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His father’s pacing was slowly driving him insane. Vash was just as impatient as his parents, waiting for his sisters to return from searching for husbands, escorted by his brother Nai. “They should have returned by now.”
They had a rider sent forward from their group to announce their arrival, but the hours had crept on, and on, and on…and yet there were no happy shouts of reunion, no meeting of new husbands, no return of his brother.
“I’m sure they are simply delayed, you know how weddings get people,” his mother, the queen, soothed. “They just had seven. It will be fine.”
Lunch passed in tense silence, then dinner. Then the fire had burned low in the hearth and there was no sign of his sisters or brother, no additional word of delay. Even Vash was beginning to get worried, but his father was beside himself. A rider had been sent out in the afternoon, and returned just before they retired to bed, hearts filled with disquiet and unknowing.
“They are all of them turned to stone,” the rider panted, doubled over and gripping his knees. “There is a giant, in a castle, and it seems they passed too closely for his liking and he has cursed them. All your daughters, their husbands, your eldest son, they are like statues.”
The king swore, he screamed, he pulled at his hair in grief before clinging to Vash and sobbing. “Oh, it is good that you did not go and I have one child left; this knowledge will not heal my heart but it does calm it, for you are very dear to me and now all that remains.”
“They’re not lost, father,” Vash tried to soothe. “They’re only stone. If someone could speak with the giant and reverse-”
“I forbid you from going, do not even think of it, Vash.”
“But father-”
“I cannot lose you as well, my son. I will not. Speak no more, I have decided.”
Vash resolved that he would set out to look, retracing the route they had planned to take back to the castle. His father (and mother) forbade it, but the prince was resolved. It would bring his father happiness, to have his children and their husbands returned to him, and Vash wanted more than anything for his father to feel happiness again.
He waited until the sun had set fully, and all were retired to be before Vash saddled his horse as quietly as he could manage, his feet light on the stones of the stable. If he could get outside the walls, he was free to do as he liked.
It was shockingly easy to escape the walls of the palace, to ride out on his own into the gray of near dawn on his favorite mare, the wind on his cheeks turning them ruddy and healthy with exertion. It was not enough to make him forget his quest, but his heart soared with joy at the simple freedom that a gallop brought, and his grief was tempered to a level at which he could begin to form a plan.
He would investigate the giant’s castle, and ask around if the creature could be reasoned with, if he could be negotiated with. Perhaps there was something the giant wanted, or could be traded so that he would release his sisters and brother and the new husbands from their stoney curse. It would take some investigation, and he hoped he would not be gone too long. His poor parents had already lost so much, his note would cause them more heartbreak and he prayed that he would not meet a similar fate and truly break their spirits with more loss.
The sun slowly rose, and Vash stopped to break his fast, digging around in his saddle bag to find a hunk of dried bread and some hard cheese. When he came up, he noticed a crow off to the side, perched in a tree and watching him closely. “Hello, good morning.”
Vash broke off a piece of his bread, holding out his hand to the bird; it did not look well, its feathers dull. “Would you like some? It’s quite stale, but it should serve to fill your belly.”
Nervously, the crow fluttered before landing on his wrist, clawed feet digging in for stability as it picked up the crust of bread and scarfing it down quickly. “Oh you’re so hungry. Here,” Vash broke off another, larger chunk. “Have more.”
He realized too late that he had given the bird all his bread, delighting in the animal eating its fill and cawing happily at him. “Well, at least I still have the cheese. I wish you well, friend.”
The crow bobbed its head and launched from his arm, startling his horse. Vash ate his cheese on the go, dropping his reins and trusting his mare would not stumble or bolt; she was a good, steady horse and he did not take her temperament for granted.
The pair of them followed along the river a ways, his mare ambling along at a comfortable pace, before Vash saw a salmon flopping on the bank, its fellows leaping against the current. It must have not seen the just of rock that stuck out, and now it was gasping for air. Vash dismounted, carefully nudging the gaping fish back into the water. He was a kind prince, and did not enjoy the suffering of others, but he also did not enjoy touching slimy fish as they gasped out their last breaths.
Thankfully, the creature recovered quickly, only still in the water for a moment before it darted away and leapt with its brethren. “Well,” he said happily. “That’s good.”
He mounted again, carefully guiding his mare among the rockier terrain as he made his way up into the hills of the piedmont region, the woods becoming thicker and harder to navigate. A few times his mare stumbled, righting herself quickly, and Vash found himself slowing more and more as roots became higher and more twisted. The mare’s ears flicked rapidly, and her attention was divided in a way that made Vash think they were being followed, but he could see no one on the path and no one in the trees. “It’s alright, girl, there’s nothing to be-”
“She’s afraid because she’s lame and there’s a wolf in the woods.”
Vash’s attention snapped forward, and his breath caught in his lungs.
Before him, the largest wolf he had ever seen stepped across the path, blocking him from moving forward. Its fur was so black that it became shadow, and he almost did not trust that the thing was real if not for the dappled light that filtered in from the trees illuminating dark blue eyes with an uncanny glow, catching on the edges of its form. “Did you…did you speak?”
There was no one else around, and his mare was focused on the wolf; Vash did not think there was anyone else with the beast, or she would still be searching. Beneath him, she quivered and he stroked down her neck with soothing noises. The wolf did not step forward, but sat down on its haunches, eyes still focused on Vash and his horse.
“I did.”
He waited for the beast to elaborate, but it seemed no more information was forthcoming.
“Well, good wolf, I am glad to be aware of your presence?” Vash was not sure what to say to a wolf, as he had never spoken to one before, and he thought it best to be polite- but how polite should one be to a wolf? Especially one that came to his waist at the shoulder, one that was the size of a pony and with much sharper teeth?
When he tensed his leg, his mare moved forward, wary of the wolf but trusting Vash that it was no more than an obstacle in the way rather than a predator. Once he was past the beast, it stood and stretched, letting out a throaty grumble that sounded very human. It followed closely, just out of kicking or biting range, threading through the trees to remain nearly at his side.
After a few minutes, when the path became more clear, Vash realized that the wolf was still with them and-
“Ah,” Vash frowned. The wolf that trotted alongside him was right- his horse was pulling up lame. “Do you know of a nearby farm or stable?”
The wolf huffed, clearly displeased. “You could let me eat her.”
“Absolutely not. I’ll find you something else to eat, a cow or sheep if you like, but I raised this horse and you won’t be eating her.” His voice was stern, and the wolf did not bring it up again as he kept pace.
“A mile ahead, there’s a farm. The farmer has been kind to me, in that he has not killed me, and will be kind to your horse.”
Vash nodded his thanks, and dismounted to walk alongside his mare, to spare her his weight if the farm was as close as the wolf said. It occurred to him that maybe he should not trust a talking wolf, but there was only so much he could do about it now. “Do you know how far it is to the giant’s castle, from the farm? Only, I fear it will be a long walk.”
The wolf slowed from a trot, and tipped his head at Vash. “What business do you have with the giant?”
He set his mouth in a firm line, brows furrowing. “He has turned my sisters and their husbands, and my brother into stone. I was not allowed on the trip to find a princess for myself, which is good in the sense that I am not currently stone, but it would have been nice- anyway, I’m going to get them turned back.”
