went and took the knife down, still wrapped in the handkerchief, “this is the murder weapon, do you recognise it”
The troll was puzzled, it was clear he had never seen this type of weapon before. “Is it some kind of orc blade, or a new weapon by their former troll allies”
“No”
“Where is it from, it is a fearsome weapon for close quarter fighting.
“It’s called a Bowie knife, it comes from Earth, and due to the inscription a country called Spain, but due to the handle design possibly from a continent called South America”

The troll looked at me suspiciously, “What are you implying”
“You tell me, which clan was in charge of the crossing between your world and mine”
“The Manjura clan”
“It looks like you did not get all the dimension jump orbs or someone in Manjura is involved”
“I tell you Graeme, we are being set up, I have questioned all those who guard them, all of them are loyal to me and the only ones loyal to the memory of my father are either dead or infirm well away in our clan homelands. All orbs we are entrusted with are accounted for”
“Except the one that was used to abduct my princess from our world, and possibly one other that was used to get the snake that was planted in our beds to kill us”
Then the troll thought for a moment, walked over to the stone fireplace and hit his head on the wall with a large thump. “How could I be so stupid” He muttered, “How could I forget Astley and Fagal”

I walked over to the troll and, best as I could put an arm around him. I could see he was in some distress over some realisation he had had. “Who are Astley and Fagal, are they assassins, do I need to put a watch out for them?”
The troll shook his head, “They are long dead, before I was born to my father’s third consort, before my father was even the Lord Low Troll, in fact even before he was born”
“Your father never married your mother?”
The troll shook his head, “As he had no wife, by troll law I had to be given the title of Prince Low Troll, and when he was slain, by troll law I was not permitted to be the new Lord Low Troll as my mother was not a wife”
“So how did you get to be clan leader?”
“My father had no other male children, as the first two consorts only produced females and were sent away in disgrace I never met my half sisters”
“So who were Astley and Fagal?”
“Many cycles ago, Astley was asked to investigate a disturbance in the magical field that sweeps over our Mystical Realms, which you humans call the collective unconscious” The troll explained, “Unlike now where it is almost depleted as humans have moved on, it was more of an issue. They thought a major spirit of vice, or virtue was up to something, these meddling spirits had once been worshiped by the mortals as gods and like Set not all of them heeded the summons to come to the Mystical Realms”
“So what was the disturbance?”
“They never found out, because Astley never came back”
“So they sent Fagal”
“Yes, he did come back, but dead, it looked like a small dart in his neck, but it must have carried a deadly poison”
“So what has this to do with a missing dimension jump orb?”
The troll looked at me in the eyes, his face in anguish, “According to the tales, Astley’s dimension jump orb was never recovered, and as it was inactive, the orb locators of that time could not find it”
“So this orb was lost on Earth?”
“Or somewhere else, possibly here, Fagal was never able to say if he ever found Astley and after two deaths the search was called off, the disturbance died down, so it must have been assumed that Astley had died a heroic death”

This was not good, it was possible that someone had got hold of an ancient dimension jump orb that had either been lost on Earth or in the Mystical Realms, but that was the how, what was the why, and why were they using Earth weapons when there were plenty of weapons here on the Mystical Realms. It made no sense.

I put the knife back on the shelf, then turned back to the troll
“What happens to the convocation now that the Clan Chief of the Yataxal is dead? I assumed it would be postponed whilst they held the funeral observed some period of mourning, appointed a new leader,”
“There will be the mourning and the pyre, but the succession is usually clear, should the leader fall in battle” Replied the Chaln Chief of the Manjura, “I know who my successor will be”
“So they have a leader for the clan already?”
“It is the Deputy of the Yataxal, he was one of the most ferocious in battle”

At that point Angela, Sarah, and Menah the troll bodyguard returned unexpectedly quickly with another troll from the Manjura clan. Sarah was crying for some reason, so I knelt down and asked her what the matter
“The big troll would not let us see the garden” Sarah sobbed, she must have set her heart on seeing it.
“We were asked to return to the apartment” Angela explained.

I looked at the Clan Chief of the Manjura for an explanation

“The convocation is about to start and she is needed to be by your side, it is the tradition of the trolls, that in convocation, the consort or wife must accompany ht emperor.”
“Ok, what about Sarah?” I asked
“She is not of age, so she must remain outside the convocation chamber posting vigil”
“Posting vigil?” Angela objected, “She is just a five year old girl”
“I am sorry my queen but it is the sacred custom of the convocation, all children of the Emperor and Queen must show loyalty to their parents by standing vigil outside the chamber guarding their sandals.

