Page 177 of Bride of the Midnight Prince

A serious light enters his young face. He straightens his shoulders, and he does not regard me with fear, but respect. He gets to his feet. “What must I do?”

My memory flashes back to when I was his age. I had the same attitude. The same innocent desire to serve my people. I turn away from him, a coldness entering my lungs. “Come this way.”

He follows me to the edge of the rise. I point to the troll in the valley. He is his usual, lumbering mass, but to my horror, blood streams down his face. A body lies at his great, lumpy feet. A body that looks very like one of the thieves I saw trying to steal the farmers’ hard work from them earlier.

I told the queen this would happen.

Prince Lionel gasps, covering his mouth. My instinct is to cover his eyes, too. But he is the ruler of this land. He will one day be king. He should know the reality of his duty.

“That is Ymer the Indefatigable. He is one of the old trolls of Faerieland. Only you have the power to tell him to leave Harbright and return to Faerie.”

The boy swallows. “If I tell him to leave, he will not kill any more people?”

“He will not,” I reply.

“Will he eat me?”

I shake my head. “I will protect you. You do not have to go down there if you are afraid, but if you do not, more people will die.”

The boy lifts his chin exactly the way Queen Vivienne always does. “I will go down there.”

We walk down the rise together. The farming has not stopped, though a wide berth is given to Ymer. The boy’s steps slow the closer we get to the massive troll in the midst of his bloody meal. He does not stop, however.

“Is that nice small elf with food for Ymer?” calls the troll toward us. Just as quickly, his face wrinkles. “Not nice small elf.”

“What shall I say?” the boy whispers to me.

“You shall say,‘Great Ymer, the Indefatigable, as the ruler of this land, I command you to return to Faerieland.’”

He nods. His cheeks turn pale. Still, he continues on until we stand before the troll.

“Great Ymer,” begins Prince Lionel in his young, shaking voice, “the In—Inde—the Indefatable—the Inde—”

“Indefatigable,” I mutter.

“Great Ymer the Indefat—igable,” he manages.

He has accomplished the hardest part.

His voice grows clearer and stronger as he continues. “As the ruler of this land, I command you to return to Faerieland.”

Ymer looks up from his meal. His attention glosses over me, coming to rest on the young boy at my side. Slowly, Ymer gets to his feet and pulls himself to his full height.

Prince Lionel takes a frightened step back. I place a hand between his shoulder blades and scoot him forward. “Do not retreat,” I order.

He seems to bite back a whimper.

“You are the ruler of this land,” I remind him.

He clenches his jaw. Then he balls his fists and screams at the top of his lungs: “Great Ymer the Indefatigable, as the ruler of this land, I command you return to Faerieland! Thisinstant!”

Ymer stares down at him from his towering height. Then he crashes to his knees, sending the entire ground shaking. “Ruler of this land!” Ymer bellows. “Ymer is honored to do as ruler commands! May ruler live forever!”

A slow, mirthless smile spreads across my mouth. Prince Lionel doesn’t seem to have a clue what to do with a troll offering him obeisance. It does not matter, though, because only a moment later, Ymer the Indefatigable gets back to his feet, picks up the rest of his meal, and tromps into Caphryl Wood. Never to bother the human world again.

I smirk down at the boy. “Excellent work, King Lionel of Harbright.”

He blushes.

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