Hilda - The Challenge

by Paul Kater

  "I'd say there is something that smells bad about this egg," Hilda commented.

  "Yes, and it lacks things in the looks department also..."

  Hilda took the pan and poked at the solid layer at the bottom with the wooden spoon. It sounded suspiciously like some kind of stone. "Care for an omelet with a crunch?", she asked William.

  "Not really...", William said.

  "Smart man. I thought so too." She flipped up her wand and a moment later the pan was good as new. And empty. "We'll find something else for lunch."

  Later that day they also noticed that the golden shell, once cracked, became some kind of ugly lead-coloured gunk. William wrapped it in a piece of paper and discarded it. "So much for golden eggs. Nothing good comes from that."

  They had decided to take the afternoon off. No going anywhere, just sit in the sunshine and do a whole lot of nothing.

  The couple was doing a mighty fine job of that when the peace and quiet was rudely disturbed by a horseman that came racing up to them and stopping his speedy journey in a cloud of dust as he forced his horse to a halt.

  "Honourable witch and wizard," the man said as he jumped off his steed, "I have a message from the king."

  "Oy, no arrows?", William asked, looking up from his sunbed.

  Hilda laughed, then turned to the rider. "What is it the king wants of us?"

  He handed her a large scroll. "This is for you, he said. And it is important. And if possible, I have to wait for your answer."

  Hilda raised her eyebrows. "Then it is really urgent." She checked the seal, as even a witch can't be too careful, then tore it off and looked at the message. "Crappedy crap."

  William sat up. That sound meant problems. "What's up?"

  "King Herald asked Walt for our extradition."

  "He what?"

  "It seems that we have offended a diplomatic blah-blah official of his court. Lamador's been crying, it seems. Which surprises me, as he usually handles his own affairs." Hilda rolled up the paper. "Looks like we have to go see Walt about this. He's only doing his duty, so we'd best help him."

  "I understand." William started to get up.

  Hilda was on her feet already and said to the rider that they would arrive at the castle as soon as they could. The man nodded, got on his horse and raced off again. "Show-off," she muttered and flattened the cloud of dust he left behind him. "No need to hurry, William, we should give him some time to deliver the message."

  Grinning, they went into the house and changed into clothes that looked more official and up to their status. A visit to the king warranted that.

  They had a cup of tea and then got on their brooms and headed for the castle. Hilda did not feel like messing with the guards, so they simply landed their brooms in front of the large fountain and waited there. They had been seen, as usual, so someone would come and pick them up.

  A group of guards approached the magical couple. "Uhm, honourable witch, would you please come with us? You too, honourable wizard?"

  "Sure, lead on and we'll follow," said Hilda.

  They were taken through the long corridors of the castle until they reached a cozy little salon. It was painted all white, the floor was made of white and grey marble and had large, probably handmade red carpets on it. There were a few small paintings on the far wall, with images of lakes. A small white table carrying a colourful vase with white flowers stood in each corner.

  Walt was standing in front of a window, hands on his back, staring outside. The leader of the guards announced their arrival, after which the king turned and smiled.

  "Welcome, Grimhilda and William, please sit down. Can I offer you something?" He waved at some chairs, and sat down himself.

  William asked for tea, as did Hilda, which was arranged speedily. Walt sipped a glass of orange juice.

  "I guess you saw the note, right?" King Walt did not look happy. "I'm not sure what you did, though. Can you explain something about this?"

  Hilda and William told him about the challenge, and the way they had taken their revenge by challenging Lamador in return.

  "Right, I can see what made you do that. And I like the way you folks think. Really." Walt toasted them with his orange juice. "But it looks like you angered someone in a very intense manner. And Herald asked me to send you over so you can be punished for that. That's the part I don't really like so much."

  "Nor do we, King", said Hilda. "Punished? Just because we did something he was not prepared for? That is a low trick."

  William agreed. "I would first want to see evidence of this, and if possible hear some witnesses or so."

  Hilda and Walt looked at the former book salesman.

  "What are you talking about, William? We have to go there and tell them Lamador's lying through his teeth." Hilda shook her head. "Sorry, King, he sometimes has these moments of not making any sense at all."

  "Then what is the plan? Go there, walk into the lion's den and be eaten?" William got up and paced the room.

  "William, sit down. I will explain this to you later," said Hilda.

  King Walt looked at the witch. It sounded odd to him that a wizard would not know how things were done in the magical world. But then, he thought to himself, this wizard was strange in more than one way, so probably things were done differently where he came from. The witch would iron it out.

  William sat down. "Okay. I'll leave it to you. For now."

  King Walt looked relieved. "So, you will go there? Should I send an escort of guards with you to make a bigger impression? You know I value you and I don't want anyone to think differently."

  Hilda thought about that offer. "That might be a good idea. We can travel slow then and think about things on the way. Yes, thank you for that, king."

  "Very good. Would a group of twenty-four be enough?" King Walt sometimes liked to deal with things pragmatically and swiftly.

  "That many? Would look good though..." Hilda grinned.

