Werewolf Knight 2: A Reverse Portal Fantasy, page 9
“Darius!” the witch yelled. “Over here!”
“Ha!” the man snorted and disappeared from the window.
He reappeared at the door to the house and waved happily at our little group. He then ran across the muddy yard and skidded to a stop next to Casanova.
“Good morning,” I said. “You must be Sybil’s brother, right?”
“Morning?” he cackled. “It’s far past morning for a farmer. But yes, I’m Darius Foreman, one of the many brothers of Sybil. I’m afraid the rest of the family is out in the fields, but I’m glad I could witness this spectacle. What a beautiful direwolf, by the way.”
He patted Casanova on the head and gave him a big scratch behind the ear.
“It’s such a pleasure to meet you,” Tabitha said. “Any friend of Sybil is a friend of mine.”
“Ha!” Darius laughed again. “Well, you have to be friends when you share a room for almost twenty years.”
Sybil blushed almost purple at the mention of having to share a room with her siblings for so long. I looked up at the sky and realized just how much of the day had already passed. I had to talk to the King before he left for the lake, and if we didn’t get there soon, the ruler of Lupercalia would be too busy preparing for the journey to talk to us.
“We were on our way to the palace,” I said. “Urgent business, I’m afraid. But you should come to the estate soon and have dinner with us.”
“I’d love that,” Darius replied with a grin. “And I’ll tell the rest of the family you stopped by.”
“And I’ll be by later this week to check the field conditions,” Charles said. “We’ve had some issues with lower yields this year, but hopefully, the blessing of the Moon Goddess will change that.”
“We’d appreciate any tips you might have,” Darius said solemnly. “We’ve enough to get us through the winter, but it will be tight.”
“Many of the farms are reporting the same,” Charles sighed. “Well, shall we get going.”
Darius grinned, made a face at his sister, and then backed up as Casanova started to follow Charles again.
“You shared a room with your brother?” Tabitha asked when we were out of earshot.
“There are only three rooms in the house,” Sybil snapped. “So, yes, we shared.”
“Must have been like a slumber party every night,” Tabitha replied. “What fun.”
“Sometimes it was,” Sybil said. “Sometimes all I wanted to do was run outside and sleep under a tree just so I wouldn’t have to listen to my brothers.”
We neared the stable where I knew Bertie liked to nap, and Charles clucked again to tell Casanova to stop. The pup actually stood still while Charles was gone, and even when the knight reappeared with his own direwolf, Casanova merely wagged his tail.
“Shall we?” Charles laughed once he was seated on his direwolf’s back.
He gave Bertie a nudge, and the pair galloped forward toward the green Lupercalian hills. Luckily, Casanova followed closely and matched Bertie’s smoother, more measured pace.
We rode up through the hills until the palace was in view. I had to stop every instinct in my body from trying to initiate a race, because I knew that Casanova might just go haywire and either pile drive into the palace gates or take us to another corner of the kingdom completely.
We reached the drawbridge to the castle, and Bertie slowed down to an elegant trot. Casanova tried to imitate him, but could only manage a very bouncy walk, which was still kind of cute.
“See?” the other knight said. “Training a direwolf takes patience, but you’ll be very happy with your pup once he learns the ins and outs.”
“Thanks, Charles,” I said. “If it weren’t for you, it might’ve taken all day to get here.”
We pulled to a stop at the gates, and Casanova sat down so that we could all slide off. One of the hybrid-form knights came over and took the reins from me.
“The squires are busy, but we’ll see to Casanova,” the knight said.
“I have business to attend to in Stock now,” Charles said. “But I hope whatever you need taken care of is done so in a quick and careful manner."
The older man shot me a look, and for a second I thought I saw some recognition in his eyes that insinuated that he could tell something was up. However, he waved at Sybil and Tabitha and rode off into the distance.
“Let’s go,” I said and led the way across the courtyard and up the staircase.
“You’re in a hurry,” Tabitha panted.
“I can feel this is important,” I replied. “And I need to warn the king to be careful.”
“You think they’ll go after the king?” Sybil gasped.
“It would make sense,” I replied. “He’s both the figurative and literal head of the country. If they kill him, it’ll create chaos.”
“That’s why you want to translate the notebook,” Tabitha guessed. “You think there’s some sort of plan in there.”
“Why else would they go to all that trouble to retrieve it?” I asked.
“But who are ‘they’?” Sybil asked.
“I don’t know,” I admitted in a frustrated voice.
We got to the top of the staircase and headed past the rosette window. The door to the banquet hall was still propped open, and when I headed in, I was greeted by a full lunch buffet.
“Oooh,” Sybil sighed hungrily. “I wasn’t expecting this.”
“Really?” Tabitha teased. “When have you ever not seen this place packed with people eating?”
“We’re hosting many guests before the voyage,” Sebastian piped up as he appeared by my side.
“Hey, Sebastian,” I said. “Is the King here today? I have a pretty urgent question I need to ask him before he leaves for the lake."
“He’s showing some of his cousins the jousting fields at the moment,” Sebastian explained. “They live at the edge of the Kingdom, so they only come to court once a year. The King likes to spend time alone with them when they arrive.”
