Welcome to the Moon, Roses Optional

I choked on the dust and the smoke from the small explosion, and tried not to inhale any of it. Looking around the room, I saw Annissina standing on the other side, a maniacal gleam in her eyes. I stood, tried to wipe the grime off my clothes, and searched for some relatively clean air.

"Never again!" I vowed. "I thought I was actually going to die that time!"

"Aww Gwendol, I haven't killed you yet," Annissina smirked, as if killing me was her secret goal.

"I'm serious, never again. I am one of the 10 Great Lords that govern this Kingdom and I cannot die before I have someone to walk in my footsteps when I'm gone!" I hoped she would see reason. If I died without an Heir, my Kingdom would fall into a civil war over who got my region.

"So, what you are really saying is that you'll let me experiment on you again after you've had an heir? Well then, you'd better hop to it!"

I rolled my eyes. "It's not that easy. I can't marry just anyone, and besides, I don't want a wife yet."

She sniffed haughtily. "Well, I don't want a husband ever! Can you imagine? Me with a dominating husband to interfere with my experiments, and a half dozen brats clinging to my skirts? No thank you! I have dedicated my life to science."

"Yeah, yeah!" I muttered. I had heard that speech before.

Annissina and I had strangely become friends around age 15 when her parents had sent her to the palace to learn proper etiquette from the ladies of the court, and mine had sent me to train as an officer in the King's army. We had come across each other one day, and both bemoaned our fate. Knowing that the other was just as unhappy made us both cheer up, and we have been friends ever since.

Though I still wonder why I let her experiment on me every chance she got. No, strike that, I know exactly why. Her experiments started off fascinating and completely safe. I had no interest at all in science when she first came across this abandoned dungeon and converted it into her own personal lab, but then I watched her do something magical.

When I say magical, I mean that literally. She had funneled the light and heat from a candle into a crystal. Then she had tossed it to me. I caught it, and stared at it in awe. It glowed brightly and was warm to the touch.

"Hang on to that for me, and give it back when it goes out. That'll let me know how long it lasts, and then I'll know an approximate expiration date if I ever try to sell them," she'd told me.

I still had the crystal, and often used it as a lamp to read by at night and a way to warm my hands in the cold. But getting back to her experiments. They had gotten more and more dangerous over the years, often resulting in explosions.

I watched her eyes gleam as she examined the mess on the floor. "I see, so that was a bad combination. Too much salt peter, I think."

Why do I let her try to blow me up on a regular basis? I shook my head and stalked out of the dungeon. I managed to reach the main palace corridors before I remembered. Oh yeah, because every time she experiments on me, I learn something I would never have known otherwise. Take her many explosions, I now knew several ways to blow something up using common everyday items should I ever need to during battle.

Currently, the Kingdom was experiencing peace, but we all knew it was only temporary. It was only a matter of time before the neighboring Kingdom re-gathered its strength and came after us again. This was the same pattern we have experienced for the last hundred years or so, and neither Kingdom ever seemed to get ahead in the war.

Except my division... I often applied the knowledge I learned from Annissina to turn the battles I commanded to my favor. As a result, I was regarded as a tactical genius. I was willing to give the credit to Annissina, but she waved my offer aside, insisting that she did not want any word of her experiments to reach her parents -- who might then remember that their 25 year old daughter existed and make life difficult for her.

In a way, she had been lucky. Our Kingdom has been so busy with war for the last 10 years that her parents -- her father was another of the 10 great Lords, and her mother always accompanied him onto the battlefield to nurse their wounded soldiers back to health -- honestly had no time to think about her. As a result, they assumed that she was safely and meekly playing the role of a proper lady here in the palace.

Annissina was in her laboratory so often that I honestly don't think many people here in the palace even remembered that she existed. Therefore, it seems that her only friend in the world was me. This actually made me a bit sad since -- when she wasn't trying to blow me up -- she was funny and vibrant. I'm sure everyone would want to be her friend if she stopped playing around down here long enough to talk to someone else for a change.

