Day 21 - Saturday

There’s no way I’m going back to Gobholme until I get some warmer clothing. There doesn’t appear to be any medical facilities in the kingdom, and I’m not sure if I want Blessilda and her potions attempting to cure me if I catch a cold.

Maybe we should go to Fahleed’s first thing, Lucky, even before we go to Town Hall. Then again, perhaps not. Better to get the lecture from Greg over and done with. Better yet, apologize before he can start to lecture.

Looks like I’ve been granted another reprieve. Greg isn’t the only one in the office. Chumblepot, Old Man Seth, Troglid and the Mayor have all stopped by to request that their buildings be expanded. And Quinn thinks he knows where we can find tiles for the castle door.

Greg obviously didn’t expect me to come to work today. He has the four requests for expansion spread out on his desk and he keeps looking from them to the ledger book, frowning and sighing. Being steward isn’t as easy as you thought, eh Captain?

I gather the papers from Greg’s desk, chat a little with each of the Goblins and tell them I’ll let them know when resources are available. Then I send Quinn back to the Squabbit Den to wait until I have time to go tile hunting.

A quick glance at the ledger and I’ve made my decision. Town Hall and the Wingferry will be approved for expansion. The Glassworks and the carpentry shop will have to wait. Besides, the Glassworks was just expanded yesterday.

I inform the Mayor of my decision regarding Town Hall and he thanks me before asking for contributions for the Squabbit Den, Glassworks, and General Store. How much? Eight hundred bolgins. Each.

And that, my darling Captain, is why I only approved two of the four requests. I knew from past experience that at least one of the Goblins would be back looking for more bolgins or more bolgite or more obsidian or more golden oak. Now we’d better leave before the construction work begins.

Lucky and I head over to the Squabbit Den to get Quinn and Mr Vanderkins. Next stop is Fahleed’s where I pick out a pattern for the new, warm cloak he’s going to make me.

Then on to the Wingferry. I tell Seth that the expansion can begin after I’ve visited and returned from Apricus Plaza and Rosetum Gardens.

A door tile is quickly found at Apricus Plaza. We spend more time at Rosetum Gardens looking for the relic fragment Chumblepot told me about yesterday. Eventually we find it and another tile as well. Our third stop is Dawnshadow Lake and we find a tile there as well.

Closer examination reveals that only one of the tiles is a match for the castle door. One is better than none, I tell Quinn. I’ll bring it to the castle and you should go feed the animals. Don’t forget Mr Vanderkins.

Lucky looks at me. Time to feed your own squabbit is what he’s trying to tell me. Maybe construction is finished at Town Hall and we can get some lunch. But as long as we’re here in the Faire of Light, let’s visit the pedestal and see which relic this fragment belongs to.

It’s another piece of the Vibrancy Relic. Just one more fragment to find. I hope I find it soon. I can’t wait to see how it changes the appearance of Faire of Light.

The construction work is finished at Town Hall. Lucky is relieved to discover that his stash of carrots hasn’t been disturbed. After a quick lunch, we visit the Glassworks to lend a helping hand. The depiction of Dreadmyre confronting Queen Sophia isn’t anything I’d want hanging in my house, but Chumblepot assures me that orders are pouring in.

Chumblepot is interested in my explorations and offers to make me a diving helmet so that I can explore an underwater cave in Coral Cove. All I have to do is find the glass shards he needs. And some bolgite, too, if it’s not too much trouble.

I promise to look for the needed materials tomorrow. I have to go up to the castle and see if the tile Quinn found fits the castle’s door. And maybe Greg will be there.

The tile is part of the door. There’s still eight tiles missing. But a lot has been accomplished in the three weeks that I’ve been here. The castle interior really looks elegant. If only I could find somebody to restore the torn painting.

Greg is waiting for me outside the castle. He suggests that it might be time to do more repairs on the castle's exteriors. In his opinion, Queen Sophia's crest would look better with a cerulean centerpiece below it.

