Midor met Alicia at her parents’ room. “Midor, what is going on?” Charles asked. “Penelope was just telling me that General Graten has started a fight with the blind ogre.”
“The ogre is dead,” said Midor. “We’ve got bigger problems now. General Graten’s going to start another fight with the goblins.”
“Doesn’t he remember what happened the last time we tried to fight the goblins?” asked Penelope.
“He thinks that with Catherine gone, it’s his chance,” said Midor.
“But with both Catherine and Vivian gone, who will stop the goblins this time around when they get out of control?” asked Charles.
“That’s why we have to stop him,” said Midor. “But I can’t do it alone. He’s much stronger than I am, and a much better fighter.”
“I’ll come with you,” said Charles.
“I’ll send for the other Princes,” said Penelope. “I’ll get Jason, George and Rufus. Where is General Graten?”
“I don’t know,” said Midor. “I think he’s looking for Grinthal. He said that if we grab the king--”
“I haven’t seen Grinthal in weeks,” said Penelope.
“Yes,” Charles said slowly. “Now that you mention it, I haven’t either. I’d almost forgot about that guy with everything else that’s been going on.”
“What about Henry?” asked Alicia. “Is Henry okay?”
“I almost forgot about that,” said Midor. “Yes, we still need you to try to kiss Henry. Are you still willing?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Okay, the blind ogre is dead now, so I think it’s safe to--.”
“No, absolutely not,” said Penelope. “If General Graten is going to start a war with the goblins, then I want my children safe in their rooms, not wandering the hallways of the castle. Where’s Amanda? Is she in her room? Alicia, why don’t you get Amanda? We’ll all shelter in our room.” (By “our”, Penelope meant the room that she shared with Charles.)
“This may still be our last chance to save Henry,” said Midor. “Catherine could come back any minute.”
“Then I’ll go with Midor,” said Alicia. “Mother, I’ve fought the goblins before. It will be okay.”
“It will not be okay,” said Penelope. “You remember what happened last time? We would all have been killed if it hadn’t been for your aunt Vivian.”
“Mother, I have to do this,” said Alicia with a determined voice.
Penelope sighed, and then at last said, “Okay, but I’m coming with you then.”
“I’ll go get Jason, George and Rufus,” said Charles. “Where should we meet you?”
“We’re going to find Henry in Catherine’s chambers,” said Midor. “But don’t worry about us. You just concentrate on finding General Graten!”
******************************************************************************
Penelope, Midor, and Alicia were running up the stairs to Catherine’s chamber, when they saw General Graten at the top of the stairs. And General Graten was rolling something.
And then they heard a voice. “No! No, don’t do it!” the voice was screaming.
“We both know it’s the only way to get you out of here,” General Graten was saying. Midor noticed he was still slurring his words slightly--that is, he was still a bit drunk.
“I don’t want to get out. Put me back. Oh, please, don’t do what you’re thinking of doing! I’m begging you!”
And then, Midor saw Grinthal in the glass bottle. “General, no!” Midor exclaimed. “Don’t do it.”
“It’s okay,” General Graten said. “There’s not going to be any big fight with the goblins. Grinthal and I have worked out an arrangement. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get Grinthal down the stairs.”
“General wait,” said Midor. “Let me help you. We’ll carry it down together.”
“It’s no use,” said General Graten. “Catherine put some sort of heavy spell on the bottle. It’s impossible to lift, and it can’t be broken. But it can be rolled. Catherine didn’t think about that, I guess. And it’s going to roll down these stairs, so you’d better get out of the way.”
“Okay, wait, wait,” said Midor. “Don’t roll it yet. Let me come up to you first. Then you can roll it.”
“Okay, come on up,” said General Graten. “But hurry.”
Midor, Penelope and Alicia ran the rest of the way up the stairs. General Graten was getting ready to roll the glass jar down the stairs, but Midor grabbed his hand. “General, you can’t roll that,” he said.
General Graten yanked his hand free. “I thought we’d been over this Midor. I gave you the opportunity to fight me if you wanted to try to stop me. You refused. Do you want to fight me now?”
“I do not.”