“Oh,” I sighed.
“But they should be back soon for lunch,” Sebastian offered hopefully.
I’d hoped to catch the King before the lunch rush, but I’d take what I could get. I thanked the little squire and then led the girls toward the buffet table. I took in the big bowls of oatmeal full of blueberries and blackberries, loaves of freshly-baked bread with herbs and olives in them, an assortment of cheeses, fresh butter, and several smoked fish.
“This looks great,” I said and took a plate. I helped myself to some of the herbed bread, slathered it in fresh butter, and topped it off with what looked to be mackerel.
“I don’t think I could eat for another ten years,” Tabitha sighed and grabbed an apple instead.
Sybil, on the other hand, had loaded her plate up with bread, fish, and an assortment of cheese.
“Last night tired me out,” the witch giggled when she saw Tabitha and I staring at her plate.
We headed over to the Blueclaw table where we’d had dinner the night before, but it was now empty of Blueclaws and Greybacks. We drew a few pointed looks from the other nobles, mostly those who didn’t spend much time at court, but the majority of the people in the crowd looked like they were still half-asleep.
“Must have been some party after we left,” I noted.
“It usually is,” Tabitha said. “For some of these families, this is the only time they’ll be at court all year. They usually throw their own little parties after the official one wraps up.”
I nodded and turned my attention to the bread. I’m sure it was delicious, but I barely noticed. All I could think about was the notebook and the secrets it contained. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was closing in on the Kingdom, and I kept glancing toward the royal table as I waited for the King to return.
“Ah, the valiant bean knight has returned,” Hector announced in a mocking voice.
“Not again,” Tabitha mumbled.
“Morning, Hector,” I said in a friendly voice as I glanced over my shoulder. “What brings you to the banquet hall today?”
The annoying man walked around the table, examined the chairs, and finally sat down across from us. His sandy hair flopped over his face, and he quickly brushed it out of his eyes. He’d added a signet ring to his usual outfit, and I wondered if he was now trying to claim that the Moon Goddess had also bestowed a ring on him.
“If you recall, Hank, I still live on the palace grounds,” he said. “So people expect to see me here. You’re the uninvited guest here. And my, don’t we look anxious. Bad bean crop, perhaps?”
Tabitha had had enough. She slammed down her apple and looked up at him with the most unimpressed expression I’d seen in my life. It was like she’d eaten a worm by accident. If a girl had ever looked at me that way, I would’ve simply died on the spot.
“Why are you, a blue-blooded noble, sitting on your bony little bottom in the palace when you could be on a quest that will ensure your own estate?” she asked. “Hmm?"
Sadly, Hector was so used to people being irritated at him that he only grinned back.
“I have no ambitions to be a questing knight,” he said haughtily. “I’ve come to realize that my talents are those of the intellect. The pursuits of the mind, if you will.”
I looked over at Sybil, and one of the berries that she’d just shoveled into her mouth dropped out. I had to take the high road on this one, for the safety of the kingdom. If this guy thought he was too good to be a Knight, then I wasn’t going to convince him otherwise. At least if he planted his bony ass in the Palace, he couldn’t kill anyone outside the walls with his stupidity and less than stellar fighting skills.
“That’s really interesting, Hector,” I said. “But what kind of pursuits of the mind are you undertaking?”
“Well,” he said dreamily and rested his chin in his hand. “I’m currently going down a political route. Currently, I am acting as an administrator for land borders. Most of what I do entails resolving conflicts between landowners over the borders of their property. I am a mediator, I suppose.”
Even though he only seemed capable of expressing himself through petty remarks and insults half the time, it seemed like he genuinely wanted to tell us about all his exploits.
“Wait,” Tabitha said with a low laugh. “So, you mediate conflicts? Like, you’re the peacekeeper?”
“It’s a very important position,” he shot back. “One that only nobles of a particular skill set can really pull off.”
I shot a small glance at the girls, who were trying to stifle giggles.
“Hector,” Tabitha purred. “I’d venture to say that you’re attracted to drama, which is why you’re so drawn to the office.”
Sybil accidentally let out a loud giggle, and Hector turned bright red.
“Well, at least it puts me in a good position to get to the bottom of any Lupercalian dispute,” he declared in an unusually high tone of voice. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have business to attend to. My family is preparing for the trip to the lake, and I should help them.”
With that, he stood up, pushed his chair back in, and scurried off. If he had been in his hybrid form, his tail would’ve been between his legs.
“What a strange man,” Sybil mumbled.
Tabitha looked like she was about to agree, but one of the doors was thrown open with great fanfare, and the King finally entered the banquet hall. There was a group of people around him, which I assumed were the cousins, but they quickly descended on the buffet table while the King continued toward his chair.
“Just a moment,” I said. “I need to catch him before anyone else does.”
I sprinted toward the dais, pushed aside a slow moving squire, and landed on the platform just as Sebastian set a plate of cheeses in front of the King.
“Your Highness,” I said and bowed my head.
“Ah, Henry,” the King replied as he glanced up from his plate. “What a pleasure to see you. But you look anxious. Why don’t you have a seat and tell me what is bothering you before my cousins return.”
