Samantha R. Cichella - A New Successor

Tony was lost in thought as they headed to Wendell’s study. He was surprised to find out how Wendell really felt about Wolf. He knew that Wendell would not have any hard feeling towards Wolf, but he never knew that Wendell had thought so highly of him. Not after all that he had said when he was trapped in the body of a dog. The truth was that Tony had also grown fond of Wolf over the last few months. He was still a little bitter about the fact that Virginia decided to live with Wolf. Tony had a hard time the first month after Virginia had gone back to New York. He was not used to spending that much time away from his daughter. He knew he was a little overprotective. He just didn’t want anything to happen to her. At the same time, he knew deep down that Wolf would never hurt Virginia; he would do anything for her. As long as Wolf took care of his daughter, Tony had no problem with him. It was at that moment Tony decided that he too, would do anything in his power to bring Wolf back. Three months ago, he had told Wendell that Virginia believed in Wolf and he believed in Virginia, so he had helped prove Wolf innocent when blamed for the murder of Sally Peep. He would do the same this time. He would help Virginia and rescue him.

Just then, they three of them reached King Wendell’s study. They entered and as Tony and Virginia took a seat, Wendell carefully shut the door after making sure that no one was out in the hallway to listen in.

“Ok, Virginia, I need you to tell me the whole story from when you woke up today to when you came through the traveling mirror. I need to know if there are any clues that we have overlooked.”

Virginia then began to explain the whole story. She didn’t leave out a single thing, knowing that the smallest detail could be very vital. There was one part of the story where both Wendell and Tony glanced at each other, each thinking the same thing. When Virginia was done a few minutes later, she was crying again, although not as hard this time. Tony put an arm around her to comfort her.

“Virginia, you said that you bumped into three men as you were leaving your apartment building?” Wendell asked. Asking what both he and Tony were wondering.

“Yeah, I was in such a hurry that I had run right into them. Why?”

“Did you happen to see who they were?”

“I wasn’t really paying much attention at the time.” She took a minute to think back. “Let’s see, there were three of them, two were taller than the third. I think there was something familiar about them. I mean some part of me knows that I should recognize them. The smaller one was older than the others. But I didn’t get a good look at their faces though. Do you think they could have done it?”

“I don’t know, but it’s a start. Now, when you entered your apartment, was anything out of the ordinary? Besides the door being open?”

Virginia thought back to when she had entered the apartment. “No, just that the door was opened and this note that was on the table.”

“Just as I thought, there was no troll dust anywhere, correct?”

“Right.”

“Hmm. trolls usually don’t work without it. I don’t think Wolf would have gone willingly so I think he must have been knocked out. If trolls had done it, they wouldn’t have bothered to clean up the troll dust. So it couldn’t have been that. Which makes me feel a little better, seeing as though Burly the troll king is on his way.” Wendell didn’t want to voice what he had been thinking earlier about his guards. At least not yet anyways. He would make sure to find out who was supposed to be on guard at the time.

“Why is Burly on his way?” Virginia asked. The last time she had seen him and his brother and sister, they had been chasing her and her father through the Fourth Kingdom.

“Well, you see, after you left two months ago, Burly was crowned king of the trolls. His brother Bluebell and sister Blabberwort became his most trusted advisors, obviously. The three of them can’t be separated. Anyway, they are under the impression that you killed their father; Relish the former troll king.”

“What?! Where did they come up with that?” Virginia was almost afraid of the answer.

Wendell became a little uncomfortable. He was afraid of how Virginia was going to handle the answer. He looked at Tony for help, but he was too preoccupied with watching a spider crawl across the floor. Wendell took a deep breath and chose his words carefully. “Well, when Relish was murdered, his three children were trapped in gold.” Wendell and Virginia both glanced over at Tony, who was now captivated by a portrait of Snow White on the wall and busy scratching his neck. “So they had no clue as to how their father really died.”

“How did Relish really die?”

“He and a group of his troops were poisoned in an apple orchard by... umm... the Evil Queen.” Wendell lowered his voice to almost a whisper when he said the last two words. He looked over to Virginia to see what her reaction was. He was surprised to find that she did not start crying again.

“Wendell, its okay. I’ve come to terms with what happened. After all, it was two months ago. It did take me awhile, but I did it.” Tony’s head snapped back towards Virginia and stared at her shocked. Obviously, he was not expecting this either.

“Oh, well, okay. I am sorry about all of this Virginia. I mean you have already put up with so much already. Now you have to deal with this on top of it. I want you to know though that if you need anything, just let me know. I consider you my sister now. Well technically you’re my step sister, but I think of you as my sister.” Wendell never was good at emotional stuff. He couldn’t ever find the right thing to say. He was surprised at how much he had changed though in the past few months. He had gone from a stuck up prince to a caring king.

“Thank you Wendell. That means a lot to me. I think of you as my brother as well.”

Tony couldn’t help but smile proudly as the two of them hugged. Over the past two months, after Virginia had returned to New York, he had grown close to Wendell. He had even begun to think of him as the son he never had. He knew that Wendell felt the same way that Tony was sort of like a father and a good friend to him. Tony decided to join the hug. Wendell and Virginia both started laughing as they felt their chests getting squeezed as Tony grabbed them both and hugged them tight like he wasn’t ever going to let them go.

“Awe, I’m so proud of you two!” Tony grinned from ear to ear as he still held onto them. For a moment, everyone forgot their troubles.

“Antony! Please, I can’t breathe!” Laughing, Tony let them go. Virginia and Wendell almost fell to the ground. They all stood their laughing for a few minutes until Virginia remembered why she was here in the first place. She felt like crying again. Here they were enjoying themselves while Wolf was out there somewhere, hurt for all they knew. Wendell and Tony noticed the change in Virginia’s face and silently cursed themselves for forgetting their current situation.

“Wendell, what happened after the troll king was poisoned? Why do they think I did it?” Virginia didn’t waste any time getting back on topic.

“Well, after Relish was poisoned, the queen then cut off his head and had the imposter me show it to all of Kissingtown. I remember because I saw that part. Later on, when the three trolls escaped their golden imprisonment, they immediately contacted the queen through mirrors. They had no idea that their father had died or how he had died. By then, the queen had realized that you, Virginia, were the real threat. So, since they knew nothing of their father, she blamed it on you. That way, the trolls would seek their revenge and at the same time, you would no longer be a threat to her.”

“And Burly and his siblings still think that I am responsible.”

“I’m afraid so. That is why I have called this meeting today, so that I can explain to them that you had nothing to do with their father’s death.” Wendell did not want to mention the part about Burly wanting to take Virginia prisoner or the war threats.

Just then the door to Wendell’s study opened and a servant appeared. “Your majesty, King Burly, Prince Bluebell and Princess Blabberwort have arrived.”