I tell him I’m surprised he would suggest such a thing after seeing the ledger book this morning. He laughs and says that the Skyward Kingdom’s steward is a financial wizard and therefore finding the funds shouldn’t be a problem.

Is that a fact? Well, I think the kingdom’s Captain of the Guard is something special, too.


 

Day 23 - Monday

Captain Greg is the most infuriating man I have ever met! How can he be so gentle and caring and protective one day, and then the next day behave as badly as the people he claims he’s protecting me from? How can I work closely with him when I never know which Captain Greg will show up?

That’s one thing I won’t have to figure out right now; the office is empty. Good. Not that I’ll be spending much time in the office. I promised Seth I’d help repair widgets while he looked for the papers Fahleed needs, and I need to assemble posters for the Mayor so he can search for the papers he misplaced. And naturally I have neither toolboxes nor glue on hand.

Before we head off to the Rose Garden, I think I’ll approve the final upgrading of the Orchards. I don’t like mushrooms, but I need to do something about my energy level so I’m just going to have to force myself to eat a bowl of fungus soup. But first, it has to be available.

Approving this upgrade is going to seriously deplete our working capital. Time to get over my fear of making a mistake and start selling things at auction. If I stick to items from sets that can be redeemed for coins, I should be okay.

Come on, Lucky. We’ll drop this stuff off at the auction house, tell the Forester we’ve approved his request and then head to the Rose Garden to look for toolboxes. Eleven should be enough for today. Maybe Seth will find those papers right away.

No such luck. I tell Seth I’ll be back tomorrow with more toolboxes, but now I have to go to Forgotten Glen to get glue for the Mayor. Lucky and I find enough glue to hang two posters. We’ll have lunch here before heading back to Town Hall. I need to think.

I’ve been steward for almost four weeks and haven’t received a paycheck. And Fahleed hasn’t sent me a bill for my clothing and Blessilda hasn’t asked me for any rent. I wonder who is in charge of payroll. Heck, who is on the payroll? The Mayor, I would assume, Greg and the rest of the soldiers, me. Linea? I’m going to feel like a fool talking to an owl about this, Lucky, but who else can I ask? Lucky squeaks as Greg joins us.

Greg leans against a tree, folds his arms across his chest and informs me he’s waiting. Waiting for what, I ask. For an apology for my behavior at Coral Cove, he replies.

My behavior, I explode. I wasn’t the one behaving like a Peeping Tom. He had no business following me to Coral Cove after I said I wanted to go there alone. He should be apologizing to me.

Greg informs me that he only followed me to protect me. I want to know who’s going to protect me from him. He wants to know why I would need to be protected from the man I’m going to marry.

Wherever did he get the idea that I was going to marry him? I remind him that we’ve only known each other for less than one month so any talk of marriage is premature.

Greg sighs. There’s nothing to discuss according to him. It was all arranged by our fathers years ago. Prove it, I challenge him. Why should I believe him? Maybe everything he’s told me about my past is a lie.

He tells me the proof is in my locket. I call him a liar. My locket is empty. He can look for himself if he doesn’t believe me. Greg removes the necklace from around my neck and opens it. He then takes off his signet ring and inserts it into the finely etched design. A slight pull reveals a secret compartment containing a folded piece of paper.

Greg hands me the paper and orders me to read it. It’s a document recording our betrothal. He was telling the truth. I protest that it can’t possibly be legally binding.

It is, he insists. But we might have hated each other. Greg smiles. He loves me, he declares, and he knows I love him. I smile weakly. I wish I could be as certain of things as he is.
 

Day 25 - Wednesday

I was surprised not to find anybody at the office this morning. Falheed is supposed to meet me here so that we can travel to Gobholme together. And there’s no sign of Greg.

While we wait, we can plan the rest of the day, Lucky. The Mayor wants me to check out Glitterstone Mine. It’s not far from Gobholme, so we might as well go there after opening up the bar and Fahleed’s new store. I like exploring new places. And when we get back, we’re going to check out that house Quinn mentioned.

Just then Greg arrives carrying a very big box which he places on my desk. Another present? Inside the box is a blue velvet cloak with a matching muff. Just in time for my trip to Gobholme!

