The Accompanist Ch 3

Chapter 3: A Renaissance Festival

“You!”

“What are you doing here?”

“Why do you think I’m here, Marianne? I’m here to enjoy the festival.  Aren’t you?”

“Well, I was-“

Bog scowled and deflated a little before answering.

“I’m glad I killed this day for you, too-“

“No, not that again!” said Marianne, stomping her foot in annoyance.  “I was referring to my wings getting stuck.  I spent hours trying to make these, and then to have them be ruined by a stray tree branch, right at the beginning of the day, is annoying.”

Bog could hear the sigh escape Marianne, which made him pause in his ready tirade for her.  She really was upset about the wings.  Perhaps he could mend after last time.  He started out talking by looking at the ground.

“Well, if it’s any consolation, they still look great.  It’s a small hole that most won’t notice, and if they do, they’ll probably think it was done like that on purpose.”

“So just own it, and no one will care?”

“That’s what I do.  No one tells me differently,” he said with confidence.

“I like it,” she said, smiling at him.

The two stood there awkwardly for several moments, both smiling at the other before Dawn came rushing back.

“Marianne, good news! I found a super tall and nice guy to come over and help! He’s coming with Sunny now,” she said before stopping and realizing that her sister was actually smiling.  Then she saw that Marianne was not stuck in the tree anymore.  And then she saw a very tall guy smiling back.  The gears in Dawn’s head moved so fast at speeds never seen before, and she was smiling as well.

“Bog King! It’s great to meet you at last!”

Dawn rushed in, ready to hug Bog, when Bog suddenly turned upon hearing his full name and scowled menacingly at Dawn, who stopped short immediately.

“How did you know my name? Who are you?”

“Me? I’m Dawn, Marianne’s sister.  You know her, right? I’m the one getting married.  It’s nice to meet you.”

Dawn tried again to go up and hug Bog, but he prevented her, still confused but hiding it well.

“How did you know my name? Marianne only knows my first name.”

“Uhhh, well, you see-“

“Did you look me up?”

“No.”

Dawn looked like she wanted to shrink to Sunny’s size and run away, and Marianne enjoyed it.  It was not often that someone made her outgoing sister pause like that, and considered Bog lucky.  While she was surprised at finding out that it was his real name and how she was going to be teased about it later, she was curious to see how Dawn got herself out of these things, as she always did.

“Then how did you know my name?”

“I didn’t! I just saw the crown on your head, and went with that.  You’re tall enough to pass for one.”

That pacified Bog some, so his scowl disappeared.  No smile yet, but it was enough for Dawn to go to him and hug him, shocking him with the contact.

“Anyway, now that we have figured that out, thanks so much for helping with my sister’s wings! I was so worried that I’d have to climb on Sunny’s back to untangle it.  Speaking of Sunny, where is he?”

Sunny appeared moments later, huffing and looking scared.  After he took a moment to breathe, he tried to explain himself.

“Dawn, the guy got called away, so-“

“Aw, it’s okay, Sunny! It’s all taken care of, see? This nice guy named Bog took care of her for us.”

“Wait, Bog, as in-“

“Yes, that Bog,” said Bog stepping up to both with his arms folded.  “I see Marianne told you both about our meeting in the coffee shop.”

“Meeting? More like loud confrontation,” said Marianne with a smile.

“I wasn’t asking for your opinion, Marianne.”

“Well, you’re getting it anyway, Bog.  I owe you for all the opinions you shared with me last time.”

Bog turned away from the engaged couple and faced Marianne, who was smiling and giving him a challenging look.  Both puffed themselves out, ready for another rehash of last time.

“They were desecrating all that was good about ‘Smoke on the Water’, which wasn’t much to begin with! I was doing you a favor.”

“I still don’t have anyone.”

Bog just shrugged at Marianne, which only frustrated her more.

“Not my problem.  You aren’t looking in the right places.”

“Are you suggesting that I go up to all the musicians here and ask them?”

“It would be a start, yes.”

“Sure, let’s ask all these people specializing in Renaissance festival type music if they can play the guitar and do some rock and roll.  Great idea,” she said, sarcasm laden in each word.

