1
"TYRANT!" Puck exclaimed.
"NANNY GOAT!" the King's voice overpowered all else. Winds were building and all subjects were trembling at the outburst.
All
except for Puck. The King's secretary was enraged, his nostrils flaring
and his ears folded back. He seemed moments away from charging at the
other fairy.
A particular fairy among the company, a pot-bellied,
amphibian-looking thing with flowers for ears...could not help but
admire the secretary’s courage in the face of the fearsome Fairy King.
She only feared for his life. Hibiscus turned from a neutral gray to a
frightened reddish color.
"There is no talking to you sometimes. It's like trying to reason with a pile of rocks!"
"Retract that blasphemy and apologize!"
the King commanded,stomping his foot. The ground shook. The little
fairy in the crowd needed to hold onto a companion to keep from falling.
"Instead I retract and swap for another statement.
Bugger yourself!" the secretary bit his thumb and threw down the bag he carried with notes and tools.
"What didst thou say!" the King growled.
Puck folded his arms and walked towards the exit of the thorny castle. He kicked it open the door with a hoof and was gone.
"Do
not bother returning until you learn a modicum of RESPECT for thy
King!" the King exclaimed. He growled and stomped a foot again and the
fairies present huddled together, trembling.
"Straighten!" he snapped, causing all of them to go pole-straight.
His searing eyes scanned the crowd. When they fell upon the little chubby fairy, she needed to make an effort not to gasp.
"Hibiscus!" he gestured for her. "You have worked under Robin.Come! You shall serve his position until he comes to his senses."
"Y-y-yes,
Your Majesty," she bowed and scuttled over to her superior’s discarded
items. She lifted them and peeked inside. Hibiscus could hear her
companions’ whisper their horror to see the young one in Goodfellow's
position.Surely, she would falter and it would cost her limb or life...
"What marked he next upon to-day's schedule?"
Hibby squinted to read Puck’s writing. "There is trouble in the swamps, it seems."
"Details?" he asked.
"I do not know, Your Majesty. He did not say w-w-what on here."
"Consult the notes!"
"Directly,"
she gulped and dug through Puck's notes. They were scattered and
followed no order that she could understand. Her heart sunk."Y-y-your
Majesty, I apologize profusely. But I cannot seem to find any notes
pertaining to this particular conflict."
She found him peering down
at her, fangs bared. He lifted his head and righted his posture. "Ah,
you can hardly be blamed for his disheveled purse. Let us be off then to
discover the issue personally. Your wings function?" he asked.
She flapped her small, dragonfly-like wings. "I do fly, Your Highness. But not swiftly."
"What?"
he asked, cupping an ear. She had forgotten that his hearing was
unreliable. Puck always covered the awkward moments with jests.
"I said, yes, Your Majesty. But not swiftly!"
“What?”
he exclaimed. It was like watching a firework go off when he snapped
his fingers and silenced all else present.Once again, he asked “What
didst thou say, young Hibiscus? Slur not!”
“I can fly but not swiftly!” she exclaimed.
"Simply make an attempt not to fall behind." He shrugged.
He
led the way outside and Hibby scuttled after him. The King's black
wings began to pick up speed the moment they were outside. They flapped
up wind and nearly blew Hibby backwards and back through the castle
doors. But she held to the ground and followed after, her wings lifting
her from the ground. How had the day come to this? She kept repeating to
herself that this was not the end of her life.
2
Hibby's Notes: Day One Without Puck. I
believe I am already failing at this endeavor. Not a moment into the
task and I believe I have fallen short of the King's needs. The first
thing I noticed upon greeting him was that his appearance was...off.
Though I could not finger what it was at the time, I realized it was his
crown missing. He must have forgotten it without Puck to remind him. No
one can blame a trivial thing like this to him, for he has countless
other duties.(A fact that made itself glaringly obvious to me to-day).
He was speaking to himself when I entered and I paid this no mind
because it is well known among the court that he does this and that it
is best not to interrupt.
He snapped his fingers when I entered and held a hand out as if waiting for something.
"Y-your Majesty...?" I did not know what it was h wanted.
He shook his head, apparently leaving his own thoughts. "Ah. Agenda, Hibiscus. Today's agenda."