“Thank you, sire,” I said as I sank into the chair on his right.
“My cousins heard of your great quest to the Obsidian Temple and the defeat of Wenderoth,” the King said. “I’m sure they’d love to hear your firsthand account.”
“That’s actually what I wanted to talk about with you,” I said quietly. “In private, if you have a moment.”
“This is as private as it gets,” the King said as he glanced toward the buffet line. “So speak quickly.”
“When I defeated Wenderoth, it wasn’t only silver and moon silver that we found in the Obsidian Temple,” I said. “I also found this…”
It took a moment, and the King looked amused as he watched me fumble with something under the chainmail. But I managed to free the notebook, and I set it carefully on the table in front of the King.
“And what is that?” the King asked but didn’t touch it.
“Wenderoth’s diary,” I replied.
“A vampire’s diary?” he laughed. “And what does it say? Today I thought about sucking blood, today I tipped over and took two hours to get back up, today I decided I’d make the King of Lupercalia’s life difficult for the hundredth time…”
“Sire,” I said and took a deep breath. “I think they’re planning something. When I killed Wenderoth, he said that this was just the beginning. And the diary is encoded. I think we need to read it, though, so we can find out what Wenderoth meant.”
“Henry,” the King sighed. “When you’ve been in Lupercalia as long as I have, you’ll learn that these vampires always have some grand scheme. But these grand schemes always fail because vampires are idiots, and their grand schemes are actually very stupid.”
“But sire,” I pleaded. “I think this is different. Wenderoth wasn’t stupid or incompetent, and I think he was only part of a larger plan.”
The King slowly chewed a piece of cheese, and for the first time since I’d met him, he actually looked displeased. I wondered if he was about to kick me out of the hall, but he finally sighed and looked around the room.
“I appreciate your concern,” he said. “And if any other knight had come to me with this tale, I probably would have had him banned from my table. But you were sent by the Moon Goddess…”
“Yes!” I agreed heartily.
“If you really think it’s that important, then have it translated,” he said. “Sebastian!”
The little squire ran up from wherever he had been hiding and sketched a quick bow.
“Damn it,” the King muttered as he glanced toward the buffet line again. “Clarence is trying to take all the sardines. I’d better go settle this before they destroy all the food. Sebastian, Henry the Baker needs a cipher. See what you can do.”
The King then stood up, put a smile on his face, and marched toward his now quarreling cousins. The rest of the nobles were watching the unfolding drama with looks of amusement, but the King had looked seriously peeved before he’d left.
“You need a cipher?” Sebastian asked as he studied me.
“I guess,” I said. “I need someone to translate this notebook.”
“There is one person,” Sebastian said as his gaze followed the king. “But he’s… difficult.”
“What, like expensive?” I asked. “I have plenty of silver.”
“No, no, not like that,” Sebastian replied and waved his hand around like he was swatting a fly. “I mean that he’s difficult to find and difficult to work with, but he’s the best that there is. He was the only cipher proficient enough to be trusted by the King.”
“Then why isn’t he in the palace?” I asked.
“Because he got tired of life here and wanted to work on his own experiments,” he sighed. “He said he couldn’t do that here because of all the interruptions.”
“How do I find him?” I asked. “Do you know where he is?”
“Well, in a way I do, and in a way, I don’t,” the little man replied.
“What does that mean, Sebastian?” I sighed in frustration. “Do you know where he lives or not?”
“I know the vague area of woodlands he lives in, but not the exact place.”
I let out a deep sigh. It sounded like my simple task had turned into another quest, but we needed a cipher, and preferably one we could trust.
“Alright,” I said. “Tell me everything you know.”
Sebastian put his hands on his hips and wrinkled his nose. His eyes flickered back and forth for a moment, like he was accessing the information stored in his brain.
“Do you know the forest of Yarikh?” he asked.
I racked my brain and then remembered that we’d gone through Yarikh to get to the Obsidian Temple.
“Yes,” I said.
“The last I heard, he’s somewhere on an island east of Yarikh, by the river of Gomul,” the squire said.
“East of Yarikh, river of Gomul,” I replied. “Any other details?”
“No more details,” he said and shook his head. “Oh, actually, yes. He hates visitors.”
“What a surprise,” I muttered. “Well, I’m sure that between the three of us we can muster up enough charm to inspire this cipher into helping us. After all, it’s for the good of the Kingdom, isn’t it?”
“Not everyone is as noble as you are, Hank,” the squire sighed and looked at the room. “Some people just want to live on an island in the middle of the woods and forget that they’re part of a kingdom at all.”
“Thanks, Sebastian,” I said and patted his shoulder. “You’ve been a real lifesaver today.”
“It’s my job to help,” he insisted. “Let me know if you need anything else from me.”
“Will do,” I said.
The King was leading his cousins back to the royal table, so it seemed like a good time to leave, before I got sucked into telling the tale of my quest to the Obsidian Temple. I slipped away more quietly than I had arrived, and when I returned to the Blueclaw table, I found the girls were slouched in their chairs, half-awake from repeated feasting and a night of poor sleep.
