Samantha R. Cichella - A New Successor

“WHO?!” Virginia cried out as soon as the words had left Blabberwort’s mouth. The three trolls couldn’t hold back their surprise. Virginia had said the word with such viciousness that it would make any troll proud. That single word had been said with both worry and fury. For a minute the three trolls just stood there gaping at Virginia. This of course made Virginia even more impatient. She looked as though she was going to strangle the answer out of them. Wendell and Tony were beginning to loose their patience as well. The three of them stared at the trolls waiting expectantly for their answer. Burly was the first to regain his composure. He coughed and then began to tell them the story before Virginia really did try and strangle him.

“Well, on our way here, we passed two horses pulling a cart. There were three men driving it. As we passed we saw a guy lying in the back of the cart. Blabberwort said she recognized him as the half wolf that was with you when we were chasing you through the Fourth Kingdom. Me and Bluebell didn’t get a good look at him, but we kept going.” Burly could tell the information he had just given them was nothing new to them.

“We knew that, well, we figured that three men had kidnapped Wolf. Virginia had explained to us that as she was leaving her apartment building she had bumped into three men that she thought she recognized but couldn’t place them. We also figured that whoever took Wolf came from here, and not from the Tenth Kingdom.” Wendell then turned to Virginia and Tony. “Which brings me to another issue. If in fact the kidnappers came from here, in the kingdoms, then the only way they could have gotten over to your world is through the traveling mirror upstairs in the mirror room. I always have that room heavily guarded. So no one could have gotten in without the help of my guards. So either the guards, who were on that shift at the time, were the kidnappers or they were in on it. The only other possibility is that they were put under some sort of spell. But we have no way of knowing this until we have interviewed them all.” Wendell then turned and opened the door to his study and called out to one of his servants. Wendell returned to his seat behind his desk and waited for the servant to enter the room. He beckoned for the servant to approach his desk as Virginia, Tony, and the three trolls took their seats near the desk.

“You called Your Majesty?” The servant asked.

“Yes. I need to know what two guards were guarding the door to the mirror room this morning. I want them brought in here immediately for questioning.”

“Yes Your Majesty.” The servant bowed low and turned towards the door to find the guards.

“Ok, while we are waiting, King Burly, I need to know where it is that you passed this cart. Here I have a map that you can use.” He unrolled a detailed map of the Fourth Kingdom.

Burly and his siblings examined the map and after a little debating, they finally pointed to a spot on a road leading away from Wendell’s castle. “It was right around there. It was on the road that goes south, just outside of some lamb village.”

“Little Lamb Village?” Tony asked. He remembered that town all too well, and he was hoping he wouldn’t ever have to go back. Although, they did have excellent food there.

“Yeah. That’s it. They had really nicey-nice food.” Burly grinned as he patted his still full stomach. Meanwhile, Virginia, Tony, and Wendell all groaned. They all hated that village, mainly because of their visit three months ago. Just then, there was a knock at the door, which was opened a second later. The servant Wendell had called upon earlier re-entered the room. Wendell had been expecting to see two guards accompany him, but was surprised when he saw that he was alone.

“Your Majesty.” The servant bowed as he reached Wendell’s desk.

“Did you not find out which guards had been on duty?” Irritation was evident in Wendell’s voice. He knew that there were records of when guards and servants went on duty and when they got off. How could the servant not have found out this simple piece of information?

“I checked the records Your Majesty. The two guards that were on duty this morning were Francis and Jacob. When I went to fetch them, they were nowhere to be found.”

“What?! What do you mean they were nowhere to be found?”

“It seems they left the castle. I asked some of the other guards and the ones that had seen them all said that they left as soon as their shift was done.” The servant was nervous now. He was just thankful that the king was not mad at him. He had a wife and two kids to take care of. He couldn’t afford to loose his job.

Wendell sat there fuming. Finally he said, “All right, bring me all the guards who saw them today. Then, I want you to send someone to each of their houses looking for them. If you find them, arrest them and bring them back here.” The servant bowed and backed away to the door. Once outside the king’s study, he practically ran down the hall.

Back in the study, nobody said anything for a few minutes. Even the trolls kept their mouths shut, waiting for Wendell to cool down. Finally Wendell looked up.

“Well, we’ll have to interview the guards that saw them here earlier. I don’t know what we’ll do from there. I suppose it depends on whether or not we can find the two guards.” Wendell sat there considering the situation. Things were not looking good. Virginia was getting impatient. She didn’t want to wait around and do nothing while her Wolf was out there.