The wolf huffed. “Get your horse seen to and I will tell you, especially if you bring me a meal, for I have a favor to ask you.”
Vash nodded, and they walked in silence to the farm, the wolf curving along the edge of the stone wall. “I will see you on the other side of the farm. I am not welcome this close to his animals.”
He was about to reply but the wolf was gone into the shadows, disappearing in the time it took him to breathe. For the first time, he wondered if the wolf was truly a wolf at all, or rather some apparition sent to haunt him and lead him astray.
Instead of dwelling, which would do him no good, the prince called out. “Ho, farmer! Ho, are you here?”
An answering shout came from a low barn, a man ducking out the door. His figure unfolded and Vash could see he was around his father’s age, face weathered with time spent in the sun. His hair and mustache were dark, so he was not so old. “What can I do for you sir?”
Vash had chosen the plainest clothes he had, but the fine cut and material was hard to miss. “I seek the giant’s castle, but my horse has pulled up lame. May I leave her with you? I will compensate you handsomely for her care. Or,” he tugged his collar. “If I do not return, my father will.”
Hazel eyes narrowed and assessed him, and Vash stood as still as he could under the scrutiny. “You a prince or something?”
“Actually,” he sighed. “Yes. I am Vash Saverem, adopted son of-”
The man waved his hand, crossing to Vash and taking the reins from his hands. “I know where to find them, in case you don’t return. How many days do you expect to be gone?”
Vash considered this for a moment, thinking of this day gone and how many he said he would be gone in his note to his mother and father. “One week. If I have not returned by the afternoon of the eighth day, know that I may not return at all.” He was met with a grumble as he handed the man some money. “I will pay the rest when I return, or-”
“Or your father will, I understand.” The man’s broad, weathered hands stroked down his mare’s neck as Vash moved his belongings into his pack from his saddlebags. “Beware the woods, boy. There is a wolf in them and he does not fear man as he ought.”
“If it is as you say,” Vash let his eyes scan the man’s farm. “Allow me to buy a sheep from you as well, to give the beast if it accosts me.”
After some hemming and hawing, and a bit more money, Vash was handed a lamb, the little thing kicking and bleating in his arms. He almost felt bad, but he had seen the jut of the wolf’s ribs in the dappled light and would rather not be eaten himself, so he went on his way with directions from the still grumbling farmer.
Once he was clear of the farm’s stone walls, he called out. “Wolf! I have something for you, if you remain true to your earlier words.”
The lamb kicked and squirmed, eyes wide as it focused over Vash’s shoulder, and that was all the warning Vash got before he turned to face barred teeth and hungry eyes. “Give it here, prince.”
Vash set the lamb down, turning away and closing his eyes as he heard frantic screaming and then wet silence. He began the long walk to the giant’s castle, following the farmer’s directions.
It was hard to navigate the woods on foot, and he knew he had not made it very far when the shadow appeared near him again, a red tongue lolling from an equally gorey mouth. “I promised you directions for that meal, prince. Can you not stomach the way of things?”
He snorted. “I can stomach it, but I prefer not to. It seemed polite to leave you to your meal, and if you truly had something more to tell me you-”
The wolf cut him off, blocking his path with a growl. “I am not an animal, and I keep my word. I will take you to the giant’s castle.”
Vash held up his hands in peace, hoping the wolf could not hear his pounding heart. “Then what should I call you?”
“I am Wolfwood, Nicholas Wolfwood.”
He nodded to the wolf, dipping into a proper bow. “I look forward to your guidance, Wolfwoof.”
The wolf nodded back, bowing as well but not rising up from where he was dipped. “Mount me, and we will away to the castle. I will take you there, as I said.”
Vash hesitated. “You mentioned a favor, Wolfwood. What is it?”
The wolf, known as Wolfwood, sighed deeply and Vash waited as he gathered his thoughts. “May I tell you when we get to the castle? I swear to you that the favor will not do you harm, and will not delay your own journey.”
Against his better judgment, Vash nodded; the wolf did not seem fae, and had not yet seemed to lie to him. Wolfwood could be trusted, he could see it in the beast’s eyes. “Yes, this is agreeable. Hold still and I will mount, and we can be off.”
It was easy to swing a leg over Wolfwood’s massive form, his bulk shifting beneath Vash much like a horse would, and it was simple enough to balance himself. The concerning thing, however, was how bony the wolf felt between his legs. “Are you sure this is alright? I do not burden you too much?”
Wolfwood shook his head, and then his whole body, like a horse after a good roll. “No, I am much stronger than I seem, and despite being underfed I am perfectly capable of taking you as far as the giant’s castle on my back.”
“If you’re sure,” Vash stroked a hand along one massive flank before sinking both hands into the soft scruff for purchase. “Let us not waste more time, Wolfwood.”
The growl he got in response vibrated through his whole body, and they were off.
Earlier in the morning, Vash had been overjoyed at the fleeting freedom of a horse’s gallop- he realized then that horses had nothing on the ground-devouring stride of a massive, talking wolf. They moved so quickly that Vash was not sure they were even running, perhaps Wolfwood was moving from shadow to shadow, leaping like the fish he had returned to the stream, for surely they could not be flying.
Well, he had already met and was riding a talking wolf. Adding flight to the mix would not be the strangest thing that day.
All too soon, the looming shape of a ruined castle came into view and Wolfwood slowed to a gallop, then to a trot. His stride was smooth, and Vash found it an easy gait to sit. “Is that the giant’s castle?”
Wolfwood hummed in reply, turning his head slightly to Vash. “It is, and I can smell a human presence- more than one, but one is strongest.”
His grip in Wolfwood’s scruff tightened involuntarily, and the wolf grunted. “Sorry, Wolfwood. Can you follow the fainter scents? If…if it is my sisters and brother, and their husbands, I should like to make sure they are all…well, not ‘alright’, they’re stone, but at least intact.”
“Of course, prince,” Wolfwood replied, turning slightly to follow the scent, his nose to the ground. “They are nearby.”
They trotted in silence for a bit, only broken by some deep huffs from Wolfwood as he tracked Vash’s family. A clearing came into view, and Vash gasped, easily dismounting to run ahead of Wolfwood even as the wolf continued his trot.
His sisters’ faces were twisted in agony, capturing their final screams of terror, and their husbands’ as well. Among them, his brother was frozen, face oddly calm and his sword extended, pointing to the sky as if he had challenged the giant as his last action. Caressing his brother’s face, Vash’s own fell as tears welled in his eyes.
Wolfwood joined him at his side, head cocked. “Your brother is the pale knight, Millions Knives?”
Vash nodded, wiping away his tears. “He is; I am his twin, younger by only a few minutes but I have always had him to save and protect me. Now, it seems, I must save him.”
He allowed himself a few minutes to collect himself, to dry his tears and make sure the rest of his family was intact and unharmed other than being stone. A firm nod, and he turned back to Wolfwood. “Apologies, thank you for waiting while I-”
“You do not need to apologize for grief, prince.” Wolfwood brushed against him like a cat, butting his head against Vash’s thigh. “If you are ready, we will continue. Would you like to ride again, or would you prefer to walk?”
Vash thought for a moment. “If we are close, I should like to walk. It will help keep my mind busy.”
