Day 11 - Wednesday

Yesterday I was worried that things were happening too fast. Judging by last night, my worries are over. Captain Greg was cold and distant. Guess I can add kissing to the long list of things I don’t do to his exacting standards. At least you love me, little squabbit. Come on, let’s go to Town Hall and see who wants us to do what.

The Forester wants to expand the Orchards. We’ll approve this one, Lucky. The kingdom needs more food. And different types of food. Judging by this list of ingredients, he planning on making omelettes, or quiche. Can’t imagine Captain Greg and the other soldiers eating quiche. Still, maybe there’s a few gourmets in the kingdom, so we’ll give the Forester the eggs he’s asked for.

Fahleed wants some rune stones. We got them on hand, too. So that’s another piece of paper that can go in the completed pile.

The Mayor wants a contribution to the fund for repairing the castle’s staircase. I think we can find the bolgins for that. Lucky tilts his head and then looks at Captain Greg’s desk. You think I should discuss it with him? But he’s not here. Besides, I’m sure the Mayor and Captain Greg have already discussed the matter without me. I just hand out the money and run errands.

Right. I did say I was going to find the crystal lamp at Dawnshadow Lake and then open Darkbeard’s Stash at Mystic Copse. Let’s go.

It takes longer than I thought it would to find the crystal lamp. I also manage to find a dragon fruit, one of the items Old Man Seth claims is needed to move the walrus at Coral Cove. Maybe moving the walrus will be tomorrow’s task.

At Mystic Copse, the crystal lamp opens Darkbeard’s Stash and inside I find the final piece of the Faire Luminous relic. When inserted into the pedestal, Faire of Light is transformed. It does look luminous, Lucky, all shimmery with light.

Troglid is passing by and wants to know if I have time to help Fahleed, Triffledore, and Old Man Seth. Well, as long as I’m here, why not? Doesn’t take me long to sort widgets at the Wingferry and Triffledore’s artifacts are quickly sorted as well.

I’ve saved Fahleed’s for last. I really enjoy figuring out new patterns and need to do some more shopping. Washing them every night is rapidly transforming my unmentionables into unwearables. I explain that I arrived...unexpectedly...in the Skyward Kingdom without any luggage. Since it’s been decided that I will be staying here, I’m going to need...Fahleed tells me not to worry. He will make me a trousseau fit for a princess. Trousseau, who said anything about a trousseau? I just want a nightgown that I can call my own and more than one set of underwear.

Troglid is waiting outside for me. He thanks me and says that I run things pretty smoothly. It makes me happy that somebody thinks I’m doing a good job. If only that somebody were Captain Greg. Troglid wants to give me a present for being so helpful, but he needs some golden oak and bolgite to make the present. Okay, but he’ll have to come up to Town Hall to get it.

At Town Hall, the Mayor is waiting for me. He needs golden oak, obsidian and bolgite for the castle’s interior renovations. I tell him to take it from the cupboard. Once again Lucky glances at Captain Greg’s desk. He’s not here, Lucky. He’s avoiding me.

For the past few days I’ve been visiting the Fairy Dragon Nest gathering glass shards. I only need a few more and I’ll be able to help Chumblepot finish up his back orders and maybe he can finish the glasswork for the castle. So let’s do that next.

Glass shards are found and delivered. Chumblepot assures me the window will be installed immediately and urges me to visit the castle later. I promise to do so.

I return to the office and find that Troglid has dropped off the ladder he promised me. Captain Greg has also been there. There’s new place on the map - The Black Bull. Sounds like a pub, I tell Lucky.

The Mayor appears and tells me the staircase is finished. He was able to raise enough money for new carpet and banners as well. Oh and he found a door tile, maybe I know of a use for it?

I decide to update the ledger books before visiting the castle. That way I can just go straight home. Wait a minute, did I just refer to the General Store as home?

I guess I’m starting to accept the fact that I won’t be returning to Beechwood Cove, Lucky. And after being gone for eleven days, there’s nothing left for me to return to. All I had there was my job, and I imagine somebody has been hired to take my place. There was nobody there I cared for, and nobody that cared for me.

