Betsy and Adeo had only been in the cage for about half an hour when Adeo decided to sleep. She didn't blame him. They'd been marching all night, and her own eyelids were beginning to drop in the silence left after Fred's dramatic departure.
"You sleep first," Betsy had said. It made sense to have the one most able to defend them get the most rest. She sat down on the floor of the cave and Adeo lay with his head in her lap. He was asleep nearly as soon as his eyes closed.
What Betsy would have given for a shot of espresso. At least every time she started to doze off, she fell forward, waking herself up. She began to recite every rhyme, every quote, and every snippet of Shakespeare she'd had to memorize during her school years. She'd nearly reconstructed Polonius's goodbye speech to Laertes in her head when a nearby voice startled her.
"I thought you were supposed to be rescuing me?"
Relief poured through Betsy as she watched her daughter open the cage. Betsy tapped Adeo's face lightly and his eyes sprang open.
"It worked," he said spotting Polly.
"What worked?"
"Daddy went into my dreams again."
"Neat trick." Adeo helped her to her feet and the two of them left the cage. Betsy grabbed her daughter into a tight hug. Something screeched and Betsy backed off, suddenly realizing she'd squished the kitten in Polly's pocket.
"Where's Junior?"
"Oh, I left him in the tower, sleeping. Figured it was better that way."
"Fred didn't hurt you?"
"No. We were the bait for you. He knew you'd come."
"Of course we would, sweetheart."
"The question is what do we do now?" Adeo stared at the door to the library.
If they left and went back home, then Fred would probably find them again. Wherever they went, he would follow. It would only be a matter of time.
"Is that Garlan?"
Betsy did the motherly thing and blocked the sight of the bloody madman from her daughter.
"We should get out of here, at least," she said, trying to change the subject.
"He traveled with a ball of light. If we could find out how Fred got it, or if there are more than one of them, we might be able to prevent him from finding us again."
"My daughter is a genius," Adeo stated proudly. "But I don't know if he'll be much use to us."
Adeo entered the cage and pulled the limp form out into the middle of the library.
"You stole it!" Garlan said suddenly. "You stole my key!"
"Adeo, your daughter?"
"She needs to see."
"No she doesn't."
"Are we really going to have an argument when Fred could come back any moment?" Polly asked looking up at one parent, then the other. Adeo turned his attention back to Garlan, pretty much winning the argument.
"Where's the ball that Fred gave you?"
"Fred found it, but it's mine. I'm the Head of the Order. Only one who can use the emergency beacon. Finds kings and heirs. Limited time. He took it away when you stole my key!"
Garlan lunged at Polly, but Adeo knocked him across the back of his head with the hilt of his sword. He crumpled back into a boneless mess.
"If we get that from him, he'll have to find another way to find us," Adeo stated. A glimmer of hope shone out of Adeo like a glow stick.
"He stays in the king's study," Polly said.
"That could pose a problem," Adeo sighed. "That's the only part of the palace with no accessible tunnels. The only passage there leads out and it's not connected to any of the other entrances."
"We have to risk a direct assault through the throne room."
"Sweetheart. You are not going anywhere near Fred," Betsy stated authoritatively.
"But I think he likes me."
"Right. And he probably liked Garlan too. Adeo, let's go."
The three of them headed back into the secret tunnel and made their way to the throne room.
The tunnel lightened dramatically, and Betsy soon saw why. Part of the tunnel ran behind a one way mirror. It was cracked in many places, but there weren't any holes big enough to be spotted through. In fact, from this position, the three of them could watch the entire proceedings with a clear view without anyone knowing they were there. Talking was definitely out of the question.
Betsy stared at the group standing in the middle of the throne room. There were about twenty men, armed to the teeth, all looking dangerous, but scared out of their wits. She finally realized why they looked familiar. It was the same band of men that had tried to rob them the night before.
"Your Majesty!" The bearded one said with a bow.
Fred sat on the throne, looking seriously bored and particularly malicious like a little boy who'd been told it was time to put away his toys and come eat his spinach.
"We have heard the news of your coronation, and have come to honor you."