Wolfwood said nothing, only turned away and began to approach the castle; Vash could just see the top of it over the trees, the crumbling ruin looming higher and higher as they walked. Once the stood before it, Vash was not sure how they would be able to get inside.
The front entrance was ruined, crumbled to a pile of rocks and timber and chain. “Is there another entrance that you know of?” Vash asked, looking curiously at Wolfwood’s carefully blank canine features. “Or is the favor you would ask of me to clear away the front entrance?”
“There is another, come.”
Wolfwood slipped away, silent as a shadow, and Vash followed on his heels. Around the side of the ruin they went, keeping close to the stone walls that towered above them, beautiful even in decay. “Here, the entrance to the kitchen.”
He hesitated, the large door imposing, and Vash was not sure he would be strong enough to crack it open on his own. The wooden mass was so large, so much bigger- of course the castle of a giant would be made massive to match, but now that he was here Vash almost wished he had asked along some knights. At least, he thought to himself, at least I have Wolfwood.
“You should go inside,” Wolfwood nudged him forward toward the threshold. “It will be worth it.”
“But the giant-” Wolfwood pushed again, and Vash stumbled forward into the castle. “Why are you so insistent?”
“You were lamenting the lack of a princess, and I know there is one inside. She’s very beautiful, like a pearl in the sea, and her name is Meryl...”
Wolfwood sounded wistful, and it made Vash pause. “It sounds like you know her already, and love her, why would you insist I see her? Why not come inside yourself?”
A large, shaggy head shook slowly. “She would not know me, not like this.”
It dawned on Vash, then, that there was something Wolfwood was not saying or could not say.
Wolfwood had not always been a wolf.
“So the favor you would ask of me,” Vash said softly.”The favor you would ask is that I rescue your princess?”
“A princess deserves a prince, and you have shown yourself to be good, Vash. Princess Meryl will not have a mutt like me, and you are a man that could love her as well as I do.”
“Well, I won’t be doing that. We’ll simply tell her that I’ve been sent to rescue her, and then we can figure out why you’re a wolf.” Nodding to himself, like he had solved all the world’s problems, Vash pushed open the door to the giant’s home enough to slip them both inside, just as Wolfwood tried to dissuade him from telling the princess of his misfortune.
It was dark inside, and Vash had to let his eyes adjust to the dim light after the brightness of a summer afternoon. He could see gigantic table legs, towering above him, and he turned to say something to Wolfwood but the beast was gone, circling the leg of a massive chair. “Vash, here. Climb onto me and hold tight.”
He did not question Wolfwood, quickly climbing onto the wolf’s back- not waiting for him to crouch down for him. “I’m ready.”
Wolfwood leapt up, digging his claws into the wood and hauling the two of them up the leg of the chair and scrambling to the seat. The wolf was not even panting, but Vash’s breathing was heavy from panic. He had not expected the wolf to be so strong. “I think I can make the leap to the table top, are you ready?”
“Yes, but Wolfwood, why-”
In a moment, they were on the table, Wolfwood’s powerful form launching them upward and the treated surface of the table was slicker than the wood of the chair, sending the two of them tumbling. Vash tried to hold onto Wolfwood but he could not, crying out when he saw the wolf trying to find purchase as he slid over the tabletop. A fall from that height would be terrible, if not deadly.
His breath caught when Wolfwood finally stopped sliding, and heaved himself to his feet. “Oh thank god, I thought you were going to slide over that edge there.”
Wolfwood shook, releasing the tension. “I’ll be a bit sore but it will be alright. We made it up, and now we will be able to see the room better.”
Vash finds that he is right, and he can see on the counters and the shadowy darkness of cabinets and shelves above them. Weak light filters in through cracked shutters but beyond the shape of the room there was little else that could be seen at this hour, as the sun began to touch the tops of the trees; the castle was in a dell, and the darkness came early.
“Hey!”
Both Vash and Wolfwood perked up.
“Up here!”
Vash heard the quiet hiss, stumbling as he whipped his head around. “Where-”
“Look up, damn it!”
Once he’d done as commanded, Vash saw a silver cage suspended from the ceiling, a girl- no, a woman inside. She was petite, her hair dark and tumbling from its ribbons in short strands to frame her delicate, pale face. “Hello!”
Wolfwood barked a laugh, and the woman above them huffed. “Don’t say ‘hello’, get me out of here! I was- it doesn’t matter, come on.”
Beneath the cage, Wolfwood began to circle, his eyes fixed on the woman. “Maybe asking nicely would do you some favors, princess.”
She pursed her lips, and leaned a little farther out from the bars of the cage. “Listen here you mangy- wait, Sir Wolfwood?”
In her attempt to see all of the wolf, she had leaned too far and Vash saw in slow motion as she began to fall, all dark hair and sapphire and pale skin. He leapt to action, Wolfwood as well, both of them diving to catch her before she hit the wood of the giant’s table.
“Fuck! That was close. Thank you,” she squirmed in his hold and Vash laughed at her coarse language- it was always nice to find a human behind a royal facade. She scrambled to Wolfwood, flinging herself against him. “God, Sir Wolfwood, what happened to you? How did you come to be- it does not matter, you are still my Wolfwood. And you, sir, are you a prince or a knight? You look like- oh it doesn’t matter. Let’s get out of here as quickly as we can.”
Vash grabbed her wrist, stilling her. “I cannot go, I’m sorry. I need to find a way to break a spell.”
“Well, I'm still in need of some rescuing.” She huffed, but turned to face him, a hand still on Wolfwood.
“I understand, but how can we save you, and my sisters?” Vash gently put the princess down, bowing low. “I am Vash Saverem, stopped son of-”
The princess waved her hand dismissively. “I know who you are, and your sisters. What did you mean, you have to save them?”
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “They passed too close to the giant’s castle and he was upset by this slight- in revenge, he turned them to stone and now it is up to me to save them.”
Meryl’s face fell. “I am not sure that is possible; the only way he would reverse the spell would be upon threat of death…and the giant cannot be killed, his heart isn’t in his body.”
“What do you mean, what could that possibly mean?” Wolfwood let out a whine, cocking his head. “How can someone live without their heart?”
Vash’s grip on her wrist turned into a light hold, nearly a caress. “If he cannot be killed, you’ll have to run forever, princess. There won’t be any saving you until the giant is dead or tricked.”
“Let’s go back a few moments to ‘his heart is not in his body’,” Wolfwood let out something between a whine and a howl, petulant at being ignored even as the other two turn to him now. “How can someone live without their heart?”
Meryl’s lips twitched into a frown and she began to pace the table. “Truthfully, I do not know. I assume it is some witchcraft or spell known to those beings that are less human than us, perhaps a devilment.”
“To separate the head and the heart,” Vash sighed, wistful. “Oh it must be agony. Imagine how hard it is to love someone like that.”
The princess glanced up at her cage, thinking hard. Wolfwood had taken careful steps toward her again, and she absently pressed his head against her hip, threading her small fingers into his fur and scratching lightly. “What if- what if it is as you say, Vash? It must be hard to love like that, perhaps I can trick him. Get him to tell us where his heart is.”
“But-“ Vash and Wolfwood started to protest at the same time. “But you’d have to return to your cage!”
“But it’s dangerous!”
