The Golosina, the Forgotten Land and the Skurkene - 10. Chapter 10

It had been a few months now and unbeknown to the new kingdom, they were being watched.

One day there was a strange request that came through. The gate guards, which were a giant troll and a talking unicorn, answered it and couldn’t see who it was so they asked Freddy and Tav to have a look.

Tav and Freddy answered it. Narrowing his eyes, Tav looked around. There was no one there.

‘Down here,’ chirped an irritated nasal voice.

Both Tav and Freddy looked down with binoculars.

A small imp like creature floated up to their eyelevel.

‘You could have just done that,’ Tav rolled his eyes.

‘Are you wanting to join?’ smiled Freddy, removing the binoculars.

‘I’m the speaker for the giants,’ the creature said.

‘So, you don’t want to join our kingdom?’ asked Freddy.

‘I am the speaker of the Giants who watches all kingdoms,’ the creature screeched. ‘The giants who seek stories to provide to the human world.’

‘Alright, he just asked a question,’ Tav folded his arms.

‘You’re from the giants?’ Freddy’s heart sank and then he cleared his throat and straightened his back. ‘Well, we are not removing our kingdom, it’s a free space here.’

‘It’s quite the opposite,’ the creature softened his voice. ‘The giants have seen the characters in your kingdom and think the human world may like what you have.’

‘Oh,’ both Tav and Freddy paused, looking at each other.

‘So,’ the creature continued. ‘If you can provide the giants one story from your world and the humans like it, they will be happy to continue for more stories.’

‘Wouldn’t we need a contract?’ Tav interrupted. ‘Besides we are not scripting our people into acting into forced roles, they are neither good or bad, they are complex creatures.’

‘No, the giants like them as they are,’ the creature said, suddenly taking a little clipboard out.

‘When do they need a story by?’ Freddy asked quickly.

The creature just smiled.

***

The word got out in the kingdom and every creature and individual rushed forward to provide their story. All were eagerly excited to show off their skills.

After seeing everyone, listening to their story ideas and even seeing some performances, Tav and Freddy were exhausted.

As they were lying in bed, Freddy resting his head on Tav’s bare chest, his scales glowing golden, he said, ‘They are all so good. Rob the troll has a great story with his creations and Amber has an amazing story as a knight.’

‘Yeah,’ Tav murmured, his nose in Freddy’s hair.

‘It has to be perfect. I know the other kingdoms will be looking down on us already.’

‘Who cares what they think? They’re boring.’

Freddy chuckled while his eyes flickered, tiredness overcoming him.

‘You’re right. They are. I just want to prove we are better.’

Tav said, softly, ‘You don’t need to overcompensate. We don’t need to prove anything. If the humans and giants don’t like our story, then it’s not going to destroy us, is it?’

‘You’re right, again,’ yawned Freddy, his eyes closing, his hand reaching out to hold Tav’s. ‘As long as we have each other, that’s all we need.’

‘Very cheesy,’ Tav pulled a face, feeling Freddy fall asleep on him.

Tav listened to Freddy’s light snores, he looked down at their hands clasped together, his nose in Freddy’s hair. He wistfully rubbed his thumb alongside Freddy’s ring finger. Tav sighed out loud and looked up to the ceiling, his scales turning from yellow to light sky blue.