Although I thank him profusely and give him a big hug and a kiss, Greg looks sad. I wish he’d tell me what I’m doing wrong.

Fahleed finally shows up and after I find the Mayor’s Letter of Credit and check to make sure that Fahleed has his, we’re off.

It’s still snowing at Gobholme, but my new cloak keeps me warm. I open the bar as requested by the Mayor while Fahleed arranges his wares.

The merchandise that Fahleed is selling in Gobholme is very down market compared to the beautiful fabrics he sells in Faire of Light. Then again, none of the Goblins are in any danger of be called a fashion icon.

Fahleed is also selling assorted bric-a-brac. He thanks me for my assistance and tells me any time I’m in Gobholme I should just help myself to whatever I want. Since it’s unlike anybody will be giving me a bridal shower, I need to start finding things for the home I’ll share with Greg. I ask if I might have the coffee bean grinder.

Fahleed will be staying in Gobholme for the rest of the day while I need to go to Glitterstone Mine. He offers to drop the coffee grinder at Town Hall when he returns to Landsong Village. I agree. One less thing for me to carry.

At Glitterstone, I don’t find anything that could be of use to me personally, but I’m sure somebody in the kingdom will eventually ask me for the gems, crests, and gears that I’ve found.

Let’s go back to Town Hall for some lunch, Lucky and then we’ll go find that house. While we eat, I can update the ledgers and decide if it’s time to upgrade any of the buildings again.

At last I can take a look at that house Quinn told me about. Crossing over the bridge, I take the left path which leads to a forest glade. The house there is small and in near of repair, but it has the potential of being the nicest house in the Kingdom.

This place is perfect. It’s close, but not too close, to Town Hall. The trees provide a degree of privacy, but there’s enough cleared land to expand the house and still have room for a garden. I would love to have a flower garden, Lucky. Lucky squeaks. Yes, there’s even room for a vegetable garden so you’ll always have a supply of fresh carrots.

I feel like I belong here. I want this house, Lucky. I want a home. A voice behind me asks if I would like to see the inside. Greg! He tells me that there’s a lot of work that needs to be done, inside as well as outside. He had hoped to surprise me...

I don’t want to be surprised, I tell him. If this is to be our forever and ever home, I want to plan it together, to make it a place where we’ll both be happy and never want to leave. How soon can we get started? When can we move in?

Greg smiles and raises an eyebrow. Don’t I want to get married first? Some people move in together before hand, but that wouldn’t be proper for the Queen's Steward and the Captain of the Guard. I blush. Yes, of course. If he’s chosen a date, perhaps he’d like to tell me what it is. Greg says it’s up to the Mayor.

Why? What does the Mayor have to do with it? Weddings take place during the Yura festival, Greg explains. The Mayor will know when the next festival is to be held.

And as steward, I need to start saving bolgins to pay for the festival. Skycrystal Atriums will need to be opened and the building there repaired. And the castle will need statues, festival lamps, some garden decor, better pathways... Looks like we’re going to be very busy getting ready for the festival and getting our own home fixed up.

Day 27 - Friday

When I arrive at Town Hall this morning, Greg is already there. He tells me before we can go up to Skycrystal Atriums, we need to see the Mayor and complete some paperwork regarding our upcoming marriage.

Greg gives the Mayor our betrothal certificate and the mayor asks us to sign it again. I notice with amusement that Greg’s signature hasn’t changed much since he was ten years old. My signature, however...well, I was only four. Not surprising that all I could manage was a letter ‘B’.

The Mayor thanks us and says how sad it is that our parents didn’t live long enough to see us wed. Thank you, Mr Mayor, for getting the day off to a gloomy start. He then tells us we really should go to Skycrystal Atriums and talk to Leena about the upcoming Yura Festival. What a good idea, I exclaim. Greg, why didn’t we think of that?

Greg gives me an elbow to the ribs and tells me to behave myself. He appears to have gotten up on the wrong side of the kingdom this morning.

