The Beginning
1. A Striped Sock
2. A Spiky Vine
3. A Rusty Spear

Bruce arose early the next morning in order to get a good start on the trip to meet with the Empress. While the trip was usually only half a day, Bruce knew that he might run into situations along the way and he definitely wanted to be at the castle by sundown. After a satisfying breakfast of greens, mostly willow, aspen, dogwood and maple, topped off with a nice layer of pond lillies, Bruce went out back to saddle up Neeka for the trip.

Now Neeka was a large horse, out of necessity. He wasn't terribly fast but he carried Bruce easily meaning he was one powerful animal. As Bruce put the saddle blanket on him he started stomping impatiently, knowing he was about to go on another journey. Bruce ran a hand comfortingly down his neck and threw on the saddle.

"Where?" Came the mental question in Bruce's mind. While he couldn't say they could actually hold conversations, Neeka and Bruce could certainly communicate, after a fashion, and more than once that fact had saved Bruce's skin.

Bruce spoke softly and he cinched the saddle tight, "The castle. To see the Empress."

"Why?" again, the mental question more like a whisper than spoken words but Bruce was used to it and picked up the thought immediately.

"I honestly don't know. I'm concerned. We'll find out when we get there."

"Me? More?" Bruce picked up this thought as well and was totally confused. Sometimes the thoughts from Neeka were as clear and smooth as drawing a well kept sword from its scabbard, but other times, like this, it was more like trying to use a rusty spear to open a closed drawbridge.


"You want more of something?" Bruce asked totally bewildered.

Neeka snorted, almost a laugh. Bruce caught the feeling of amusement and then the thoughts, "Me, there?"

Bruce, thinking he understood said, "Of course. We're both going there. You'll be there too."

Neeka snorted again and this time a mental image formed in his mind of a mare. Then several mares. If Bruce could have blushed he would have for the mental images he received were very, very anatomically correct and the desire came across quite strongly. Again the whisper of thought, "There?"

Bruce nodded and patted Neeka's neck and replied, "Yes, there will be others like you there, I'm sure. Mares too."

That satisfied Neeka and he stood impatiently, stomping one hoof, then the other, wanting to be on his way now. Bruce opened the door to his stall and led him out into the open yard beside his home. The scent in the yard was a wonderful combination of roses, hyacinths, and tremblevine.

Bruce's home was covered in tremblevine not so much from design, but from Bruce's reluctance to remove it. The vine is a fast grower and shows small, very aromatic blue flowers all year long. The problem is it is also heavily spiked and when you try to remove the spikey vine from where it grows, it writhes slightly, normally impaling your hand with its razor sharp thorns. Hence the name Tremblevine. Bruce did try to remove it once and after a few days or terribly swollen hands he decided he liked the look of the vine and the flowers on his home.

Jumping easily and comfortably into the saddle Bruce lightly kicked his heels into the side of Neeka and mentally thought, "Let's go!" and Neeka headed out of the yard, onto the main road in the direction of the castle. There was no big hurry so Bruce kept the pace at a comfortable trot. They had plenty of time to get to where they were going.

Bruce hadn't gone too far, observing the widely spaced homes in the forest he called his town when he saw someone up ahead, waving their arms in the air to flag him down. The individual flagging them down looked as though they had been in a tremendous fight. He was covered in mud from head to foot, with small rivulets of mud sliding down his leather jerkin and plopping softly onto the ground. As Bruce and Neeka slowed their pace and came up to the person, Bruce groaned inwardly. It was Otto.

Now Otto is a wonderful person. He's the village constable, not that the village needs one. Otto once went to the castle and saw the sheriff there and fancied the village needed one too so he appointed himself constable. Everyone went along with Otto first, because he didn't cause any harm and second, well, it gave Otto a feeling of importance and everyone liked Otto.

Otto was very much the essence of his kind. Given any opportunity Otters would play and have fun. While they were great and loyal friends and skilled and tenacious fighters, sometimes their willingness to play and enjoy life could be draining on others around them. Their energy level just couldn't be kept up with. Otto was in every way one of his kind.

