*
The next morning dawned and brought new challenges for Lord Mellem up in the castle. Queen Clivia had been set free from the dungeons along with the other captives and had made her way up to the grand hall only to become a prisoner once again. She was wailing and screaming, throwing a fit that only Clivia could conceive.
Mellem personally took her to her room with a sword sticking in her ribs. All of the royals were locked in their rooms with three armed guards at the doors. The loyal guards were stripped of any weapons and locked in a large room not too far from the armory. Mellem had control over the whole castle. No one could leave or enter the castle without his knowledge or consent.
Lord Mellem was sitting in the great hall, looking rather miserable. A guard came in escorting Prince Edwin. “Good morning Mellem, you look rather happy this morning.” Prince Edwin slid into a chair and poured himself some tea.
“I do not have any good news for you, Edwin. We have not been able to locate Octavius and his family.” Mellem studied the prince’s face for a reaction.
Edwin took a sip of his tea and set the cup down. “Have you heard from the other kingdoms? Do we have control?”
“Yes, yes, of course; everything went as planned in those kingdoms. There was a brief skirmish in Wellscot, but our men overwhelmed them. We have control for the moment; however we do not know where Octavius is.”
“Did you find the secret passageway that they used to escape?” Edwin took another sip of tea and picked up a pastry from a nearby tray.
“No, I had the whole castle checked. We know that they were headed towards the dungeons when a guard last saw them and then they disappeared.”
“Do you know that these little jelly tarts are my father’s favorite treat? It is a pity that he will not live much longer. Oh, and poor mumsy-wumsy is beside herself. All she can think of is that Princess Norman did not choose me to be her mate. Boo-hoo… little does she know that Norman shall be my bride and bear my progeny.” A smug smile erupted from his handsome yet vile face. “I will give her no choice. We shall find them and she will marry me or I will have her parents killed. After she marries me, I shall have them killed anyway.” Edwin curled his upper lip and snickered sinisterly. He paused for a moment. “I want you to have some men check out the dungeon area. The passageway must be down in that area. Also, I want you to send soldiers down into the troll village and check every house for the royal family. If anyone gives them any trouble, tell them to dispose of the vermin. I am going upstairs to my room. Inform me when you find the royal family. Oh, and by the way, I did not forget about your coffin, but you have done a fairly good job for me, so I decided to give you another chance.” Edwin stood up and walked out of the room.
“Guards! Guards!” Mellem watched as two guards came running into the room. “Tell the commander of the guards that I want a search party sent down to the troll village. I also need ten men to go with me down to the dungeon area.” The two guards returned moments later with eight fellow guards. Mellem led the way out of the room down the corridors and stairways to the dungeon area. They searched in every room for a sign of a secret passage. Finally they came to a small room next to the dungeons themselves, but found the door to be immovable.
“This must be the room where the passageway is located. Break through the door!” Mellem stepped back as the guards took axes to the door. He watched as the wood splintered under the onslaught. Soon the wood door was a pile of debris on the floor.
“Ah-ha! Just as I suspected… Clear that furniture away.” Mellem stepped back as the guards broke down the barricade. He entered and walked around the room and looked at the floor for scrape marks, but could not find any. He pulled on the torch to see if it was some sort of lever but, again, found nothing. “I know that the entrance must be here somewhere. I want two guards placed here at all times.” Mellem was walking back through the corridors when he bumped, literally, into an old acquaintance...Smirch. “You blithering idiot, why don’t you watch where you are going!” Mellem and Smirch stared at each other momentarily.
Lemerich, my Lord, I did not see you for the wall was in the way.” Smirch smiled lamely.
“What an unpleasant surprise! We thought you had fallen to your death in the tunnels. It’s a shame that it’s not true…”
“No, I did not fall into a crevasse in the tunnels. King Octavius put me in the dungeons. He caught my nephew and me coming out of the tunnel system. He locked me up, but I do not know of Twiggs.” Smirch caught a deadly gleam in Lemerich’s eye and moved further away from him.
“No, they did not lock Twiggs up. He came back and was working with your worthless counterpart Toggart. Why I agreed to help you green slimy things regain your positions as ‘High Dum-Dum’ or whatever it is called, is beyond me. You are worthless to me. Guards, kill this lump of green and toss his ugly carcass in the garbage dump!”
Smirch’s face skewed up in a look of absolute horror. He backed away from Lemerich and turned to run, but he was not quick enough. A sword’s edge caught him in the top of his shoulder and buried itself in his chest. Smirch fell without a word.
“Good riddance! One less headache! Take the garbage out, guards!” Mellem looked at one of the guards. “Catch a horse and ride to my residence and have the troll, Twiggs, brought to me. You guard, I want you to go to the kingdom of Wellscot. When you get there, get another guard to help you and bring me the parents of this troll, Twiggs. I will teach these worthless, slimy creatures not to betray me...”. A lurid smile crossed Mellem’s face.
Just around the corner, a maid had witnessed Smirch’s demise and had listened to the orders given by Mellem. It took all of her strength not to scream at the sight she had witnessed. She ran back to the kitchen, sobbing hysterically as she entered. Harriet rushed to her side. “My dear, my dear, what is wrong? Please calm yourself. Please tell me what is wrong.”
