Mind of a Witness

Chapter 7

I've never been an experienced traveller. The Queen tried, whenever possible, to give me assignments near Castle Heshler or at least in the vicinity of Heshler County. But when circumstances dictated, my feet were the feet of the Queen.

And unfortunately, at least for the first leg of the journey, our horses were the horses of the Queen. The creatures from the royal stables had a real issue with their werewolf riders. The heavy lupine scent gave our normally reliable steeds fits. They bucked, they balked, they refused to take commands. It was quite a relief for everyone involved when we reached the farmer's barn and switched over to steeds belonging to the Foster estate. They seemed to have no problems with the werewolves.

Despite the turbulent ride, Prince Gnarl's only complaint came after he was astride his new, far calmer mount. "I hate long road trips."

Secretly, I rather enjoyed the occasional longer trip. I've read about so many townships in the history books and farming almanacs, but I've seen precious few. So while adventure for some might involve swashbuckling and campfire stories, for me it was walking in the footsteps of the past.

"Oh! We're approaching the heart of Old Britannia. And... yes, right about here. This is where King John's first recorded mistress lived. He was still married to Isabella at the time. Then he started to visit the smith's eldest daughter. And at the same time, he was seeing not one, but two women of noble houses! Scandalous."

I glanced over my shoulder to gauge the interest of my companions. The werewolves were both staring at me as if I was a madman. Aaron looked puzzled more than interested, as such. I tried to lure him deeper into the tale.

"Isabella was quite young at the time you see, and King John was said to be a man of great passions. Still."

The guard asked, "How do you know all of these... things, Andy?"

I told him, "There's a fourteen part series that covers the War of the Barons. This is all before the monarchy was moved to Heshler, of course. If you like, I can see that the royal librarian reserves them for you when we get back."

Aaron answered quickly, "Oh no. N-no, I fear they would be wasted on me. But you can tell me the best bits as we ride."

I nodded to the other man, then turned to keep an eye on the road ahead. Shortly afterwards, I heard muffled yelp behind me. I craned my head over a shoulder, but only saw the aftermath. Aaron was rubbing his flank as Tessa absently shook her stinging paw in the air. My best guess was that she caught part of the gelding's saddle when she went to swat the riding human's rump.

I turned fully forward to hide my faint smile.

A couple of minutes later, Prince Gnarl's mare drew shoulder to shoulder with mine. "How's the jaw?"

"It's tolerable, thank you for asking."

He rumbled, "So. What d'ya think? About another hour, and then we'll call it a day?"

As with most decisions over the past day, the werewolf was leaving the final course of action up to me. I suspected that this was my Queen's doing. She probably asked him to encourage my assertiveness, all part of Her drive to make me more 'independent'. It made me a bit nervous, but I had a safety net: I was certain that the experienced lupine would correct me if I did anything truly disastrous.

"Yes Teddy. We're nearly at Whitby already, but given the subject matter of our investigation, I agree that we should arrive well rested. Just in case the whole thing turns violent."

The werewolf Prince said, "Just in case? Well. I like your optimism. But in your head, you might want to be prepared for the worst. At the very least, someone hired those guys. And zealots rarely give in without a tussle."