If I’m going to be lonely, here is as good a place as any. At least I have a squabbit to talk to. And the work is really very similar to what I was doing in Beechwood Cove. The big difference is that here, most people are very appreciative of my efforts. And some day, even Captain Greg will be forced to admit that he was wrong to doubt my ability to do this job. We’ll show him, Lucky.

Paperwork finished, I turn and head for the doorway. Blocked. Captain Greg stands there with a big grin on his face. How long has he been there and how much did he overhear? I really have to stop talking out loud when I'm alone.

He informs me the work on the staircase is ready for my inspection. I tell him that if it meets his exacting standards, I’m certain to like it. He frowns. Oops, once again I’ve said the wrong thing.

On the walk up to the castle, Captain Greg remarks that I seem happier than when I first arrived in the kingdom. I’m as surprised as he is, I reply. I’m not sure what has changed, but I am feeling happier.

The staircase looks very grand with the new red carpet and the banners make things look more festive. All that’s left to do is find an artist to repair the painting.

The next thing I need to inspect is Chumblepot’s stained glass. Captain Greg stares at me as I stare at the window. It’s a glass representation of a painting of Queen Sophia when she was a little girl, he explains, and the people with her are her parents.

I feel dizzy and can’t stop trembling. I’ve seen it before, I whisper. I have a poster just like it in the antique shop. Captain Greg catches me as I start to faint.
 

Day 13 - Friday

Believing that I had arrived in the Skyward Kingdom via a flying unicorn seemed quite reasonable yesterday. This morning, it strikes me as downright preposterous.

Then again, during the almost two weeks I’ve been here, just about everything I’ve done has been preposterous. I’m living with a Goblin, working with a squabbit, getting letters delivered by a talking pink owl, traveling on a Wingferry, and I’ve fallen in love with a man who thinks heavy metal is a type of clothing. Why should my mind boggle at believing in unicorns and flying through portals?

Besides, what other explanation is there? It can’t be a joke perpetrated by one or more of the residents of Beechwood Cove; it’s gone on much too long. I certainly didn’t sleepwalk here. So as Sherlock Holmes says, when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

Of course, knowing how I got here raises more questions. Why am I here? I’m certain Captain Greg could answer some of the questions I have. He was the first person Linea introduced me to. And when he showed me the stained glass in the castle, he was definitively expecting me to recognize it, even though he seemed shocked to hear the antique shop had a poster just like it.

Better hurry or I’ll be late for work. Which of the new dresses Fahleed delivered yesterday shall I wear, the blue or the blue? Although I had asked for a different color, what I got was different shades of blue. Oh well, Captain Greg likes blue and I like Captain Greg. I want him happy, relaxed, and off his guard so that he divulges some useful information. If wearing blue can make that happen, it’s a small price to pay.

My desk is neat and tidy, just as I expected. Nothing new has arrived.  I check my to-do list. My choices are: go to Forgotten Glen and look for more poster glue, go to Dawnshadow Lake to find the dragon fruit Seth needs, or go to Coral Cove and check out that walrus.

I decide to start at Dawnshadow Lake. It takes forever to find the dragon fruit Seth needs. Things go better at Coral Cove. The whispering lily flowers are easy to find. And there really is a walrus there, blocking access to another section of the cove.

Back at the Wingferry, Seth asks me to wait while he makes the bait I’ll need to catch a rare fish at Ancient Pond. I’m guessing that after catching the fish, I’ll be taking it to Coral Cove and using it to entice the walrus to move. In my previous job, I had to chase a skunk off an abandoned car in the junkyard. So I guess you could say I’ve got experience when it comes to removing animals.

At Ancient Pond, rare fish is quickly caught. Just as I suspected, Seth tells me to fee it to the walrus at Coral Cove. Walrus eats fish, moves away, Lucky and I explore new area and find the special rune stones Fahleed wanted.

We return to Faire of Light to give Fahleed the rune stones and to thank him for the new clothing. He hands the rune stones back and tells me to use them to unlock the portal at Dawnshadow Lake. I’m not sure I want to pass through another portal. Suppose I can’t get back to the Skyward Kingdom? I need to speak with Captain Greg.