Meryl shook her head. “You two will stay hidden here, in the castle. It won’t be dangerous.” She scratched more purposefully behind the curve of Wolfwood’s jaw and his leg thumped against the wood. “I do not mind a cage, if it is of my own volition. This way we can save Vash’s sisters as well. We can accomplish both tasks.”
They considered this, and everyone concluded it was the best course they had.
“Here,” Vash said, uncoiling a length of rope he had had in his pack. “We’ll use this so you can get back into your cage, and you can fashion it into a belt. The giant isn’t likely to notice a difference in your outfit if we swap it for your real one. And you’ll be able to climb safely up and down each day.”
She nodded, and they looked around for a weight to throw up into the cage, to start the process of tying and looping it so she could climb in. They found a discarded length of bone that Meryl refused to touch, and they quickly worked to get her back inside, racing the fading light at her insistence. “The giant comes back just after sundown. We must hurry, you need to hide.”
No sooner had she wiggled up, tossing her old belt down to Vash and then he and Wolfwood dashing off to hide in a crack in the wall, then the giant did return, voice booming and door thudding into the wall, shaking the castle with its force.
“I have returned princess! Do you love me yet, enough to pledge yourself in marriage?”
“Oh my giant one,” Meryl called, leaning out from the bars of her cage but keeping a careful grasp on one of the bars, lest she slip again. “I believe I do- but it is custom where I am from to adorn your husband in the flowers of your house, just over their heart, to prove your love. Where do you keep your heart? I wish to show you my devotion by placing flowers upon where it rests.”
The giant rumbled a laugh. “It is beneath the door sill, my little one. A man’s heart is in his home, where his woman is- as you well know.”
She forced a smile, trying not to glance around for Vash and Wolfwood. “Of course, dear one. How could I be so foolish as to think of any other place a heart could rest?”
“You place your flowers, little princess, and we will be married.”
“Of course, my giant one,” Meryl did her best to sigh longingly. “I am tired now, tomorrow I will surprise you with the flowers of my house.”
The giant nodded, and dismissed himself to his own chambers.
Vash and Wolfwood did not emerge until they heard the giant’s snores reverberating through the castle, creeping quietly to sit beneath Meryl’s cage. “Tomorrow, we dig beneath the sill,” Vash said softly. He fastened Meryl’s belt of silver around Wolfwood’s neck, an elegant collar so they did not misplace it. Against his dark fur, it gleamed like the chest plate of a knight.
“Tomorrow I’m free of the bastard,” Meryl muttered.
“Tomorrow we save Vash’s sisters,” Wolfwood added, shaking himself and the belt jingled merrily.
“For now,” Vash said. “We shall hide and rest. As soon as the giant leaves in the morning, we will get you down, princess.”
She nodded. “Good night, noble wolf and noble prince.”
—-
At first light, Vash and Wolfwood woke to the giant banging around the kitchen.
The two huddled together, waiting until he departed, and then a few moments more before they crawled out from their hiding place and waved up to Meryl as she carefully descended from her cage.
“However are we going to dig with just our hands?” She called down to them. “It would take ages!”
“Did he leave anything on the counter? A knife, or a bone? A spoon?” Vash called up to her, angling his head to see if he could spot anything helpful. “Wolfwood, you don’t mind getting your paws dirty, do you?”
The wolf shook his head and Meryl pointed. “Just there, there’s a spoon- two! Maybe you can pull them down?”
Vash ended up pulling a single spoon down from the counter with a lasso, and Wolfwood set to work with his paws. Meryl had requested a spoon of her own, but both Vash and Wolfwood insisted that she could not get too dirty or the giant would get suspicious; eventually she relented when she got Vash to agree to swapping off when he got tired.
Hours, hours of digging. Meryl swapped in, tucking her skirts into her belt to prevent any dirty streaks. There was no saving her shoes or stockings, but they would be beneath her other clothes and it mattered less.
“It’s not here,” Vash wanted to throw the spoon to the ground in an act of petulance, but the gathering tears in Meryl’s eyes and the growlin in Wolfwood’s chest did not bode well. “I don’t think we can dig anymore, if we spend more time-”
The other two nodded, but it was solemn. Wolfwood especially seemed despondent. “I… I need half the heart,” Wolfwood curled at their feet, staring sadly at the hole they’d managed to dig under the door sill. It was like he could not bring himself to start filling the hole yet. “It’s the only way I can become human again.”
Vash and Meryl looked at each other, shocked. This was the first time Wolfwood had mentioned, explicitly, being anything other than a wolf. The princess sank down next to him, burying her hands and face into the soft scruff of his neck as she hugged him tightly. Vash knelt at his other side, a hand heavy between Wolfwood’s ears. “We’ll help you get there, Wolfwood, don’t worry.”
“And we’ll love you either way, we promise,” Meryl soothed, stroking his soft fur. “We’ll figure this out. Together.” She looked up at Vash, eyes determined.
We’ll love you either way.
He supposed it would be possible; as much as princes and princesses were expected to marry, he could sense that there was something between Meryl and Wolfwood that was deeper than that of knight and charge. To separate them would be terrible, and Vash would not dream of it. “Meryl is right, together.”
They sat, huddled together before the yawning hole they’d made in search of their freedoms. Wolfwood huffed against Meryl’s neck, stretching against Vash to be closer to them both. “I wish I was human, this would be lovely to sit with you both.”
Vash nodded, and Meryl pressed a kiss to the crown of Wolfwood’s head. “I wish that I was free to leave this place, with the two of you.”
“I wish I was able to free my sisters and twin, and we could all be together- you would like my sisters, princess.” He added, all of them solemn. “We should fill the dirt back in, before the giant returns.”
They began shoving the dirt back into the hole, Vash tamping it down with the spoon as best he could. Hopefully the giant would not look too closely, because the sun was setting faster now and while they could not yet hear the giant, his looming presence was felt between them all.
“I’ll cover it with flowers now, he will not notice.” Meryl rubbed her palms together, and Wolfwood curled around her legs, rumbling in his chest. “Don’t worry, Nicholas, I will try not tire myself with this. I’m not a child.”
“You are not,” he conceded. The rumble in his chest faded as she spread her palms wide, flexing her fingers toward the length of the door sill, the dirt loose and lumpy from their attempts at undoing their hours of labor. Vash’s jaw dropped as red geraniums appeared from thin air, drifting down to settle across the threshold where the giant would surely see them and not think too much about the upturned dirt.
“Are those real?”
He extended a hand in awe, but the booming voice of the giant came in through the door and the three of them scrambled. Meryl swung herself over Wolfwood, small fists tight in his scruff as he left Vash to scramble on his own to find a place to hide. He sprinted to the edge of the room and pressed himself into a crack between the cabinet and held his breath as he watched Meryl scramble up the rope, hastily untying it from the bar and looping it around her waist in a panic. The door was just opening as Wolfwood leapt from the table to the countertop, hind legs kicking desperately to make it onto the surface.
“Please,” Vash breathed. “Please Wolfwood.”
Meryl’s lips seemed to be moving in the same prayer and her shoulders sagged as Wolfwood managed to haul himself up and dart behind a canister as the door opened fully, his sides heaving with his breaths.
“I have returned my princess! And oh, are these flowers? You are a little marvel, aren’t you?” The giant tapped a finger against the cage and Meryl stumbled as it swung on its chain. “You managed to cast a spell from so far away, you are more powerful than I thought, little princess.”
