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CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
Apologies
Demetrius had been fighting at the border of the Fourth Kingdom for two days
now and his help had made things a lot easier. This unusual member of the giants had a short curly beard the color
of light coffee and a rather Zen approach to life. Basically, he left the world above the beanstalks because he
was disgusted with his fellow giants. He wanted to live alone and meditate. Of course, that was easy to do in the
frozen north because the winters were so long and neighbors were a rarity. Matilde was the only visitor he ever
got. Since he’d chosen her kingdom to settle in, she’d made it her business to get to know him. But mind you, she
didn’t interfere with his austere lifestyle. She just checked in on him from time to time.
On the morning Demetrius came to join the fight, he wore no armor and carried no weapon except for a long pole.
During the night before, the trolls had started to move into the Fourth Kingdom. Burly had told Spider that if
he pushed hard enough they would make serious headway during the day’s fighting.
So, Spider strode confidently onto the battleground. He was in a mood to stomp and squish. Instead of knocking
the wolves out of the way that day, he thought he would try and crush them underfoot. It might take some doing
because they moved so fast. But it would be fun to see them rush out of his way. He had no doubt that Burly would
yell at him for playing around too much. But what did he care what the little troll wanted?
As he approached the lines of the Fourth Kingdom, however, no humans or wolves stepped forward. And no elves flew
down on him from the air. He wondered why for a moment. Then he heard the thundering footsteps of another giant.
Spider looked behind him, thinking it was Hoban the blond bearded giant, coming to join him. But there was no one
there except for Burly and his troops. They all gestured for him to turn around. When he did, he saw Demetrius
step out from behind a blind of hundred foot white pines, his pole in his hand.
Spider had to shake his head and squeeze his eyes shut for a moment. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. It
was Demetrius, clad in what looked like a brown wool jumpsuit and vest.
"Fee, fi, fo, fum!" Demetrius laughed. "Spider, today you look so glum. Have you no remark for an
old friend? No? Then how about a little sport?" And with that he stepped forward with his pole raised.
The trolls and Wendell’s forces, all stepped back. No one in their right mind wanted to be caught in the midst
of two battling giants.
Spider decided to do the bravado thing. He hunched over and growled ferociously, grinding his teeth and swinging
his battle-ax.
Demetrius laughed. "Is that the best you’ve got? Come. I don’t have time for theatre."
Spider came forward swinging wildly. But Demetrius made no move until he was almost upon him. Then he blocked the
swing of his opponent’s battle-ax with one end of his pole and knocked him off-balance with the other. Spider didn’t
fall. But he learned to attempt less obvious blows.
By the end of the day, Demetrius had pushed back the enemy lines somewhat, but he couldn’t reclaim all the lost
territory. Still, by occupying Spider, Wendell’s troops only had to worry about Burly’s small group of trolls.
Wendell was able to send additional forces south to Major Burke to fight Hoban the blond giant. And his night troops
were able to get a well-deserved rest.
Wendell had looked for Rose on the morning Demetrius joined them. But when he didn’t see her, he didn’t worry.
He merely sent her word through one of the other wolves that the night troops could go off duty while their new
giant ally was on. He thought she might try and seek him out during the day. But when she didn’t, he figured she
was just taking his advice about getting some much-needed rest. Then night came and he looked for her again. Still
he didn’t find her. When Demetrius started his second day on the job and she was still not in sight, Wendell began
to see what was going on. She was avoiding him. Rose had said she was very aware of his scent. No doubt she could
smell him coming and nip off before he saw her. He didn’t know why she was avoiding him. But confound it, he was
her King. If he wanted her to come to him, then she would come. He would command it.
At lunchtime, he gave the order to his aide to notify every wolf within site that they should find Major Rose and
tell her to come to him at once. "Tell her it’s an order," Wendell told his aide. "No excuses!"
"Yes, your Majesty," the aide said. And off he went, wondering what had suddenly made the King so disgruntled
with the Major. They usually got along so well.
Of course, the wolves didn’t have any trouble finding Rose. In fact several of them did. And they all gave her
the same message. And she was irritated at every single one of them for bringing it.
When Rose finally appeared in the sunny clearing where Wendell was waiting, it just so happened that he was giving
battle instructions to his aide. Wendell’s blue eyes touched on her quickly. But he didn’t acknowledge her. He
saw that she was breathing heavily with aggravation and he thought he was entitled to a little aggravation too.
The King handed his aide the map they’d been discussing and said, "Bring this to Captain Gates." He was
one of Cole’s better Captains, a man Wendell thought he could trust. "Tell him this is the attack plan I want
him to follow. If he has any questions, he can come see me."
"Yes, your Majesty," the aide said. And he started away. As he passed Rose he saw how brightly her green
eyes were blazing. Usually he would have given her some pleasantry. But the expression on her face made him afraid
to say anything.
Wendell drew himself up coolly and put his hands properly at his back. "Rose, it seems like you’ve been avoiding
me. Is that true?"
Rose preferred to look at the brown grass at her feet rather than at him. She couldn’t lie. So she decided to say
nothing.
"Do you want to tell me why?"
Still she gave no answer.
"Well, then. I shall speak first. About the other night. I just want to apologize."
"You don’t have to," Rose said, sharply.
"But I do."
"Look," she said, shifting impatiently. "This is what I was trying to avoid. I’ve had enough of
these speeches. I know exactly what comes next."
"You do?" Wendell said, looking puzzled.
"Oh, yes. You’re going to tell me how very nice and attractive I am. Unfortunately, you can’t get involved
with me because of what I am. You’re going to say, that you got carried away the other night and didn’t mean to.
So, please, spare me the speech because this one will hurt!" With that she turned and started marching away.
"Major!" Wendell shouted. But she didn’t stop. "Major!" he repeated, "I COMMAND you to
stop at once!"
Rose growled to a stop, but kept her back to him.
"Now," he said, in a calm voice as he walked up to her. "You’ve had your say, I will have mine.
What happened the other night, was not an accident. I meant it to happen. And I would have made that clear to you
if the blasted war hadn’t intervened."
Rose looked up from the ground.
"What I wanted to apologize for," he continued, "is the unforgivable way I’ve treated you. If nothing
else, those boorish men of King Cole’s made it quite obvious. During this time we’ve served together, I’ve gone
beyond thinking that you’re all those surface things you mentioned. I’ve come to see you as noble, brave, and loyal
against all odds. Do you know I was attracted to you from the first day you began visiting the castle looking for
Wolf?"
Rose shook her head softly and Wendell gently brushed back a lock of hair that had strayed too far into her face.
"I just happened to see you from my study window. And I watched for you every day after that. When I saw you
talk to Wolf, I had to come and find out who you were. You’re right. I was exactly like those other men who gave
you that speech. I acted like a cad. Pretending I felt nothing for you, even urging you to leave here. But I was
wrong. Very wrong. Can you forgive me for being such a fool? Because, you see, I’ve fallen rather madly and irrevocably
in love you."
"Oh," Rose said. "I love you too." And she threw her arms around his neck.
Wendell pulled her close and kissed her the way he’d wanted to the night before. He felt lost in the softness of
her body and the woodsy smell of her hair and the delicious taste of her mouth. When his aide approached with Captain
Gates, the aide had to clear his throat several times before he heard. But this time Wendell had no intention of
letting the war interfere. He held up one hand and waved them away. Then, he continued kissing his ladylove.
"Well," the aide said as he led Captain Gates away, "I guess they worked out their differences."
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