After Steven got away from Adora (roughly fifty simoles lighter, he was later to discover), he went out in search of a bear. Steven well remembered his first bear hunt as knight, and made sure to keep a sharp lookout for any witches lurking in the forest. Steven didn't see a witch, but he didn't see a bear either. In fact, he managed only to take out a stag that flushed out of the bushes at him unexpectedly. Upon closer inspection, Steven recognized it as a grimstag, a creature of unusual size and aggression, less common than the better known grimbear, but just as impressive as a wall decoration.
With wry amusement, Steven thought that if huge animals kept rushing out of the bushes and all but impaling themselves on his sword, he'd get to having a reputation as a mighty hunter, when the reality was simply that he had fast reflexes and apparently smelled delicious to forest monsters.
On the way back to the castle, Steven came across a few guards returning from patrol. On asking them if they'd seen anything, he wasn't surprised to find that Adora had been telling him the truth. The guards reported some activity out in the forest, but they couldn't be sure who it was as the activity was beyond the border of Freedonia. Steven doubted Adora had any compunction about crossing borders. It was all part of her job to do things like that, and not get caught.
Steven told the guards to stay alert, and resolved to increase the frequency and strength of patrols along that border. Then he turned back to his present problem, which was that of getting some bear meat. He could simply go hunting again, but he felt that it would be just as likely for him to come upon a boar or another stag as it was for him to find a bear.
He could just go to the village and see if someone else had caught a bear recently that they wanted to sell the meat from, but he wasn't terribly keen on that. Firstly there was the cost, as bear meat was quite expensive. But secondly there was the minor fact that he was a knight, and as such could hunt in the forest, something not everyone in the kingdom could do. Taking forest hunted meat from the village didn't seem right to him.
After a short internal debate, Steven decided to go to the throne room. Lord Spaulding might be gone, but probably Guard Rhona would be about. Steven planned to try and trade his venison (or possibly the grimstag trophy he'd acquired) for a hunk of bear meat. Rhona, despite being a guard, was also Lord Spaulding's wife, and she had a great deal of say as to what sort of meat the larder was stocked with. And Steven happened to know she had a fondness for venison.
Because of this, combined with the frequency with which Lord Spaulding went out to hunt Great Bear, there was sure to be bear meat, and possibly not so much venison.
To Steven's surprise, not only was Lord Spaulding in the throne room, but so too was Amie.
"Lord Spaulding made an oopsie," Amie informed Steven as he approached.
Not only was this impolite, it was practically unheard of to openly discuss any mistake or inadequacy of a monarch, particularly right in front of them. Steven opted to pretend he hadn't heard.
"My Lord," Steven opened, "I find myself in need of bear meat, and with a surplus of venison. I was curious if perhaps your larder might benefit from the addition of the latter to its stocks?"
"Rhona certainly thinks so," Lord Spaulding muttered, but seemed less than interested.
"Turns out the forest dwelling people of Burdley are rather attached to their forest," Amie persisted, "You know, where they live. And somebody went and burned it down."
"Shall I discuss the matter with the Lady Rhona then?" Steven asked, continuing to ignore Amie, who now glared at him as she recognized his selective deafness for what it was.
"No need," Lord Spaulding sighed, "Adept Amie tells me that our Pit Beast is having some problems with indigestion, and I happen to know Griselda is partial to bear."
Steven was rendered speechless for a moment. Lord Spaulding was better informed than he would have anticipated, especially considering their earlier conversation. Not only did he know of and accept that there was something wrong with the Pit Beast, he knew Executioner Bailiff's name for the creature, and also its favorite food. Steven wondered what else Lord Spaulding knew.
"There's also a minor matter of a report from my guards returning from a forest patrol," Steven opened, but Lord Spaulding was apparently in on that one too.
"Aarbyville gangs," Lord Spaulding said, "Looking for soft spots in our defenses, no doubt."
"You're very well informed," Steven remarked, unable to conceal his surprise.
"Burdley isn't that far from Aarbyville," Lord Spaulding replied, "And anyway, I ran into Adora on my way home. Lost half a pound in simoles too, but I needed to lose some weight anyway. At least the trip wasn't wholly wasted."
Amie sighed noisily and rolled her eyes, one hand on her staff and the other on her hip, "Fine. I know a wizard. He specializes in plants. I'll tell him to come see you," almost as an afterthought, she added, "My Lord."
In addition to the bear meat, Lord Spaulding advised Steven to go to the village and get some cinnamon to cover himself in if he planned to venture into The Pit. Amie expressed no small amount of indignation at the suggestion that her plan to drug the bear meat wouldn't be enough, but Lord Spaulding wasn't interested and dismissed the both of them.
"You know," Steven observed as they walked in the direction of Amie's tower, which was along the route to the village, "It's customary to treat your monarch with a bit more deference and respect."
"I couldn't help it," Amie protested hotly, "First I wait around for hours in the throne room for him, and then he tells me about burning down Burdley, and sentencing two scouts from Burdley to The Pit after he realized how upset the Burdleyites were about the destruction of their precious forest because they could identify him as the arsonist. He's such an idiot!"
"You're better off keeping opinions like that to yourself," Steven said warningly.
"Or what? He'll send me to the stocks?" her eyes narrowed as she looked sidelong at Steven, "Lord Spaulding knows better. The kingdom needs her wizard, now more than ever, and he knows it."
