Mary Anne Gruen - The House of Red

When Tony went with Rupert to see the Royal Physician, he’d been hoping to catch up with Wolf and Virginia. But they’d already gone to bed. He asked the strange little doctor with the thick glasses and pointed beard for an in-depth diagnosis on them. But he got nothing.

“Mr. Wolf is as well as can be expected after such a terrible experience,” the doctor said, skulking back and forth among some jars of foreign looking liquids and powders. “And Miss Virginia is better than expected. Excellent stamina, that girl has.”

“Thank you . . . I think,” Tony said.

“But you have nothing more than strained muscles as far as I can see.”

“How do you know that? You haven’t even examined me yet,” Tony said, almost in a whimper.

The doctor consulted a gigantic book in leather bindings and said, “I don’t need to.” Then he rummaged around among some bizarre silver instruments. Tony was just as happy not to examined with any of those. “I can tell by the way you walk and move,” the doctor said. “People with broken bones move one way, people with torn ligaments another. And people with strained muscles move like you. Now they are very bad strained muscles, I will admit that. But strained muscles they are. And there is no magic talisman in my collection that can cure you. So, go. Take a hot bath and rest up.”

It was then that the perfect butler brought Matilde's cane. “Lord Lewis”, he said with a slight bow. The depth of his bows always matched the importance of the person he was speaking to. And Tony only rated a slight bow. “Queen Matilde asked me to give you this.” The butler held forth the cane as if it were a precious and costly item deserving of great reverence.

“Ah!” the strange little doctor said, with a sniff. “That’s what you need. Queen Matilde's cane will cure you, both body and soul."

Soul? Tony thought it was strange that he mentioned soul. But he didn't question it because he was tired of being around the strange little man.

Being with Lord Rupert wasn’t any better. He kept talking constantly about the cannons they had been working on in his absence. Tony was just too exhausted to take most of it in. He finally got rid of Rupert by ordering himself a hot bath as per the doctor’s order and promising to go to bed immediately afterward.

"All right," Rupert said. "But promise you'll come down to the workshop first thing in the morning."

"I promise," Tony said.

Unfortunately, the bath didn't ease much of Tony’s pain. It was all he could do to hobble off to his room. And the worst was yet to come. His muscles positively shrieked as he made the climb into his high bed. When he first picked it out at the Royal Furniture Maker’s, he thought it looked macho because it was so tall and sturdy with its dark wood and oversized headboard. But in such agony, it seemed impossible to get into. And when he got into it, he couldn't find a comfortable position. It hurt no matter which way he lay. So he simply stayed on his back, clutching the cane over his chest. He thought he was going to be in for an endless night of pain. But it seemed like only seconds before he fell asleep.

In the morning it was completely different. He bounded off the bed with ease. All discomfort was gone. And his mind felt clearer than it had in a long time. He was even more amazed to see that it was only six o'clock. He hardly ever got up that early.

Tony leaned the cane against his bureau as he dressed and readied himself for the day. Somehow he wasn't so entranced by the showy style he'd been cultivating before he left. His love affair with his new title was over. A subtler more casual look seemed more to his taste now. He chose a relaxed navy suit with a pinstriped sash across the front. When he was ready, he turned to pick up the cane. He was shocked to see it standing on its own power away from the bureau. Was it alive somehow, he wondered. Tony felt strange doing it, but he suddenly found himself addressing it.

"Are you ready to go downstairs now?" he asked a little uncertainly.

The cane with its twisted white wood, bowed in reply.

"Good," Tony said. He assumed the cane had said yes.

When he picked it up, he gave it a weak smile. It felt like a normal piece of dead wood to the touch. But considering how strange things were in the Nine Kingdoms, that didn’t mean much. Best to treat the cane with respect, handle it gently, and not bang it against anything.

No one else seemed to be up yet in the castle. The maids weren't on the move. And only a couple of people were in the kitchen. He thought of knocking on Virginia and Wolf's door, but thought better of it. Wolf had had a bad night. He would need some serious rest.