“I’m just full of them.  I am a King, as you now know.  You should listen to me, Princess.”

“Princess?”

“You don’t look like you’re used to going out and doing so much work, if you can’t even hire a musician.”

Marianne looked like she wanted to punch the guy, so Dawn stepped in before Marianne got herself kicked out of another public place for fighting.

“Hey look, guys, it’s almost time for the jousting! Who wants to go?”

Marianne made a face of disgust before Bog chimed in.

“No thanks.  The horses deserve better riders than the pretty boys who spout romantic drivel like that.”

“Thank you,” said Marianne.

“I’m off to see the Washing Well Wenches, as it is.  If you’ll excuse me, I’m sure you have other things you wanted to do today-“

“Now hang on a second, Bog! You say you’re going to see the Wenches, too?”

Bog turned back around and gave Dawn a questioning glance.

“Yes, too?”

“Well, I know Marianne also hates the jousting, though I think it has more to do with what happened last year, and she loves the Wenches as well.”

Bog raised his eyebrows at Marianne, who shrugged her shoulders.  She made it clear that she did not want to talk to him.  Bog acted accordingly.

“Even if she does, I’m sure she’s going to a later show and doesn’t want my gloomy company.  I’ll just be making fun of everyone there, anyway.”

“But Marianne does that, too! See? You have to take her with you, so that she isn’t making gagging noises when Sunny agrees to volunteer.”

Both Bog and Marianne chuckled at the thought of little Sunny volunteering, but more so Marianne, knowing that he would not enjoy being poked, prodded, and forced to almost kiss the Wenches in order to get the rose that the Wenches gave to male volunteers. 

“Whether or not Marianne does it is irrelevant.  She doesn’t wish to speak to me, and I’m not going to force myself, either.”

“Marianne.  You know he’s going to be here.”

Bog stopped at the mention of a “he”.

“So what? I’ll just punch him and enjoy myself.”

“Marianne, I don’t want to have to bail you out of jail like last year.”

“But it was so worth it!”

“Marianne, I’d feel so much better if you had another guy around, just to scare him off.  Please? For my sake?”

“Dawn, I can take care of myself.”

“Bog, help her see reason.  She just needs an escort-“

“I can take care of myself, Dawn.”

“Yes, I know you can, but you need to let others do so, sometimes.  Just for most of the day, alright? Once you scare him off, then Bog can stop being a gentleman and leave.”

“Who said I was a gentleman? How do you know I’m not evil for all the things I’ve already done?”

“Nah, anyone who enjoys Deep Purple that much and would help with Marianne’s wings is okay in my book,” said Dawn, waving off his objections.

“Regardless, if Marianne-” Bog said before stopping as he saw Marianne’s face. 

 

Marianne’s shoulders slumped before crossing her arms and looking at him, tilting her head away from the group.  He took that cue as Marianne’s resigned willingness, and if it meant getting the nosy Dawn out of his face, he would do it.

“Oh good, so you agree! I knew you’d come around.  You two have fun now, while Sunny and I go watch some jousting.  Have fun and try not to get into any fights!”

Dawn flitted away with Sunny, hand in hand.  Both smiled and took off, leaving the other two alone again.

“Do you actually like the Wenches, Marianne?”

“Yes, I do.  I love making fun of all the dudes stupid enough to allow themselves to be manhandled, all for their girlfriend’s sake.  It’s my favorite part of the day.  I try to do it first, while it is still cool since there isn’t much shade there.”

“My thoughts exactly.  The show starts in thirty minutes.  If we’re going to get good seats, we need to hurry.”

Bog started walking with purpose while Marianne stood still for a moment, confused.  Finally, she ran to catch up with Bog’s much longer stride.

“Are you actually agreeing to do this? Or did you agree just to get rid of Dawn like I was?”

Bog smiled at Marianne before he used his long staff to push people out of their way.

“The latter, of course.  She is persistent.”

“Try living with her.”

“Better you than me.  But it would be funny to see her fiancé go up and volunteer.”

“He won’t.  He knows what awaits him.”