"Ah,
yes." I dug in Puck's bag, which I had reorganized last night so that
it would be manageable for me. Still, when I handed His Majesty the
list,he cocked his head. It reminded me of the movement a feline makes
when a toy is taken from it.
"This is High Noon's to-do list. Not an agenda. Did he show you where those were?" he asked.
I was mortified that he sounded agitated. I so wanted to make Puck proud and I fear the King. We all do.
"N-not that I recall, Your Majesty."
He gave a sweeping gesture to the room across the hall. "The library.Come. I may as well show you."
I
walked ahead, doing my utmost not to tremble while I held the door open
for him. When I caught up he was gesturing to an entire shelve of
scrolls. My heart all but deflated. I had not learned this! But the King
did not seem to take note. He stood, reticent and with eyes fixed on
the scrolls. "Do make haste. Their alignment mocks me..."
It
hit my ears like a warning. Whatever it may mean, I did not want to find
out. I hurried to the scrolls and began to sift through to find today's
agenda.Of course they were out of order and in Puck's usual organized
chaos.
Eventually I did find today's schedule and hopefully the key
to navigating that shelf. It seemed to be alphabetized backwards
according to one of the older dialects of the elders. It is a language I
only know passably.
But by the time I brought the King the scroll, he was glaring at the shelf.
"Is there something the matter, Your Highness?"
"Look at it!" he growled. I backed up into the shelf, causing scrolls to fall.
I
loathe myself when I am so easily frightened. Especially when it leads
to these small defeats. The scrolls that fell on me did little to hide
my fears.
"Never mind..." I heard him grumble as he stomped away.
"Should I clean this?" I called out.
"Leave it to the maids!"
From there the day only digressed.
At
high noon, the King did strike one royal guard with the back of his
hand. It sent the unnamed guard flying and he was dismissed for the
remainder of the day. I am not at liberty to discuss why the King struck
him but I will say the guard overstepped his boundaries while speaking
to the Princess Rue. Puck has warned me time and again that the King can
be volatile, so I should not count this against myself. I see this as
my failure for not preventing the situation.Puck would have known how to
diffuse the tension.
Though he seemed more ill-tempered than usual
throughout the day and growing impatient with my timid nature, nothing
truly horrid happened until about an hour ago.
Though the King
recently dismissed me to organize my notes, I was called out of Puck's
study by a maid. She told me that she and the other servants could not
remove the King from the library. I could not imagine how I would
possibly remove him if numerous other fairies could not. I am about as
stern and fierce as a litter of newborn rabbits. Regardless, I could not
slack on my duties and Puck would surely know how to handle this!
But I was ill-prepared.
What
I found was the King in the library and scrolls strewn about. He seemed
to be frantically reordering the scrolls. I could almost imagine an
hour glass running out as he scrambled to put the scrolls in order. But
most puzzling tome was that he seemed to be measuring how far each stuck
out. His wings were even flapping, a sign of distress.
"Your...Majesty?"
"Behold! This row is even. See? Yet the others, I cannot seem to--"
"They do not have...to be even, Your Majesty."
" Of course they do! It must all be the same!"
"He's been doing this for three hours," the maid beside me whispered.
I had to conjure up my best imitation of Puck's levity and charm. "Your Majesty, that can wait for the morning."
"Nonsense. I have no need for sleep."
Oh dear. What would Puck say to that?
"You deserve sleep, though..."
He froze, twitching slightly. "What time have you on the clock?"
I
told him and he set a hand to his forehead, eyes shut tight. It was a
pained expression. "Three hours behind schedule. Three. THREE!"
I do not think any of us were prepared for what occurred next.
"Burn it," he commanded
I gasped. "The whole shelf?"
"Yes, do it by morning and bury the ashes. It is tainted."
I
recalled then what Puck had warned me of. The number three. That was
the King's one great fear. I should not have revealed the time to him.
"Surely, Your Majesty," a maid spoke up, "we could wash it instead. A whole new shelf--"
The King flew cracked his foot into the shelf, cracking it neatly in the middle.
"It is broken. Burn it and do not recycle the ashes."
He left us with that. I had seen erratic behavior from His Majesty before but not of this nature.
Here's to hoping that Puck returns by morning. I am afraid I am not ready for this kind of responsibility!