Skycrystal Atriums is very brown looking, much as Landsong Village was before the relics were found. I don’t need a work order to know that one of the things I need to do is find more relics.

Greg introduces me to Leena, who explains that this year’s festival will celebrate Yura’s blessing for giving back the kingdom and the citizens’ gratitude for the guidance they’ve received from Queen Sophia and... me! I blush with embarrassment but feel bad that Greg’s work safeguarding the kingdom isn’t being acknowledged.

Leena wants to improve Glennwater Springs and needs help in the way of building materials and bolgins. A crucial part of the festival involves people drinking water that has been blessed by the fairies. I agree to help with resources. I just hope I’m not going to be asked to provide bottles for all the water she intends to bless.

Linea finds us. News that we’ve visited Leena has spread very quickly indeed. Folks are getting excited about the upcoming festival and Queen Sophia has sent a letter expressing regret that she will not be here but confidence that the festival will be a success due to my guidance. Enclosed in the letter is two crystals to put toward expenses.

I’ve really like to spend some time exploring Skycrystal Atriums, but Leena wants me to go to Skyfleet Docks and welcome some very early arriving visitors. As we depart, I complain to Greg that once again our plans are being changed. I don’t want to go to Skyfleet Docks, I want to go with him on his rounds. He says we can fit in a visit to the docks first.

At Skyfleet Docks, not only are visitors arriving, packages are arriving. And there’s some things that might come in handy in our new home, like a frying pan. Unless Bed, Bath and Beyond opens up a branch in Landsong Village, I’m going to have to scavenge for useful items.  I grab the frying pan and hand it to Greg to carry.

Greg thinks we should return to Skycrystal Atriums and report to Leena before we start his daily rounds. I think he’s stalling and for some reason has changed his mind about taking me with him, but for now I keep my thoughts to myself.

Leena takes time out from blessing the water to show us the damaged pedestals. They will need to be repaired, hopefully in time for the festival. The Peddler offers his assistance in repairing them if I can supply the materials. For the first pedestal, he will need bolgite, obsidian, and poster glue. I put searching for poster glue at the top of tomorrow’s to-do list.

Greg and I return to Town Hall and I put the frying pan in the storage cupboard next to the coffee bean grinder.

Now can we start your daily rounds, I ask. Greg looks uncomfortable and says maybe I should go search for poster glue and accompany him on a different day. He’s not sure I’ll enjoy going to the places he needs to visit today. I tell him that as long as we’re together, I’ll enjoy visiting anyplace he takes me. He silently hands me his list.

Mystic Copse. Good, we can have lunch in the treehouse. The Black Bull. No problem, as far as I can see. I’ve never been there and I like visiting new places. Coral Cove. I swallow hard.

I take some things from the storage cupboard and tell Greg to bring them to the Peddler, who will give him a diamond pickaxe in return. We’ll need it to break the coral and gain access to Anemone Bay. Meanwhile, I’ll go and fetch my swimsuit and a towel. Greg is surprised by my reaction.

Greg is in a hurry to get to Mystic Copse and I struggle to keep up with him. Slow down, Gregory, and wait for me. Gregory? Why did I call him Gregory? He tells me to wait for him in the treehouse while he checks the area for anything suspicious looking.

I sit at the desk and dreamily trace the letter ‘B’. It looks very similar to my ‘signature’ on the betrothal document. In my mind, I hear a little girl say "I’m going to marry Gwegory and live in a tweehouse."

I look up to see Greg staring at me. He asks me to repeat what I just said. I do as he asked and I suddenly realize that I’ve remembered something from my past, something that happened before I was sent away and landed up in Beechwood Cove.

As a child, I had adored Greg and followed him everywhere.  Greg had been playing soldier, pretending that he was Captain of the Guard and I had followed him to Mystic Copse.  Greg had told me to stay in the treehouse while he explored.  

To keep me entertained, he had carved the letter ‘B’ into the desk, given me a pencil and some paper and told me to practice signing my name. If I couldn’t write my name, I wouldn't be allowed to marry him, he told me.

