Macster - The Last Dragon

It was over. It was truly over. She'd done it. Somehow, after all the worry and fear, the confusion and doubt, she had succeeded in vanquishing the Ice Queen. The Kingdoms had been saved.

But at what cost? she suddenly wondered. As her churning emotions finally eased and logic and reason reasserted themselves, she realized what she had done. She had broken a magic mirror. Seven years' bad luck. And surely the luck associated with an evil glass such as this would be much worse than what her father had suffered after breaking the Traveling mirror. But what else could she have done? The Ice Queen had to be prevented from ever coming back. And the mirror had belonged to the Swamp Witch originally, so it had to be a deadly and diabolical device. Finally, it was this very glass that had been used to wipe her mother's memories. However much it might have healed Christine and restored sanity to her mind, it had also robbed her of her life, made it so that she could never come home again. For that reason alone Virginia could never forgive the Lethe mirror. It deserved to be broken.

Even so, she gazed one last time at the cracked and split maple that had been the frame, her eyes somehow finding with revulsion and horror the deep grooves in the wood left by Griselda's fingernails. The Ice Queen had been evil...but that did not make her fate any less disturbing and awful. It was something she would never forget, something she did not know if she could ever come to terms with. She'd had no choice, it had been her or the witch, and after what she had nearly done to Wolf, Virginia could have killed her with her bare hands. Yet her conscience lingered, wondering if things could have been different. She didn't think so, but...

Sighing, she turned away from the halo of broken glass and looked back across the room. As she did, she saw Wolf finally make it to his feet and stumble toward her, and at once all thought of Griselda and the mirror were driven from her mind. The demands of the battle and her own conflicted emotions had prevented her from truly realizing what had happened, but now with stark clarity the severe wounds Wolf bore registered, and at once she started to cry again. "Oh, Wolf...Wolf...are you all right?"

"Why...certainly, Virginia...never felt better..." he gasped, leaning against the Spying mirror. After a few minutes he seemed to recover his breath and could speak normally again. "But huff-puff, I could sure use a nice roast mutton and a loooooong sleep in the den..."

In spite of herself Virginia started to laugh. That was her Wolf, all right. If he could still fixate on sheep, he couldn't be too badly off. She was just starting in his direction when a strange cracking, crunching sound attracted her attention. Puzzled, she turned...and stared. In the center of the ring of fire, which was slowly dwindling and guttering out, the ice demons formed a pathetic, mournful group, but even as she watched, their bodies began to calve, great chunks of melting ice falling off to smack wetly against the tiles, and they were dripping copious streams of runoff. In only a few minutes, there was nothing left of them but pieces of ice and a growing puddle on the floor.

Beyond them, then, she saw that the throne room, too, was melting, water trickling and gurgling down the walls and dripping from the ceiling, icicles breaking off, sheets of crystalline glaciers sliding downwards to sag and dissolve at the baseboards. The sound soon became as loud and powerful as a mountain river, and the floor was fast becoming a small lake. Already she could feel the ambient temperature rising, and as the wind blew in through the shattered windows to stir and ripple the water, she could smell pollen, grass, horse manure, and flowers. They were the most welcome smells she could remember, the smells of summer.

The spell was broken.

Virginia met Wolf's eyes, and despite the pain and anguish there, she could see a relaxation of the tension that had haunted them since starting this quest, the release of all their worries and fears now that victory was theirs. Not needing to say a word, she turned again and looked back at Carmine, who had followed much more slowly and now stood between her and the mirror, holding one hand to her stomach. "Carmine! We did it! Don't you see, the magic is wearing off!"

Hurrying to the queen's side, she smiled at her, so caught up in the wonder of the moment that all her suspicions and hatreds for this woman were brushed aside, replaced only by excitement and celebration. Acting on instinct, she embraced Red Riding Hood III, and was surprised when Carmine hugged her back.

It was then, as she pressed herself to the monarch, that she felt something wrong--a throbbing, pumping heat against her abdomen, sticky and thick, and growing hotter and heavier by the minute. Puzzled, she reached down between them...and her hand came back a vivid scarlet. Staring in horror at Carmine, she saw her blue eyes unfocus and roll back in her head, and then she sagged, collapsing in her arms.

