295. The Lord of the Cages

295. The Lord of the Cages

In the middle of a grove of mistletoe-covered oaks,  AEternus appeared to answer a call from his daughter Titania. In his left hand the old man AEternus now again was carried a bound sack.

“Lord of the Cages or something worse is what they will call you if you persist in your present ways. But Papa, this isn’t like you. You never did anything like this to us.”

“True. I allowed you to do as you pleased.”

“You simply warned us that what we wished to do wasn’t convenient.”

“You would mind my warnings about a third of the time, my good daughter. Your brothers never would.”

“Yes, but it never got to matter much, didn’t it?”

“Well, explain that to your mother, who says I should have done more. Because now that I am, you don’t seem to like it any better. And she probably won’t like it either, to judge from what you are saying about this.”

“But what can you expect to gain from sticking some poor kids into a bag?”

“I already told you. They were wandering about trying to sequester people and they have to understand that this is not a good idea. It´s not right.”

“But how can you expect them to understand this? How old are they? Not even two years old, aren’t they?”

“Better soon than late. But don’t worry about them. They are the kind that stops at nothing. They tried to take even me on. They actually wanted to set me to cracking stones. I, who have no use for sticks or stones. And all this has happened because your mother asked me to look after them.”

“Don’t pretend you are trying to please Mama. You can’t fool me. We are well acquainted, Papa. What you want is to annoy on the quiet. Passive aggressive, that's what you are being. I can’t understand why you have taken to locking people up to teach them lessons. You locked my sweet and harmless son up in a closet. And all he learned was that you can’t be trusted.”

“And that isn’t important? Besides, I never locked your son up. He insisted on reasoning with a mad poisoner. Convinced that he could do a better job than I could dealing with that piece of trash. And I only let him remain in that wardrobe for a very little while, so it would be to his greater glory when he was rescued. Or wasn’t he hailed as a hero when he surfaced?”

“These kids will only surface traumatized. And you will look like an ogre. Let them go, Papa.”

“They will let themselves go. This is a velvet bag. It will take them nothing to tear it. At the moment they are in shock. Like cats when you cast a towel over them and the light suddenly goes out. But as soon as these kids react and turn themselves into kittens and draw out their cruel nails, which are sharper even than Little Mauel’s, they will tear the bag in shreds.”

“Of course they will. They are my grandchildren. And the children of the fiercest of my sons.”

“Their mother is ferocious too.”

“And you are worse than their maternal grandmother. What a trick you have played on them! They won’t understand this, Papa. Later you will complain that no one ever understands you.”

AEternus shook the bag a little and effectively, a tiny but fierce nail broke through the velvet cloth. Soon the bag was indeed in shreds, though some of the kittens that were crawling out of it were sobbing and shedding bitter tears.

“Oh, my wee ones! Don’t be scared. Nothing bad has happened. Great-gramps was only trying to make you see that no one likes to be in the power of others,” said Titania, bending down to embrace her grandchildren, who turned back into fay babies in her arms.

“Now, did you enjoy being sequestered  or not?” AEternus asked his grandkids.

“No. Not at all,” answered Neferclari.

“Well, don’t try to sequester anyone. They won’t like it any better.”

“You’re mean,” said Neferclari.

“No! Your great-grandpa is only a little silly,” explained Titania. “He thinks one has to put one’s self in the place of others to know how they feel. Literally. He might not know there is a thing called imagination that can do the job.”

“Lunchtime! Come on, eat!” said AEternus. “That’s how one forgets one’s troubles.”

And he made a long and low table, low as a coffee table, appear, all loaded with hotdogs and hamburgers and pizzas and fries and pink lemonade.  

The kittens didn’t trust even this, but Titania convinced them they could eat without having problems, so  they began to.

“And why has my beautiful daughter summoned me?” asked AEternus, drawing Titania aside.

And Titania suddenly looked very serious.

“The end of December is at hand. You know what happens then. The devil.”

“Ah. You will exchange prisoners?”

“I would like to. But I haven’t got anyone to hand over to him.”

Now some evil tongues insist on saying that the fairy queen finds herself forced to cede a tribute consisting of a certain number of her subjects to the devil, who will take them as servants, and in exchange  he will allow her to reign in peace.This tribute is said to be paid at midnight, on the last day of October, but  the truth is very different. What happens is that on the last day of December, as soon as the sun rises, the devil or his agents meet with the fairies and exchange those prisoners they have made  for whatever reasons during the year. Those prisoners that are of interest to the parties involved in this deal are then and there swapped.

“I have to rescue the son of a friend. Gen got hold of this little criminal because that is what he is, and handed him immediately over to the agents of the devil. But now I need to recover this monster because if I won’t, his mother won’t leave me in peace. The problem is that I have no one to exchange this wretch for. Have you taken any prisoners this year, Papa?”

“I don’t take prisoners. I let people occupy the place they deserve. But if your brother has messed things up, shouldn’t he be the one to fix them?

“Under no circumstances must Gen even suspect I am going to make this exchange.”

“Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe you are referring to the wayward son of the human lady you are harbouring in your tropical garden. So that blundering woman still doesn’t realize the sort of son she has? Didn’t he try to kill her?”

“You are not mistaken,” said the fairy queen.

“I can put up with your having granted the mother asylum, but under no circumstances will I allow that rogue to wreak havoc in my island. I don’t want him here, my dear.”

“Neither you nor anyone wants him here. His mother only wants him out of hell. She has asked me to return him to their country.”

“Ufff! She means to visit him on her unfortunate countrymen? Again?”

“Listen, Papa. What will happen there is no business of ours. Sooner or later this boy will get himself killed and end up back in hell. But this time he will be a lost soul, not a mortal who can redeem himself, and there will be no way he will be able to leave the place. And his mother will have to accept that.”

“I can’t understand why you insist on meeting with the infernals yourself. This meeting  is no place for a nice lady to be at. Why doesn’t that husband of yours assist instead?”

“My husband doesn´t believe in the devil. He flatly denies the existence of evil. And he says he doesn’t waste time speaking with beings that don’t exist.”

“Yes, that’s a pretty way of avoiding problems. He’s good at that. And we have already established that your precipitate brother the believer isn’t going to be of any help to you either. So all you have left that you can turn to is your father. Don’t you worry then. Go home and rest for a while. Then get up and dress up nicely. Tonight is the longest night of the year. St. Lucy´s feast. And it will be a much longer night for us because we will have to show up at Generoso and Dadivosa´s Christmas bazaar. Those two are always so happy.”

“You never fail me, Papa,” smiled Titania and she vanished from the oak grove after saying goodbye to her father with a kiss.

And AEternus turned to the Kittykids and asked them if they had already eaten enough.

They didn’t answer. They only scowled at him. They were still mistrustful, though not as much as they had been.

“I think you have. One has to know when to stop. Second part of the lesson. That is what we must learn now. But don’t be afraid. This time it isn’t you who will suffer a fright. Listen closely, children. Every rule has its exceptions. The rule is not to sequester. I think you already know that. Now comes the exception.  Come, my valiant little ones. Your great-grandpapa is going to use you to sequester some unsuspecting ruffian.”