Royal Meetings

There came the sound of a terrible crashing on the front door followed by the shattering of Kori's tiny bedroom window above.

The snapping jaws of a wolf poked through.

"Scream, Kori," urged Gabi, getting behind her.

Kori tried screaming, but the otherworldly shriek she had managed earlier did not come so she leapt at window, slashing with her Runeknife. There was a yelp and the stench of animal blood and the wolf fell away from the window and Kori saw the werewolf, now in human form, standing outside. He was a wild looking man, dressed in only a shirt and torn britches, his black, tousled hair with a grey streak down the middle hanging down around his shoulders like a mane. Around him the wolves circled in the moonlight. He fixed her with a piercing red-eyed stare and a hungry smile spread across his bloodstained lips, revealing protruding canine teeth. She caught sight of the stump where his left hand should be...

"Revenge will be mine now you've hacked off my limb, mongrel bitch!" he giggled, licking his lips and then he stalked towards the window. Kori leapt away and gathered a protesting Gabi into her arms, then sprinted into the front room to Rudolph and Madeleine. He had his sword unsheathed and she was holding up a handful of red glittering fire powder and wearing a look of grim determination.

"They're at my window," cried Kori, "It's the werewolf from the forest!"

But they were no longer at her window. There came a series of resounding crashes on the door and a crack appeared down the middle of it. Rudolph stood to one side of the sagging door and Madeleine on the other. The crack widened and Kori quickly set Gabi down and stood in front of him. The door gave way and there was pandemonium. Madeleine cast her red powder at the wolves and there was a searing flash, howling and the smell of burned fur. Rudolph swung his sword chopping at the wolves that attempted to cross the threshold. Kori started forward with her Runeknife ready to strike, but she was too late; the four wolves that had tried to force entry were all dead, burned or chopped to pieces, lying strewn over the threshold and the path outside. The werewolf was nowhere to be seen.

Madeleine swept past Kori to check the bedroom. "None here."

Gabi had his hands over his eyes. "Now are the wolves dead?"

Rudolph shook his head. "No youngster, two more have fled along with their leader."

Kori gazed at her uncle who was breathing heavily, his blade stained with hot wolf blood. She sheathed her Runeknife. "Uncle…" she felt her bottom lip trembling and there were tears in her eyes, "I'm sorry, but I overheard you and Madeleine…"

He put an arm around her and she put both arms around him, burying her face in his leather jerkin and breaking down in sobs.

Gabi crept up to her and patted her back. "Don't be sad, Kori. You can still catch that old werewolf."

Kori couldn't reply to that for she was crying hard. Her uncle stroked her hair and ponytail. "I know you wanted him to accept you, dear niece. But this world is imperfect and we have to make the best of it. I'm proud of you. Now we must stop the werewolf before he attacks anyone."

He was absolutely right. Kori stifled her sobs and gazed up at him through a veil of tears, nodding.

Madeleine returned to the main room and Rudolph pointed at her. "Maddie, stay with the boy. Kori and I are going to stop that monster once and for all. Kori, we need you to keep those ears of yours sharp."

Kori slipped her arm in his and took out her Runeknife again and together they set out into the night. It was not hard to mark the wolves' passing back to the fringes of the forest. Uncle and niece soon found themselves descending a path at a run, the trail strewn with exposed roots which Kori skipped lightly over, but which caused Rudolph to stumble a little. Kori could hear distant yelps and howls from the remaining wolves, but then she suddenly became aware of a peril nearby.

"Uncle stop! He's there." Kori could see a shape move in the darkness between the trees and pointed her blade at it. Rudolph did the same. The werewolf emerged from the gloom. It was still shaped like a man, but covered with coarse black fur and had the unmistakable snout and arrow-tip ears of a wolf. It launched itself at them, snarling and showing its bloodied fangs and Kori slashed at it wildly, but it was her uncle's blade that hit home with deadly accuracy, entering the beast's chest, sinking up to the hilt until the tip emerged from its back. The monster expired, issuing one last howl as its limp body slid off the blade.

The werewolf lay dead at their feet. Kori breathed hard, trying to steady herself, her heart thudding in her chest. "I'm glad it turned back into a beast at the end. I couldn't bear to see a man die. Dear uncle, is it over?"

"I fear it is not, Kori. I have reason to believe that he was not the only werewolf. Come, let's get back."