"Carmine!" Catching the queen, she let her slowly slide to the floor, and it was only as she crouched over her that she realized the truth. The royal robes of the Second Kingdom, being crimson, had hidden the extent of her injury. The wound was deep, incredibly deep, directly over her liver if she remembered anatomy correctly, and it was spurting and leaking blood at an astonishing rate. A brief vision flashed before her eyes of Griselda's last moments, when her knife had stabbed outward. "Wolf, get over here!"

He was at her side in only a few moments, helping her clear away the glass and rest his aunt gently on the floor with one arm as the other hung fairly useless and dripping blood. "Oh, cripes...oh, huffity-puffity..." She could tell from the ashy look on his face that the wound was as life-threatening as she'd feared--or was that grayish color only due to Wolf's own injuries?

As Wolf started tearing out the lining of his greatcoat to staunch the flow, Virginia turned desperately for help. Cinderella still sat in her chair, but was slowly rising to her feet. Daviander was hovering watchfully in the center of the room, but as she met his gaze, he flew closer and settled to the floor with a crunch of glass and a solid thud. "Daviander, you have to melt my father and Wendell so they can tell us where the doctor is. Carmine may die..."

"Hmph," the dragon commented laconically. "So now thou dost vouchsafe to offer succor to Red Riding Hood III, when before thou didst only wish to kidnap her? Ah, now I understand thy logic."

Stricken, Virginia reeled back from the accusation. She hadn't expected that, she hadn't even thought Daviander would care, let alone judge her and Wolf's actions. It was also not something she really needed to deal with right now. "People change, Daviander. We were wrong about her...and anyway, we don't want her to die, so just help out, would you? Please?" She begged him, not only with her words, but with her eyes.

Something in her expression and tone must have convinced him of her sincerity, for the dragon soon nodded and turned to the ranks of ensorcelled ice blocks, which apparently still needed his magic fire to be melted. As soon as she saw him bathing the first prisoners with orange flames, she relaxed and turned back to Carmine.

The auburn-haired woman was breathing shallowly, her complexion almost as pale as the Ice Queen's had been, and she hissed in pain whenever Wolf pressed too hard with his makeshift bandages. She looked up as Virginia met her gaze. "Well, Lady Virginia...it looks as if...you get your wish...I shall trouble you and Wolf...no more..."

"Stop that," Virginia admonished her, even as her voice shook. "You're not going to die!"

"Yes...I am..." Carmine moaned. "I can see...the look in your eyes. And it...it's better this way. I knew coming...coming here that I might die. I accepted it. I even...welcomed it. Now...now it is up to you...and Wolf...to right my wrongs...to end the persecution...and the hatred..." She coughed, hacking up blood, and nearly passed out from the pain.

Virginia stared at her in shock, both at the unexpected blessing and the distress she felt at seeing Carmine dying before her eyes. This was not the same woman who had so viciously attacked her back in Incarnadine, or who had nagged and complained throughout the journey west, or who had made scathing comments about wolves, or hit the Piper over the head with a rock. This wasn't even the same woman who had curled up beside the campfire and shivered like a lost little girl. This was someone else entirely, someone with a heart and compassion, tenderness and understanding. Someone who only wanted to make a supreme gesture to undo her many evils. Someone Virginia could no longer hate...and who she wished she could come to know.

Snow White had been right...all of their destinies had been tied together, if not for Carmine, the Ice Queen would never have been so goaded into anger as to make so many mistakes; and without her Virginia could never have activated the mirror in time. She had changed, she had finally changed...and it seemed so brutally unfair that it came too late.

Despite all that Carmine had done, tears came to Virginia's eyes.

"All this self-sacrifice is quite noble and affecting," came a dry, sardonic voice behind her. "But I'm afraid it's all for nothing, Carmine." Virginia turned to see Cinderella standing over them, her arms crossed over her chest and one elegant eyebrow raised.

"What do you mean?" the queen of the Second Kingdom protested weakly. "Please, Cindy...do not sully my final hours of life on earth...let me die peacefully...and without a struggle." She placed one hand on Wolf's. "You can stop pretending you want to save me, Wolf. I know the truth. Please...I know I deserve a far more cruel death for all I have done...but this was my destiny. So let me go...I know what I know, and it is...my time."

Before Wolf could do more than growl softly at his aunt's presumptuousness, another voice interrupted the tableau--a firm, aristocratic male voice that was wonderfully familiar. "I hope you're not too disappointed when you wake up the day after tomorrow and find out you haven't died, Red."