"Lord Gwendol!" The Queen exclaimed, which was a subtle royal command for me to stop and pay her a little attention. I turned to look at her, and bowed to pay my respect. "Why is it that every time I see you, you seem to have just come from the battlefield? You are positively covered in soot!"

"Just a minor miscalculation, My Queen," I demurred.

The Queen smirked at me. "Oh yes, I had almost forgotten that you have made it your goal to come up with the most explosive device ever created in order to defeat our enemies once and for all."

I paled. That was not true in the slightest, but my men were often so impressed by my knowledge of explosives that they spread that rumor as a way to psychologically damage our opponents, and make them quake with fear. I bowed to the Queen again to avoid commenting.

"Keep up the good work," she bade me and then moved on. I breathed a sigh of relief, and then continued on my way to the healers' quarters.

"Lord Gwendol, again?!" The head healer asked me incredulously. I said nothing as I sat on the nearest cot. "I swear you are the only person I know who manages to come in with serious wounds when we are not at war!"

I gritted my teeth and took off my shirt. As I suspected, there was already a violently purple bruise where I had hit the corner of the table in the explosion. My ribs felt cracked, and I really did feel like I might die this time.

The healer put her hands on my chest, and paled. "You punctured a lung!" She whispered urgently. "However did you manage to walk all the way here in that condition?"

"Practice," I grunted.

She sighed in obvious aggravation, and closed her eyes to concentrate. After a moment, her eyes flew open, and she turned to look at her assistants that had gathered around curiously.

"You! Lay your hands on his back! You, go get some food and water, and you!" She directed this last bit to me. "If you ever do something to cause this bad a wound again, don't count on me to heal you from it, you stupid fool! How many times now have I had to knit you back together?! What the hell are you doing? You seem to be closer to death every time I see you!"

I tried to suppress a groan, but failed. There wasn't really anything I could say, other than, "I'm an idiot that is so fascinated with science that I allow myself to be blown up on a regular basis just to see what I can learn." Honestly, I could not admit that to anyone! They all thought I was so smart that by now... having to admit I wasn't the genius behind it would hurt far more than my pride. I managed to suppress a depressed sigh.

The healer working on my back signaled for another to take over for her, and after I was healed, I was so tired that I could barely eat the food they gave me. I soon slumped onto the cot, and allowed sleep to drift over me. I only vaguely heard the assistants fuss over the head healer. Some part of me knew that she had worked herself to the brink of exhaustion in order to save my life, but I was too asleep to care at that point.

A full week passed before I saw Annissina again. I purposely kept far away from her lab knowing that if she truly needed my assistance, she would come drag me down there anyway. Therefore, I was hiding in my study.

My study was more of an official office than a private area. It was not located anywhere near my apartment, and I was pretty sure Annissina had no idea where it was. It was where I conducted my official business as one of the 10 Great Lords.

"Come in," I granted entrance to whomever had just knocked on the door.

"Do you have a few moments, Gwendol?" Annissina asked. So much for my theory that she didn't know where it was located!

"I already told you, I am not going to let you experiment on me anymore," I insisted.

"I'm not here about that," she stated as she closed the door behind her. "I've come to say goodbye."

"What?" I wondered, a frown crinkling my brow as I tried to concentrate on the document I was reviewing.

"It seems that we have been at peace long enough this time that my parents remembered I exist," Annissina informed me. "As a result, they have arranged a marriage for me. I am to meet with him tomorrow, and we are to be married in a private ceremony in the evening before the King."

I stared at her in shock. "I don't know what to say; congratulations, I guess."

A tiny smile shadowed her lips.

I scratched my head. "I thought you didn't want to get married?" I muttered stupidly. I realized it was stupid the moment I said it.

"What choice do I have? My parents have decided. I tried to talk them out of it, but they are adamant," Annissina said dispassionately. She had an extremely good poker face. I seriously doubted anyone could decipher when she was bluffing during a card game.

I nodded. "True." In our Kingdom, parents often arranged marriages in times of peace to ensure that there would be a new generation to take over in the future.

"Anyway, I won't be able to see you anymore, so I just came to say goodbye. I hope you have a good life," she wished with a genuine smile.

