Mary Anne Gruen - The House of Red

While the cheering of the trolls was still fresh in their ears, the giants moved out to do battle. They went down the road leading away from the castle, past the stone statues of the famous giants of history that had been placed there by their ancestors eons ago and left by Gretel the Great as a reminder of things past. The trolls had left the statues there mostly because they were too lazy to take them down. But when trying to talk the three giants into joining them in the war, Blabberwort had referred to the sculptures as symbols of the enormous respect her people had for the giants. Giants are known for their size, not for their intellect. They had totally believed Blabberwort when she’d said this, even though Gretel had left them there as well and she certainly had no respect for giants. In fact, she’d fought with them many times. But that was all forgotten. Now the trolls and the giants were allies and the ancient statues were a sign of their union. When they came to the end of the road of monoliths, the giants separated and headed off toward their appointed enemy. Each of Relish's children followed behind his appointed giant with an army of troll soldiers.

Of the three kingdoms attacked, Wendell's was the most prepared. Before the blond giant Hoban with his great beard had reached the river between the Third and Fourth Kingdoms, the wolves had already smelled him coming. Wolves were made for attacking big game in a pack, albeit not game as big as a giant. As soon as Hoban stepped across the river, which to him was little more than a trickle, Carpathian howled for a troop of pureblooded wolves to attack from his right flank. Rose howled for another troop to attack from his left flank. And in front of him, was a quickly moving band of Wendell's navy clad archers with their brass buttons.

The wolves were able to move in and out quickly with relatively few casualties. Hoban tried to hit at them as they bit at his clothes and boots. But by the time he turned in their direction they were gone and Wendell's archers had managed to hit him with several painful arrows. It seemed doubtful that the combined wolf and human forces would be able to kill the giant. But they were a great success at keeping him completely at bay.

When the redheaded giant Marron began his attack on the First Kingdom, he had an easier time of it. Cinderella's black clad troops with the green edging did not have the advantage of wolf troops to help them. Marron was able to beat them back across their border with relative ease. He swung his battle-ax wildly in every direction and kept the archers largely at too great a distance for them to hit him. The only problem was, he had to travel through a wooded area to get to get deeper into the kingdom. And that was where Cinderella's troops could hold him for awhile.

From his high position, Marron couldn't see the First Kingdom's soldiers clearly through the trees to hit them with his battle-ax or kick them out of the way. So they were able to get a clear shot at the giant’s legs. It slowed him down considerably, but didn't actually stop him. The archers couldn't get arrows through the treetops into his more vulnerable areas.

The Second Kingdom took the worst hit of all. From the beginning it was obvious that they were in trouble. The tall heavy red hats with the pompoms that Queen Red Riding Hood the Third was so fond of didn’t allow for quick movement. So, she had had her generals train the soldiers mainly to shoot in formation. This was a ridiculous thing to do in this case because they made an easy target for the battle-ax of the dark giant named Spider. They were all lined up for him like little red bowling pins.

Of course, the generals of the Second Kingdom called for the soldiers to throw away their hats and rush for the woods as Cinderella's troops had done. The Second Kingdom was covered with woods. In fact, there was no way for Spider to approach the Queen's castle without going through woods of some kind. But in this case the only advantage the woods gave the soldiers was that Spider couldn't hit them as readily with his battle-ax. He could still see their red uniforms quite clearly through the barren brown branches of the deciduous trees and the green pines. All he had to do was kick them out of the way or tap them with his battle-ax. Getting tapped by a giant with a battle-ax is roughly the same as getting mowed down by a raging bull. Within minutes, the Second Kingdom's army was in total confusion and Spider didn’t even have to break a sweat.

The elf spy that had been at the troll castle was not able to get to Wendell's castle before the attack began. Even elves can only go so fast on their tiny wings. When the elf spy arrived, she found Queen Leaf Fall speaking to the serious faced Chancellor of the Fourth Kingdom. Breathlessly the elf told her story. And immediately, Leaf Fall and the Chancellor went to notify the other members of the Council who were in the mirror room. They all happened to be there at that moment, watching Tony and Wolf discussing the bounty hunters with Topaz in the past.

"I'm afraid I've got to interrupt this," Leaf Fall announced as she came into the mirror room. "I've just received word that the trolls have gotten three giants to help them conquer the First, Second, and Fourth Kingdoms."

"Oh, no," Cinderella said. She had just been dozing off, but this news brought her fully awake.

"We've got to send off a warning to the troops of those kingdoms at once," Leaf Fall said.

"Well, Dear," Matilde said, "If I were you, I'd ask right away. From what I can see, the trolls are letting the giants do all the fighting. They're just standing back and sleeping or laughing. My guess is that they intend for the giants to attack by day. Then at night, when they have the advantage over human troops, the trolls intend to fight. That way they could keep up a constant battle. You're going to need a combination of both human and wolf troops just to keep the enemy at bay."

"I'll need to send a message to my Prime Minister and General Orozco at the front," Cinderella said.

"I'm sure Leaf Fall will be glad to lend you one, or maybe even several of her elves to bring your messages for you," Matilde said.

"Of course," Leaf Fall said.

"I’ll give them some fairy dust to cut down on travel time," Matilde continued. "Cindy, while you're writing messages, I'd suggest sending one to Wendell to ask if he can spare a wolf captain or two to lead your new troops. Remember, his wolves are already seasoned campaigners."

"Yes, I'll do that. If we work quickly we can have it all in place by tomorrow."

