Debra L. Rollins - Revenge For the Huntsman

King Wendell’s apartments were grandly decorated in royal green and enhanced with gold motif. His grandmother, Queen Snow White, had loved these rooms, spending time alone with her loving husband before his death. Now Wendell himself, newly crowned King of the Fourth Kingdom, found them…well, found them lonely. He missed the adventures he shared with Anthony, Virginia and Wolf. He certainly was never bored in their presence, except maybe for the time he was gold and was unable to interact. He had found that experience quite frustrating to the utmost!

A rap at the chamber door signaled Tony’s entry to the rooms and Wendell bade him to set down and enjoy a glass of light wine as they spread out Tony’s plans on the table before them and went over fine details of the castles.

Wendell found the miniature castles charming and knew that the children of the kings and queens and lords and ladies of the other kingdoms would wish to have such lovely toys to play with. Wendell planned to give them as gifts and at the same time, keep his former manservant close to him as long as possible.

“How long do you suppose the production of your castles may take to commence, Anthony?”

“It all depends on the Royal Dwarfs, Your Majesty. They are working on a formula based from my world, but unfortunately, not all the ingredients can be found here in the Nine Kingdoms. They are testing different plants for the right type of cellulose needed in the preparation of plastic. I’m hoping to hear from them soon with good news.”

“Excellent! Excellent!” Wendell clapped his hands together. “But I command you to do one thing from here on out.”

“What’s that, Your Majesty?”

“Quit calling me “Your Majesty” and call me Wendell. You are my friend after all and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Tony smiled at the young man and nodded his head in agreement, pleased that someone in Wendell’s position thought of him as a friend. It made him set up even straighter. “You know Anthony, I have come to respect your opinion as not only a friend, but also a man. I now need your help with a problem that I’m afraid I am totally in the dark about.”

“Oh? What’s that?” Tony asked as he took a sip of the delicious wine.

“I need to produce an heir.”

Tony choked, spewing wine across the castle plans. Quickly Wendell grabbed a napkin and soaked up the liquid as Tony composed himself.

“An heir? So soon?” Tony asked, running his fingers through his thinning hair. “You just got crowned for God’s sake. Are you planning to get bumped off any day now? Are other evil stepmothers hiding around corners here in the castle making you feel like you have to have an heir right away? You’re young yet…you’ve got loads of time for parenthood. It’s not easy you know. Take Virginia for instance, she doesn’t even want children!”

“Hmmm,” responded the king knowingly. “Ah, yes…and I quote Wolf’s exact words before he crossed over to your world, “See you soon, Grandpa!” I do believe that implies that in nine months or possibly less your daughter Virginia will become a mother and you Anthony, a grandpapa! To a wolf cub no doubt.”

Tony stared at Wendell in shock. He'd never thought of that. What would the baby look like? Of course, it would only be a quarter wolf. Its not like it would be covered in fur or anything, would it? Then again, Wolf had a tail, a bushy tail but the rest of him was human, right?

Tony sighed heavily. Now he had the beginnings of a terrible headache.

“Okay, okay…so you need an heir. All kings need heirs, even in my world,” Tony agreed, hoping to get back to his room and lay down before the headache worsened. “So what do you need my advice for?”

“I want you to select a bride for me…the mother of my future heir.”

The Lefler dinner was successful beyond Virginia’s dreams. She herself had ended up preparing the vegetable dishes because Wolf, well Wolf just didn’t like vegetables. She served up the courses herself, reporting the guests' responses to Wolf in the kitchen each time she returned.

“They’re loving everything, Wolf!” Virginia clapped her hands together in joy. “Now if we can get some references from Mrs. Lefler, we’re in business! Just think, our own catering service!”

“Huff-puff!” exclaimed Wolf as he watched her dance up and down, mesmerized by the jiggle of her upper body. “What perfectly succulent news, my love.” He panted hoarsely.

Virginia wasn’t paying any attention to Wolf’s reaction in her excitement but opened the kitchen door a crack and leaned around the sill to check out their patron’s reception of the dessert Wolf concocted. The movement forced her perfectly rounded derrière to jut out provocatively as she bent over at the odd angle. It was too much for Wolf to take.

“Cripes!” He scratched at his temple and stared at the clock. Time seemed to slow to a standstill when he was in a hurry to be alone with his corky Virginia.

Virginia straightened up quickly and ran back toward him.

“Mrs. Lefler’s coming! Quick, straighten your…” Virginia frowned naïvely. “What’s the matter with you?”

“Nothing...Nothing.” Wolf answered shortly, wiping his brow with a dishtowel. “I’m perfectly fine, I swear I am. Wolf’s honor!”