  William had a very undetermined feeling about all of that. Going to Lamador and his king over some dumb accusation, with a bunch of guards that probably were useless against any halfway decent witch or wizard? He wondered if he would ever understand this world.

  Hilda and Walt talked about the arrangements of when they were going to go to king Herald's country and how the transport would be arranged. There would be luxury carriages, plenty of food and water, and Walt would make sure they had all the necessary letters of reference with them to assure a free and safe passage through all the lands they had to cross.

  After dealing with all that, the two magical people were escorted to the main entrance again. Not because they were considered dangerous, but it would prevent them from getting lost. Walt walked along with them.

  "I'll miss you while you are gone," he said, "it is very entertaining to try and hit you with my fountain. So if only for that, I hope you will return soon."

  "It won't be us that will delay our return, king," said Hilda. "In three days we'll be here and leave with the guards. No telling what will happen from there on, but we will just hope for the best."

  Walt nodded and insisted on shaking their hands, something he would not do in a normal situation. "Take good care," he said. Then he watched as they got on their brooms and flew off towards their house. "Remarkable people," he mumbled to himself. "Very remarkable people."

  53. Beginning the journey

  On the way home, Hilda turned to William. "I don't like this at all," she said. "There is not much time anymore before the challenge Lamador set us. Me. Us. Whatever. And now this. It won't give us much remaining time to prepare for it."

  William agreed. "We may not even have time to go to Gurthreyn again. Not a place you go to for fun, but to see it and get accustomed to the feeling helps. To some extent."

  "Hmm... if you put it like that, I am not sure that going to Lamador is such a bad idea." Hilda looked serious. "But we will take things one at the time. Good thing we have a few days before we leave, we can look at what we want to ta
ke with us."

  Once home, they sat down and Hilda explained about the way that this whole extradition thing worked. "I get the feeling that you think this is some kind of prison deal, William. It isn't. Yes, Lamador is certainly angry about what we have done. And he wants to show that. After all, he is the Great Lamador, and he wants to piss us off with this. He'll start throwing accusations at us and we have to counter those."

  "And what is the worst thing that can happen?", William asked.

  Hilda's face turned gloomy. "They throw us in prison."

  "Right. I see. And it is not a prison deal, right?" William wondered about that detail.

  "No. In a prison deal you get thrown into prison without the option of defending yourself."

  "That sounds bad. Not the way I am used to. Well, used to. Uhm, know. You know what I mean." William felt like a fool, stammering and blundering through his words.

  "Are you upset, my sweet man?", asked Hilda, wrapping her arms around him.

  "Does it show? I thought I was getting a grasp of this world of yours, and then this happens. Makes me feel like I am back to square one."

  "You're not. You can do magic, William, and that is good. For me, anyway. And the best thing is that others don't sense that in you, which is extremely good."

  "I wonder what good magic will do us if they are sticking us in some dungeon. I'll bet you that they won't have ordinary guards there." William still felt very bad about the whole trip to see king Herald and the sorcerer they had humiliated so terribly.

  "William. Stop it. Shush you." Hilda put a finger over his lips for a moment. "You are not making things better with all that, okay? It is hard on me as well, I have to deal with it also."

  William looked into her eyes and twitched his lips so she would remove the finger. "You're right. I'm sorry. It became a bit confusing and... much."

  "Okay. I can understand that. When I think of how I felt in your world after a few days. I was going insane there." She rested her head against his shoulder. "And so far you have not gone mad yet. There still is hope for you."

  "I'm glad we're not giving up, Hilda." He held her for a while.

  "Come. Let's find some things to take along for the trip. Books and such." She grinned at him.

  They started to gather things together.

  Several days later, a carriage halted at the house of the wicked witch. The driver looked a bit nervous, it was not every day that he was sent to pick up a witch and a wizard. And he had already been sweating as he tried to imagine all the things they would be bringing along. He had heard stories about witches...

  "There is a cart in front of me," the house announced.

  Hilda and William were drinking coffee as they heard that. "Well, that is nice, to send a cart over."

  Hilda peeked out the window. "Shiny, that is a whole carriage!"

  William picked up the three dice that were their luggage and the stack of books they had prepared to have handy at all times, then they walked outside.

  "Honourable witch, honourable wizard," the driver said, hat in hand. "King Walt has asked me to come and collect you, and your luggage."

  "Oh, the luggage is all taken care of," said William, patting his pocket.

  "Uhm." The driver tried to keep a straight face. Hilda putting the chains around the house made that impossible for the good man.

  As she finished up, she looked at the driver. "Is there a problem?"

  "Uhm. No. Uhm."

  "Come, William, we'll go sit in the carriage and at some point the driver will take us to the castle." She pushed him to the carriage and they both got in.

  The driver slowly trotted after them, occasionally looking at the house and the chains. He climbed to his seat and made the horses turn the carriage, after which they rode off, to the castle.

  The carriage was very comfortable, which was a good thing. The ride to the castle took quite a lot longer than by broom.

  "How many days do you think it will take like this before we get to where we are going?", asked William.

