Gabrielle - After Happy Ever After

“No, nothing. I just need…some privacy. I’ll be back in a little while. Don’t worry. Finish off the rabbit if you want,” Cinnamon said in a slightly distracted tone of voice.

Wolf nodded and returned to his meal. He was surprised at Cinnamon’s appetite. He hadn’t thought that one rabbit would even close to feed two wolves, but she had been very skimpy about eating. She ate like Virginia had before he had insisted on her eating more for their cub’s sake at least. He shrugged it off. Maybe it had something to do with being a girl and that other cycle that girls had. He didn’t know and didn’t particularly care to find out. More rabbit for him.

Virginia cursed the stupid horse under her breath. She was really beginning to hate this animal. She was getting close to Wolf, but if the stupid horse didn’t move she could miss him.

Virginia raised her eyes to the sky in mock prayer when something caught her eye. She turned her head to get a better look. It was smoke! Someone was close by. Virginia dug her heels into the horse, but the only response she got was a horsey grunt.

There was a rustling in the greenery to the right. Virginia’s gaze was snapped to that area and she braced herself for anything. The horse snorted and plodded along, indifferently.

A form flew out of the brush and into Virginia, knocking her from the horse. Virginia screamed. She hit her head on the ground and her vision fuzzed. She heard a growling noise, then blacked out as something hit her hard in the temple.

Cinnamon felt fangs grow in her mouth and her eyes flashed again. Her mind blurred at the thought of hot, fresh blood, warm in her mouth. But another part of her fought it. She wasn’t just an animal! She was human, too! She couldn’t do this! The glow in Cinnamon’s eyes dimmed and she balked away from Virginia’s limp body. The fangs shrank and she woke from the confusion of the moment. She backed away, then turned and ran before she could do anything bad. She had never done this before without it being a full moon. She didn’t like it and didn’t know exactly what it meant. She shook her head, pawing at her face with one hand. She needed to get away from here.

Wolf jumped to his feet. He was sure he had heard something. It had sounded like a scream. It had come from the direction Cinnamon had gone in. Wolf started into the woods in that direction, hoping it had just been his imagination or some animal or something.

Cinnamon ran right into Wolf. Wolf put his arms out to steady her. Something was wrong. He could smell her distress. And something…

“Wolf! Sorry,” she said, but wouldn’t look at him.

“Cinnamon, is everything okay? Cinnamon. What’s…what’s wrong?” Wolf asked, trying to get her to look at him.

She ducked her head, hiding in her hair. She tried to push past him, but he wouldn’t let her.

“Nothing. Nothing. I…I’m just tired. We’ve got about another hour or so of daylight. You want to see how far we can get and look for a campsite?”

Wolf backed off. Something was very wrong, but she didn’t want to tell him. He’d been there. He nodded, letting her keep to herself. “Sure. Let’s go,” he said.

“So what am I supposed to do?” Tony asked.

“Whatever you need to do to stop this witch,” Wendell said with a small shrug.

“Wendell.”

“Yes, Anthony?”

“You owe me. Big time. And next time evil arises, go to the youngsters for help,” Tony said.

Wendell tried to keep a smile from coming onto his face. “Yes, Anthony,” he said and knew he was grinning.

Tony mounted the horse Wendell had given him. “I liked you better as a dog,” he muttered.

Just as Tony was about to leave, there was a flash in front of them and a woman appeared. Guards sprang from all around, whipping out swords to point at her. She acted like they weren’t even there.

“King Wendell,” she said, and bowed.

Wendell automatically nodded his head in acknowledgement. “What are you doing here, witch? Why are you threatening the kingdoms?” Wendell demanded.

The woman laughed. “I’m not that witch. Although, if I’m correct, she may be watching right now. She knows of your plan to send Anthony, but I’m quite sure she doesn’t know about me yet. I am a representative of the Major Coven of witches in the Nine Kingdoms. I was sent to help you,” she said.

“To help us? Don’t witches sit around in their towers thinking of different ways to curse people and that?” Tony asked. He wasn’t feeling particularly partial to witches right now.

