*
Gertrude and the others walked through the tunnels, damp cold creeping into their coatless bodies. The sound of teeth chattering was making Gertrude very anxious, for he knew that they did not have much more time before they would succumb to the cold. Keeping everyone moving was their only hope of gaining warm shelter somewhere. “I cannot remember how much farther this part of the tunnel goes, but we should be coming to a sharp curve shortly.” Just as the words left his mouth they came to a dead end. “This tunnel went on, I am sure of it. We must double back to see if we missed a junction in the tunnel.”
Norman started crying. “Are we going to die in here?” She sobbed and her teeth seemed to chatter louder.
Gertrude took off his suit coat and swung it over Norman’s shoulders. “I am sorry about this…”
“This is not your fault, Gertrude. We must keep going. We are sure to find the way out.” Octavius reached out his hand, meaning to put it upon Gertrude’s shoulder. However, it missed its mark and hit the wall behind him. There was the sound of wood.
Queen Emmaline let out a gasp. “I do not think you were wrong, Gertrude. Someone has cleverly blocked passage from the tunnel. She held her dwindling candle to the wall where her husband had knocked the dirt away. She went to the side and to everyone’s surprise she found a rusted old handle sticking partially out of the dirt. “Look, it is a doorway!”
Gertrude looked at the other side to see if he could see any hinges. “The door opens outward, away from us. Perhaps, Octavius if you and I put our backs to the door, we can make it give way.”
The two put all of their weight and strength to the door. Dirt fell and a loud creaking of metal against metal could be heard. They pushed and pushed. The ladies tried to help by leaning into the door the best they could. With a sudden shudder and the cracking of aged wood, the door burst open. All four of them landed in a heap on the floor on the other side.
Gertrude was the first to his feet. They had lost their light and it was totally pitch black. He reached inside his pouch to retrieve another candle. Before he could do so, light sprang from an opening above them. A trap door over their heads opened and Gertrude could make out a ladder. A familiar face appeared at the opening, brandishing a broom.
“Gertrude; is that you? Oh my goodness! And who are these people with you? How did you gain entrance to my root cellar?” Bertha had a confused look on her face.
Gertrude urged Norman and Emmaline up the ladder and then Octavius. He was the last to come up and enter into the room. “Bertha, we need warmth. Please give us some blankets.” Gertrude closed the trap door to the cellar and the door fell with a loud ‘bang!’ as it slipped from his frozen fingers.
Bertha hustled off to another room and returned in the blink of an eye with the requested blankets.” Here, I will put on some blog and heat some bricks. Gather chairs and sit by the fire.” Bertha threw on a couple more logs and busied herself making blog.
Gertrude brought over chairs from the table. “Norman and Emmaline, please sit here.” The troll pointed to the two chairs closest to the fire. “Let us get you wrapped in blankets first.” Gertrude handed a blanket to each of his friends, and they sat down, enjoying the heat that was bathing their near frozen bodies.
Bertha brought over a mug of blog for each of them. It was quiet except for the crackle of the warm, glowing fire and the sipping noise made when someone took a swig of the steamy blog.
“Well, Gertrude and who are these poor strangers that you have brought into my hovel?” Bertha took a sip of her blog.
Gertrude looked at Bertha in surprise. “Bertha this is King Octavius, his wife, Queen Emmaline and their daughter, Princess Norman.”
Bertha nearly dropped her cup of blog. “No…!” Gertrude and the others all nodded their heads. “Glory me! None of this is making any sense to my poor old brain. Exactly what is going on, that I am hosting the royal family?”
“My good lady; we found ourselves in a predicament. During the ball, we were attacked inside the palace by traitorous guards. It occurred right after an explosion. Fortunately, we were by an opened exit and made our escape. Gertrude led us to a room and a secret passage leading from the castle. We were ill-equipped for the passage through the tunnel and it was by accident that we happened upon the door to your cellar.” Octavius took a long drink of his blog
“Where is Toddy, Gertrude? Where is my daughter?!” Anxiety and concern filled Bertha’s voice.
“I am afraid that she is still in the castle. She was standing next to my mother the last time I saw her. Knowing my mother, she is in a safe hiding spot and they will attempt to get out of the castle when it is possible.”
“I hope you are right, Gertrude.” Tears welled up in Bertha’s eyes.
“Lady Bertha, do you know what the large explosion was that shook the ground earlier this eve?” Octavius queried.
“Oh yes, it was a small ship coming up the river. As it approached the cliffs, it came under attack. A hail of flaming arrows assaulted the ship. Shortly after, it exploded. The explosion was amazing, but deadly. I am glad it exploded when it did or else it would have been too close to our village and would have rained fire on it.”
“Ah, just as I suspected. While we were traipsing through the tunnel, my mind was at work trying to figure out what was going on. They must have used the ship as a signal to set their scheme in motion. I just cannot figure out who is leading this invasion. I have assumed that none of the invited kingdoms were involved in this. There were traitorous guards in each camp. Whoever is behind this has been planning it a long time. It takes time and a lot of wealth to infiltrate another kingdom’s army. Ever since the pillaging started, I have put people out throughout the countryside to glean information for me. Unfortunately, it seems that I did not find out enough…”
“Why did they plan it during my birthday celebration?” Norman held up her cup. “Lady Bertha, could I please trouble you for another cup of blog? I am finally warming up.”
“No trouble at all, my dear.” Bertha got up and poured another cup of blog for Norman. “While my poor body is standing, would anybody else like another cup of blog?”
Gertrude stood up and brought over his cup to be refilled. He looked at Norman and sighed. “The reason they chose your birthday is because all of the royal houses would be at your ball. Without a head of state in the kingdoms, they probably fell without a fight. I am wondering where my cousins have gone and the other two trolls you had locked up.” He handed the cup of blog to Norman.
“Does it really matter at this point, Gertrude? All is lost at the moment, and we are fugitives in my own kingdom.”
“Well, yes, I think it does, because if we could find out who Lemerich is, we could devise a plan to ‘upset the apple cart’. I believe if we could find a way of tricking them in revealing Lemerich to us, he would ultimately lead us to the person behind this whole plot.” Gertrude took a sip of his blog and sat down again.
“You are correct in that thinking, Gertrude. However, for all we know, they are still up at the castle. Lady Bertha, I hate to impose upon you, but would you mind housing us for the evening? It is late and the cold of the tunnels has numbed my thinking. I believe that we would all feel better after getting some well-needed rest.” Octavius looked up at Bertha who was standing beside the fireplace.
“Oh my….why, of course you can stay here. I have plenty of blankets.” Bertha left the room and returned quickly with a pile of wool blankets. She disappeared one more time and returned with down-filled sleeping mats. “I am sorry but I do not have any pillows to rest your heads upon.”
“There is no need to apologize, Bertha. What you have done for us has been very gracious and giving.” Gertrude took one of the mats and placed it by the door. He put his sword right next to it, within easy reach. The others chose their own spots to put their mats. Soon the hovel was quiet with only the hearth’s dying embers giving light. No one noticed, as the events of the day had wrought e
xhaustion on the quartet.