She curtsied on unsteady legs, careful not to lift her skirts too high. “You flatter me, my giant one. I do not deserve such kind words for such a small act of affection.”
The giant’s face pinched, and the three of them looked on, two from their hiding places and one from her shimmering cage. “I must apologize, little princess. I have not been truthful- my heart does not lay beneath the door sill.” He turned away, setting his hat down on the counter and reaching for a canister- the one Wolfwood was behind.
“My giant one,” she called desperately from her cage, heart racing. “If your heart was not under the sill as you said, where could it possibly be? I only wish to show you how devoted I am.”
The giant rumbled out another laugh, turning to her once more; Wolfwood seized the moment to slink from shadow to shadow until he was able to shimmy his long body into a crate of massive potatoes. “Why, it is in the cupboard, my little one. A man’s heart is in his stomach, as his woman keeps him fed- which you well know.”
Her smile was forced, and she made sure to keep her hands covered in the folds of her skirt to hide the streaks of mud and the dirt under her nails. She had to work hard not to look where Wolfwood was hidden. “Ah, of course. I have been foolish once again. Forgive me.”
“You are forgiven little princess, if you can forgive me my own lie.”
Meryl smiled, and Vash’s heart gave a squeeze- jealous, he wished it was directed at him, and he wondered how many smiles Wolfwood had been on the receiving end of. “Of course, my giant one. I will amend this, and show you how devoted I am tomorrow, so you may look forward to it on your return.”
The giant laughed, playfully flicking Meryl’s cage. She stumbled again, losing her footing as it swung wildly once more. Thankfully, the giant was already turning away as he spoke, ignorant of her muddy legs and shoes. “It will be as you say, princess. I shall see you when the day dawns.”
Once the giant was far away, his footsteps almost inaudible to the three of them, Wolfwood snarled and stalked down the length of the counter. “The lying bastard. All that digging for nothing.”
Vash remained on the floor, not wanting to climb up the table on his own. He and Meryl watched as Wolfwood more carefully made his way down, no need to panic and scramble this time. “Tomorrow, we will search the cupboard. We will find the giant’s heart, and we will all get what we are seeking.”
“How can you be so sure?” Above him, Meryl let out a small sob and Vash wished he could take both her and Wolfwood in his arms and hold tight until the sadness ebbed.
“I am not. But believing things will be alright and taking action is better than despair and inaction, so that is the route I choose. We will save you, princess. And you shall have your very human knight, and I shall free my family.”
Wolfwood had finally reached the floor, brushing against Vash. “And what do you get? Or are you truly so selfless that all you want is your family’s restoration?”
He wrinkled his nose as Wolfwood’s wet nose snuffled at his hand and arm, forcing his head under Vash’s arm until he was scratching under the silver belt around his neck. “The happiness of my mother and father, the health of my sisters and brother, and their new husbands is what I came here seeking. If I happen to leave here with a princess and a handsome knight, I will not be voicing any complaints.”
“What makes you think he’s handsome?” Meryl called down wetly, as though she was fighting back tears and choosing laughter instead. “What if he merely has a winning personality?”
“Is he not handsome? Oh dear,” Vash grinned at Wolfwood, the canine face impassive as they joked at his expense. “Well, he makes a handsome enough dog. Perhaps-”
He was knocked to the ground, pinned and laughing breathlessly as Wolfwood growled. “Don’t finish that sentence, prince.”
“Oh calm down, Nicholas. He is handsome, Vash. All dark hair and golden skin, and those eyes- well, you see them now. In truth,” Vash could hear the blush in her voice. “His eyes have always had something of a wolf in them.”
Wolfwood let him up, stalking away to their previous night’s hole; Vash had kicked a knot of wood out of the baseboard and they had been cozy behind the wall, Wolfwood curled around him and Vash against his side. “I think we’ve hurt his feelings, princess.”
Meryl waved down to him before the cage shifted slightly when she laid down to sleep. “You can find a way to make it up to him, I’m sure. Perhaps a scratch beneath the chin. Sleep well, sirs.”
He pressed himself through the knot hole, and Wolfwood snapped at him when he went to lay against his side as he had last night. “Wolfwood, come now. You know I was only teasing. Though you do make a handsome wolf, I have never seen one as splendid as you.”
The wolf’s lips twitched, a canine flashed, but he slowly uncurled his body enough for Vash to tuck against his side. For a time, they were quiet, and Vash thought Wolfwood had fallen asleep until his low voice rumbled out. “Did you mean what you said?”
“I say a great many things, Sir Wolfwood.”
Vash turned to face the wolf, meeting his eyes. “What you said about leaving with Meryl and I. That you wouldn’t be unhappy about it.”
His eyes glittered. “I do believe I said I would not complain about it, but I understand your meaning well enough.” Vash reached up to scratch along Wolfwood’s jaw, until the weight of the wolf’s head was in his palm and his twitching fingers. “But to answer you truthfully, I would not be unhappy. There is a thing between you, and I do not wish to interfere, but you were right in saying that Meryl is very beautiful and you have proven to be not unkind yourself.”
Wolfwood looked at him very seriously then, eyes darting around his face. After a few breaths, he huffed, tongue lolling out to lick at Vash’s nose. “You’re ridiculous.”
“Ugh, you licked me!” Vash turned his face into Wolfwood’s flank, using the fur to dry his face. “Wait, does that count as a kiss? Did you just kiss me because I said you were nice?”
“I’ll bite, if you ask nicely,” came the huffed reply as Wolfwood curled around him to stop his squirming. “Ask Meryl about it in the morning.”
“Perhaps I will,” Vash stretched with a yawn. “I bet she would love to tell me all about it.”
—-
Dawn came, weak light filtering into their knot and the giant thumping around the kitchen. “I am away, little princess. Try not to miss me too much when I am gone.”
She waved him farewell until the door was closed and they could no longer hear his massive footsteps, springing to action the second she saw Vash and Wolfwood emerge. “Hurry up, we’ll need to get to the counter somehow.”
There would be no time for teasing that morning, then.
In the end, Wolfwood leapt over the counter with Vash astride him, and they pushed and heaved until the drawer closest to the table was opened enough for Meryl to jump to but not so much that they’d be unable to close it again. Vash pulled the loose threads off a rag, tying them to the drawer pull so they would be able to haul it closed again, at least enough not to draw attention, and Meryl worked a few strands into a thicker and sturdier rope.
The three of them stared up at the cupboard, the door cracked open on its old broken hinges.
“Boost me.”
Vash turned to Meryl, blinking dumbly.
“Boost me.” Meryl hitched up her skirts in a very un-ladylike fashion, tucking the hem into her hastily fashioned thread belt to shorten it enough that Vash and Wolfwood could see the soft, pale skin of her thighs. “Don’t stare, boost me into the cabinet and hope I don’t kick you in the face for peeking up my skirts like I know you want to.”
Vash dutifully turned his eyes away, but Wolfwood did not, the predatory look in his eyes flashing in the light that filtered in through the window; he laced his fingers together into a cradle and bent over a little, crouching to get more force behind his throw. “Ready. On three?”
She placed her foot into his hands, and Vash tried not to think about how much he wanted to press his lips to the soft curve of her knee. “On three.”
