Rejecting the Call

The next night we both broke into the Golden Palace of the Golden Emperor.

I stared up at the stone ramparts. It was not the first castle I had seen, but it certainly was the largest and most imposing. It had been a long hike up the earthen mound with a flat top. Then, once we'd summited, the towering golden-plated sandstones of the outer walls jutted straight up in front of us. Rounded turrets poked out of the corners, a few lighted windows showing us the castle was well guarded.

It was pitch dark. Lukas and I circled the structure, staying as close to the wall as possible to avoid detection. We passed beneath a line of long silk banners hanging from tiled parapets. Every one of them had a single golden animal stitched into it.

The bird emblem. This was the place alright.

We tiptoed around the walls, Lukas looking up and testing the material with his hands. Finally, he seemed to find a spot that suited his needs. An older part of the castle with intersecting pieces of iron instead of stone walls supporting row after row of ivies. My nose told my more plants were beyond the trellis; it was the entrance to a garden.

Lukas unshouldered his pack, setting it carefully on the ground next to me. He checked his sword and knife and then tested the strength of one of the iron bars with his hands. It seemed to hold well despite its age.

He sighed, seemingly making up his mind. Then he turned to the me sitting and waiting next to him.

Lukas smiled. He did that easily. "I will see you later then."

He tried to pet my head, but I laid my ears flat and growled. I did not want to be touched.

The hand was quickly withdrawn. "Sorry," he said. Glancing up, he took in the high climb. "You stay here then."

And with that, he placed a booted toe on the first of the iron trellises and began to climb.

I watched him climb up, shaking my head with disdain. Honestly, there were much easier ways. I had spotted a gutter.

Well, I had come this far. I wasn't going to be left behind.

Crouching down, I saw that the tunnel was intended to allow water from the castle's outer court into the surrounding ditch. It was supposed to be gated but the iron sluice was gone; probably washed away in the last rainfall. It was short and shallow, but doable. Wolves are natural burrowers. I crouched down, wiggled my way in, and was soon creeping forward through the tunnel. Sometimes it pays to be small.

Easily, I emerged on the other side. I shook herself a couple of times to get rid of the mud and got a look at the castle. It was beautiful! Turrets with waving flags. A polished white sandstone keep. Glittering gilded oriel windows with marble facades…so pretty. Like everything I'd ever dreamed of.

My musings were interrupted by the sounds of struggle. My furry head swiveled. Lukas was being assailed by no less than three burly men wearing armor and bearing steel weapons. They were swiping at him with their fists, not their weapons; probably the only reason he was still alive.

I sprang at the trio with a menacing snarl. One of the men came towards me with his sword drawn and, quite suddenly, I lost all courage. I was not a fighter. I saw no shame in fleeing when you're outnumbered. And so, I did just that. Abandoning my companion to his fate.

"Wait! Don't leave me!" Lukas shouted as my furry blur shot back for the gutter. I kept running away even as I heard more blows being rained down on him. Then, he was silent.

…

It was the next night before I finally found the courage to return to the castle. Initially I was fine with cutting my losses and fleeing. I'd had enough of this adventure and was more than ready to go home. Go crawling back to my pack. But something, some annoying voice, kept telling me I would regret leaving Lukas behind.

The voice kept chirping, like an annoying cricket in my head, so I finally turned back.

It was not what I usually would have done. In the past, when things were getting too hard, or I felt like I was getting too involved it was my freedom to be able to cut and run. Flee into the forest. Even when I'd stayed with Allerleirauh. But now—well…, it didn't feel right. At least I could get him out and then I would go home.

I slipped in as before, using the gutter. Then it was just a matter of creeping along the inner walls, away from prying eyes. Being invisible was easy because no one pays much attention to a small, unassuming wolf. Most assumed I was a stray dog.

I rounded a corner of the inner curtain wall and came upon a trio of men huddled around a flaming brazier. I ducked back but they were looking hard at the flames, as if willing the fire to keep them warmer. They had not seen me.

"This is stupid," said the one with the spear. "The bird is secured, so is the only prisoner this place has seen in a hundred years. Why are we even out here?"

Prisoner? I rounded back. I knew that word. That means to be locked up, kept in a cage! Kiche had said that her son, White Fang, was prisoner to a cruel human.

I came back to the corner, peeking around to watch.

"Not ours to question mate. Ours is to watch," another grunted. He had a sword and was using it to spear pieces of sausage, cooking them over the fire.

They continued to grumble and complain but I did not care. I was watching and waiting for a lead. Finally, it came. The watch switched at midnight, and I followed the men inside. Sticking to the shadows, my dark umber fur shielded me from sight. When the soldiers opened the door to the castle, I slipped inside and followed them into the dimly lit hallway.

It was one of the dingier sections of the castle; stone floors dirty with mud and barely lit with a few sputtering torches in rusty sconces. I followed the men further down the stone hallway, making sure to tip toe as quietly as possible. We turned downward, and the air seemed cooler. There was a dampness between the stones now and a slight foul smell in the air. It was getting claustrophobic, and a feeling of panic started in my stomach. Wolves are particular about traps and the feeling of being enclosed was one of the worst.

After another corner I was beginning to get really anxious but then a familiar scent came.

Lukas!

I stopped, swiveling my head. I lost it—honestly this whole place reeks! —and then there it was again.

