The Golosina, the Forgotten Land and the Skurkene - 9. Chapter 9

‘You’ve managed to kick yourself and two kids out your kingdom?’ Tav laughed. He had got all three and they were up in the old castle ruins again. Tav managed to get some chairs and tables and all four were sitting together.

‘The garden we all go in, it’s a large piece of land,’ Freddy said, leaning forward. ‘Could you turn that into our kingdom?’

‘I’m flattered that you think I’m that good,’ Tav rolled his eyes. ‘I can’t create a whole kingdom with no rulers too, maybe a large castle building but that’s the best I can do.’

‘Maybe you could have some help,’ Princess Beatty offered.

Freddy nodded, ‘Would your girl be willing to?’

Princess Beatty grinned, ‘You can ask her but I think I know the answer.’

‘What should our kingdom be called?’ young Benjamin asked. ‘Can I bring my friend along too?’

‘Of course,’ smiled Freddy

‘Names. Don’t know. How about sky pigsty mess?’ Tav suggested.

‘That’s the winner,’ grinned Freddy.

‘I was joking,’ Tav frowned.

‘We will find a name, don’t worry about that,’ Freddy winked at Benjamin.

Tav leaned back, ‘Well, we’ll get the Witch to come along.’

‘Her name is Minne,’ Princess Beatty stated.

‘Wow,’ Tav laughed. Freddy smiled and shook his head. ‘What?’

‘Let’s do this,’ Freddy rubbed his hands together. ‘New kingdom, new life.’

***

Over the next few days, Minnie and Tav created a large castle in the garden between Damp Cook and Phaenomenon, the castle was elegant and bright with tattoos of black plants around it, darkly shining like a rebellious star.

They made little homes around the castle and a hall.

‘You guys have done an awesome job,’ Freddy exclaimed.

‘Now we have empty homes,’ Tav rolled his sleeve down.

‘They are there for people who will come for freedom,’ Freddy smiled at him.

Princess Beatty turned to them, ‘So if this is the kingdom, are you guys in charge?’

‘Yes,’ Tav said, automatically

‘Not having that,’ Minnie crossed her arms.

‘Okay, okay,’ Freddy got himself in between them. ‘No civil wars already.’

‘You just don’t want to come back to Phaenomenon with your tail in between your legs,’ Tav rolled his eyes.

Freddy sighed and said, ‘You’re right, I don’t want to do that. I really want this to work, please, guys?’

Then they all heard laughing and looked up. Benjamin was playing with his troll friend, they were wrestling and mocking each other.

‘Got you,’ Benjamin laughed.

‘No, I got you,’ the troll used his magic.

Benjamin ran away, laughing, ‘You’re the worst, hah.’

Princess Beatty stepped forward and smiled, ‘We will make this work.’ She looked at Freddy, ‘It makes sense you should be in charge. But we should have something too.’

Freddy nodded, ‘Absolutely. We can write up what we can do.’

***

Over the next few days, they established their roles, Freddy naturally became the ruler/leader after being decisive in his actions of what to do with the kingdom and keeping the peace between everyone. Princess Beatty and Minnie were in control over getting the word out on their new kingdom.

‘I didn’t see you much as a leader type,’ Tav said to him privately when they were in their room.

‘Me neither,’ Freddy said, resting his head on Tav’s chest. ‘I wasn’t set up to be the one in control, just a side character in someone else’s story. It feels good though.’

Tav smiled and kissed Freddy on the head, ‘I’m better though.’

‘Nope,’ Freddy grinned, closing his eyes.

***

Later on, there was someone at the castle gate. The all went to answer it.

At the door was a female character, almost like a medusa monster with snakes in her hair, forked tongue and white bright eyes, next to her was a young knight, both holding hands.

‘Yes, my friends?’ smiled Princess Beatty.

The knight looked at the girl next to him, nervous, and then looked back to the princess, ‘Are we safe here?’

‘Absolutely’ Minnie stated. ‘You are welcome to come in, there’s plenty of homes you can choose from.’

A day later, someone was at the gate again. This time it was a young princess, wearing knights clothing and her hair cut short like a male character. She stood there, hands on hips.

‘Yes, my friend?’ Princess Beatty asked her.

‘I don’t want to be a damsel in distress anymore; I don’t want a prince or anyone with me. I just want to fight and have adventures like the boys do. I don’t want to get married and I got kicked out of Phaenomenon.’

‘Loser talk,’ sneered Tav.

‘Come in, you’re welcome in,’ Minnie called whilst slapping Tav hard on his arms.

The day after that, someone else was at the gate, it was a young prince by himself, a very slim boy.

‘Yes, my friend?’ Princess Beatty asked.

In a soft voice the prince asked, ‘Can I stay here and just read? I’m not good at fighting or rescuing and they say I’m an embarrassment to the male characters. I’m good at reading and writing though, I can just stay in quietly.’

‘Let him in,’ smiled Freddy.

The day after that, someone else was at the gate. It was a giant troll with an ugly nose and rotten teeth.

‘I’ve heard this is the place to come if you don’t want to be who you were created to be,’ he asked. ‘I’m supposed to destroy houses, make people cry, make things ugly. I just want to create flowers and different type of trees, could I stay here and create more gardens? I won’t be any bother, honestly.’

‘We do need a gardener,’ Princess Beatty smiled. ‘You have the passion and we need that. Come in my friend, you are welcome to stay.’

Over the next couple of weeks, their kingdom grew and grew. It became uglier and more beautiful at the same time, an excited buzz filled the air, curiosity peaked and creatures began to speak to each other. Princesses were becoming friends with trolls, knights were showing off their skills to evil queens. Everyone was happy here. More and more creatures and people were seeking refuge in it and relationships blossomed inside. More homes were built, schools and farms, it became very popular despite having no name. The smells of the kingdom changed every day, some days it smelt like baked cakes and some days it smelt like new books and other days it smelt like damp.

‘Apparently our nickname is Vapaus,’ Minnie stated at their meeting. Freddy, Tav, Minnie and Beatty met once a week to catch up on the growing world they were creating.

‘Let’s just call ourselves that,’ Tav said, stretching. ‘That’ll do.’

‘So lazy,’ Minnie scoffed, rolling her eyes.

Freddy put his hands out and they all paused to look at him.

‘It sounds like the people chose the name, they want liberty and we are that,’ he smiled.

Tav grinned at him, ‘Alright, King Alfred.’

‘I will kill anyone who ever calls me that,’ Freddy stuck his tongue out at Tav. ‘It’s Freddy. Always Freddy.’

‘You couldn’t kill a fly, King Alfred,’ sneered Tav.

Jumping over the table, Freddy wrestled him to the ground.

Princess Beatty rolled her eyes and went over to Minnie, linked her arms with hers and walked away from the meting table, ‘They’ll be kissing in a minute, like they always do, let’s just get out of here before it gets embarrassing.’