Werewolf Knight 2, page 21
Even though we’d only been away a few days, I’d almost forgotten just how beautiful our house in Lupercalia was. The stone building seemed like it had been there forever, just waiting for us to inhabit it. We ran up the stone steps, and I pushed the heavy wooden door in.
Finally, we had some sweet relief from that crazy rainstorm.
I felt a sense of warmth and hominess wash over me as Sybil shut the door behind us. The place smelled of old mahogany, and I had a suspicion that one of the servants had lit a fire in the main drawing room.
I slicked my hair back and swung around. The girls were still standing by the door as they dripped rainwater over the freshly polished floorboards.
“You know,” I started, “We might’ve been in a swimming pool yesterday, but I somehow feel even more soaked now than I did then.”
“You don’t say,” Tabitha purred as she wiped away some of the black kohl eyeliner that was dripping down her face, which gave her a Gene Simmons kind of edge.
“Umm, Tabitha,” Sybil said sweetly. “You have some--”
“I’m aware,” the blonde shot back.
I heard footsteps, and a moment later, one of the servants who usually worked in the kitchen rushed in.
“Henrietta,” I said.
“Oh,” she gasped.
The young servant looked surprised. She had dirty-blonde hair and demure gray eyes, and she wore a simple blue dress with a white apron. When she saw us, she jumped back a little bit, and her cheeks flushed pink.
“Sorry if we startled you,” I laughed.
“Oh, of course not,” she said with a smile, and she smoothed her apron. “We weren’t expecting to see you this evening. We thought that you’d started on the royal voyage to Wahaya.”
“We’ve had to take a few detours,” I said. “Just some business for the palace to take care of first.”
“Of course,” she replied as her eyes darted between Tabitha and Sybil and I. “Looks like you got caught in the rain. If you’d like, I can take your clothing to dry in the kitchen and find you some towels to dry yourselves off with, as well.”
“That would be wonderful,” Tabitha replied. Her dramatic makeup obviously made an impression on the young servant, because Henrietta’s eyes widened before she made a quick curtsy.
“I’ll only be a moment,” the servant mumbled and scurried back down the long hallway into the kitchen.
“Who needs a dryer when you have servants?” I asked Tabitha.
“Good point,” she said. “I guess all the fancy machines you have in New Jersey basically do the same thing.”
I looked over at Sybil, who had crossed her arms and was shivering by the door.
“Hey,” I said and placed a wet hand on her arm. “Are you okay?”
“Just a little cold,” she smiled.
“I thought you said witches were used to being naked in cold weather,” Tabitha drawled.
“Naked, yes,” Sybil said through chattering teeth. “But not wearing a long, sopping wet gown.”
I was about to suggest that we head for the fireplace, but I heard footsteps from the hallway again, and Henrietta reappeared with some beige towels and a large canvas sack for our laundry.
“Here,” she said and set down the towels and sack.
“We shouldn’t leave a trail of water through the house,” I said. “We can just strip down here.”
Henrietta’s face turned bright red, and she stepped back from the things she’d put on the floor.
“Fine by me,” Tabitha declared as she started to unstrap her breastplate. “Can we leave our armor down here as well? I don’t want it to rust.”
“Of course, Miss Blueclaw,” Henrietta replied with a curtsy. “We will have it polished and back in your dressing quarters immediately.”
“Perfect,” I said, and then I pulled off my breastplate and armpieces, and then I unfastened the leg armor and kicked my boots off.
“Could you please put these in a vase?” Sybil asked as she handed the red bergamot to Henrietta. “It’s a matter of extreme importance.”
“Of course, Miss Foreman,” Henrietta said as she accepted the cuttings. “Is… is there anywhere in particular you would like me to set them out?”
“The master bedroom would be perfect,” Sybil replied with a smile.
