Tiffany Dunn - If I Should Never Find You

At least his nose had returned to its normal size. He squeezed it lovingly, pleased to find it hadn't been hurt. When he was a great Imp King, they would paint many portraits of his nose and he needed a good one. One as good as Muklavuk's had been. Now that was a nose.

In the darker parts of his mind, Muklavuk shoved him forward, and he picked up the mirror and continued tottering on. He'd run out of dust, and now had to struggle with a full-length mirror across the countryside. If he hadn't been so excited about Muklavuk's plan, he'd drop the mirror now and run home to safety. Instead, Groj giggled with excitement.

Grojavek the Imp King. It sounded so good in his head.

He continued walking, balancing the mirror unsteadily as he went. Although he walked for a long time, he never seemed to get very far. Not that it mattered much -- he was too busy imagining his new Imp Court. There would be lots of servants and food, and he'd build his mother her own house, very far away. And he'd have a whole room dedicated to all the awards and medals he was going to receive. And they would have a day just for him. And he'd have to add something to his name. Grojavek the Great. King Grojavek the Great. King Grojavek the Most Great and Brave. His head nearly split with a smile.

Underneath the rubbery soles of his feet, the ground shivered again. Groj's eyes widened and he looked about for somewhere to hide the mirror. Whatever had been shaking earlier was back, and it felt like it was coming his way. From the intense pounding, it felt like there was more than one, too.

He squealed as all of Muklavuk's courage washed away with the fear. He didn't want to die! The mirror was too heavy to run with, and too fragile to just throw away. It was going to get him killed!

"What is that?"

Grojavek stopped where he was at the words, trying to figure out who'd said them. "What?" he squeaked.

"Melissa, look!" The pounding grew harder, and when Groj spun to face his attacker, he nearly passed out at the horse bearing down on him. "It's the mirror!" he heard the male voice shout.

The horse was shouting at him?

It whinnied as it stopped just in front of him, and someone dismounted. Grojavek pushed the mirror between them, cowering behind it like it was a shield. Then the man yanked it from his grasp, and Groj covered himself with his long, thin arms. "Don't hurt me!" he pleaded.

"Who are you, imp?" It was the man again, and he sounded angry.

"Don't hurt me!" Groj begged again.

The shadow of either the man or the mirror disappeared, and afternoon sunlight crept back over Groj's skin. There were soft words he couldn't make out, and the heavy breathing of the horse near his ear. He wanted to peek through his arms and see what was happening, but he was too frightened. Muklavuk sulked in the back of his thoughts.

Suddenly, something was nudging him in the side. "How did you get the mirror?" It was the man again. Chancing a look, Groj shifted his arms and peered up into the face of a human male. A very familiar looking human male, he realized.

"Don't hurt me," he whimpered.

The man sighed, nudging him again with his foot. "Answer my question, imp. How did you get the mirror?"

Groj sank further into himself. Why was this man so familiar to him? He hated humans! Like those two women. And that orange cat! Only humans would have pets like that. But, still, he couldn't say where he'd gotten it, or who he was taking the mirror to. She'd kill him!

Not like she wasn't going to kill him anyway, Muklavuk added softly.

And then there was a dagger pointing right between Groj's eyes. "Tell me," the man hissed, "or I'll rip it out of you."

Grojavek eeped and tried to melt into the ground. "I-I...I..." He squinted, and the man's face sunk in. "King Wendell!" he screeched, before fainting dead away.

Wendell frowned and dug his toe into the little green body, but the imp had apparently fainted. "Odd," he murmured. "But fortunate." He turned and grabbed his horse's reins, slicing off a length and quickly tying the imp up. It was suspicious finding him out here with the mirror like this and they couldn't afford to let him get away. Although the idea of this small creature smuggling the mirror out of his castle was ridiculous, Wendell couldn't ignore the fact that he did have it now. Why would an imp steal a huge mirror from the three pigs, unless he knew what it was? And how would an imp know what a traveling mirror looked like? The situation left too many questions to let the imp go. Once the little green man was secured, Wendell straightened, glancing to Melissa.

She was staring blankly at the countryside, her hands clenching Sport to her chest. Wendell had hoped finding the mirror would spur her awake, but she still seemed oblivious to anything he said or did. Looks like I'll have to figure this out myself, he thought, picking up the imp. He shook the creature gently, remembering what it felt like earlier in the giant's hands.

The impossibly large eyes opened, blinked, and the imp fainted again.

Sighing, Wendell attached the imp to his saddle. Obviously they'd have to wait to get to Tony's castle, where the imp could be made less frightened, to find out what was going on. The mirror glinted in the sunlight, looking large and immovable. "What do you think we should do with the mirror?" Wendell asked aloud, not expecting an answer.

"Destroy it."

He gaped, and spun to face Melissa. She glared past him at the mirror, her whole body tense with hate. "What?" he asked.

"It's an evil thing. It should be destroyed."

"I can't destroy the mirror, Melissa. I won't!" Wendell shifted his body in between her and the mirror. "It's not evil."

"It killed Terry."

