The Princess and the Goblin King

Chapter 4

It seemed to Elora that being Queen was equal parts privilege and nuisance. Of course it was nice to have fancy dresses and she hoped she could do a good job and help the people, but it was such a responsibility. Before, she'd had regents to take care of things, but since she turned eighteen a year ago it was all her. Luckily she still had plenty of advisors, and of course Willow was always there to help. Sorsha and Matmartigan had done a wonderful job raising her, but they had business to attend to and wars to fight and all that. They were off on a diplomatic tour of neighboring countries at the moment, so it was just her and her subjects.

What does the Queen of Nockmaar do all day? Elora wondered. She tried not to change too many things and to take things slow. She didn't want to singlehandedly bring the kingdom to ruin after one year of rule. Mostly she focused on undoing the damage Bavmorda has done during her years of tyranny. She rebuilt the ruined villages, tried to convince the women that it was safe to raise children again, and planted gardens to provide food for the people.

Maybe Willow can help, Elora thought. Not that he had so much experience with ruling a kingdom, but he usually had good advice.

She found Willow out in the castle courtyard, eating lunch with Kaya. The pair tended to divide their time between the castle and their village, since they were simple folk and Kaya wasn't one for too much luxury. It had been hard enough for Elora to get her to accept a few nice dresses and a handful of jewelry, but she'd insisted that such a lovely lady deserved nothing less.

"Willow!" Elora called. "Oh…" She didn't want to interrupt him when he was sitting so cutely with his wife, but Kaya took care of that.

"Elora! Don't you look lovely today," She said, as she said every day. She stood on tiptoe and gave Elora a warm hug around her waist. "Well, I have some cleaning to do. If you'll excuse me," She said, and wandered off. Elora had told her time and time again that there were servants for that, but Kaya insisted that she wasn't about to have someone else clean her messes when she could do it herself.

Elora settled on the grass next to Willow.

"How do you rule a kingdom, anyway?" She asked before he could say anything. It was a question she'd asked many people in many forms over the years.

"Well, when I was king of Nockmaar…" Willow began. "But really, I don't think I'm meant for that sort of thing. I guess if I had to be king I'd try to find out what the people needed and I'd work on that."

"How do I find out what the people want? I'm stuck here in the castle all day learning about diplomacy or customs," Elora said.

"But I guess they can't exactly stop me," She continued. "I'm the Queen, after all. What if I just go out and see what it's actually like out there?"

"I think you'd learn a lot, but you be careful. Bring some guards, and don't go down dark alleys, and be back before night," Willow said worriedly.

"Thanks, father," Elora laughed. And she didn't go down any dark alleys, and she was back before dark.

But she didn't bring any guards.

Elora drew her cloak tighter around herself as she looked in wonder at the marketplace stretching around her. There were so many sights and sounds and people. There were clucking chickens and aromatic spices. There were shouting stallkeepers and hissing fires. It was so much more chaotic and stimulating that anything Elora had seen in the castle. It was a little bit scary and a lot more exciting.

All right, let's see what the people have to say, Elora thought. She approached the nearest stall, which was selling roasted nuts.

"Good morning," She said to the merchant. "How do you think things are in Nockmaar?"

Real subtle, Elora.

The merchant stared blankly at her. "What? What does that even mean? Look, you gonna buy or are you just taking up space?"

"Oh, sorry" Elora said. She picked up the closest bag of nuts and handed the merchant a coin. "Is this enough?"

The merchant snatched the gold coin and smiled at Elora. "Thank you very much, Miss. Come back anytime!"

Elora moved on. She decided that maybe she'd have a better time just listening to the people as they talked, so she tried to be subtle as she wandered. She soon learned that the people thought she was doing a much better job than Bavmorda, which was encouraging but not that helpful. They also very much appreciated the new gardens, so she made a note to continue with that.

She tried again. "Oh yes, those gardens are so helpful. I guess Queen Elora isn't so bad," She broke in on a group of people milling around a bench.

"I wouldn't know," one of the women said. "I never see her, I never hear from her… she never leaves the castle! She has no idea how to run a kingdom."

"Maybe she's just shy," Elora said defensively.

"How can she call herself a queen if she doesn't even know her people?" The women continued. "But things are better than they used to be. My children are safe and we have enough food. I guess that's enough for me." She walked off to continue her shopping.

Elora continued through the marketplace. She found that whenever she ran across a particularly shabby looking stall she felt compelled to buy something, so she soon had pockets full of hankies and trinkets and had eaten all she could. She noticed that some of the crafts were finer than anything the palace artisans made. She'd have to do something about that.

She reached the edge of the market and sat on a bench. It looked like she wasn't doing a terrible job of being a queen. The people seemed well fed and happy, but she wanted to do better than that. She was going to need to take more trips and meet more people, but it was a start.

She looked up and noticed a rather striking man looking around the marketplace. He was tall and very lean, and he was dressed much more nicely than most of the shoppers. He seemed somehow out of place, and he looked with distaste at the people moving around him.

I wonder if he's lost, Elora thought. He must be foreign- maybe he's an ambassador or something.I'll go see if he needs help. Because I definitely know my way around here…

She walked up to him. "Excuse me, are you looking for something?" She asked him.

He looked at her like she was beneath him, and she tried to act like she was, remembering that she was in disguise.

"I'm looking for someone," He said imperiously.

"Well maybe I can help," Elora said. "What's your name?"

"Jareth," The stranger said.

"I'm Elora."