With no other idea of what to do, Tony made his way to his workshop. After all, he had promised Rupert to go there first thing in the morning. He just didn't believe anyone would be there yet. When he stepped out the back door of the castle, he was amazed to see an array of cannons, big heavy iron ones on great wheels. Alongside them were stacks of cannon balls. They certainly had been busy in his absence.

When he opened the door to the workshop, he found Lord Rupert and King Eranthis talking over a map.

"Lord Lewis!" Rupert said, leaping to his feet. "You're up! How unusual. Have you had breakfast?"

"No," Tony said. "They were still setting up in the kitchen and I didn't want to disturb them."

"Oh, they're used to us working odd hours back here. They're bringing us something shortly. Why don't you give them your order when they come?"

"All right, Tony said. He was still looking around, feeling uncertain. Before he'd left this had been his domain. Now it wasn’t quite his anymore. Or was it? After all, they were following his designs. "I see there are a lot of cannons outside," Tony said.

"Yes," Rupert said. "I told you about them last night. We've been rushing through your plans at the speed of lightening. And King Eranthis has been overseeing the making of the black power. His people have been using it for years to help them mine their way through Dragon Mountain. He seemed the best equipped to handle that part."

"These plans of yours are really ingenious," Eranthis said, looking over the tops of his glasses at Tony. He didn't put the emotion into his words that Rupert did. But considering that he hadn’t wanted anything to do with Tony a few weeks back, this was high praise.

"Thank you," Tony said. "Have you seen Matilde this morning? I have her cane and I wanted to give it back."

"Oh, she's involved in some big military thing," Rupert said. "She's in the King's study watching it all on her crystal ball."

Eranthis adjusted his wire-rimmed glasses and said, "I think you should wait to see Matilde till they've finished the rescue."

"What rescue?"

"They wouldn't tell me," Rupert said. "They wanted to keep it all hush-hush. But I'm pretty sure it has something to do with Red Riding Hood the Third."

"Lord Rupert!" Eranthis said.

"What? I'm not allowed to guess?" Rupert asked.

Eranthis's answer to this was to raise one white eyebrow. Then he addressed himself to Tony. "When you came in we were discussing how many cannons to send to each front and who would be in charge of them."

Tony wasn't sure yet if he was being invited to take part or not. But there wasn't any harm in asking questions. "What are you planning to do?"

"We have ten cannons," Eranthis said. "That's as many as we could make on short notice. Have you seen a map of the fighting?"

"No, I haven't," Tony said.

"Well, look at this." Eranthis pointed to the map he and Rupert had been studying. "These red marks are the areas under attack. Did you know that the Second Kingdom had been taken?"

"Yes, Matilde told me."

"Good. Then you will see that these four borders are where we need the cannons. I think we should have two at each, with an extra one at the two borders that intersect the Second Kingdom. We want the extra weapons there so we can retake the kingdom as soon as possible."

"Excellent plan," Tony said.

"Thank you. Now, as to who is to be in charge. We've pretty much decided. Matilde will lead the attack at the border of the Sixth Kingdom with the Ice Maidens. I will lead at the border of the First Kingdom. Wolf will take the border between the Fourth and Second Kingdoms. And you will take the border of the Third Kingdom."

"Me?" Tony was surprised. "You want me to lead?"

"Of course. Who's better qualified to oversee the cannons than the man who invented them?"

"But I've never served on a battlefield."

"That's why we're sending Lord Rupert with you."

"It’ll be fun," Rupert said, with a smile.

"Oh, I'm sure," Tony answered dryly.

Eranthis looked over the tops of his glasses again. "Is that all right?"

"It will be fine," Tony answered. But he was lying. It wasn’t going to be fine or fun. He just couldn't say no. It was such a great honor they were giving him. He wasn't sure which he liked less, going into battle or serving with Lord Rupert.