Werewolf Knight 4, page 10
I felt my heart seize up as I watched the couple greet their daughter, and I took a few deep breaths. I wasn’t anticipating that I’d be this nervous, but if this house proved anything, it was that Tabitha Blueclaw was the real deal. My dad had always told me to marry rich, and if he’d ever seen this place, I knew that he’d have pulled me aside and said something like, “Hank, you’ve done good.”
“Dadddyyyyyyy!” Tabitha called out with a giggle as she ran to her father.
“Ah, my pup,” he growled as he swung her around and then put her back on the ground. “You know, I won’t be able to do that much longer. Old age is catching up with me.”
“You are not old,” Tabitha chided as she hugged her father. “And Mother, it’s good to see you again.”
“Oh, Tabitha,” her mother murmured. “You’ve actually put your hair back! It looks so neat. For years I begged you, not asked, but pleaded, positively begged… and now you’ve finally done it! Is that what you came here to show us?”
“Of course not, mother,” Tabitha laughed as she rolled her eyes.
“So what’s the reason for this surprise visit, eh?” Blueclaw asked as he turned to study the rest of our group. “I see you have all of your companions… Sybil, High Priestess, Sir Henry… it’s good to see all of you.”
“Sir Blueclaw,” both ladies said in unison as they both curtsied.
Blueclaw crossed his arms over his substantial chest and nodded slowly to himself.
“I smell something,” he said, just as Sybil’s mother had. “You four are plotting… what?”
“Don’t be rude, darling,” Lady Blueclaw said to him. “I’m sure Tabitha wouldn’t visit us just to ask for a favor. Our daughter knows how much we enjoy her visits, and she would happily come just to spend time with us.”
“Mother,” Tabitha protested and rolled her eyes. “Of course I would.”
“And yet,” her father said and looked at me. “There is clearly a reason they’re here, and it doesn’t have anything to do with Tabitha’s desire to visit her poor old parents.”
“Maybe we should go to the sitting room?” Sybil suggested. “Isn’t that what people do in houses like this? Go to the sitting room?”
But both of the Blueclaws were looking expectantly at me, and though I was sure no one had sent word of my plans, I could tell that they had a suspicion about why we were there. And if that were true, there didn’t seem to be any reason to drag this out.
“Sir Blueclaw!” I shouted as I stood as straight as ramrod. “I’ve come here today with a question.”
One of Tabitha’s instructions that had stuck was that I needed to make the proposition on one knee as a sign of respect, so I bent down on one knee and looked up at Sir and Lady Blueclaw.
Tabitha winked at me, and for a moment the formality was broken. I remembered what a goofball she could be and how much fun I’d had with her and her family since the first day I’d appeared in Lupercalia.
This was going to be fine.
“Yes?” Blueclaw asked, and though he tried to look fierce, he vibrated with giddy excitement.
“I’d like to ask for Tabitha’s hand in marriage,” I said.
Lady Blueclaw brought one hand to her mouth and reached toward her husband with the other one. A tear appeared in the corner of one eye, but she looked ecstatic. She patted her husband’s arm, but neither of them spoke.
In fact, no one said anything. A pair of servants had appeared at the top of the stairs to watch, and Imelda was swirling around the hall, but we were all waiting for Sir Blueclaw to say yay or nay. It was strangely quiet, until Prometheus woke up and let out a sleepy oink from the depths of Sybil’s basket.
Imelda paused in her dance and then quickly tried to stifle her laughter while Sybil blushed and patted the pig.
“Sybil,” Tabitha hissed. “I can’t believe you brought a pig into my house!”
“Marriage?” Old Blueclaw boomed, and it was clear that he had been so lost in thought that he hadn’t even heard the tiny piglet.
“My Goddess,” Lady Blueclaw added, and she looked down at Tabitha. “I never thought I’d see the day that a man would want to marry you.”
“Mother!” Tabitha protested.
“That came out wrong,” the noblewoman said as she patted Tabitha’s back. “Very wrong, but you know what I meant.”
When Sybil giggled, Tabitha shot her a dirty look but she nodded to her mother.
