Part 12
"Come with me," she ordered, and grabbed Rascal's hand, leading him across the street to the dressmaker's shop.
One very terse conversation and a promise of a deferred charge later, and Red emerged from the shop outfitted in regal attire befitting someone of high social class. She had reclaimed her cloak from Rascal, outfitting him in a simple tunic and trousers instead. She swept down the road with the air of a woman accustomed to being obeyed, with Rascal trotting along behind her. He persisted in making strange noises with his mouth, but that only served to encourage the people they passed by to avoid him all the more. Red only hoped that Greta's potion would last long enough for them to accomplish her objective.
She arrived at the prison, relieved to see that a different man guarded the front gate. Arching her brows haughtily, she approached the guard's post and declared, "Lady Agnetta, here to procure the prisoner by the name of Justin, at the behest of Lord Brennan."
The guard's eyes bulged out of his head, and he immediately gestured to the scribe at his side to write all that down.
Red raised her hand. "Lord Brennan desires that this transaction be kept... discreet." She dropped her voice down to a near-whisper and murmured, "I'm not sure what he intends to do to the prisoner, but I've heard rumors that said prisoner might have caused much embarrassment to His Lordship, so it could be that His Lordship desires to repay the offense in kind--if you get my meaning." She winked at the guard.
A smile broke over his face, and he nodded and winked back, giving a small chuckle.
Behind Red, Rascal's head came up at the noise and he opened his mouth to vocalize a haphazard mimic of the guard's laugh.
Red saw the soldier's expression change, as he perceived this idiot servant mocking him, and she cast a mean glare over her shoulder. "Be still!" she snapped.
Rascal ducked his head and cowered with a small whimper.
The guard grabbed a ring of keys from somewhere nearby, and trudged over to the gate, waving Red up behind him.
"This way, Milady. Lord Brennan may have whatever he wishes."
Red picked her way carefully down the narrow, putrid halls. Rascal immediately wrapped his hands around his face, a frantic look in his eye like he was going to be sick.
The guard stopped at a cell and gestured to it. "He's in there--rather a decent-looking fellow, if y'ask me."
"Nobody is asking," Red retorted, and she leaned close to the bars. "Hello, Justin."
The erstwhile peddler sat curled up in the filthy straw piled at the back of the cell. Hearing his name, he lifted his head, and when he saw who it was standing on the other side of the door, his features widened in horror. He immediately began to tremble.
"Ah, the R-r-r-Red L-lady, is it?" he stammered. "Why have you come--"
"It's time you received justice for your actions," she informed him. Turning to the guard, Red ordered, "Release him for me... but leave the chains on."
The keys clanked in the lock and the old door creaked open as Justin babbled protests. "B-but... you can't do this! I've done nothing! You're not even--"
"SILENCE!" Red gave his shackles a tremendous jerk, sending the suave peddler tumbling to the floor. "You will not speak unless I bid you to!" She glanced at the guard to see how much of what Justin said had caught his interest, but the moment he met her gaze, the old soldier ducked his head and turned around to lead them back out of the prison.
Justin, meanwhile, had recovered some of his composure in time to notice the other person following along behind Red, who seemed much more elated to see him than she had been. Justin had to duck and squirm to avoid this pale-haired young man wrapping his arms around him and enthusiastically nuzzling his neck.
"What are you--Argh! Get off me! Who are--"
They reached the bright outdoors, and Justin was able to see the man properly. His eyes bulged as recognition dawned.
"What the... RASCAL?" he spluttered.
Red jerked his chains again. "I said be silent!" She turned to the guard and smiled. "His Lordship will reward you handsomely," she promised the guard.
He clicked his heels and saluted to her. "Thank you, Milady!"
Red left them all behind, heading for the main thoroughfare out of Callica. The guards at the main gate were more than a little suspicious at seeing their wanted criminal headed out of the city, chains notwithstanding, but all Red had to say was "Official business in the name of Lord Brennan!" and they let her pass.
She kept walking, dragging Justin along while Rascal kept pace beside her, until they were deep in the forest, far out of sight of anyone within Callica's walls.
At last, she turned to Justin.
"Well, peddler," she spat the word with a grimace, "where's that wagon you hid out here?"
Justin scrunched his face in confusion. "How did you know about that? And what have you done to my wolf?"
Rascal yelped happily at being recognized by his old master, but when he tried to lean in close to Justin, the peddler recoiled with a disgusted frown.
"Rascal! Sit!" Red commanded, and the young man immediately plopped down in the grass.
To Justin, she said, "I merely used a potion from the thaumaturge to change his form." She grinned slyly. "Don't worry, it's not very permanent--I don't think."
