Fay Tale - Chapter Sixteen

Maidd woke to someone patting his cheek in the dark.

“Wake up Maidd,” Lily whispered. “You gotta wake up.”

The ogre sat bolt upright only to curl over again with a groan of pain.

“Shhhhhh!”

“Don’t tell me to shush,” the ogre muttered then jerked when Lily slapped her tiny hands over his mouth.

“Shhhh! No speaking!”

He sighed quietly and slowly sat up again. He felt the peculiar tightness of newly healed skin as he moved. Encouraged he stood to his feet and slowly stretched. There was a dull ache from the injury but that was bearable. He grunted with satisfaction.

“Shhhh!”

“Why are we supposed to be shushed?” Maidd whispered.

“Because Daddy told me not to come in here.”

“He was right. You weren’t supposed to come in,” the ogre sighed as he made his way to the door.

He grabbed the handle and turned, but the bolt stayed locked in place. Frowning Maidd turned it the other way but it made no difference.

“It’s locked,” Lily said helpfully.

Maidd made an exasperated noise then shouldered it open. The doorframe stood little chance against the sheer weight of the ogre and the wood snapped, freeing the metal bolt.

“Maidd broke my door!”

“And you snuck in to see me,” he muttered, limping out into the bedroom.

“But I wanted to see you!” Lily protested as she followed him.

“Well now you have and now you should go.”

“But Maidd is my Guardian! Angel said I’m not supposed to go anywhere without my Guardian,” she informed him smugly.

Maidd sighed. Now she found castle protocol useful.

“Don’t you think Angel will be angry if he finds you here when Daddy told you to stay out?”

“No cuz you won’t tell him I came in,” she said logically.

Maidd sighed again. It occurred to him the reaction was beginning to habitual around Eirendyr’s royal family.

“Fine. I won’t tell him you came in if you go get me some food.”

“Maidd is hungry?”

“Maidd is practically starving.”

“Maidd is stinky too.”

“Yeah Maidd is stinky too. Food first then bath.”

“Okay! Lily will get lots of food!” The princess dashed out the door before Maidd could wonder if he should accompany her.

With blood all over your clothes and reeking of confinement? They’d probably toss me in the dungeon the moment I stepped foot in the corridor, he thought as he closed the door then sat on the floor to wait.

He was just beginning to wonder if something had happened when he heard the patter of tiny feet in the corridor. These were followed by several heavier footsteps. Alerted Maidd glided over to the darkest part of her room to wait. If this was a trap he was not going down easily, even half-starved as he was from the healing. He crouched and waited for the door to open.

Moments later it burst open and Lily skipped into the room.

“Maaaaaaaaidd! I brought foooooooood!” She was followed, very reluctantly, by three servants carry large trays.

Maidd quickly straightened from his crouch then thought better of it as the servants backed away in alarm. He sat on the floor again and nodded.

“Thanks for bringing the food.”

The servants practically tripped over themselves setting the food on the floor then racing for the safety of the hallway.

“D-does the p-p-princess require anything else?” one called.

“No thank you,” Lily said politely. The door was shut with an insulting vigor, but Maidd ignored them in favor of scooting closer to the food. “Maidd happy with the food? I brought lots!”

The ogre nodded happily then grabbed the nearest dish and shoveled the whole thing into his mouth. The princess watched him with large eyes as he chewed, swallowed, then grabbed another dish and repeated the motions.

“Maidd is suuuuuper hungry,” she whispered.

“Super hungry,” he agreed between bites then said little else until he had polished off almost everything the servants had brought. Only when he was gulping down the last plate of soup did he pause and look at her.

“Lily how did you get into the storeroom?”

“I jumped.”

“Lily.”

“I did!”

“The door was locked and I know you couldn’t budge that.”

“Lily didn’t use the door.”

“...okay what did you use?” He glanced suspiciously up at the ceiling. “Are there hidden passages up there?”

“Nope! Lily’s a good climber and climbed outside my window and jumped to your window!” she said, pointing behind him as he took another drink of his soup. The ogre abruptly choked. “Maidd okay?” she asked with concern.

“No!” he gasped. “Maidd is not okay! If you fell you’d die, Lily!”

The princess gave his knee a pat.

“It’s okay. I didn’t fall.”

He was still staring at her when Prince Angelis opened the door.

“Liliana I hope–” He stopped when he saw the two sitting on the floor surrounded by mostly empty dishes. Maidd abruptly recalled his open and dripping mouth and shut it only to bite his tongue. He swore vigorously in ogrish while Lily listened with rapt attention.

“Liliana you may not repeat any of those words,” Angelis said firmly. He sank gracefully to the ground beside her and politely avoided looking at Maidd as the ogre scrambled to clean himself up. “Guardian Maidd I hope your meditation upon your new responsibilities was profitable? ”

“Meditation...yes it was very…profitable thank you,” Maidd said slowly. “Also you’ll need to get someone to repair her door...”

