Waking up is a constant effort in your life—it always has been, and this time was no different. The real question was *how* it happened. You opened your eyes slowly, feeling every part of your body anew, and a tired sigh escaped your lips. Even though you had been asleep mere seconds ago, the exhaustion was overwhelming, and your head throbbed so badly it made you nauseous when you tried to sit up in bed.  

The room around you was, at the very least, peculiar. Even though you couldn’t focus perfectly on your surroundings, you could still sense the strangeness this place carried.  

The windows stretched from floor to ceiling, revealing a dense, dark forest outside. A sliver of sunlight hit the glass, showing that this place was in a clearing, but even so, the ground was hard to see beneath all the foliage. Beside the window, a shelf was attached to a desk cluttered with monitors, computers, and other equipment you wouldn’t even know how to name. Some looked like printers, others like devices—maybe tracking systems—along with keyboards, mouses, tangled cables, connectors, servers, desktops on the floor, and a few laptops hooked up to extra monitors. What stood out the most was that there were only two chairs around the long L-shaped desk.  

The bed you were lying on was enormous—big enough for three people. The blanket you clutched was soft, warm, and wide, perfect for a freezing night. To your left, another desk was pressed against the wall, and next to it, a door. On the desk sat a plate of food, seemingly prepared recently—the smell of fried fish was strong and, frankly, mouthwatering. As simple as the meal looked—some vegetables, rice, and fried fish—the aroma was irresistible.  

Before you could even think about the door beside the desk, your stomach growled, a clear signal that you needed to eat. At that moment, your body moved on its own, but when you tried to place your left foot on the floor to push yourself up, your support gave way, and you found yourself falling, eyes wide.  

THUD. Your heart raced, arms trembling. You looked down to where your left foot should have been… but there was nothing. Just a stump ending at the knee. Panic seized your thoughts. You frantically looked around, your throat releasing an inhuman, terrified, broken scream. There was no controlling it—your body screamed inside, fear and despair the only emotions you could process. With your hands clutching your head, you barely heard the sound of the door opening or the footsteps—much larger than yours—rushing toward you. Only when someone knelt in front of you did you realize there was someone else in the room.  

Like something out of a horror movie, your eyes slowly traced the figure before you. Two muscular, wet legs kneeling, a towel draped around his waist, barely covering halfway down his thighs; a sculpted abdomen where veins were faintly visible. The guy’s chest was broad and toned, completely hairless, his arms thick and strong—yet he held your shoulders as if you were made of glass. Finally, your gaze landed on his face, and if not for the panic of realizing your missing limb, you might have been mesmerized.  

Violet eyes and a youthful face with dark brown hair parted to the side stared back at you. As familiar as he seemed, you couldn’t place where you knew him from.  

Something in your expression must have tipped him off to your confusion because his demeanor softened, and a smile spread across his lips.  

“Easy, Cookie. Don’t worry. It’s me, Caleb. I put your breakfast—well, lunch—on the desk. That was insensitive of me, huh?” As he spoke, your body kept shaking. His presence didn’t exactly calm you—everything was wrong, and the worst part was that you couldn’t even *feel* your knee, like you were drugged. “There, it’s okay. I’ll put you back in bed, alright?”  

His voice was light, almost playful. Despite your obvious distress, he kept smiling, moving slowly as he lifted you effortlessly and placed you back on the bed. Faster than you expected, you scrambled backward, hitting the headboard and curling up.  

“It’s fine. I was taking a shower—didn’t think you’d wake up so soon… I’ll bring the plate over, okay?” He spoke like you were a cornered animal, and honestly, given the size difference, maybe you were. He stood, grabbed the plate with utensils, and brought it to you, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Here. Eat as much as you want. I can make more if you’re still hungry.”  

Your eyes flicked between the food and him. He still wore that gentle smile, his body radiating calm—even if it wasn’t helping much.  

“W-Who are you? W-Where are we?” were the first words out of your mouth. Your body trembled, tears streaming down your cheeks. Those questions were painful, but worse was the way he looked surprised. *Of course* you knew each other—why else would you be in pajamas in a stranger’s bed in the middle of a forest?  

The last thing you remembered was being with friends, a game night playing tabletop RPG. You hadn’t even drunk that night—just a snack, some fries, and soda. Waking up like this was… terrifying.  