Great, I just wanted to talk to them and this is like some state opening of Parliament

The troll had not finished and it would get even worse “And one other thing, you must all change in to the convocation robes” Then he looked at Angela, “You must remove that shirt from your top, and any other unseen clothing you may have underneath the convocation dress.”
“What?” I objected “Are you the new Troll Chamberlain?”
“Please”, Insisted the troll, “I do not make the rules, these are the ancient rules and some of the clans are traditionalists”
“Like the Manjura” I countered

Angela, obviously remembering the Troll Chamberlain and how he imposed his will, just told me “Graeme, ok, really, I’ll go and get ready”, she then left and got me to hold Sarah’s hand, whilst she went to our bedroom to take off the blouse and her panties,
I waited there staring at the troll, Angela had already been publicly humiliated at my coronation ceremony, then thinking back to it, I remembered how we got married. Angela was to be made to go topless as my consort, so I took my tunic off and had given it to her, meaning she was for my eyes only. I picked the troll up on this point.

The troll shook his head and rolled his eyes, “A convocation is where we share, normally the queen is covered up, but in the convocation she is partially uncovered as part of the sharing”

Who makes up these ridiculous rules!!!

“What do I wear?”
“Just this” replied the troll at which Frameana, She still here? handed me just a kilt and sandals, “As you passed the sacred tunic in marriage, so you appear in convocations stripped to the waist, now get changed”
“I see this is why the Lord Low Troll never married then” I jibed at the troll
He was just wistful and replied, “He was a pretty vain troll as well as a tyrant”

“Can we at least wear our top coats to go down there, it’s about a twenty minute walk” I pleaded
“That would be against the custom, My Liege you must leave from the royal apartment only in the convocation clothes”

Then a sickening thought occurred to me, just so I could ask a bunch of troll clan chiefs some questions, Angela and I were being stripped again and in my view humiliated. Maybe trolls did not see things that way. They were a lot more a complex society than the impression of mindless thugs that one got from the fairer races in the Mystical Realms But what would they do to Sarah, a mere child, that I in declaring her to be my daughter had sworn to protect as best I could. I was afraid to ask, it was too awful to contemplate.

Angela came back in the room, the silken fabric clinging to her body, and almost see through in some parts, Angela was looking at the ground and folding her arms to cover her exposed right breast while she could. It was down to her to ask the question I did not feel I could ask, “Can Sarah keep the clothes on she is wearing now, please, it’s cold outside and she is only a little girl”

Sarah looked up at the Troll, and said nothing.
The troll clan chief looked down at Sarah then back up at us, “Because in theory a convocation can dismiss an emperor if the unanimously vote so, the loyal children standing vigil, must be dressed as if that has happened to save further humiliation. If the emperor is not removed, which will definitely not happen as I would not vote accordingly, after the convocation, they may return to the royal residence and resume the privilege of be attired as royalty again.

“NO!” Angela shouted, “You can strip Graeme and I naked, fine, but you are not touching our daughter”
“Do I have to get undressed after all Mummy” Sarah suddenly asked, we had almost forgot she was in the room.
“OK Clan Chief, this is getting too far, if need be I will call of the convocation and talk with each clan leader one on one.” I exploded, “Angela get dressed”
The troll just shook his head “You can not call off a convocation once it is assembled, sorry” At this Frameana handed Angela what they expected or princess to wear, just a pair of sandals, and a pleated silk skirt that was Sarah’s size, Angela threw them at the dining table in disgust.
“OK then” I tried, “I will issue a decree that my wife and child need not attend and can wear what the hell they like”
The Clan Chief of the Manjura just shook his head, “I’m sorry, remember when you asked about making decrees and I advised you not to make too many”
“Yes?”
“Well once a decree is uttered then it can not be revoked”

Great just like the ancient laws of the Medes and the Persians back on Earth”

I was wondering why he would think I would even dream of disowning Sarah as my own child, when I realised what he was actually getting act. “So the details of what is worn at a troll convocation was issued by an emperors decree?”
“Exactly, the decree goes back at least four hundred cycles”

“You know what they would call this on Earth, in England” Angela, now almost screaming at the Clan Chief of the Manjura.
“I know” replied the troll forcefully, “and I must say that you do not have to be big and ugly like us trolls to be monsters. The kind of things that some humans do to their own offspring or offspring of others sickens us as they never happen here”
“As far as you know” contested Angela, now going head to head with the
“It never happens, our societies in the Mystical Realms values it’s offspring a whole lot better than humans ever do”

Angela struck the troll round the face with her open hand. The troll looked shocked for a moment, then retreated.

