Love in the Little Kingdom

Love in the Little Kingdom Part 3

"Good day in the workshop?" Ben's mother called from the kitchen of their little apartment within the Great Oak tree.

"Everything is almost ready for the ball." He said, removing his boots in the hallway and walking through.

Two bowls were set out on the table where once there had been three. The third chair sat empty facing the window.

"Sit down and eat, you must be famished." His mother said, taking her own seat.

They ate in companionable silence until his mother spoke.

"The Wise Old Elf came to see me today. He was worried about you."

"About me? Why?"

"Well, Princess Holly is going to be married isn't she?"

"So?"

"She's going to be busy. She won't have time to meet you in the meadow and play games."

Ben stared into his bowl. His mother and the Wise Old Elf had been talking about him and were trying to herd him towards something without telling him what it was.

"What's wrong, Mum? Tell me plainly, I won't mind." He said.

His mother looked at him over her spoon and settled it back in her bowl. She dabbed her mouth with her napkin and set it down on the table.

"I don't know what's happened between you and Holly but your friendship will not be the same after the ball. Whatever your feelings are, you must bury them."

She finished and took up her spoon again.

His heart was pounding. His feelings? What were they? Did he even know himself?

"May I be excused?" He asked and she nodded. He barely noticed the look of sympathy she gave him as he went into his small bedchamber. It was carved from a knothole in the Great Oak's trunk and a curtain fell across one side, separating him from the outside.

He pushed it across and smelled the last lingering chills of winter on the air. Below him on the ground, bobbing lights showed the paths of Elves returning from work.

Elves worked and fairies flew. They weaved magic and lived according to their whims whilst Elves like him were slaves to the seasons and the soil. They could not be further apart.

Somewhere across the meadow, Holly was within the spindly, glistening towers of the castle. Was she thinking of him? Or was she thinking of her future and Prince Thorn?

"Holly, Holly. Think of me." He whispered, his voice cracking. After twenty years together everyday and now, he had no time at all!

***

Holly walked home across the meadow. She found that she liked walking. The sensation of the ground through the soles of her petal shoes was reassuring. She felt connected with the soil and all things that grew. It made her think of the Elves too, always grounded and made to walk everywhere with the world towering above them. She didn't confide any of these thoughts to Ben, she didn't want him to think she might actually envy any part of being an elf! He would never let her forget it! She smiled to herself as she thought of him.

He had behaved strangely that evening. He almost seemed actually annoyed at her! And then there had been their fall on the ground. Her cheeks blushed as she recalled the sensation of his body beneath hers. He was so solid, bigger than any fairy and he smelled of wood shavings and sweat from working all day. So warm, so familiar and yet entirely other. She shook herself. It was surely wrong to feel this way about an elf, even one she had known all her life.

She stopped walking. With a rush of heat she realised that she would flout any rules to feel his arms around her again. To hear his voice, see his face.

"Ben-" She began.

"Princess Holly?" Nanny Plum flew above the grass. They were near to the castle and she considered hiding from Nanny to dwell on her new thoughts but Nanny would only cast a spell to flush her out. She sighed.

"I'm here, Nanny."

"There you are, Holly! We've all been worrying about you."

"Sorry, Nanny."

"Well, nevermind. Best hurry back now, the Wise Old Elf is gracing us with his presence tonight."

Her heart sank. If the Wise Old Elf was dining with them, she would have no chance to sneak off and think.