Wendell awoke easily when the guard tapped on his chamber door. In another few minutes he would have been awake anyway. His dreams troubled him, though he could only remember bits of them. A flash of yellow here, himself staring at a giant chicken, trees, none of it coherent or worth remembering. But he knew that they must be more than that if they troubled him. The dreams, coupled with the nap he'd had earlier, made it difficult to stay asleep.
Wendell hurried to make himself presentable. Before leaving his room he stopped his guard.
"Bring Lord Lewis to me," he commanded. Just as the guard turned to carry out the command, Wendell grabbed him.
"Have somebody bring Thomas as well. Quickly," he said. Once both men had entered the hallway the guard bowed respectfully. He then whispered something to the other guard before running down the hall. The other guard mimicked the bow and then he ran in the opposite direction.
Wendell noticed that both the Prince and Princess were still in their nightclothes. He didn't notice what the Duchess was wearing however. All he could see was her sad little face. As soon as the guards were gone words spilled from her mouth with barely a pause for breath.
"You see I was walking through the palace, and then there was a sound. And then I went to the sound, and then there was a ugh," she said making a dramatic throaty groan. Wendell looked to Princess Laetitia briefly. She was staring at her daughter. Apparently she hadn't yet heard the story either. He turned his attention back to Olga. He was waiting to hear what the actual problem was.
"And so I went in, and oh Papa it was so dark," at this point she looked up at her father.
"But I wasn't even afraid," she added quickly, "Then I saw her on the floor by the bed," she finally finished. Her little hands were at her heart now as she breathed heavily. Now she had to make up for all the breathing she hadn't done while explaining. At the last bit of the story all of the adults shared an alarmed expression.
"Cherie, who was laying on the floor?" Princess Laetitia asked, though she already knew the answer.
"Mama!," the girl said stamping her foot, "Rose! It was poor Rose on the floor. She told me to get the king. She was so weak. She told me that the Yaga must not escape,".
There was a sort of collective gasp. The adults had to keep themselves from barraging the child with questions. The Prince was the first to speak. Kneeling down to his daughter he took her hand.
"Did she say why Mistress Yaga must not escape?" he asked in a calming tone.
"No Papa. She could barely even speak," Olga answered. As the Prince was rising, Olga pulled on his robe.
"Papa we must hurry," Olga said in nearly a whisper. The Prince and Princess both looked angry. This was the voice that Olga used whenever she was really scared. The girl was rarely scared of anything. She was often demanding or angry or just plain loud, but rarely scared.
"I have brought my baby to a place where she is scared all of the time," Princess Laetitia thought as she remembered the reason for Mistress Yaga's coming in the first place.
Wendell sensed the change in mood. He was less worried about the disgruntled dignitaries than he was about Rose. Hearing here situation made him want to leave behind his guests to find her. He felt like Olga, wanting to stamp his foot. Thankfully Tony showed up. In a very un-Tony like manner, he made a bow to the Olga and her family. Finally he looked to Wendell.
"You called?" he asked without his usual sarcasm. He spoke as though he were in a business meeting. Still he didn't talk to Wendell as his boss, which was of great comfort to the king. Wendell explained the situation as concisely as possible. All of this talking felt like wasting time to him. Tony could see this.
"Are we waiting for something in particular before we go?" he asked.
"No. Now that we all know the story, we are going," Wendell said. He turned to the guard who had brought Tony. When he saw him, he remembered his other command. Thomas was coming. Before he had just wanted Thomas for messages and the like, but now he had questions for Thomas. After all it had been Thomas who recommended Mistress Yaga in the first place.
"Soon another guard will arrive with Thomas. I want Thomas brought to me, wherever I am. Presently I am going to the Blue Chamber," Wendell said. He almost said "Rose's room" but that would have been confusing to the guard.
Soon they were all at Rose's room. Wendell rushed into the room. He didn't knock, didn't wait. But when he got into the main room, nobody was there. Olga rushed passed Wendell and to the side of the bed.
"She was here! Where is she? What has happened to her?" Olga screamed. She turned to look at each of the adults as she asked her questions. Tony began pacing around the room while the royals were conferencing.
"Perhaps Thomas will know where she has gone," Wendell thought. The Prince and Princess were trying, to no avail, to soothe Olga. Wendell had a feeling that the only reason that they were here, was to comfort their daughter. He was here, however, to….er punish Mistress Yaga. Yes, an accusation had been made and he had to investigate.
"Everybody, come out here and look at this," Tony said, he was still lacking in court etiquette. He stood outside on the balcony holding something up.
"Oooh it is pretty," Olga said approaching Tony.
"Yes, very pretty," her mother said suspiciously. Tony gave the object to Wendell. It was a feather. A silver feather. It shone in the moonlight like a piece of fine jewelry. As Wendell was holding the feather up to the light, the guard walked in escorting Thomas. When he saw the feather, the look of confusion was wiped off of his face.
"From the look on your face Thomas, I'd be willing to say that you know something about this," Wendell said. Thomas bowed.
"Yes Your Highness. Mistress Yaga is gone," he answered.
"We must leave at once if we are to find her," he advised, "I will explain on the way,". Thomas was the consummate servant. He knew what to do before it needed to be done.
"Majesty, you may be wondering how I came to know Mistress Yaga," Thomas said as they headed towards the main chamber.
"The thought had crossed our minds yeah," came the response from Tony.
"Long ago I had a family. I had a wife and a son. This was before I became a steward here in the palace," he began, "My son was not yet four years old when my wife died from a horrible illness. I was devastated, but could take comfort in my son,". The old man's eyes became misty as he recounted his story.
"Then a few weeks later my son caught the same illness that had taken his mother. I knew that he would die if something was not done. I was told by a neighbor about Mistress Yaga. I'm sure that she did not know about Yaga's true nature. Mistress Yaga, she told me, had kept her cousin from dying in childbirth," he said. The further he got into the story, the more fatigued Thomas became.
"I sought out Mistress Yaga and pleaded for her help. I stopped going to work when my son became sick. I owned my house, but I was barely able feed my son and myself. I would have given anything I had to Mistress Yaga. Unfortunately that was not enough. I tore my hair and gnashed my teeth. I will do anything, I told her. I have a friend in the palace, I begged, he is getting me a place there. I will be able to pay very soon. When I said that she smiled," he said the last part quietly.
" 'I will save your son' she said. 'But I do not want your money. I want a promise. When you are situated in the palace I want your loyalty. You will always be alert for opportunities. You will build up my name with the nobility. I will keep you informed as to any new services I provide so that you can inform those in high places.' she told me. She made me swear a binding blood oath. If I ever broke it, my son would succumb to his sickness no matter how old he was," he continued.
"Where is your son now Thomas?" Wendell asked. Thomas' face lost emotion.
"He died," he replied flatly. Everybody wanted to know how the boy die, but they could not bring themselves to ask. They didn't have to.
"I killed him. After a time I grew confident. I forgot my loyalty to Mistress Yaga. A Council Member became sick. I did not recommend Mistress Yaga, instead another doctor was called. When I returned to my home…," he paused, "Albert was dead,". It seemed that Thomas had forgotten his audience.
"Albert haunts me every night. Mistress Yaga will relieve my dreams if I resume my loyalty to her. So that is why I brought her here," he finished.