“I’m sorry my queen, these are ancient laws, it is how we do things here. I understand you want to protect your daughter, but I “

“MUMMY I’ve changed into what Mr Troll says I have to wear”

Angela looked around, and to her horror, Sarah had picked up the skirt and sandals and was now dressed exactly as the troll law seemed to dictate, it was as if we were seeing her when she was a scullion slave, and it was stomach churning. Her first father had taught her that rules had to be obeyed, and the little mite had complied with what the Clan Chief of the Manjura’s instructions, so now she stood there, shivering in a cold draught, trying to be brave, but obviously on the verge of crying again.

All I could say was “Angela, Sarah, if I had known I would never have started this convocation”, then I went to the bedroom and got changed too. Whilst in the bedroom I found a stone wall, just to pound. I sat for a moment on the bed, and cried, what had I done and would Angela ever forgive me.

I arrived in the main room in just my kilt and sandals. Angela sat on a chair with Sarah on her lap, tightly wrapped in a blanket from Sarah’s cot and looking daggers at the trolls.

I sat down beside them. “I’m sorry, I’m a lousy husband and father”, then I broke down again.
I felt Angela’s soft arm on my bare back, as she held me, “I know you did not mean this to happen love” she whispered, “It is their rules and it looks like we’re snookered.”
Sarah remained quiet; all she wanted to do was be a good girl and please everyone, a trait that not always works.
“I know it’s not much, but got her to put underwear back on under the skirt, Merah said it would be ok” Angela whispered I know this was some kind of triumph over these stupid troll rules, but for me it seemed like “Way to much information there”
Then Angela added, “and one of the trolls will carry her in her blanket until we get to the chamber and then take it back here when we arrive”
I whispered back, “What about when we leave”
Angela on realising that the blanket would not be available to Sarah got flustered, then said she would just take her dress off and wrap her up in that and walk naked back to the apartment.
“Ready to leave?” Asked the Clan Chief of the Manjura

Angela handed our little princess to another Troll from the Delethon clan, and he carried her in his arms, wrapped in the blanket so at least on the journey down she would be warmer than Angela or I.

Angela used her left arm to preserve some modesty as we walked hand in hand. I felt the wind on my back as we walked down. To say we were cold was to put it mildly. I was just glad Sarah was wrapped in the blanket at least on the way down, but when we reached the chamber I realised it would be removed, and she would be standing there, half naked, shivering in a cold draughty outer chamber while Angela, partly exposed with the dress she was wearing, and I stripped to the waist were in a chamber of trolls, which was most likely heated.
.
On the way, we say another troll from the Rachtal Clan, one of the former pro-orc clans waiting for us to pass. The Clan Chief of the Manjura looked at him with disdain. Merah, drew her sword.

“Merah, why so hasty, can a fellow troll not accompany their majesties down to the convocation, see I am unarmed” The Rachtal troll said, with his arms in an open gesture.
The troll engaged Angela in conversation about what was to come, and Angela barely watching her language was bitter about the whole process, and especially about how Sarah was going to treated.

The Clan Chief of the Manjura cut in to tell us, that although for Sarah, it would be just like how things were for here when she was a slave, it would probably be only for a couple of hours or so and that Sarah would not suffer the whippings and beatings she had in the scullery. That was little more than cold comfort, our daughter was still being humiliated and put at risk of hyperthermia, just so I could speak to the troll clan chiefs

The Rachtal troll seemed quite thoughtful for a moment, then told us he had to attend his own clan chief and ran off ahead of us, and we thought no more about him, especially as Angela and I were frozen from walking to the convocation chamber in the cool mountain air that blew across the Troll citadel of Karam-Tag-Chou

We finally arrived at the stone building; it was near the city wall by the main gate. Apparently there were two entrances, one where the troll clan chiefs normally entered which was to the south of our position, guessing from the sun’s position in the sky, that was a bigger entrance straight to the hall. The north entrances was a swing gate, almost like the type of door pictured in Wild West saloons on cowboy films, and therefore partially open to the elements. The door area was ten feet high, but the door started about two feet from the floor and ended two feet from the top, that lead to a twenty by twenty antechamber with a big solid oak type door the entrance to the main debating chamber. There was a small bench to the left of the main door.