“That is a stereotype and I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t bring it up again. We witches are sick of the evil witch outlook. People assume that because we choose the path of witchcraft, we are into the black arts and things and should be killed before we can do anything wrong. The Coven sent me to help clear up this new mess. Marissa is doing nothing to improve our reputation. There are good witches, too, you know! Such as myself,” she bowed again.

“Thanks for the speech, but I’m not buying it. Throw her in the dungeon, boys!” Tony said to the guards. They looked at Wendell in confusion.

“Not yet. I believe her. I’ve heard of the Major Coven. They usually keep to themselves and their practices, but they will show up in times of major catastrophes. Seeing as this witch wants to rule the kingdoms, it would make sense for them to send someone to rectify it. What was your name, my lady?” Wendell asked.

“You may call me Maive. And you’re wrong. Her goal is not to rule the kingdoms,” Maive said.

“Then what is it?” Tony demanded, tired of listening to this lady’s longwinded explanations.

“First, she wants ultimate power. She will get close to that with the rose. Second, she wants revenge. When she gets her power she plans to destroy the kingdoms. From the inside out. The Coven can’t let that happen.”

“But why did she get Wolf to do it for her? And why tell all the rulers?” Wendell asked.

“Because she likes to control people. She’s using magic to control Wolf. She’s using fear to control the rulers. She needed Wolf. He is probably one of the very few people who could succeed in getting a golden rose. If she had tried herself, she would have died.”

“Why do I have the feeling that something I don’t like is about to happen?” Tony asked out loud.

“The only way to free Wolf from her power is through Virginia. And she knows this. She has attacked Virginia already. Don’t worry, she is still alive. But she is in trouble. I am going with Tony to find her. Once we find her, we can cut off Marissa’s chance at the roses,” Maive finished.

Tony groaned. “No. No you are not traveling with me. Wendell, please say she is not traveling with me,” Tony begged.

“I’m sorry Anthony, but…” Wendell began.

“Ooooh! I hate my life!” Tony cried in frustration, kicking the horse into a trot and riding out of the courtyard.

The guards backed away from Maive and sheathed their swords. Maive looked at Tony, then to Wendell. She raised one eyebrow.

“Actually, I think he took that rather well,” Wendell said quietly.

Virginia groaned and tried to move. She was bruised and battered, but nothing was broken. She opened her eyes and looked around. Her head throbbed horribly and when she reached up to touch it, partially dried blood came off on her fingers and she felt a growing bump.

Virginia climbed to her feet. She couldn’t remember where she was or how she had gotten there. Or why she had come here in the first place. Now that she thought about it, she couldn’t even remember who she was!

“Oh, no. This can’t be good,” she said out loud to herself. She looked around. It was night. Very late. Maybe midnight. She needed to get someplace safe. At least she hadn’t lost her common sense. There was bound to be all kinds of nasty things out here that would eat her up if they had the chance.

An owl hooted, making her jump. And she could hear rustling in the bushes, now that she was listening. Virginia started to walk along the almost-path that wound through the woods. Hopefully she would find someone who could help her. The dark forest was very frightening. She couldn’t remember being this scared. Virginia almost smacked herself in the forehead, but knew it would hurt too much. “Of course you can’t, idiot,” she said out loud.

She tried not to let her mind play tricks on her and jump too much at every little noise, but she couldn’t help it. She began to walk faster and faster until she broke into a run. The shadows of trees began to look like monsters and she fled off the path and into the woods. She beat away the branches that seemed to try to grab her and kept running until she was tripped by a root and fell. The fall jarred her head and she groaned with pain. She curled up on the ground, pulling her knees close to her body, shaking with cold and fear, and tried not to panic. She was so grateful when the sun rose that she almost cried.

Maive had to hurry her horse to catch up to Tony. She was still trying to get him to listen to her. He wasn’t hearing a word of it. The guards that trailed them were pretending not to hear them.

“Tony, would you please listen to me. This is very important. You have no idea of how to stop Marissa,” Maive said.

“I don’t need your help. She’s just a very senile old lady. With magic powers. I can do perfectly fine without you blabbing the whole way there,” Tony said.