“One.”
“Two.”
“Three.” They said it at the same time, Vash lifting up at the same moment Meryl jumped; she was so light that she went higher than expected, her hands grabbing onto the edge of the cupboard as her legs kicked with the effort to heave herself up. The careful tuck of her skirts had come loose, and she was a whirlwind of deep sapphire again, the same color as Wolfwood’s eyes. They both held their breath as she scrambled out of sight.
After a moment, the rope came down and Meryl peeked her head over. “Let’s go, come on. I’ve anchored it to the nail in the back, so it should be alright. I hope.”
Wolfwood stalked over to Vash, haughty as could be. “Let’s hope your knots are stronger than your arms.”
Carefully, Vash set Wolfwood over his shoulders, the fur of his belly tickling Vash’s neck and back. “You good?”
“Good as I can be, just don’t drop me.”
He chuckled, grabbing the rope. “I’m stronger than Meryl, don’t worry. I grew up with seven older sisters and an older twin, I’ve learned a thing or two.”
Meryl’s nose wrinkled. “I can still hear you insulting my strength, you two. I’ve half a mind to cut this rope and let you fall.”
Thankfully, she did no such thing and the boys made it to the dim, yawning mouth of the cupboard without incident. Wolfwood was much happier with all four of his paws on the ground, shaking out his tense shoulders and stretching deeply. “Alright, let’s find this bastard’s heart.”
Meryl cracked her knuckles and shouldered a glass- it did not budge, and Vash laughed. “You check high, we’ll check low.”
She nodded, and they set to work.
Hours passed. The sun was setting, and they had found nothing. Vash and Meryl had checked under every cup and mug, between every plate and bowl. There was nothing to be found, not even a scrap of food caked onto a plate or residue on a cup. Meryl was near to tears, and neither of them knew what to say to her as they all carefully climbed down from the cupboard.
“Don’t forget the flowers,” Wolfwood said softly, brushing up against her leg like a cat as he butted her hand with his head. Distractedly, she scratched behind his ears as she waved her hand, a cascade of beautiful red geraniums draping over the cupboard in garlands that rivaled the ones Vash had seen during parties at the palace. Meryl’s eyes watered dangerously and Wolfwood whined.
Vash laid a hand on her shoulder, gently turning her to face him. “We’ll keep trying, Meryl. Neither Wolfwood nor I are going to leave you here with the giant.”
She sniffled, rubbing the back of her hand over her eyes. “You promise?”
“We promise,” Wolfwood twisted between them, his head pressed into her stomach as Vash laid his hand on his head, settling it between his ears as he usually did. “We won’t leave you here, Meryl.”
Her hand settled over his on Wolfwood’s head, their fingers slotting together; uncertainty crossed her face, and Vash made to reassure her again before he found their mouths pressed together in a chaste kiss that was over as quickly as it began.
“Where’s mine, princess?” Wolfwood whined and it made Meryl laugh; her happy sound made his tail thump against the tabletop, echoing like the drum of their heartbeats as she knelt down to press a kiss to his wet nose before he knocked her over to lick at her face.
Meryl squealed, earlier anxiety forgotten in the onslaught that was Wolfwood on a mission to cheer her up. Vash joined in their laughter, glad that after two days without success and no plan for tomorrow that he was still able to feel as happy as he did. “Alright, Wolfwood, that’s enough. It’s fine while you’re a wolf, but imagine how I feel as a human. Very left out,” he held a hand over his heart dramatically as he helped Meryl to her feet. “Decorum demands that I not lick a princess's face like that until we are joined in marriage.”
The other two snorted, and he grinned.
It quickly turned to panic as the three of them turned toward the door, listening to the thump of heavy footsteps drawing nearer and nearer.
“Hide, quickly!”
Meryl bolted, scrambling over the drawer and back into the bars of her silver cage as they awaited the giant’s return, watching as Vash and Wolfwood hauled it closed and cut the threads, Wolfwood carrying them both back to their knothole in a few panicked leaps. She tried to hide the flush of her face, to smooth her hair, but it was hard to look like one had not been accosted by a wolf when, in fact, she had been. She cursed Wolfwood under her breath as the door opened with a bang that made her jump, eyes darting around to see if they had managed to hide all evidence of their earlier work. Thankfully, after scanning the room, she could not find them at all and sighed with relief.
The giant turned to her, clearly wondering what was amiss at her sigh.
“What is this flush on your cheeks, princess?” A large finger poked at her through the bars of the cage, and she stumbled back away from him.
“Oh, but I am so embarrassed after yesterday. I draped the cupboard in flower garlands, to show my devotion to you, and you did not notice when you came in. I must work harder to prove my love.”
The words made her sick, but the excuse worked for her flushed cheeks and breathlessness. It even worked to mask her disappointment in not finding the monster’s heart.
“Oh princess, they are lovely. I am sorry I did not see them if you worked so hard.” The giant crossed to the cabinet, lifting one garland to drape over his neck. “But I have a confession.”
“Another, dear one?”
The giant nodded, looking a bit chastised at the clipped nature of her tone. “You see, my heart is not in the cupboard as I told you.”
No shit, she thought.
“Oh? Then where is it?”
“Ah my love, it is too far for you to place your garlands and flowers. On a distant island, there is a church, and in that church there is a well. In that well, there is a duck, and that duck has a nest with a single egg, and in that egg is my heart.”
“Seems inconvenient,” Meryl muttered under her breath. “Oh, you’re right. That is too far for my flowers. I am not sure how I will be able to show my devotion to you, but know that it is there.”
“Of course, little princess,” the giant said, clearly trying to soothe her tone as he prepared his dinner, giving Meryl a few crumbs, and bid her good night as he went up from the kitchen.
Again they waited until his footsteps could no longer be heard, and Meryl watched Vash and Wolfwood tumble from their hiding hole. Coming down from her cage at night was a risk, but Meryl carefully looped the rope around the bars and made the climb down as Vash and Wolfwod made their way up.
Immediately, she threw her arms around Wolfwood, hiding her face in his neck; Vash’s arms came around them both, and the three of them sank to the table top in a heap.
“Oh, curse the giant and his lies,” she sobbed, more angry than anything. “Who hides their heart in an egg?”
“On an island, in a church, in a well, it is needlessly complicated.” Vash stroked her hair.
“We’ll have to leave to go to the island,” Wolfwood pointed out, curling tightly around Meryl. “And if you’re gone, the giant will get suspicious. He’ll know someone has been here and helped you, and we don’t want you to come to harm.”
Meryl’s fists clenched in her dress. “I wish I could come with you. I fear what he’ll do, after days of declaring my devotion. I…I don’t want him to…to…”
Vash moved closer, wrapping his arms around her to hold her close to his chest, where she could hear his heart. “It will be fine, Meryl. Wolfwood and I will come back and you’ll be free to leave with us.”
One hand slipped under his coat, and Vash fought back a shiver as her fingers dipped beneath his collar. “The giant is gone for the night, would…would you both stay with me?”
“Of course, princess,” he murmured into her hair, holding her close as they leaned together against Wolfwood’s warm mass. “We can certainly do that.”
Beneath them, Wolfwood let out the canine version of a chuckle. “We’ll be here, princess.”