Sarah would have to wait here partially exposed to the elements, guarding our sandals, which we removed. We looked to see if there was some brazier so Sarah could have some heat, but there was none. Trolls on this world were more resilient to cold and assumed humans were the same from what I could tell.

Gently the troll carrying Sarah put her down so she was standing, and then unwrapped Sarah from the blanket, and folded it up. Nodded at us and left. Sarah began to cry
“Mummy I’m cold” she wailed
Angela knelt down and looked at her, Angela was crying too, partly out of rage at what they were doing to her little girl. It was as if the trolls cared more for their traditions than our physical needs, but what could we do.
“I know your cold Sarah, We’re all cold” Angela could just about get out.

I turned to the Clan Chief of the Manjura, “My girl could die out here dressed like this with no heat or become seriously ill”
The troll just shrugged his shoulders, “It is how things are done, the children of the emperor assume the dress of a deposed emperor and stand vigil while both parents are in the convocation.”

It just seemed like there was no reasoning with him and these ancient troll laws

“Can we not have a small fire so she can keep warm”
“All we can do is light one of the torches” the troll replied and instructed one of his troll attendants to light one of the small torches on either side of the interior door, pull it out of it’s holder and gave it to Merah to hold upright. The flaming part was about two feet above the line of the bench, so Angela lifted Sarah onto the bench. Sarah would be out of the way of the draught coming under the exterior door, and near the flame, but the heat was not that great.
Angela shook her head at this arrangement, “I am not going to let Sarah stand like this” then with out warning Angela pulled her own dress right off, revealing her naked body, so she could wrap it around Sarah.
“My Queen, I’m sorry you MUST put that back on” ordered the Clan Chief of the Manjura.
“I don’t care if everyone sees me naked, I want to look after my daughter you B******d” Angela was now crying tears of rage
“You don’t realise just how right you are Angela” I said under my breath”

Suddenly, Merah tapped Angela on the shoulder, Angela looked at her, then down at something, I could not see what, then she looked at Sarah, standing shivering, trying to keep warm by a flaming torch

“PUT YOUR DRESS ON NOW” The troll ordered, and to my surprise, Angela complied
“Mummy is sorry sweetheart, but Mummy and Daddy have to go and speak to the trolls now” she said to Sarah, giving our daughter one last hug, “Please be good for Merah, and please be brave”

I was violently shivering myself now in the cold air, I just hoped it would be warmer inside, otherwise I would be useless and this convocation would have been for nothing.

“Can we get on now?” The troll said.
Angela and I nodded and then held hands, we were going to walk hand in hand if we could, and to our surprise they let us as the giant door swung inwards.

We then walked in to the assembly room with what seemed like dozens of trolls sitting in a semi circle, like some auditorium, Angela with her free hand covered her right breast that was deliberately exposed by her convocation dress. The Clan Chief of the Manjura walked a head of us to sit and the head table, with the Clan Chief of the Delethon. We were to sit in between them. Manjura had this honour, because that troll had initially proposed me to be emperor of the trolls and the Delethon leader, because they were declared responsible for the upkeep and guarding of the royal complex of the Troll citadel of Karam-Tag-Chou.. One thing we noticed, was that it was a lot warmer in here, which made me feel even more sick at the though of what Sarah was being put through, just to satisfy the ego of a long dead troll emperor.

“What did Merah show you?” I asked Angela
“Not now, I will tell you later” replied Angela through gritted teeth.

We took our places at the table, and looked at the rows of Clan chiefs. There was a seat missing, must be the Yataxal, clan since their chief had been murdered that morning by an assassin using a bowie knife from Earth. But no, there was the Deputy of the Yataxal clan, filling in for his fallen chief.

“Who is missing?” I asked the Clan Chief of the Delethon

“The Clan Chief of the Rachtal, that treacherous one” The Delethon troll hissed, both the Manjura and the Delethon hated the Rachtal with a passion, but for the sake of finding peace they were observing a strained truce.