“Then get out of my way. We both know this isn’t going to kill him. Goblins are made of stronger stuff than that. It might knock him around a little bit, possibly bruise him but…” General Graten kicked the bottle over the top stairs as he talked, “...he’s a goblin. They’ve got it coming.”
Grinthal had begun screaming even before General Graten had finished talking, and the sound of him screaming as the bottle bounced down the stairs was now the only thing anyone could hear.
“That scream will bring in every goblin in the castle,” said Midor.
“It’s all right,” said General Graten. “That was the arrangement all along.”
“Heeelllp meee!” Grinthal continued screaming as he continued bouncing down the stairs.
“Remember the agreement Grinthal,” General Graten shouted after him. “You get your followers to take you out of the castle, and they leave with you.”
“I don’t like this,” said Midor. “There’s going to be trouble soon. Let’s get out of here. Where’s Henry?”
“Henry? I left him back in Catherine’s chambers. He’s a bit dazed still,” said General Graten.
“Come on,” said Midor, grabbing Alicia’s hand. “Let’s move fast.”
But it was just at that precise moment that Catherine and Vivian came flying back into the room. Nobody had been expecting them to return as soon as they did, and there was a moment of shock in which no one knew what to say. For her part, Catherine was obviously not expecting to see so many people at the entrance to her chambers.
It was General Graten who spoke first. “Back so soon?” he asked.
“Soon?” said Catherine. “It’s been several hours. But yes, we are back. We took care of Rakthar first. Chopped him up, and then scattered his pieces all over the forest. And of course, we saved a piece of him to keep an eye on,” Catherine showed a piece in a glass jar. “And then after we got rid of Rakthar, we did the same thing with the other monsters. We tracked down Larza, Trata, and Clozar, and did the same thing to them. None of the monsters would yield, stupid stubborn beasts that they are. But none of them stood a chance against Vivian with her magic sword and her super speed. She cut them all into small pieces, and we scattered the pieces, saving one to keep in the castle for safekeeping. But now we’re back, and what do we see here? Why is everyone crowded around the entrance to my room?”
“Midor, what are you doing?” asked Vivian.
“Vivian, we’ll talk later,” Midor said.
“We’ll talk now, Midor,” Catherine said. “Midor, you and I agreed that I was going to take care of the monsters for the good of the forest. Have you betrayed my trust while I was gone? Something is going on here, and I want to know what.” Catherine looked closely at Midor, Penelope and Alicia, and then said, “You’ve come for Henry, haven’t you? Oh Midor, you are so predictable. It won’t work, you know. You think Alicia is his true love? That poor boy doesn’t have any true loves. He’ll flirt with any pretty face that walks by him. The only one he truly loves is himself.”
“Then what are you worried about,” said Midor. “Let us see him.”
“No. Henry will stay with me, thank you. And General Graten, are you also here to save Henry, or…”
But at this point, Grinthal’s pitiful wailing from the bottom of the stairs became audible again. Catherine heard the sound, but did not immediately recognize the voice. “What is that?” she asked. But then when the wailing started up again, Catherine’s brain finally realized whose voice it was. “Who is responsible for this?” Catherine said, her face becoming red with fury. “Who has been in my chambers?”
“You can blame Midor,” said General Graten. “He was the one who provoked the ogre. I just defended myself once the ogre attacked.”
“And what happened to the ogre?” Catherine asked. She spoke the words slowly and with fury.
“I killed him, of course,” said General Graten. “After Midor provoked him, I had no choice.”
“And then Grinthal?”
“He wanted out and I helped him,” said General Graten. “Look, if you didn’t want him removed, you could have just said so. But you left no instructions about what to do if we found the Goblin King in your chambers. We didn’t even know that’s where the Goblin King was hiding.”
“General, I thought you were smarter than this, I really did,” said Catherine. “But I’m going to make myself clear. I don’t demand that everyone in this castle loves me. Several people in this castle probably hate me. I don’t care. But I do demand that they obey me. And if I am not obeyed, then I have great powers which I will use to take care of the situation. Do you understand General? You could so very easily find yourself joining Grinthal in that bottle if you’re not careful. The only reason that I’m not shrinking you down into that bottle right now is because I know you would never try to harm me personally, you just wanted the goblins out of the castle. So consider this a warning, General. There will be no second warning.”