"Really? Because I haven't arranged an actual ceremony. I mean, who'd actually crown me, considering I cut the hands off my official head servant."
"I-" He faltered and took a step back. The men behind him gave him a push forward.
"I don't suppose you remember, but we were promised our compensation… when you were crowned king."
"Oh… that. Well, unfortunately for you, I'm not going to be crowned king. I've promoted myself to emperor."
"But our payment-"
"I haven't got any money, anyway. I mean who needs it? I get what I want just by asking."
An angry grumbling rose from the group behind the head mercenary. It was amazing how fast their fear melted away with their hopes of getting paid.
"I think if we melted down that chair, we could get a good price for the gold."
Fred laughed. He actually wanted a fight. He stood and picked up Al's sword, which he'd leaned against the throne. Fred withdrew his wicked knife.
"Right. Who wants to go first?"
Mercenaries are not known for fighting fair. About five of them attacked Fred at once. Betsy covered Polly's eyes as Fred made quick work of the five, expertly cutting off limbs with single strokes of his knife.
The other fifteen understandably backed up when they saw that in less than two minutes, Fred had effectively maimed four and decapitated one of the mercenaries.
"Damn. I missed. I was aiming for his shoulder and the idiot moved! Who's next?"
The fifteen men took a collective step back.
"I get that reaction all the time." He sighed and sat back down on his throne. "If you boys don't mind, you're bleeding all over my floor."
The doors of the throne room swung open and two figured entered.
"Turn, hellhound! Turn!"
"What's a hellhound?"
"I don't bloody fuckin' know. Just always wanted to say it."
Shit. Al was going to try to kill Fred again. And this time the idiot had brought Merry. Betsy immediately headed back down the tunnel to the entrance to the throne room. She couldn't let him slaughter her best friend.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Maid Marian, you mother fuckin' wanker!"
"Sir Al, do you always bring your consort to watch you die." Fred picked up his sword again and started toward Al. The mercenaries quickly got out of the way.
"No. She's not my consort. This is my consort. Freddy, darling. Meet Pam!"
Just as Fred raised his sword for a blow, Al whipped the cooking spray out of his pocket, flicked his lighter opened and aimed a fiery spray of oil at Fred's face.
The scream was horrific. His eyesbrows singed to nothing and his hair flamed up. Fred's face blistered under the onslaught. He fell down to his knees and covered his face with his hands. Merry came up behind him and knocked his face to the floor with the side of her frying pan. It was a sickening thunk that would have killed any normal man.
"We got him?" Merry looked up at Al questioningly. She giggled and swung the pan back and forth. "You think I need to hit him again?"
"I think we need to dismember him, that's what I think."
"Daddy?" Al blinked up in surprise. Junior stood in the doorway, rubbing his eyes. Once he was sure it really was Al, he shuffled forward… at the same time Fred leapt to his feet. It was obvious he was heading straight for Junior.
Fred's face had already begun to heal, and his eyebrows were nearly resprouted. He also had his wickedly long knife in his hand.
Without thinking, Betsy jumped out of the tunnel and put herself between Fred and Junior. Fred pulled up short and laughed hysterically.
"Doesn't anyone stay put? Doesn't matter, Mrs. King. I'm sure your hubby's close enough to see this."
He caught Betsy off guard by trying to lunge around her toward Junior. She instinctively grabbed at him, her hands encircling his neck.
He turned to face her, and that's when Betsy saw it for the first time.
Fear. Fred was afraid of her. He jumped away from her as if he were burned. It didn't take much to figure out why. Huge raised welts appeared on his skin in the shape of fingers. Betsy's fingers.
"You got Garlan to tell them I wasn't the real Chosen One, didn't you. That way they'd forget about me, and you wouldn't have to worry about the prophecy coming true."
Fred didn't answer. Betsy watched with satisfaction as the welts on his skin got redder and deeper.
"You didn't count on Adeo actually falling in love with me and bonding with me."
"You haven't seen the last of me," Fred said.
"Unfortunately for you, you're not leaving here alive."
Adeo came up behind Fred and slit his throat. Betsy quickly rushed forward and grabbed Fred's hand and worked her way up his arm, touching as much of Fred's flesh as she could.