The Captain hadn’t left any message on my desk regarding where he would be working today. We’ll try the castle first, Lucky. There’s no sign of him outside. Maybe he’s admiring the renovations again. Not exactly. He’s looking at the torn painting and frowning. We’re still waiting for an artist to decide to move to the kingdom.

I explain my fears about the portal at Dawnshadow Lake, and Captain Greg assures me it’s safe. He even offers to come with me. I shake my head no. I tell him I trust him. He wouldn’t lie to me. But if he’d like to give me a kiss for luck...He would and does.

I return to Dawnshadow Lake and unlock the portal. What’s on the other side doesn’t look any different from the rest of the kingdom. As portals go, it’s a bit of a dud.

There’s really nothing else to do besides return to the office, straighten up the storage cupboard and update the ledger books. Don’t know what we’ll do with ourselves after we find the glue and complete the posters tomorrow. Maybe you’d like to take some time off and play at the squabbit den, Lucky. Lucky squeaks a sad little squeak.
 

Day 15 - Sunday

Ria is waiting for me at Town Hall. She’s very worried because the baby fennex is not with its mother and she’s afraid that it may have been caught in a basket trap. Could I go with her to Forgotten Glen and Dawnshadow Lake to look for it?

I can and I do. It will be a good opportunity for me to get to know Ria better. She’s very quiet and reserved, but she appears to be very observant. I bet she could tell me a lot about the Skyward Kingdom and the people who live here.

We search Dawnshadow Lake first. The baby fennex is not in the basket trap. Next we go to the Forgotten Glen. The basket trap, which is empty, is near the statue of Queen Sophia.

Ria tells me how she, Quinn, and Old Man Seth had been turned to stone by the basilisk and how Dreadmyre had stolen their magic. Queen Sophia had been able to save them, just as I saved Prince Edric, because she had been born without magic.

I ask Ria about Captain Greg and she tells me how he tried to save the residents of the kingdom by locking himself in the barracks with the basilisk, which gave the other soldiers enough time to lead most of the residents to a safe place to hide. He was also rescued by Queen Sophia.

Interesting. So not only do the Goblins have magical powers, but the humans in this kingdom were born with magical capabilities. All except Queen Sophia.

But possessing magic doesn’t seem to have done anybody much good fighting Dreadmyre. Maybe that’s why Queen Sophia wanted an outsider to be her steward; she wanted somebody used to solving problems with their brains, not somebody who relies on hocus pocus.

Ria suggests we search Mystic Copse next. Maybe the baby fennex got locked in the tree house. Sure enough, that’s where we find it. Now all we have to do is reunite baby with mama in the Rose Garden.

Ria wants to stay in the Rose Garden for a while to play with the animals, but I need to head back to Town Hall to see if anybody else has been looking for me and has something they need me to do.

Quinn is waiting for me. He’d like to expand the Squabbit Den again. He also need more golden oak, obsidian and bolgite to build better fences. Apparently a lot of animals were orphaned during the wars. Maybe caring for the animals helps Quinn and Ria deal with the loss of their own parents. I agree to his request.

Ria has returned from the Rose Garden. She says the fennex family seem agitated and wants me to come with her and have a look around. I wonder if maybe we should ask Captain Greg to come with us. No, it’s probably nothing.

In the Rose Garden, we meet Artist Myke who claims that a fennex took a marble necklace that belongs to him. The necklace is a gift for a princess whom he hopes to paint. We need somebody to repair the painting in the castle. Maybe if I get his necklace back he’ll offer to help us.

Ria doesn’t like him. She thinks we should trust the instincts of the animals, who have been hissing at Artist Myke. I decide to send Ria back to Landsong Village. I ask her to tell Captain Greg I’ll be a little late meeting him at the castle. Since I wasn’t supposed to meet him anywhere, that message should be enough to clue him in to asking Ria where I am. If he thinks I’m in danger from Artist Myke, he should show up. I hope.

