![Grogoch [Bedtime Stories 2]](https://fs.ageofbook.com/617307/thumbs/152x264/grogoch-bedtime-stories-2.jpg)
whatever. He wasn’t the only one I had lined up for today. I walked back to the barn and grabbed my bag before heading towards the next house on the outskirts of the kingdom.
This land had been the domain I tended to long before there was even a king or castle around. Grogochs were very possessive of their borders and they were not to be encroached on by others of our kind. Humans though were welcomed as long as they did right by the land and respected our power. The current king was a good man who valued the magical beings in his lands.
Granted, that didn’t mean I was invited to court to party with them all. But when I did stop by I was given one of the best guest rooms and lavished upon… And any of his knights who swung my way were allowed to seek me out and keep me busy.
There was one rumor about grogochs that the king had been good to dispel as well. We never forced anyone. We simply struck deals with willing parties and never took advantage of anyone. Case in point, my next stop before one of my regular deals.
“Hello, Cuidi,” the old woman, Margaret, called out when she saw me. “Did you have fun with my neighbor?”
“I always warn them that I’m not as they see me but yet they always act so affronted when they learn I am male,” I admitted with a sigh as I climbed her porch and sat in the rocking chair next to her. “But enough of me. How are you, my fair lass?”
“You are the only one who can get away with calling me that.” She clucked her tongue and chuckled. I was a few thousand years old and her sixty years were just a drop in the bucket compared to my life. “I am fine besides this heat wave. It hurts my old bones and my skin when I am out in it.”
“Well for some of your famous pie I could be convinced to help you for the rest of the day,” I said casually. I knew she needed all the help she could get which was why I made sure to make her one of my regular stops. Margaret did not have many years left in this world, her heart aging rapidly.
“I have one cooling just for you, my friend.” She smiled at me as she patted my hand. “I do wish you would meet your true love before my time is up here, Cuidighteach.”
“Most of my kind never find true love, lass. I am content with my lot.” It warmed my heart that she cared so, especially since she’d long been able to see my true form. She was one of the few who weren’t repulsed by my true looks. I was short, only about four and a half feet tall and looked part beast, complete with long tail. I’d been told that I looked half monkey but I’d never seen such a creature to make the comparison.
“You have a good heart and deserve to be happy, not simply content.”
It was nice someone felt that way about me. She might be the only one though. We went inside and I found myself to be starving and ate her pie with gusto. Then I tended to her land, home, livestock, and crops. When I was done she had more than enough in her cart to sell at the market to give her whatever she might need.
At the end of the day she talked me into sleeping in her extra bed and spending the night in comfort. I accepted, unable to ever deny Margaret any kindness she extended to me. She was a good woman and I knew the heavens would take care of her when she passed. Her life had been full even though she’d never had children. She had found love at an early age and until he died a few summers ago, she had been happy.
Isn’t that what we all wanted to be able to say at the end of our life?
Chapter 2
The next day I found myself in an interesting predicament that I’d never been in before. And given how long I’d been alive, that was saying a lot. I showed up at one of my normal appointments only to be thrown against the side of the barn by a stranger and restrained.
“Care to explain what’s going on, Barry?” I asked the man I’d known for over a decade when I saw him. “This isn’t your normal way of greeting me.”
“Shut up, boy,” the stranger
This land had been the domain I tended to long before there was even a king or castle around. Grogochs were very possessive of their borders and they were not to be encroached on by others of our kind. Humans though were welcomed as long as they did right by the land and respected our power. The current king was a good man who valued the magical beings in his lands.
Granted, that didn’t mean I was invited to court to party with them all. But when I did stop by I was given one of the best guest rooms and lavished upon… And any of his knights who swung my way were allowed to seek me out and keep me busy.
There was one rumor about grogochs that the king had been good to dispel as well. We never forced anyone. We simply struck deals with willing parties and never took advantage of anyone. Case in point, my next stop before one of my regular deals.
“Hello, Cuidi,” the old woman, Margaret, called out when she saw me. “Did you have fun with my neighbor?”
“I always warn them that I’m not as they see me but yet they always act so affronted when they learn I am male,” I admitted with a sigh as I climbed her porch and sat in the rocking chair next to her. “But enough of me. How are you, my fair lass?”
“You are the only one who can get away with calling me that.” She clucked her tongue and chuckled. I was a few thousand years old and her sixty years were just a drop in the bucket compared to my life. “I am fine besides this heat wave. It hurts my old bones and my skin when I am out in it.”
“Well for some of your famous pie I could be convinced to help you for the rest of the day,” I said casually. I knew she needed all the help she could get which was why I made sure to make her one of my regular stops. Margaret did not have many years left in this world, her heart aging rapidly.
“I have one cooling just for you, my friend.” She smiled at me as she patted my hand. “I do wish you would meet your true love before my time is up here, Cuidighteach.”
“Most of my kind never find true love, lass. I am content with my lot.” It warmed my heart that she cared so, especially since she’d long been able to see my true form. She was one of the few who weren’t repulsed by my true looks. I was short, only about four and a half feet tall and looked part beast, complete with long tail. I’d been told that I looked half monkey but I’d never seen such a creature to make the comparison.
“You have a good heart and deserve to be happy, not simply content.”
It was nice someone felt that way about me. She might be the only one though. We went inside and I found myself to be starving and ate her pie with gusto. Then I tended to her land, home, livestock, and crops. When I was done she had more than enough in her cart to sell at the market to give her whatever she might need.
At the end of the day she talked me into sleeping in her extra bed and spending the night in comfort. I accepted, unable to ever deny Margaret any kindness she extended to me. She was a good woman and I knew the heavens would take care of her when she passed. Her life had been full even though she’d never had children. She had found love at an early age and until he died a few summers ago, she had been happy.
Isn’t that what we all wanted to be able to say at the end of our life?
Chapter 2
The next day I found myself in an interesting predicament that I’d never been in before. And given how long I’d been alive, that was saying a lot. I showed up at one of my normal appointments only to be thrown against the side of the barn by a stranger and restrained.
“Care to explain what’s going on, Barry?” I asked the man I’d known for over a decade when I saw him. “This isn’t your normal way of greeting me.”
“Shut up, boy,” the stranger
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