Mary Anne Gruen - The House of Red

Tony never heard the commotion. He was in his workshop with Lord Rupert and the Royal Blacksmith. They were discussing the raw materials that they were going to need for the cannons.

The blacksmith was about Tony’s age, with huge muscles on his arms and a personality as dull as the metals he fashioned. But he was good at his business and he quickly understood what was expected of him. He couldn’t imagine the exploding side of the cannon, nor quite how effective it would be as a weapon. But the mechanics itself he understood.

They had almost finished when there was a knock on the door of the workshop.

Tony sighed and called, “Come in.” He looked as tired as he felt.

The Chancellor came in, accompanied by the mother wolf that had been with Virginia when she disappeared.

“Excuse me, Lord Lewis,” the Chancellor said, “But I need to have a word with you.”

“You think it could wait?” Tony said distractedly. “We’re almost finished here and I really would like to get this done tonight.”

“No, it can’t,” the Chancellor said. “I don’t think the Royal Blacksmith will mind if you finish this up at a later date.”

The Blacksmith saw the look on the Chancellor’s face and packed up his stuff immediately.

“I’ll make a start tomorrow,” he told Tony as he picked up copies of the plans they’d been going over. “You can stop by and see how it’s coming.”

“All right,” Tony said. He too had seen the Chancellor’s expression. Not that the man ever cracked a smile anyway. He had three basic looks, serious, more serious, and extremely serious. His present grimace fit into the third category. It had to be bad news. Very bad news.

The Chancellor waited till the door had closed behind the blacksmith before he started speaking. “There’s been an accident,” he said in a controlled voice. Accident seemed such a strange way to put it. But he didn’t know what else to say.

“An accident.” Tony’s mind flew. His first thought was of Wolf. Had they come to tell him that Wolf had been injured or killed in the war? “Wolf. Is he all right?”

“Oh, he’s fine, as far as we know. It’s your daughter.”

Tony was on his feet now, knocking over a pile of papers in the process. “Virginia? What’s happened to her?”

“I’m afraid she’s disappeared.”

“Disappeared? What does that mean? You think she’s been kidnapped?”

The Chancellor’s eyes shifted about the floor as if looking for an answer, or at least better words. “No. She was on her way out for her evening walk when she and this lady wolf here surprised a troll in the act of killing another wolf. Your daughter raised the alarm, of course. And this lady wolf tried to keep the troll at bay. Unfortunately, he pulled out some sort of magic dust and threw it over Miss Virginia. The palace guards arrived just in time to see her disappear.”

Tony started shaking. He’d been ready to hear about Wolf. But Virginia? He’d assumed she was safe.

“When did this happen?” Lord Rupert asked.

“Just now. I take it you didn’t hear the commotion in the courtyard.”

“Not a thing,” Lord Rupert said.

“How do you know she didn’t just walk off somewhere or run after the troll?” Tony asked.

“As I told you, the guards saw this bright dust falling around her and then she disappeared. This lady wolf was also on the scene.”

“Yes,” the wolf said. She turned her right eye toward Tony because she was a little blind in the left. It glinted bright yellow in the candlelight. “I was out hunting for food when I heard cries. I came running and arrived at the same time that Miss Virginia did. We could both tell at once that the troll had stabbed this other wolf to death. I assume it was because the wolf was trying to stop him from approaching the castle. I threatened the troll by growling and baring my teeth and Miss Virginia called for the guards. I thought we had him. I really did. Then suddenly he pulled out this powder and threw it over her. I knew it was magical by the way it sparkled. The guards were running up at that point. Their presence sent the troll back into the woods. But before he ran away he said something like, ‘That’s for Dad.’ I don’t know what that meant.”

“It must have been one of Relish’s children,” the Chancellor said.

“Well, you still should have searched the woods,” Tony insisted.

“We did,” the Chancellor said, “Just to be certain. And this lady wolf checked as well. But we didn’t find any sign of either Miss Virginia, or the troll.”

“I followed the troll’s scent for a while,” the mother wolf said, “But it led straight off from the castle.”

“Show me where she disappeared,” Tony demanded.

“Of course,” the Chancellor said.

They journeyed around the outside of the castle to the courtyard and came to a stop by the fountain. The body of the old wolf named Culpepper had been removed and a guard stationed at the spot.

“This is where she disappeared,” the Chancellor said.

Tony looked down and saw the residue of some kind of glowing dust. He knelt to touch his hand to it. “What is this stuff?”

“As far as we can gather, it’s some kind of fairy dust.”

“What did it do to her?”

The Chancellor swayed uncertainly. “We really don’t know, I’m afraid.”

Tony rose to his feet and walked menacingly toward the Chancellor. “You don’t know? What do you mean you don’t know? Is she alive or dead?”

“I really couldn’t say,” the Chancellor said, countering backward. “But I’m sure she’s not dead. Fairy dust doesn’t contain the power to kill. Never.”

“Oh, that’s fine! Just fine! So, where is she?”

“We think it may be some kind of traveling powder.”

“From the smell of it,” the mother wolf said, “It’s very old.”

“So,” Tony said, “you people don’t just use mirrors to travel, you use magic dust too?”

“Only the fairies use it,” the Chancellor said, “for long distance traveling. Your daughter may be off in another dimension or a distant land. She might even have gone to the future or to the past. This lady wolf says the powder is old. The fairies used to do a lot of time travel long ago.”

“Oh, that’s just great!” Tony yelled. “First she walks through a mirror, now it’s fairy dust. Well, you just listen. I want your best man on this. I want her back.”

Lord Rupert cleared his throat. He’d been silent till now. But it was obvious what they had to do. “I suggest we contact Queen Matilde at once.”

“Who’s she?” Tony asked.

“Matilde is Queen of the fairies,” the Chancellor explained. “She’s also the president of the Council of the Nine Kingdoms and the ruler of the Eighth Kingdom in the frozen north.”

“That’s an excellent idea,” Tony said, still eyeing the Chancellor menacingly. “You get her on the phone or contact her by magic mirror or send her a message the old fashioned way. I don't care how you do it, just do it!”

"Only certain people have the power to use mirrors," the Chancellor said. "I'm afraid we don't have anyone on hand right now who could do that."

“I have a son,” the mother wolf said. “He was too young to send to war. But he’d do an excellent job of carrying your message. The Eighth Kingdom is far away and the terrain is difficult once you reach it. My son could make the journey faster than a man on horseback.”

“Yes,” Lord Rupert said, making the decision for everybody. “Tell him to leave at once. Since she has a magic chariot, she can be here very quickly. And I’m sure she’ll come at once when she hears that a troll has been throwing around fairy dust. If anyone can help, she can. In the meantime, I’m sure the Chancellor will see to it that this spot remains undisturbed.”

“Yes, of course,” the Chancellor said.

“I’ll send my son at once,” the mother wolf said, running off for the woods.

“As for you, Tony,” Rupert continued. It was the first time he had called him by his first name. “There’s nothing more we can do here tonight. I think it’s time you went to bed.” He took Tony by the shoulders and guided him toward the castle.

“What about Wolf?" Tony asked, coming to a stop. "He’s got to be told.”

“I’ll send a messenger to the King,” the Chancellor said.

“Tell Wolf to return immediately,” Lord Rupert said. “But don’t tell him why. Maybe we’ll have more information before he gets here.”

“As you say,” the Chancellor agreed. But he thought it was only putting off the inevitable.

Tony went off with Rupert willingly after that. “What am I going to tell Wolf?” he asked. “He was counting on me to keep her safe. I told her not to go walking alone. But did she listen? Do children ever listen?”