“You don’t remember me, Cookie?” His voice carried… confusion. “It’s me, Caleb. We’re in our room, inside Facility 033-Alpha.”  

Your head throbbed, your throat dry. *Facility 033-Alpha? Our room?* What did that even mean? You couldn’t recall *anything* about either.  

Caleb, sensing your hesitation, sighed deeply. Leaning closer, he handed you the plate, then brushed his fingers against your cheek.  

“Here’s what we’ll do… I’ll stay right here for whatever you need, okay? Eat a little, I’ll finish drying off, and then I’ll keep you company, alright?”  

With no choice, you nodded. Holding the plate with shaky hands, you started eating, closing your eyes briefly just to savor the taste—it was, without a doubt, the best food you’d ever had.  

Caleb watched every movement, as if missing a second of you would be catastrophic. Finally, he stood, carefully taking the plate from you and placing it under the desk.  

“I’ll be right back, okay?” he said, waiting for your nod before leaving through the same door he’d come from.  

It didn’t take long for him to return, now wearing black sweatpants and a smile. It was impossible not to notice how sculpted his body was—broad, muscular, yet covered in scars, some downright frightening.  

What you *hadn’t* noticed earlier, in your panic, was his mechanical arm. His right arm was a literal prosthetic, and it made you curious—it was incredibly advanced, movements flawlessly fluid.  

Noticing your stare, he chuckled and stretched the arm out, sitting beside you on the bed, much closer this time.  

“Curious about my arm, Cookie? Feel free to look… And I’m sorry I couldn’t get you a matching leg yet.” He sighed, looking uncomfortable. “I know you’re confused, but… what *do* you remember?”  

You swallowed hard, avoiding his eyes, staring at the blanket instead, your voice barely audible.  

“The last thing I remember… was at a friend’s house playing RPG.”  

The silence was so heavy you had to look at him. When you did, something in his demeanor had shifted—like he was calculating, planning. A thousand thoughts raced through your head. His reaction could only mean one thing: you’d forgotten *way* more than he expected.  

“H-How much did I forget?” Your voice shook more than you wanted—any semblance of composure was gone.  

Caleb just smiled and shook his head, saying it was only a few months. But something inside you *screamed* that it was a lie. More than anything, your gut told you his face was a perfect mask hiding something huge. He averted his gaze, clearing his throat and scratching his head. “It’s fine, you’ll remember everything, I’m sure. Anyway… want to take a shower?”  

Back to that easygoing tone, like nothing had happened minutes ago. Standing calmly, he offered his hand, helping you up—well, hop—toward the door he’d come from.  

On the other side was a windowless room with a small kitchenette and another door leading to a bathroom with a tub and shower. You assumed the other door in the room was an exit. The bathroom had no windows either, just an exhaust fan, a mirror so high you could only see from your chest up.  

Leaning against the wall, you took a deep breath, trying to process everything. Months of missing memories, waking up in a strange place in the middle of a forest, a giant man with a metal arm serving you food, the weirdest room you’d ever seen—but just as you started pulling off your shirt, you realized Caleb was still inside.  

“Hm?” He tilted his head, smiling like it was the most normal thing in the world to stay while you undressed.  

“Can you leave?” you asked, incredulous.  

“Ah… But I… fine. Sure.” Like a sad puppy, he lowered imaginary ears, tucked an invisible tail between his legs, and left as if it pained him.  

Finally alone, you started slowly undressing, something caught your eye—your body was covered in small bruises, and between your legs, something you hadn’t noticed before: bite marks and what looked like… dried cum.  

With wide eyes and feeling your face heathen entirely, you tried to look at the small mirror the bathroom had. It was quite high for your normal size, probably working well enough for Caleb, but even so you could still notice more love bites and hickeys he had left on your body. 

“Is everything ok?” he asked still outside, but close enough to the door to be heard. 

“Y-Yeah!!” You shouted back and decided to open the sprinkler. No matter what had happened before, you still couldn’t picture yourself really sleeping with him.

No matter, you would figure everything out eventually so you decided to just shower like normally. When you finished, there were fresh clothes and panties for you, Caleb got inside the bathroom and changed your stuff, leaving a nice note too. 