“You know none of those boys could ever keep up with me,” Tabitha said.
“I know,” Lady Blueclaw said and then smiled. “Believe me, I know. Well, husband, are you going to speak?”
“Of course I’m going to speak,” Blueclaw retorted. “First of all, Sir Henry, do get up. I won’t have you sweeping the floor with your nice pants.”
“Thank you, Sir Blueclaw,” I said as I stood up and looked at the old werewolf.
I didn’t know how these things usually went among the nobility, but I was worried that Blueclaw hadn’t shouted yes yet. Was there a chance that I could actually lose Tabitha? I knew nobles had to marry other bluebloods to keep the werewolf lines going, but what if old Blueclaw said no because I wasn’t a blueblood? I was a knight, sure, and I’d already gotten Tabitha pregnant, but I didn’t have actual blue blood. What if he was worried that our children wouldn’t be able to pass on the werewolf gene?
“I have been waiting a long time to say this,” he declared. “You have my blessing.”
“Oh, father!” Tabitha declared and then kissed her father on his furry cheek. “I knew you’d approve.”
“You did, did you?” her father asked and shook his head.
“How could you not approve of the savior of Lupercalia?” the daughter said and laughed. “Now, don’t worry. We can get started with aaaall the arrangements. Mother, you can--”
“But it’s not that simple,” the old knight cut in. “No, no… not so simple at all.”
“Oh, here it comes,” Tabitha sighed and pouted. “What ridiculous chore are you going to give him?”
Blueclaw gave his daughter a withering glare, and the blonde actually went quiet for a moment.
“Okay,” I said into the growing silence. “Well, first of all, thank you, Sir Blueclaw. I promise that I will care for and protect Tabitha to the utmost of my capabilities, as well as defending Lupercalia…”
“And I trust you,” he interrupted with a smile. “As a man, as a knight, as an old dog like myself… but you see, Tabitha is part of a bloodline that has existed for hundreds of years, perhaps even thousands. And there are certain conventions that must be met before you can be wed.”
“Tabitha mentioned that,” I said and glanced at the blonde. “And I’m willing to take on any challenge she gives me.”
“I have to be sure that you will protect the bloodline, Henry,” the old knight said. “It’s of the utmost importance.”
“I understand that,” I replied, though I was starting to suspect that whatever task I was about to receive was going to be a lot more complicated than just standing outside the gates for a day.
And that was okay by me. I would much rather set off on another adventure than play Buckingham Palace Guard at the Blueclaw Estate.
“Did Tabitha also tell you that the parents are the ones who choose the task?” Old Blueclaw asked.
“She… wasn’t all that clear on that,” I said. “She thought she might pick what I had to do.”
“Tabitha,” Lady Blueclaw sighed.
“Sorry,” Tabitha muttered with a nervous laugh. “I didn’t pay much attention to this stuff. As my mother said, they lost hope for me years ago…”
“It’s only in every tale of the Kingdom, darling,” her mother said with a raised eyebrow. “Not that you paid too much attention to those as a child. Too busy playing stick swords with the boys outside when you should’ve been reading.”
“That’s my little warrior,” Blueclaw said with a smile. “But yes, the parents are the ones who decide. And Henry, my assignment for you is the very same quest that I completed so many years ago to win the heart of the woman you see before you.”
He put his arm around his wife, who gave him a loving gaze before nodding at me.
“This quest will be the perfect test of your suitability for Tabitha,” Lady Blueclaw said.
I nodded at both of them and smiled at Tabitha. I couldn’t believe that I was going to undertake the same quest as her father, and I’d get to break in my new moon sword while I did it.
“What does the quest entail?” I asked.
“I will warn you,” he said in a serious voice. “It will not be easy. But if you are up to the challenge, your nobility and your love will be solidified in our hearts forevermore. And I have no doubt that the King will look favorably on you as well.”
“It would be an honor to become a part of the Blueclaw Clan,” I said. “There is no nobler family in the Kingdom.”
“I’m not sure the King would agree,” Lady Blueclaw murmured, but she looked pleased by my declaration.