After retrieving the necklace for him, Artist Myke wants me to help him paint the portrait. That seems an odd request, but what the heck. Next he tells me about a legendary canvas somewhere in Mystic Copse and how anything painted on it sparkles.

It’s looking less likely that Artist Myke will offer to help us restore the castle painting. He’s too wrapped up in his princess, going on and on about her ‘vibrant smile’ and ‘youthful complexion’. What am I, chopped liver? Not that I’m interested in him, but it wouldn’t hurt Captain Greg to think that somebody else was interested in me.

I don’t have anything else to do, so I agree to go to Mystic Copse with him to look for this magical canvas. Once the canvas is found, I’m next asked to help prepare his tools. I’m beginning to wonder if this guy really is an artist. And if Captain Greg does come looking for me, he’ll be looking in the Rose Garden, not Mystic Copse. I need to work the sentence ‘My boyfriend is Captain of the Queen’s Guard’ into the conversation. But after his tools are prepared, Artist Myke vanishes!

Captain Greg is waiting for me back at Town Hall and demands to know where I’ve been since I was not in the Rose Garden when he came looking for me. He’s not very happy to hear I was in Mystic Copse. That’s our place, he grumbles.

I tell him that any place that we're together is special to me. He smiles. Neither of us has done their paperwork for the day. We could have a picnic supper in the office and take our time writing up our reports, he suggests. Sounds like an excellent idea to me.
 

Day 17 - Tuesday

I'm not looking forward to work today.

I really don't want to fight with Captain Greg. I want us to work together harmoniously for the good of the kingdom. I thought we were working together.

Captain Greg isn’t in the office. Good. That will give me a chance to get my paperwork straightened out. Not much to do. The mayor wants some banners. I have most of them, but will need to go to Rosetum Gardens for the rest. Quinn wants some fairy dust. Again, I have most of what he needs except for the fairy dust that can only be found in Rosetum Gardens.

Seems like Rosetum Gardens is where I should go. On the other hand, I could try to placate Captain Greg by remaining close to home and just go to Faire of Light and help Troglid. I don’t have nearly enough blueprints, but I could get a start and maybe exchange some fairy crests addition blueprints.

I gather up my papers and turn to see somebody blocking the way out. Captain Greg. I smile. He doesn't.

I go into my speech about wanting us to work together and he interrupts me to say that a good place to start would be for me to stop undermining his authority by disobeying his orders. I point out that it's not his place to give the Queen's Steward orders, quite the reverse, in fact. Taking orders from him would undermine my authority. He retorts that in matters of the kingdom's security, his is the final word.

Lucky watches us, his head turning from one side to the other, as if he were watching a tennis match.

I ask how am I supposed to do my job locked up in the office. He asks how he is supposed to do his job if he's distracted from it by worrying about my safety.

I pull out one of Queen Sophia’s letters and show it to him, pointing out the part that says "Although Dreadmyre has been vanquished, I still worry for the safety of the citizens. But I know you’ll look after them." According to Queen Sophia, I tell him, I should be looking after him, not vice versa.

For good measure, I add that it wasn’t my idea to come here. I was doing quite nicely in Beechwood Cove. He offers to write to Queen Sophia to beg her to send me back.

Go for it, I retort. You’ll find pen and paper on my desk. Now get out of my way, I’ve got work to do. Captain Greg finally steps aside.

Well, that didn’t exactly go the way I hoped it would, Lucky. Let’s hope the rest of the day is better.

At Rosetum Gardens, Lucky and I have mixed results. We find the banners for the mayor, but can’t find the fairy dust. I decide to go back to Town Hall with the banners. After that, I can go help Troglid, or maybe there’s some new requests waiting for me. Lucky looks at me as if to say ‘Yeah, like a letter from Queen Sophia telling you to pack your bags.’

There’s no sign of Captain Greg at Town Hall. Probably out trying to track down Artist Myke. I get the rest of the banners from the storage cupboard and give them to the Mayor. I wait to see if he has anything new he’d like done, but he doesn’t.

Maybe I’ll check out the auction and see how much radiant fairy dust is going for. It’s listed for more than I want to pay. I’m not that desperate. Yet.