Hey cookie! I’m heading out, gonna grab some stuff for us to eat. Just wait for me ok? I’ll be back soon =)

You dressed yourself and moved towards the bedroom, still feeling far too shy about what you found between your legs. How could you forget this type of relationship with someone? Thinking about those things, you moved to the bed and laid a bit, feeling tired from all the amount of information that had fallen on you that day. 

.  

.  

.  

Your eyes were closed until a bright light forced them open. The bedroom door was ajar, and no one was inside. You crawled out of bed, carefully using the walls to hop on your right foot without falling, making your way to the main room—its door also open.  

Freedom! you thought. Finally, you could escape this hellhole, return to your friends and family. It was so close—just one step away—until a hand yanked you backward.  

There he was, smiling that unsettlingly calm smile. He pulled you against him, arms trapping yours, his face leaning into your ear.  

“Trying to run, Cookie? Why would you do that, hmm?” His voice was sweet, but his grip was like steel. “How?”  

He asked again, silkily mocking, “How do you plan to escape? Crawling?” You could almost hear the laugh in his tone.  

“You don’t have a leg… How will you get out like this?” His hands slid down, pushing up your shirt, fingers tracing your ribs while the other slipped into your shorts.  

“P-Please…” You started crying, trembling, powerless against someone so much bigger. “P-Please don’t touch me…”  

“You know, I do feel a little sad. I regret it a bit.” He kept going, pushing you onto the floor, a satisfied smile on his lips. “I really do love your legs. It’s so pretty. That’s why I left you one.”  

With you pinned, his body covered yours, his hands gripping your right leg as he nuzzled against it. “But you still want to escape… What should I do, hmm?”  

“P-Please… S-Stop,” you begged louder, panic surging as his tongue dragged up your heel. “P-PLEASE STOP!! LEAVE ME ALONE!!”  

Then, ignoring your pleas, he bit down and ripped out your tendon, blood spraying everywhere. Your skin is nothing more than something to be feasted upon while you cry and scream, trying to squirm away. 

You jolted awake, heart pounding, tears flooding, body shaking. Before you could take notice of your surroundings, you heard two male voices coming from the living room. One of the voices was quite familiar, it was Caleb speaking, he seemed to be discussing something important with another male, until you heard the name “Zayne” leaving his lips. 

“I’m serious, Zayne” he said, his gentle tone now sounding so angry, Caleb was almost growling. “I went out and locked everything, but watched the cameras and she simply went to sleep. This is the first time. I need to know if she truly lost her memories or if it’s just a trick.

The other man sighed as if he had heard that many times and was forced to take care of all the tantrums Caleb threw his way. 

“I can only tell you that if she’s taken to my laboratory, I can run an examination on her. Besides that, I can only check superficially if she’s ok. You complained about nightmares, right?” 

“Yeah… She’s been having an awful load of them. I’m worried this stress might affect her.” 

“Right, let’s get it on with it, then. Show me the way and I’ll check if there’s any condition that you should be aware of… Although, I’m serious when I tell you to bring her to the lab.” 

You closed your eyes quickly as possible, nervous, but trying to look like you’re sleeping as best as you could. You still wanted to know who that Zayne was and if there was a lab… Maybe you could gather more information about this whole place and what was going on. 

They opened the door, but never turned the light on, you felt cold hands touching your left wrist and so you complained. You whimpered, very softly, moving gently and doing your best to act like you were truly sleeping —it seemed like it was working quite well. 

“Be careful, I don’t want to disturb her sleep.” Caleb complained to Zayne, but kept quiet otherwise. 

The doctor seemed to work feeling your pulse and even looking for anything on your body that could look like a spot or any indicator you felt pain, but as he kept evaluating you, he couldn’t find anything. You were satisfied that it seemed he was leaving until your leg started hurting and the only problem in this? You did not have a leg anymore, not that one. 

The phantom limb syndrome. You tried to not move too much, but at the same time, tried to keep the fake acting that you were sleeping, maybe having an issue during sleep with your leg or anything similar. They fell for the trick and you heard Caleb complaining something again to Zayne. 

“It’s normal in patients that have amputated a limb. Unfortunately, there’s not much we can do. If the pain becomes unbearable, please let me know, I’ll try to assist in the best way possible” the other man sighed after making sure the problem was your missing leg and not anything else. 