The two continued to talk about other parts of the Wenches’ show that they liked until they finally arrived.  They got a seat in the middle of the action, sitting next to each other, but with enough space to suggest that they were not together.  The space did not last long once all the seats started to fill, and Marianne took off her wings so that she would not hit anyone, while Bog tried to rearrange his body so that the harder part of his armor was not against Marianne.     

Soon, the show started.  The Wenches introduced themselves before they started their jokes and got orders for beer.  They did their best to sit in all the men’s laps who ordered, so Bog had more reason not to drink.  Marianne pointed out which guys looked stricken at the thought of the Wenches trying to press their bosoms in their face. 

The two continued to whisper to one another throughout the show.  Not even the short interlude of the guy with the whip was safe from their comments.  Marianne made faces as the Wenches brought back the beer and took sips of it, especially of Guinness, before giving it to the people who ordered.  Once the challenges started, the two could not stop laughing.  Some men were forced the wear the women’s dirty laundry, or else run to a random place and declare loudly his undying love for his girl, while others were put on public display for their muscles, talents, or whatever else the women decided. 

“Why any guy would willingly put up with that for a flower is beyond me,” said Marianne.

“You don’t like the idea of men suffering trials and laughing at them for it?”

“While I may enjoy laughing at them, do you really think I’d want any man of mine to be touched by those women like that? Certainly not.”

Bog snorted before nodding his head.

“That’s true.  I’m sure your boyfriend is grateful to you for that.”

“Who said I had a boyfriend?”

Marianne’s face went from wide-eyed to scrunched-up in moments. 

“I assumed.”

“You shouldn’t assume.  I might have once, but not anymore.  I don’t do love, any more than you.”

“Your sister is a special case.”

“More than you know.  I’ll explain once this ends.”

Soon, all the men were reunited with their significant others, who now held flowers.  The Wenches continued to fling water from the laundry at the guests in the front couple rows as they tried to make the crowd scream more so they could be considered the loudest group there. 

Finally, the Wenches said their goodbyes, looking for tips of all sorts.  Bog and Marianne gave their tip before Marianne led Bog over to a bench to sit and explain Dawn.

“There’s a reason why I didn’t want to go to jousting with Dawn and Sunny.  It’s their special time together.”

“Why?”

“Because my sister and I have been attending Renaissance festivals since being in strollers with my Mom and Dad.  Once my Mom died, the one who really loved these things, my Dad stopped going, but Dawn and I still went.  Sunny has been her best friend since age seven, so he was there for her throughout.  It was hard to even get them together in the first place after being best friends for so long.”

“How did they end up doing that?”

“Oh, Dawn went through a boy-crazy stage, so Sunny was her source of advice and go-to friend of all times.  She has a habit of going to the bar and singing ‘Sugar Pie Honey Bunch’ when drunk to whatever guy she happens to go with, except Sunny.  One time, she sang the part about ‘You know that I love you’ right at Sunny, and for once, Sunny couldn’t help himself and actually smiled and looked with adoration at her, like he does whenever she is not looking.  Dawn saw it, and she had a long conversation with him after, that ending with them kissing and dating at long last.”

“So she doesn’t sing that song anymore?”

“Oh no, now she does it all the time, for Sunny.  He loves it for whatever reason.  He’s just as good, so don’t think he lets her do all the singing.”

“So what does jousting have to do with them?”

“Since Dawn and I love this place so much, Sunny thought it appropriate to propose here.  Her favorite part of the festival is jousting, so he talked to all of the festival people and pleaded his case.  After much talking and some money exchanging hands, he was ‘picked’ to be a volunteer jouster since one guy fell off his horse ‘at the last second’,” she said putting up air quotes.

Bog shook his head before Marianne continued.

“He said he would do it for Dawn, and he ended up winning, of course.  Then he came back victorious, knelt down, and proposed.  Dawn was speechless.  I’ve never seen her so happy.”

“So you knew this was going to happen the whole time?”

“Of course! I was taping it on my camera so that they can show it to their kids one day.  Sunny pleaded with me to do it, though I would have done it regardless for my sister.  There isn’t much I wouldn’t do for her.”