On the way back from the auction, I meet Gobie. I tell him about the problem I’m having getting radiant fairy dust. He thinks he can help me. There’s a griffin blocking a gate in Rosetum Gardens. If I can help him find six golden flies, he can use the flies to catch a special kind of lizard that the griffin likes. Maybe I’ll find radiant dust in the area past the gate.

We find the first three golden flies in Apricus Plaza, Dawnshadow Lake and Mystic Copse. I’m really not having a good day. I need sixty more blueprints and only find one while at Apricus Plaza.

Gobie catches the lizard and gives it to me. I return to Rosetum Gardens and feed it to the griffin who conveniently flies away. I have no more luck finding fairy dust in the new area of the gardens. Might as well return to Town Hall. I can update my resume and add griffin to the list of animals - skunk, walrus, tiger - I have experience in removing.

Captain Greg still hasn't returned to Town Hall. I take my time with the paperwork, and think about what I will say when he returns. He was wrong, I tell Lucky, but I should have handled things better. Dealt with it immediately instead of sneaking back home. I won't make that mistake tonight.

Tonight it's the Captain's turn to avoid confrontation. I wait until it's dark, but he doesn't return to walk me home. Well, I was the one saying that I didn't need him to look after me. And it’s not far to walk. But I still wish he were here.
 

Day 19 - Thursday

I was certainly correct in believing that Captain Greg knew more about why Queen Sophia had brought me to the Skyward Kingdom, he’s the one who told her to look for me!

If it weren’t for the fact that I’m sure he’s still holding back something I really should know, I’d feel sorry for him. It must have been quite a shock that a) she did find me, and b) she gave me my father’s job. And he can’t complain to Queen Sophia that women aren’t fit to inherit positions of power, not if he wants to keep his own job.

The story he told me helps to explain his protective attitude toward me, maybe even the on again, off again romantic thing we seem to have going. I’m sure the code of chivalry frowns on a man promising a girl’s father that he’ll protect her and then trying to seduce her.

So what happens now? Lucky looks toward the door. Right, now we go to work.

Captain Greg is already there. He seems surprised to see me and thinks I should take some time off. No need, I tell him, I’m fine.

On my desk is a letter from the auction house telling me I won two Namia Conclave Fairy Crests. I’ll use one of them to complete a Fairy Crest set and trade the set for fifteen more blueprints. Then I can finally finish helping Troglid.

The last model is assembled and Troglid has found an invitation to visit Gobholme addressed to me. He offers to accompany me. Gobholme is where he’s originally from and he’d like to see the place again. I don’t think it’s nearly as nice as Landsong Village or the Faire of Lights. I can understand why so many of the Goblins have decided to relocate. We don’t stay long.

Blessilda is waiting for me at Town Hall. She’s worried because her relatives were supposed to visit this week, but the trains between the Skyward Kingdom and the Goblin Kingdom have stopped running. She wants me to go with her to Central Station to investigate.

We don’t find anything that explains why the trains have stopped running. Blessilda says we’ll need to speak with the Central Station master but he is nowhere to be found.

Once again I return to Town Hall to find somebody waiting to see me. Two somebodies, actually. Prince Edric has paid a visit to bring me a gift, a Relic fragment, for saving his life. And Captain Greg is waiting for me because?

Captain Greg makes a big show of kissing me hello and standing with his arm around my waist. Is he jealous of the Prince? He needn’t be. Prince Edric is a bit of a doofus. He’s lost the bag that contains the relic fragment, possibly at Fairy Dragon Nest. Or Dawnshadow Lake. Or Rosetum Gardens. He wants me to help him find it.

We find a bag at each of the locations, but none of them are his bag. Prince Edric seems pleased, however, that so many people have copied his choice of carryall. Being a trend setter matters to him. No, Captain Greg has nothing to worry about. Although it might be nice to see him dressed in something other than chain mail once in a while, if there’s going to be a fashionista in our relationship, it’s going to be me.

Prince Edric remembers that he must have left the bag at Central Station. On the way there, we meet Artist Myke. He and Prince Edric cast admiring looks at each other’s outfits. I’m feeling rather dowdy by comparison. Maybe I should try to fit in a visit to Fahleed today.