Then, in an unexpected move, the witch whipped off her wet dress in one fell swoop and grabbed a towel. She dried off her torso, under her arms, and finally her legs as she dragged the beige towel over her perfect pale body. I didn’t think anything of it, but Henrietta tried not to look on in shock while Sybil wiped away the rain. When she was sure she was dry, Sybil wrapped the towel around her middle and waved at us.
“I’m going to warm up by the fire in the drawing room,” the witch said with a smile and walked into the room.
“I think I’ll go to put these in a vase, and then I’ll collect your wet clothes,” Henrietta said quickly, and after a half-curtsy, she rushed off back to the kitchen.
“I can’t believe Sybil is the one scaring off the servants now,” Tabitha laughed. “I always thought that was my job.”
The noblewoman plopped her sopping wet clothing into the canvas laundry bag that Henrietta had set out and grabbed a towel. First, she wiped all the remaining black makeup off of her eyes. Then, when she was satisfied that it was gone, she swung the towel around her shoulders and headed up the big, wooden staircase with her bottom half uncovered. Her hips swayed side to side sexily as she ascended the grand staircase.
“That’s quite an exit,” I laughed.
“I know,” she yawned. “But I want to put on some clothing for sleeping. I’m exhausted. If you want me, you can find me in bed…”
I tossed my wet clothes into the sack on the floor and grabbed the last towel. I dried off my hair before wrapping the soft towel around my lower half, and I headed to my left into the drawing room to see what Sybil was up to.
The drawing room was one of my favorite rooms in our house. The rectangular room had two high, arched windows on the wall opposite me. The rest of the wall was taken up by ornate wooden bookshelves which had been gifted to us by the King when we’d moved in, and we’d already managed to fill the shelves with books of every size and topic.
On the wall directly to my right there was a big wooden sideboard adorned with designs that included golden wolverines and mother-of-pearl figurines of the Moon Goddess. A small marble replica of the palace that Charles had given me when we moved into the estate had pride of place on top. Above the sideboard was a shelf full of figurines of Tabitha’s family as well. Apparently, it was a Lupercalian noble tradition to have small statues made of every family member.
Sybil had placed a carved wooden pig that her father had made for her on the shelf as well. I knew I couldn’t bring back any native metals from New Jersey, so I decided that my family pictures and decorations would go in our Jersey house. However, I did manage to bring over a plush Hulk toy on one of our trips, and he sat proudly next to Sybil’s pig and the expertly-crafted figurines of the Blueclaw family. It was a perfect mixture of ornate and sentimental.
On the far end of the room, there was a roaring fireplace with a large, crescent moon-shaped mirror hanging over it. In front of the fireplace was an even softer shaggy white carpet. There were some leather armchairs by the fire, but Sybil had managed to make herself comfortable on the white shaggy carpet.
I made my way over the fuzzy carpet until I was right by the fire. The orange glow was mesmerizing, and I felt like my insides were being warmed after the intense chill of the rainstorm. I looked down at Sybil, who was snoring softly under her beige towel.
“Sybil,” I laughed.
“Mmmmm?” she replied without opening her eyes.
She looked so idyllic as she sprawled on the shag rug. Her skin was so pale and smooth that she almost blended into it perfectly.
“Sybil, would you like me to carry you to bed?” I asked.
Her eyes fluttered dreamily, and she looked up with her piercing emerald gaze.
“Hank,” she said. “You were in my dream.”
“You had a dream after five minutes?” I laughed.
“Yes,” she yawned. “We were eating cinnamon buns, but a goose came over and told me that we were trespassing. I tried to tell her it was my house, but the goose didn’t believe me. Damn goose.”
Before she could continue, I kneeled down and scooped her up in both hands. The fire was nice, but if I stayed here any longer, I’d definitely fall asleep as well.
“Oh, Hank,” the young witch giggled, and her emerald eyes glowed. Her now-dry, dark hair floated down over my right arm.
“We offer a pretty good service here I think,” I said with a laugh.
Sybil traced her long, elegant finger along my chest as I carried her out of the drawing room and up the wooden stairs. I saw that the entrance hall was now empty of any sign of our dramatic entrance and surmised that Henrietta must’ve taken our clothes and our armor away to be cleaned.