“Can’t we go to wherever it was that Burly-King Burly saw Wolf last? We can go to the villages around there and ask them where they were heading.” Virginia looked at Wendell hopefully. It may not have been the best idea, but it was a start. Better than sitting around waiting.

“Yes, I think that would be a great idea. At least that may get us somewhere. Now, let’s see. I’m sure my council can handle things around here for a few days. I don’t want to sit around here. Antony, I assume you would be joining me? We can take a few guards with us.”

“What about me? You are not leaving me here while you two go looking for him.” Virginia said and everyone could tell by her voice that there was no changing her mind. “Even if you were to leave without me, I would still go out on my own an look for Wolf. I will not sit here back at the castle.”

Wendell and Tony looked at each other and Tony just shrugged. “There’s no changing her mind once it’s made up.” Wendell agreed to this, however reluctantly.

“We’re going too!” Everyone looked over at Burly in shock as he said this. “Suck an Elf! You don’t expect us to miss out on all the excitement do you? It’s to boring just sitting around our castle doing nothing. Until there’s a war, we don’t have anything to do.” Bluebell and Blabberwort nodded their heads in agreement.

Still a little shocked and somewhat uncertain, Wendell agreed to this as well. “If you're certain...”

This time Blabberwort spoke up, “Besides, we still owe the little witch-err...Virginia.”

“All right it’s settled then, we leave tomorrow morning.” Wendell began clearing up his desk. Virginia wasn’t satisfied yet.

“Tomorrow? Why not today? I don’t want to waste any more time than we already have.”

“Yes, tomorrow. I need to prepare a list of instructions for my council while I’m gone. We also need to have horses prepared and that kind of stuff. We can’t just leave at the spur of the moment. Now, you all should get some rest and some things packed so that we can leave first thing in the morning. King Burly, I will have some rooms made up for you and your siblings.” Wendell rang the bell and a servant scurried in less than a minute later. “Please have rooms made ready for the troll king and the prince and princess. Also, see to it that Miss Virginia is shown to her room.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” He bowed low to King Wendell and then turned to Virginia and the trolls. “Lady Virginia, your room is already ready. King Burly, Prince Bluebell and Princess Blabberwort, I can show you to your rooms as well. If you would please follow me.” He then turned to the door. Virginia reluctantly followed him. She glanced back and saw that her father and Wendell were silently discussing something. She was shrugged and hurried off trying to keep up with the servants fast pace.

After Burly and his sibling were shown to their own rooms, the servant finally made it to Virginia’s room. It was the same one that she had stayed in after Wendell’s coronation. She had slept for a full two days after the coronation incident. She didn’t think she would get much sleep tonight however.

“Just ring the bell, Milady, if you need anything. Your maid will come whenever she hears it.” Virginia nodded her thanks. The servant bowed and turned to leave.

Once the door was shut, Virginia just sat her bed. She didn’t know how long she sat there, just staring out the window or at the wall. Eventually she got up and began packing everything she thought that she might need on their journey. She packed clothes, a brush (Her hair was now shoulder length, so she could do more with it), and some other necessities. She then made out a list of all the stuff that she didn’t have on her, that she might need. She would give it to the maid later, to fetch for her. Last time they had gone on an adventure, they hadn’t been prepared at all. They had to make do with whatever they had and either bought or stole whatever they needed. Virginia cringed as she thought of having to steal from other people. They hadn’t really stolen much. She knew Wolf must have stolen clothes, because she didn’t know how he kept ending up with different outfits. So on the list, she put blankets, pots and pans, rope, hunting knife, and a map of the kingdoms. Although, she had no doubt whatsoever that Wolf would know his way around like the back of his hand. Wendell probably knew quite a lot as well. But still, Wolf wasn’t with them right now. This only made Virginia want to start crying all over again. She quickly busied herself to keep her mind distracted. After everything she had on her was packed, she rang the bell for her maid to come up.

Not even five minutes later, there was a knock at the door, and the maid entered. She curtsied to Virginia.

“Is there something I can get for you Milady?”

“Yes, I was wondering if I could have my dinner up in my room tonight. I also have a list of supplies I need brought for me by tomorrow morning.” Virginia handed over the list of supplies and the maid left her alone again to her thoughts.

A little while later, the maid returned with her supper and the supplies she asked for. Virginia quickly ate her food and finished adding the supplies to her bag. With nothing else to do, she changed into her nightgown and got into bed. It took her a while to fall asleep, especially without being able to cuddle up next to Wolf. Even once she fell asleep, she woke up many times during the night, never being able to sleep for more than a few hours at a time.