Artist Myke is planning to make a hat for a princess but thinks he dropped the base for it at Central Station. Would I be good enough to find it for him? Since I’m going there anyway, why not? Lucky gives me the look that means ‘because Captain Greg will go ballistic.’

At Central Station, I find the hat base and Prince Edric’s bag. He gives me the relic fragment, but holds on to the bag. We say goodbye, but he promises to visit again. Oh, goody.

Now to find Artist Myke. No need, he finds me. Now he wants my help in making a copy of some princess’s favorite hat. There’s definitely something odd going on. He talks about this princess but he can’t seem to make up his mind whether she has blonde hair, or black, or brown. But he thanks me for all my help and then he’s gone.

Yet again I return to find somebody waiting for me, a female somebody named Princess Emilia, who’s busy batting her eyelashes at Captain Greg. This time it’s my turn to make a big production of hugging and kissing hello. And to think it was only yesterday that I had decided we needed to keep things on a purely professional level.

Princess Emilia is not happy. Artist Myke had painted her portrait and since then, she feels she’s been aging rapidly. Her evidence is that she’s found a wrinkle and a grey hair. Since she had been meeting the artist at the Rose Garden, she feels the painting and/or the artist may still be there.

I don’t think she’s quite as young as she’d like us to believe and she’s a bit of a drama queen, exclaiming that she is a princess from a nearby kingdom, and there is a criminal in mine.

So off to the Rose Garden we all go. No sign of Artist Myke but we find the enchanted portrait and Princess Emilia goes off to undo the spell, while Captain Greg and I return to Town Hall. I don’t think this is a good time to mention to the Captain that I saw Artist Myke today.

There’s another irate princess waiting for us. This one is called Princess Melody. She claims that Artist Myke stole her magic cloak. The cloak grants invisibility to whoever wears it and Princess Melody herself claims he’ll be impossible to find, yet she expects me to go to the Rose Garden and investigate some suspicious noises.

So Captain Greg and I return to the Rose Garden with a different irate drama queen princess. No sign of Artist Myke, but we find the cloak. Princess Melody decides that the artist must have known about the cloak’s magic properties before he stole it. I’m not sure what we’re supposed to do with that information.

Linea shows up to tell me the obvious: that the artist is a common thief who’s become a menace to the kingdom. Blessilda has heard all about the artist and his deeds and decides the best way to deal with Artist Myke is to lure him to a place where he can be arrested. She’ll need to make a love potion first.

I’m not quite sure how Blessilda found Artist Myke or how she got him to drink the love potion, but before long he comes looking for me. He wants me to go to the Rose Garden to help him find the ‘True royal beauty’ he’s been seeking.

When we get there, he’s very surprised to find Blessilda waiting for him. He’s even more surprised when Captain Greg announces ‘You’re under arrest, you scum!’

Now I’m sure it’s not a good time to mention that I had seen Artist Myke earlier in the day. If Captain Greg can keep secrets from me, I can keep secrets from him.

Captain Greg hauls Artist Myke off to the dungeon, Blessilda returns to the General Store, and Lucky and I return to Town Hall where, for once, nobody is waiting to see me. We are done for the day, little squabbit, but we can’t leave yet. We have to tidy up. Don’t want to have to start tomorrow with clutter all over the desk. Besides, maybe Captain Greg will want to walk me home.

When he arrives, Captain Greg looks like he wants to talk. Does this mean he has more things to tell me about my past? Actually, he wants to talk about the day I arrived in the Skyward Kingdom.

That day, when he commented on the repairs to the castle walls and said that we could do better in the future, I had told him we didn’t have a future. Did I still feel that way? I shake my head no. Obviously things have changed. A lot. We can and will work together to restore the kingdom.

Good, he replies. Now that the Steward and the Captain of the Guard have settled their differences, what about Berengaria and Greg? Do they have a future?

I don’t know, I reply softly. They don’t get much time off from being the Steward and the Captain. And if they did, maybe they wouldn’t like each other very much. There is another possibility, he tells me. They could realize that they love each other.