“She’s lucky to have you.”

“I’m lucky to have her, more like.  She had to put up with me during a time when I hated all people, especially men.  But she bore it well and tried to get me to come out and do stuff with her and Sunny.”

“What happened?”

“I’d rather not talk about it, but suffice it to say that it involves a guy that I’d rather forget about, even if he won’t leave me alone, not that my Dad is helping much.  He’s the reason Dawn wants you here.  But I can take care of myself, thank you very much.”

“You don’t need a big, scary guy beside you, Tough Girl?”

“No.  You probably don’t even know how to fight.”

“Don’t assume, Tough Girl.  You probably know how to kick where it hurts, and that’s it.”

Marianne stood up and put her fists in the air.

“Want to bet?”

“I’d love to.  But first, let’s do it somewhere appropriate.”

“Where? No one encourages fighting here.”

“On the contrary, I know people here.  I have one friend involved in the Scottish Highland games right now, as well.  He happens to have weapons lying about for such a thing.”

Marianne scoffed at such an idea, but soon Bog was off, scaring anyone who got in his way.  Marianne soon had to run to catch up with him, yet again.  This running around was getting old in her mind.

“Would you slow down a bit?”

“Having trouble keeping up, Tough Girl?”

“Not at all.”

“Sure seemed like it.”

“You’re scaring a lot of people unnecessarily.”

Bog laughed at such a thought before continuing on toward where the games were happening.  Lots of people participated where allowed, but certain things they did not, such as with the swords.  His friend taught fencing professionally and had taught Bog for years now, and he was in charge of the weapons at this event.

“So you do know how to use a broadsword, right?”

Marianne glared at Bog before walking past him and elbowing him.

“Yes, I know.  I’ve been fencing for years.  You’re going to need a lot of ice when I get through with you.”

“Doubtful.  I’ve been doing it for just as long.  Excuse me for a second.”

Marianne watched as Bog talked amicably to the guy blocking access to the sharp weapons.  She had not been to practice in a while, but she knew a little warm-up would take care of that problem.  Soon, the guy was slapping Bog on the back and beckoning Marianne forward. 

“Pick your weapon, Marianne.”

“Aren’t you as well, Bog?”

“I already have mine,” he said, smug smile in place.

“That walking stick?”

Bog waved off Marianne’s comment.

“This stick is actually a staff, carefully cut and balanced for optimum effect.  Watch and see.”

“Ha.  I’ll still beat you easily.”

“Want to bet, Tough Girl?”

Bog was smiling, and Marianne saw her chance to use his cockiness.

“Oh yes.  If you lose, then you have to be my accompanist at my sister’s wedding.”

“And if you lose, then you have to tell me about this guy that you don’t want to see ever again.”

“Deal.  Hit me with your best shot,” she said, her hands motioning to him to bring it on.

“Are you going to sing that while fighting, Tough Girl?”

“No.  If I’m going to sing anything right now, it’s going to be ‘Straight On’ as I beat you.  What about you?”

“I avoid the singing as much as I can, especially with other people around.”

“But you have a good voice.  If you’re so evil, you could do ‘TNT’.”

“I don’t sing.  Stop stalling, Marianne.  I’m coming for you.”

“Not before I come straight on for you.”   

The two shook hands and then took five minutes to warm up.  After warming up, the fighting began.  The agreement had been to keep to good fencing techniques, but that got out of hand quickly since both were enjoying the exercise.  Marianne took the offensive right away, swinging her sword at him as he blocked with his staff. 

A group gathered to watch the advanced fencers as they started in one corner of the field and eventually weaved around the entirety of the playing field, striking at one another every chance they got. 

Stuff and Thang saw the crowd starting to form and saw their boss fighting with a girl.  It was not often that he did that, so both watched eagerly.  Stuff took out her phone to record it.  Thang wanted to help, but Stuff stopped him from going out there and risk getting himself hurt.

Meanwhile, the battlefield had never been so perilous, with random implements like javelins lying around, as they had all been abandoned the moment people saw them going at it.

