Werewolf Knight 4, page 23
“Just like you, Sybil,” Tabitha giggled, and I heard Prometheus even oink in agreement.
“Oh, ha-ha,” Sybil groaned.
A few squires in red and yellow striped tunics and golden, velvet floppy hats with blue tassels got wind of our arrival and started to run toward us. A familiar face led the charge, and Casanova yipped happily when he spotted Sebastian.
“Sir Henry Baker!” the squire said, and he bowed even lower than his normal height. “What a great honor it is to have your presence in the castle once more!”
“Thanks, Sebastian,” I laughed. “We actually need to see the King quite urgently.”
“Well, I’m sure he’s around somewhere,” Sebastian said with a nervous laugh. “Here, let me take Casanova…”
“And Prometheus,” Sybil said as she slid off the direwolf.
The witch pulled the little piglet from her basket, and he offered us a goofy smile as she placed him behind Casanova’s right ear.
“Oh, Prometheus,” Sebastian said, and he patted the piglet on the head. “It’s always fun to make more animal friends.”
“I love animal friends,” Tabitha announced as she dismounted the direwolf. “They’re delicious.”
Sybil and Imelda didn’t even respond this time, because Tabitha was obviously having so much fun with the bit.
“Yes,” Sebastian laughed nervously, and he shot a nervous look at us before I waved my hand to signal that it was all okay.
“Thanks so much, Sebastian,” I said, and I smiled at the little squire before making my way to the main entrance.
We clattered up the stone staircase to the rosette window, where Tabitha suddenly sprinted ahead despite her pregnancy. I wasn’t sure if it was the promise of food that spurred her on or the fact that we were back in the palace, but she was clearly happy to be back.
The noblewoman did wait until we caught up with her at the door before she knocked, though she was clearly impatient. She tapped her foot and scowled at me, and as soon as I was by her side, she pounded on the wood.
The door opened a crack, and Dromgoole stared up at us. He was dressed in the same outfit as the other squires, but he’d added a pair of round glasses with lenses so thick that his eyes looked like they were two sizes too big for his head.
“Dromgoole,” I said.
“Sir Henry!” he shouted as he jumped back. “My goodness, you are looking incredibly handsome today.”
“Isn’t he?” Tabitha asked, and the blonde aristocrat winked at me.
“Umm, thanks,” I said.
“My apologies if that was very forthright, Sir Henry,” he muttered quickly as he pulled the door back. “You see, I recently had my eyes tested. As it turns out, I’ve been half blind for most of my life. I thought that the world was a dull, blurry place before all this. But it turns out that it’s quite beautiful, and sharp, and full of gorgeous people.”
“That’s great, Dromgoole,” I said as we stepped into the dining hall, but I’m sure that I didn’t sound terribly convincing. “I’m really happy for you.”
My eyes darted to the throne, where I expected the King to be. But when I saw that the imposing wooden chair was empty, my stomach sank. This Wenderoth business was urgent, and we couldn’t afford to wait any longer to tell him the news.
Luckily, the dining hall wasn’t too full, so I sauntered in and tried to ignore the whispers of the other nobles. I hadn’t shown my face in court in a while, and I knew everyone was hoping I would stop at their table for a little chitchat.
“Sir Henry,” I heard a familiar gruff voice call out, and I knew that I couldn’t ignore this one.
It was Grayback.
I looked over to my left, and Grayback was heading for me with a big smile on his face. He was in his hybrid form, which reminded me that I should probably follow suit if I wanted to talk to the King. So I shook my head, and I could feel myself grow to my nine-foot form.
“Grayback,” I said and gripped his arm. “Is the King here? We really must speak to him.”
“But of course you must!” he roared as he picked me up off the ground and swung me around. “The most precocious knight in Lupercalia, to be married to the finest witch in the land and a member of the Blueclaw family! The King has been waiting for your visit!”