"Thanks, you too," I returned the wish. She left, and I found I couldn't concentrate. Something about what she said kept tugging at the back of my mind. I couldn't think about anything else as I picked her every word apart to look for clues as to what made me so uneasy.

I eventually went to sleep. My dreams were peaceful -- well, sort of. I dreamt that I led my men to the ultimate victory in battle, and ended the war for good. This made me smile in my sleep, I'm sure.

I nearly jumped out of bed the next morning as it finally occurred to me what it was that had me so uneasy the day before. "She wouldn't!"

It was the sentence that she wouldn't be seeing me anymore. It was true that as a married woman, she would probably be required to live in her husband's estate, but she would be allowed to come to the palace anytime she wanted. Presumably -- unless I was off in battle -- she would see me then. Perhaps she wouldn't be able to conduct experiments on me anymore, but there was no rule against married women spending time with men who were not their husbands.

In fact, it was the time we had spent together up until now that would be frowned upon. Even though I had never once touched her like that, it would be assumed that I had, and that would ruin her reputation if anyone found out about how much time we had spent alone. After she was married, it would be assumed that she would be faithful to her husband, and so no one would question if we had lunch alone together. So... why had she said she wouldn't be seeing me anymore?

Deep down, I knew the answer. She would rather die than get married, and she knew plenty of ways to kill herself. What kind of friend would I be if I just let her waste her life like that?!

I threw my clothes on, and rushed to the palace tea room. It was a risky gamble, but I figured that if she was meeting her new husband today, her parents would want it to be in public with the illusion of privacy. I had no idea when the meeting was supposed to take place, but it was not unusual for Lords and Ladies to use the private alcoves along the wall as a place to read. I picked up the book laying on the bay seat, and got as comfortable as I could.

About two hours later, I heard Annissina talk to her parents. "When is he supposed to get here?"

"Anytime now," her mother replied happily. In a stroke of sheer luck, her father guided her to the table closest to my alcove. There was a privacy screen surrounding the alcove, so they couldn't see me here, though I could vaguely see them.

I didn't want to interrupt them unless my suspicion turned out to be true. If I was right, then I would do whatever I could to stop her from killing herself, but if I was wrong, then I would just let fate run its course. I didn't have long to wait.

Close to 15 minutes later, another of the 10 Great Lords approached the table Annissina sat at. "My lady, I am honored to meet you. Your parents said you were beautiful, but they neglected to tell me that you have such glorious red hair."

I pictured the two looks that Annissina was likely giving him. The more likely look was her poker face, but she could be smiling at him innocently. I knew that the innocent smile was a portent of devious things to come, but there was no way that he could know that.

"Lord Randal, is there any way that you would consider calling this marriage off?" Annissina asked.

I could tell the Lord Randal and her parents were flabbergasted by her blunt question. "W-w-why?" The Lord asked.

"Because I have no desire to be married. Ever," Annissina stated.

"I see," Lord Randal laughed. "You are nervous. You don't know me, and you have no idea how I will treat you once you are my wife. I promise that I will be a gentle husband."

Annissina sighed. "You don't understand, I do not want to be married. Ever. I would rather die." I vaguely watched her outline through the screen. She pulled something from her pocket, and prepared to drink it.

I stepped out from behind the screen, and slapped the small bottle from her hands. The bottle was open, and its contents splashed across the floor. "I will not let you poison yourself!"

"Gwendol?!" Annissina gasped incredulously. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I realized that you intended to kill yourself, and I decided to stop you," I stated.

"I will not be married off like some sheep!" She declared.

"Then why not run away instead? Live somewhere where you can do whatever you want?" I suggested.

She gaped at me, and I could tell she was kicking herself for not thinking of that first. "Runaway!" She finally responded joyously.

"Now see here!" Her father finally managed to respond. He took a deep breath, and I knew that he was about to demand an explanation followed by a demand for his daughter to obey his wishes.

"Run," I suggested urgently.

Annissina hesitated, like she doubted her ability to escape. I grabbed her by the hand, and repeated my suggestion. "Run!"