Marianne thrust at Bog.  Bog blocked.  A riposte followed, but was parried easily by Marianne. 

“Is that all you got, Tough Girl?”

“For you, never.  I’m just warming up.”

The broadsword clanged as it hit the long staff, from under, then over, then in a circle as Bog directed the sword away to throw Marianne off-balance.  Marianne flipped into the air, sword at the ready.

“Come on, Bog King! Can’t you do any better than that?”

“Watch your mouth, Tough Girl.”

Stones appeared in their way.  Marianne jumped on the rocks for more of a height advantage.  Bog aimed for her legs.  She jumped and tried to hit from above.  Bog just moved his staff up with such force to throw her off the rocks. 

Marianne dropped the sword to recover.   Bog was behind her in a moment.  Two kicks to the knees had Bog backing up, giving Marianne time to grab her sword back. 

“Almost got you that time, Marianne.  Watch yourself.”

“I’m not even breaking a sweat here.  I was expecting a real challenge from you.”

Next came the poles.  Marianne thrust again, only for Bog to push her back, as he was annoyed by her comments.  He went to the other side of a pole, swinging his staff at her.  Marianne fell back.  She tried to go behind him, but he turned in a moment, the sword clinking as it hit the pole instead.  She almost had him! Bog was impressed.  The two danced about the pole, trying to hit one another. 

As the two drew near to the instructor, he began waving his arms about, asking them to limit the fight to another five minutes before he called a draw.  Both acknowledged him with words but never took their eyes off of their opponents.

“Where’s all that menace, Bog King? You’re all bark and no bite.”

“I didn’t want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice.  Here I come, coming straight on for you!”

Bog made one last attempt to feint a move right before trying to use his height to advantage and come down on Marianne.  She ducked and glided out from under him.  Once free, she lunged at him near his hand, trying to knock the staff out of his hand, but to no avail.  The two fought, almost danced, in a circle, each thrusting and blocking, trying so desperately to get the winning hit.

Before they knew it, the instructor blew a whistle and asked them both to stand down and accept a draw. 

“Looks like neither of us won, Bog.”

“Yes.  You know what that means.”

“I do.  Now you’re helping me with this music since you’re so talented.”

“And you owe me a story, Marianne.”

Both bowed and shook hands again before being mobbed by people asking them if they gave lessons or toured with their show.  Stuff and Thang saved them by pushing through.

“Don’t worry, King, we got it all on video.”

“What? Why did you do that?”

“Because you looked pretty awesome out there.  Why else? Wait ‘til everyone else sees this!”

Stuff grabbed Thang and pulled him away in case Bog was not happy about being on video.  She did not care, as it had been a good fight to watch.

The dueling couple soon escaped the crowd and headed for shade and water.  They almost got pickles from one of the many sellers, but waited for water.  Bog managed to scare a few people out of line so that they could get water faster.  They ended up getting turkey legs as well since they had worked up an appetite. 

Once they had refreshment and shade, they calmed down more as they discussed what else they had planned to do.  They found out that they both wanted to go to the human chess tournament being held soon, as well as one other show later.  Marianne decided to stick around Bog, as he was actually good company for her, not just talking about himself or wasting time on mindless small talk and flattery like other people she had known.

“Are you going to tell me about this guy at some point?”

“Yes, eventually.  Oh! There’s a kilt stand right there.  Are you planning to go there?”

“Me?” he asked, his voice going up a couple octaves.  “Why would I go in there?”

Bog did his best to avoid eye contact with Marianne, much to her amusement.

“Well, you are Scottish.  Do you own a kilt?”

“I can neither confirm nor deny that I own a kilt.  As my father was a proud Scotsman, he owned a few-“

“Hey!” screamed Marianne to the guy that happened to walk out of a tent just then, “do you know this guy?”

“Of course! We’ve had many a conversation.  A very good customer.”

“Pare!”

“Well, you are!”

“Thank you, kind sir.”

“Anytime, M’lady,” he said, before going back in the tent.

“You were saying, O Kilt-Owner?”

“I bought them for my father.”

