Santa’s Knot

Part I - The Naughty Elf

Part I

The Naughty Elf

Billy took a step back and examined the toymaker machine. It gleamed, brand new and sparkling, and Billy was sure that this time it would work. All that was left now was turning it on.

Here goes nothing. Billy took a determined step forward and put his hand over the big red start button, pressing down before he could chicken out.

The machine rumbled. Billy was alone in the experimentation room—everyone knew that today was the day he was turning on his machine—so there was no one there to hear the inauspicious starting noise.

Billy wasn’t worried, though—at least not yet.

The grunts and grinds of metal gears and magic working together was beautiful, and Billy knew that it might take a few minutes for the magic to settle.

Don’t explode, don’t explode, please don’t explode, Billy muttered to himself. The machine took no notice of his fervent pleas and rumbled on, the sound getting louder.

Fuck.

Billy started edging back, the machine’s rumbling turning into a noisy rattling. A loud clank rang through the room, and the whole machine started shaking.

No, no, no, no.

Billy ducked behind the metal wall the old Santa had forced him to erect after his first explosion, and waited for the inevitable.

The bang was magnificent. Billy groaned as the ground shook with the force of it, his ears ringing. Everyone in the whole castle would have heard the sound, and they were no doubt shaking their collective heads and muttering I told you so to each other.

It took Billy a few minutes before he gathered up the nerve to stand up and peek around the wall to see what had become of his machine.

It wasn’t pretty.

“Are you okay?”

Billy turned around to see Tulip peeking her head through the door. Her eyes were bright with mischief, and when she saw the wreckage of Billy’s beautiful machine she shook her head.

“I’m fine. The machine on the other hand …” Billy gestured at the heap of metal standing against the wall.

Tulip walked into the room. She was an elf, like Billy, and her fine boned features and pointy ears were the envy of every girl in Santa’s village.

“So we’re still making all the presents the old fashioned way?” she teased, walking right up to the smoking remains and stroking a twisted piece of metal with her fingers.

Billy scowled at her.

It wasn’t that Billy didn’t appreciate how wonderful the magic that let them make presents for Santa was—it was just that he knew he could make it even better.

“This year, at least,” Billy admitted. It wasn’t a defeat, but a setback. He’d have something ready for next year.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” Tulip said, moving to stand next to him. She put a comforting hand on his arm, and Billy sighed.

“Me too,” he agreed, smiling at her. Then he frowned. It was December first. Why in the world was Tulip in the experimentation room and talking to him when she should be upstairs making presents?

“Wait, what exactly are you doing here?” he asked. Tulip’s face split into a wide grin.

“The new Santa is here! You’re not going to believe what he looks like!” Tulip sounded giddy, and Billy was puzzled. He didn’t care about the new Santa or what he looked like, and Tulip knew that.

“Let me guess: he’s a big bellied beta with a white fluffy beard who likes to dress up in a red suit. How did I do?”

“One out of four. Not bad.” Tulip smirked, her whole face alight with joy. Billy was confused.

“What do you mean? That’s what all the Santa’s look like. It’s why they get to be Santa.”

Tulip gave him a pitying look. “No, being able to work the magic is the requirement for being Santa,” she said, shaking her head at his ignorance.

“Then what does he look like?”

Tulip cackled and started walking toward the door, looking over her shoulder. “I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise. Anyway, I’m sure he’ll want to meet you when he finds out that it was you who made the whole castle shake. See you around!”

Billy didn’t like the sound of that. He needed the new Santa to let him keep experimenting. If he were ordered to go back and work in the workshop he’d go crazy within a year.

Waving his hand so that the magic would start cleaning up the mess of the explosion, Billy headed for the door and made his way up to the workshop. With his great machine postponed a year, he might as well help out until the Christmas rush was over.

Nick surveyed his new office with a frown. It was terrible. Snow globes, twinkling lights and gaudy red baubles shone and sparkled, and the whole room smelled like pine, cinnamon and beta.

This was not what was supposed to happen.

“Is there something wrong?”

Nick turned to the trembling little elf giving him his tour and forced his face into an impassive expression. It wasn’t the cloying little elf’s fault that Nick hadn’t been given the post he wanted.

