Gabrielle - After Happy Ever After

Virginia, too, struggled to her feet. Wolf looked over and saw her and immediately bounded over to help her. She looked awfully worried and Wolf frowned, wondering what could be wrong.

“Dad is going to freak when he sees me!” she cried, answering his question.

“Oh, cream puff, I’m sure it will be fine. If I know Tony, he’ll…well, he probably will freak. But then he’ll be happy for us,” Wolf added quickly, seeing how that didn’t reassure her.

Virginia glanced at him sideways. “Somehow that’s not as comforting as I’d hoped,” she said dryly.

“Have no fear, Virginia. I’m sure Anthony will come to accept the situation,” Wendell assured her, coming up behind them.

“What situation?” Tony demanded as he entered at that exact moment. His eyes went wide when he saw his daughter standing there. “Virginia!”

“Told you I smelled them,” Cinnamon said stiffly from behind him. She and Maive followed Tony over to the others.

Tony had practically run over to hug Virginia. “I was really worried about you, you know?” he said.

“I’m fine, Dad. It’s just…oh!” Virginia cried, pulling away from Tony and placing a hand on her stomach. “He kicked again.”

Tony looked down at Virginia’s stomach and his eyes went wide again. He stumbled backwards and actually fainted!

“Dad!” Virginia cried.

Wendell quickly knelt next to Tony and began slapping his cheeks until he was revived again.

“I think he took it well,” Wolf commented and quickly hid his usual wolfish grin from Virginia.

“Real well,” Danielle said sarcastically.

“Uh huh,” Cinnamon nodded.

Maive covered a giggle.

“Anthony, are you alright?” Wendell was asking.

“How can I be alright?! My daughter looks like she might explode! God, what is this? Father of the Bride?” Tony yelled.

“I’m standing right here,” Virginia said darkly, her eyes narrowing with anger. “And I won’t explode.”

Tony scrambled back to his feet. He spun on Wolf and jabbed him in the chest with an accusing finger. “This is all your fault! Why is my daughter so huge already?” he demanded.

“Ow!” Wolf said, pushing Tony’s hand away. “Don’t ask me. I don’t know anything about pregnant stuff. All I know is that our cub is growing real fast.”

Tony looked ready to kill. Wolf ducked behind Virginia for protection. Not that he needed it, of course.

“Dad, calm down. I mean…this can’t be good for your blood pressure,” Virginia said quickly.

“My blood pressure!” Tony yelled, then forced himself to calm a little. “Do you at least know around when the baby will come?”

“Well…” Virginia said, avoiding his gaze.

“Excuse me,” Tony said shortly. He turned around and walked to the nearest tree where he began pounding his head against it. Everyone looked at Wendell, the only one who could possibly calm him down and reason with him.

“Well,” Wendell said. “I guess I’ll go talk to him.” Everyone was very quiet as Wendell walked over to Tony and tried to reason with him.

“Glad he’s not my dad,” Danielle commented into the silence.

Ivy increased her pace for about the tenth time and ignored her sore knee. It was telling her she was pushing herself too hard, but she really didn’t care. Amazingly, it wasn’t hurting as bad as it should. Maybe that was another effect of being a wolf. Or maybe she just wasn’t feeling it.

“Ivy,” Faolan almost whined, bounding to catch up to her. “You’re walking kinda funny, you know.”

Ivy didn’t reply. Just listening to Faolan tore her up inside. Part of her wanted so much to say to heck with everything, give him a chance. Maybe he is your mate. Another part of her couldn’t do that, couldn’t let herself trust him that completely. She didn’t need to make those warring emotions worse by making a conversation with him.

“Are you hurt?” Faolan asked with concern. “If you’re hurt I don’t want you to keep this up. We’ll take a break for a while…”

Ivy didn’t like his tone for some reason. “I don’t care what you want,” she said through clenched teeth.

Faolan looked stricken. “What did I do?” he asked, practically begging her to tell him. “Just tell me how to fix it.”

Ivy couldn’t take it anymore. She needed to vent her feelings and unfortunately for Faolan, he had released them. “You can’t,” Ivy said, whirling on him. “I want that witch to just go away. I want the voice to go away. I want all these feelings to go away. I want…” Ivy broke off, biting her lip. She was disgusted with herself. If she stamped her foot and threw a temper-tantrum she would be just like a spoiled, rich, brat.

“Do you want me to go away?”

God, he sounded so hurt. She forced herself not to look at him, knowing that the look on his face would be too much for her. “I don’t…I mean…no, not really. Maybe. Oh! I don’t know! I don’t know anything!” Ivy cried.