The two of them waited until Meryl’s breathing evened out, gentle and soft in the darkness, before Vash whispered, “I’ll stay awake, make sure we’re all back in our places before the dawn comes.”
“Wake me in a few hours,” Wolfwood grumbled, stretching out his hind legs to get more comfortable. “You should sleep as well, so that we can be prepared to find this damn church and lake and well and whatever the other things were.”
He could not help the soft laugh that escaped him at that, and against his chest Meryl made a soft complaint. “Hush now. Rest, and Wolfwood and I will make sure everything will be alright.”
True to his word, Vash remained vigilant, alert, and measured the hours by the creep of the light. Once it had moved one-and-a-half floor boards in width, he woke Wolfwood. “Say, Wolfwood, I was thinking. Should we move Meryl back to the cage now while she sleeps and depart before the giant wakes? We will have to search for the church and the lake, and setting out as early as possible would be for the best.”
Wolfwood considered it a moment, gazing softly at Meryl’s relaxed face. “It would be, and you could sleep on my back, but would she forgive us?”
The two of them thought for a moment, both arriving at the same conclusion. “I think she will,” Vash said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “As long as we return, that is.”
“Then let us depart, I will carry her up.”
Vash carefully stood, Meryl’s small form tucked against his chest, and reached as far as he could up the rope before using all his strength to bring his knees up, holding tight so he could manage a foot hold before repeating the motion. Getting her into the cage was a bit more difficult, but Vash quickly folded her into the handkerchief that made up her bed, placing the rope under it to hide it- he was not confident that he could manage to fashion a convincing belt of it and did not want to move her too much.
After a moment of hesitation, he pressed a kiss to her forehead, then both her cheeks before placing one softly on her nose. “We will return, princess, and we will bring you the giant’s heart to show you our devotion.”
Slipping through the bars, he dangled from the edge of the cage in an attempt to limit the drop. “Ready, Wolfwood?”
An affirmative noise came from below, and Vash let himself fall, landing hard but cushioned slightly by Wolfwood’s massive form. “Can’t have you breaking a leg now, can we?”
Vash laughed, and swung his leg over the wolf, hands twisting into his scruff in a way that was becoming familiar. “I would certainly make this whole adventure a bit more difficult, I suppose.”
Wolfwood laughed too, and that was all the warning Vash got before they were leaping down from the table to the chair, and from the chair to the floor. The door was cracked from where the giant had banged it shut, and it had never fully closed again, slightly off its hinges. Vash pressed low against Wolfwood as they slipped under it, and away into the dawning world.
He did manage a few hours of sleep, hand in the silver collar and thanks to Wolfwood’s steady, easy lope of a run that ate up the ground beneath them, before Wolfwood stopped and woke him. “There are some houses ahead. I will hide here, but you should ask if anyone knows of a church on a lake. Or could point us to another town.”
“It is still early,” Vash said in protest. “Who would be awake at this hour to answer questions?”
Wolfwood did his best to shrug. “I’m a wolf, this is for you to work out. Meet me in that corpse of trees there,” he tilted his head, already turning to go. “Remember, we made a promise to Meryl.”
Vash sighed, watching Wolfwood lope away to the shelter of the trees. “We did do that.”
The town was sleepy and quiet, but he slapped his hands against his face and took a few deep breaths before sprinting in, doing his best to look desperate as he searched for an inn. When he found one, he opened the door noisily and hastily- but not too loudly that it would wake anyone sleeping upstairs.
“Oh please, please will someone help me?”
The sleepy man at the counter startled to alertness. “Whatever is the matter, sir? You’re flushed and panting, are you being pursued?”
“No, no!” Vash took a few deep breaths again to ‘calm down’. “My horse threw me, so I am winded, but I am trying to make it to my brother’s wedding- it’s today, and I became terribly lost once I was thrown. My horse had my pack and my map- I’m searching for a church on a lake, the one on the island! Oh please, sir, tell me you know of it and that I am close. I cannot miss the wedding!”
The man was sympathetic to Vash’s story, and he supposed that after a few days of sleeping in a hole with a wolf, digging up a dirt floor, and rummaging through a dusty cabinet he certainly looked the part of a man who had lost his horse.
“You are not far, sir, which is good. You should make it by mid-morning, if you had a horse or were a fast runner.”
Vash brightened. “Oh thank you, thank you! I shall run as fast as I can, please tell me which way! North? South? Oh how poetic it would be to head east into the rising sun-”
“It’s north,” the man cut him off with a kind, indulgent smile. “North just over the hill and through a stretch of birch trees, then you’ll come to the lake and the church.”
“Thank you, thank you!” Vash cried again, already winding himself up to sprint out the door and over to Wolfwood’s hiding place. “A prince among men, I cannot thank you enough sir. Have a fine day, and farewell!”
He sprinted out the door, all coltish energy and long legs, tripping a bit to give it the manic energy the ruse needed before dashing off to Wolfwood and telling him the news. The wolf laughed at his story, shaking his shaggy head. “Only you would have thought that the best method, but it was effective and I cannot find fault if it worked. Come on.”
Vash mounted again, quickly, and Wolfwood began to run now that he was awake, stride long and ground-eating, and it was not long before they were through the birch trees and standing before a lake. The water was calm, the church eerily still, and Wolfwood wasted no time in launching them over the water and onto the island.
Stumbling off the wolf and grasping the door handles, Vash yanked.
Nothing happened.
He took a breath and yanked again, putting his whole weight behind it.
“Maybe it’s a push door, not a pull door?” Wolfwood sat at the bottom of the steps, unhelpful in the door efforts but recovering from the running he had been doing all morning.
This time, Vash tried the handle. It did not budge.
“It’s locked.”
Of all the obstacles, it was strange to think a locked door was the biggest issue they were facing at the moment. “Of course it is,” Wolfwood sighed, sniffing around the steps and the bushes. “It smells of giant, though, so at least he has not lied about being here.”
Vash jiggled the handle again, wondering if maybe the lock would come undone if he willed it hard enough. Alas, no such luck, and the door to the church remained firmly locked.
“Well shit,” Wolfwood sighed, sitting at heel and butting his head into Vash’s thigh. “Would we go to hell if we were to break a window?”
He shrugged in response, scratching at one of Wolfwood’s massive ears. “Maybe there’s a groundskeeper and we can-”
A flash of metal fell from the sky, and a crow swooped low enough that its wing tips brushed Vash’s face.
“Oh! Hello again!”
“Vash, you’re talking to a crow.” Wolfwood tipped his head to follow the path of the bird as it settled into a nearby tree, preening. It was healthier than last time Vash had seen it, and he was thankful that the bird had managed to find a bit more food. “A helpful crow, but still a crow.”
He bent to pick up the ring of keys, flipping through them until he found one that looked to be a match to the lock on the church door. “I won’t look a gift crow in the mouth if it saves my family, makes you human, and gets us our princess.”
Wolfwood wagged his shaggy tail at the thought. “Our princess, I like that.”
Quickly, Vash unlocked the door and tossed the key back out to where the crow remained in the tree, not sure where the animal had gotten it from in the first place; Vash vaguely hoped the crow would return it so that it would not be missed, but knew that at least a key on the steps would be found.