3Hibby's Notes: Day Two Without PuckI did my utmost, I swear! I did all I could to stop His Majesty from handling this personally.
I
told him "No, Your Majesty, a mortal woman would not be ready to behold
your radiance!" "Your Majesty, isn't this too small a matter for your
concern?" "Your Majesty, please!"
But he insisted upon seeing this through PERSONALLY.
What a disaster.
It
was discovered that a changeling was recently swapped for a human
infant.This is not uncommon, obviously. But Puck warned me that the King
is especially concerned with matters concerning the young (both mortal
and fae). So we took the trip to the mortal woman's home. When we stood
before the woman she was understandably altered in mood. She appeared to
be in a state of torpor until we arrived and His Majesty decided that
stealth was not necessary.
He made a grand entrance, causing the
mortal woman to drop the pile of logs she had been carrying. Her screams
summoned her husband to us and he yielded an axe.
I hope I did right by throwing sleep dust at the both of them. They plopped to the ground as fast as their logs.
"I suppose she was not ready," the King mumbled. "Fast thinking,Hibiscus."
I
would be lying if I said I was not flattered. I blushed and hid my
countenance from anyone for the next hour. But we were able to find the
changeling. He was seated upright and awaiting us. He must have heard us
from outside. How old he was, I could not tell. Nor what kind of fae he
was but I saw that he had been mistreated by his humans. He had the
appearance of a human babe but the demeanor of someone far older. As the
King went to touch him he pulled away.
"What is the matter, Your Majesty?"
He
waved his hand and I read such a gesture to mean that I was to carry
the little one. It almost seemed as if the King was unnerved by it. But
of course I did not ask why.
Now I know that those two mortals will
wake and tell horror stories of seeing at all, darkly clad fae with a
crown. This is precisely why he has Puck in his service! To speak him
out of making appearances in the old world. Mortals can only handle so
much...before they begin to go into hysterics. We all know that he likes
his pranks, but outright hysteria will not do.
Again, he was ornery with the court and broke into an argument with the Queen towards sundown when he rose.
He seems to be jumping at the slightest provocation.
But at least I managed to keep him out of the library today...
The
new shelf will be installed tomorrow. For now I am keeping the scrolls
safe in a trunk. Tomorrow is supposed to be a day of paper work. I have
never been so excited to hear that there will be nothing to do!
Where are you, Puck?
4
HIBBY'S NOTES: THIRD DAY WITHOUT PUCKFAILURE!
Utter and complete failure to perform my work! Not only is the King
falling apart,his crown lost, several doors off their hinges, cracks in
the floor where he has stomped them to death, and the court in a panic,
but now Her Majesty joins in the madness.
To-day, the Royals met with
an official and the King was storming so madly that nothing could be
done to help it. Her Majesty the Queen had set about translating his
ravings as best as she could. With the magic that spouses possess from
years of marriage, she was able to make sense of prose but only to a
point.
I hid in the corner to take notes. That is what I do best, after all.
Finally the Queen threw up her arms and stomped and grunted. It is rare to see her lose her calm.
"Enough!" said she, "I will no longer be your translator! That is what you hired Puck for! I am your Queen, not your secretary!”
She
was gone in an instant and the trembling official begged to be released
from the conference. The King did not dismiss him but marched in the
opposite direction.
At last it was only the official and I who remained, united in our fear.
I have searched everywhere. I cannot find the King.
I have lost him. I have LOST THE KING!
I had ONE TASK.
To serve the King in Puck's absence.
And I have failed.
Gods preserve us! We need Puck!5
Elsewhere
in a less magical place, the King’s secretary sat peering into a pond.
He watched his own tears join the water there while, by his side, a
Unicorn listened with no particular interest.
"By his side
constantly! He destroys something, I fix it! He takes, I give. And
yet... for each flaw he has, I see it water ten more virtues that grow
in its place. The garden..." he held back a sob "chokes the weeds that
try to strive there. How can I hate him? "
The Unicorn watched the
fae and sighed. "You love him. It sounds to me as though you are
incapable of hating him, Goodfellow. Have you... eh, ever thought of--"
"Of
what? Quitting his side?" Puck asked. "I...I have considered retiring
one day. But then I realize...who I am thinking of. Nobody has ever
truly believed in me the way he has. He found me when I was a force of
clamoring chaos and gave me order."