The prince glanced at the cracked wood and nodded.

“Of course. And I truly hope Liliana did not bother you during your period of voluntary confinement,” Angelis continued. “Her father informed her of the absolute necessity that you have quiet and space while you considered your new commitment to the royal family.”

Maidd glanced at the princess who was glaring indignantly up at the vampire.

“Lily didn’t bother Maidd! Lily brought him food!”

“Yes you did and I am very thankful,” Maidd said quickly before the prince could ask more questions. “When I came out from my meditations, she was very helpful.”

Angelis relaxed slightly and smiled apologetically at the princess.

“I’m sorry for doubting you Liliana,” he said, bending to kiss her cheek. She beamed.

“It’s okay. I forgive you.”

Eye of the Destroyer what have I gotten myself into? the ogre thought and not for the first time.

“Liliana why don’t you show Guardian Maidd to his room?” the prince suggested. “I’m sure he’d like to bathe away the strain of his meditations.”

“Okay!” Lily bounced to her feet and ran to the door. “Come on Maidd!”

“Coming princess,” the ogre replied before pushing himself off the ground. The vampire watched him carefully, and Maidd didn’t bother to hide his stiffness from the prince.

Wouldn’t do for him to think of me as invincible. I can heal some pretty serious wounds if left to myself, but it’s a rare battle that let’s an ogre crawl away to do it.

Maidd followed the child out into the corridor. His room was close by but obviously in the servants’ quarters. He had to squeeze through the narrow doorway, thought thankfully the tall ceilings allowed him stand upright once inside. When he maneuvered himself inside the room, however, he stopped, stunned. Gone was the tiny, human-sized bed he’d been given. In its place was an blissfully monstrous concoction built nearly the whole length of the room…in fact, Maidd was pretty certain even the room was bigger.

“Daddy said they had to put two rooms together so the bed would fit!” Lily said excitedly. “Lay down lay down! Wanna see if you fit!”

“M-Maybe later. I don’t want to get it dirty,” the ogre said, still shocked by the marvel of a bed built for his size.

Prince Seris probably has it rigged to break the moment I sit on it, he thought gloomily, or maybe knives will come stabbing out for a second round of pin the blade on the ogre.

But Lily didn’t give him any time for further pessimistic thoughts as she grabbed his hand.

“Come see the bathing room!”

She tugged him through a bigger door set in the wall and Maidd had to stop and stare again at another marvel. A huge wooden tub dominated the small, tiled room.

“The workers stole it from the washing room,” Lily informed him. “They had to take it apart then put it back together! They were all squished in here hammering. It was very loud.”

The ogre wasn’t surprised she had managed to supervise the building of his newish living quarters. He even knew enough not to ask if she had been here with Angelis or snuck off by herself.

“I hope the washer people weren’t too madd about that.”

“No cuz Daddy gave them a new metal tub. They were very happy.”

“Well that’s good then.”

Lily tugged him over and introduced him to the marvels of dwarven plumbing. Water that magically filled the tub on its own. Water that could even be warm! The plug at the bottom of the tub, which could be pulled to drain it right into the pipes on the floor.

“This is the best magic I’ve ever seen,” he whispered in awe.

“Not magic! In-gen-earing!” Lily pronounced.

“That’s engineering, Liliana,” Angelis called from the doorway to Maidd’s chambers. “May I come in?”

“That’s what I said!”

“Come in,” Maidd called back, ignoring the princess’s protest.

“How do you like your accommodations, Guardian Maidd?”

“They’re a lot nicer than anything I’ve had before,” the ogre said honestly.

“I am glad it meets your expectations.”

“Completely tossed me off the tower.”

“Why is Maidd getting tossed off a tower?” Lily wanted to know.

Seeing Angelis looking similarly blank Maidd explained, “it means I was caught by surprise.”

“Oh.”

“Then perhaps this will toss you off a second time,” Angelis said as he beckoned them out of the cramped bathing room. Maidd waited for Lily to exit before easing into the bedroom again. He saw a large wardrobe—which he had missed in the excitement of seeing the bed—set against the same wall as the door that led to the corridor beyond. Angelis opened the wardrobe doors to reveal rows of matching brown and grey uniforms.

“The grey proves you to be of Eirendyr’s house,” the prince explained, and Maidd nodded as he recalled the black, grey, and silver color schemes of the servants and soldiers. “However, Liliana’s own colors are green and brown so this was our best possible color coordination.”

“Daddy complains when I have to wear my colors because we clash,” Lily solemnly informed them.

“Your father is very sensitive to personal appearance,” Angelis agreed, hiding a smile. “Now we will leave Guardian Maidd to begin his ritualistic cleansing after his deep meditation.”

“But he just got done!” Lily complained.