Again Virginia turned, knowing who she would see. There, next to his grandmother and looking as dignified, royal, and handsome as ever despite his rather sodden white uniform, was Wendell, a strange mixture of sternness, worry, and amusement on his long face with its receding jawline. Beside him stood the crotchety old Royal Physician, also dripping, and beyond him was--

"Dad!" Leaping to her feet, Virginia ran as fast as she could, ignoring Carmine's rather unladylike mutterings as she rushed into Tony's arms and embraced him tightly. His shirt was soaked, but she didn't care as she buried her face in his shoulder and hugged him tighter than she ever had in her life. He hugged her back more gently, but with just as much love. "Oh, Dad, I'm so glad to see you! I thought...I was afraid that..." She bit her lip and pulled back, staring up and stroking his cheek, hardly daring to believe this was really happening. She'd dreamt of it for what seemed like so long now...

After she had blinked the tears from her eyes and could see again, she hugged him again and then stepped back, taking his hands in hers. "Are you okay?"

"Me?" he laughed. "You're the one I should be asking that, you're the one who was out here fighting those ugly frozen monsters and an ice witch! We could see everything, but we couldn't do anything..." He trailed off and swallowed against a large lump in his throat. "Oh, honey, I was so scared, more scared than I've ever been in this crazy place. I thought I was going to lose you, right in front of my eyes, and I wouldn't be able to do a damn thing to stop it." Now he was the one with tears in his eyes.

Flicking her eyes to the side, Virginia saw Daviander watching from a few feet away, his azure eyes moist as well as he witnessed their reunion, and then the dragon looked away. Tony followed her gaze and shuddered. She couldn't blame him for being frightened or distrustful of Daviander when she hadn't acted much better at their first meeting, but she still couldn't help but bristle inwardly at her father's prejudgment. He didn't even know the dragon, what he was like inside...

"It's all right now, though," she said softly. "Everything's okay, we're together now."

"Are you sure?" Tony asked with concern, his face as rumpled and earnest as ever. "You didn't get hurt or anything? Nothing's wrong?"

"I wouldn't say that." The voice was Wolf's. Virginia turned to see him rising from a quick consultation with the doctor, who was already at Carmine's side and, to her relief, checking her wound with a thorough, expert touch as he opened his medical pouch. As soon as he saw Red was in good hands, Wolf strode in their direction, wincing a little.

Tony, meanwhile, had been staring in disbelief at Wolf. He turned back to Virginia in consternation. "What is he talking about? What's wrong?" Then, with a suspicious look at Wolf, "What did you do to my daughter--besides get her pregnant?"

Virginia flinched. Five months ago, before she'd started showing, she had gently informed her father of his impending grandfatherhood. Needless to say, he had been none too happy, since he had managed to convince himself that Wolf's parting words on going back through the mirror had only been a joke. But he had accepted the situation, albeit with ill grace, more she thought because this was one more way in his mind for Wolf to maneuver Tony out of her life than because he didn't want a grandchild or didn't like Wolf. Yet a certain hostility still existed between Tony and Wolf and flared up at odd moments. Like now.

Shaking aside the same old thoughts and worries, she crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, what do you mean, Wolf? This I'd like to hear."

Wolf looked distinctly uncomfortable under all this scrutiny, but Virginia was not about to relent. Shifting his gaze aside, he whimpered and pointed at the shattered Lethe mirror. "The mirror, Virginia...you really shouldn't have broken it."

Tony gasped, as if suddenly recalling what had taken place, and looked dumbly from the broken glass to Virginia. "That's right! That's seven years' bad luck...how could you do that, Virginia? And after all the crap you put me through over the Traveling mirror! I can't believe this, I just can't believe this, this is just great--!"

He rattled on for several minutes in the same way, berating her over and over for her stupidity, showing no signs of stopping. Virginia rubbed her forehead. Suddenly she remembered what she hadn't missed about her father. Plus, he and Wolf were voicing the fears she'd already had a short while ago, which made her even more upset.

When Tony paused to take a breath, she rolled her eyes and said, "I think I liked you better in the ice."