“Sure, Bog.  It’s alright.  I promise I won’t laugh too much if you tell the truth.  I bet you wear them often.”

Bog’s ears turned pink.  He was tired of this subject.

“Marianne, stop trying to change the subject.  Now, back to my original question.  What about this guy? Is he an ex of some sort?”

Marianne’s shoulders dropped before she glared at him for finding her out.

“Of some sort, yes.  I was engaged to him, in fact.  His name is Roland, and he’s a lying, cheating scumbag that needs to be punched many times.” 

“Sounds like I would hate him, too.”

“Be glad you never met that two-faced, flattering womanizer-“

Bog waited for her to continue until he saw where her eyes were focused.  Ahead, a blond guy in shiny armor strutted about, his helmet in hand as he looked for someone.  The moment his eyes connected with Marianne’s he smiled and headed toward her.  The petite brunette gave him a glance so cold that it could freeze water, or his heart if he had one.  Bog put a hand on Marianne’s arm.

“Is this the guy?”

“That’s him.  Excuse me while I beat up this stalker.”

Marianne marched up to Roland as he greeted her with every pet name he could think of.  Bog did not like this guy one bit and stood behind Marianne, just in case.

“Roland, why are you here?”

“C’mon Marianne, you can’t be surprised to see me.  We go to this every year together.”

“Not since you cheated on me right before the wedding.”

“Now see here, I’ve come to talk to you about that-“

Before he could say anymore, Marianne sent a left hook at his eye, making sure he had a nice shiner on his pretty little face, followed by a punch under the chin to send him to the ground.  She hoped he was unconscious.

“I feel so much better now.  If only I could just put him in jail, I’d be all set.”

Bog smiled at Marianne before saying, “Actually, I think I can help with that.  Watch him for a second.  I’ll be right back.”

Five minutes later, Bog came back with three guys holding rope. 

“What’s all this for, Bog?”

“We’re going to put him in jail.  For the rest of today, to make sure that he doesn’t bother you.”

“You don’t have to.”

Marianne put up a hand to stop the men, but Bog took hers in his bigger one, bringing it down and squeezing.  His eyes pleaded with hers.

“Yes, I do.  Please let me, Marianne.  It’d give me great pleasure to do this to the guy that cheated on you.  You deserve so much better than that.”

After that, Bog and the other three guys tied up Roland and carried him off to the local “jail”, a wooden set of bars in a rectangular shape, where they hung up signs declaring his crimes to the world, including, but not limited to, arguing, disturbing the peace, being a pervert, magic box abuse, lying, and cheating.  The final one added by Bog was “Just Because”. 

Bog and Marianne high-fived one another in triumph and waited for Roland to wake up, who was shocked to be inside.  Once he saw Marianne, she pointed and laughed, then took Bog’s outstretched arm to leave.

Thankfully, the jail was close to where the chess match was happening, and both were allowed to join in the game, but on different sides.  Bog took to whispering in the ear of one of the volunteers.  The volunteer whispered back, making Bog scowl for a moment, but he agreed, so the volunteer quickly switched his place with someone else. 

Marianne realized then that he really did seem to know everyone there.  In this case, it had been beneficial so far, as she would never have gotten to fight like that normally.  Or have this opportunity.

Queen Elizabeth gave her speech to encourage her subjects to beat the other team, including Bog.  Bog just smirked at her.  The game began, and after a few moves, the two got the chance to fight one another again.  They had blunt rapiers and fought until Bog pretended to be hit by her and bowed out.  Marianne was confused until she realized that that was probably why Bog had scowled earlier, knowing that he would have to lose to her.  She just smiled at him, waving her clasped hands in the air.

The chess game ended with Queen Elizabeth’s side winning, and when that was done, the two decided to look at merchants until the later show.  They went over to a new portion of the festival, called the Dark Forest.  Bog was intrigued, and Marianne liked the idea of shade. 

Once in the Dark Forest, they watched little shows until coming upon a gypsy fortune teller.  The sign above declared her to be Sugar Plum.  She smiled at the couple and asked them to come closer.