Faolan whimpered. He wanted to nuzzle her cheek. He wanted to hold her real close so he could feel her heart beat. He wanted to kiss her again and make her laugh. That’s what he wanted. But he could almost feel the wall she had put around herself, forcing him and the rest of the world to keep their distance. The only way he could help her was if she let him in. And he didn’t think she was ready to do that yet. “Please, just…let’s just get to Wendell’s Castle,” Ivy pleaded.

Faolan nodded. Yes, that was where the mirror was. Then, she could go back to her world where she would be safe. That would be best. Even if it left him without his mate. “Okay. As soon as I’m sure you’re safe, I’ll leave you alone,” he promised.

“Uh…guys?” Randal asked quietly.

“What, Randal?” Faolan asked, his voice weary.

“There’s a horse and rider coming this way fast. From the way we came. I was just thinking that since you're supposed to be in prison…” Randal trailed off uncertainly.

“Cripes, you’re right!” Faolan cried, dashing off the road to hide behind some trees.

Randal was right behind him. But Ivy remained where she was.

“This is your chance. You know you won’t be able to handle traveling with that wolf all the way. You haven’t done anything wrong. They’re not after you,” the voice whispered.

“Ivy!” Faolan called urgently as the pounding of horse’s hooves grew louder, “Come on!”

The horse and rider came into view suddenly. The rider saw her and pulled his mount back to a trot, then a walk, then finally came to a halt right in front of her. The rider was a young man with some kind of royal crest on his shirt. He looked very anxious. “You’re blocking an official road, miss. Is there a problem?” he asked.

“I…” Ivy choked on her words. Could she actually just leave Faolan and Randal without so much as a goodbye?

“Do it. Do it!”

“Are you headed to King Wendell’s Castle?” she managed to ask.

“Why, yes. I am a royal messenger. Why?” he asked.

“I…um…need a ride,” Ivy admitted.

The messenger’s eyes got wide. “Of course! A young lady shouldn’t be wandering around by herself during war-time,” he said and extended a hand to her to help her up.

“War-time?” Ivy asked.

The messenger frowned. “You don’t know? The entire Nine Kingdoms has broken out in war! And half of it’s civil war. It’s a disaster! That is why I must find King Wendell,” he said importantly, sticking out his chest with pride. “All the messengers before me have not returned. It is my mission to find King Wendell and return to the war-front with his instructions.”

Ivy didn’t know if she could tell him that the last she knew, Wendell had been a dog.

“Come on, then. I’m in quite a hurry, you understand,” the messenger said impatiently.

Ivy glanced back at the trees, but couldn’t see either of her companions. She sighed and took the messenger’s hand and swung up behind him.

“She left! I can’t believe she left!” Faolan cried, running out into the road to look after the horse that was quickly riding away, forgetting caution. He caught Ivy looking back at him.

Randal ran up behind him and tugged on his shirt. “What’s going on?” he whimpered.

“I don’t know, Randal. Something’s very wrong. Huff-puff, everything’s wrong. War across the Nine Kingdoms, this is bad. What am I gonna do?” Faolan asked out loud. He looked down the road again just as the horse disappeared from view. “Come on, Randal,” Faolan said, taking his brother’s hand.

“What’re we going to do?” Randal asked.

“We’re going to follow her. I won’t let her face that witch alone.”

Whatever Wendell said to Tony, it worked. Tony stopped hitting his head on the tree and returned to the group. But he was unusually silent and Virginia didn’t have the nerve to press him. She really wanted him to be okay with this even though he didn’t really have a choice in the matter. The baby would come, like it or not. What a horrible thing for her to think! Of course she would like for her baby to come! She would love her baby and so would her father.

Wendell dropped back next to her and put a reassuring arm around her. “Don’t worry. He’ll come around soon. He’s just not used to the idea that his daughter’s all grown up and going to have a child of her own,” he explained.

Virginia nodded. She was distracted by a growling noise and looked over to see Wolf growling at Wendell.

Apparently, Wendell heard him, too. “Oh, stop that, Wolf. She’s not only your wife, she’s my step-sister,” Wendell said.

“Step-what?” Wolf asked in surprise.

“What?” Virginia demanded at the same time.

“What did he just say?” Tony asked, turning around simultaneously.

“She’s your what?” Maive piped in.

Wendell smiled at their reaction. He took a step back, as if he were taking the floor for a speech. “Virginia’s mother was my step-mother so she’s my step-sister. And Wolf, since you’re married to her, you’re my step-brother-in-law. Tony, you’re also related to me since my step-mother was married to you and you're Virginia’s father. And since you’re all related to a king, that makes you royalty. Lady Virginia, Lord Anthony, and Lord Wolf.”

“Lord Wolf! Huff-puff, no wolf has ever been given a title! No human title, anyway,” Wolf exclaimed.