General Graten had the sense to nod his head meekly, and respond, “Understood, my queen.”
Catherine turned to Midor, “As for you, Midor--”
“Catherine, I don’t want to fight you,” said Midor. “But you can’t punish Henry like this. He’s done nothing against you. I know you’ve got good reason to be angry at some of the people in this castle, but Henry’s not one of them.”
“Midor, are we still having this conversation? Did you see what just happened? I left the castle for the first time in weeks, and am only gone for a few hours, and already General Graten has killed my ogre and is trying to take away my goblin king. Clearly I need all the security I can get. Henry is enchanted, but he’s enchanted with a love enchantment. If he hadn’t been leering at me, I wouldn’t have been able to ensnare him. I got him fair and square. Now, I need you to promise me that you will not try to free him from this enchantment.”
“Catherine, you know I can’t promise that,” said Midor.
“Fine. In that case, Midor, you are hereby banished from this castle.”
“I’ve been banished from his castle for most of my life,” said Midor with a wry smile.
“Yes, well maybe my brother did one or two things right after all,” said Catherine.
“You know this won’t stop me from trying to free Henry.”
Catherine became exasperated. “Midor, I am trying very hard to be patient with you. I would think that by now you would know what the consequences of making me angry are.”
“And you, Catherine, should know me well enough to know that the consequences never stopped me before. They didn’t stop me when your brother banished me, they didn’t stop me when Talon threatened me, and they won’t stop me now.”
“Very well, Midor. Since you so clearly want to see what happens when you push my patience, I’ll show you,” said Catherine. “You can spend the next several weeks trapped in the glass jar with Grinthal.” Catherine readied her hands to cast the magic spell.
“Catherine, no,” pleaded Vivian. “Let him off. For my sake.”
Catherine relaxed her hands. “Very well, Vivian. You know that I could never refuse you anything. Midor, it looks like you’ve been granted a second chance.” Midor opened his mouth to say something, but Catherine quickly hushed him. “No, no, keep your mouth shut, I don’t want to hear it. I’m not asking for you to agree to any conditions, I’m just asking you to keep your mouth shut. If you openly defy me again, I’ll have no choice but to put you in the jar. And if anyone here,” Catherine let her eyes slowly sweep over General Graten, Alicia and Penelope, “tries to free Grinthal or Henry again, I’ll imprison them as well, whoever it is.” Catherine returned her eyes to Midor. “I’m not asking you to agree to it, Midor. I’m just asking you to shut your mouth and walk away, and think about it. You can thank Vivian later.”
“Midor, please. Do as she says,” pleaded Vivian.
Midor nodded silently, and then turned to leave.
“But what about Henry?” pleaded Alicia.
“He never loved you,” said Catherine. “Forget about him.”
“He loved me!” Alicia insisted. “And I’ll prove it to you if you let me kiss him.”
Catherine appeared to consider it briefly, but then thought better of it. “I’m not taking the chance,” she said. “Henry is too valuable as a bodyguard.”
This comment caused a deep roar of laughter from General Graten, and Catherine looked over at him sharply. Once General Graten’s laughter had died away, he explained. “Henry is useless as a bodyguard,” General Graten said. “I knocked him out with my bare hands. If Henry was so valuable to you, then how come I got Grinthal out of your chamber?”
Catherine stood silently for a minute, then she came back to Alicia. “If I let you kiss him, and it doesn’t break the spell…”
“Then I will not ask a second time,” said Alicia.
“Very well,” said Catherine. “You may try.”
They all went to Catherine’s chamber, where they saw Henry slumped over against the wall. He was still awake, but groggy. And he had bruises on his face where General Graten had hit him.
“Is he okay?” asked Alicia.
“He’s okay,” said General Graten. “His bruises will heal.”
“But his eyes are so…”
“He’s still under the enchantment,” said Midor. “Try kissing him.”
Alicia hesitated. “I don’t know,” she said. “What if it doesn’t…”
“If it doesn’t work,” said Penelope, “then at least you know he’s not in love with you, and you can stop wasting all your time on this stupid boy. Go ahead and try, you’ve got nothing to lose.”