"The problem," Matilde said, "is going to be the Second Kingdom. I don't think it can stand this onslaught."

"No wolves would help them," Cinderella said.

"And no one else either," Leaf Fall pointed out. "Not when they find out the giants are on the march. Everyone will want to keep their troops at home to protect themselves."

"There are the Ice Maidens," Matilde said. “And there is Demetrius.”

The Ice Maidens were a race of female fairies born to the frozen north who had fought before in the defense of the Nine Kingdoms. Matilde had sent a group of them to Wendell's coronation as her representatives. Demetrius was a giant who'd made his home in the north in the depth of a mountain. He and Matilde had become friendly over the last seventy years and she knew he could be counted on.

"I think you should ask the Ice Maidens to keep watch over the border between the Sixth and Second Kingdom," Leaf Fall said. "If the Second Kingdom falls that might be the next place the enemy will strike. The Naked Emperor's great-grandson is roaring crazy and his kingdom is almost in a shambles as it is. His troops will need someone or something they can rally around if they are to hold back the giants and the trolls."

"Yes, and the Ice Maidens carry great respect." Matilde looked into the face of the Chancellor. His forehead was breaking out in beads of sweat and his expression had moved past its third level of extremely serious and had moved into a new fourth level that could only be described as transcendent seriousness. "From the Chancellor's grimace, I can see he's already realized that if the Second Kingdom falls, the Fourth Kingdom’s danger will be even greater. The Second and Fourth Kingdoms share a very long border."

"That means the Fourth Kingdom will become the main firewall between the trolls and the rest of the Nine Kingdoms," King Eranthis said.

"So, if that happens," Matilde said, "I would prefer to have Demetrius fight there."

"Won't that leave your kingdom without protection?" the Chancellor asked Matilde.

"I will recall all the other fairies and have them guard the border with the Second Kingdom. Their magic and the rough terrain should hold back the advance of the giants and the trolls. Remember my kingdom is basically nothing but ice and snow with a few fairies and a giant living in it. Demetrius stays there because he’s a dedicated hermit and doesn’t have any addictions to feed like the other giants. Also, there aren’t any humans. We took the Eighth Kingdom basically because fairies don’t mind the cold and no one else wanted it. Mazarin the Wizard tried to take it because he’s one of us and he knew he could rule from there with very little opposition. Nobody else would be interested in the place. I only wish we had more of a fairy population to join the fight. Because we live so long, there are never many of us at one time. Leaf Fall, you may have to pull some of your elves in defense of the Second Kingdom."

"Woodbine won't like that."

"So send him into hiding in that waterfall again."

"He'll probably do that anyway," Leaf Fall said.

“Good. Let him.” Matilde covered the crystal with its special white cloth and rose to her feet. "We’ll see if we can’t get Cole to line up some troops too. Cinderella, you sit here and start writing those messages. Chancellor, I'm sure you'll be wanting to write one to Wendell as well."

"Oh, yes, indeed." His nervous fingers pulled a piece of paper out of a pile and began writing at once.

"Eranthis, how is that project of Lord Lewis's coming?

"Slower than we'd like."

"Well, speed it up. We're going to be needing those cannons."

"You're acquainted with this weapon?" Eranthis asked.

"Yes. I've been to Lord Lewis's dimension many times. How long will it take before they're ready."

"About another week. Maybe a bit more."

"Then somehow we've got to hold things together till then. Eranthis, I'll have my footman notify your Governing Council about this morning's developments."

"Thank you."

“I didn’t ask you to consider sending troops because I need your people to work on those cannons. I'll also notify the Chancellor of the Fifth Kingdom for Cole and the Emperor of the Sixth Kingdom. Leaf Fall, do you want me to send my footman to Woodbine and your Council as well?"

"No. It would be better if I sent one of my own messengers."

"Fine. I'll also notify the Ice Maidens and Demetrius."

"Here's the letter for my Prime Minister," Cinderella said, handing a folded note to Leaf Fall. "And the one for Wendell. And the one for General Orozco at the front."

"And here's mine for the King," Wendell's Chancellor said.

"Good," Matilde said.

"My Prime Minister should be easy to find," Cinderella said. "He'll probably be at the castle. And if he's not, they'll know where to find him. As for General Orozco, he always leads from some prominent spot behind the action. He should be easily visible from the air."

"The same can't be said about Wendell," Matilde commented. "He's been threading in among the troops pretty close to the action. He'll be hard to pick out among all those navy-suited men. Leaf Fall, might I suggest you have Wendell's messages brought to Wolf's sister Rose. She's near the front too, but with all that red hair she stands out."

"Really?" Leaf Fall said. "Why her? Why not simply leave the message with one of Wendell's men?"

"Because it'll take time before they're able to find him and I have a pretty good idea Rose will be able to scent him right away."

"I know wolves have a strong sense of smell,” Leaf Fall said. “But, really, can she find him that quickly in the heat of battle?"

"Yes."

Leaf Fall shook her head. "You get some strange ideas sometimes."

"I know. And seeing as I'm only five hundred, I'll probably have a great many more. But in this case, if you'd been watching the borders of the troll kingdom and the armies camped there as carefully as I have, you wouldn't argue."

"But I have been. I've had elf spies all around."

"Yes, and they've done a wonderful job, Leaf dear. But they can't see some of the intimacies that my crystal can. Send Wendell's messages to Rose. She'll be able to find him faster than anyone else can."