We were sitting there, waiting, Angela held her arms crossed to cover herself, even though she had initially thought the dress to be quite bohemian, at heart she really did not like showing herself off in front of strangers. My mind suddenly went back to that one holiday the previous year, we went on before the Mystical Realms crashed back into my life. The hotel had what seemed like a great idea. Always wondered what to do with your clothes wallet and keys when on the beach? Then using a special service, we just undress in a changing room, put all our stuff in a locked bag that would be kept secure, or taken back to the hotel. We had wanted it to be kept secure. I had got cut price swim wear, trunks for me and what I thought was a full bikini for Angela. I was wrong, but she had stripped off and they had collected the bag before she realised there were only the bottoms. The top apparently was extra as most women on the resort went topless. For some reason they took our stuff back to the hotel in error and the person in charge of the clothes dump went off for a long lunch while Angela had to wander around topless until the guy returned one and a half hour’s later and then we discovered our clothes were locked away until the evening shift were due. She had cramp in her arms from trying to cover herself while the guy got back from lunch. I wished I had kept my T-shirt, but Angela had insisted I get some sun on my body for once. The guy in charge of the drop off had to ask a nearer hotel for a bathrobe for her, something they kept for those unfortunates who would occasionally lock themselves out of their rooms whilst naked.

BANG

The north door where we had entered crashed open, and in walked the Clan Chief of the Rachtal, with a small entourage.



“What is the meaning of this tardiness” The Clan Chief of the Delethon demanded.

The Rachtal chief looked at our table and then spoke, in sneering terms “I am sorry my esteemed troll clan chief colleagues. I was delayed, but I was also wondering if there was any point to these proceedings, given my original suspicions that this weak human would be just a puppet to the so-called loyal Manjura maggot and his ally the Delethon dunce to do their bidding”

“You will hold your tongue Rachtal” the Clan Chief of the Manjura snapped back, then added “At least we were on the loyal side unlike some”

The Manjura chief seemed to have walked into a trap, as the Rachtal chief grinned and continued.

“Loyal indeed. How loyal is it to humiliate the emperor, his queen and the child he has decreed to be his daughter? How loyal was it to the emperor to starve them out of the palace? Now I find that the Manjura maggots are just as much puppets as I suspected the emperor would be”

The Clan Chief of the Manjura was getting angry at these insults, where as it seemed like water off of a duck’s back to the Delethon leader. “Take your seat Rachtal” the Manjura chief orded.

Rachtal was ignoring him, opting for theatrics, and all I could think of was poor Sarah shivering in the cold, I just wondered how long she would last before succumbing to hypothermia.

The Rachtal chief continued, “You, Manjura maggots, had your strings pulled by a Griffin, A Griffin” A reference to the Griffin judge that dismissed charges against me when I was first dragged here to face trial for conspiracy to interfere in the affairs of a mortal
“Now, my esteemed troll colleagues, the Manjura maggot has his strings pulled by the long dead Waxwal the vain, of the clan of Delethon or was it Manjura, no wonder Delethon and Manjura are so in league, no matter, The Manjura has allowed this long dead troll to force the royal family to humiliate themselves just to talk to us. See how his Queen is trying to cover her self”

Angela looked up at the Rachtal troll and put her arms down fearful that trying to hide her exposed right breast had caused this troll offence. “Sorry” she uttered, her voice cracking under the stress of what was happening to our Sarah, “I’m so sorry sir”

“Don’t apologise your majesty, you may cover yourself if that is your wish” the Clan Chief of the Rachtal told her in his softest voice.

Angela brought her arms back up to cover herself again, “Thank you sir” responded, tears now falling down her face.

“Sit down, that is enough It is the way of things” retorted the Clan Chief of the Delethon, now getting irritated at the antics of the Clan Chief of the Rachtal.

“The way of things, only according to a long dead troll who was vain and obsessed with ceremony” The Rachtal chief retorted, “Now as for my loyalty” The Rachtal chief continued, “I have shown that I am more loyal already, by feeding the royal family yesterday when they were starved and frozen out of their home by the incompetence of the Delethon dunces”

“That is all, sit down” chimed the Manjura chief. The other trolls just looked on, it was obvious there were some unresolved issues between Rachtal, Manjura and Delethon and they were arguing these petty issues out while my daughter was slowly freezing to death.

