Maplepunzel, Part 12

She had her first chance that very afternoon. Old Nurse Brumpton, the woman Pavla had hired to help her take care of Victor, handed her the silver tray. “I want you to collect Prince Victor’s dinner dishes and evening coffee from his rooms,” she bawled in her no-nonsense bray. “Normally, Miss Maple or I do it, but Miss Maple is having her last dress fittings.” 

This was the chance she’d been waiting for! She almost snatched the tray out of Brumpton’s hands. “Careful, girl. Don’t break the china!” The fat old lady scolded. “That’s the Queen’s very best china. We’ll be using it for the wedding reception.” She then turned to the coffee, pouring something from a bottle into the silver coffee pot. Maple leaned over to sniff it, but she pushed the girl away. “Don’t be so nosy! Go do your job, girl!”

Well, gee whiz, Maple grumbled in her head, I just wanted to smell it! She wondered about that bottle. Brumpton was constantly pouring its dark-brown contents in the coffee pot. Once she got back, she’d take a whiff on that stuff. Something wasn’t adding up there. 

Fortunately, the halls were quiet. Most of the guests were outside playing croquet or walking in the gardens, and the servants were all downstairs tending to them or preparing for the wedding. She knew where his rooms were. He’d told her many times about his simple, elegant suites on the top floor, where he could sit and write and look at the gardens while studying diplomacy or prepare a speech. 

His rooms looked almost the same as they did when Pavla brought him back, but now they were pitch dark. Pavla had the navy blue curtains drawn, shutting out as much light as she could. The bed was huge, done in simple wood and navy cotton blankets. The heavy wood furniture covered in papers and spattered with ink spoke of elegance and a man whose mind was on his work. 

Maple dropped the tray on the nearest table and rushed to Victor’s bed. Though Pavla had since dressed him in a simpler gold and blue tunic and leggings, he remained asleep, snoring faintly. His beautiful brown eyes were still bound tightly with the heavy black scarf. She shook him hard as she could, trying to wake him, but nothing worked. No matter how hard she rattled his shoulder, he continued to snore. Shaking a box of trinkets in his ear didn’t work. Neither did dropping the tea tray hard next to his bed.

There was only one thing left to do. She leaned over to kiss him…just as Pavla stormed in the room, black silk and lace trailing behind her like a storm cloud. “What in the hell is goin’ on here?” Maple’s own Brooklania whined at her. Was she ever that much of a whiner? “I told the king and queen that I didn’t wanna be disturbed by nobody!” 

Her eyes widened as she saw Maple leaning on Victor. “You! How did you escape? I told those idiot relatives of mine to send you where no one would ever find you!” She grabbed Maple hard by her arm and dragged her off Victor’s bed. “You’re still my ward ya know, sista, an’ I do have in with the king an’ queen. I’m gonna marry the Prince, an’ there ain’t nothin’ you can do about it! I can,” she added with a smirk, “do somethin’ ‘bout gettin’ rid of you. Soon as Queen Gertie n’ King Tom finish their audience with their guests, I’m gonna have them fire you an’ throw you out. I have the king wrapped around my little finger. He’ll do what I say.”

She shoved Maple out of the room so hard, she almost slammed into the wall across from the door. “And stay out, you hussy!” Pavla screeched. “Don’t you dare touch my fiancee again, or I’ll have you arrested!”

Mackie ran over to her, carrying another tray. “Are you ok, kid? What in the hell did you do to set her off like that? Did you really mess around with the Prince?” He made a face. “I kinda wish you would. Prince Victor’s a great guy. He’s smart, not bad-looking, and a brilliant tactician, but his whole life is one big battlefield. And when he’s home, he does nothing but do paperwork and help his dad here. I’ve been trying to tell the King and Queen for ages that they need to push that man out of his office every now and then.”

Maple nodded, rubbing herself all over to make sure she wasn’t hurt. She was fine, just a little sore where she hit the wall on her elbows and back. Her face crumpled when Mackie mentioned Victor needing to get out more. She pointed back at his room, her eyes filling with tears. 

