The Book-Seller: Part 2

“I don’t want you to go, Hattie. I’m asking you to stay. No, I’m begging you to stay. Please.” Prince Darren’s blue eyes met hers as he pleaded. He reached for her hand.

“I can’t stay! You know that!” She pulled her hand away, anger flaring. “Darren, it’ll make me so ill. You can’t ask me this… it’s not fair.”

Darren’s voice and demeanour changed and he suddenly became the Crown Prince, someone that wasn’t used to being disobeyed. “If you go, Hattie, then that’s it. I won’t ask again,” he said, coldly.

Hattie paled. “What?”

“I mean it, Hattie. I’m tired of waiting. Either you stay and marry me or we are done. No more friendship, no more benefits of being the best friend of the Prince, you will have nothing.”

Hattie took a step backwards, narrowly avoiding a table stacked with books. “Is this truly the way you want to begin your reign?” She asked, quietly. “By threatening your subjects into submission? The Kingdom of Ash and Oak will falter, Prince Darren, and it will be on your shoulders!”

Hattie swept out of the library, her dramatic exit lessened by the fact she tripped over Snicket, who had been hiding in the doorway. She managed to catch herself from falling on her face, but needless to say, it diminished the effect. 

“For the love of Titania, Snicket! What are you doing?”

Snicket’s eyes widened. “I’m sorry, Hattie! I didn’t mean to!” 

Hattie gave a little moan of frustration and brushed off her skirts as she regained her composure. She left the library without looking back, her face hot with embarrassment. 

Snicket trotted beside her as she stomped down the long, stone corridor. “Back to the World of Men, then?”

Hattie stopped and leaned against the wall, her anger leaving her all at once. “Yes, I suppose so.” She sighed as she tucked a stray auburn curl back into her bun. “Do you want to come, Snicket? Or are you staying here?”

“Snicket goes where Hattie goes,” said the little hobgoblin, proudly. 

“Okay, then. Let’s go,” she said, as she looked back towards the library and the Prince. “Sooner rather than later. I’m not sure there is anything here for me, now.”

Snicket grabbed her hand and tugged it, not letting her linger. “Come, Hattie. We don’t need a stupid Prince.” A passing guard raised an eyebrow as Hattie let herself be lead back to her rooms. “Hattie get her books and meet Snicket at the fairy ring.”

She smiled at the hobgoblin who was looking up at her, his face earnest and hopeful. “Yes, of course. I will meet you there. But, I think, Snicket… I think I would like to go home. To see Mother.”

“But…”

“I know,” Hattie interrupted. “But that’s where I would like to go.”

Snicket nodded once and left her to gather her few belongings. As she watched him leave, his funny little gait almost making her smile, the reality of the situation began to dawn on her and she struggled to hold back her tears. Darren had been her lifelong friend, and the thought of losing him was truly terrible. But she also knew him well, and despite his harsh words and the cold ‘front’ he had portrayed, underneath it all was a little boy who was hurting. Maybe some time away will make him realise that our friendship is too important to lose, she thought, as she gathered her books. She looked around the rooms that had been her home in the Seelie court for as long as she could remember as a strange sense of nostalgia settled over her. She pulled the covers over her bed, arranging the blanket that her mother had made for her many, many years before and wondered where the time had gone. It was definitely time to go home. Better late than never, she thought. Shaking off the unnerving feeling, she took a deep breath and firmly shut the door to her palace quarters, striding confidently down the hallway and out of the gates.

Snicket was already in the clearing when Hattie arrived and he took the parcel of books from her carefully, knowing how precious they were to her. “What’s in the books, Hattie?” He asked, excited to be going back to the World of Men.

She smiled at his enthusiasm. “Why, fairytales, of course! The children of the human world love them. These ones,” she patted the books, lovingly, “are by H.C.Anderson. And to think that they presume he is human himself! As if a mere man could tell such fantastical tales.”

Snicket grinned, showing little, sharp white teeth. “Silly humans.”

Hattie laughed, despite the lingering sadness over her quarrel with Darren. “Indeed. Now, ready?” She offered Snicket her hand and they stepped into the fairy ring and out again into the World of Men. 

As they arrived on the other side, into a clearing where the sky was blue instead of violet, they quickly found the track that would lead them to the village. They set off, needing shelter before nightfall, as being this close to the fairy ring was a dangerous spot to linger. By unspoken agreement, neither Snicket nor Hattie wanted to risk meeting any of the dark creatures from the Unseelie court. 

The pair approached the village just before sundown, and Hattie quickly arranged for a room above the inn, with Snicket keeping to the shadows to remain unseen. As this was the nearest village to the fairy ring, the locals were used to seeing some strange things, but there was nothing that they could ever quite put their finger on, and Hattie wanted it to remain that way. And Snicket definitely counts as being ‘a strange thing’, she thought to herself as she sat down heavily upon the bed.

Within a few minutes, Snicket appeared through the open window, proud of himself for being sneaky. “Snicket met a brownie in the kitchen, Hattie. She said that the way to your Mother’s cottage is clear.” He grasped his little cap in his hands, looking for affirmation. “Has Snicket done well?” 

“Yes, Snicket. You have done very well, thank you,” Hattie replied, her voice tinged with sadness.

The little hobgoblin jumped onto the bed beside her and laid his head on her shoulder. “Snicket wants Hattie to be happy, so Snicket has a gift.”

Hattie pulled away, surprised. “A gift?” She paused, and narrowed her eyes. “I’m not sure, Snicket…”

“No, no! No favour needed!” He shook his head, his eyes wide and innocent. “Truthfully, Hattie. Freely given. Snicket will even promise, if Hattie wants.”

Hattie looked at him carefully for signs of duplicity. Everyone knew not to accept a gift from one of the Fae, even if one was half-fae themselves. “Freely given?”

Snicket nodded. “Freely given. Hattie want?”

“If it is freely given, I would love to accept your gift, Snicket,” she said, feeling touched by the little hobgoblin’s kindness.

Snicket hopped off the bed and rummaged around in the voluminous pockets of his green jerkin, finally pulling out an acorn attached to a long, silver chain. He thrust his arm out. “Snicket made. For Hattie.” He looked down and shuffled his feet, embarrassed. 

Hattie slid off the bed and kneeled on the floor in front of him. She carefully took the necklace from his outstretched hand and placed it over her head. “I accept your gift, Snicket, with thanks.” 

As Hattie said the words, Snicket raised his head, a little gleam in his eyes. The acorn flared silver and a silver flash appeared briefly in Hattie’s green eyes before disappearing again. 

“Snicket?” She asked, as panic began to rise in her chest. “What have you done?”