Whatever he would have said was swallowed as he droned to a halt, giving her that hurt look she knew all too well. "But, honey, remember what happened to me the last time? Let's see, I got hit by a rock, I stepped on a nail, we lost our pack, I got stung by wasps--you weren't there for that, were you?--I broke the Dwarves' mirrors and then my back..."

"Please, don't remind me!" she snapped. "Look, it was my mirror, wasn't it? I can do whatever the hell I want with it. And I've got magic of my own, wouldn't that help me cancel it out? Besides, if I do get bad luck we can always have Snow White get rid of it like she did for you." Her emotions were getting the better of her and her voice was rising, attracting the attention of Wendell and Cinderella, and she really didn't want to have to deal with all this. Not now, so soon after a victory she had wanted to savor, and when she had wanted more than anything to lie down and rest. She had probably overexerted herself, in fact she felt rather queasy.

Wolf and Tony were exchanging uncertain and worried glances, for once united in their common concern. She didn't blame them, her excuses sounded lame even to her. But nothing could be done about it now, so she just turned her back on them and gazed off stonily across the throne room.

Daviander had been quietly continuing the process of melting and releasing all the other monarchs and courtiers. Virginia noticed the three Trolls had been freed and now stood alone and abandoned by the wreckage of the chandelier, looking as forlorn and sad as if they had lost their last friend. Seeing them reminded her of something she needed to do, something that would give her an excuse to get away from Wolf and her father. Picking her way through the melting ice, she searched the floor for a while until finally she found the magic shoes where she had discarded them. Then, with a determined stride, she headed toward the Trolls.

They started as they saw her approaching, and Burly placed a hand warningly on his axe handle, but she ignored him, instead stepping up to Blabberwort. As she did she held out the shoes. "We didn't steal them again," she declared simply. "I found them washed up on the bank of the river, after we met you in the forest. They were very useful to us on our quest...in fact they probably helped us save the Kingdoms. And so did you, when you fought the ice demons. So here." She placed the shoes in Blabberwort's slack grip. "Take them with our blessing...and our gratitude."

Blabberwort stared at her as if she had grown another head, her mouth working fish-like for several minutes. Then she clutched the shoes possessively to her chest and nodded slowly. "That's...very nicee nice of you, girlie. I suppose...we were wrong about you." She said it as if she were eating something a Troll found disgusting, such as a sweet pastry.

"Yeah," Bluebell mumbled sullenly. "Guess we can't blame you for our dad's death anymore."

"At least the one who did kill him is dead," Blabberwort pointed out.

Burly smiled slowly, showing all his jagged, crooked teeth. "That's right. Guess we should be thanking you, little witch...er, Lady Virginia." He scrunched up his face grotesquely. "Force of habit...but don't think of asking for any favors now, you hear?" Then he actually winked at her.

Virginia managed a tentative smile and then slowly backed away, waving cheerfully. When she judged she was far enough away, she turned around and hurried off. As she went she could hear the three Trolls arguing vigorously behind her.

"They're mine!" Bluebell growled. "See, they're just my size!"

"You blockhead!" Burly snarled. There came the sound of a massive fist connecting with the solid bone of a Troll cranium. "They're magic, they fit everybody!"

"She gave them to me," Blabberwort sniffed.

"But I'm the Troll King!"

A fierce brawl ensued.

Giggling, Virginia headed back toward the dais to see how the others were doing. She saw that the doctor was still crouched intently over Carmine, from time to time taking another instrument, a cotton swab, or a bit of sparkling powder from his pouch, while Wendell and Cinderella watched over his shoulder. She wondered why they hadn't moved the queen to a more sanitary place, then answered her own question--they probably hadn't wanted to jostle her and aggravate the wound. When she was stabilized, they'd take her to a guest room.

She was about to go back and apologize to Wolf and her father when that weird queasy feeling came over her again. She frowned, holding her stomach. It came again, stronger. Then again, and this time there was a sharp stabbing pain with it that made her cry out.

Before she could call for help, she heard a strange sound. It was the sound of galloping hooves, but it bore with it the sound of breaking glass, only more so. It was as if there was a tinkling, shattering wave of breaking glass coming towards her on horseback. It grew louder and louder, shook her, and then enveloped her.

The pain became suddenly excruciating, and she screamed as she bent over double and nearly fell to her knees in the icy slush. She heard pounding feet, then hands were supporting her, helping her up as Tony and Wolf were there, attentive and protective. "Sweetheart?" Wolf whined. "Are you all right? What's wrong, my creamy love?"