“You like him, don’t you? Victor’s had his share of women, but Jeff was usually the one who had all the girls panting over him.” Mackie put an arm around her, even as he yawned. “Yeah, I’d rather see a nice girl like you married to him, instead of a witch like Maple. Bet that isn’t even her name. Something seems,” he yawned again, “strange about her.” 

She leaned on his wide shoulder, wiping furiously at the tears that spilled over her scarred cheeks. “Whoa, sweetheart! You poor kid.” Mackie yawned as he fumbled for a slightly wrinkled cotton handkerchief embroidered with beautiful flowers. “Here. Take mine. I have others. This used to belong to my wife Penelope. I think she would have wanted you to have it.”

He sighed, even as he let out another yawn, his brown eyes turning sad under his round spectacles. “Penny and I had a baby girl once,” he admitted quietly as they started back towards the kitchen. “All Penny wanted when she was pregnant with our little sweetheart was rapunzel greens. Kept begging and begging me for them. Couldn’t live without it, she said. Well, it was winter, and the local markets and gardens weren’t exactly full of rare greens. The only person who had some was a witch named Pavla.”

Maple’s eyes widened in pure shock at the name. “Yeah, she was a looker,” Mackie went on. “Gorgeous, almond-shaped eyes, real exotic type. Her castle was over the border in Berlania. I’d done acting at a theater in the area and passed by before and saw her garden. It always had fruit and vegetables in it, even in winter.” 

The balding butler shrugged sheepishly. “I didn’t think she’d mind my taking just one sack of greens for Penelope!” She almost smiled as he mimed himself jumping and grabbing a chair. “I leaped over the wall with one nimble jump! Of course,” he added, rubbing his slightly chubby middle, “I was a tiny bit thinner then.” He then mimed leaning over the blue carpet on the hall floor, holding the rug for a bag. “I grabbed as many greens as I could get away with and brought them home. Penny loved them! She kept eating them and eating them…and wanting more and more.”

She put an arm around him as he fell back in the chair. “I went back two more times to get greens for Penny. Everything went the same the second time. I climbed over, grabbed greens, and got out. The third time,” he made a face, “I wasn’t as lucky. I tripped on the wall jumping over and ended up flat on my face in the garden. She just…appeared in this blackish-purple smoke. Said she’d have me arrested for stealing! Maybe even sent to death!” 

His round chin quivered. “I was desperate! I needed those greens. Penny said she’d die if I didn’t have them. I told her that Penny was a magician, too. Her hair could heal. Her voice could soothe or break your eardrums in an instant. She was powerful. We were even on a council with magical performers at one point.” His dark eyes became fearful and far-away. “I didn’t know what else to do. Pavla said she wanted our first-born child, the one Penny was pregnant with. I…I told her she could have it. Just give me the greens.” 

She rubbed his shoulder as he heaved his own sobs. “She loved the greens. Kissed me, said I was the most wonderful husband in the world. I…I didn’t have the heart to tell her about Pavla. I was hoping she’d forget all about me and her threat.” 

Now he was the one dabbing at his eyes with the embroidered handkerchief. “Three months later, Penny had the most beautiful baby you ever saw. We called her Anna, after Penny’s mother. She had the most adorable little toes, and the prettiest brown eyes that always took in everything, and her mama’s red hair. She already had so much hair, even when she was a month old!” He gulped back sobs. “But Pavla…she did come. Barged in the door, said the child was hers. I got on my knees and begged her to leave our little Anna. She,” he wiped his eyes, “did something to us, made it so we couldn’t move. One minute, our Anna was in Penny’s arms. The next minute, she was gone.”

Maple threw her arms around the poor man and gave him the biggest hug she could. He leaned into her strong embrace. “Thanks, kiddo. Being around you…it’s like Penny’s come back to me. Like I finally found my sweet Anna. She’d be about your age by now. Penny died just a year after that. The doctors said it was pneumonia, but I don’t think she ever got over losing our Anna.” 

He finally put an arm around her, still yawning. “Why don’t we go down to the kitchen, get some lunch, and maybe rest before the next round of wedding preparation? Or maybe,” his head lulled on her shoulder, “we could take a nap. Telling stories wore me out!” He almost passed out on Maple! She had to almost literally drag him to the kitchen before he ended up sleeping on the floor. 