“I’ll have you know…” Maive began hautily.

“No. I’ll have you know. You people think that you’re so tough dealing with trolls and stuff. None of you would last ten minutes in Manhattan. You stay there a while and then you talk,” Tony said angrily, turning in the saddle so he could yell at her.

Maive was silent for one long (and for Tony precious) moment.

“You know, your world is being affected by this too,” Maive said quietly.

Tony almost didn’t hear what she said, he was so glad at having proved his point. He jerked in the saddle and turned to face her again. “What?” he demanded.

“The person, or whatever, working for Marissa is affecting things in your world. Making confrontations build, people fight. If it keeps up, your world will break out in war. And ours will follow. There are many things about this you don’t understand, Tony. Many that I don’t understand either. This is more than just your routine wicked witch. You don’t know the half of it,” Maive said.

Tony sighed. “And I suppose now you are going to tell me. Alright. I give up. Spill it.”

“Spill what?”

“Just tell me the ‘half of it’ or whatever already!”

“Oh,” Maive shook her head slowly. They spoke strangely in the 10th Kingdom. “Marissa was once a young girl raised like most girls in small villages. But she had a gift. Things happened when she was around and she didn’t know why. When she got older, her power developed. But it was still erratic. She decided to become a witch. It was the only way she knew to find someone who could help her control it. She was a good person. She didn’t want anything bad to happen to anyone. She came to a master enchantress by the name of Belinda. Belinda took her in and taught her all she knew. Marissa became her prize pupil. Belinda knew that one day, Marissa’s power would exceed her own. She took her to the council of the Major Coven, asking for her to be accepting as an apprentice in the council. The council rejected her. There was a prophecy given against teaching Marissa any more magic and she was dispelled from the Coven and it was forbidden for anyone to teach her. Marissa was still young and she took the banishment hard. She needed the training to control her gifts. She turned to the only person she could find to train her. A dark witch. This evil witch poisoned her mind and soul to her own schemes of revenge and Marissa, already angry with the council, accepted it readily. She is not an evil person. Just a girl who sought guidance and was turned away.”

“And so she decided that instead of becoming a good little hermit in the woods, she would try and destroy the kingdoms and ruin the little bit of peace and quiet I’ve had. Oh, you’re right. That was important,” Tony said sarcastically.

Maive sighed and shook her head. She was a patient person normally, but she couldn’t seem to find any now. She just kept quiet. He didn’t understand and she couldn’t make him. She imagined how upset he would be if he found out that she wasn’t a master witch.

“Are we getting close, Cinnamon?” Wolf asked, scratching his temple again.

“Not sure,” Cinnamon said, shaking her head. “I’ve never been there. But yes, I think we are.”

Wolf nodded. Cinnamon was feeling better, he could tell. But that noise he had heard was still bugging him. And that smell he had gotten from Cinnamon. He had been about to place it when she had distracted him. Something wasn’t right and he didn’t know what.

“Wolf?“ Cinnamon asked, surprising him.

“Yeah?”

“Do you…do things…” Cinnamon sighed with frustration, “Do you do things sometimes that you know are bad?”

Wolf stopped. Cinnamon turned towards him. He looked a little shaken.

“Y...yeah. When the full moon comes…I can’t control myself. It hits me really hard. And later, I won’t remember almost anything of what I did. Or what I ate. And that scares me. Especially with my Virginia around. That’s why I went to that witch. That’s why I agreed to get her the rose if she did the spell,” Wolf said, and almost seemed to have forgotten Cinnamon was there.

“What spell?” Cinnamon asked. Now she was shaken, too. Any dealings with a witch were bad. And if they were important enough that he would go after Gretel’s roses, that was even worse. And something about him saying witch gave her a chill. Some kind of association that she couldn’t pinpoint.

Wolf started and looked at her. “A spell to free me of the moon,” he said slowly.

Virginia knew she was definitely lost. And that it was her own fault. And she knew that wandering aimlessly like she was now wasn’t helping. But what else could she do? She could only hope to find someone out here who could help her.

