The Bad Fairy (girlxgirlxgirl)

44. In the dungeon

💧

Everything that happened after he woke up has been a blur.

It felt odd to be completely alone like that. Laying on the grass on top of a mountain that is split between the fairy and the great goblin kingdom, alone, cold and with a fuzzy head, was odd. At first, naturally, he didn't know where he was. All he could do was stand up and look around, finding nobody alive around him for as far as his eyes could see. There were miles and miles of untouched land in front of him. Forests, lakes, the sky, fields, clouds-

But nobody else but him.

Nayan had never felt so abandoned before.

Memories came back to him, one by one. He knew he wasn't able to turn back, walk toward the familiar fairy kingdom lands. He knew that he had to walk forward, toward the great goblin kingdom, and he knew that crossing the border again would not be an easy feat. But he kept walking, walking and walking, until his legs felt numb, and even then he hadn't made it far.

He stole a horse, not his proudest moment, and rode it all the way to the edge of the capital on little food and water. It's not that he didn't have the capability to steal, or pick- food from the nature around him. He was simply too distracted. His mind, occupied by a million thoughts, drowning in his own misery, hatred, fear. He had been forced to leave everyone behind him and knew that returning home to retrieve those things, those people, would probably end with him dead.

Honestly, a part of him was terrified. It was way more terrifying this time, to walk up to the gates of the cave city, great goblin kingdom capital. Way more terrifying than last time, even though he didn't even know Dieq by name back then. Still, even though he knew that it might not end well for him, Nayan knew that it was his duty to see Dieq. Other than him and his siblings, Dieq is the only one who can properly care for- and cares for, Chepi. He's also the only one strong enough to stop Novus from taking the crystal.

Nayan isn't strong enough, apparently. He always thought that he was, but he isn't.

He stood in front of the guards of the goblin kingdom's palace, two days after being cast out of the fairy kingdom, and said the same thing to the guards that he said when he first came here, several months ago. "I am Crown Prince Nayan of the Fairy Kingdom, and I ask for an audience with your King, or anyone who stands in his place." The guards looked at him with stone cold expressions, perhaps shocked under their icy masks, and then one of them scurried away into the palace, just like before.

Except this time, they didn't return to bow and escort him to the King, like last time.

This time the guard came back with five more guards, with more behind them in case he'd fight back. They grabbed one arm each and began to lead him into the palace. Using the word 'drag' would perhaps be an over exaggeration of their movements, but escorting is certainly not the right word either. Nayan would have fought back, but really, he wasn't expecting anything less of a reaction.

Either A, Dieq knows that he is dethroned and can treat him however he wants.

Or B, Dieq doesn't know, and doesn't care either, because he feels insulted.

Either way, Nayan can't afford to cause a scene. Instead, he lets them drag him with them through the tall and long corridors of the goblin palace, after having been taken to that same palace through some kind of private entrance by tram. The hallways are as terrifying as they were the first time, except, now they feel even taller, even emptier, even more intimidating. He doesn't belong here, and he doesn't belong in the fairy kingdom anymore. He doesn't belong anywhere, and that makes even this unfamiliar, cave palace feel even more lonely than it did before.