Didn’t need to be saved?
He looked around the faces of his party, and everyone seemed to be feeling the same thing. Finn couldn’t trust it. It simply didn’t make sense.
Oak, Topaz, and Theo shifted back into their human forms. Finn couldn’t help it. He didn’t wait. He charged into the cave, knowing in his heart that Marigold wouldn’t be there.
He found the two captors he recognized suspended in the air. They were able to talk, to move, but whatever enchantment had been put upon them did not enable their feet to touch the ground.
He called back and informed the others that they had found the guilty men.
“Where is she?” he demanded. When Topaz entered the room, one of the criminals spat upon him.
“If it isn’t the grand fire king,” he said. “Come to fetch his wife.”
Finn looked around the cave for signs of Marigold. He saw only a purple ribbon on the ground. He took a deep breath and readied himself for the rusty smell of blood…but could find none.
Marigold was nowhere to be found.
“Where did she go?” Finn demanded.
“She suspended us, as you can see,” one criminal said, “just like a child getting used to her magic. All reports said Queen Marigold was as dull as dull could be, not an ounce of magic in her. We let out guard down…”
“Magic?” Finn asked. He turned around to Helena, Topaz, Rain, and Oak for an explanation. They looked dumbfounded.
“Marigold has never shown any signs of…such a thing,” Topaz said. Finn gritted his teeth. He hated that Topaz could act like the authority on Marigold, not him.
“And what if they’re lying?” Finn yelled, gesturing to the suspended men. “What if some other cronie has been here and taken Marigold somewhere else?”
The criminals laughed.
“It’s true. We can’t trust them,” Rain said.
“Oh, you’re right. There are others!” the men yelled. “There are others just like us who’ve seen the wandering Queen Marigold and thought: what an easy way to reap revenge on the fire king who ruined us, by killing this weakling woman in the marketplace. If it’s not us, there will be others like us waiting for her.”
The men were donning awful, wide smiles.
“Assuming she left of her own accord,” Helena said, “where would she go?”
“To see Knightley and Nestor,” Topaz said with certainty. “She would have gone back to the fire kingdom where she could be protected and see her children. If she knew her life was in danger, she would want to see them.”
Finn was stilled by the naming of Marigold’s children. Boys, then. He realized how little he knew about this woman that he cared for so deeply. He took in these strange people: Rain, Helena, Oak, and Topaz. Theywereauthorities on Marigold, not himself and William. He was on the outside…Knightey and Nestor. He wished he had asked Marigold their names, ages, and personalities.
He was ashamed that he had not made use of all the time he had with her before.
So he only nodded at this and bowed his head.
William turned to him.
“You don’t think she would have gone back to our house?”
Finn shrugged. “I don’t really know. She’ll be looking for the road, no matter what.”
King Topaz looked worried. Finn had to give him that. But he also wondered if Topaz was worried about how the public would react to his first wife’s return. Finn couldn’t imagine a world in which Marigold slipped by unnoticed, even in a position of power. No doubt the kingdom loved her.
All of this made him see how ridiculous it was that he should aspire to be with Marigold. Topaz and the rest must consider him a stupid, country boy with an unrequited crush.
The group set off in search of Marigold. First, they would walk towards the fire kingdom. It was a beautiful day. As they found the road, traces of Marigold began to appear. Men who might have tried to take advantage of her were suspended in the air every three miles or so. They told stories of a strange woman walking barefoot; some claimed they only called to her in a suggestive manner. Others thought she was for sale. They explained that they saw a woman alone in a torn dress and simply assumed.
“Yes, she went that way,” they all said, and so they got closer and closer to the queen, who grew more mythic with each step. She had apparently stopped in a pub and eaten her fill there, ignoring prying eyes and gawking men.