For some reason, I had decided we were going to live in the treehouse after we were married and I told that to everybody I met. I even told it to people in Beechwood Cove when I first arrived there, I told Greg.

Greg held me close and told me he had been afraid that I had forgotten him while I was away. I had, eventually,  I admitted, but only because it was too painful to remember and not be able to get back home.

Lucky starts thumping, as if to say isn’t anybody going to remember me? I’m sorry little squabbit. Here’s a nice crunchy carrot. Greg and I also hastily eat lunch. If we don’t hurry, we’ll be going for a moonlight swim at Coral Cove.

Before we can go to Coral Cove, we have to stop at the Black Bull, a pirate ship by looks of it. I find a cauldron to add to my collection of must have kitchen items. Meanwhile Greg chats to the captain and crew and asks if there’s been any sign of the suspicious cloaked man who had attacked the Forester.

When we reach Coral Cove, things get a bit awkward. It soon become obvious that Greg hasn’t brought any swim wear along. The ‘swim suit’ Fahleed made me looks like a cross between a tennis dress and a short Greek toga.

What the heck! He’s already seen me in my underwear. But that’s as far as I’m prepared to go. Greg follows my lead and leaves his underwear on, although he points out that when we were children...I point out that we’re no longer children.  I don’t know why I’m making such a fuss. Wet underwear worn by either sex leaves very little to the imagination.

Greg uses the diamond pickaxe and breaks the coral so that we can explore Anemone Bay. We find nothing special there. Time to get dressed and head back to Landsong Village. We still have reports to write. I just wish that after they were done, we’d be going home together. Soon, Greg tells me, soon we’ll always be together.
 

Day 29 - Sunday

Last night I was too upset to go back to Town Hall and write my reports. I asked Greg to take me straight home. He offered to deal with the paperwork, but I told him to just leave it. I’d come in early and do it first thing in the morning.

He had done as I asked, and my desk was an absolute mess. I had thought the kingdom’s residents would be so excited about the upcoming festival that they would stop submitting requests for things, but I was wrong. If anything, they had stepped up their demands.

We need to work on things pertaining to the festival, Lucky, and let the rest wait. Problem is, I can’t figure out which of the requests are festival related. If I have attended one of these shindigs as a child, I’ve forgotten all about it. All I know is that people will drink fairy water, wear funny hats and necklaces, and look at ugly statues and lamps.

Oh, and people, including me, will be getting married. So far, my preparations for getting married consist of acquiring a coffee bean grinder, a frying pan, and a cauldron. The house needs to be repaired, and if we can afford it, enlarged. I have no idea what our financial situation is. And I can’t leave Greg to deal with it, not if those lamps and statues are indicative of his taste in décor.

Once again, my habit of speaking my thoughts out loud gets me in trouble. Greg has heard what I said and demands to know what’s wrong with the statues and lamps.

I tell him that they are hideous. He disagrees and adds that they are exactly the same as the ones destroyed in the war. Fine, so the previous ones were also hideous.

They’re traditional and what the people will expect, he argues. Then the people have no taste and it’s a waste of money to repair the damaged painting in the castle because they lack the refinement to differentiate between art and trash, I retort.

Just as things are about to get really nasty, Triffledore arrives. Greg leaves, slamming the door behind him. Triffledore has convinced his friend Raphael to open his art gallery in Skycrystal Atriums! There’s a catch, though. He will need another 12,000 bolgins. I hand over the cash and pray that Raphael lives up to his name.

Lucky and I set out to find glue to repair the base of the second Artiums pedestal and and a sapphire sphere to house the magical properties of the first pedestal. I wonder where those magical properties are currently residing. Maybe they move in with the relics?

I’m greeted by quite a crowd when I deliver the glue and sphere to the peddler, who thanks me and tells me the second pedestal still needs runes.

Among those waiting for me is Raphael. He thanks me for helpin him and assures me he will build the best arts center ever scene, but he needs just a little more help in the way of funds and resources to restore the Gildenhall Gallery in the Atriums. And some paint brushes.

