CHAPTER THIRTY
After a long walk Wolf and Virginia were finally in front of the palace. "Finally." Virginia said and looked to Wolf who was also excited about being back.
"Huff-puff. I can't wait to see Tony's face expression." He said with a wolfish grin.
"Just don't say or do something stupid. OK?"
"Have I ever done something stupid?" he said and as he saw the look on her face he continued, "Alright."
They walked through the courtyard and headed to the main entrance. The guards stood straight as soon as they saw them coming. They entered the palace and Tony came to meet them at once.
"Where the hell have you been!" he said with a loud voice.
"Hi dad." Virginia said, trying to sound calm.
"I was worried about you! Did you care about how would I feel? About what would I think?!"
"At least we're back Tone." Wolf said. "Aren't you happy to see us? We can leave again you know."
"Oh shut up Wolf!" Tony said and hugged them both. "Don't you ever think about doing that again!"
"As long as you don't put your nose in our private life." Wolf said with a grin.
"Don't start you two. You can't behave yourself when you see each other. Men!" Virginia said. "I'm going to my room. Wolf, are you coming? I'm tired."
"Yeah, I'm coming."
"Wait. I have something to tell you." Tony said.
"Can't it wait dad?"
"No. Wendell is in the Second Kingdom now talking to Queen Riding Hood III."
"What?!" Wolf and Virginia said together.
"She invited him yesterday and he went. He thinks it's about the royal pardon of wolves. But I'm not sure of it."
"We must talk to him." Wolf said. "I'm sure that she knows what happened."
"But how can she know? No one except for the four of us knows. Well, including Tom and Mary." Tony said.
"Queen Riding Hood has a second spying mirror that no one knows about it."
"Wolf, are you sure about that?" Virginia asked.
"She's my cousin. I know many things about her that no one else knows." He said with a deep sigh.
"Your cousin? How come I didn't know? Wolf, why didn't you tell me that she is your cousin?" Virginia asked.
"Because we never considered ourselves relatives Virginia. We act like we don't know each other."
"Why?" Tony asked.
"My mother and Queen Riding Hood II were sisters. When my mother married my dad, her family made her leave the palace and announced that she was dead. She lived in the Riding Hood forest with my dad for a few years until…" Wolf didn't continue. He looked at the ground instead. Virginia didn't need him to continue to understand what happened to his parents. She remembered the night at Little Lamb Village where Wolf told her about his parents being killed by farmers. They were burnt to death. But Tony didn't know that. And Virginia thought it was better not to tell him now. Not until Wolf was ready to do it himself.
"Until what?" Tony asked.
"Until they were gone dad. Do you need words to understand?" Virginia said with tears filling her eyes. She knew how Wolf felt about his parents, although she didn't know the whole story. She never asked him about his past. She waited for him to be ready to tell her. But he never did. "Wolf, let's go upstairs. We both are tired. Dad, can you get in contact with Wendell and tell him we're back?"
"OK." Tony said and headed to the mirror room.
Virginia held Wolf's hand and put it on her stomach. "Can you feel something?" she asked.
Wolf nodded. "He can't be kicking now. I know that. But I know that he's there."
"She." Virginia corrected him.
"He." Wolf said with a loving smile. "Remember, I know these things."
"Well, I seem to be learning fast, and I know them pretty well, too. And it's a girl."
"No, it's a boy." Wolf replied. He knew that Virginia couldn't tell the sex of the baby. And he wasn't able either. She was in her third month already and soon enough, he was going to be able to sense the sex of their first child. "Let's go to sleep. I'm exhausted." He said. Virginia nodded and they went to their room.
Tony went to the mirror room. He stopped in front of the communicating mirror. "Mirror, wake up from your sleep."
The mirror cracked in response and talked. "Who dares to wake me from my sleep?"
"Tony Lewis. Now show me King Wendell. I need to talk to him."
"I serve only the queen." The mirror replied. "She has the only right to order me."
"Well, the queen is dead. And I'm her husband. If you don't want to end up like her, show me King Wendell at this moment!" Tony's voice got higher as well as his temper. He knew that Queen Riding Hood III was up to no good.
The mirror didn't object this time. It turned black and then it showed Wendell sitting in front of a young woman wearing a red gown.
"Wendell! Can you hear me?"
Wendell looked around and a sudden headache hit him. "I need a mirror. Red, give me a mirror please!" he said trying to control his pain.
"Bring him a mirror at once!" The queen of the Second Kingdom ordered. And in a few seconds a servant came with a small mirror in his hand, he gave it to Wendell.
"Anthony Why did you do that?" He asked, rubbing his temple with his left hand, while holding the mirror with his right.