“A lord!” Cinnamon cried in astonishment. “You…you’ll be a leader to all wolves…everywhere!”

“I’m a lord,” Tony said in something close to awe. “I always knew I was meant for something better than a janitor. Murray’s got nothing on me!”

“I’d already begun the official paperwork. I told you I hadn’t forgotten you, Anthony,” Wendell said.

“Great. Now we just need to survive this little episode,” Maive said, not to thrilled with the idea of annoying, grumpy Tony becoming royalty. No doubt, he would try to boss her around even more. “Remember Marissa? Yeah, the witch that ruins all our reputations by trying to destroy us all. She might not find this as exciting as you all do.”

“Yeah, we remember, Maive. Thanks,” Tony snapped. He withdrew into himself again, “I’m a lord...”

Cinnamon’s head shot up as her ears caught an out-of-place sound. She stood up and cocked her head slightly so as to better concentrate on the sound. A pounding, like…hooves? She sniffed. Yes, she could definitely smell horse. Not one of her favorite smells. And human, too. And…half-wolf? That was strange. Wolves and horses didn’t usually get along well. She hadn’t with the couple horses she had met. Plus, the wolf smell…it seemed new, somehow. Like it didn’t quite fit. How odd. “Someone’s coming,” she reported.

The others all got to their feet and began looking around for whoever was headed their way. A few minutes later, a horse galloped into view. A young man rode in front and a girl, the half-wolf, rode behind him. The man saw Wendell and pulled his horse to a stop, yanking roughly on the reins so hard that the animal threw up its head in pain. The girl slid off and hurried to the animal’s head, soothing it and giving the man a dirty look. Cinnamon remembered now where she knew the girl from. It was the other girl from New York, Ivy, she believed her name was. She was a little bemused at the girl. She had to know that her friend, Danielle, and all her companions were there, but was seeing to the horse first.

“You’re going to destroy this horse’s mouth and its temperament if you keep doing that,” she growled, giving the horse a final pat before turning to the others. “Danielle! Everyone’s here! More than everyone. Who and…uh…what are you?” she asked, pointing at Breena.

“I’m Breena and I’m a fairy, thank you very much,” she said indignantly.

“Where have you been?” Danielle demanded.

“And why are you a half-wolf? And why do you smell of other half-wolves?” Cinnamon asked.

Danielle’s eyes widened and so did almost everyone else’s, including the messenger. He shook his head and cleared his throat before presenting himself before Wendell. He bowed deeply. “King Wendell, I have brought you news from the war-front. Many messengers have been sent to your castle, but none have returned. We are in desperate need of your guidance. I have news from all the Kingdoms, the latest advancements, and personal letters from Commander Forswell,” he said officially. “Also, I have some minor news of a murdering half-wolf on the loose and his two accomplices.” He glanced at Ivy suspiciously.

“War-front!” Wendell cried.

Instead of explaining, the messenger handed Wendell a large packet of papers. Wendell hurriedly began reading them and the further he read, the more worried he looked.

“How did…? What did…? When did…?” Danielle spluttered.

Ivy smiled slightly. “A couple days ago. I drank from a brook that I shouldn’t have. Luckily, I didn’t drink enough to turn me all the way into a wolf. Actually, it’s kinda…cool. I can smell really well now, I can hear better, I think my sight’s better. In fact, I know my night vision is better than it was. I can run better…” Ivy would have continued, but Danielle waved her hands to stop her.

“So…what are you gonna do? I mean, you can’t stay a half-wolf. The full moon, a tail. Your parents’ll freak if they find out,” Danielle said.

“My parents!” Ivy cried and it sounded a little like a yelp. “They’ve probably called the cops! They’re gonna kill me!”

“Your parents? You’ve met my mom, over-protective lady? Oh, man,” Danielle groaned and forced herself not to think about what her mom would do to her.

“That’s the least of your problems right now,” Cinnamon said and they both spun towards in surprise. “You still haven’t answered my other question. Why do you smell of other half-wolves? Male, if I smell right. One of their scents is quite strong on you, almost as if…”

“They found me in the beanstalks, all right?” Ivy interrupted rather loudly. She sounded more than a little defensive and her tone caused some of the others to glance at her strangely. “Their names are Randal and Faolan and they’re brothers. I’ve been traveling with them this whole time until this morning when I got a ride with that messenger.”

Cinnamon raised an eyebrow, but didn’t comment.

“And what about that whole accomplice thing?” Danielle asked, then lowered her voice. “Was that you? One of those wolves killed somebody and you helped him?!”

“No!” Ivy said even more loudly and now all the others were looking at her. “Well, yes. But he might not have killed that girl.”

“Might?!”