Virginia’s stomach growled. She was so hungry. And for some reason she felt that she was hungrier than usual. She rubbed her stomach and, in surprise, looked down at it. She had gained some weight! She had no idea how she knew that, but she did. Virginia shook her head. Not important. What was important was she needed to find food and water. She’d die out here without those, regardless of what was in these woods. She smiled a little. At least now she had goal that she could reach. With that thought in mind, she started to look for some water.

“Ooooh, I don’t like this. I don’t like this. I don’t like this,” Cinnamon said, her hands in her hair, pacing back and forth.

“What?” Wolf asked. He watched Cinnamon pace back and forth. “Huff-puff, would you stop that! You’re making me dizzy.”

“Something is very wrong. Something. Something,” Cinnamon muttered to herself. She started off into the woods and Wolf was forced to follow her.

“Cinnamon? Cinnamon! Where are we going?” Wolf demanded, but she didn’t seem to hear him.

“I’ve got to do something. But what? What can I do? Oh, this magic stuff is bad,” Cinnamon said. Wolf was getting very exasperated with Cinnamon. He bounded in front of her, trying to force her to stop and say something to him, but she swerved around him without even glancing at him. “Gotta find another witch. That’s it! No, but witches are bad. That’ll just make it twice as bad. But can’t go back to the first witch. Have to get rid of whatever spells are on us. Oh, Cinnamon, look what you’ve gotten yourself into,” Cinnamon chided herself.

“Would you please tell me what you are babbling about?!!!!” Wolf yelled in her face.

Cinnamon looked at Wolf and blinked slowly. “Gosh, what’s pulling on your tail? No need to get mad.”

Wolf made a low growl of complete frustration. “What…are…you…talking…about?” Wolf asked slowly, forcing each word.

“We need to do something about this,” Cinnamon said, continuing into the woods. “I just can’t believe I let myself get mixed up in this. I know better. Why did I answer you? Why? I’m a lone wolf. I don’t…do pack things. If I had just gone about my business, everything would have been fine. But, no. Cinnamon has to decide that the one time she’s going to answer a strange howl is the time it belongs to a wolf who’s mixed in with a witch. Cinnamon, you are as dumb as a dog.”

Wolf’s growl was building. He clenched and unclenched his hands and his movements became jerky as he followed after Cinnamon. She was really annoying him with this little episode of hers. If she would just tell him what was going on…

Wolf’s nose smelled water. He realized that they were headed in the general direction of a river or something. He calmed a little. At least they could get a drink and rest a little before he strangled Cinnamon!

“Cinnamon, you should really just spit out what you are trying to say. I am usually a patient wolf, but you have pushed me a little too…” Wolf began.

“Do you think she’d find me if I holed up in a little remote den for a while? No, of course she would. She’s a witch. She probably has a magic mirror or something to spy on people with. She could be spying on us right now! She could be listening to every word I say! Oh, cripes! We are two very dead wolfies,” Cinnamon cried, and in her distress she almost yipped out the words. She made a small whimpering noise and bit her lip. She was silent a moment before spinning on Wolf and shoving him against a tree. Wolf yelped in more surprise then pain.

“Cripes, Cinnamon! What was that…” he began.

“You! This is your fault! You had to come trotting into my territory with your little lost cub howl and get me pulled into this mess!” she accused.

“Me!” Wolf cried. “You think I planned this?!”

“Maybe you did,” Cinnamon said, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

Wolf’s growl returned. “Listen you…you… bossy little fox-tail, if you think that I planned to throw my life on the line instead of snuggling up to my dreamy Virginia on our honeymoon you can just…go chase your tail!” Wolf growled.

Cinnamon began to growl, too. “Do you know how sick I am of hearing about ‘dreamy, creamy, oh so succulent Virginia’? She’s not even a wolf! She’s not even a person of the kingdoms! I wish you and your Virginia would jump off a cliff!”

“Don’t you dare talk about my Virginia…”

“Oh, I dare.”

