Tales of the Big Bad Wolf: The Red Riding Hood Arc (A Fairy Tale)

Chapter 34: Sunrise (The End)

* * *

Elanore knitted under her grandmother’s guidance, trying to complete the last of the promised scarves for the lions who often peered into the room from the outside.  

Every so often her hands full of yarn would drift back to her lap as her attention would wander.  She would look at  Lady Tala, dozing a corner while her younger cousins held the twins, newly born and always awake.  She would listen to  Mrs. Ormond as she taught the small circle of children gathered around her their numbers and letters.   She would fix her grandmother’s tea as the woman chatted amiably with her neighbor, Mrs. Reyes.

She looked upon this peaceful scene with all the idealism of youth.  She saw the more than dozen women and believed it did not matter if they were Wolfram or townsperson. All worked in this room, united around similar tasks such as caring for their own.   In her eyes, this was happiness.

The women’s attention shifted when Lady Selva floated into the room.   The woman was not the sort of person who exuded warmth, but she had a charisma of her own.  A line of servants followed behind her with tea and the routine of the morning was cheerfully disrupted.  The women and children forgot their work.

The lady Selva appeared before Elanore with a plate of sweets in hand.   “I should like to speak on a private matter.”

Elanore put her knitting down to join Selva in the library. A maidservant quickly set up the food before leaving them alone, drawing the door firmly shut behind her.

But they were not wholly left alone.  Even in the library, the lions peered in from the outside.   

“Persistent, aren’t they,” Selva shook her head before she bit into a strange pastry.  Her eyes closed for a moment while she savored the filling.  

“I think they are restless,” Elanore offered as she carefully inspected the dessert placed in front of her.

“You speak as if you sympathize with them.” Softly, the woman added.  “Are you the restless sort, Elanore?”

“No and yes.”  Elanore decided to take a bite of her share of this strange bread the other woman seemed to enjoy so much.  It was some kind of meat seasoned with spices that hinted at far off places.  She took another bite, trying to decide if it was enjoyable or not.  “I don’t like sitting around doing very little, but I am not so foolish as to always run away from home looking for an adventure.”

“There’s a time for everything.”  The woman placed her cup back down on the saucer and looked at the window.  “A time to fight and to play.  A time for things to mend and things to grow.  And a time to love.”   She smiled to herself before she reached out to clasp Elanore’s hand.   “Dear girl, my lord is releasing you from the promise that was made between him and your grandmother.”

Elanore felt suddenly alarmed.  “Are you asking us to leave? Have we done something to offend?”

“No.” Selva propped up her chin in her hand as she studied the healer.  “But the sun grows stronger every day and the main danger is gone. After all you have done for us, why do we keep you from moving forward with your lives? I’m sure Edmund waits for you to be free.“  

Elanore ran her fingers across the large table. “He might be.”  

“Oh?” The woman seemed puzzled by the non-committal response.  “If there is no offer, then by all means stay here.  I have observed your interest in magic and in the care of others.  The lions love you.  My lord approves of you.  I know you are hungry to learn.This is a good place for you to grow and for me to teach. ”

Elanore’s heart beat quickly at such a thought.  “Would you really teach me?”

A smile quirked around Selva’s lips.  “I would if it does not cause your young man further distress. I hear his step outside. Perhaps this is something to discuss with him before we speak of it again.”  

Elanore thanked her earnestly before the woman trailed out of the room, plate of pastries in hand.  She felt happy as one fair-haired creature exited and another entered, thinking of how to tell Edmund of this good news.  But his expression confused her.   “Whatever is wrong, Edmund?”

He sat beside her,not quite meeting her eyes as he spoke.  “Life seems to be intent on casting me riddles.”

“Don’t be mysterious,” she told him plainly.  

“I was summoned by the Count so he could tell me something that was on his mind.”

She could tell he was troubled deeply by his conversation with the man.  Her fingers drifted across the table, looking to find his and to comfort him.    “What can I do to help you?”

Her touch dispelled some of the gloom on his face.  Edmund swallowed before he pressed something into her hand. “Stay with me. For as long as you wish.”

She looked down at her palm and saw a circlet of metal.  Her heart skipped a beat as she realized what he was asking.  Her fingers closed tightly around the band and she looked back at him, her eyes shining.  

She shone, casting light upon the uncertain, shadowy areas of Edmund’s life.  His face relaxed and the phantoms vanished. Everything about him was smiling again.

With a cry of joy, Elanore flew into his arms.   “I wish it to be forever!”



                                                                                                   * * *

For a long time after the boy  left Maximilian sat in his chair pondering the wisdom of what he had spoken.  But regardless of whether it was right or wrong, he refused to recant his words.  If it was true that Edmund was his son, the young man would eventually discover that he could not run away from that truth.    

What Edmund’s full truth happened to be he did not know. Wolfram rubbed the bridge of his nose, hoping that whatever the future brought  that Miss Redley would be enough to overcome it.    

Wolfram flipped through his grandfather’s book of tales, reminding himself to not discount his own power and influence quite yet. If anything, he still had the ability to watch him.  He had time -- to gamble, to maneuver and,  most importantly, start over.

He corrected this book in his hand, using the pen the wily old bookmaster had gifted him.  How Gregory had guessed his secret, he did not know. But the man seemed delighted, not horrified to learn that the rumors about elves and their longevity were true.

He flipped through many pages, coming finally to the story that Selva loved.   He held Selva’s lovely face in his mind as he lingered over the words, reading it until he could imagine why she cherished it so.   He guessed she saw parallels there to her life.  Otherwise she would have stopped loving him long ago.  

The story she had read could guide her no longer.  This knowledge relieved him. He wanted her to believe that she and he would write a new tale together, one that had no template tied to it.  

His eyes read past other fables and legends, pausing when he saw the tale of the girl with the red hood.  Before he could change his mind he tore out the pages.

Wolfram felt a sense of satisfaction as he fed them to his fireplace.  The flames licked at the paper and ink, erasing their contents.  And with this new pen, he would scratch out a replacement.  His version.

He placed the book on a table and turned to an empty page.  And then he began to craft a new tale, one in which the parties would resolve their differences.

A tale in which all, including the wolves, would live happily ever after.