Hilda - Lycadea

by Paul Kater

with a row boat? Do you see a castle out there somewhere?"

  Maurizio stared at her. "Ehm, no. But I thought..."

  "You weren't thinking, Moro," Rebel said, "as usual you just get a crazy idea and you act like that is the truth."

  "Usually it is," Maurizio argued, "and don't you go against me. I was right when I picked you up, remember? You'd be dead now, otherwise. Madonna, give me strength with this woman! But you can do your scary thing and take us there." The captain beamed as if he was competing with the sun.

  "She does scary things?" William wondered. Perhaps taking them along wasn't such a good idea after all.

  Before Maurizio could answer, Rebel said: "You know I can't go to places I have not been before, Moro. We'll have to arrange some other transport."

  "Stop! Here and now!" Hilda was not in a mood to listen to bickering of that sort. "We'll take you with us and nobody will do scary things or they will meet the wrath of the witch. That's me."

  William had already summoned the brooms; they hovered next to him. The cats had already jumped on their front seats. Maurizio and Rebel stared at the brooms.

  "And how are you going to take us with you?" the redcoat captain asked as he pushed against one of the brooms with a finger. It did not move to the side.

  Hilda hopped on her broom. "Rebel sits in front of me. You sit in front of William. Simple enough, right?"

  Rebel walked to the broom with the witch. Hilda told her how to sit on it. The woman was very surprised to find that sitting on a broom felt totally different from what she had expected. William got on his broom and spent a while reassuring Maurizio that it was perfectly safe. "Better than what you told us about your ship, Maurizio, at least we know where we end up when we fly our brooms."

  The captain took a deep breath, as if that would make a difference, and carefully sat on the broom. "Oh..." he said, surprised.

  The crew had assembled again, as by a secret and invisible signal. "Hey Moro, will you two be back for dinner?" the man he had called Xander asked. The captain looked questioningly at the witch.

  "We'll drop them off in time," she said. "Just make sure you don't start cooking too early." She sent a signal to William through their link. "Hang on folks," she then said to their passengers, and the two brooms took off, into the clear blue sky.

  5. Kings, queens and dinner parties

  "Are you really sure this is safe?" Maurizio asked as the brooms picked up speed.

  "We got to your ship on them, without a problem," William said, "I am sure this is safe."

  "Oh." Maurizio did not sound convinced.

  Rebel instead seemed to enjoy the experience. So much even that Hilda had to drag her back; at times the woman in leather and copper was leaning over so far that she would fall at the slightest tremble of the broom.

  As they flew over the forests that surrounded the castle, Rebel screamed for joy when she saw their goal. She waved at Maurizio and pointed. The captain was not certain if he should watch. His trust in the broom was below level, so he just nodded and kept holding on to the broomstick. He had already learnt (and bore the red scratch to prove it) that he should not grab it too close to the black cat that lay there as if it was the most normal spot in the world. Which in this world it was.

  "Do they know we're coming?" Maurizio asked.

  "Soon enough," said William. It was not the answer the redcoat captain had expected but it proved true enough. Once the brooms with their passengers slowly crossed the moat and the castle walls, several servants started running. "See? Now they know."

  "Now, when we land I do not want you to jump from the brooms," Hilda warned them. "Step off when we tell you it's time to do that. We have plenty of time."

  The brooms reached the ground. Obsi and Grim elegantly hopped from their sleeping places and then the passengers were offloaded. A servant already came running, informing them that the king and queen were looking forward to see them.

  "Very good. You keep an eye on our brooms, please, and we'll be off to the majesties." Hilda gave the man her broom. William supplied him with another one. Rebel and Maurizio supplied the magicals with quizzical looks as Hilda asked him where they could find the king. Then the two people from the Mimosa were escorted into the castle.

  Hilda and William knew their way around the place, so soon they had found the large spacious balcony at the back of the castle, where the king and queen were sitting, enjoying tea and cake. Chocolate cake.

  "Ohhh!" said Hilda as she spied it.

  "Ah, there they are," said King Walt, "and they brought them along already. How thoughtful"

  "How do you know it's them?" Queen Velda asked. "Perhaps they met some others and brought them along, instead of them."

  "Oh, it's them al right," Hilda pitched in.

