Why was I so nervous? I’m going to make a fool of myself in front of this sweet little thing. As Queen Grimwood slid off of her throne, her dress revealed her bare feet for a moment. Oh my gosh! Are those her feet? They’re so cute and tiny.
She led the way to an adjacent room, and then down a hall to a staircase. Once we reached the top of the stairs, we were outside. This place must have been the roof of the courtyard area we’d seen earlier. It was laid out like an open air café, with numerous tables and chairs. There were a few adorable bluish attendants in maid uniforms waiting on us, and there were huge planters along the walls filled with gorgeous flowers. I found myself wondering if it was too late to tear down Stanrus castle and have Queen Grimwood build us one like this...
A few moments later, she and I were seated across from one another at a table. Our guards and attendants waited behind us.
“Would you like something to eat?” she offered. “I’m partial to the sweets here myself.”
“Uh, sure.”
I didn’t know what else to say. Normally, if you were negotiating, the first thing was to offer wine or booze. These sorts of talks always went more smoothly with liquor involved. Instead, I had a huge strawberry covered in something called “chocolate” and a drink known as “coffee.” I figured they must have been local delicacies. One of my attendants sampled them, to make sure they weren’t poisoned.
“Mmm,” she moaned happily. “So good.” Poison testers normally refrained from commenting on the food, but it seemed this girl simply couldn’t help herself. Once I was satisfied there was no poison in the food or drink, I partook myself, and I couldn’t help but wholeheartedly agree.
“The strawberry is way sweeter than what I’m used to, and bigger too,” I said in surprise. “This ‘chocolate’ stuff is kinda bitter, but it works well against the sweetness of the strawberry. Then there’s this ‘coffee’ stuff that pairs well with both of them. It’s awesome.”
One of the attendants in maid dresses leaned in. “We have some nondairy creamer, or sugar for the coffee if it’s too bitter for you.”
“Nah, as long as I have this strawberry to go with it, the bitterness is no problem.”
Wait, is this some kind of trap? I’m really enjoying myself.
By the way, did I mention the view? It was gorgeous. Somehow, we were high up in the Grimwood mountains, but despite that, it was quite warm. From here you could really appreciate just how vast the Grimwood region was, and I was sure I couldn’t even see half of it.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it? From up here, you can hardly tell how dangerous it is.”
Ah, she’d noticed me taking in the view.
“It’s special to me,” I admitted. “I’ve been coming to the Grimwood to kill monsters since I was twelve years old. The thought of someone coming along out of nowhere and taking that away kinda gets to me.”
“Would you agree to it if you could still hunt monsters here?” the queen asked.
I blinked. “Huh?”
“None of the other countries asked about hunting monsters,” she went on. “They were mostly interested in having a safe route through the forest. If you’re interested, I could make sure you could still hunt monsters, even after it’s walled off. That way regular people would still be protected, while those who want to can still brave the forest. I could even arrange a magic bag to hold your spoils, though you’d have to earn it. I’m sure we can come to an agreement we can both be happy with if we talk it out.”
And that’s what we did. We talked. The more we talked, the more enthralled I became. I don’t know how the first guy we sent managed to resist her. If I were a man, I’d have been down on one knee proposing to her. She was persuasive, and her arguments were well reasoned. I was seriously considering trying to convince my father to give her what she wanted. There was just one thing holding me back.
I wonder if I can get her to let me have one of those dogs. I mean, I know what I’d say if someone asked me, but maybe she could get me on a waiting list for a pup.
“Er, not to change the subject, but where did you get those magnificent animals you had in the throne room? I’m quite interested in getting one for myself.” Hopefully that was tactful enough.
“The Faewolves? They’re cute, aren’t they? Even so, they’re skilled in battle—I can totally see why you want one. Normally they can’t leave the towers, but I think I could put together an item that would allow you to keep one with you. What do you think, shall I make it a gift to celebrate our agreement?” she offered.
“I’ll try to convince my father right away,” I agreed quickly. “Please put the item together for me.”
I couldn’t resist. It was impossible. As soon as the dog became a part of the deal, I caved. Before I knew it, I’d left Grimwood behind and arrived back in Stanrus. I daydreamed about what my new dog would be like the whole way home. My father was shocked to hear the first thing I said when I walked into the throne room.
“We should let her have it,” I announced bluntly.
“What brought that on?” He was understandably confused by my complete reversal. “I thought you of all people would want to keep trying to conquer it for ourselves.”
“Suppose we do conquer it, what then?” I challenged. “We cut all the trees down?”
“Well, I—”
“If we’re just interested in farmland, her proposal gives us that. If we don’t want to cut the trees down, she’s willing to let us keep hunting monsters. Plus she’s really cute and sweet. Nobody told me how adorable she was. Whoever said her warriors were strong knew what they were talking about, too. One of her guys got right in the middle of our group before we had any idea he was there. If he had wanted to, he could have killed me before anyone else knew what was going on. I’d really rather not fight them.”
I looked up at my father to see a look of total shock on his face. “I-I’m so proud of you. You assessed a threat properly, and didn’t take any unnecessary risks. You returned home safe and sound. I’m so glad. As for the agreement—”
He looks like he’s about to cry! Quick, say something.
“Please, Daddy?”
“D-Daddy?” His expression immediately changed from pride to suspicion. “You only call me ‘Daddy’ when you really want something! What’s going on here, Shildris?”
“Well, she had these dogs there,” I admitted. “Big as a horse, but cute as a button. Anyway, she said she could get me a magic item that’d let me keep one.”
“That girl sure zeroed in on your weakness. A dangerous opponent to be sure,” father observed, understanding clear on his face.
“So?” I pressed.
“All right, we’ll hand over the forest to her. Let’s see the documents.”