Justin was still trying to make sense of things. "Thaumaturge? Then you found--but what did... How..." His eyes unfolded very wide and all the color drained from his face. "Beauty?" He rasped hoarsely.
Red sighed. "You tended my wounds and treated me with kindness while I was a wolf, so for that, I got you out of jail." Her face darkened. "But you also stole wantonly from the good people of Queston, so for that, I must leave you in chains, and turn your clever pet wolf into a..." she glanced down at Rascal, who was busy itching himself all over and humming with delight at the sensation, "slightly-less-clever human," she finished. "Furthermore," she went on, turning her full attention on the man in irons, "you must tell me where you've hidden your wagon, so that I can bring everything back to Queston with me."
The old calculating gleam returned to his eye, as Justin responded, "And if indeed you're dealing fairly with me," he mused, "what will you give me in return for showing you the wagon?" He held up his manacled hands. "You'll let me loose, perhaps?"
Red met his cunning gaze with fire in her own. "I'll let you live," she seethed. "Unscathed, with all your limbs and body parts. That is my bargain, you filthy thief." She folded her arms when he remained stubbornly silent. "And if you will not, I'll march you back into the city and let you rot, while I convince Rascal to show me the way to the wagon." She nodded to the white-haired young man currently engaged in visually identifying the source of every smell he sniffed. "He certainly seems the suggestible type." And if his behavior toward me as a wolf was any indication, I'm sure he'd willingly do anything I asked! Red thought in her mind, but she didn't want to give Justin the satisfaction of hearing her admit as much aloud.
Justin scowled at her. "All right! I'll do it!" He pointed (with both hands, as it were) down a side path. "It's this way."
Red followed the captive peddler over a winding path through the forest--everything looked much different as a human than it had when she came all this way as a wolf. She knew they were getting close as Rascal began to flail his arms and dance about with excitement at the familiar smell.
When they had wandered far into the forest, and into a small copse, he stopped. Shrugging his shoulders, he gestured right in front of him.
"It's right here," he said.
Red strode ahead of him, picking up the skirts of her grand dress (now rendered dreadfully impractical in the woodsy setting) and squinting hard to distinguish the lines of the camouflage from the actual undergrowth. She found a slight edge just within her reach, and pulled it. The whole screen came away like the tarp in the wagon, and she saw the pile of stolen goods winking at her from the depths of the wagon. Further searching revealed the lonely horse, happily munching his nosebag as if he hadn't even noticed they were gone for any length of time.
Red uncovered it fully, and she prepared to climb up into the wagon seat.
"Wait!" Justin called after her, raising his shackled hands. "Aren't you forgetting something?" He shook his arms to jangle the chains.
Red sauntered back in his direction, her face hard and very keen. "Oh, I am not forgetting anything--you see," she raised her arms and shrugged. "I was never in possession of a key to those chains. Maybe you can find your way back to Callica and one of those nice guards will help you out."
Justin blinked three times, and his eyes bulged out of his head as his whole face flushed bright red.
"You! You--You..." He spluttered. "You can't do this!"
Red lifted her chin and stared right back into his face. "Oh, but I can! You stole from Queston--and by extension, you stole from me, so I am entirely within my right to deal with you however I wish!"
Justin scowled. "This is madness! You are too cruel!"
Red folded her arms and laughed. "Cruel? No, letting you go is a mercy. Make no mistake, you double-dealing snake--If I ever see you, hear you, or smell you on the mountain ever again, rest assured I will hunt you down and you will face the full wrath of the Red Wolf!" She lunged a step forward, with such a terrible glare in her eyes that Justin blanched and stumbled backward a few paces.
"Why--It... You--savage! This isn't justice! It's not proper!" Justin whined, as his lips began to tremble and his breath came in choked gasps. "It's not becoming for a lady to have such violent tendencies!"
Red bared her teeth in a fiendish grin. "Didn't your friend Desiree already try to tell you? I may be Red, The Lady, capable of gentle decency and poise as befits my gender... but I am also Red, the Wolf--the forest-born Guardian of Queston. I defend the mountain against any who would seek to harm innocent lives--something that you and those of your ilk would do well to remember!"
She took her place at the front of the wagon and picked up the reins. One short jerk, and the horse ended its meal and trotted back up the forest path toward the mountain. Red didn't even look back over her shoulder at the pathetic form of Justin, the once-renown peddler and two-timing swindler, bound hands dangling before him, and the white-haired man-wolf fawning at his feet.
Red smiled as the path curved upward. She had dealt with the white wolf once and for all, she had recovered all the stolen heirlooms and possessions--and most of all, she was heading home to Queston.
<><><><><><><><>
No comments:
Post a Comment