“Just tell him, daddy,” Tabitha urged.
“It is this,” Blueclaw said, and he raised his arms as if he was conducting an orchestra. “You must retrieve the moonstone at the tip of a mammoth-minotaur’s tusk. This is to prove that the Goddess is on your side and approves of your union to our Tabitha.”
“A moonstone from a tusk?” Imelda gasped. “Those are incredibly rare… incredibly powerful, too. The Goddess can speak directly through moonstones to her followers. It’s like an immediate channel into the divine…”
“Indeed,” Blueclaw nodded. “That is why it’s so sacred. And that is why the nobility take it as proof of her approval of the union. Henry, are you still up to this mission?”
I was more caught up on the term ‘mammoth-minotaur’ than anything else he’d said, but I nodded a few times because nothing was going to keep me from marrying Tabitha, not even a giant bull-man with moonstones in the tip of his tusk.
“Say it out loud,” Sybil whispered.
“I am more than ready for this mission,” I declared. “But did you just say, ummm… mammoth-minotaurs? What, exactly, is that?”
“They live on the outskirts of our kingdom, and the creatures have been plaguing our Lupercalian borders for years,” Blueclaw replied.
“They are fierce, war-driven creatures,” Lady Blueclaw added. “There have been various attempts over the years to sign a peace treaty, but the minotaurs just can’t understand the value of peace or of an alliance with Lupercalia.”
“Let’s not get into politics,” Blueclaw said and patted his wife’s hand. “Tabitha can show you the areas where you’re most likely to encounter one of the creatures. And remember, you must procure a moonstone from the tip of the tusk.”
“Tip of the tusk,” I said and nodded. “I won’t let you down, Sir Blueclaw.”
“I know you won’t,” he said with a smile. “I know that you are the most precocious knight I’ve ever met and that you have already completed some truly historic feats.”
“Thanks,” I said as I felt a blush creep across my cheeks. It was a good thing I was in hybrid form.
“Of course, there’s one other thing I like about this quest,” the older knight said with a grin. “If you don’t survive this mission, I won’t ever see you again, because you’ll be dead. Understood?”
“There is no failure,” I said. “I retrieve the moonstone, or I die trying.”
“I think he understands,” Lady Blueclaw chuckled.
“Well,” I said and looked around. “I guess there’s no point in hanging around now that I have my quest.
“I’ll see you soon, daddy,” Tabitha said and kissed her father’s cheek again. “And we’ll have that moonstone!”
“I know you will, my little warrior,” he said with a laugh. “Now go and make us proud!”
It wasn’t the joyful vibe we’d had at Sybil’s family home in stock, though at least the Blueclaws seemed happy with the idea. But if I wanted to take Tabitha as a wife as well, I had to finish the quest, return with the moonstone, and probably present the knight with a bag of moon beans as well.
“Sybil,” Tabitha hissed as we stepped outside again. “Sybil, you brought a pig into the house.”
“Don’t hurt me,” the witch laughed as she started to pluck some of the bluestar berries.
“And now you’re stealing the fruit,” Tabitha huffed.
Sybil laughed as she darted into the brambles with Tabitha on her heels. The witch squealed when the noblewoman plucked a few of the fruits and tossed them at the other woman.
“This was completely different,” I said as I watched the two chase each other. “I guess we won’t get a celebratory feast until we return with the moonstone.”
“The lives of the farmers and of the nobles are so very different,” Imelda replied. “Each has its charms, each has its drawbacks. But they are all united under the power of the Moon Goddess, who loves all of her people equally."
One of the ponytailed servants appeared with Casanova, and he led the direwolf to me before he bowed and returned to wherever he had been. The man moved so quietly that I wouldn’t have known he was there if Casanova hadn’t yipped happily, and when he left, there was barely any sign that he had been there.
“Hey, Tabitha,” I said as the two girls emerged from the brambles. “You never told me that servants are supposed to have funny little uniforms.”
“Only my family and a few others still require uniforms for the house staff,” she said and shrugged. “I think most of the families now just let their peasants wear their old castoffs if they don’t have anything more suitable.”