He excused himself not much longer after saying that. You, on the other hand, kept turning around and whining due to the pain, even sobbing. At least you were about to put an act to Caleb. 

“Ay, Cookie, it’s okay.” he whispered in your ear after taking a few clothes articles off, sitting on your side of the bed and pulling you to his chest. “I’m telling you, it’s okay. I’m here, I’ll take good care of you, ok?” 

His voice was gentle while his hands started to roam around your body. Softly you started to open your eyes, as if you had just woken up, the pain still clouding your judgment. 

“Hey Cookie. Good morning to you too” he cooed, kissing your forehead, his hand big on your belly, caressing you there. “I’m going to make the pain go away, ok? Just trust me.”

He traced from your forehead to your cheeks and then neck, earning a few whimpers from you. Caleb’s hand started to move under the elastic of your shorts and you started to panic, trying to move him away. 

“P-Please stop… S-Stop Caleb!!” You whined a bit louder this time, maybe the other guy could come back and help you out in this situation. You tried to push him away, moving your face to the other side. 

“It’s okay, Cookie. I’ll make you feel better, ok? Don’t worry, I never hurt you before, not going to do that now.” he whispered in your ears, gently caressing your thigh before moving his fingers under your panties as well, finding your softest spot. “This way you won’t have to fake that you’re sleeping in front of me again” 

Hearing his words caught you out of surprise. Your eyes wide open and you started to tremble, trying harder than ever to squirm away, crying louder and louder, trying to push his arm to the other side. 

“No no, you’re not being nice now.” He sighed, laying you on your stomach and before you could pull away from him, he dragged both of your hands to the front and opened the nightstand, getting something out of there. “Be good, I’ve been taking care of you and you’ve been lying to me…” another sigh while he got your handcuffs and ‘tied’ you to the headboard. 

You were in panic, not only not knowing who this man was but now he was even tormenting you, abusing your body in a way you could not handle, not even being able to kick him without losing your balance. You were almost screaming, muscles completely contracted in fear.

“See, it’s ok. I’ll always forgive you in the end, but I gotta help you with the pain, I know you’re not faking this one at least.” His voice came from behind you, kissing your lower back while he took your shorts and panties away, his face going directly to your most intimate part. “Look at you, being difficult now huh? It’s ok, cookie. I’m going to kiss you better and make you feel that nice way again” 

And with that, he started kissing your cunt, making out with your folds, licking long stripes from your clit to the back and although you were scared, afraid and nervous, your body started to answer to his caresses. Little by little you felt yourself becoming dizzy, your pussy more wet not only with his saliva, but with your slick too. 

A traitor's body indeed, giving in to the sensation of his tongue and making you feel like this was good after all. 

“Hmm… You’re doing wonderful, Cookie” he talked you through it a bit, his right hand holding your right leg so you wouldn’t fall while he ate you out like a starved man. “You’re doing so well, princess, I’m going to make the pain go away, ok?” 

He kept licking you, using his free fingers to prepare you better, moving them slowly inside of you. Caleb fed from your essence as if it was a delicacy of the gods, a given blessing, his fingers hitting a spot that made you see stars. 

“You’re doing so good for me, cookie.” He whispered against your clit and made you clamp hard on his fingers. Your eyes were star crossed, your body trembling to each one of his touches, until your body gave up and came, that white hot feeling that got you limp, only being held by the handcuffs and Caleb’s hands.

The brunette kept licking you, making you ride the high of your release, until he finally left your hips to rest on the bed. A chuckle that came from deep within him made you shiver, your face completely flushed, body heat emanating from him. 

“You’re always so dramatic with these things, cookie. Acting all pouty and spoiled like you don’t want it and at the same time melting on my hand…” he said softly and you wished you hadn't heard him, your body was tired, your mind exploding, but then, you heard him shuffling his clothes. 

Fear made you aware again, looking behind to see what he was about —even though you already knew, deep inside of you. Caleb had the body of a god, his muscles bulging under your attention, he had that lazy smile in his face as if your panic meant only a plaything to him. As if you were acting cute and he was just giving what you truly wanted. 

The worst part was when your eyes caught the sheer size of him. His member was enormous, huge and girthy, veiny and twitching in anticipation. You started to cry again, tears falling down your face as you tried to squirm away from him, to close your legs somehow. 