The young girl was beside herself and was so upset that she started retching. “I ...I…I wa...s going d...own the the hall to g…get some roots from the outer cellar when I…I.”
“Please calm yourself, child so that we can understand you. Miriam, please bring a glass of wine to help calm the child. What happened, my child? Please take your time.”
Miriam handed the girl a glass filled to the top with port. She drank the whole thing down. “I saw a troll killed. Then the guards were told to take his body out to the garbage dump.”
Winifred heard the commotion and had come to join the small group sitting around the girl. “Excuse me, but did I hear you right that they killed him? Did you happen to catch the troll’s name?”
“I believe that his name was ‘Smirch’. But I have a feeling he is going to kill some more. He mentioned the name ‘Twiggs’ and talked about bringing Twiggs’ family here from the kingdom of Wellscot.”
“Did you happen to catch the name of the one who was giving the orders?” Winifred queried.
“It was odd, but I distinctly heard the troll call the man ‘Lemerich’. However, it was Lord Mellem he was talking to.”
“Oh Harriet, we must get this news to Gertrude somehow. We must leave the castle and, please, I beseech you to help us.” Winifred’s face told her secret fears and brought her pity.
“Yes, I will help you. However the plan I have for your escape will be smelly and very unpleasant.” Harriet smiled. “I think it will work, though. Come, we must do it now, so that this ‘Twiggs’ has a chance to get away. Follow me.” Harriet led Winifred and Toddy to the garbage bins. A most horrendous odor was seeping from the bins. “ I wish I could provide a better means of getting out of the castle, but I think this will work. You shall be carried out in here. Margaret, go get the wax treated gunny sacks we use for the meal and empty them.” Harriet looked at Winifred and Toddy. “The sacks will keep you fairly dry and free of the refuse.”
Winifred smiled and looked at Toddy. “We came in style to the castle and we will be leaving in style.” Toddy didn’t look too sure about t
he plan, but she nodded her head in agreement. The sacks showed up and Winifred and Toddy climbed into them.
“I will have to tie the tops of the bags closed so that you and the garbage do not become one.” Harriet handed each of them a small, sharp knife. “Put these at your feet so that they will not cut you when the bins are dumped. You will be able to cut your way out of the bags when you land.”
Winifred looked at Harriet and reached out and hugged her. “Thank you for helping us.” Tears welled up in Winifred’s eyes.
“You are most welcome, my friend. Now nestle yourselves all comfy cozy down inside the sacks.” Harriet watched as Winifred and Toddy did as she had bid. Harriet tied up Winifred’s bag and then Toddy’s bag. She wished them luck. “The smell inside the bins will be very unpleasant, but you must be still and quiet just in case the guards check the bins. All right, ladies, let’s take out the bins.” They hoisted both ladies up and dropped them as smoothly as possible into their own separate bins. They then put the lids down on the bins.
Winifred could not talk. She was trying desperately not to lose the contents of her stomach. She started feeling a swaying motion and surmised that they were moving. She heard the creaking of a door and then some muffled voices then heard what sounded like one of the lids opening. The lid slammed shut with a noise that made Winifred’s ears split in pain.
They were by the guard as the swaying motion began again. There was a short pause as if they had stopped. Suddenly Winifred and Toddy found themselves tumbling down a slope into the dump. Winifred stopped rolling with a soft thud. She found her knife and cut a slit in the sack and stuck her head out. The light of the morning temporarily blinded her. When she regained her sight, she looked for Toddy. The younger troll was emerging from her sack with knife in hand. She had rolled several feet lower into the dump. Winifred hoisted her legs to wade through the fresh garbage to Toddy’s side. “Whew. Toddy, you need to take a bath.!”
Toddy smiled at Winifred. “I believe that if it were summer, we would not have to look for flies because they would surely be flying around you.” Both ladies laughed out loud.
Winifred smiled at Toddy. “Come, we must make the rest of our escape. Pick up a piece of refuse. If anyone stops us when we leave, we will tell them we were looking for food.” No one stopped them. They walked straight to Winifred’s hovel, walked in and closed the door.
“Hello, ladies. I have been waiting for you.”
Winifred’s face turned pale green as if she had seen a ghost. “What brings you to my hovel without an invitation, Gafton?” Winifred knew that his real name was ‘Riley’. “What do you want of me?”
“Oh, I do not want you, my fair lady. It is Lord Mellem that wants you. He sent me here to take you up to the castle. It seems that your son, Gertrude, has hidden the royal family. Lord Mellem feels that you will be a good hostage to take to trade for the royal family.” Riley held his fingers to his nose. “My goodness, ladies, don’t you believe in bathing?”
“You will not take us to the castle. I refuse to go!” Toddy sat down in one of the chairs and crossed her arms in defiance.
Riley pulled out a dagger and walked over to Toddy, wielding the weapon in a menacing fashion. He made the mistake of turning his back on Winifred. A look of utter surprise entered his eyes, and he fell to the floor with a loud ‘thud!’. The knife that Winifred was given to cut her way through the sack was stuck up under Riley’s ribs.
Toddy gasped. “Remind me never to make you angry, Winifred.”
“I hope Kern forgives me for what I have just done, but I felt that it was necessary under the circumstances. He was not an honorable troll, so he died without honor. Help me get his body out the door and we will dump it in the river.”