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Back in the cottage, the four of them sat around the table in the main room. Rudolph slapped the werewolf's ring onto the tabletop. "This is not silver. Werecreatures cannot stand the touch of silver. This metal is much rarer. It comes from only one place – in the mountains far away to the east."

Gabi looked unimpressed, his little legs swinging as he sat on one of the wooden chairs. "Huh, looks like silver."

On close inspection, Kori could see the metal had an icy white sheen, not like silver after all. She'd read about this metal. "It is in fact platinum."

"Correct." Rudolph smiled through his beard. "And the symbol of a howling wolf head against a full moon is the symbol of a cult from the east. Rumours of them have already reached my ears. My sources say the cultists somehow managed to summon a demon from the infernal pit and we have witnessed tonight how it has transformed each one of them. The other werewolves are coming and the rulers of our realm must be prepared. Kori, we must go to Gruenwald Keep and warn them. After your heroism they must give you some semblance of the birthright you are due…"

Madeleine got to her feet. She was glaring at Rudolph. Her blue eyes were so expressive when she was angry. "I don't see Kori taking her place in some lord's fancy household. I know this. She is my apprentice and I have taken care of her for her entire life after I was the one who retrieved her. Had you forgotten, my Lord?"

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Gabi tutted. "Don't you want her to be made a lady of?"

Kori laughed. "Honestly, Gabi, I won't become a lady."

Madeleine was about to make a retort, but Rudolph held up a hand to forestall her. "You assume too much, gel. It need not be all the time. Kori, I can ask that they let you stay at the castle for part of the year. We can decide how long. Maybe two or three months each year. You can continue as Maddie's apprentice the rest of the year. What do you think, dear one? Will you come with me to visit that most sophisticated of societies? Meet our scattered relatives? Be united with Erika, your sister? The choice is all yours."

Kori gazed back at him wide eyes, emotions swelling inside her. "Come with you, dear uncle instead of waiting an age for your next visit? Finally be with my sister? Of course I want these things, when do we start?" She beamed at Maddie. "Isn't this great?"

Madeleine folded her arms. "You'll fall behind in your studies with me."

Kori was taken aback by her cool tone. "I'll work twice as hard when I get back, I really will and I'll write often. Please, Madeleine…" she bit her lip. "I've got to see my sister. I never got to see my father…"

Rudolph laid a hand on his niece's shoulder. "Just be happy for her, Maddie. That's all she's asking. We're not stealing her away."

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Kori and Rudolph escorted Gabi home that evening and then made preparations to leave for the castle. Madeleine was not enthusiastic. Indeed, she seemed to comply grudgingly. The next day they set off on Rudolph's horse, beginning the long journey to Castle Gruenwald, resting each night at different wayside inns. On the second night, they stopped at an inn on the edge of Gruenwald. Rudolph arranged for a message to be sent on to the Regent at the castle, after which they had a basic meal of meat and vegetables with a pot of table ale, all costing one silver piece.

"The Regent will be happy to receive you Kori, be sure of that," said Rudolph as he poured out the ale. "I've been telling him for a long time that you should be welcomed as one of the nobility. His welcome is all you need. Then it matters not if others don't."

"Might the rest be reluctant to welcome a demon-girl?" asked Kori with a wry smile.

"No reasonable person should hold your heritage against you. But your father's lady wife, the lady Brunhilde, will never forget the time when my brother was abducted and raped by a lesser demon. The demon returned him afterwards and indeed, she confessed to everything, but for one night Brunhilde had no idea where her husband had gone or what had happened. She will never forget that..."

"Indeed, she should not," said Kori earnestly, her eyes wide. "It must have been terrifying for them both. But she was always there to comfort father, wasn't she? And she never had that fool idea that some hold, that a man cannot be raped?"

"No, no, Brunhilde is not such a fool as that."

"Well then, we should get on well."

"Ahh..." Rudolph stroked his beard. "Brunhilde knows you are not demon-raised, Kori, but you were demon-born..."

"The lesser demon is not my true mother, Madeleine is," said Kori flatly.

"And a wonderful job she has done by you too," said Rudolph nodding.

That night, after Rudolph had fallen asleep, Kori could not sleep. She knelt on her bed in their shared room and gazed out of the window into the starry night, deep in thought. A new chapter in her life was beginning.