“Shhh shhh… It’s okie, Cookie. Why do you need to act so difficult right now, hmm?” Caleb gave you a gentle slap on your ass cheek, aligning his shaft to your core. Slowly and carefully, he started to penetrate you, sinking inside of you, inch by inch, centimeter by centimeter. 

You felt like you were being speared in the middle, your tears falling copiously from your face and when you tried to pull away again, he held your hips tight. You whined and whimpered, complaining how big he was, that he was hurting you even if that wasn’t true —since it seemed your traitor’s body was somehow used to his advances, to his touches, to his intrusion. 

Slowly you gave way to him, until Caleb bottomed out and shivered. He exhaled slowly, his big hands gently holding your hips, fingers tracing circles on your skin as if the brunette was trying to calm you down. He moved, his chest touching your back when he started whispering to your ear and kissing your neck. 

“Cookie, you are so fucking good to me. I promise I’ll make you feel so good” He whispered, his hips moving slowly. 

With each thrust, you tried to hold back any noise you could make, only tears spilling out from your eyes as you wanted to run away, go back to family and friends and wake up from this terrible nightmare, but Caleb was relentless and when he noticed you were not making noises on purpose, he started pinching your clit. 

His fingers were playing around with you, moving in a way only he knew, in a way your body couldn’t deny him any longer. Closing your eyes shut, you tried your best to stay still, to be controlled, to not moan, but Caleb was dedicated to making your body go against your commands. 

Moans spilled out from your mouth, your body acted on its own, slick leaking from your weepy cunt, making the way he slid in so tortuously delicious that you couldn’t stop the clamping. 

“F-Fuck… You take me so well, cookie… I-I’m so close” he whispered in your ears, making you shiver purely from his voice, his hips hitting your ass and his balls hitting your clit from behind. 

You closed your eyes once more, before you could bite down your own lip to hold on a moan from your imminent release, you felt Caleb’s hand pushing against your mouth. His bionic arm was strong enough to keep touching your clit and supporting your weight. 

“B-Bite me, Cookie…” He whispered, his voice was so thick with desire you could almost see hearts in his eyes, his face dusted with pink. “Y-You’re such a good girl for me…” and so you did. You bit Caleb with all your strength —which wasn’t much at that moment, but enough to draw a little bit of blood.

He kept slamming against your pussy, his climax coming not long after yours, as if the fact you bit him made him come even harder. Long and thick ropes of cum coating your womb while he rode his high for a few more minutes. 

You were truly spent, exhausted to the bone, eyes dropping close when he freed your hands and finally pulled out, hissing from the loss of contact. He closed his eyes for the last time and sighed, seeing your poor body giving up and falling on the bed. 

Caleb pushed with two fingers, his cum inside of you again, sighing happily, kissing your shoulders and whispering sweet nothings to your ears. Before darkness took you, your wish was to wake up from this terrible nightmare, hopefully this was all it was. A nightmare.

“I think he’s waking up” a nearby voice said, speaking in hushed tones. It was a voice the King recognized as belonging to one of his most trusted men.  

“Should we tell him what happened?” asked a higher pitched voice.

“Ya, you can tell him,” replied the first voice with some trepidation, “he likes you.”

“Really?” asked the second, full of shock and that earnest, eager-to-please quality that made him so damn annoying.

“Ah’m waiting” the Bog King growled, not a man known for his patience it was a miracle he had stayed silent for as long as he had. His foot tapped out a nervous rhythm on the stone floor and his teeth grinded together.

“Well” began Thang, “it’s kind of a funny story, sire, you see we ambushed the Elf Festival, and everything was going as planned, but then it wasn’t, and umm, umm.”

“Damnit Thang! Ah dornt have all day, jus’ tell me why Ah’m handcuffed and blindfolded, and where in the Seven Hells are we?”

“Well sire, it’s ah, you umm, it’s… it’s” Thang stumbled and stuttered until he was a quivering mess.

“You were love-dusted” Stuff’s deep voice finally cut through Thang’s bumbling explanation.  

“WHAT!!!”  

The furious roar of the Bog King echoed through the halls of the fairy palace, rattling chandeliers and fine china as it made its way to the ears of the eldest princess, this was a political disaster.

***

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Stuff asked, and the King actually found his trusted second’s deep voice to be calming.