“Sorry, gypsy, but I don’t believe in all that nonsense,” said Bog.

“Nor do I,” added Marianne.

“Neither of you believe in magic?”

“Magic, and love for that matter,” replied Marianne.

Sugar Plum tsked before waving her hands over her crystal ball, which soon clouded up.

“You will believe in both.  I predict great things for the two of you.  Together.”

“We’re not together,” said Bog.

“But you will be, mark my words,” said the gypsy.  “I see music in your future.  Together, you two can do anything.  Have a nice day,” she said, motioning to the path beyond her.

With that, Sugar Plum picked up her crystal and petted her pet monkey, if that was what the white creature was.  Neither was sure but did not ask, preferring to leave the odd woman.

“Well, that was weird,” said Marianne.

“You can say that again.  I wonder what else is this way?”

“Let’s find out.  First one to the end wins!”

Marianne had already been ahead of him, but Bog did not mind.  She was much shorter than him, and he could afford to give her a head start.  He soon caught up, and then he slowed down and ran backwards to taunt her.  She pushed on to try to pass him.

As it turned out, there was a lot more of the path than either realized.  Neither was a runner, after what seemed like the first mile, the two were wearing out fast.  It was then that Bog spotted a river. 

“We’re almost there! I see the river!”

“But can we make it?”

“I know I can.  And I know how you will, too.”

Female shrieks were heard as a fairy was tossed onto the shoulder of a tall goblin, sprinting the last bit of the journey,  despite her kicking at him, before he dropped her off right before the end and ran ahead to win.  Marianne crossed onto the dock where Bog was standing, looking at the water.

“Are we still in the festival, Bog?”

“I’m not quite sure.  Haven’t seen anyone for a while.  But the gypsy just pointed us in this direction, so I assumed so.”

“Maybe we should go back.”

“Wait a few minutes, Tough Girl.  Let’s rest here and enjoy the peace and quiet a little more.”

They sat down on opposite sides of the dock, both removing their shoes to put their feet in the water.  They drank in the quiet, the only sound being the water as it gurgled past them.  Eventually, Marianne lay back on the dock to look at the sky.  Soon, Bog was doing the same, their heads at the same level.

“This is nice.  I could stay here a long time.”

“I wish we could, Marianne, but we’re going to have to leave soon if we still want to get something to eat before seeing the last show.”

“Is it close already?”

“We’ll need an hour probably to get there, and that’s soon.”

“Five more minutes,” she said, turning her head toward him to hide in the shade of Bog.

“Works for me,” he said, scooting closer to her to give her more shade.

After a time, Bog stood up and helped Marianne up as well.  As he bent down to pick up her wings, Marianne got an idea.  She bent down to the water, and splashed him.  He did not respond well.

“I hope that was just the current acting up, and not you, little one.  You’ll lose this splash war.”

“Not if I can help it,” she said, splashing him more. 

Bog dropped the wings to get water of his own on her side, soon sending small waves her way with his large hands.  Marianne knew a losing battle when she saw one, so she shoved him a little and ran off.  Bog laughed before running after her.

Once he caught up, she started walking, and they walked in silence the rest of the way, smiles glued to their faces.  Bog tried to think of some way to get back at her, while Marianne enjoyed the scenery.

The walk back was much shorter than the one into it, to their surprise.  Soon, they were seeing booths, but no Sugar Plum.  Her wagon was nowhere to be seen.  A sign also appeared on the path, but they paid no heed to it since it was for the other way. 

On the rest of the path, they got to enjoy looking at the various wares, from pixie dust and chainmail clothing to fine leather and fairy wings.  Both preferred the weapon dealers, and Bog introduced Marianne to the different sellers.

Finally, the two grabbed more food and went to the last show of the evening.  The comedian was funny, and both laughed, even making Marianne cry at one point because Bog should not be allowed to talk about all the imbeciles in the world and what he would do to them, and how this comedian was not helping.

When the show was done, they headed out into the main square, only to be flagged down by a screaming Dawn.

“There you two are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you! Haven’t we, Sunny?”

“Yes, we have.  Where did you go?”

“We’ve been all over the place,” answered Bog.