Alicia knelt down and cradled Henry’s face in her hands. “Henry,” she said. “I love you. This kiss is to free you from Catherine’s enchantment.” She closed her eyes and kissed Henry on the lips.
Alicia had her eyes closed, but Midor and Penelope kept their eyes wide open, and Midor could see the change that came over Henry’s face immediately. There was no mistaking what was happening. They were seeing the enchantment being broken. “Well, I’ll be,” said Midor slowly. “It worked after all.”
“What does this mean?” asked Penelope.
“It means that Henry is truly in love with Alicia,” Midor said. “In spite of everything.”
“I don’t believe it,” said Penelope. “If he was truly in love with her, then how come he allowed himself to be distracted by every other pretty face that came his way.”
“You’ll have to ask Henry that,” said Midor. “I can’t answer for him. All I can do is speculate. But it appears that he wanted the other girls in addition to Alicia, but he never considered replacing Alica with another girl.”
“What?” Penelope said in an outraged tone.
“He’s young still,” said Midor. “He probably still hasn’t figured out what he wants. Some young men are like that. He’ll figure it all out eventually.”
“Oh no,” said Penelope. “He’ll figure it all out with another girl, if that’s the way he’s going to be. He’s not messing my daughter around like that.”
“Mom!” said Alicia in an annoyed tone. “I’m old enough to make my own decisions. I love him, and he loves me, and we’re going to make this work out.”
Henry, throughout all of this discussion, was still lying in a daze on the floor. Alicia cradled his head.
“He’ll be alright,” General Graten said. “I’ve given him a few good knocks, but it’s nothing he can’t recover from.”
“Good help is so hard to find,” Catherine said in an irritated tone. “I guess I’ll have to find a new bodyguard. Maybe there are more ogres somewhere in the forest.”
“You forget,” said General Graten. “I once offered my services to you.”
“And as I recall, General,” said Catherine, “You are still technically the commander of my army. Although why the commander of my army is raiding my chambers the moment I leave the castle is something I still have to work out.” Catherine turned back to Midor and Alicia. “Very well, Henry is returned to you. The enchantment is broken. I trust you now have everything you want, and will trouble me no further today.” Midor nodded his head. “Very well,” said Catherine. “Then only one matter remains,” she said. “I must retrieve Grinthal from the bottom of the stairs.”
They all walked together to the top of the stairs. “You know, Midor,” said General Graten, “You’re not quite the humanitarian you think you are, are you?”
Catherine answered before Midor could. “General, I advise you to keep your mouth shut,” Catherine said. “I don’t want you stirring up trouble.”
“I’m just saying,” said General Graten, “Midor was so concerned about his friend Henry. But nobody is objecting to poor Grinthal being stuck in a glass bottle.”
“Poor Grinthal,” Catherine laughed. “General, sometimes I forget that you are new to this forest. You have no idea how much trouble Grinthal has caused all of us over the years. Believe me, nobody feels bad about Grinthal being trapped in a bottle--not even Midor. If you even knew how much trouble Grinthal has caused Midor.”
“You are not wrong,” Midor said. “It’s been very difficult to control Grinthal and his Goblins and to keep peace in the forest over the years. And yet, I fear--”
“Ah, Midor, always the bleeding heart,” said Catherine. “Do you mean to tell me you even feel sorry for Grinthal?”
“I would not have him imprisoned as you have done,” said Midor. “Your brother was able to keep Grinthal and his goblins under control without tormenting them.”
Catherine instantly became enraged. “How dare you praise my brother in my presence! How dare you compare him to me! Midor, I remind you that the only reason I have not imprisoned you as well is that Vivian has interceded for you. But do not push your luck any further. Because of Vivian, you are pardoned for all of your offenses today, on the condition that you shut your mouth and leave my presence immediately. But if you offend me again on another day, you will know my wrath.”
Midor looked like he was considering saying something, but Vivian quickly spoke up. “Midor, just do it,” she pleaded.
Midor nodded, and left.
No comments:
Post a Comment