“They wouldn’t have to wear castoffs if they were paid better,” Sybil said.
“Sounds like a discussion for later,” I said. “Everybody up.”
When everyone was ready, I gave Casanova a slight nudge, and we flew out of the Blueclaw Estate in style. I knew for certain that I’d already won Tabitha’s heart, so now I just had to prove I was worthy of that love by slaying a beast that I hadn’t even known existed an hour ago.
The girls chatted with each other on the way back home, but my mind was consumed with the upcoming quest and visions of a mammoth-minotaur. I paid little attention to the world around me until Sybil leaned around Tabitha and shouted in my ear.
“We need to stop by my hut,” she said. “I think that this plant might have some magical properties that I can use. And I need to get to the bottom of those bewitched plums.”
I pulled back on Casanova’s reins as we approached Sybil’s garden. It was one of my favorite parts of the estate, even though it had almost caused a complete calamity earlier on. But I always felt the magical, witch-like energy that came off the plants in her garden, like there was something different and powerful about the many colorful and mysterious herbs that grew in that small plot of land.
Casanova came to a stop, and I decided to let him run loose around the bean fields for a little bit. He never caused any trouble, and he could show his new little friend the ropes of the moon bean farm.
“Go on, Prometheus,” Sybil said as she plopped the little piglet on the ground.
The tiny pink creature trotted up to Casanova and oinked a few times, and Casanova’s giant black tail started wagging so much that a few moon beans spilled from one of the bushes. The spray of beans startled the piglet, but Casanova gave the tiny pig a lick across the face just to reassure him. The pig squealed in delight, and then the two of them ran off into the fields and played as we looked on.
“See?” Imelda said. “There’s something special about that friendship.”
“Oh, I know,” Tabitha groaned.
Sybil suddenly threw both of her hands in the air and looked like she had some kind of brainwave moment. Her eyes were wide, and if she’d been a cartoon character, she probably would have slapped her palm against her forehead.
“Hank,” she said as she batted her eyelashes in a way that made me think she was going to ask me for something.
“Yes, darling wife-to-be?” I asked.
“I’m going to need some wasabi,” she said as she bounced around from foot to foot. “Basically, I just realized that the spells I need to look at are in the cipher’s notebook.”
“Which is in Jersey,” I added. “Where the wasabi lives as well.”
“Uh-huh,” Sybil said with a shrug. “And Imelda said that she could translate the cipher’s notebook for me anytime as long as I made the solution, so…”
“So you want us to go back to Jersey so that you can work out what’s happening to these bewitched animals,” I said.
“It would be good for us and the animals,” she replied. “Imagine if Casanova or Prometheus had eaten one of those plums.”
“How about this,” I said as I took a deep breath. “Instead of leaving you here, I leave you girls in Jersey. I’ll go on the quest by myself, and…"
“No way!” Tabitha protested, and she folded her arms in front of her chest. “There’s no way that you’re going on a quest that my father sent you on without me.”
“But you’re pregnant, Tabitha,” Sybil pointed out. “And it’s for your hand in marriage… the quest is for Hank to prove himself.”
“No, no, no,” Tabitha said as she shook her head again. “I’ll wear extra armor. I don’t care. There’s no way I’m missing out on this. I may be getting married, but my mother can’t force me into being a lady. Hank, I’m going with you on this mission.”
I sighed, but I knew that Tabitha would be a good addition. Plus, she had to tell me where to find the mammoth-minotaurs anyway, and I knew her well enough to know that she wouldn’t tell me if she thought the information would get her a spot on the quest.
“Fine,” I relented. “Tabitha, you can come with me on the mission for your hand in marriage.
“Yippeee!” she shouted as she clapped her hands like a little kid. “I knew that you were going to be the best husband in the whole world. Didn’t I?”
“Of course you did,” I sighed. “So here’s the new plan. I say we go back to New Jersey, spend the night, and then in the morning Tabitha and I will start out on our mission. It’s too late in the day for us to reach the Lupercalian border before nightfall anyway, so it’s the best plan.”