Telling stories must have taken a lot out of him, she thought. She wished she could tell him that his story sounded familiar. Pavla claimed her parents abandoned her, that she was found in a rapunzel patch…but what if she wasn’t? What if Pavla lied? She’d try to figure it out later. Right now, she had to report to the Queen that she was sure something was going on with that coffee…and make sure she still had a job, before Pavla tried to throw her out. 

Queen Gertrude and King Tom were in the ballroom, arranging the wedding decorations, when Pavla stormed in. Maple hurried after her. “Your Majesties,” Pavla purred. “I want that girl fired.” She pointed at Maple. “I pacifically said for no one but me to enter the Prince’s rooms. I know my a-fianced better than some servant girl.”

“That girl has been kind to everyone and has worked herself to the bone since she arrived,” Gertie snapped, glaring at Pavla under her red lashes. “Which is more than I can say for you. Don’t deny it. I’ve seen you. All you’ve done is keep a mother from her son and insult everyone whom you see as beneath you.”

Pavla turned on her most charming smile. “I’m just doin’ what I think is best for your son. He needs his fiancee. We’re gonna get married in two days!” She turned to King Tom, a sweet-faced, white haired gentleman in his 80’s and turned on her most gentle smile. “Now, Your Majesty, surely you don’t need to keep on some little maid? Your son’s a-fianced is far more important.”

King Tom turned to Maple with his gentle smile, his eyes twinkling behind his spectacles. “She doesn’t look little to me. She looks like a nice young woman.” He went to Maple and patted her hand. “My wife says you’ve done fine work. We need so much help with all this wedding business.” He sighed wistfully. “I knew the day would come where one of my sons would get married. I thought that lovely Betty would be the one for Victor, but then…well, she wasn’t there.”

Gertrude made a face. “Something always seemed fishy about that, too. The entire kingdom just vanished! Jeffery said he’d find out what happened…” Her voice cracked here. “My sons…I’ve already lost one, and now, I can’t even see the other…”

Her husband put his arms around his wife. “It’ll be all right, dearest. Jeffery will be found when he wants to be found. I’m sure he’ll come for the wedding. And Victor’s being taken care of by his fiancee. He talked about nothing but her all summer long. When two young people are in love, they should be together. That’s what I always say. Of course,” he added, “I also always say that a cow in the hand is worth two in the barn. Or is that a rose?” 

Pavla’s cutesy giggles made Maple’s stomach turn. “Oh Your Majesty, you’re so funny! Why don’t we talk all about it over lunch?” She took his arm and led him out the door.

“I wouldn’t eat lunch with that barracuda for all the wedding ceremonies in the Seven Kingdoms!” Gertrude muttered before she turned to Maple. “I’m sorry about that,” she said with a sigh. “That witch doesn’t like anyone who is smarter, prettier, or just more than her. She insults anyone who isn’t royalty. I’ve heard her do it when she thought I wasn’t looking.” 

Maple nodded and handed her a scroll. “This is what you’ve observed, just in the last few hours?” She read over the scroll as Maple pulled out a feather and a very squished blackberry, then mimed sleeping on a pillow and taking a feather from it. “Oh, you used a feather from a pillow and berry juice to write this on the sly.” 

The Queen rolled up the scroll and tucked it into her pocket. “Maple, I want you to do something else. I think the castle’s coffee supply has been drugged. I drank two cups and fell asleep on the lap of the Emperor of Chinois. I don’t normally take naps during the day! If Victor and your mother are constantly sleeping, I suspect they may have been knocked out, too. Keep an eye on Nurse Brumpton. She’s the one making the coffee. I think she may be the one behind this. She and her superior Lord Abernathy of the Wenneria Gazette claim they were sent from the newspaper to cover the wedding, but I think that’s a load of hooey. Find out what they’re really after.”

She grinned her best cheeky lopsided smile modeled on Scott, gave her a salute, and marched off to the garden. Scott might be able to help her here. She had to work at the castle, but he could come and go as he pleased. He might be able to get into town and find out more about what Brumpton and Abernathy were really after.