The church was empty, dusty, and nearly silent except for their breathing and the gently lapping of water against stone. “There!”
At the altar of the church was a massive baptismal font, too far for anyone to reach the center of it from the edge, and the water dark and deep, stretching endlessly down into darkness. “Is this a well, or a fountain?”
Wolfwood circled it. “I don’t care what it is, Vash, look!”
In the center of the fountain, a few feet from the farthest Vash could reach, was a duck on its nest, asleep and peaceful atop a single egg that just peeked out from beneath its feathered breast. Wolfwood growled in frustration and the duck blinked awake, aware of two predators.
“No, wait!” Vash cried out, but it was too late. The duck flapped in panic, jostling the egg and-
“Fuck,” he scrambled to grab at the egg but it quickly sank beneath the water and Vash felt his despair mount as it sank deeper and deeper, disappearing from view. “Fuck.”
Wolfwood whined, pacing behind Vash. “So that’s it then. We’ve lost the giant’s heart and we’ll never be able to free Meryl or reverse the stone spell on your sisters-”
Something flashed beneath the water, and the duck took flight. Beneath the dark surface, Vash could see the thing moving again, darting quickly. It was a salmon, bright in the gloom, and it had the egg.
Vash cried out, plunging his arm in the water to his shoulder and Wolfwood had to grab his coat to keep him from tumbling over the low wall and into the cold depths. His hand closed around the egg, and he hauled it up, the thing clenched tightly in his fist.
Their eyes met, and Vash threw himself at Wolfwood, laughing happily. They’d done it. They had found the giant’s heart.
“We have to get back to Meryl as soon as we can-”
“-and use the heart as leverage to free my siblings!”
Vash swung his leg over Wolfwood and they were off before he had a proper grip on his fur, nearly tumbling off as the wolf leapt over the lake once more, nearly sending him into the cold water, but both of them were beyond caring, their own hearts light with success and joy at being able to return to Meryl with the good news.
Wolfwood ran and ran, the landscape a blur, and soon they were back in the dell where the giant’s castle was located- but something was wrong. The kitchen door was off its hinges, and there was shouting from within. It was only a few hours after dawn, why had the giant not left?
Or perhaps he had returned.
“Wolfwood-”
“I know,” he said grimly, and they were in the kitchen in an instant, the angry roaring of the giant nearly deafening. Nimbly, Wolfwood dodged the giant’s feet as he vaulted to the chair and then the tabletop, but he froze.
Meryl was not in her cage.
She was in the giant’s fist, and he was shouting.
“You traitorous little witch, who has been helping you? Who has my heart?” He shook her, and Meryl cried out as his grip on her tightened. “Who?”
Vash’s own hands balled into fists, and the giant roared- this time, however, there was a pained edge to it. “I do!” Vash cried out, raising the egg above his head where the giant could see it. “I have your heart, and you will let the princess go now.”
The giant’s face twisted in rage, and Vash squeezed the heart in his fist, the shell of the egg cracking away to reveal a bloody, pumping mass. The giant stumbled and fell to his knees, but when his fist landed hard on the table he let Meryl go before both hands flew to his chest. “Vash, Nicholas!” She raced toward them, and Wolfwood quickly put himself between her and the giant.
“Anything, I’ll give you anything if you spare me,” the giant gasped, clutching at his empty chest.
“Turn my family back, reverse the stone spell.” Vash’s face was cold, unfeeling. “Now.”
He squeezed his fist around the heart, feeling it beat rapidly in his fist. The giant lurched, but gasped out the spell again to reverse it. “It is done. Please, please-”
For a moment, Vash considered sparing the giant. He was truly pathetic, on the ground as he was, moaning and crying out, but Meryl’s hand wrapped around his wrist and he squeezed again, harder this time. He knew then that the giant could not be allowed to live, not if he was going to turn people to stone and capture princesses to hold in gilded cages like songbirds.
“Again, Vash.” Wolfwood came up at his other side, hackles raised and speaking so quietly the giant had no way of hearing. “Split his heart in two and let me have the pieces so I can be human once more.”
He only hesitated a moment before he closed his fist, the heart bursting in his hand and the pieces dropping to the ground in a mess of twitching viscera. He felt hot blood spatter against his clothes, his face, and Meryl took a step back to avoid the worst of it, not looking at the heart but at the giant with an expression of disgust as he too fell to the ground, dead.
Wolfwood did not hesitate, devouring the pieces of the heart in two gulps.
“How long before-” Meryl started to ask, but Wolfwood let out a low moan, hunching his back as though he would vomit the heart back up. “Oh no.”
Black fur rippled, shifting under rolling muscles as Wolfwood lurched and stumbled, bracing his paws so that he did not fall. Down his spine, the skin split and sloughed away, revealing skin that looked like exposed muscle for all the blood and viscera. The man stood, nearly as tall as Vash, and embraced him tightly before kissing him.
Wolfwood pulled away with a grin, and Vash understood why Meryl said there was always something wolfish in his eyes, even as a human. “Thank you, prince.”
“I- you’re welcome?”
“Where’s mine?” Meryl demanded before squealing with delight when Wolfwood lifted her off her feet and twirled her into a hug. “Oh I missed you, I knew you’d come find me,” she peppered his face with kisses, squishing his cheeks between her hands and heedless of the blood. “Bringing a prince was a nice surprise though.”
Vash’s dumb grin turned into a wordless shout as he suddenly remembered his family. “We should go out and meet them, and return home! And maybe they will have some spare clothes for Sir Nicholas?”
The man shrugged, still absolutely covered in blood. “Is Meryl’s silver belt not enough?” The piece was draped over his shoulders like a mantle, and it was beautiful against his skin. “Perhaps it will become a new fashion.”
“I hope not, Nicholas. But you can walk around the castle like that, if you like. I certainly don’t mind…and I don’t think Vash does either.” Meryl took them both by the hand, teasing. “Come, let’s go tell everyone that Prince Vash has slain the giant, rescued a princess, and saved a man from a terrible, beastly fate all in one fell swoop.”
The three of them laughed, and after getting down from the table (much harder now that one of them was not a wolf) they raced to the clearing to find Vash’s sisters and brother, and the new husbands all well and in the flesh.
They answered as best they could, making the journey to the castle with a brief detour for Vash’s mare, and everyone was happy.
THE END
“So that’s it?”
Vash blinked at Meryl where she lay across his lap. “What do you mean ‘so that’s it’? You asked for a fairy tale and I did my best.”
“And you put us into it,” Wolfwood’s fingers carded through blonde hair, upsetting the usual spikes. “What the fuck was with the crow and the salmon?”
“It’s a fairy tale, it doesn’t make sense! The prince does good deeds and is rewarded for them.”
“And his reward is a princess and a knight?” Meryl turned her teasing smile to him, nuzzling her face into his side. “Well, you did such a good job of saving everyone in the story, Prince Vash. Would you like a reward?”
The hand in his hair gripped just short of painful, tilting Vash’s head to Wolfwood. “I don’t know Meryl, he turned me into a dog.”
“A wolf,” she corrected, straddling Vash’s lap. “And a noble one, you were a knight.”
“You got to be a princess, of course you’re happy.”
“Shut up,” Meryl leaned forward to press a kiss to Wolfwood’s cheek. “It’s time to reward our prince.”