Tales of the Big Bad Wolf: The Red Riding Hood Arc (A Fairy Tale)

Chapter 21, Part C: Ten Steps Forward

Instead he paused to remove his coat, using that action to afford him time to consider what to say. Most of his current family had no idea of his inexplicable ability to stay young or that he had once held the gift of magic. He preferred not to reveal how magic had wreaked havoc upon the one relationship he had been permitted to have in his life.

Selva had come to him uncertain of what she would find. It was the magic that held her interest.  Even though his powers were fading, he still had enough to occasionally command a flicker of light from the stone he kept close to him. When he did so she would react with awe and pleasure. Her fingers would cling a bit more tightly to his, her eyes dance more than usual, while with that light they explore the ruins underneath the castle.  For a time she was patient, learning all she could about this strange building and about him.  Selva appeared to willingly embrace the expectations hat she would stay at his side to assist him and pass what he taught her to the children that many of his clan she would eventually bear.

She was too bright to not notice the change within him.  True to her upbringing, she did not bite her tongue.  One morning when he declined to take her down into the ruins she snapped, demanding to know how long his gifts had been in decline.  Wolfram would not answer her, even though she, as his future wife and as a subject, felt she had a right to know. 

Poor Hastings and his entourage of servants soon found themselves tiptoeing around a master and mistress engaged in a battle of silence.  They were equally proud and willful creatures.  She would not talk to him until he gave her an answer. And he did not feel inclined to provide one.

Even when she would bring a tray of food to him in his study, he would deliberately ignore the beautiful woman while he read a book.  She, in kind, would glower at him from her chair while he finished the meal.   At other times she would tidy up the hopelessly cluttered room, making a great deal of noise as she put books back in their places. She would not be ignored!

For weeks, this standoff dragged on before finally, she broke her silence to inform him she would leave.  And true to her word, she did.

Had the other Wolframs been fully aware of the situation, they might have advised him.  However, all they could do in hindsight was to point out to him how he had erred. They were not sentimental creatures, the Wolframs.  They did not speak of love or feelings.  They pointed out instead that her departure could have been prevented by a simple command to stay.  In addition, if he had grown tired of the young woman and wished her to leave, he still could have required an oath of loyalty and ensured some means of tracking her movements.  This would have kept her safe and prevented any chance of a later betrayal.

In truth, he had done nothing because he had simply not understood that she would not return.  When the length of her absence stretched from weeks to months, it was Hastings who forced him to understand the situation and begged him to write to his family to see if she had appeared anywhere.  But they had no news and with her trail now cold there was nothing to be done.  All they could do was to pack her things away and keep watch for her from the lonely tower that overlooked the land. 

The sound of a chuckle from behind him forced his mind to stop drifting.  The Count turned his head slightly and observed a maid tottering under the full weight of Marrok’s heavy furlined garment.