He was about half of Bruces's height and slender. His fur was an even shade of brown, short and pressed flat against his skin. He was wearing a leather jerkin, now mud encrusted, and a black belt from which hung a short knife and a length of rope. When he moved Bruce saw the muscles flow beneath the skin. No wonder Otto's kind were such fierce fighters; strength, speed and grace in one small compact package.

Otto looked up at Bruce as Bruce came to a stop before him and asked, "Where you going Bruce?"

"I have a meeting with the Empress later today Otto." Bruce replied. "What are you doing out here, and why are you totally covered in mud?"

"Otto smiled and said, "Well, just down the side of the road there is a nice large stream and the banks are steep. I just found the most wonderful place to slide. I was there when I heard you coming up the road and I had to stop you. Want to stop and slide?" Otto asked hopefully.

Bruce chuckled and said, "No Otto. Think of me showing up to meet the Empress looking like you do!"

Otto looked down at himself and laughed, "Yeah, I guess you're right. Anyway I stopped you because I have to give you a ticket."

Bruce looked at Otto totally confused. This is not unusual when you spent any significant time with Otto but Bruce was more confused than normal. "A ticket? Why?"

Otto reached into his jerkin and pulled out a large stripped sock while he replied, "Because you were coming down the road too fast. What if a manatee had walked out of the woods, or an elephant, or a giraffe? You might have run right over it!"

Bruce shook his head. "Otto, there are no elephants here, or giraffes and manatees live in water. If one was on the road it would have serious problems!"

"Exactly my point!" Otto said knowing now that Bruce fully understood the logic of his position, "Exactly! If a manatee had been in the road he would have serious problems because you and Neeka would have raced right over it. No telling what damage you could have caused! Nope, only thing I can do is give you a ticket. That'll be one silver."

"One silver?"

"Yep. One silver. When you get a ticket exchanging coin helps you to remember not to do it again. One silver please Bruce. Here's your ticket."

Otto handed Bruce a small, mud streaked piece of paper with the word ticket written on it in Otto's awkward style. Bruce shook his head and reached into his pouch and pulled out a silver, handing it to the otter. It wasn't like a silver was worth much, you couldn't even buy a meal with it, it was just that Bruce didn't understand Otto's thinking sometimes.

Otto smiled and dropped the silver into the stripped sock and looked up at Bruce saying, "Thank you Bruce. Now you slow down and watch out for the manatees."

Bruce once again urged Neeka on wards, but at a walk this time. He heard Otto behind him yell, "I'll be here when you return! When you come back maybe we can both slide!" Bruce didn't say anything, didn't even turn around just raised an arm absently into the air and waved.

Bruce thought about the encounter and shook his head. Manatees, elephants, giraffes, Bruce thought to himself. What a world Otto lives in.

The rest of the trip was uneventful and, as Bruce expected, he didn't run into a single Manatee. When he approached the castle, it was getting late in the day. The drawbridge was still down and Bruce saw two guards, one on either side of the entryway standing at attention. As Bruce looked around he saw figures in the fields, and on the towers. Then he realized he didn't see much activity. He drew up Neeka just before the drawbridge and looked around carefully. While there were individuals in the fields they were not moving. The guards at the bridge made no attempt to challenge him, they stood at attention like statues. The guards on the wall of the castle were as motionless as the rest.

Bruce nudged Neeka on and they crossed the wooden bridge. Neekas hoofs made a loud clumping sound as she stepped but no one moved to look at the disturbance breaking the erie silence. The guards didn't flinch as Bruce rode slowly by them. Two Wolves, standing at attention would have, in normal circumstances, challenged him and his purpose there. Now they might just as well have been scarecrows for all the use they were.

Bruce didn't like this. He didn't like it a bit. Hopefully the Empress would have some answers.

But that's a story for tomorrow.