“I will in a moment, but I am being a bit harsh on the Delethon clan, for this very day, I found one with some honour and independent thought, so as not to be a mere puppet”. Then Angela gasped in shock, he produced a blue towel, it looked like one from our royal apartment
“No” groaned Angela, “No how could he do that to her”
“Angela what is it?” I asked,
Before Angela could answer the Rachtal Troll continued, “Humans are more susceptible to cold than us trolls, and the royal princess is a weak human child even more at risk from the cold, but the Manjura made her stand out in the cold with out protection. It fell to Merah, a lowly female bodyguard from Delethon clan to defy this nonsense and she took a towel from the palace to try and keep her charge warm and alive. Although this towel was inadequate at least she made the effort to show loyalty to the emperor”

This was horrendous, even this towel had been taken from her, Sarah was in trouble for certain now

“She will be punished for this lapse of protocol” the Clan Chief of the Delethon said angrily

The Clan Chief of the Rachtal leaned over the Delethon chief, “I would be proud to have her in the Rachtal if you do not want her, for her resourcefulness and loyalty to the Emperor” Then the Rachtal troll stood up and addressed the other trolls, “Before I take my place amongst you, I know we fought with the orcs, but I wish to show, my loyalty to the Emperor by saving the life of the royal princess from the ineptness of Manjura and Delethon

The Rachtal Chief nodded at one of his troll guards, who opened the inner door we had come through, and in came two trolls, escorting Merah, who was carrying our daughter. As I looked at the approaching figures I saw, to my relief, that Sarah, instead of just wearing the silk skirt and nothing else, as she had been told to by the Clan Chief of the Manjura, she was now also wearing what looked like a dark green and warm woollen smock that covered her down to her knees. Sarah was looking around at the chamber and was over awed, her eyes were also red as she had been crying her eyes out.

This was too much for Angela, who got out of her seat and ran round the table to hug Merah and our daughter. I could just about hear that she was repeating the words “Thank you” over and over again. Then she kissed Sarah on the head and left Merah holding her and came back to our table, then remembered what she was wearing and crossed her arms to cover herself. Angela’s eyes were also red after crying. Angela came and sat down again and I gave her a hug, “They saved her, I thought she was going to die but they saved her” Angela whispered then started sobbing as I held her in my arms.

The Clan Chief of the Rachtal allowed Angela to recompose her self, while the clan chiefs of the Manjura and the Delethon seethed at this lapse in their precious protocol and at being showed up, but the pair in my opinion deserved it. Then the Rachtal troll continued “I will now show my loyalty to the Emperor and his queen, with two gifts”

At this another Rachtal troll came up to the head table and gave us our own woollen green smocks

Angela and I looked up at the Clan Chief of the Rachtal,, who then told us to put them on and cover up our humiliation at the Manjura and the Delethon, which we duly did. They were nice and warm and a blessed relief from the cold.
Then he turned to the rest of the troll clans, and asked them “Does anyone apart from Manjura and Delethon seriously have objections to these weak humans receiving the compassion and loyalty of the Rachtal clan just to talk to us?”
The other trolls looked at each other, and muttering, but I could not make out what they were saying
“Any real objections” The Clan Chief of the Rachtal reiterated then added, “Must the emperor of the trolls be forced into humiliation and harm due to the whim of any particular clan, just to talk to us?”

This seemed to catch the other troll clans on the hop, as the way the Rachtal had put it made the things me and my family had to endure seem ridiculous. The troll clan chiefs then collectively shook their heads. The Rachtal clan chief, then for the “piece de la resistance” added, I believe that the queen and the princess should be allowed to retire from these proceedings back to somewhere warm, like the royal apartment, assuming Delethon has got it’s act together, if not I am sure we can spare some fuel for the fire. Then we can hear what the emperor has to say. Any real objections?”

Again no one objected, and Manjura and Delethon had been out manoeuvred and out voted.

Angela got up and collected Sarah from Merah, Merah came up to me and told me “I will see they get back ok and stay with them”

“My guards will make sure they get back safely Your Majesty” The Rachtal chief told me and somehow I believed him, he was positioning himself as loyal to me personally for some reason and investing a lot of political capital in safeguarding our family’s welfare, but who cares, this clan chief had shown us some humanity over ancient stupid laws

The Clan Chief of the Rachtal then told Merah, “If he decides to punish you our clan will protect you from that and welcome you in to our clan”

Merah nodded and with Angela and Sarah they left, along with a number of other trolls from the Clan of Rachtal.

Now we could get to the business in hand, and I was invited to speak and so I stood up It was time for me to plead for the life of Sarah my adopted daughter and I was not sure how this would go down

To be continued