He bit hard on his lower lip to keep from arguing with her. She is in a lot of pain, he told himself. Just let it be. But this meant he'd definitely have to keep the mirror on his horse.

Nearly half an hour later he'd worked out a precarious situation. Both the imp and the mirror had been strapped to the front of his saddle, and he was nearly out of rein leather. He had wanted to put the imp on Melissa's horse, but Sport had gone into a frenzy and sliced a long, shallow cut down the imp's chest that looked like it was meant to kill. The imp was awake now, but too terrified to even attempt to speak.

At least we're moving, Wendell sighed.

The ride to Antony's castle was slow and silent, and they passed small villages and smaller farms without stopping. Wendell wasn't hungry, and he was fairly certain getting Melissa to eat would be impossible anyway. Later that evening, he felt it a blessing to finally see the spires of the castle reflected in the moonlight. The moon was almost three-quarters full now, and difficult to look at in the dark of night.

They made their way to the castle bathed in the light, and by the time they'd arrived at the gates, there was a small regiment to meet them. The soldiers bowed and cheered and laughed as they led the two horses into the courtyard, and Wendell heard the whispers dart around him.

"They have the mirror!"

"They look tired."

"Look at that one -- I don't know her."

"Aye, but she's beautiful! Sir Tony will like her."

There were a few snickers after that, but Wendell's sharp glare shut the men up. "Where is Antony?" he asked loudly. Knowing that these men were looking at Melissa like that made the hairs on his arms stand up.

"Wendell!" There was a familiar voice from the back of the crowd and men started moving aside. "Wendell, are you all right?" Antony pushed forward to his horse, his eyes worried. He glanced at Melissa, and for an instant the young king thought about snarling at him. "Who's that?" Antony asked, his smooth voice low.

"That's not your concern," Wendell announced. "I have found the mirror."

"It was missing?"

"Yes. Someone stole it. This imp," Wendell prodded the terrified creature with his finger, "had it. I don't know if it was him or someone else, but we got it back."

"That's great, Wendell!" Antony slapped him heartily on the boot. "Come on, we saw you coming down the road and have some food and baths prepared for --"

"Um, Antony." Wendell leaned forward and whispered in his friend's ear. "A lot has happened to both of us. We need some privacy right now. There's much more to this than you know."

The man raised his eyebrows, looking back and forth from Melissa to Wendell. "Ooooohhhhhhh," he breathed, winking. "You sly dog." Wendell rolled his eyes, spurring his horse through the crowd.

There was a tussle, and one of the men leapt forward to lead Melissa's horse. Wendell growled under his breath, and when they had dismounted in front of the stables, quickly took her arm in his, making sure he gave the eager young soldier a meaningful look. The man reddened and slunk off, horses following. Antony had unstrapped the mirror, and carried it into the castle, while someone else had the imp tucked under his arm. The small group made their way to Antony's room, and the mirror and creature were set on the floor, everyone but Wendell and Melissa leaving.

The little imp had started crying, and his sniffling was the only sound for a long time. Wendell had his arm wrapped firmly around Melissa's shoulders while she stared quietly at Sport. The orange tabby couldn't take his eyes off of the imp, but he was silent, too.

Antony threw the door open and slammed it shut behind him. He'd managed to put on a few more pounds since Wendell had last seen him, and his chubby face was wrinkled with a smile. "It's good to see you!" he boomed. "Although you look pretty beat up. You okay?"

"We had a problem with a giant."

"A giant? Well, I'll assume you won, since you're alive." He didn't seem to notice Wendell wincing. "And the mirror, too, I'm glad you found it. You haven't heard anything from Virginia, have you?" The smile disappeared, replaced with fatherly concern.

"No, nothing at all. I don't believe she and Wolf have come through. We were apparently very close to the mirror most of the time, and Wolf could easily have watched over her."

He nodded, looking appeased. "Still, I think I'll make a visit over tomorrow to be sure. Besides, it'd be nice to see my daughter." His smile returned, softer this time, and Wendell couldn't help but smile in response. He was so changed from what had happened. All of them were.

"So," Antony said, clearing his throat. "Who's this?"

Wendell's arm tightened slightly, but Melissa seemed not to notice she was being spoken to. "This is Melissa," he supplied for her. "She's also from your world. Los Angeles, I believe she said."

"Right, right! West coaster. I should've known, no one in New York would have a tan like that. Nice to meet you, Melissa." He held out his hand, but she simply stared at it. "Okay," he said, glancing at Wendell. "So what brings you to the Nine Kingdoms?"

When it was obvious she wouldn't answer, Wendell let her go and pulled Antony to the other side of the room before he could get angry. It took him several minutes, but he explained what had happened with the mirror, Inesh, the Oracle's news, and the tragedy with Teresa. He was relieved by Antony's quick sympathy.

"Well you have to go after this Soul Ravager," he said darkly. "You can leave Melissa here with me if you want."

"I think I might," Wendell sighed. "She's just too--"

"I'm going." Both men jumped, startled by her sudden appearance behind them. "I'm going to kill the woman that did this."

"Melissa, I'm not sure that's a good idea."