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The next day, Kori and her uncle rode together through the gentle green countryside that was so lush and fertile it made Gruenwald the wealthiest part of the Dark Forest principality. Close to the castle were a number of small towns designed to cater to the nobility traveling to court. The track joined the main road and Rudolph led the way through the main gates. The walls were an impressive height. Kori glanced around the paved courtyard, thrilled. "It's all so big, uncle. There's nothing so grand in the village. Nothing like it at all."

"Your life just got more exciting, Kori."

The stable lads attended their horses. Two of them had their heads together muttering a conversation that was not intended for Kori's ears, but she could hear it anyway:

"The green girl has slain a werewolf. But she's a noble."

"Dressed like that?"

They turned to stare wide eyed. Kori smiled at them.

Her uncle took her by the hand and they made their way through the high double doors into the main entrance hall. Once again, Kori stared wide eyed, this time at a rich tapestry depicting the history of the Dark Forest. She had seen an oil painting at the village marketplace once before and been impressed by it, but compared to this, it may as well have been a stick drawing in the dirt. They ascended a grand, ornately carved stone staircase that arose to a balcony and another set of double doors, into a much smaller, walnut-panelled antechamber. Kori trembled with anticipation. Hermann, the regent had requested an audience as soon as they arrived. Rudolph put his arms around her and she hugged him back, feeling the need to steady herself.

"You'll do fine, Kori." Her uncle whispered. "There's nothing to worry about. The regent is a decent man. I've told him a lot about you already."

"Thank you," murmured Kori, wanting the hug to last as long as possible as she tried to soak up succour.

A green liveried servant entered through a walnut-panelled door and bowed to them. "The regent will see you now lord, lady."

This was it. Kori kept going over everything her uncle had told her about the Regent and the proper etiquette for meeting him. They left the antechamber through a walnut-panelled door and down a mahogany-panelled corridor festooned with velvet drapes, the spaces between hung with the portraits of the Reingolds, the ruling house of the Dark Forest. After that they went up a magnificently carved wooden staircase, covered with a rich claret carpet, that led to another set of double doors. The family crest of the house of Reingold was carved across both.

Rudolph threw open the doors and strode boldly through, Kori trotting behind him.

The chamber beyond was an example of opulent splendour. Fine tapestries bedecked the walls, antique rugs covered the floor, all lit by light splitting crystal chandeliers. Framed by a tall window directly in front of them there stood an ornately carved chair, throne-like in its magnificence. Sitting on the chair was a ruggedly handsome man Kori recognised from the portrait gallery. Lord Hermann, the regent, a man with ruddy hair and a well-kept red beard. He was wearing an unbuttoned jacket, exposing a ruffled shirt beneath and fine black trews and knee-length boots.

Kori and her uncle kneeled before him.

"Arise Lord Sommernacht, Lady Korina."

They stood, Kori feeling very self-conscious as the regent gazed intently at her with those piercing green eyes. "I see what you mean Rudolph," he said in a less formal tone. "The resemblance is striking."

"This is what I've always told you, Hermann." Rudolph sounded amused. "Yes, Korina has a green face, but the resemblance to Erika with regards to their features is clearly there."

The regent nodded. "Lady Korina, to acknowledge your recent act of heroism, and having received nothing but good reports of you from your uncle, I welcome you to Castle Gruenwald. How does that please you?"

Kori thought of the sister she would finally get to meet. "It pleases me more than anything, my Liege. I'm so grateful to you."

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Later when Kori had dined, been washed and then clothed in the current court fashion, the time for Rudolph to introduce her to her father's lady wife and legitimate daughter was finally at hand.

"Well look at you, you clean up so well, dear niece," said Rudolph winking at her. "My two best nieces are the prettiest young girls in the place."

Kori giggled. Happiness bubbled inside her like champagne. Her long hair now hung loose and she brushed it away from her face with one hand. "My dear Rudolph, everything is so new. I've never bathed in a marble tub before." She grinned as she stroked the midnight blue velvet of her dress sleeves. "It's all just so grand. My sister is ready to see me?"

Rudolph nodded. "Now I've warned you Kori, Lady Brunhilde, was not happy about your coming to court. The regent has decreed it though and she cannot protest. But be mindful."

Kori nodded. Her uncle had spoken of this before. Well Kori could completely understand that her existence troubled Brunhilde, given how she had been conceived, but she would prove her good will. She wanted to grow to love her father's lady wife and the mother of her sister.

Her uncle took her by the hand.

"Come, it is time."