Trolls World Tour: Forever My King

Ch.3: Rising Problems

His ears drooped and he stared down at the table. "Sorry, mom..."

My eyes lingered away from him only to spot another empty chair that just so happened to be right next to him.

"...where's Maya?" I asked him. Trollex looked up from the table and stared at me.

"Huh?" he asked, obviously confused. I felt a chill run down my spine, but not in a good way.

"Trollex...where is your wife?" I asked again.

"Oh! She's at Pop Village hanging out with Lee like she does every Saturday. She's fine," he reassured me. Then he popped another pretzel in his mouth.

"You'd think with what's been happening you'd keep a closer eye on her," Barb said. Trollex rolled his eyes at her.

"She can take care of herself," he managed to say with food in his mouth. "I'm not her dad."

Barb snickered at his remark. Trollex nearly choked on his snack and just shook his head disapprovingly.

"I didn't mean it like that, you sicko! Get your mind out of the gutter!" he said. He set the bag down on the table and crossed his arms.

Barb chuckled and crossed her arms as well. "Nah! I don't think I will."

I looked over at Katheryn, who was twiddling her thumbs and sweating nervously. She hadn't said a word since she and Barb arrived. Thrash was supposed to be here as well, but he decided to stay in Volcano Rock City to help Riff with something.

"Is something on your mind, sis?" I asked. If there was one troll who was gonna start visibly panicking first, it was her. She looked up at me and sighed. Her hands were already starting to shake.

"What are we supposed to do about this, Roxy?" she asked sheepishly. "Troll leaders are disappearing without a trace! There HAS to be a reasonable explanation for this! They wouldn't just abandon their kingdoms without leaving a note or something!"

"Yes, I agree. There has to be a reasonable explanation for all of this," Titus answered for me. He was surprisingly calm. I was trying my best to stay calm as well, but I didn't know how long that was going to last.

"For right now, we need to make sure that the tribes that don't have leaders have someone lined up as their replacements until they either come back, or we find them," I said.

"That's just the thing!" Katie continued. "At least the funk trolls have backup! They have Darnell and Cooper, but the classical trolls...they don't have that kind of luxury. Trollzart has no wife, no living family, and no next-of-kin! Heck, I don't even think he has a girlfriend! The classical trolls have no one to lead them! They are lost without their conductor!"

"Well," I started. "Maya told me that Trollzart and Goldie are pretty close, so..."

"Oh yeah, sure! That sounds like a great idea!" Barb proclaimed sarcastically. "Let's have a pop troll lead the classical trolls! WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?!"

I stood up and slammed my hands onto the table. "Don't get sassy with me, missy! It's better than nothing!"

Katheryn stood up, too. "And while we're at it, what about the Country trolls? Yes, they do have backup, but she's not old enough to run Lonesome Flats all by herself! She's only eight!"