Mary Anne Gruen - The House of Red

Lord Rupert was absolutely thrilled to help Wolf plan the wedding. In fact, the short time schedule only seemed to increase the excitement for him. He was literally bouncing off walls, dashing madly up and down the hallways of the castle with Wolf chasing behind.

They talked to the head chef first and then organized teams of butlers and maids to decorate the main ballroom. Lord Rupert insisted that pink and white should be the central colors, with just the occasional touch of black for formality. For the wedding feast, there would be lamb. And damask roses were to decorate the tables. The three tiered wedding cake design was based on the cake Wolf and Virginia had missed out on tasting during their first date in Kissing Town, light pink icing with dark pink hearts all around. As for the invitations, there was no time to mail out formal ones. So, several butlers were sent out to contact the wedding guests directly. “Don’t allow anyone to put you off,” Lord Rupert commanded. “I need to know exactly how many people are coming by dinner time tonight.”

While Wolf and Lord Rupert were running from the kitchen to the second floor, they passed King Wendell coming down. He was looking very tall and stately in his black suit with the gold braid and gold epaulets. Of course, he wasn’t wearing his crown. That was only for official ceremonies.

“Your Majesty,” Lord Rupert said perfunctorily as he dashed around the corner, a blurry vision of dark purple.

Wolf, however, stopped to give his old friend a more proper bow. “Your Majesty,” Wolf said, panting. He was actually glad to stop. Lord Rupert moved so quickly, he was beginning to wonder if he was part wolf.

“Ah, Wolf,” Wendell said. “I heard you were back. Why are you and Lord Rupert running about?”

“Virginia and I are getting married tomorrow. I wonder if you’d like to be my best man?”

“Indeed?” Life was funny. A little over a month ago, Wendell wouldn’t have wanted to be in the same room with Wolf. Now, he was being asked to be his best man. “I’d be honored.”

“Got to go now,” Wolf said, readying himself for a sprint. “We’re seeing about changing the drapes in the ballroom.”

“I say, did Tony tell you there’s a group of wolves that comes to see you every day?”

“Oh, yes he did. But he didn’t say what time.”

“About ten o’clock. I’ll have the Chancellor let you know when they arrive.”

“All right,” Wolf said, dashing off in the same direction Lord Rupert had disappeared moments before.

At ten o’clock, however, there wasn’t just a handful of wolves waiting out in the courtyard. There was a crowd. The word of Wolf’s return had gotten out and most of the wolves staying in the woods bordering King Wendell’s castle had come to see their hero and hear him speak.

King Wendell sent the Chancellor to fetch Wolf, while he watched the event from his office window. As usual the girl with the red hair was present. This time she was off to the side near the front, once again wearing her simple brown peasant dress. “That outfit doesn’t do her justice,” the king said to himself. “She should be wearing silk and satin in shades of green.”

Wolf was amazed at the crowd. In fact, he wasn’t sure that he wanted to go out and see them. The last time he’d encountered such a mob had been in Little Lamb Village when they’d falsely accused him of murder and tried to burn him. “You go first,” he told the Chancellor.

“As you like,” the Chancellor said. He was used to dealing with crowds. He cleared his throat and said in a loud voice, “As you’ve all heard, Mr. Wolf and his fiancée have returned today. He’s waiting to say a few words to you now.”

Wolf came out timidly and hid behind the Chancellor. “But I don’t know how to make speeches,” he whispered.

“Then just mingle. The public likes mingling.”

When Wolf stepped out, he was immediately greeted by a series of howls that grew in volume till it reached an ear piercing crescendo. He was startled by it at first and almost fled back into the castle. But the Chancellor gave him a little nudge of encouragement. There was nothing to do but gingerly step into the crowd.

Virginia and her father heard the wolves calling all the way in back of the castle. They were inspecting Tony’s workshop and his legions of helpers. Tony was enjoying showing off to his daughter. But Virginia was a bit bored.

“What’s that?” she asked.

“It sounds like Wolf’s fan club. Maybe we should go see.”

By the time they got to the courtyard, Wolf had gotten a little more comfortable. He was shaking the hands of part-wolves and bowing formally to the full blooded wolves, saying ‘Thank you’ over and over again to the many words of praise that everyone was heaping upon him.

He tried to repeat names at first, but it just became too much to take in, a blur of unfamiliar hands and snouts. Yet everyone seemed to know him and idolize him. It was more than he could take in.

Finally, the red headed girl made her way to the front. She grasped his hand as another man to Wolf’s right was talking. Wolf gave the girl a slight smile and turned back to listen to the man. All of a sudden his head snapped around again.

Wolf sniffed. “Rose?” he said, incredulously, “Rose? Is that you?”

The girl smiled and nodded.

With a cry of joy, he grabbed her and swung her up into the air.

Virginia and Tony arrived just in time to see this display. Virginia’s eyes narrowed when she saw her fiancé embracing a strange woman. With a strength born of jealousy, she pushed the throng aside and presented herself for an explanation.

“Virginia!” Wolf exclaimed, putting the girl down. “This is my little sister Rose. I thought she was dead, along with my brothers.”

“Rose, this is Virginia, the love of my life!”