"The happiness and security of a kingdom's people are in part determined by their faith in the wisdom and power of their ruler," Steven told her, "Without that, Freedonia will be in chaos and ruin before your prophecy about The Beast ever has a chance to come true."
Amie sighed, and seemed to be in earnest as she said, "I'm sorry, okay? I just can't help myself sometimes, you know that," she was silent a moment, "Oh, by the way, before I forget: here."
She handed him a stoppered bottle containing a purplish liquid.
"Mystic Grog," Amie explained, "For the bear meat."
Once everything was in readiness, it was decided to wait until morning. Partially with the idea of everyone having a good night's sleep and breakfast before having to face the Pit Beast, but also to maybe give The Beast time to get hungry due to its reduced war criminal intake before throwing the bear into its maw in hopes of making sure it would eat the bear and not simply ignore it or spit it out.
In the middle of the night, Steven awoke as usual, and was unable to go back to sleep for awhile. It was something he'd grown used to, and he'd learned to take a nap at lunchtime if he had the opportunity. It kept him caught up on sleep, but the sleepless part of the night was still pretty miserable.
Steven had initially tried spending the time doing something useful, like studying maps or practicing with his sword on a training dummy. But he'd lately begun to rely on a more relaxing alternative. Having earned a considerable sum of money for his part in the annexation of Advorton, and also having learned there was a second floor to the barracks he hadn't realized was there, Steven saw fit to install some upgrades into his abode.
In addition to the obligatory blue and gold lion flags of the Freedonian knight, the upper floor had a strategy table, a couple of training dummies on one wall, and a stone table with some chairs on the opposite wall. Steven had added a bookshelf, and some books to put in it.
Steven had discovered a love of reading some time ago, during another sleepless night, when he'd wandered into the parlor off to the side of the throne room and found a bookshelf in there. There had been a card table as well, but Steven wasn't interested in risking the loss of money to play, especially since one of the people who'd been floating around that night had been Greta, and Steven had learned that losing against her was simply a fact of life.
He supposed that must be one reason she was Lord Spaulding's royal adviser. He didn't know if Greta's advice was ever any good, but he did know that she tended to finagle a situation until the dice fell in her favor. That was probably a good trait for a royal adviser to have.
Despite numerous attempts, Steven had been unable to inspire any of his guards to read. If they came to the barracks at all of their own accord, they simply practiced swordsmanship on the training dummies and left. Even the strategy table did not seem to hold their interest long. Steven's guards had become more responsible and competent under his leadership over time, but they seemed to almost revel in their own ignorance, as did the majority of the Freedonian population.
But the books still gave Steven something to do in the dead of night when he couldn't sleep (which was most nights, really), and he felt good about finishing one book and starting a new one. It was an adequate distraction for a couple of hours, and then he was usually able to go back to sleep.
Not so tonight, however. The time he'd agreed to meet Amie at the Judgment Zone came all too quickly. He'd become too engrossed in his book and the time passed rapidly without his noticing.
Suddenly looking up to see the sun coming in through the window, Steven had to lay aside his book, cover himself in cinnamon and hurry out to the town square to spit roast and drug the bear meat in a rush to avoid keeping Amie from waiting. He managed to get some cinnamon in his eye as a result, and it burned, but he tried to ignore that. He had bigger problems. Much bigger.
Already waiting for Steven at the Judgment Zone, Amie said, "Remember, The Beast's body goes deep underground. You might have to go through miles of tunnels down there to be sure you've got all the metal. I'm not actually sure how deep you'll have to go."
"I'll remember," Steven reassured her.
"And remember to hurry, we don't know how long the Mystic Grog will last on a Pit Beast. I'm guessing not as long as it does on a human, but that's only a theory," she continued.
"I'll remember," Steven said calmly.
Amie watched Steven step out onto the plank and confidently heave the bear meat into The Pit with practiced ease. In truth, he was not sure The Beast would take the bait. It did, snapping the bear meat out of the air and then lunging partway out of The Pit so as to better thrash and shake the meat before swallowing it with a loud glurking sound.
Somehow, The Beast was always larger and more terrible than Steven remembered. It could extend itself from The Pit until its 'head' was above the tallest buildings in the kingdom. Its body was thicker than a man, and it could swallow Steven whole should the notion occur. After swallowing the meat, it seemed to contemplate just this, perhaps having grown used to the taste of human flesh. Though its blue and black 'head' with the pink interior had no eyes, Steven had the unmistakable impression that it was looking at him for a long moment, before it suddenly withdrew and disappeared back into The Pit from whence it had come.
Steven stepped back from The Pit's edge and waited a few minutes for the drug to take effect. Though really he could not be sure the drug would affect The Beast at all. How would he tell? All was quiet in The Pit unless food was dangled overhead. The Beast gurgled periodically, but that didn't seem to be an indication of its mood, or even a sign as to whether it was awake or not. Did The Beast even sleep? Steven supposed maybe he was about to find out.
Just as he stepped towards The Pit, Amie spoke, "Captain Steven."
"Yes, Adept Amie?" Steven inquired.
"Be careful," Amie's voice was steady and her face expressionless as she said this, but Steven had gotten good at reading those green sapphire eyes behind the mask, and he saw she was worried.
He smiled reassuringly, saying, "Always," before he turned and flung himself into The Pit.