Wolf’s growl turned into a snarl. His eyes flashed dangerously. He grabbed Cinnamon’s arms and flung her around and threw her up against the tree. Cinnamon snarled back, baring her still human teeth. Her eyes flashed back. She feigned a bite at Wolf, then threw her shoulder into his chest, pushing him backwards. Wolf and Cinnamon began circling wearily, growling low in their throats, ready for an all-out fight.

Marissa hurried to her cauldron, sensing something bad. She summoned a picture of her wolves and gasped in horror at what she saw. They were ready to kill each other. Something must have happened. Maybe her magic had influenced their behavior. Something had to be done right away. She needed her wolves to cooperate.

An idea came to the old witch and she smiled evilly to herself. She quickly set about concocting a potion.

“My little puppies will soon change their tune. Yes, soon they will be very cooperative,” she said to herself.

Virginia came upon a river cutting through the woods. She took a drink and washed some of the dirt off her face and hands. She looked around. Some of the trees bore fruit, but she couldn’t remember what was safe to eat and what wasn’t. Virginia stared at some apples for the longest time, turning that over, then finally shrugged and pulled one off the branch. If she didn’t eat something she would starve.

She pulled off a few more apples to take with her, then started walking along the river. That way at least she would have water and most likely some food nearby. It was better than wandering aimlessly.

Wolf lunged at Cinnamon, knocking her down. He grinned and Cinnamon saw fangs. She shoved and pushed him over, trying to pin him down. Suddenly, Cinnamon froze. She looked down at Wolf and saw he was staring up at her. He growled again, but this time it had a completely different meaning. Cinnamon whined in response and rubbed her face against his chest. She looked up at Wolf and saw he was still staring at her. She licked him on the nose.

Wolf started. His eyes flashed again and he jumped to his feet, dumping Cinnamon on the ground.

“You’re right. This is bad,” Wolf agreed, panting.

Cinnamon continued to stare at Wolf. “What’s bad? We’re here, together. What could be wrong?”

“I have a mate, that’s what’s wrong!” Wolf said, unsure if he was more angry with her or himself.

Cinnamon rolled on her back, scratched at her nose and sighed. “Oh, her. She’s not even a wolf. Are you sure she counts?” Cinnamon asked lightly.

“Of course, she…ooooh, I can’t stay here right now,” Wolf said, walking quickly away from Cinnamon. The way she was lying there, so wolfish and yet innocent…he had to stop that thought. Virginia. Yes, that was who he should be thinking of. His mate, Virginia. Who was carrying his, their cub.

Wolf was quickly off into the trees. Cinnamon glanced after him. She sighed again and rolled over, slowly climbing to her feet. There was a lot she knew she should be worried about, but for some reason she could only think of Wolf.

Tony called a halt. He hated horses. Really, really hated them. Virginia had talked him into riding once in Central Park. He had been sore for a week afterwards. He would probably be sore for a month after this!

“Let’s take a break for a while,” he said to the guards. He had taken to ignoring Maive. He knew she was becoming about as frustrated with him and he was with her but he really didn’t care. He didn’t want her here. He was only putting up with her at all because of Wendell. Oh, Wendell. He was going to hear about this for a nice, long while.

One of the guards took Tony’s horse as he collapsed under a tree. Wolf had made it to the witch and back in about twelve hours according to Virginia. But Wolf had probably run the entire way there. At the pace they were going it would take them about a day and some hours. Which meant camping out in the wilderness. Tony groaned inwardly and outwardly. He had thought he was past that. Oh, yes. Wendell owed him so much for this.

“Tony. Please listen to me. Neither of us can defeat her alone. I don’t have the magic and you don’t have the knowledge. She knows we are coming; we don’t have the element of surprise. If we want to stop her, we have to work together and we have to work out a plan,” Maive said.

“Oh, I have a plan. You stay out of the way, our good friends the guards put their swords to this witch’s throat, and I hit her over the head with a large pot pretending that she is you,” Tony said venomously. Riding didn’t put him in a good mood. Maive’s whining and blubbering put him in an even worse one. He wanted her quiet. He thanked God that Virginia wasn’t that way. Although she could be if she chose. Those were usually the times they had big arguments.

