It was four days later that Midor presented Graten with the sword. Robert was by his side to see it happen.
“This is one of the magical swords made by the elves of old,” said Midor solemnly. “It can cut through anything. It is only safe when it is inside the sheath, for the sheath is made of magic as well. You can take the sword out and try it, but you must be careful.”
Graten took the sword from Midor, and slowly took it out of its sheath. “It doesn’t look very sharp,” he said skeptically.
“It’s not sharp,” said Midor. “At least not in the physical sense. It’s power does not come from how closely the blade has been filed. It’s power comes from its magic.”
General Graten nodded, but he looked skeptical. He swung the sword, and cut at the stone wall in the castle. The sword went right through the stones as if they were not even there. “Amazing,” he said. “And there’s nothing it won’t cut through?”
“It’s made of the old magic,” said Midor. “There’s nothing it won’t cut through.”
“This will be useful against the monsters,” said Graten.
“I was thinking the same thing,” said Midor.
General Graten thought. “I won’t even need Catherine to wake up in the middle of the night. I could cut the monster’s head off with this.”
“You could,” said Midor. “Of course, you’d have to be quick. You’ve seen how fast they can move.”
“Yes, well, if they get me first before I can strike, then they’ll be the victors of course. But I’ve never been afraid of a soldier’s death,” said General Graten. “That death has been waiting for me for a long time now. But at least with this sword, I can take a few of them down with me before I go.”
General Graten swung the sword around, and marvelled at it.
“Careful General,” Midor said. “That sword will slice through anything. If you were to nick your arm while you were swinging it around…”
“I’ve dealt with sharp swords before,” said Graten irritated.
“Not like this you haven’t,” said Midor. “This blade will not simply nick your arm, it will slice all the way through it, even if it touches it without force.”
General Graten nodded soberly. He understood the power of the sword. “I’ll be careful,” he said, putting it back in its sheath. “But I also want a chance to use it as soon as possible. We still have the monsters running around in the forest.”
“We do,” said Midor. “I will help you track them if you like. But first, we have a deal. You must free Henry from the love spell.”
“Yes, yes, I remember. By kissing Catherine in front of the boy. It shall be done.”
******************************************************************
Henry was in the throne room with Catherine, fiercely standing guard. He wouldn’t let anyone approach her without permission.
General Graten entered. Midor, Robert and Grace followed him at a distance, but stopped at the edge of the throne room to see what would happen.
As General Graten walked towards Catherine, Henry rushed forward to block his way. “No one sees the Queen without permission,” Henry growled.
“It’s okay, my dear,” said Catherine. “This is my General. What news, General Graten?”
“I’ve come to ask you to let the boy go,” said General Graten. “Release your enchantment on Henry.”
Catherine didn’t even bother denying that she had enchanted Henry. “Not just yet,” she said. “I need some protection. You wouldn’t understand, but this can be a treacherous castle to sleep in.” Catherine gestured towards Midor at the back of the throne room. “Midor understands,” she said.
“I understand,” said General Graten. “But surely no queen was better guarded than you. You have the goblin army running around this castle. You have your ogre. And you have me, your devoted servant. Release the boy.”
“My devoted servant? My dear General Graten, I’ve requested your loyalty many times, and yet you’ve always told me that you were not to be bought cheaply.”
“I can’t be bought, but I will spare nothing for the woman I love.”
Catherine smiled. “General. I’m no teenage girl that you can win me over so easily with sweet words. I also know a few things about men and love and false promises.”
“My lady, why would I make false promises to you? Do you take me for a fool to risk your wrath?”
Catherine smiled, but it was not a happy smile. Instead it was more of a weary smile. “Why would you make false promises to me? You’ve already stated your reason. You want to free Henry from the enchantment. I don’t think you’re smart enough to know anything about magic or how to break spells, but I can see Midor is with you. No doubt, Midor did the research and has gotten you to do his dirty work. What did Midor promise you? Gold? Wine?” General Graten opened his mouth to answer, but Catherine kept right on talking. “It’s no use, General. I know full well you’re not in love with me. I know because I’ve already tried the love slave enchantment spell on you. If you actually had been in love with me, even a little bit, the spell would have worked.”
“Fine,” said General Graten. “Fine, this was all Midor’s idea. And I’m not in love with you in the sense of a besotten teenage boy. But I believe the two of us together could make a powerful alliance, and I’m willing to love you.”
“A political marriage, so to speak,” asked Catherine.
“They do this kind of thing in the courts of Mora all the time,” said General Graten.
“Not good enough, General,” said Catherine. “You must not know my history well at all, or you would never have proposed such a thing. The man I bring into my bed must not just give me his word. I must know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is devoted to me. Like young Henry here.” Catherine gestured towards Henry, who had been standing at her side this whole time.
“You already have protection” came a voice from behind General Graten. Catherine looked up. It was Midor. “You have the ogre and a whole army of goblins. Let the boy go. You don’t need him, and he’s not your toy, he’s a human being.”
“I’ll forgive a certain amount of ignorance from the General,” said Catherine coldly. “But you, Midor, you were there. You saw what they did to me when I last let my guard down. You know as well as everybody why I need protection.”
“I’ll grant it,” said Midor. “Someone with your history would want to be protected. But you are protected.”
“Goblins and ogres,” sniffed Catherine. “How reliable are those? I can’t rely on King Grinthal to protect me when I sleep. I can barely rely on him when I’m awake.”