"Funny then that you are the one to give him order," the Unicorn yawned.
"That
is just the way life works," Puck shrugged and blew his nose. "Being
away from him for only three days has left me out of sorts. I can do it,
but thinking that he loathes me causes me more pain than I am able to
express."
"You have expressed here, at length, more than I have
wished to know," the Unicorn assured him. Then, with a knowing look "Are
you...eh, bedfellows?"
Puck stared at the Unicorn as though he had
sprouted extra heads. "Me? In the royal bed! You jest!" he laughed. "I
am not worthy--"
The Unicorn yawned again, interrupting Puck's self-depreciation. "Sure."
"You don’t believe me?"
"Well,
I don’t care enough to probe into the matter deeper. But I would have
assumed you two were bedfellows if not told otherwise.'"
"Is this the
set up to a joke, Unicorn? He is not the kind of King that does that
sort of thing with his servants. The Queen, however, well that-- "he
paused. The Unicorn could probably see Puck's thoughts speed. "Wait a
moment. How many days did I say it was?"
"Three, Goodfellow. Three days, including the nine hours or so you have been rambling to me."
"Three!
God’s wounds! I need to get back to him!" The fae jumped to his hooves
and shook them of dirt. He shed the human-like form for the form of a
bird. But as he went to fly, he could not seem to lift off in a straight
line.
The Unicorn groaned. "Oh for the love-- Come here. You are drunk, mongrel.”
The
four-legged beast lightly nabbed the bird’s wing and slung it onto his
back. “I will take you back to the Fairlands. Hold on.”
"You do us great service!” Puck exclaimed.
“I
simply do not want another war breaking out in the Fairlands. That
King of yours has a temper and ought to try to find a hobby."
6
All
in the Fairy Court had turned in early, as the Queen had sounded an
alarm.When Puck and the Unicorn walked the halls, not a soul was
stirring. But nearing the library Puck could smell the flowery scent of
his assistant Hibiscus.
"I see you there, Hibby. Sweet Mabd, what are you doing?"
Two
eyes appeared first, blinking on the wall until Hibby's camouflage
faded and she appeared in a shade of blue. Her head was hung, her voice
hoarse from weeping. "...I failed you, Puck."
"Oh, pish-posh." He conjured up a handkerchief and wiped her eyes."What is all this nonsense? It isn't the kind I like."
"The
King..." she whispered. "He is in the library. I was standing guard. I
have tried to speak sense into him, Puck. He is inconsolable."
"Raving or maudlin?" he asked.
"The
latter," she replied. "You have brought the Unicorn?"It brought a smile
to her face to see the majestic beast. The Unicorn was glad to allow
the fairy maiden to pet him. Meanwhile, Puck poked his head into the
library. He looked about to find it in shambles. Nothing of the order
remained.But what was most unnerving was the attempt at re-stacking and
re-shelving that failed so miserably.
The servant found his King
sitting in a most uncharacteristic slump. He had an old skull in his
hand, rolling it about like a saddened child.
Puck cleared his voice. "Ahem..."
The King started. He rose instantly at the sight of his secretary."Robin..."
"Your Majesty."
Their
stiff stances melted as they embraced. Puck held onto him extra long
and rubbed his back. They had known one another so long that the servant
could detect when the King was truly sad, despite any attempts at
hiding it. "I am sorry I stayed away so long..."
"You...took holiday. It was well-earned," the King replied. He combed Puck's hair back in affection.
It
was brief but their faces remained inches apart and for a moment Puck
thought the King would kiss him. But the taller fae straightened when he
noticed the Unicorn and Hibby watching. With a grand gesture towards
the library, he announced, "This is to be reorganized tomorrow. No
servant is to work tonight." His way of apologizing indirectly. He still
left a hand on Puck's shoulder as he spoke, which gladdened him.
"Your Majesty," Hibby spoke up "There is a list I must show you if you would like to see it now."
"Yes, that would suffice."
As the King and Hibby exited, the Unicorn remained.
Puck's ears had lowered and his expression sobered. The Unicorn nodded towards him "Some day."
“Some day what?” he asked.
The
Unicorn did not remain to explain. The sound of hooves clicking on the
floor preceded silence while the secretary was left to think over this.