Also in the crowd is Gavin, who wants me to accompany him to the Black Bull. Ria is also there. She would like me to take her to the Fairy Dragon Nest to look for a relic. I’m always in need of glass shards so I decide to go to the Fairy Dragon Nest now and agree to visit the Black Bull tomorrow with Gavin.

Ria finds a fragment of the Atrium Lushness relic. I need to stop at Town Hall to pick up the runes requested by the peddler before returning to the Atriums. Waiting for me there is Brad, a friend of Troglid’s. His brother Gobie is stuck in the ore vein in Glitterstone Mines and the machinery to open it requires two people.

Brad doesn’t explain why Troglid or some other able-bodied Goblin isn’t available to help him. Clearly it’s a job that can only be done by Super Steward. So I trudge up to the mines and help save Gobie. I also find a relic fragment. Brad thanks me and says that someday he hopes to return the favor. Maybe he’d consider dropping those Yura statues down a mineshaft for me.

Luckily I remember that I still need to find paint brushes for Raphael, so instead of returning to the Atriums, I go to Dawnshadow Lake. Funny I never noticed paint brushes there before.

When Lucky and I finally arrive back at the atriums, once again several people are waiting for us. Gavin wants to know if we could also visit the Forgotten Glen tomorrow. I still need poster glue for the Mayor, so I agree to take Gavin there as well as to the Black Bull.

When I give the runes to the peddler, he tells me he still needs an amethyst sphere to house...Yeah, yeah, I know. Just tell me where to find it. A trip to Apricus Plaza goes to the top of tomorrow’s to-do list.

I give Raphael the paint brushes, but he tells me he’s been looking for some inspiration. He wants portraits of Queen Sophia and her parents, five of each to be exact. Each is unique, I am informed, and needs to be studied from different angles. I’m inspired to ask for my 24,000 bolgins back, but I don’t. Instead I run back to Town Hall to get the requested portraits.

Greg is there and wants to talk. I drop my papers and assorted things on my desk, grab the portraits, tell Greg I’ll be right back, and run back up to the Atriums. Raphael takes the portraits and rhapsodizes over the details. Could I possibly provide him with portraits of the Fairy Queen and King Crookshank? So yet another mad dash to Town Hall and back again. If running around in circles were an Olympic event, I’d be a gold medal winner.

Finally Raphael’s thirst for inspiration is satisfied. He tells me he’s heard there might be a relic in Ancient Pond. And if I could just wait a few minutes while he puts the finishing touches on his first painting...

The painting is indeed a masterpiece. Raphael assures me he has others and suggests the next time I visit, I bring Greg.

Greg! I forgot he’s waiting for me. I run all the way back to Landsong Village.

When I arrive at the office, Greg is holding some of my complete work orders and looking very angry. What’s his problem? He got those ugly lamps he requested. He asks me if I have any idea just how much money I’ve given Raphael.

I haven’t a clue, but it doesn’t matter because before I can answer, Greg tells me. Almost 25,000 bolgins. And just what do I have to show for it, he continues.

One magnificent painting, whereas all I have to show for the 25,000 bolgins I gave him is two tacky statues and a bunch of lamp posts topped with gilded chickens holding lanterns in their beaks, I snap. Furthermore, I’ll be dammed if I’m going to stand here and listen to criticism about my job performance from the man who allowed Artist Myke to escape.

Greg recoils as if mortally wounded. I tell him I'm sorry for what I said and tears start to fall as I remind him that I had been afraid that if we spent more time together, we’d discover that we don’t really like each other.

He reminds me that we spent the entire day together just two days ago and we were very happy. The problem is that we don’t spend enough time with each other away from all this, he says, gesturing in the general direction of the cluttered desks.

We don’t have any other place to be together, I point out. Not yet, Greg tells me, and suggests that we clean up the clutter and then find some dinner and discuss renovations to the house. I agree, but only if he promises to not to buy anything without checking with me first. I may be stuck with those festival decorations but there’s no way I’ll put up with gilded chicken lamps in my own home.