"Wolf...I..."

Once more the pain flared, so intense she nearly blacked out, and then she felt wet. Staring down, she saw the crotch of her jeans was soaked with a spreading stain. "My water just broke..." she whispered.

Tony stared at her with bulging eyes. "What?!?" But she ignored him as, with a long, agonized scream, she did fall to her knees, held up only by Wolf. She was having the baby.

It didn't take long, even with Wolf and Tony arguing over what to do, to get Virginia situated on the far side of the dais in the shelter of the fallen throne, safe from prying eyes and granting them much-needed privacy. But from there all devolved into confusion. Virginia half-sat against the throne, gritting her teeth and moaning as she listened to her father and her mate panic and rush madly about.

"What do you mean, you can't help?" Tony was shouting at the doctor. "My daughter's giving birth, for God's sake!"

"I cannot abandon Her Majesty, Lord Lewis," the physician snapped irritably over his shoulder. "Her condition is much more serious than Lady Virginia's!"

"Oh cripes oh cripes oh cripes," Wolf whimpered piteously, hovering over her like an errant cloud. "I don't know what to do, I can't do anything, why didn't I pay attention to Aunt Celia when I was a cub, oh I'm such a useless worthless wolf ohhhhhhhhh--" His ramblings dissolved into a howl.

Tony was back in moments, his eyes wide and his tongue licking at dry lips as he ran his hand through his thinning hair. "Ummmm...oh God...I guess I could do it, but I was only there the one time, the doctors did it all, and you're my daughter..."

"Well somebody do something!!!!" Virginia screamed.

"Oh, for heaven's sake!" Someone shoved her father aside and then Cinderella was there, hiking up her periwinkle skirts and carefully kneeling. "If someone would kindly assist me, I will take over from here."

Wolf left off his muttering to stare in relief and joy at the queen of the First Kingdom, but Tony was staring at her incredulously. "Pardon me, Cinderella, but do you even know what you're doing?"

The withering look the old woman gave her father would have melted stainless steel. "In case you've forgotten, I was not always a queen. When I was a scullery maid in my stepmother's manor, I was often called upon to deliver calves and foals, and whenever the midwife was away or occupied in the local village, I had to attend to expectant mothers as well. Not to mention I have been a mother myself more times than I can count, so I certainly know the process much better than you! Now, if you are not planning on helping, you are a hindrance and I would ask you to remove yourself from my presence. Which is it going to be?"

Without a word, a subdued Tony knelt down beside Cinderella, looking decidedly sheepish.

As Wolf came to Virginia's other side and took her hand, the aged monarch managed to disrobe her lower half and prop her legs into the birthing position. By that time the pain was even more gut-wrenching, and she couldn't tell if her abdomen was turning inside out or her pelvis was on the verge of snapping apart. She tried to breathe the way her Lamaze coach had instructed her, but her concentration kept being broken by the ridiculous image of Wolf huffing and puffing along with her as if he were trying to blow down the Three Little Pigs' houses. She'd laughed until her sides hurt during her classes whenever that had happened, but now she could barely squeeze out a giggle.

Gripping Wolf's hand, she glared up at him through the fringe of her bangs. "Is it like this...for all wolf-mothers...or is this just my bad luck? Tell me...tell me!"

He whimpered and looked away evasively. "I...I don't really know, dumpling. I've never been a father before either."

Virginia snarled. "I'm going to kill you for this!" She knew she was acting like every cliche mother in the history of motherhood, but she couldn't help it, it hurt!

Another wave of agony spasmed through her and she tried to draw her legs up against her stomach, but Cinderella and Tony had her ankles locked firmly in place, and all she could do was scream and pant and jerk about. Then a bright white light filled her vision, and for a moment she was afraid she had been overcome by the pain and blacked out. But when the light cleared, everything was the same as before...except... Her jaw dropped. There, beyond and between her two attendants, was her mother!