“We won’t allow you to enslave the boy,” said Midor.
Catherine hummed, and the electric light glowed at her fingertips. “Midor, are you threatening me?” she said. “I’ll not tolerate dissension within my own castle. I’ll turn you into a rabbit.”
“I’ve been shrunk down by you once already,” said Midor. “I survived.”
“Don’t tempt me, Midor,” said Catherine.
“Catherine, leave him be,” said General Graten. “We need his knowledge and skills to find the monsters hiding in the forest.”
“General, sometimes I don’t know whose side you’re on,” Catherine said.
“If that’s true, then it’s your own fault. I’ve been honest with you from day one,” said General Graten. “I’ve always been on my own side.”
“Forgive me,” said Catherine coldly. “I stand corrected. You have always been honest about that.”
“But I’m also being honest now,” said General Graten. “The offer still stands. I’ll come over to your side if you’ll have me. Let me try to love you, and you’ll see how loyal I can be when it suits me.”
“I will not bargain for your love, General,” said Catherine. “I’ve never found love worth bargaining for. It’s an expensive emotion, and not very effective. Fear is much more effective, and far cheaper.”
General Graten nodded his head slowly. “You're no one’s fool, Catherine, I’ll give you that. I respect you.” He turned and walked out of the throne room. He passed by Midor, Grace and Robert on his way out. “We’re not going to get anywhere here,” he said. “We tried.”
Midor sighed, and then turned to Grace and Robert. “He’s right.”
“I still get to keep the sword, though,” said General Graten. “I did everything you asked me to.”
“General, you’ve been a sword for hire your entire life. You know that payment is only delivered if you get results.”
“Midor, because I’ve been a soldier of fortune my entire life, I’ve learned a long time ago to always demand payment in advance. That way, no matter what happens, it’s very difficult for them to get it back from you once it’s in your hands.”
“I have no desire to take the sword from you General. It’s in capable hands, as far as I’m concerned, and we’re going to need capable hands to wield it against the monsters. I’ll consider the sword on-loan to you until the monsters are defeated. If you can come through with your end of the bargain, and convince Catherine to free Henry, you can keep the sword. Otherwise, I will seek to reclaim it when all of this is over.”
General Graten snorted. “You? Reclaim it from me? I’d like to see you try?’
“It’s not me you would be fighting,” said Midor as he walked away. “It would be the forest.”
**********************************************************************
Back in Robert’s room, Robert, Grace and Midor talked.
“Are you really going to let him keep the sword?” asked Robert.
“Probably,” said Midor. “Recall that the plan all along was for him to get that sword to wield against the monsters. That would have been our desire no matter how things played out with Henry. I’m just reluctant to let him think that he bullied it out of me. That could possibly set a bad precedent for the future. You have to be careful with his sort.”
“But what are we going to do about Henry?” asked Grace.
“We may have to resort to other options,” said Midor. “I suppose we could go questing for the Golden Apple after all.”
“Aren’t we forgetting something?” said Robert. “One other way to break the curse was to have Henry be kissed by true love.”
Midor brightened. “Yes, of course. How stupid of me. Of course that’s the next thing to try.”
Grace laughed. “He’s kissed a lot of girls, but I wouldn’t call any of it true love.”
“You know him better than I do,” Midor said, nodding in acknowledgement to Grace. “And yet, it sounds like we risk nothing by trying. If the kiss is not true love, then we’re no worse off than we were before.”
“Fine,” Grace said. “Let’s give it a try. We can get everyone in the castle to try kissing Henry: Amanda, Alicia, and Marcia can all line up.”
“As far as we’re concerned, I don’t see why not,” said Midor. “And if it doesn’t work, then at least we’ll know. I’ll go on the quest for the golden apple if I absolutely have to, but I don’t want to be camped out in the dark parts of the forest, and have to wonder if there might have been a simpler way out of this.”
“The only problem,” said Robert, “is that it’s going to be an awkward conversation with the girls.”
Grace laughed. “That’s exactly what I was thinking,” she said. But then, Grace stopped laughing once she saw the way Midor was looking at her. “Oh no, you’re going to make me do it, aren’t you?”
“Robert’s right, it will be an awkward conversation,” said Midor. “And I am too old to attempt to be the confidant of teenage girls. They’ll trust you more than they’ll trust me.”
“I wouldn’t be too sure of that,” said Grace. “We don’t exactly get on.”
“Do Alicia and Amanda dislike you?” asked Midor.
Grace was silent, so Robert answered for her. “Alicia and Amanda liked Grace, at least at first. But Grace disapproved of them, and didn’t make much effort to hide it. And then, once Alicia and Amanda realized that Grace disapproved of them, then they began to seriously hate her.”
“I see,” said Midor. “So it’s not going to work?”
“I could try,” said Grace.
“She’s not our best ambassador,” said Robert.
“The girls wouldn’t listen to her?” asked Midor.
“They might,” said Robert. “But they might not. Why risk it?”
“Well, I suppose you could talk to them,” said Midor. “You’re a boy, but you’re at least close in age to them. They may feel more comfortable with you.”
Robert and Grace exchanged a look, and then Robert said, “They don’t like me either. They know that I’m dating Grace. Once they stopped talking to Grace, they stopped talking to me at the same time.”
“Fine,” said Midor. “I’ve negotiated with all manner of creatures in this forest. I suppose I can talk to some teenage girls. I’ll meet them tomorrow.”
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