  "I am not sure, but with so many soldiers along also, it will take three days, for certain. Brooms go faster than carriages and such." Hilda rested against him. "Sorry, sweet man."

  After a long time of bobbing on the road, the carriage pulled into the castle yard, the hooves of the horses making a sudden noise as they pulled their load past the thick entrance wall.

  "Sounds like we're there," Hilda grinned. "Do you bring the luggage?"

  "Sure. Do you take the books?", William asked.

  "No way! I'm the girl, you're the boy!"

  Laughing they exited the carriage as it had come to a halt.

  The yard was full of carriages and soldiers. It was a bit unsettling for William, seeing so many people were involved in getting them to Heraldion in one piece.

  King Walt appeared from somewhere, a dim smile on his face. "Welcome. Good to see you." He then frowned as he saw the driver step from the carriage. "No luggage? It should be on top, somewhere..."

  William shook his head. "All we need is in here." He patted his pocket again.

  Walt frowned as he looked at the clothes. "You witches and wizards..." Then he addressed Hilda. "Dear witch, as you see I have kept my word. These are twenty-four reliable men who will make certain that you will reach your destination safely. Messengers have been sent ahead already, with papers announcing your passage. I have taken the liberty of making reservations for the night in a few renowned stations along the road."

  "Dear king, we do thank you for your kindness," said Hilda. "You are going through far too much trouble for us."

  King Walt raised his hands, shaking his massive head. "No, no Grimhilda. The things you do for us are worth tenfold what I can do for you now. Just make sure you come back again. I want to hit you with the fountain again."

  Hilda grinned. "We'll do what we can, King Walt."

  He nodded, then waved at the leader of the escort, Captain Lambert, and introduced him to the witch and wizard. "These are the people you will accompany, Captain, take good care of them, they are valuable assets to the kingdom."

  The captain nodded. "Our lives for their lives, my king." He bowed, then turned to the valuable assets. "Would you then please board your carriage? We have a long way to travel."

  Hilda and William walked back to the carriage and, with a new driver on board, the small convoy rattled away from the castle, towards the kingdom of Lorn.

  After many hours and plenty of short breaks, it had already gone dark, the group halted near a large farmhouse annex something William called a hotel. It was equipped as a resting place for travellers, and Walt's messengers had done their work well, rooms were already waiting for them, as were hot baths and meals. The soldiers first wanted to sit apart from the magical couple but they then simply sat among their guards, which made the entire seating arrangement quite easy.

  Hilda and William wanted to go for an evening walk, just the two of them, but the king's orders were rather strict. After walking for about ten minutes with twelve guards behind them, they gave up and went to their room.

  "I hope you do trust us enough to sleep alone here," William said to the three guards that went along to their bedroom door.

  "Oh certainly, honourable wizard," one of the men said. "One of us will just remain here guarding the door. We're taking turns. Sir."

  The magical duo sighed. "Alright. Have fun."

  They closed the door and prepared for bed. Silently. As they lay next to each other, Hilda whispered: "I don't feel comfortable like this. I don't like having someone standing outside the door."

  "I'm afraid their only alternative is that one of them stands in the room."

  "Grmbl," said Hilda. She put an arm around William. "Mine to keep," she whispered and kissed him on the cheek.

  "Gladly," he whispered back, and smiled.

  After a while they fell into a disturbed sleep.

  The next morning they awoke early.

  "Did you sleep any goo
d?", William asked as Hilda sat up and rubbed her face.

  "Horribly. We should have brought our own bed," she yawned. "Would have fit easily."

  "Yes, no problem. I have big pockets," William agreed. "Too bad we can't fly back and pick it up."

  "Should have brought our brooms," Hilda nodded. "This is a drag. Takes so long..." She dropped herself back on the bed. "Can't we just go home and stay there, and join the soldiers a day later? Flying over is so much better."

  As William wanted to respond to that, she put her hand over his mouth. "I don't want to hear it, okay?"

  He nodded soundlessly.

  "Good. Get up then?"

  He nodded again.

  They got up and after packing their belongings into the three dice again they went downstairs, where breakfast and the small batallion were waiting for them. Not long after that, the convoy was underway again, crossing the land of Lorn and arriving near the border with Ringeholm in the evening. There was another resting place prepared to cater to their needs, and another night went by with bad sleep and a guard by the door.

  The morning brought rain. It followed them into Ringeholm, but the kingdom of Oxfern would have been just as wet.

  "So what was it with Ringeholm. No unidentified flying witches, right?", William asked Hilda.

  "Indeed. If you want to fly here, you need to go through a mountain of papers. Takes the whole thrill out of the flight, really."

  "Or laugh at the rules and get trees thrown at you," William remembered.

  "Yup." Hilda giggled as she recalled Bilgar's face, waking up on the broomaran with giant arrows being shot at them. "That was quite a trip, wasn't it, when we went to get Bilgar."

  William grinned also. "Yes. That was some form of exciting."

  They sat in the carriage, listening to the rain and decided that was not exciting at all.

  "I have an idea," said Hilda. "I want to do something about this noise. And help our brave soldiers a bit."