I had no idea that word had gotten out this quickly about our upcoming nuptials, but clearly the news had already spread. I knew Grayback and Blueclaw were friends, so maybe the two old knights had whispered about it over their tea while I was in New Jersey.
“We’re still working on the details,” I said when Grayback finally set me on the ground again. “But we’re excited.”
“Hear, hear!” a knight I didn’t recognize called out as the dining hall started to fill with the sound of rumbling feet.
“Uh… thanks,” I said and waved to the knights.
“I know that you haven’t officially announced the wedding,” Grayback said as he leaned in. “But you know how far back old Blueclaw and I go. He couldn’t keep it from me, boy! I could see it on his face. He was grinning from ear to ear.”
“Of course he couldn’t keep his mouth shut,” Tabitha sighed. “He’s really just made of mush on the inside.”
“Only when it comes to the women in his life,” Grayback replied.
“Truly,” I said. “But we really do need to see the King. We have something important to discuss.”
“Ah, there’s nothing more important than a wedding,” Grayback said with a wistful look in his eye. “It’s one of the most beautiful times in one’s life. Yes, we fight beasts, kill foes, and protect the land, but there’s just something about finding the women who you want to spend the rest of your--”
Grayback’s speech was cut off by the sound of trumpets, and the rest of the knights sprang to attention.
“At least we won’t have to track him down,” Sybil whispered.
“All stand for His Royal Highness, the King of Lupercalia!” a squire shouted.
The King emerged from behind the large tapestry that depicted the Moon Goddess defending her subjects and acknowledged his subjects with a quick wave of his hand. He looked preoccupied, and he barely seemed to notice when the conversations around him resumed.
“Looks like he’s already had some bad news,” Tabitha whispered.
“And he’s about to get more,” I sighed.
Chapter 15
“Just a moment, Grayback,” I muttered to the old knight. “We need to talk to the King.”
The old knight didn’t look surprised, and he stepped out of the way as the girls and I charged across the dining hall toward the dais where the King sat.
“Sire,” Tabitha said, and the blonde noblewoman somehow made a low curtsy right in front of the King without falling over despite our abrupt stop.
“Miss Blueclaw,” he said, and a wolfish grin spread across his face. “Why, I hear that there is currently some very fortuitous news in the house of Baker. Now, I haven’t yet received an invitation, which I’m sure you’ll remedy right away. But word travels fast among the court as you well know. Even words that should be secret, of course. In fact, maybe especially words that should be secret…”
“Oh, well, there’s so much to plan,” Tabitha replied. “We haven’t even designed the invitations yet--”
“Your highness,” Sybil cut in and made a curtsy of her own.
“Ah, the other wife,” the King declared.
“Um… yes… “ Sybil stammered. “But if we could just talk to you for a moment.”
“Of course,” he laughed. “And what do you wish to discuss? If you want to hold the ceremony here--”
“Sir,” I said sharply. “I just need a moment of your time.”
“A moment, for the most impressive new shifter in the court?” The King laughed. “Why, I could spare far more than a moment. Sir Henry, how many days have passed since your proposals?”
My mouth hung open for a moment as I tried to decide what to say. As a knight, I couldn’t defy my king and not answer his question. But I really needed to tell him about the vampires’ plans.
“Well, it wasn’t that long ago,” Tabitha murmured and looked up at me. “Right, Hank?”
“Umm,” I said, and I tried to count the days between Sybil and Tabitha’s proposals. “I think it was, maybe…”
“If it wasn’t yesterday, it’s too long for Lupercalia!” the King declared. “I don’t know how they do it in the strange land where you’re from, Sir Henry, but marriage is nothing to be waited on here. Everyone, the King wishes to make a royal decree!”
I held my breath as the King stood up, and one errant squire blasted an awkward note on his trumpet. The other trumpet squires glared at him for trying to steal the moment and failing. Normally it was something I would’ve laughed at, but this time all I could think about was the fact that the King needed to hurry up so we could get down to business.
