Elements of Glory: The Princess of Nothing

’A clean castle is a happy castle… Now, get to work…’

-Grulem, to Aragam, as part of the man’s training

When Emily arrived in the kitchen, it was a mess! Food, pots, pans, and utensils were scattered across the counters and on the floor. The cool box was wide open. It looked like a storm had hit the kitchen. Emily, at first, thought that maybe some other thing had entered her kitchen last night, a monster, or Voglon of some kind, from out of the forest. But when she noticed Aragam sitting by one of the ovens, his back braced up against it, with the baby Samantha in one arm, a bottle of milk on the floor beside him – he was fast asleep – she suddenly knew what had hit.

He’s hopeless, she thought to herself.

As Emily walked over to Aragam, she noticed Wuzzul on his right, furry head leaned against the man’s side, fast asleep too, mouth open, snoring quietly. The Stryth was nowhere to be seen, and baby Samantha lay quiet, though awake, her big, blue, eyes looking around in wonder, her little voice cooing now and again.

Emily smiled at the baby and crouched down on Aragam’s left, so she could get a better look at the child. Samantha looked at Emily, cooed again, and beamed. Emily couldn’t help smiling back, and she gently reached out with one finger to stroke the baby’s cheek.

The sound of hooves on stone out in the hallway caused Emily to turn. She saw Togik stick his head through the kitchen doorway. His horse eyes widened with surprise. ’Oh, they really did a number down here, didn’t they?’ the Stryth exclaimed.

Emily stood up and surveyed her kitchen again. ‘Yeah,’ she agreed.

‘Couldn’t find any milk,’ a tired voice said down by Emily’s knees. She looked down and saw Aragam slowly opening bleary eyes.

’And for that reason you had to destroy my kitchen?’ Emily asked.

Aragam sighed. ‘She wouldn’t stop crying,’ he said.

’And that’s why you destroyed my kitchen?’ Emily pressed. She didn’t really want to get into another fight with the Wasgician, but she did find it amazing that he and Wuzzul had done this much damage to the kitchen, just trying to find some milk for the baby!

’I didn’t do it,’ Aragam said, and it sounded like he was trying to keep his calm. ‘The madder the baby got, the more she started throwing things around.’

’The baby?’ Emily asked sceptically, trying not to laugh.

’The baby,’ Aragam affirmed, looking up at Emily with all seriousness, ’with her mind or something! Either that or you have ghosts around here that can’t stand the sound of a crying baby either!’

’We don’t have ghosts in this castle,’ Emily said quickly.

‘Then the baby,’ Aragam shot back.

Emily looked at Samantha, as the child smacked her lips and closed tired eyes. Emily couldn’t imagine the child being responsible for such destruction, but wasn’t going to press it with Aragam.

‘What time is it?’ the Wasgician asked after a long moment.

‘Morning,’ Emily said.

‘Seven o’clock,’ Togik said at the door.

Aragam groaned. ‘Oh… we better get going,’ he said. He looked down at the baby. ‘Is she sleeping?’ he asked.

‘I think so,’ Emily responded.

Aragam sighed, and leaned his head against the stove again. ’How much sleep does a baby need?’ the Wasgician grumbled.

Emily shrugged.

Aragam looked toward the Stryth.

‘I’m not yet a Father,’ the horse-being said.

Aragam looked down at Wuzzul, who shifted against the Wasgician, and went right on sleeping and snoring. Aragam sighed. Then, still holding Samantha, he pushed himself back to his feet. Wuzzul tipped over, smacked his lips, curled up on the floor, and snored on.

Emily and the others looked down on the Dooy in amazement.

’I can see he’s going to be really helpful,’ Aragam commented dryly. He turned to Emily. ’Well, Princess of Weral, thank you for lodging us, but as it’s morning, I believe it’s time for us to get moving.’ There was a note of snottiness to the Wasgician’s words, and Emily had to force herself to not become angry again.

‘I guess so,’ she replied, not giving the Wasgician an inch, even though a part of her – a very small part of her, she told herself – didn’t want to see him go.

Aragam raised his thick eyebrows in surprise. Obviously he’d thought Emily may have softened over the evening, and wasn’t going to be so stern about kicking them out. His look almost made her take her words back, but she knew she had to get them out of here. Wilth would be back in the evening, and the longer they stuck around, the less day they’d have to get out of Weral.

No one liked being stuck in the forests after nightfall.

‘Well,’ Aragam said in a chilly tone, ‘it’s been a slice.’ He brushed past Emily and marched out of the kitchen. ‘Grab the runt, Horse,’ he told Togik as he passed the Stryth.

Togik snorted. Then he looked at Emily. ’I’m sure he doesn’t mean to be rude,’ the Stryth said.

‘I think he does,’ Emily replied.

Togik chuckled, ‘You’re probably right.’ He walked to Emily and rubbed his nose against one of her hands. ‘Thanks for everything,’ he told her. He stepped over to Wuzzul, bit down on the collar of his vest, and carried him out of the kitchen.

The Dooy slept through it all.

Emily looked around the kitchen at the vast mess, and decided that she had her work cut out for her. She wondered, as she started picking things up, if she should see Aragam off, but decided against it. He probably didn’t care to see her again anyway.