“I don’t really know. And he doesn’t remember because it was during that freak full moon. I’ll explain everything to you later,” Ivy promised, although she had no idea how she could explain it. How could she ever find words to explain her inner turmoil? She still wasn’t really sure why she had helped Faolan. Randal had been an influence, but she had to be honest with herself. Part of her had wanted to break Faolan out the minute they had thought of it. The same part of her that believed his words. And the same part of her that thought maybe he could really be her mate. “I need to take a walk. I’ll be back in a minute,” Ivy said suddenly, leaping to her feet and running off.

Danielle glanced after her friend. She was sure acting strangely. Danielle looked to Cinnamon, wondering if she knew more than she was letting on. Cinnamon met her gaze for a moment, then turned away without a word. If she knew something, she wasn’t telling. Danielle sighed. She really didn’t like being left out of things, but sometimes it couldn’t be helped. She decided to go and see if she could help Wendell at all with this war stuff. She watched T.V. and read a lot of books. Maybe they could come up with a plan. Funny, she hadn’t thought she’d want anything to do with Wendell after that whole…kissing business, but as it turned out, he was really a great guy. He had been the first one to her aid when Cinnamon had almost attacked her. And he had been there for her to talk to when she was feeling lonely and jumpy. She really hoped that she could help him get back to his castle. She really didn’t want something bad to end up happening to him…or any of the others, of course. Yes, it would be best if they could get rid of this witch and they could all…live happily ever after? Danielle rolled her eyes at the thought. Yeah, right. Well, at least they could get started on doing something now that Ivy was here. No more waiting!

“Wendell!” she called, running over to the spot on the ground where he had spread out his papers and was talking with the messenger. “What’s the news?”

Faolan could have run faster, but he knew that Randal wouldn’t be able to handle the pace if he did. Good thing his little brother was as fast as he was. They hadn’t fallen too far behind. Faolan wouldn’t have been able to stand a slower pace.

“How could she? What did I do?” Faolan asked out loud again.

Randal didn’t even bother to remind him he was talking out loud.

What had Ivy said about a voice? A voice that she wanted to go away, that was it. What voice? Was that what was wrong with her? She shouldn’t be alone for any amount of time, much less the time it would take for them to catch up. No, not with that witch still at Wendell’s Castle like Ivy had said she was.

“She’ll probably be mad at you for following her,” he told himself. “But maybe you’ll rescue her and then she’ll see. Yes, huff-puff, then she’ll see how much you lo…how much you care about her. But maybe that witch will be really bad and there won’t be a happy ending. What if I get killed? What is she gets ki…” Faolan choked on the word. He couldn’t say that! He couldn’t even think it. He wouldn’t let that happen.

He couldn’t say the other word for a totally different reason. That word had scared her off when he had been about to say it before. He had to be very careful what he said and did. He didn’t want to lose her. He wondered what advice Wolf would give him if he could talk to him. “Randal, she likes you. Why?” Faolan asked, suddenly.

Randal shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Oh, gee, that helps. Can’t you run any faster?” Faolan asked impatiently.

Randal growled irritably. His brother was always this way when he was worried. He tried not to let his brother get on his nerves and ran a little faster.

“They’re all together. Now to turn them on each other and drive them apart,” Marissa said. “Mirror, if I get them not to trust one another, split them apart, will your prophecy be broken?”

The mirror’s face appeared slowly. Its rhymes were annoying, but at least she didn’t have to rhyme at it.

“Only together can they pull through.
Divided they cannot defeat you.
But beware, destiny plays a hand
In their fates as well as that of the land,” the mirror said, and faded away again.

Marissa smiled. Soon. Her goals were all so close. Soon, her plans would be fulfilled. “Perhaps it is time to call my most faithful servant home,” she mused. Marissa turned to a different mirror and called up a picture of her servant in the Tenth Kingdom.

He sensed she was watching him and looked right at her in a way that made her shiver. He quickly went to a mirror. “Such destruction. It’s beautiful. You should see how efficient their weapons are for killing. They have weapons that can kill thousands in one blow,” he said as if he spoke of the most wonderful thing in the Kingdoms. “What is it you want? If you’re checking on my progress, I can assure you that by midnight tomorrow, this kingdom will be destroyed.”

“Good, good. But that’s not why I called you. I think it’s time for you to return. I may need your assistance,” Marissa said. She would never say that she needed his “help”. He might be on her side, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t take advantage of her if he got the chance. His kind were notorious for doing whatever was needed to achieve their ends. It was probably a good thing that they were all extinct except for him. One was enough.

He was right, though. By midnight tomorrow it would be over. Either the Kingdoms would be destroyed as would those pretend-heroes or she would be.