Siegfried von Drachenthal stood over the remains of a boar roughly the size of a horse — or rather, leaned against the spear that was still sticking out of said remains. As Heroing tasks went, it had been an average one, but that didn't mean it hadn't been a tough fight. He was looking forward to a big flagon of mead and a slice of this fellow, nicely roasted and served with applesauce. And a bath. Definitely a bath. The peasants whose lands had been ravaged by the Black Boar of Brimsdale approached with commendable caution. They hadn't really believed it when Siegfried had promised he would kill it.
The astonished looks on their faces were quite gratifying.
'You slew the beast!' the village mayor said, gaping at it, then him, then it again.
'I said I would.' He shrugged. 'It's what I do.'
'How can we ever repay you?' blurted an old woman whose fields had been ruined. 'You've done what the King would not!'
'Could not, Mother Crey,' the mayor admonished. 'The King can't be in two places at once, and there's war a-brewing again. He'd have come if he could. He's done so before, and you know it well!'
Now Siegfried straightened, and let go of the spear. This was news to him, and truth to tell, good news. Here he had been doing this King a disservice by assuming he was just a neglectful monarch. But a war — that meant more work for a Hero. And it was a good reason for the King to be busy. 'War, you say?'
Many heads nodded. 'We've greedy neighbors,' the mayor said bitterly. 'They'd like nothing better than to swallow us whole — '
He looked as if he was going to make a good long speech, but Siegfried raised his hand to stop him.
'Then this is what you can do to repay me. Give me a good meal, a soft bed and provisions, then set me on the road to the King's hall. And tell me about this war while we eat.'
The peasants gaped, as if they couldn't believe they were getting off that lightly. The mayor especially had a look on his face like a stunned calf. 'But — '
Siegfried patted him on the shoulder. 'There's a good fellow. I am a Hero. This is what I do. And right now, I am a hungry Hero and one in great need of a bath, as well. So let's have a feast and you can tell me about your land and its troubles. Besides — ' he laughed ' — Kings can afford to pay better than farmers. I shall tell him about the Boar, and let him reward me.'
Now he was speaking words they understood; well of course he was going to claim a big reward, but it would be from the King and not from them. With a shout of approval, some went for a cart to carry off the Boar, while the rest carried Siegfried off in triumph to the Inn where the bird waited, perched on the rooftop, singing happily.
The next day, as soon as Coward left for his rounds, Rosa went out into the garden. This time Old Maggie was preceded by a veritable cloud of bees that swarmed around the garden and through the cottage before vanishing. Maggie appeared a moment after they had left.
'They're my little clever guardians, ain't they, then?' Maggie said triumphantly. 'And if they find some nasty old Dwarf a-lyin' abed, well! All he'll think when he sees bees is that they're a-swarming, and all he'll think to do is to hide himself under the blanket lest he get stung!'
She cackled, and Rosa managed a laugh, herself.
'Now!' The old woman had a much bigger basket this time, strapped to her back. Out of it she pulled an old, threadbare, but immaculately clean shift, which she handed to Rosa, and a chunk of pinkish-purple soap. 'Off with them clothes, pretty, and put this on. Into the cauldron with them and a piece of this — ' She handed Rosa the soap. 'No need to boil, just get the water warm, like, and then we'll stir, stir, stir.'
Rosa scrubbed and rinsed, scrubbed and rinsed; wished she could wash her hair, too, but at least it wasn't matted up like a wild sheep's wool. Finally, as she put the shift back on over skin so clean it felt new, she asked, 'Have you heard any news? I heard that the King has a new wife — '
'I only hear what the bees tell me, and they don't care for Kings nor Queens, no more what they do,'Maggie said dismissively. 'Nor should you. Kings and Queens and their doings ain't for the likes of us.'
Disappointed, Rosa agreed rather weakly. The two of them got to work on the minimum that the Dwarves were likely to expect, which was finished in plenty of time for them to take the slightly damp clothing, mend the tears with needles and thread that Maggie produced from her basket, and for Rosa to put it on again before Coward made his lunchtime appearance.
Maggie returned when he had gone, handed Rosa a meat-and-vegetable pasty, and gathered up the soap, the shift and the comb.
'You look as good as new, don't you, pretty!' she exclaimed, as she helped Rosa braid up her hair in a more tidy fashion. 'And Maggie may have some good news for you tomorrow, yes she might! So keep your pretty head down, and don't call attention to yourself, and we'll see what the morning brings, aye!'
Once again, she whisked around the corner and out of sight before Rosa even got a chance to ask what she meant.
The potion was done. Tomorrow Lily would see if the time was right to reveal herself twice over. Tonight, thanks to the bespelled soap, Rosa was safe, still looking like the filthy thing that she had been yesterday. That wasn't a powerful spell and it would wear off; the trick was to make sure it didn't wear off until after the Dwarves got rid of what they thought was a dead girl.
Lily went to bed torn between anticipation and apprehension. With all of the potential of this situation, it wouldn't take much to unbalance it. She only hoped that she and Jimson were fast enough to get The Tradition to work with them, instead of against them.
Chapter 5
Lily was very glad that she had a great deal of experience behind her, for she could not imagine trying to juggle all of this two hundred years ago — or even only a hundred. She was back in the Palace, in the persona of Queen Sable, who had somehow not gotten around to telling the King that his daughter was missing. Or so everyone thought, for everyone seemed to be sending clandestine messages to the King at the northern border.