She turned those startling eyes on him, and Wendell felt pierced by the despair he saw. "I'm going, Wendell. Sport will stay here, but I'm going. We need to get some sleep. Where's my room?" She looked past him to Antony, and the older man could only shrug.

"I could have someone show you," he offered.

She nodded once, sharply. "Good. And," she added, glancing at the imp, "put him in my room as well. Sport will watch him." The cat's eyes narrowed to yellow slits, and he looked frighteningly eager.

Antony rang the bell pull without a word. Wendell wasn't sure whether to kiss Melissa goodbye, but she and the imp were whisked away before he could decide.

"She's a little ... touchy, isn't she?" Antony asked.

"She's not usually like that."

"Melissa, huh? She reminds me of someone, but I can't remember who. An elf, maybe?"

Wendell sighed, staring at the door she'd just exited through. "She's an actress in your world. Quite famous from what I gathered. Teresa kept calling her by some name, Missy, I think."

"Missy?" Antony inhaled deeply. "Missy Duke? Wendell, oh my God! I can't believe I didn't recognize her! They're right, they always look different in person. Wendell, do you know who that is?"

The king sighed again. "The woman I'm in love with," he murmured.

"I should get her autograph! You could make a fortune selling her stuff!" He snapped his fingers near Wendell's ear. "E-bay. I could make a killing on E-bay."

"What?" The younger man turned, confused. "Antony, what are you talking about?"

Antony gestured at the door. "All I'm saying is that I could make a lot of money with her help. You know, for Virginia."

"Really, Antony, sometimes you are just incredible. At least wait until she's stopped grieving, will you?"

He hung his head, his dark hair shifting to highlight his bald spot. "You're right. I'm sorry. You don't know how exciting this is, though. Virginia would have a fit to get to meet her, she's seen all her movies. We went to LA once to go to Disneyland, and we thought we saw her there. Virginia would've followed her all around Disneyland, but we lost her in the crowd. She blamed me because I was 'walking too slow.' Well excuse me if I don't want to run around in 100-degree weather, you know? It wasn't her anyway, I kept trying to tell her that. You would never actually see someone that famous. Someone like Missy Duke would just rent Disneyland for the day, none of this mingling with the commoners stuff."

"Antony, please."

"Right. Sorry." He ran a hand over his hair, covering the bald spot again. "So what are you going to do about Soul Ravager?"

"Inesh told Melissa she had to return home. And Soul Ravager is after me, so we're both going."

"I can send people with you."

"No. We won't need them."

"How do you know?"

"Inesh would have told us. I think Melissa is the key to this. Soul Ravager has killed many people, sending an army after her won't work."

Antony shook his head. "How does that follow?"

"I have a feeling."

"Oh, that makes me feel so much better."

"Antony." Wendell used his best royal persona, feeling somehow guilty for it. "No one goes but Melissa and I. That's final."

"You know, I really don't understand you sometimes. At least let me come with you, Wendell. You're king now, you can't go all by yourself."

Wendell exhaled slowly. Being a king was much more difficult than he had ever dreamed. "After you check on Wolf and Virginia, you can come after us. We won't need you, and if you get killed, I swear I won't feel guilty about it." That was a lie, but it couldn't hurt to say it. "But I can't stop you."

Antony smiled, putting a large hand on his shoulder. "Well you could certainly try. It's for the best Wendell, trust me. I don't want you to be killed, either." He squeezed Wendell's shoulder, and then turned away, embarrassed. "So where is Melissa's kingdom? Must have been a hell of a shock, finding out she came from here like that."

"Mm," he agreed. "It's at the border where the Eighth Kingdom meets the Fourth Kingdom. Byron's line controls the fishing villages in the southern fjords. He's technically a part of the Ice Queen's kingdom, but they've always been too far away to fall under her evil control. They've always considered themselves subjects of the Whites, even though they're technically not."

"Mermaids, huh? I'll have to check them out some day. It's a long ride from here, though. Listen, I have a magic potion you can use for your horses. It makes them twice as fast and tireless, so you'll arrive as soon as possible."

"Where did you get a potion like that?"

"Oh, I built a little something for the elves. They were so grateful, they gave me these potions as payment. It wasn't our original deal," Antony winked, "but I couldn't refuse them. They gave me two, so I can use the other one when I follow you. Now, let's get you to your room. You have a long journey ahead."

"Antony." Wendell stopped him before he called one of his servants. "Thank you for your help."

"Hey, it's nothing. You're the king, right?" He tugged the bell pull, and a young girl led Wendell down the short hallway to his guestroom. He asked her where Melissa was, and she pointed at the door next to his. Thanking her, he gave her a gold Wendell from a small amount Aileen had given him, and she nearly skipped away.

Wendell edged up to Melissa's door, staring at it. He raised his hand to knock, but was stopped by the sounds of sobbing he could barely hear. So far as he knew, it was the first time she'd cried since Teresa had been killed. Would she continue if he came in? He thought it more likely she would stop, and make more of an effort to hold her feelings back until Soul Ravager was dead. That, he knew, would be infinitely worse. Weary, he returned to his own room, not falling asleep until much later with the sounds of Melissa's grief echoing in his mind.