Christine's expression was at once grave and tender, and one hand was extended, draped in the sleeve of the same green velvet riding cloak as before, fingers spread. Virginia opened her mouth to cry out, but her mother shook her head and put a finger to her lips. "No, Virginia...no one else can see me but you. Snow White sent me this time, and I must say she is most put out with you for breaking a magic mirror, it was quite irresponsible to endanger your life and your baby's! Still, she is forgiving of a great heroine, and has granted me the power to end your bad luck now, before it strikes again with far more malevolence." A soft golden nimbus surrounded her auburn hair, and then Virginia's shoulders felt lighter, as if a burden had been lifted from them. She couldn't believe this...she knew sometimes a woman giving birth might have hallucinations, but this!

Smiling gently, her mother reached out and placed her hand on Virginia's abdomen. "And this is my gift to you...a little magic to ease the pain." A warm, lazy lassitude washed over her body, dulling the pain to a barely discernible ache, and she gazed up in shock at Christine. "It is the least I can do, my daughter. Now bear down with the contractions, and be the greatest mother you can be." A shimmer passed through the air, and then the spirit faded away.

Stunned, Virginia lay there slackly for what felt like hours but was only a few seconds as she realized it had been real...her mother truly had come to her, there could be no denying the change in her body. It was as if she had been injected with a powerful anaesthetic. Then she felt her muscles tense of their own accord, heard her father and Cinderella urging her to push, and knew what she had to do. As tears came to her eyes and her heart beat with happiness and love, she clung to the vision she had seen, the visitation she had received and all its portents. Then she prepared to give it her all.

Time passed--how much Virginia didn't know, it felt like days but could not have been more than an hour or two. She didn't know if it was all happening so fast because of the bad luck, or because the baby was part wolf, and she didn't care, because as far as she was concerned, the faster the better. Her hair dripped with sweat and her body became soaked with it as she valiantly strove to follow Cinderella's terse and strict instructions. She could feel Wolf gripping her free hand, could see Tony's flushed and tense face.

At last another contraction came, more powerful than all the others, so strong it overrode the magic and filled her with pain, as if she were tearing open. Dimly she could hear Tony's excited voice, then Cinderella's calm one. "One more push, Lady Virginia, I can see the head."

Nodding weakly, she gathered all her will and bore down one last time, straining and pushing until, with a shriek, she felt the pain subside. There was a long, expectant pause, and then came a sound she thought was more beautiful than any she had ever heard--a baby's squalling cry. Laughing and crying simultaneously, she fell back against the throne and closed her eyes, relaxing, panting, listening to that most joyous of noises.

When she opened her eyes again, Wolf was there, his face aglow with excitement, awe, and pride, and he was holding something small and squirming wrapped in her sweater. "Oh, Virginia...Virginia...look at our son! Isn't he the most handsome chap you've ever seen???"

She looked into the bundle, and it was like time had stopped as she drank in every feature, the tiny hands, the soft pink skin, the precious mouth parted to still emit that wholesome cry, the dark green eyes gazing up boldly and roguishly, the thick curl of dark brown hair plastered down to his head...and sticking out of the sweater, an adorable tail of the same color, only a few inches long but flicking and twitching as madly as his father's during the full moon.

Looking up from Tony's equally proud countenance to Cinderella's slow, warm smile, Virginia at last met Wolf's gaze, which was both expectant and a trifle worried, as if he actually thought she could be displeased with the baby. Then she chuckled softly. "He most certainly is...and it sounds like he's already got you wrapped around his pinky, the little con artist...he's his father's son all right." She smirked. "A little furry chap, only much smaller."

At that moment the doctor finally appeared to check on her, only to find his work done for him. After tying off and cutting the cord, he returned the baby and for the first time, Virginia was able to hold her child. As she rocked the infant tenderly in her arms, she caught the doctor's attention. "How is Carmine?"

"It was touch-and-go for a while there," he admitted candidly. "But she will live. She has a strong will, you know."

"Oh yes, believe me I know."

A smile appeared on the doctor's craggy face as he watched her, then he turned to Wolf. "And now for you, let's have a look at those wounds..."

Wolf protested, of course, not wanting to leave his family, but Virginia gave him a long, hard stare, and he consented with the look of a dog that had tucked its tail between its legs. It took a short while to peel off the blood-soaked greatcoat and unbutton his shirt, and the wounds uncovered made Virginia want to retch. She had to avert her eyes, but the doctor set at once to cleaning and stitching them, and Wolf nerved himself and took it bravely.