She followed me as I ran from the room, and we both knew exactly how to escape without being caught; all it took was for us to run past her dungeon to the secret emergency exit from the palace. I don't think anyone else knew about it, but we did because Annissina had come across it while searching for a suitable spot for her laboratory.

Even better, the exit brought us directly to the docks. The capitol was located on a river, and there was always some boats leaving to do business with other cities. We stopped running and panted as we watched the various crew members prepared their assigned ships.

"Pick one; go wherever you want," I ordered her.

"Thank you Gwendol," Annissina grinned at me happily.

"Here, I'm almost certain that you don't have any money on you, so take this. It should be enough to live comfortably off of for at least a year."

She was speechless for a moment as she accepted my proffered coin purse. Despite the name, it was full of paper money. I was one of the 10 Great Lords after all; this amount of money was but a drop in the bucket to me.

"Also, take this. It's some of your explosive powder, and it may come in handy if you need to protect yourself."

She grinned at that. "Anyone who tries to mess with me shall be in for quite a nasty surprise!"

I nodded, knowing exactly what they were in for. "I'm going to return to the palace now. If I leave before you depart, then I can't be persuaded to tell them where you went."

"Thank you!" Annissina gushed once more, hugging me. It was the first time either of us had done more than touch hands, and I was suddenly saddened by the thought that I might never see my best friend again. I held her tight for a moment, and then pushed her away.

"Be safe, and promise me you will never try to kill yourself again," I begged.

"I promise," she vowed.

I nodded, and then raced back to the palace. I nearly collided with her father and his men who were preparing to ride out, presumably to find Annissina. Damn! I was hoping to avoid him just a bit longer.

"Lord Gwendol! Where is my daughter?" He demanded.

"I do not know, My Lord. I smuggled her out of the palace, and then left her in the city. We agreed that it would be better if I didn't know where she went, that way, I could not tell you." I replied, mostly honestly.

"Lord Gwendol!" An assistant healer boomed across the courtyard. "The maid that cleaned up the poison you slapped to the ground is dying! We have no idea how to save her, and our magic isn't working!"

"What do you expect me to do about it?" I wondered, baffled.

"You alone knew that the Lady Annissina might try to poison herself, mightn't you also know where she obtained the poison?" The assistant asked, much closer to me now.

"I would like to know that myself," Annissina's father responded.

I shrugged. "More than likely, she made it herself."

"What?!" Lord Peter demanded in disbelief.

I cast him a serious look. "Annissina has spent the last 10 years experimenting in a secret laboratory. She has invented tons of things; if I recall correctly, the poison was something she formulated in an attempt to put the enemy army to sleep by slipping it in their food, but no matter how small an amount she added to food or drink, whatever animal she fed it to died. Neither one of us relished the idea of killing an entire army in such a dishonorable way, and so the poison was shelved with the other failed experiments."

"Do you know if she formulated an antidote?" The assistant asked fervently.

I paled, and wiped away a sheen of sweat that suddenly covered my brow. "Yes, but..."

"But what?!" The assistant demanded.

"Remember when I spent a week in the infirmary suffering terrible cramps that no amount of magic could cure?" I mumbled as I looked at the ground.

"Yes..." The assistant replied slowly, obviously confused.

"That was the after effects of the antidote," I informed her.

"Wait! You let her poison you so that she could test the antidote?"

"No!!! Who would agree to that?! She slipped it in my tea!" I exclaimed.

"But the antidote worked," the assistant half asked half stated.

"Yes," I confirmed.

"No matter how bad the aftereffects, we need that antidote!"

I nodded, and raced off. Even with all of my grueling military training, the sheer amount of running I had done so far was starting to take its toll.

"You men, search the city!" Lord Peter commanded, and then rushed after me. I was betraying Annissina by revealing the location of her sanctuary, but I didn't have time to argue with or lose her father.

After arriving in Annissina's lab, I panted heavily as I studied the numerous shelves on the walls. The poison was so deadly that I knew I didn't have much time to locate the antidote, but the problem was I had no idea which of the many vials was the right one. I grabbed the closest one, and read the label. Annissina was meticulous in her record keeping, and each label clearly stated what was in the vial, what it was for, and when it was created. Even so, reading them all would take forever!