Toffee Romance (part 1) Trust

~Chapter 5~

The next morning was relatively quiet. My foster mother, Clara, stopped eating to break the silence between us. "Darling you've been coming home very late recently. They aren't overworking you at the castle are they? Do I need to come up there?" Clara asked me protectively. I chuckled and shook my head. "No mom, everything is just fine. To be honest with you, I've been finishing early and walking around to admire nature." I made up a lie. In all honesty, I had been visiting Toffee but she certainly didn't need to know that, and neither did anyone else. "Oh Ariel! I had no idea you loved nature so much! Hold on just a bit!" Clara rushed upstairs and came back down minutes later with a small box. She opened it up and pulled out a necklace with a small bird as the pendant. "I used to love nature at your age as well." She went behind me and started fastening the necklace around my neck. "Mom, you really don't have to do this." I tried to stop her. I didn't feel like I deserved it because I had just lied to her about where I was going everyday. "Oh nonsense. Henry bought this for me when he was alive, but he's gone now. Besides, I'm not thouroughly able to enjoy nature now due to my age. I couldn't run if there was a monster that suddenly came out of no where." Clara laughed lighly, but I frowned. "Mom...what if you didn't have to run from the monster?" I asked quietly. "Don't be silly Ariel. What would I do? Just stand there and get eaten?" She scoffed playfully at me. "Mom, I mean...are monsters all that bad?" When I said this she paused and shivered. "Darling are you feeling alright? You're saying some very strange stuff right now." Clara stood in front of me with worry on her face. I was careful to choose my next words for her. "Mom, all I'm saying is that...they can't all be that bad right?" I chuckled nervously. She looked a bit angry and upset that I would ever hint at that. Clara reached out and held my shoulders firmly. She then looked me directly in the eyes. "Ariel, don't ever speak that nonsense in the house again. Do you understand me?" She asked me lowly. I nervously nodded at her. Then her demeanor changed back into cheerful and happy again. "Good! Now have a good day at the castle darling. Don't forget to take breaks and drink lots of water!" She spoke to me as if nothing ever happened between us. I think I was truly terrified of her now.

I shook it off and got dressed for work. Then I left out on my way to the castle. "How was your vacation yesterday?" Moon asked me when I made it there. I smiled widely at her. "It was relaxing! I really enjoyed it, but I'd rather be working here. I always have and always will." I replied to her. I hadn't expected my reply to make her have a sad face in return, but it did. Suddenly, she perked back up and grabbed my shoulders. "You've been doing this forever! How about you take up a different job huh?" Moon led me down the hall into the throne room where the council was waiting. "Queen Moon, what are you doi-" She shushed me before I could finish talking. Then she left to grab her wand from her seat. The council watched in curiosity as she headed back over to me. "Kneel down." She whispered in my ear. I obeyed and watched her as closely as the council did. She winked at me and then spoke up. "My decree as queen is to lift the servant title from this honored girl, and redub thee as my right hand person for now, and all of time to come. Even when I pass as queen and there will be another. Her title is to be upheld and not to be changed." Moon then turned to me and lightly tapped each of my shoulders with her wand. She then lifted me up and hugged me tightly. Suddenly there was clapping from the other servants that must've peeked in to watch me. Before I knew it, I was in a meeting room with Moon, River, Count Mildred (still single), Mina, and the council. Everyone was discussing plans to deal with the monsters. I could feel myself get anxious everytime they had brought up Toffee. Suddenly, Moon interrupted the chatter with her next decree as queen. "If everyone is done with their chit chat and talk of imaginary truces, I have my new law in effect." She placed a larged map of Mewni and this dimension down on the table and grabbed everyones attention. "Starting tomorrow morning, I'll be sending a few of my best people out on a journey. We'll hunt down every monster that betrayed the treaty and kill every last one of them. Right down to the worst one...that filthy lizard general that killed my mother. And THAT is an order. So Mina, Ariel?" Moon looked at both of us directly. "Meet here early tomorrow morning because you'll both be my generals." Moon ordered us. Mina cheered but I was sure that the worry on my face was noticed by Moon. Thats why when the meeting ended and everyone left, she ushered me to a private area.

"What was wrong in there Ariel? You looked really anxious through the whole thing?" Moon asked me with worry on her face. I had to make up a lie about everything to cover up the fact that my worry was about Toffee. "Oh nothing is wrong. I guess I'm just a bit nervous about going from slave to general within the same day. I just don't know if I'm good at this is all." I lied to her. Moon smiled lightly and hugged me. "Everything will be alright. I understand your worry. Everything happened so quickly with my mother and the next thing I know, I'm a queen of an entire kingdom. You're immortal Ariel, but I'm only 15. You have a long time to figure this out so don't worry at all. I put my full faith in you. See you tomorrow." She ushered me home. Moon suggested that I go home and get some rest, but I was well on my way to the woods. I hadn't heard anything however. There wasn't even the sound of a lone cricket to ease my worry. I knew this wasn't the monster infested forrest because this was still too close to the outskirts of the kingdom to be that. The scary forrest is deep within the distance of this dimension. I reassured myself but it was still too quiet. I stepped on a twig and broke that silence. The next thing I knew, I was pounced on, wrestled, and rolling down a bluff with something heavy attached to me.