Maive raised her hands and looked ready to strangle Tony. She made a step toward him as if to do so, then stopped suddenly, in mid-step. She closed her eyes and dropped her hands. Tony, sensing something, looked up at her. He frowned. This couldn’t be good.

“Hey, witch-girl? What’s…” he began.

“Shhh. I’m getting a vision,” she said. Suddenly, Maive gasped and fell. Tony jumped to his feet (which caused him to gasp in pain), caught her and lowered her to the ground. His frowned deepened. Something weird was going on.

“Something is very wrong with Wolf and Virginia,” she said, her eyes still closed.

“Virginia?! Are they together?” Tony asked anxiously. If Virginia was with Wolf, he would protect her no matter what.

“No. They’re separate. And I’m getting some kind of blankness? Something missing? It’s from Virginia. Confusion from both of them. Temptation from Wolf. Guilt. Urgency. There’s magic on him,” Maive opened her eyes and took a deep breath. She rubbed her temple absently with one hand, “C..could I have some water, please?” One of the guards gave her a canteen. She swallowed some. She didn’t look too great. Tony guessed the vision must have been hard on her.

“So what’s it mean?” Tony pressed.

“I don’t know. All I know is that it could seriously affect the outcome of all this. Wolf is definitely under a spell. Maybe more than one spell. And something or someone is with him that is also being influenced by magic. I don’t know what was wrong with Virginia, but I know she is headed away from Wolf. We have to do something about this before it’s too late,” Maive insisted.

“What?”

Maive shook her head again. “I don’t know. But something has to be done,” she said.

Tony straightened and took a deep breath. “I say we take care of this witch right now. We force her to take the spells off them or…well, we’re gonna get rid of those spells one way or another. And a dead witch’s spells don’t work.”

Wolf stopped when he reached the river. He splashed his face with cold water, hoping it would help clear his mind. It did a little, but not enough. Wolf sighed and sat at the edge of the water, throwing rocks into it.

“Wolves mate for life. I know that. I love Virginia. She’s my mate. So why in the kingdoms did I growl like that at Cinnamon? The full moon is close, but I can’t use that excuse. Huff-puff, this doesn’t make any sense at all,” he said to himself. He sighed again and shifted into a more comfortable position. “I wish Virginia was here. I wish I hadn’t gone to that witch. I wish I knew what was going on. Oh, Wolf. You can keep wishing all day. It won’t get you anywhere.”

Wolf yawned. All this confusion was tiring. And they had traveled at a pretty decent pace. Cinnamon was close by (which was part of the problem). It would be okay if he took a small little nap.

Virginia thought she might have heard voices yelling, but decided it was just her mind playing tricks on her. She continued walking along the river, munching on an apple at the same time. She hadn’t walked for long when she stopped. Ahead of her was a man with dark hair and a very handsome face, sleeping under a tree. Maybe she had heard voices. Something about the man gave her a strange feeling deep inside. She wanted to go up to him and touch his face. Her fingers itched to touch his cheek.

Virginia walked forward slowly, quietly, hoping not to wake him. She was almost at his side when a figure broke out of the trees.

Cinnamon stepped out of the trees. Her eyes snapped to Virginia and Wolf. When she saw Virginia, her eyes glowed. She lounged at Virginia, but when Virginia had seen her she had started to run. Cinnamon smiled. A chase was good.

Cinnamon followed Virginia silently. She almost lost sight of her, but her scent was a clear trail. She had run along the river until she had come to a log that had fallen across the river. Cinnamon broke into a jog once she was across. She quickly caught sight of her again. Cinnamon let Virginia run some more. She wanted some distance between them and Wolf. After a few more moments, she started closing the distance between her and her prey. She could hear her panting and she could smell her fear.

Cinnamon pounced, knocking Virginia to the ground. Virginia kicked and struggled, trying to get away. She connected with Cinnamon’s stomach with her knee. Cinnamon growled in anger and fangs grew in her mouth. If she bit just right she could pull out the vocal cords, too, and she wouldn’t even get a chance to scream.