My Envied Lady: Chapter 18

Chapter 18
"They did what ?" The Smurfs had found the King and his men making camp for the night. In the privacy of the king's tent, they had explained everything to him, the kidnapping plot, Lothar's betrayal, the cave full of loot from the forest robberies, and the death of Fenris the werewolf. The King was somewhere between shock, relief, worry and anger. Johan and Peewit had disobeyed him, nearly gotten themselves killed – again - and Maenad was now a full werewolf instead of merely a very strange woman. But she had saved their lives and was apparently keeping them in hiding. The king didn't know whether to embrace or throttle the youths when he found them. "We'll take you there, your Majesty, I have some medicines that will help. They are still a good day's smurf away, so we need to hurry," Said Papa Smurf, joining two other Smurfs on Feathers, Brainy and Hefty. "Excellent! But I still have a traitor to deal with. I need to consult with my knights." The King excused himself, and went to rouse his men and inform them of what had transpired (though he said it was "a runner" who had given him the news.) After a hurried change of plans, it was decided that Tremaine and Broadback would take most of the troops to go arrest the traitor Lothar, while the King himself would go with a handful of men and retrieve his niece and her rescuers. Lothar sat on an ivory-inlaid throne his aging keep, waiting for a messenger to come and announce the King's arrival any time now. He hoped they did not arrive before the Princess did, he did not want to have to hide her from her relatives, and there was simply not enough room for a prisoner. His castle was one of the old wooden ones; a keep and palisade made of strong oak, with smaller buildings mushrooming within its walls. It was the finest construction to be had two hundred years ago when it was built. Unfortunately, Lothar and his father had put more time and money into gambling and personal luxury than upkeep and maintenance, and it was now crowded and in disrepair. He dreamed of how nice it would be to have a strong stone keep as he creaked down the stairs. It had rained, and the yard was muddy and foul. The guards at the gate leapt to attention as he stepped from stone to stone, avoiding the really large puddles. "Any word yet?" "No, milord, the man we left to draw them here came back yesterday, but we have had no word from the King." "And no word from Fenris either?" "No, Sire, none." Lothar did not let himself get too concerned, after all, the rain slowed travel, and perhaps the King would not announce his arrival. He would wait until morning, then go check on Fenris and retrieve the Princess himself, lack of room to hide her be damned. After still no word from anyone arrived the following morning, Lothar informed his household he was going hunting and rode off with a few of his men to go retrieve Sabina. Hours later, Tremaine and Broadback arrived, demanding to speak with him. They were given a warm reception and told the lie about the hunting trip. Though Tremaine and Broadback wanted to leave immediately and pursue him, they were delayed by one gesture of "hospitality" after another; wine, women, food and song, all of which were refused. When they finally managed to escape the kindness, evening was approaching, and Lothar was miles away. The Prince had trained his household well. Maenad kept the storytelling game going as song as she could. "So that explains why you came to the castle, but where are you from originally – and don't try and work it into lyrics. Who were your parents?" Peewit rubbed the sore spot on his head from where she's thumped him the last time he tried to turn the story into a ballad. "I'm uh…not sure, believe it or not. My mother was just a poor village girl. She disappeared in the forest while gathering firewood one day, and wasn't found again until the next spring, looking exactly the same as the day she vanished. She told everyone she lived in a manor house under a hill, but nobody believed her. Eight months later, I was born, but she…she didn't live long after that. I was raised by her older brother; he taught me everything I know, like singing." "How kind of him. Do you believe your mother's story?" Maenad said, looking at him. She sounded truly interested. "I don't know. I'd like to think it was true, but it's not like I have any magical powers to show for it. Though my reputation did help me in Boulder Wood. I think Johan is the only one at court who believes it. Anyway, it was an okay life. Even though nobody believed my mother and everyone made fun of me when they weren't avoiding me and my uncle. I think some of them secretly believed the story about the fair folk. I decided I could either be the butt of their jokes, or I could entertain them and make the jokes. That's when I found my calling, and look where I am now!" "Yes, spending your days with a werewolf and blue forest spirits, battling wizards with your friend. Absolutely normal." "So where do you come from, Maenad?" "I was born in Rome, my grandfather was a general. He arranged my marriage to my husband when i was sixteen. I followed him to Londinium where he was stationed. He was a military man like Grandfather, you see. It was there that I spent the rest of my human life." "Did he die when…" "No, Manius was killed in battle with the barbarian tribes, but they had werewolves among their people. I was nineteen years old. That, I remember well. I thought I would spend the rest of my life that way, in palaces and temples, raising his children. Fortuna had different plans for me, though." Before the story could continue, they had reached the den. Maenad told Pewit to prepare the meat while she shifted to wolf form to make sure no one else was around. Her senses of hearing and smell were better, and she would draw less attention to herself; just a she-wolf patrolling her territory. Normal bird chatter. Three humans, two in the cave, blood, a horse and a goat. At some point in the last few hours, a fox had passed through. No other humans, good. She returned to the overhang, ate her fill of raw venison, and fell asleep, still a wolf. Peewit was a little offended by her rudeness. He watched the meat roast, but was soon bored and thirsty. He grabbed a torch that they had taken from the poacher's camp, lit it, and went into the cave, tripping over the furs piled in the middle of the floor. He saw his friends leap from under them, startled and red with embarrassment before the torch flickered out. "Peewit!" "What are you doing down here?" "I got thirsty and came down for some wine…instead I see a lot more of my friends than I expected to!" he replied with a chuckle. "This isn't a laughing matter! You can't tell anyone about this!" "I knew something was up with you two, always sneaking off on me!" "This is serious!" "Children, please ." Maenad's footsteps echoed, and she sounded tired and annoyed. "Peewit, go outside and leave them alone. Sabina, you need to come outside too and let the boy rest. Don't look at me like that; I was a married woman once, you know." Her skirt swished as she crossed the room and rummaged in her things on the far wall. "Oh Johan, we found Bayard, he's outside. As soon as you are rested, we can go find the King." She left the cave as abruptly as she had entered, dragging Peewit with her by the collar. Johan and Sabina sat in the dark, still terribly embarrassed. While it was a relief that Maenad truly didn't care about the whole affair (there was something to be said for her being raised a hedonistic pagan,) their relationship was now much less secret, especially since now Peewit knew. He could barely keep quiet about surprise parties. Maenad gave up on sleep and disappeared for a while, returning in yet another old-fashioned man's tunic and hose, with damp hair tightly braided up once again. How like Maenad to worry about her appearance while hiding in a cave. Former nobility all right, though Peewit. He decided to continue their old conversation. So when you were married, was your name Drusillia?" asked Peewit. "That was my name, yes. But I don't like it being known. None of us werewolves like having our human names known, if we had any to begin with. You have your secrets, I have mine."