Mary Anne Gruen - The House of Red

By nightfall at King Wendell’s castle, the preparations for Tony and Wolf’s trip to the past were almost complete. Eranthis had presented them with the tiny pieces of the mirror, which they would wear around their necks. They had been decked out in peasant clothes that were more homespun and proper for the time they were going to. And Matilde had told them as much as she could recall about the customs of the time, including the fact that they didn’t have any coin or paper money in that area because they didn’t have a real kingdom yet.

“It’s usually the monarchy that coins money,” she said. “At that time the Second Kingdom had a barter system. So we’re sending you with several beaver skins because furs and farm produce were the major mode of exchange in those days and produce is so perishable. You can tell people you’re trappers or hunters.” She then presented Tony with two small leather satchels. “The blue one contains the fairy dust that will take you to your second stop in the past. The red one contains the dust that will carry you back here. Be careful not to lose them. I don’t want to have to go into the past looking for you.”

“Do you think I’m stupid or something?” Tony asked angrily. He was getting tired of Matilde talking to him as if he were a child. He didn’t care if she was five hundred years old.

“No. I don’t think you’re stupid,” Matilde said. “But I do think you can be a bit foolish at times. You could wear the satchels attached to your belt. But I think they’d be safer on a leather string around your neck.”

“Great. I haven’t got enough around my neck already?” Tony held up the mirror talisman as exhibit A. The circular piece of mirror was a sensible size. But the chain it was attached to was heavy and ugly. “Couldn’t King what’s-his-name have gotten us a nicer chain?” he asked rattling it.

“King ERANTHIS got you the proper size chain for that time. Anything finer and you’d be pegged as something more than a peasant.”

“Maybe I should wear it then,” Wolf said, growling impatiently. With each passing hour he was becoming more and more anxious. He had been pacing up and down and back and forth during this whole interplay between Tony and Matilde. And before that, while King Eranthis had been removing the pieces of the Mirror of Truth, he had been hanging over his shoulder till the Dwarf King had finally ordered the Chancellor to have him taken away.

“No,” Matilde said. As ill tempered as Tony was being at the moment, he was still more cool headed than Wolf. The wisdom of Snow’s sending them both was already quite obvious.

“Wolf, it’s almost time for you to leave. Why don’t you go tell the Chancellor?”

“Right,” Wolf said, springing off.

“I don’t envy your having to keep him under control,” Matilde said to Tony after Wolf had gone.

“He’s just worried about Virginia.”

“Yes, well. I hope he calms down. From what I remember of that time and place, things were very unpleasant between the farmers and the wolf population. Young Wolf is going to have to be very careful not to get himself into trouble.”

“I’ll watch out for him. He’ll probably be a lot better once we’ve found my daughter.”

At that point one of the butlers walked in. He was the same highly polished man who’d notified them of the Dwarf King’s arrival. He seemed to be on duty at all hours. “Your Highness,” he said with a proper bow.

“Yes.”

“I just wanted to let you know that Queen Leaf Fall has arrived. The Chancellor is speaking with her now.” The butler clicked his heels and backed smoothly out of the room without so much as a glance behind.

“That man should have been a dancer,” Matilde observed.

“Queen Leaf Fall is the Queen of the elves, right?” Tony asked. He remembered seeing her at Wendell’s coronation in a green leaf colored gown with a much older Elf on her arm.

“Yes. She’s also the Queen of the Seventh Kingdom and my stepdaughter. She must have come straight here. I was hoping you’d be gone before she arrived. She’s always such a bother.”

“I take it you aren’t close.”

“Not even vaguely. She was an adult, of course, when I married her father. He was the King of the Elves, a fine man and a brave one. But he spoiled her terribly. I’m sure she thinks of me as the wicked stepmother type. But honestly, not all of us are wicked. We don’t all try to do our stepchildren in with poisoned apples or turn them into ragamuffin servants like with Cinderella. Though sometimes we do have our fantasies. Or at least we do when we have stepchildren like Leaf Fall. That young woman has almost as much pride as Queen Red Riding Hood the Third. And believe me, that’s saying something. No wonder the two are such good friends. They both think they’re superior to the rest of us.” A broad smile came to Matilde’s lips and she leaned into Tony in a conspiratorial fashion. “I must say,” she whispered, “I enjoyed hearing how embarrassed she was when she found out she’d tested a dog version of Wendell at his coronation AND passed him.”

Tony started laughing, when the lady who was the butt of the joke entered. She was dressed all in green again and her demeanor hadn’t improved any. She was like a bee, complete with buzzing wings at her back.

“So,” Leaf Fall said, her upper lip tightening across her mouth. “I hear Snow White has called a quest.”

“Yes, Dear,” Matilde said, offhandedly. She always dealt with her stepdaughter offhandedly. “I was just about to send our questers off. Leaf, this is Lord Lewis. I believe you’ve met.”

Leaf Fall barely glanced at Tony. After all, he’d been present at Wendell’s coronation and she wanted to forget that had ever happened. “We’ve met,” she said.

“A pleasure to see you again,” Tony said. “I’ll go get Wolf and tell him it’s time to go. I also need a leather string for these.” He held up the two leather satchels that Matilde had given him. “If you’ll excuse me, ladies.”

“You should have sent word to me first,” Leaf Fall said indignantly.

“I sent my coach in a full circle to make things more efficient,” Matilde explained.

“And you had him stop at my palace last.”

“No, Dear,” Matilde said in her sweetest voice. “You were next to last. I sent him first to Cinderella and Red because they were the ones whose kingdoms were in danger.”

“You could have sent him to me after that.”

“Then he would have had to zigzag all over the place and there would have been such a terrible waste of fairy dust.”

“You delight in tormenting me, don’t you?”

“Believe it or not, Dear, I don’t. I just acted in what I thought was the most expedient manner. But you take everything so personally.” Matilde’s manner became more serious now. “I’m glad you came quickly, though. Having you as a witness from the beginning will mean quite a lot to the Council. Snow asked for you specifically, you know.”

This stroke to Leaf Fall’s ego eased the buzzing of her wings just a touch. “Of course. When Queen Snow White speaks, we must all listen.”

“Yes. And watch.”

Tony returned with Wolf, the Chancellor, and Lord Rupert in tow. Wolf was panting hard with anxiety, barely keeping his desire to whine in check.

“Are you ready?” Queen Matilde asked.

“Oh, yes!” Wolf said.

“Fine, then come and stand here in front of me. I will throw dust over you and it will transport you backward in time. Since you’re both mortals, you may have trouble landing. If you fall on the ground or pass out for a bit, don’t worry about it. Just get up. Snow White will steer you to the same time where she’s sent Virginia. She’ll probably even bring you close to the area where she is now. But if not, Wolf, you will find her I’m sure.”

“Oh, yes,” Wolf said.

“Be very careful, both of you. And try to remember everything Queen Snow White told you.” With that, Matilde pulled out another small blue leather satchel and threw some of its contents over them. “Good luck!” she called.

The magic dust floated and sparkled around Tony and Wolf. Since it was fresher than the stuff that had made Virginia disappear, the scent of violets was very strong. It held in the air momentarily. Then, as it started to fall, Tony and Wolf disappeared.