“We will return within the candlemark,” Angelis promised her. “Then we’ll give your Guardian a tour of the castle.” Lily cheered and obediently followed the vampire out of Maidd’s quarters.

The ogre wasted no time in filling up the magical in-gen-earing tub and stripping out of his filthy clothes. He sank into the water with a delighted sigh then scrubbed until he was clean and green again. He pulled on the uniform and was relieved to find it fit reasonably well.

Angelis and Lily arrived right as he was about to try out the large bed. With a last reluctant glance, the ogre answered the knocking. The two royals studied him a moment, and Maidd found himself fidgeting in concern.

“Does it look that bad?”

“On the contrary it looks quite natural,” Angelis replied, recovering first. “We achieved a perfect compromise between the colors of the uniform and your natural skin tone.”

“The green looks super pretty!” Lily agreed, patting Maidd’s leg to get his attention. When he looked down at her she lifted up her arms imperatively.

“Just a moment Liliana. Let me fix a few things first,” Angelis chided, shooing them both back into the bedroom. The vampire spent a few moments polishing up Maidd’s outfit to the exacting castle standards.

“Perhaps you think this attention to detail overly exacting,” Angelis apologized.

“When an army mage is looking for targets, best pretend to be anything but interesting,” the ogre replied. The prince smiled slightly.

“Your terms of battle are refreshingly bold,” Angelis replied as he stepped back and examined the Guardian one last time.

“Honesty is the best policy except when it gets you killed.”

“That’s why Daddy bends the truth so we don’t!” Lily chimed in.

Angelis raised his eyes toward heaven, making the ogre chuckle as he reached down and scooped her up.

“That’s exactly right.”

Angelis sighed—could the royal family be exasperated over its own exasperation Maidd wondered—and led them out into the corridor.

“Court has finished its session for the day,” he explained as they walked along. “So we will head there first. It is important for you to familiarize yourself with where Liliana will sit depending on the occasion.”

“Maidd is gonna sit with me!” Lily cheered. “We’re gonna play word games and read books together! We’re not supposed to talk but we can pass notes!”

“As long as you do so quietly the king has agreed to let Liliana study those subjects which most entertain her during court sessions.”

“Cuz they’re boring,” Lily explained. Maidd covered his grin with a sudden bout of coughing.

“I-I see. Well, I hope we can play some interesting word games together.”

She grinned and kissed his cheek, and Maidd struggled to keep a very unogrely expression off his face. Luckily her attention was attracted by the faint clopping coming from the corridor ahead.

“Let me down! Wanna see Commander Hoof!”

Maidd obediently lowered her to the ground, but before she could dart off Angelis caught her hand.

“Liliana why don’t we show Guardian Maidd the correct greeting for Commander Hoofsbane? I’m sure he would be pleased to be greeted respectfully.”

“But Angel!” she protested, “Commander Hoof likes me lots!”

“All the more reason for you to greet him properly,” Angelis replied and tightened his grip when she glared up rebelliously.

“Please Lily? I’ve never had to greet a commander before,” Maidd added. At least not with anything more polite than a sword.

Clearly this did not meet the princess’s expectations of fun, but she slowly nodded. Once Angelis released her she stalked down the hallway with dignified, royal tread.

“If she holds her nose any higher, she’ll trip,” the ogre muttered quietly.

Angelis’s blue eyes danced as they followed her.

When they rounded the corner together, Maidd caught sight of a centaur stallion walking ponderously down the stone hallway. Iron-clad hooves rang with each step. Instead of a saddle he carried leather panniers buckled securely against his barrel, and in his hand he held a heavy spear.

“Commander Hoofsbane! You gotta come meet my new Guardian!” Lily called.

The moment the centaur saw them he regripped his lance and galloped in their direction. Lily smiled and waved, royal dignity forgotten, but Angelis frowned at the rapidly approaching soldier. Maidd shot forward, scooped the princess up, then tossed her back into Angel’s arms before turning to face the oncoming centaur.

When he was less than a few lengths away, Hoofsbane skidded to a halt in front of the ogre and slammed the butt of his lance into the ground between them.

“I Hoofsbane, Commander of the Mounted Troops of Eirendyr, challenge the ogre Maidd to a duel of arms! The princess needs no untested Guardian!” Before Angelis could demand the Commander retract his challenge, Maidd grabbed the proffered lance.

“I accept your challenge and will gladly prove my strength to protect the princess,” he replied. The Commander grunted in reluctant approval, and Maidd withdrew his hand.

“Follow me,” said the centaur and clopped off. Maidd did his best to ignore the prince’s dumbfounded expression.

Sorry Angelis. Better get this over with now or I’ll have more problems in the future. I’d rather have the army as an ally than an enemy.

He gave what he hoped was an encouraging smile to the two royals before following after Hoofsbane.