“Ah,” Bog thought back, he remembered taking centre stage at the Elf Festival, belting out his grievances with his neighbours.  

An elf had trespassed in the forest with the intent to conspire with the Sugar Plum and have her make a love potion. The only time the Bog King had witnessed the effects of the potion nothing had happened and he had taken the Sugar Plum out of spite, locking her away so she couldn’t pawn her false love off on anyone else.  

However that begged the question, if the love potion didn’t work, as the King had suspected all these years, why was he currently bound and blindfolded, and being kept under a watchful eye by the royal guards of the fairy kingdom in the palace’s dungeons.  

“Ah was singing” the King said, his brain was still foggy and the memory was taking it’s time coming back to him.

“Yes, yes, good” Stuff encouraged.

“And then…” the King scrunched his brow in concentration, something had bumped into him, he looked down but all he saw was a cloud of pink. He was quick to turn around but not fast enough, an image rose through his murky thoughts, a heart-shaped face with big honey-golden eyes and a cute little nose, with a wild tangle of moss-soft hair all stuck up, she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen, and then she punched him.

A stupid grin spread across the Bog King’s face, an expression his subjects had never seen before. His heart thudded loudly as a song filled his being and burst forth.

***

Marianne paced the length of her room several times as Dawn sat on her bed keeping her distance. Dawn was positively gleeful at the events that had conspired and was gearing up for this to be something best watched from afar.

“What am I gonna do Dawn? What am I gonna do? I punched the Bog King, in the face!” Marianne panicked.

“Ya, I was there, it was epic” Dawn enthused.

“Dawn!” Marianne scolded, although part of her swelled with pride.

“Ohmygosh, you’re blushing!” Dawn accused.

“I am not!” Marianne countered, even as she brought her hands up to feel her cheeks, which had indeed grown warm. I punched the Bog King, she thought happily.

“You always said you wanted to have open talks with the Goblins” Dawn reasoned, “this is a great opportunity.”

“Oh is it?” Marianne said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, “do I just walk up to them and say ‘hi, I’m Princess Marianne, you know of the fields, the one who punched your King. Yes, I was just wondering if we could all be friends now’.

Marianne scoffed, “that’s not how real life works Dawn.”

“Don’t forget” Dawn chimed in, “he might be in love with you!”

Dawn squeed in glee at the face her sister pulled.

“Oh yes, how could I have forgotten that” Marianne rolled her eyes, “there is the tiniest possibility that the Bog King may have seen my face before I punched his lights out.”  

The two sister’s fell into a riot of giggles.

A frantic knocking at her chamber door had both Marianne and Dawn sobering up.

Marianne opened the door and the gilded green armoured knight on the other side swiftly fell into a bow, “your majesties, I am here to inform you, that our guest has awoken, as per your request.”

Marianne let out a long suffering sigh, it was time to face the consequences.  

“I should warm you, his majesty is” the guard looked side-to-side making sure the hallway was clear, “singing” the guard whispered.  

She gulped.

“Thank you, we’ll be down in a moment” with a cut nod Marianne closed the door and let out a screech of frustration.

***

“You know, there’s always the chance he didn’t see your face” Dawn tried to comfort as the two sisters made their way down to the dungeons.  

“He looked right at me Dawn, I don’t see how he couldn’t have” Marianne sighed again.

After her failed engagement the previous spring, Marianne had wanted nothing to do with love anymore, it was something meant for someone else, but not her. It would be some cruel twist of irony if the only other being who disliked love as much as her was to fall in love with her after being hit with a love potion.  In specific the love potion he had banned from ever being made again.

“How do you think Sunny is making out?” Dawn asked as she worried at her lower lip.

Marianne huffed again, this was technically all Sunny’s fault, but he would have to be dealt with later.  

“I still don’t know how you forgave him so fast” Marianne huffed.

If someone had come after her with a bottle of love potion they would be hanging by their ankles in a blueberry bush as lizard bait faster than you could say ‘primroses’.  

When Sunny explained about the Imp creature stealing the bottle of love potion and running off into the Dark Forest Roland had immediately stepped up to the plate, offering to get it back so that it might be destroyed. Sunny had volunteered to go with him, as a show of good faith and the fact he had already traversed the forest once.  