I turned on my heel and ran upward again, following the scent and grateful I didn't have to follow the guards even further into the dungeons. I was positive the panic would have been too much.

The smell led me to another corridor, lighter and less filthy. There was even a thin carpet on the floor. I would later find that this was where the higher-ranking prisoners were kept. Solid oak doors dotted both sides of the hall and all had heavy bolts attached; but only one was drawn and locked.

I quickly came over and inhaled again. There! It was Lukas alright. I whinnied and started pawing at the floor under the door.

"Hello?"

Lukas! I whined out.

There was a sound like a weight moving off furniture, and then some footsteps, and then the light beneath the door shifted as a pair of boots came forward.

I whined harder, scratching faster as if I could somehow dig under the door.

"Wolf? Is that you?" I could hear that he was crouched down and wedging his head at the bottom of the door frame. I went ecstatic and doubled my efforts at digging under the door.

"It's no use girl, that won't work," he quickly said. Then his voice rose, he had gotten to his feet. "You've got to open the door, slide the bolt back."

Open the door? I stepped back and glanced up at it. How exactly does one do that?

"Come on wolf, you can do it! Open the door."

I heard the urgency in his voice, and I whined, not at all sure what to do.

"Slide the bolt. Open the door," he repeated.

What does that mean–'slide that bolt'? What do I do? I had to get him out, but I was just a wolf of the Enchanted Forest. Why does he keep scratching the door on the other side? Moving it back and forth.

Then, an idea came. Maybe the piece of metal on the door moves too? I reared up, placing my paws high up on the door. My black nails scratched at the wood.

"Yes! That's it!" Lukas' whisper was louder now, high-pitched and excited. "Do it! Open the door."

With creeping comprehension, I moved my paws downward until they were over the bolt's handle. Then, I tried to copy Lukas' sliding movement from behind the door and the bar moved. Startled, I got down quickly.

Suddenly, I made the connection. I can open the door by using pushing with my paws! My mind raced as I remembered Allerleirauh opening and closing doors in the castle when I'd lived with the disguised princess. So that was how it was done!

I reared up again, this time placing my paw directly on the handle of the bolt. Carefully concentrating, I moved my paw sideways in a way that no wild animal of the Enchanted Forest would never have ever considered.

The bolt slid easily, and the door was open.

Lukas came into view. He sported a blackened eye, many cuts, but he was alive!

I practically yipped up at him. I did it! I opened the door!

"Aw good girl!" he beamed at me. "You did it!"

I pranced back and forth, so happy. But there was not a moment to lose. We were still in a dungeon after all.

He quickly grabbed his weapons and threw his cloak on. "Let's get out of here."

Yes! Let's get the hells out of here. I had never agreed with anyone more in my entire life.

Lucky for both of us I had the way out keenly mapped in my head. Now that Lukas was back, getting out of this claustrophobic place was the first thing on my mind.

It should have been a simple case of walking out the same way I came in, but I had not yet to learn the simplest of story tropes: it's easy to break into a prison, much harder to break out.

We came outside easily enough. Even crossing the empty courtyard was fine. But just as we were quickly leaving under the portcullis a double column of soldiers came up from the castle road. Their golden armor reflected the moon light and heavy chain mail jangled as they marched. All the huge men carried lances at a perfect angle upwards. They stared only for a split second at the sight of the prisoner prince and a wolf in front of them before all weapons leveled, pointing directly at us.

"Run!"

I didn't need Lukas to tell my twice. Thinking only of myself, I tore blindly down the slope, leaped over the short stone wall, and into the forest, yipping in fear. I couldn't see very well but I didn't care, I just wanted to get away. I jumped over a brook and heard Lukas splash through it behind me, headless of the icy cold water. Both of us ran and ran until Lukas tripped over a log and sprawled out on the ground. I begrudgingly stopped.

I quickly came over and checked on him. He was scratched up and bruised but still breathing.

He sat up, moaning a bit as he felt his tender head. I leaned over and urged him up with whines and paws on his side. We both scrambled further into the woods, diving into a bramble of bushes, and waited breathlessly while the soldiers raced past.

When it was finally quiet Lukas turned to me. "Alright wolf," he said cheerfully. "Come on, let's get out of here."

Finding a nice, secluded meadow we set up a campsite. After a bit of effort, Lukas made a fire and the light brought cheeriness to the evening. I caught a beaver and shared a part of it with Lukas. He impaled the meat on a greenstick and quickly roasted it over the fire. So eager to eat, he chomped into when it was too hot and got a nice burnt tongue for his efforts.

It felt a little like a celebration. I stretched out and yawned, completely satisfied my adventuring was over and I could both go home with the knowledge that I had done it; I had managed and were alive to tell tales about it.

But as I looked over at Lukas my good mood evaporated. He had been unusually quiet and was looking forlornly into the fire.

I was becoming more sensitive to his moods; I needed to find out what was wrong. My furry head lifted and I made a high-pitch inquiring whine.

He turned to me. "My quest is not over yet wolf," he said to me.

I cocked my head. It wasn't? This was unexpected. I waited for him to continue.

"I don't know how I'll manage to do it…at least with the bird all I really had to do was find it, follow it, maybe steal it but this—" he was rambling and seemed to have forgotten I was there.

I chuffed, showing my impatience. Just tell me already!

He stopped, looking directly at me. "I don't know any other way to say this—in exchange for my life the Emperor told me I must capture a mermaid. A golden mermaid."