“And making scenes too!”

“What?” screeched Dawn.  “Now what did you do?”

“Don’t worry, it was allowed, this time.”

“Marianne, what did you do?”

“Well, first, Bog and I fought with sword and staff in front of a crowd and got it recorded, and then I punched Roland in the face and really enjoyed it.  Bog was nice enough to lock him up in jail for the rest of the day.  Then, we played in Queen’s Chess, and I beat Bog.”

“Hmph.  Only because I was forced.”

“Sure, Bog.”

“Aww, it’s okay, Boggy Woggy.  I believe you.”

“I’m not Boggy Woggy or Boggy.  It’s Bog.”

“Bog, Boggy, whatever.”

“You should be nicer to him, Dawn.”

“Why?”

“Because he agreed to be my accompanist for the wedding.”

Dawn’s face lit up.  Bog did not like where this was going.  He was right, as Dawn was soon hugging the life out of him.

“Oh, thank you so much Boggy! I really appreciate it, and so does Marianne, even if she won’t say out loud! Thanks! I’m glad you can join us! It’s going to be so much fun! I can hardly wait! So, did you exchange numbers yet?”

“Dawn! We’re not dating.”

The fact that Marianne’s mind went there first was not lost upon Dawn.  She smiled.

“So? You still need to contact one another to figure out where to practice.”

“I guess so,” said Marianne.

“Give me your phone, and I’ll give you mine,” said Bog.

The two exchanged numbers, and that was when the rest of Bog’s group found him.

“There’s our King, the great staff-wielder himself.”

“And don’t forget kilt-owner extraordinaire,” added Marianne sweetly.

Bog gave her a dirty look before wishing her and the engaged couple good night.  His friends soon were on him.

“So who’s that, King?”

“That’s the girl he was fighting earlier.  It was a tie.”

“She’s pretty, and good for you.  You two should date.”

“Have I ever told you, Thang, that I’ll ask for your opinion when I want it?”

Thang mumbled to Stuff about her saying it instead, while Stuff just smiled and patted her boyfriend’s hand.  After that, they all left.  It was right before they all got in their cars that Stuff spoke up.

“So how did you meet her, Bog?”

“She’s the one I met in the coffee shop.  Today was purely by accident.”

“But you both felt that you needed to take out your growing frustration with one another by sparring together.  Good idea.  Did it help?”

“Good night, Stuff.”

In another part of the parking lot, the sisters and Sunny got into their car to go home.

“So, did you spend all day with him?”

“As it so happens, yes.  I hadn’t intended to, but it turned out to be a lot of fun.  I never thought I’d get to spar here.”

“That’s okay; I thought I’d never get proposed to by a gallant knight, either,” she said, smiling at Sunny. 

Sunny blushed before starting the car.

“So, what did you do with him?”

“I already told you most of it.”

Marianne was trying so hard to look tired, but Dawn was not about to let something like this go.

“But there’s more.  Tell us!”

“Later, Dawn.”

“C’mon, we got a long ride ahead of us.  Please?”

“Marianne, she won’t stop until you do.”

Marianne sighed, knowing Sunny was right.

“I know.  I just want to delay it as much as possible.”

“Why? Because he actually is King? He’s your Goblin King! Did you see the other guys with him? They’re all dressed as goblins.  He is a Goblin King! Yours.”

“Dawn, do you want to hear the rest of this, or not?”

“Yes,” she said, pouting.

“Good, then let me tell you about the Dark Forest.”

Dawn put her hands under her chin and looked expectantly at her sister.

“Did you get lost?”

“No.  We raced.  He picked me up.  We lay on a dock and enjoyed the river.  And a weird gypsy told us our fortune despite us telling her that we didn’t believe in what she did.”

“That’s odd.  What did she say?”

“She said that we would do great things together.”

“I knew it! You were meant to play music together!”

“Dawn-“

“Oh, better yet! You’re going to fall in love over playing music together.  He will sing to you, just like Jareth, and you’ll be swept away by him.”

“Sunny, drive faster.”

“Aye, aye, Captain Marianne.”