Chapter Three
A Death on the Wrong Side of the Forest
It had been two weeks since the Adderhead had let his prisoners leave, still convinced that Mortola was responsible for the attack and was going to use this against him. He was no longer frightened of the White Women and of death, why should he be he was immortal…or was he. He had had Tadeo give the book to one of his maids and he carefully watched as she placed the book within in the hidden snake of the Adderhead's s quarters and then had her killed, everyone thought for an unknown reason. But the Adderhead had never found out about the secret within the book. It had been easy enough for Mo to write on one of the extra sheets of parchment,
And within two weeks time that the Adderhead was given the book of immortality the words would write themselves without anyone knowing and with those words, death would finally consume the Adderhead. Three simple words, Heart, Spell, Death.
They had been the easiest words to write, secret words meant to kill, it was easy for Mo to kill off his mortal enemy, very easy. He had read them almost as quietly as a whisper, as to not wake Meggie or to let the guards outside the door hear. Once the words had been read he had carefully set them aflame and then they would be read no more. The Adderhead had been sitting on his silver throne with his servants obeying his every whim as he decided the sentence for another innocent prisoner when his face went white. He looked horrified as three of the White Women passed through the audience within the court and stretched their hands to the Adderhead. The last words he had spoken were,
"I am immortal, I am forever, I fear no death, you shall never take me with you, never!" and with that the white women had vanished and the Adderhead dropped flat on his face as his skinned whitened and his breath, lost. They could not check the book because they didn't know where it was, but at the moment of his death Mortola slipped away, found the book concealed within one of his many silver vipers, and sure enough along with his name there were three words under it. Heart, Spell, Death.
That same night Mortola had taken the book with her had stolen the finest ink remover within the castle and that same night killed off the Adderhead's wife and child and with no heir to the throne Mortola would be free to take the throne as long as none of his daughters got in the way. She could have killed Mo that same night also, but she had sworn that she would do it personally and so she kept the book without any words written in it. It was believed that the Adderhead had died from a heart attack after shock of encountering the White Women and with no way to disprove it with the words in the book, it was the simplest answer.
Three days after this most happy event, Violante was sent an urgent message telling her that her father had died of an unknown cause and so that night Violante threw a grand celebration in honor of the death of the Adderhead. The women of Ombra did in fact attend the castle for the festivities and Violante even let the Strolling Players in, although it took much convincing. It was a grand night in Ombra, the castle was finally alive, and Mo knew that his plan had worked; maybe he wasn't too bad of a writer he thought to himself. The festivities lasted for quite some time into the late hours of the night and even when the castle had cleared and the Strolling Players had slipped away there was still rejoicing among the streets.
That night when the festivities were still going and everyone was dancing as the minstrels softly plucked the lute, Violante had made for her bedroom where she sat down at her desk, took out a piece of parchment and dipped her quill in ink and began to write,
To The Castle of Night,
Three days ago a most wonderful event occurred and today we have received the letter bringing such splendid news from the other side of the forest, for a change, and we are happy to announce within the streets of our fair Ombra that my retched father is finally dead. Let my tell you that indeed I shall be attending his funeral and I hope that his body is long forgotten after it is buried. I give the White Women my most fondest gratitude and I'm letting them know that they can take me any time, just as long as my father stays with them.
Lady Violante,
The Castle of the Laughing Prince(ss)
P.S. I will be laughing all the way to and from the funeral.
Then she cleared her table with a pleased grin, carefully folded the letter and gave it to the only messenger still alive in Ombra. After she had done that she joined in the celebration once again, it was the happiest she had felt since she saw Cosimo step through the castle doors. The next day the banners of black were taken down from the castle and the market and banners of red, yellow, and blue were hung in the market, and the castle once again flew the flags of blue and white. The castle was now The Castle of the Laughing Princess. The spirit of Ombra was back!