“A royal decree?” Sybil hissed, and she shot me a look with her piercing green eyes. “What does he mean by that? We don’t have time for this now.”
“Just go with it,” Tabitha whispered. “It will only take a few minutes, and then we can talk to him alone.”
The crowd had gone quiet, so the gathered nobles could probably hear the two women whispering to each other even if they couldn’t hear their exact words. A few knights glanced at the pair, but Tabitha flashed Sybil a warning look, and the witch fell quiet.
“Loyal members of the court,” the King boomed when the place was finally still. “I would like to bring all of your attention to the knight in front of me, Sir Henry Baker of New Jersey.”
There were a few murmurs between members of the court, and I saw a few shrugs.
“Is he going to--” Tabitha started to ask.
“I decree that the nuptials of Sir Henry Baker and his brides will take place in the palace courtyard tomorrow evening, at the first mark of sunset!”
I froze in place, and the girls tried their damndest to put on a smile as the entire court erupted into cheers and rumbles. I smiled and waved at the groups of nobles, but my mind was still reeling from the fact that my marriage was to take place the next day, and I still hadn’t passed along the information we’d uncovered.
How the hell had this happened?
The King sat back down on his throne and gave me a satisfied grin and an eyebrow wiggle.
“I love a wedding, Sir Henry,” the King chuckled. “It’s the perfect occasion to wear some of my finest garb.”
“And it’s an honor to be wed here,” I said as I took a step closer. “But before we discuss any wedding plans, there’s something far more important we need to discuss.”
The King’s smile vanished as he studied us, and he even glanced over my head toward Grayback like the knight would have some inkling of why we were bothering him when he’d just declared that our wedding was a done deal.
“What is it, boy?” the King asked. “Once a proposal is made, marriage is quite imminent. It’s simply the Lupercalian way. Didn’t Tabitha tell you that?”
Tabitha turned bright beetroot pink, because once again, we realized that she’d failed to leave an essential detail of court life out. The King looked at the noblewoman in surprise, shook his head, and looked back at me.
“It’s not about the wedding,” I whispered as I leaned in closer. “It’s about the safety of the Kingdom.”
“Ah,” he sighed. “I suspected as much, though I think I would have preferred it if you had an issue with the wedding arrangements. So, what is this danger you’ve come to warn me about?”
“It’s about… it’s about Wenderoth,” I replied. “We’ve uncovered another plot in the notebook, and we had to tell you immediately.”
The King’s eyes widened, and he lifted a hand and summoned over one of the squires as he nodded at us.
“Yes, yes,” he said before turning to face the squire. “Spatchcock, I will be escorting these four into the royal offices immediately. I request no fanfare at this time.”
“Yes Sire,” the eager squire nodded, and he ran to the others to tell them.
I knew that the squires had a complex communication system around the castle, and I’d finally figured out that among other things, the long chain of squires and their horns kept the palace informed of the King’s whereabouts and activities. The fact that the King didn’t want his next move trumpeted all over the court meant that he understood just how dire the situation was.
“Come with me,” the King said as he removed his cape and stood up.
I watched as one absent-minded squire started to lift his long trumpet to his lips before another one got wind of what was happening.
The second squire knocked the trumpet clean out of his hands with his own trumpet.
“He said no fanfare, you stupid elf!” I heard another one of the squires hiss to the absent-minded one.
“The only reason I’m here is because I like to play the trumpet,” the absent-minded squire sighed.
It was pretty well known around the castle that the King didn’t have great hearing, even when he was in hybrid form, so I knew that he wouldn’t hear the squires squabbling. But I found it funny that the other knights and blue bloods had super wolf hearing abilities, and could easily listen in on all the logistical mishaps at hand.
The King led us through the door behind the tapestry without the usual fanfare, though everyone who had overheard the squires knew the King was leaving. There was a narrow hallway and a set of stairs behind the tapestry, which I’d had the privilege of using before, and I thought the King would head for the steps. However, he knocked three times on the wall to the right, which swung open to reveal another hallway.