“You’re not nearing your cycle again are you?” she asked fearfully, remembering his irrational behavior at the Little Lamb Village.

The memory cooled Wolf down considerably.

“I’m positive…shush!” he said with a finger to his lips. “Here she comes.”

Mrs. Lefler flew through the door like a tornado; her arms wide open as she trapped the two of them in a bear-like hug.

“Darlings, you made my dinner party a huge success! My guests are dying to meet Wolf and get your business card. Not only that, but you should have seen the look on Ramón’s face when I told him the other day that I didn’t need his service for tonight’s party. It was priceless! Priceless I tell you. The snooty bastard…serves him right!”

Matilda Lefter saw the look on Virginia’s face and laughed.

“Not all your grandmother’s friends are snooty, stuck up, bitches, my dear. A few of us are down to earth, you know. We just enjoy making others think we’re something we’re not. It’s great fun sometimes. Understand?”

“Oh,” Wolf raised his hand, caught up in the woman’s excitement. “I do, I do. Wolfies just pretend to do naughty things too, but it’s all in fun.”

Virginia nudged him in stomach with her elbow hard enough to knock some air out of him so he couldn’t talk further.

“Yes, “Wolf” does enjoy a naughty joke from time to time,” she laughed a bit too brightly, desperately covering Wolf’s faux pas. It must have worked because the confused look on the woman’s face cleared. A moment later they were accepting Mrs. Lefler’s guests praises for an excellent meal and handing out the business cards that Virginia had made up a few days prior. On them was written: “Wolf Catering” and their names and telephone number of her grandmother’s apartment. Best to keep it simple for the moment, she thought.

Virginia smiled happily to herself, then yawned as she and Wolf cleaned up and prepared to leave the Lefler residence. Her life was definitely looking up and she for one, hoped that it stayed that way for a long time to come. Happily ever after? She smiled at the thought.

Madam Tatler arranged the magic mirrors in a semi-circle in the cellar of her cottage. Here, they would be kept from prying eyes and could be locked up for safekeeping. It was long past midnight by the time that she managed to move the mirrors to their resting-place and arrange them to her liking. Not a small feat as she did this alone in fear of their discovery, but well worth the effort. Now she was ready to begin to discover what magic they held in her quest to revenge her son’s death.

“Mirrors all…awake from your sleep!”

One by one, the mirrors came to life, their smooth glass cracking and distorting to answer her bidding. All save one, the smallest, did not crack but formed itself into a face-like apparition. She could see the lips move as it answered her call.

“What do you wish of us?”

“Show me a way to enter the Castle White with none being the wiser and find the traveling mirror. I wish to extract revenge for my son’s death.”

“Look to the mirror that spies and you shall find your answer.”

A mirror on the far end on the semi-circle showed Zenda two men sitting in a richly appointed room decorated in deep, forest green. She rushed over and listened to their conversation, realizing as she watched that this was the king himself in his own personal apartments.

“A bride? You want me to find you a bride? Isn’t that a job for your council? Better yet…you?” said the tall man beside the king.

“Oh, these sort of affairs would usually be prearranged by my parents, but since they were murdered years ago it is up to me to decide who I wish to help select a suitable bride. The council, well the council tends to be a bit material in the way they select things. For the good of the kingdom of course.”

“Oh…of course,” agreed Tony.

“I don’t want some princess to marry based solely on her holdings. I want someone I can talk with, has the same interests as I do and most importantly…fair of face and inner beauty. Is that too much to ask?”

Tony smiled down at the young king and smiled.

“No, not at all.”

“Then you’ll help me?” asked Wendell hopefully.

“All right. I’ll do it. But don’t get mad at me if it doesn’t work out well. I’ve never played matchmaker before.”

“You did a pretty good job when you gave Wolf directions to find your daughter Virginia when we first met in your world,” laughed Wendell, teasingly.

“That was absolutely unintentional and I was under the influence of Wolf and his dragon dung bean so that doesn’t count. Now… I need to figure out how to meet all the eligible ladies in the kingdoms then pick out one that suits your needs and wants. Hmmmm…”

Tony’s face brightened as if a light bulb went off above his head.

“Of course! The story of Cinderella…I must be dense! We’ll throw another ball, but this time to invite all the princesses and ladies of the Nine Kingdoms of marriageable age for us to select from.”

“Well, it did work for Cinderella and her prince,” admitted Wendell. “All right, we’ll do it! A royal ball it is!”

Madam Tatler smiled a self-satisfied smile. Now she had a likely entry to the castle and knew what this Virginia’s father looked like. Revenge for her son was looking brighter by the minute. She continued eavesdropping as her own plans formulated in her mind.