Roland had begged the fairy King to let him assemble an army but the wise old King had pointed out he didn’t need one. When their King had fallen unconscious the Goblins had frozen in shock, unsure on what to do next. There was no plan B, they were to fly in, take a hostage, make some threats and then leave with either the hostage or the love potion if someone turned it over.  

Half of the Goblins were sent into the forest with Roland, a trio of Knights, Sunny, and a few of the Elf villagers in search of the Imp. The remaining Goblins carried their knocked-out King up to the fairy palace where they were shown to the dungeons.  

“I’m sure he’ll be fine Dawn” Marianne assured.

They were almost to the dungeons when Marianne’s ears caught the sound of singing. A feeling of dread washed over her. Fairies and, it seemed to, Goblins only sang when they became overwhelmed with an emotion, usually love or anger. Marianne began to pray it was the latter and not the former.

“Then I saw her face, now I’m a believer, not a trace, of doubt in my mind, I'm in love, and I'm a believer, I couldn't leave her if I tried…”

Marianne’s jaw dropped when she rounded the corner into the dungeons and saw the almighty Bog King flying around his cell, doing flips and singing while his five Goblin guards stood by looking on with a mixture of awe and distaste. Three fairy guards stood on the other side of the hall with similar looks on their faces.  

Well at least they have something in common, Marianne thought.  

“Hey, Bog King” Marianne shouted, cutting through his singing, her voice coming out gruff.

The King floated down to the ground, “is that the voice of my love?” he asked so eagerly.

A small part of Marianne’s heart jumped at the endearment, but she knew he really didn’t love her. It was all an effect of the potion.  

“You might as well untie him” Marianne said to one of his guards who sprung forward to complete the task.

He had been tied up and blindfolded for his own good so as not to accidently see someone and fall in love with them, but it was too late for that it seemed.  

***

The King’s dragonfly wings pattered nervously as Stuff untied him and removed his blindfold. His love was here to see him, she was right there; he was going to get to see her again. Every beat of his heart longed to sing to her, of her.

It didn’t register to the Bog King he was in a dungeon, the cell door wasn’t even closed, he was to be treated as a guest until they could cure him. The only thing he saw was her. The edges of his vision were blurry, and nothing else mattered anyway.  

The beautiful creature stepped forward and began speaking, “Hello, I’m-”

The King cut her off, as he filled with song once more, “Hello, I love you, won’t you tell me your name?”  

“I, I am Princess Marianne of the-”

The King launched himself into the air doing a series of spins and flips, Marianne! Her name was Marianne! That had to be the most beautiful name in the whole world!  He started singing again, but then she was suddenly in front of him, her slender finger pressed to his lips.

“I've been cheated, been mistreated, when will I be loved, I've been put down, I've been pushed 'round” She poked at his chest and though he didn’t think it possible the Bog King was falling even more in love with this feisty fairy.

He giggled, who would have thought a gobbling falling in love with a fairy!

He sighed, “oh silly, ‘Some people say my love cannot be true. Please believe me, my love, and I'll show you. I will give you those things you thought unreal. The sun, the moon, the stars all bear my seal.”

“Oh!” the pretty fairy blushed a very becoming shade of pink, which not only covered her high cheeks but traveled all the way up to the tips of her ears.

***

It was difficult not to believe the words the Bog King was singing, he sung with such conviction. They would have to try and find an antidote, and soon.  

“Perhaps we should, stretch our wings?” Marianne asked as innocently as she could.

There was only one being who would have the remedy, the same one who created this disastrous potion in the first place.  

“Good idea, good idea!” the Bog King nodded along enthusiastically.  

His fingers tapped against one another nervously and he looked around the cavern as if he were looking for a place to hide.  

Marianne spotted what he must have been looking for before he did.  

“Your scepter, your Majesty” Marianne offered, handing him the gilded staff.

Instantly he snatched it from her grasp and held it close in front of him as if it were a shield and not a stick.  

“Bog” the King said.

“What?” Marianne asked, thinking the King had simple made a funny noise.

“You may call me Bog” he offered her the most adorable lopsided smile as they exited the dungeons, his guards and her sister in tow.

Her heart thudded and Marianne knew she had to be careful not to fall in love with this fake version of the Bog King. They would fly to his castle, acquire the cure from the Sugar Plum, and everything would go back to normal.

It was going to be a long night….