"Sorry Prince." Tony never got used to Wendell's title change. "I just wanted to tell you that Wolf and Virginia are back and they are fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure! I just talked to them."
"How do they feel? Are they hurt?"
"They are fine. They went to sleep, as they are tired from their trip. Anyway, I just wanted to tall you that they seemed happy to be back and I guess they forgot about what happened here before they left."
"Alright Anthony. I'll be back as soon as I finish my conversation with Queen Riding Hood."
"OK. Be careful."
The mirror cracked again and Wendell's image disappeared. Tony felt relieved and left the mirror room and headed to his room.
"What was that all about?" Asked Queen Red Riding Hood III.
"Oh nothing special. Anthony just told me that Wolf and Virginia were back from… from the 10th kingdom."
Queen Riding Hood didn't believe him, but she didn't tell him about that. "Anyway, Wendell, I wanted to tell you something."
"About what?"
"Wolf."
"What about him?"
"There's something that nobody knows about except for him and me. And maybe his siblings, if they are still alive." Wendell listened to her carefully. "Wendell, Wolf is my cousin."
Wendell was about to drop his cup of tea. "Your what?"
"My cousin. Our mothers were sisters. But she was banned from the family due to her marriage to a wolf. And you know how my family feels about them."
"I can't believe this." Wendell said.
"Well, you have to. And I have the proof." She said and called the servant and whispered in his ear. The servant bowed and left the room. "You'll see now." She said to Wendell.
"Red, tell me this is a joke. If Wolf is your cousin, it means that he is the heir of your thrown. And maybe he's the only one!"
"Well, you'll see now."
After a few minutes the servant came back with a piece of parchment rolled in his hand. He gave to the queen, bowed and went out of the room. The queen waved for the other servants to leave her and the king alone. All obeyed and went out.
"Now. This is a letter from my grandmother." She handed the parchment to Wendell. He took it and started to read.
"Red, Wolf is not going to marry the girl mentioned here. He won't leave Virginia."
"But he has to. He was betrothed before he was born. We can't change that."
"Well, humans might be able to get used to living with a person who was forced upon them to marry, but not wolves. And especially not Wolf. And you know that very well Red."
"Well, if he wants to be the heir of my kingdom, he has to agree. And then I will also sign the royal pardon of wolves."
Wendell always wanted her to sign the pardon, but this time, it didn't matter to him. Wolves were welcomed to his kingdom. And there was no need for her to sign anymore. "What will happen if he doesn't agree?" he asked.
"I will not sign the pardon, and I will force every wolf to leave my kingdom. Even if I have to kill them."
"Red," Wendell said calmly. "I don't care what you do. But, I must warn you. If my relationship with Wolf is ruined because of this letter, I will never forgive you. A war will start between our kingdoms."
"That's not a warning Wendell, that's a threat."
"Then consider it a threat, I don't care." Wendell rolled the parchment and stood up. He took out a little poach out of his pocket and opened it. There was blue dust in it. "Should I do it the same way?" he asked her.
"Yes. Throw it on yourself. It will take you to your palace." Queen Riding Hood replied.
"I'll send you the reply." Wendell said and threw the blue dust on himself. Suddenly he saw himself standing in his office. "I'm back." He said in a whisper and got out.
The servant who was standing in front of the door was surprised to see him back so early. He quickly stood up to meet his king. "Welcome back Your Highness."
"Thank you. Where's Anthony?" Wendell asked.
"In his room Your Highness."
"Thank you." Wendell replied and headed to Tony's room. Without knocking he opened the door and entered, locking it behind him. Tony was sitting in a chair in front of the fire and reading a book.
"Wendell! You're back!"
"Yes Anthony. And I'm afraid I have the worst news ever."
"What is it?" Tony asked, "Come and sit. Tell me what happened."
Wendell sat in front of Tony and told him about his conversation with Queen Red riding Hood III. Tony was in a shock.
"Betrothed? Are you people crazy? My daughter is pregnant! And I won't allow Wolf to marry someone else just because he has a fortune waiting for him!"
"Anthony, I understand how you feel. I don't know how to tell Wolf about this. It could break his and Virginia's heart."
"Then don't show it to him. Don't tell him anything at all!"
"I can't. Red is waiting for an answer."
"I don't care about her! Who is she to start ordering around?! Wolf is not marrying anyone else other than my daughter. He got her pregnant, and he must take care of her."
"Anthony, I agree with you. But there's nothing that we can do." Wendell didn't want to tell him that Queen Red Riding Hood III was going to kill all the wolves in her kingdom, which would raise a war between the 2nd and the 4th kingdoms.