Fred struggled weakly, but Adeo held him still. Soon Fred was covered with red swelling sores and his shirt front was wet from the slit in his neck which showed no sign of being healed.
When he was quite sure that Fred was dead, he let him drop unceremoniously on the throne room floor.
"To think," Merry said with a hiccup, "All he needed was a good hug!"
"Mother fucker. You sure he's dead?" Al walked over to him and kicked Fred's corpse. He ripped the gold circlet off his head, and tossed it to Adeo. Al pulled out his lighter and gave Fred a good dose of fire and cooking oil.
"Note to self. Vanilla scent does not cover up smell of vile burning arses."
"He said I had to die!" Junior broke into sobs. Al looked a bit sheepish and grabbed his son around the middle.
"Be right back," he said as he closed his eyes and disappeared.
Adeo placed the circlet on his head, and looked at Merry.
"Are you drunk?"
"No. Just happily lubricated."
Betsy ran toward her friend and wrapped her arms around her.
"How would you like to be a Lady in Waiting?"
"Depends. You got men around here? That Rueben might have been a steam engine in the sack, but I can only spend so long talking about five year olds."
A few throats cleared and Merry ogled the fifteen men who stood awkwardly near the back wall of the throne room.
"Well, I usually like my men a little less well armed."
"I suggest you be on your way." Adeo said firmly, and as Betsy felt, very kingly.
They immediately bowed and backed out of the room.
"Just like Machiavelli said, mercenaries are useless. They win, and they want more money and power. They come across a difficult fight, and they abandon all loyalty and go running where they came from."
"You will make a great ruler," Adeo said proudly to his daughter.
"That's one of my questions. If Mommy has a boy, do I still get to inherit the throne?"
"The eldest rules in Shudador."
"Wait a minute. Is there something you forgot to tell me?" Merry said, looking Betsy over accusingly.
"I'm not pregnant, if that's what you mean."
"Yes you are," Adeo and Polly chorused together. Betsy and Merry turned to stare at the two of them.
"Well, you are," Polly said. "I think it's a boy."
Betsy put her hands to her stomach and her eyes met Adeo's across the room. He had a tender smile that broadened to smug, somewhat possessive grin.
"He still dead?" Al announced popping out of thin air. Junior wasn't with him this time, but he did have a can of lighter fluid in his hand.
"Hope you don't plan to keep the carpet," Al said as he squirted it over Fred's body. When it was empty, he threw a lit match down and watched the fire burn. Once he seemed thoroughly satisfied that Fred was indeed charred beyond all redeeming, he put his hands on his hips. "This place is going to need a lot of fucking work. I mean, what's with all the fucking gold? Gold is like glue, a little goes a long way. I got a really depressed artist with a lot of free time on his hands. He'll work for real cheap when he sees this mess. He's got the same fucking taste."
"Sir Al, do you mind explaining exactly how you've managed to travel where you will?"
"It's a secret, and only the future Guardians get to know the answer. Now, I had to promise Junior a trip to Australia to see the koalas before he'd shut up, so if you don't mind, I'm off. Cheers."
Al closed his eyes and disappeared yet again.
"I always thought the Ancient Guardian knew more than he was letting on," Adeo stated. "I don't know about anyone else, but I could use some sleep."
Betsy yawned as she thought about it. She hadn't had a good night's sleep for what seemed like ages.
"Reconstruction can wait until tomorrow," Adeo grabbed Betsy's hand. "Polly, why don't you show Merry around, while your mother and I get some sleep."
"Okay. Aunt Merry, where do you want to start?"
"Pshaw. The kitchen. Then the bathroom. You got bathrooms in this place?"
"Of course."
Adeo led Betsy in the opposite direction. She highly suspected he had something else entirely in mind than sleeping. Her suspicions were confirmed when he reached behind her and stroked the tattoo on the small of her back. Despite her exhaustion, it lit her up like a Christmas tree.
"Do you even have a bed?"
"Yeah. Might be a little dusty, but I think we can make it fly."
"Dirty boy."
"Dusty boy."
"That's not the kind of dirty I was talking about it."
She shut his laugh off with a kiss.
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