I climbed the stairs, walked to my door, which was slightly ajar, and pushed it open. I spotted Tabitha fast asleep in the bed already, and I tried not to snicker too loudly when she snored.
“So not like a lady,” Sybil chuckled.
“I won’t tell if you won’t,” I replied.
“Oooh, there’s the bergamot,” Sybil said and pointed toward my wooden chest.
I saw one of the servants had set the red bergamot in a vase. They’d even put a small plate under the vase so that it didn’t leave a mark on the wood. I was always impressed by these servants’ attention to detail.
“Perfect,” I said as I headed over to my decadent four-poster and plopped Sybil down onto the sheets.
Then, I climbed into the soft bed and let my entire body relax for the first time that day. I had another long day of running ahead of me, and while I knew I could do it, I was glad that we were getting a pretty early night. After all, the sun had only just set, and it couldn’t have been much later than nine. At least we were going to be in top shape for tomorrow’s journey, and I was eager to know what the cipher had uncovered by now.
“Mmmm,” Sybil sighed. “Goodnight, Hank.”
“Goodnight, Sybil.” I replied, and I blew out the candle next to the bed.
I rolled over and swung my arm around Sybil. Her skin was so smooth and delicate that it felt like a pillow, and so I pressed my head into her shoulder and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
The next morning, I heard commotion around me before I dared to open my eyes.
“Goddammit,” I heard Tabitha say. “I can’t find my right boot-cover!"
“It’s right here,” Sybil groaned. “Why can’t you keep your boot covers on your own side of the closet?”
“Who said we had sides?” Tabitha shot back. “I thought we liked sharing each other’s stuff.”
The door slammed, and I took it as a cue to wake up. I sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes.
“What… what time is it?” I asked with a yawn.
“Dawn, as usual,” Tabitha replied sweetly.
She climbed onto the foot of the bed, fully dressed, and spread out a map in front of me.
“You seem pretty chipper,” I laughed. “Did you have some of Sybil’s speed brew?”
“Nope,” Tabitha replied. “But I did have some of our excellent moon bean brew.”
Sybil came over by the bed and handed me a mug with some of the good stuff in it. I hadn’t had so much as a drop of coffee the previous day, and I was glad to have some again.
“Here you go,” she smiled sweetly.
I brought the steaming mug to my lips and took a big swig of the moon bean brew. It scalded my throat, but it felt amazing, like my body was filling with life again. I immediately felt sharper and more alert, and I decided that I could finally look at Tabitha’s map without getting a headache.
“What’s this for?” I asked. “I thought we had the route back to the cipher’s place down pat.
“So did I,” Tabitha said. “But I consulted some of the maps in the drawing room this morning, and it looks like there’s an even quicker route where there isn’t as much dense forest. It’ll be a clearer run, and with that speed potion, you should be able to do it in no time.”
I nodded my head and brushed my hair out of my face. It was a lot to take in so early in the morning, but we had a quest to complete.
“Well,” I said, “I trust your judgment completely as the navigator of our team.”
“Thanks, Hank,” Tabitha replied and blushed. “That means a lot.”
I looked around the room and spotted my clothing folded neatly on top of my wooden chest next to my polished armor. I hopped out of bed and headed over to the chest, where I quickly proceeded to pull on my soft pants, my cotton shirt, my leather boots, and my armor. I turned around and looked at the girls.
“Are you both ready?” I asked.
“Ready as ever,” Tabitha smiled.
“I’ve put a wet sponge in with the bergamot,” Sybil told me. “So that it doesn’t completely dry up. It wouldn’t be the end of the world if it was a bit dry, but I don’t know what the cipher is going to do with it. Better safe than sorry, I always think.”
“That’s good thinking,” I replied. “Should we get going?”
“Let’s do it,” Tabitha smiled.