After that everything seemed like a blur to Virginia. She was vaguely aware of Daviander melting the last of the courtiers and then silently gliding out of the windows to rest in the gardens, of the doors to the throne room opening and armed guards entering to investigate after their duty to the king had overcome their fear of the raging battle. But none of it seemed to matter to her, she only had eyes for her mate and her cub. All of her fears were gone now. To be sure, she still knew a long road lay ahead raising her family, and that parenting would be no easy task. But as she gazed at her son and rocked him in her arms, she knew she would face whatever lay ahead with strength and determination. This was her child, and she would be what her mother could not. The past was erased, no longer relevant, and all she foresaw was days of bliss, of love, of peace.

She had certainly earned it. They all had.

Eventually, though, she grew tired of just lying about and wanted to rise. There was something she had to do, a desire that had come to her unexpectedly as she played idly with her son's tail and that grew stronger with every moment. But while she had been cleaned up and the chancellor had given her his jacket to preserve her modesty, she was still very weak. She tried to get up on her own, but collapsed almost at once. Tony caught sight of her from where he was talking firmly and directly to the castle matron regarding his grandson receiving the utmost care and rushed to her side. "Virginia! What do you think you're doing, you just had a baby!"

"I...I need to get up, I need to show him to everyone," she said as levelly as she could manage.

He glared at her in his stern father expression. "Virginia, as your father I order you to stay put."

She glared right back. "Take. Me. Over. There. Now, Dad."

At that point Tony wisely chose not to argue anymore and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, helping her up.

Together they circled the dais and came to where Wendell was watching over Carmine's prone form until the servants came to carry her to her chamber. As they approached, Virginia saw someone else was with Red Riding Hood as well, someone she was very glad to see alive and well. "Lord Rupert!"

The master of protocol and etiquette rose, turning with a beaming expression on his face. "Lady Virginia! Oh, how good it is to see you again! And how breathtakingly magnificent your victory was! Carmine was just returning my ring to me and telling me all about your adventures..." He broke off as he saw the baby in her arms, and somehow his smile became even more radiant and gleaming. "And what a darling baby! Oh, I've never seen a baby as handsome and sweet, as cuddly and warm, no I haven't, oh no I haven't..." He degenerated at once into baby talk as he began to tickle and fondle the cub, who on his part seemed most intrigued and amused by the silly lord. He began nibbling on Rupert's fingers, who only mildly protested.

Managing to tear away from Rupert after several minutes of this, Virginia crossed to Wendell, who smiled fondly at her and offered his own congratulations. But it was to Red that she gave the most attention. The queen still lay flat on her back to keep her stitches from opening, but her face was no longer quite so pale, and her expression was one Virginia had never seen before...calm, content.

Carmine gazed up as, with Tony's help, she knelt down beside her. "Lady Virginia...it seems I was premature in my pronouncements. So sorry to get your hopes up."

Virginia sighed; this self-loathing and melancholy were fast becoming as annoying as the hatred and prejudice that had preceded them. "Your Majesty...I'm glad you're all right."

The monarch blinked. Then, seeming unable to reconcile this statement to herself, she instead flicked her eyes to the sweater-bundle and smiled almost shyly. "I hear you yourself also had a medical emergency. May I see...?"

"Yes, of course. That's why I came over here." Slowly she held out her baby, folding back the sweater to reveal him.

For a long time Carmine stared at her grand-nephew, and he stared back at her, and something unspoken seemed to pass between them. The moment was electric, and as Virginia watched she was amazed by the surge of emotions on the other woman's face--gentleness, love, amusement, and as she fingered his brush of a tail, awe. This only confirmed what Virginia had suspected all along, that Carmine had never seen a wolf cub before of any percentage. In her prejudice she had never allowed herself to view a "mongrel"...but now, as the queen of the Second Kingdom gazed at the baby, Virginia could tell she saw no mongrel, and the discovery had altered events once again. A quantum leap had occurred, and now nothing would ever be the same.

"What is his name?" Red Riding Hood breathed, running a finger through the baby's hair as if he were a fragile work of art in danger of breaking.

Virginia paused, and then she slowly smiled. She glanced once at Wolf, who was still being tended by the doctor but who, as always, was looking only at her. They had talked for many hours in the months since returning to New York, consulting baby name books galore, but in the end the choice had been easy and fitting, and had been decided long ago.

"Warren," she said with a twinkle in her eye. "His name is Warren."