  "No, you stay," said William as Maurizio and Rebel slowly tried to back out of the balcony, to the safety of the room they had come in through. "You wanted to see them, and there they are."

  "So, who are they?" asked the king from his lounge bed, picking up a gilded bowl of grapes. The queen was on her own chaise longue, a low table with a tray of truffles next to it.

  Hilda waved the Mimosians to come closer. "These are captain Doctor Maurizio Blunt and Donna Rebel Abrahams. Maurizio and Rebel, these are King Walt and Queen Velma."

  "Doctor who?" The king sat up and wiped his fingers on a silk napkin that hung from a pocket in his carmine cloak. Obsidian Shadow jumped on the royal couch and sniffed the grapes. With an insulted sound he jumped down again.

  "No, not him," Maurizio said with a smile, making Hilda frown. "Blunt. Doctor Maurizio Blunt. It is a great pleasure to meet you, your majesty." He bowed to the king. Then he turned to the queen, who held out a hand to him. Maurizio took the hand, pushed the eye patch up and studied the gems in her rings with care. "Sono onorato, signora queen. I am honoured," he them said, kissing the queen's fingers.

  "Are all your rings still there?" Rebel asked as the captain had stepped back.

  Quickly Queen Velda checked her hand. "Yes, they are. I think. Care for a truffle?"

  As the queen kept counting her rings, the king offered the guests seats, tea and cake. Rebel was asked to sit next to the king, a rare enough thing to happen. William grinned as he sensed Hilda's feeling about that.

  "We heard that your ship has arrived in Green Lake," King Walt said, "and we were curious to find out where you are from. And of course what it is you have brought."

  William wasn't sure what was happening; the king talked to these people as if he knew them since long. Hilda was not much help, she had taken command of the chocolate cake and her whole attention seemed focussed on that.

  Maurizio seemed well prepared for this though, he had probably handled these questions before. "Oh, you know how that goes," he said in an amiable voice, "we were happily sailing along when we happened to come across your country. And since everything looked so nice here, and the people were all so friendly-" he nodded at the two magicals "-we decided to stay here for a while. And so far, I have to say, they have been very helpful and informative also. They even brought us here on their... brooms." It was clear that he still was coming to grips with that concept.

  King Walt went for the praise. "Oh, yes, the honourable witch and wizard are very highly regarded here. They are very valuable to our little kingdom." The he asked about Rebel, who very quickly was introduced as Maurizio's cousin.

  William looked at Hilda, who offered him a piece of the cake. She winked. He accepted the cake and another cup of tea. While they took care of the edible part of the visit, Maurizio and Rebel avoided every question to their background with skill, and soon King Walt and Queen Velda had the feeling they were fully up to date on the ship and its crew.

  "It was really delightful talking to you," said the queen as the four got up and said their goodbyes. "Do come by again when your ship is in the lake again."

  "Prego, signora queen," Maurizio smiled with an elegant bow, his eye patch in place again. "It was o
ur honour to be visiting with you."

  Rebel bent down and kissed the king on a cheek. "Thank you, king, it was great talking to you. And I love your tea."

  "Oh, how sweet," said King Walt, "let me arrange that you take some tea home with you."

  "Oh," Rebel startled (she was not fond of tea at all), "that won't be-"

  "Tut-tut," said the queen, "you will take some tea. He is the king, after all."

  "Yes, Mrs. Queen," Rebel said. "And thank you too for a really nice time here."

  Queen Velma produced a caring smile and then located another truffle in her tray.

  With a large bag of tea under Rebel's arm, the small group returned to the yard of the castle again. The servant, who was still holding the by now squirming brooms, visibly relaxed as their magical owners relieved him.

  With brooms hovering, Hilda invited Rebel to hop on, but the woman, whose metal clothing parts glistened in the sun, shook her head. "Thanks, but no need for that. I know where the ship is."

  "You do? And you're going to walk there? Did the broom flight scare you so much?"

  Rebel grinned. "No, the flight was fabulous, really. But I can get Maurizio and me back to the ship faster than flying with you. And you and William too, if you want."

  "I'll stick to the broom, thank you very much. But I want to see how you do that," said Hilda as she mounted her broom.

  "Sure," said Rebel. "Moro, ready?"

  "Almost. Do you want to join us for dinner aboard the Mimosa, Mr. and Mrs. Witch?" the captain asked as he