But Santa? It was the opposite of everything Nick was as a person. Jolly, fat and good-natured were never words that had been used to describe him.

Uncompromising, cruel and intimidating—those were the words that described Nick. He was an alpha through and through, and entirely unsuited to take over the position as Santa.

He’d wanted to be Krampus. He’d have been perfect for it. Dishing out punishment for naughty elves and giving children coal for Christmas… he would have been so happy.

“No. I’m sure everything is fine,” he said. No matter what he’d wanted, he was Santa now. He might not like it, but he’d be fucked if he messed up the job.

“Oh, good. Well, like I said, this is your office. And the down here we have—"

Whatever the little elf had been about to say, an ear-shattering bang interrupted him. The whole building shook like they were in the middle of an earthquake.

“What the fuck was that?” Nick shouted, taking a wide stance and holding on to the wall for support. The little elf with him just sighed, not looking the least bit concerned.

“That’s just Billy,” he said. “He works in the experimentation room. He must have tried turning on his toymaking machine again.”

Nick straightened, a scowl twisting his features. He felt humiliated. The little elf with him had barely reacted to the loud noise, while Nick had startled like a cat seeing a snake.

“He tried what?” Nick pulled himself up to his full height and scowled down on the blasé little elf. The poor creature seemed to realize he had made a mistake of some sort and shrank back.

“We have an experimental department. They look into ways that we can make toys better or faster. Billy is one of the elves who works there. He’s been trying to build a machine powered by magic that can make toys, but he hasn’t gotten it to work yet.

He warned everyone that he was going to turn it on today, so we were expecting the explosion. ”

When Nick just kept scowling, the elf continued, “It wasn’t dangerous! The room is shielded, and Billy knows not to turn his inventions on before he’s cleared the room.

Nick crossed his arms and squared his shoulders. “And no one thought it would be a good idea to tell me that this was going to happen?”

The little elf gulped. “I’m sorry… Billy announced it at dinner last night. I guess I just forgot that you might have wanted to know.

Nick forced himself to relax. There was no point in scaring his new underling.

“It’s fine. You may continue the tour, but I want this Billy sent up to my office after dinner. I think you were going to show me my living quarters?”

The little elf swallowed and nodded, tripping over his feet as he moved down the hall. “Yes, sir. Right down the hallway here. Only you have access to these rooms, and the magic will let you set them up however you like.”

“However I like?” Nick grinned deviously, and the little elf took a step back. Nick schooled his expression so he wouldn’t look quite so… devilish.

“Yes, sir. However you like.” The poor little elf sounded like he wanted nothing more than to run away.

“I can work with that,” Nick said, licking his lips. “All right, carry on. What’s next?”

The elf looked at him. “Don’t you want to go inside?”

Nick shook his head. “No. I’ll get it all set up tonight. I want to see the rest of the castle first.”

The little elf nodded his head and shrugged, gesturing for Nick to follow him down the hall toward a set of stairs.

The rest of the tour was uneventful. The elf showed him the workshop where all the toys were made, the reindeer stables, the recreational rooms where the elves relaxed on their time off, and the grounds, which contained all the small cottages the elves lived in.

By the time he’d seen everything, Nick was feeling exhausted and a little pissed off.

Being Santa was going to be boring. The only reason the elves needed him was so that he could channel the magic into the castle. Everything else they took care of themselves.

Sure, Nick was supposed to be the boss, but what was the point of having a boss when the operation was this smooth? They didn’t even need him to deliver the fucking presents.

“Thank you… what was your name again?” Nick unlocked the door to his quarters, and looked over his shoulder.

“Pat, sir. You’re welcome. If you need anything, please just ring for me.”

“I will,” Nick said. He walked into his new home and shut the door firmly behind him.

Looking around the empty space, magic so thick he was almost choking on it hanging in the air, Nick grinned. Doing a quick walkthrough, boots echoing loudly on the hardwood floors, Nick started planning how to make the rooms his own.

This was going to be fun.

The workshop was loud and boisterous, filled with life and happy magic, and Billy decided that even when he went back to the experimentation room he would make sure to drop by more often.

He liked the workshop.