“Whoa,” Tabitha blurted out from behind me. “I’ve never seen this before.”
“Yes, you have,” the King laughed as he led us inside. “But from a different direction. And you’re probably far too old now to remember when all the children were escorted to the landscape room for a lesson on Lupercalian geography.”
With that, the King opened a door and led us into a room with thick burgundy carpet and paintings of the Lupercalian countryside on every square inch of wall space. Our muffled footsteps were the only sound in the place, which reminded me of a library even though there were no books.
“Ah, geography,” Tabitha sighed. “It’s still my favorite topic, Your Highness.”
“Which is why she’s the best navigator in all of Lupercalia,” Sybil said.
“Aw, thanks Sybil,” Tabitha said as she nudged her friend.
The King led us into another hallway that was quiet and dusty, like it wasn’t used very often. The King was humming a tune that I didn’t know, and he looked completely unconcerned about the fact that we seemed to be lost.
“You say that this is about Wenderoth?” the King asked when he came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the hallway.
“Yes,” I answered. “It’s about his notebook. There’s all these diagrams, scientific and… um...”
“Alchemical,” Sybil supplied.
“Alchemical?” the King snapped. “Squire!”
A tiny door that I hadn’t even noticed swung open, and a small man stepped out.
“Your Highness,” he said as he bowed. “You have requested my presence.”
“I am escorting this knight and these ladies to my personal office,” he said as he lifted an eyebrow. “Make sure that we are met by the Wizard and the Doctor.”
“Wizard and Doctor, of course,” the squire muttered before he ran back into the tiny door and disappeared.
“Whoa,” Sybil muttered under her breath.
We were all impressed by the squire system anyway, but I hadn’t realized just how far it stretched. It seemed like they really were the eyes and ears of the castle, and that they knew absolutely everything there was to know.
No wonder they were such intense gossips.
The King had started forward again as soon as the squire vanished, and we had to hurry to catch up to him. He stopped in front of an arched doorway, threw the door open, and marched inside like the King that he was.
The girls and I looked at each other, and then we stepped through the door one at a time. At first glance, I noticed there was another door on the other side of the room, and when I looked back at the one we’d just come through, I realized it was disguised as a bookcase.
“Shut the door, please,” the King ordered.
I pushed gently on the bookcase once Imelda was inside the room, and the door swung shut without so much as a squeak. I shook my head in amazement, and then turned to study the rest of the room. It wasn’t the most resplendent room I’d ever seen in the castle, but this one felt like the place where the real business of the kingdom was conducted.
It was shaped like an octagon, and most of the polished wood floor was covered in a dark blue carpet with a gray vine pattern. The walls of the office were painted a matching blue, and silver vines traced a delicate pattern toward the ceiling, though most of the paintwork was hidden by the bookshelves. Hundreds of leather-bound books packed the shelves, while others were stacked on the floor. A delicate candelabra provided the only light for the room, yet it was somehow enough to read by or to admire the small objects that were hidden among the chaos.
“Sir Henry and company,” the King said as he sat down in a velvet-covered chair. “Tell me your tale. You said this has to do with that notebook you found when you killed Wenderoth?”
“It does,” I replied. “The cipher was able to translate several sections before… before he was killed. Sybil and Imelda have taken up that task, and they’ve recently found something disturbing.”
“Anything involving vampires is disturbing,” the King said and then looked at Imelda. “I meant no offense, Priestess.”
“None taken,” the one-time vampire replied. “I wholeheartedly agree with you.”
There was a knock at the other door, and we all glanced at it.
“Come in,” the King bellowed.
The door opened to reveal two men, one of whom I recognized from my very first day in Lupercalia. It was the doctor, and he wore the same round-rimmed glasses and gray tunic with black boots that he’d had on during my initial examination. His gray hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat, and his face was red like he’d run all the way here.