I grabbed my sack, which had also magically appeared on the wooden chest. Well, this time it wasn’t magic of course. It was just our totally awesome servants anticipating our each and every need. We headed out of the master bedroom and plodded down the stairs. I could hear movement in the house, which meant that the servants were also up before dawn.
I stopped in front of the front door.
“It’s not still raining, is it?” I asked.
“Nope,” Sybil replied, and she took one last look in her basket. “No sliding around in the rain today.”
“Great,” I replied with a sense of relief. I liked the rain for the ambience, but there was no way I wanted to be slipping and sliding through the forest on a day when we needed to make good time.
We headed out the front door, and I took in the fresh morning air. The sun was only just rising over Lupercalia, and it made the fields around our estate glow orange. I headed down the steps and heard something running my way.
“Casanova,” I cried happily when I spotted the giant black pile of fur that was bounding toward us.
The giant puppy ran up to me and launched himself straight at me. He put his massive black paws on both shoulders as we collided, and I hit the ground with a massive thud.
“Hank,” I heard Sybil yelp as Casanova happily licked my face.
“It’s fine,” I laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m just fine!”
He stared at me with his big green eyes before hopping off to say hello to the girls.
Well, that was one way to wake up. Getting pounded to the ground by a massive direwolf would surely get me going for the rest of the day.
I crawled to my knees and then stood back up, not such an easy task in my armor when I was in human form. Not that anyone noticed, since Sybil and Tabitha were cooing over Casanova and patting him on the head.
“Oh, I miss him so much when we’re away,” Sybil sighed.
“Me, too,” Tabitha agreed. “But do you want to see this pup on that speed potion? I don’t think so.”
“You’re right,” Sybil said with a shrug. “That would be pure chaos.”
“Yeah,” I laughed. “We’d cause more destruction on our quest than good. But don’t worry, girls, I’m sure that Casanova will be trained and ready for adventure in the next few months. Won’t you, buddy?”
I held out my hand, and Casanova happily rubbed his soft black head against it. This was a royal direwolf who really loved his master, and I couldn’t wait to ride on quests and compete in jousts with him when he was fully trained.
Casanova’s ears perked up, and I saw that he was looking at some of the children playing with sticks by the houses. He loved playing with the kids on the estate, and he scampered after them to join in the fun.
“He’s going to be great in the joust,” Tabitha said. “He’s got the best pedigree in the entire kingdom.”
“And yet, he still can’t resist playing,” I laughed. “Reminds me of someone I know.”
Tabitha winked at me with her freshly lined eyes. Then, she tapped her foot on the ground and exchanged a glance with Sybil.
“I know, I know,” I sighed as I opened up my sack and pulled out the green bottle, which was three-quarters of the way full.
“That stuff is powerful,” Tabitha said as I popped the cork out. “I wonder what would happen if you drank the whole thing?”
“Well,” Sybil said, “if you want to know the answer to that, you can be the guinea pig. I have no interest in knowing what an entire bottle of that stuff can do.”
I looked down into the bottle. The liquid looked benign enough, but now I just had to stomach drinking it.
I held my nose once again and imagined that it was a Jager Bomb. I pressed the green vial to my lips and took a big, deep gulp of the stuff, until I was sure that I’d swallowed enough that I would be able to run the distance from here to Melchior’s place in record time.
I pulled the small bottle away from my lips and felt the liquid sink into my bones as I pushed the cork back in. I shoved the bottle in my sack before I was too wired to even consider such small details.
My body radiated with electricity and power. I felt my nerves light up like Christmas lights, and the urge to run completely overtook me. I wondered what this stuff would be good for if not running. A dance-a-thon, perhaps? It definitely felt like some kind of doping. I wondered if I could enter the Olympics for running back in the States, but I felt like it would be abusing my powers.
“I made sure that one of the servants opened the front gate,” Tabitha murmured to Sybil as my entire insides lit up. “When he’s under the influence of this stuff, I’m pretty sure he could run through a brick wall.”
