Chapter Thirty Four
As much as Justin's mind was filled with the reality that Maggie was engaged to be married, he couldn't deny that he was extremely interested in what Matilda was about to do. Less than 48 hours ago he had not truly believed that jackalopes and unicorns could be real by any stretch of the imagination. Now, here he was, about to watch a jackalope get milked in order to save a queen and princess. As real as he knew his reality was, it was at times like these that he felt the need to pinch himself.
As he walked behind Matilda to the wooden crates he was surprised to hear soft snoring. He wasn't surprised that they were asleep, since he had been told that the jackalopes had been given plants in their food to put them to sleep, but, what was surprising was that they were snoring period. He had no idea that jackalopes snored. It was a fun fact that he was glad he knew.
Matilda stopped in front of the first freight and nodded to the closest guard. He handed his torch to one of the other guards and bent down to open the crate and gently remove one of the jackalopes. It was still hard to see, but Justin could tell that the jackalope didn't seem to stir in the man's hands.
The man stood awkwardly as Matilda pulled out the stool from the side of the crate and placed it a few feet in front of the man. Sitting down she motioned for the man to come forward. He leaned slightly forward so she could have access to the underside of the limp jackalope. Sitting her bottle on the ground she placed the funnel directly under the jackalope and with her free hand she began to "milk" the jackalope.
Justin could hear 'plink, plink, plink,' as streams of milk fell into the funnel and into the bottle. He desperately wanted to draw closer to Matilda to get a better look at the exact mechanics of how the milking was done, but for some reason his feet stayed rooted to the ground.
No one spoke as she finished milking the first jackalope and signaled for the guard to take the animal back and bring her another one. When all the jackalopes had been milked Justin was fairly certain that he and Maggie had been standing there close to hour.
When Matilda stood up and passed the stool to the guard to return next to the crate Justin could hear her knees pop with the effort of standing. He couldn't help but cringe at her obvious discomfort. But when she turned to face them with the funnel and container in hand there was only a peaceful smile on her face.
"Now then, her Majesty, and the princess will have their medicine for tomorrow. I better get back into the palace so I can store this." Matilda shifted the funnel under her arm and dropped into a curtsy to Maggie and then again to Justin. "It was nice meeting you Master Justin. I look forward to getting to know you better in the coming days."
Justin was just about to respond when Matilda addressed Maggie. "Your Highness, Richard sends his regards and wanted me to share with you if we met that he is planning to stop by your room tomorrow afternoon to ask you on a walk around the grounds."
Justin's eyes were locked on Maggie as he noticed that her smile didn't waver as she listened, but there was a stillness about her that hadn't been there only seconds earlier.
"Thank you so much for your willingness to serve my mother and sister. Your help is invaluable to us. Thank you for the message from Richard." Justin noticed that at her last statement her eyes flicked over to him. He knew he would have missed it in the low light if he had not been focused on her. "Please tell him that I am working with Master Justin and the mages on the magical creature problem, but if I am available I would be happy to walk with him tomorrow."
Maggie was definitely a princess. She was able to make a noncommittal answer seem diplomatic. When Matilda nodded eagerly he knew she had succeed. "Of course, your Highness. Richard would not want to take you away from helping your mother and sister." With a smile on her face she gave one more quick curtsy to Maggie and then walked swiftly back the way she came. Her quick step belied the fact that she had been stiff only a few minutes earlier.
"Well, what did you think?" Maggie's words were soft in the near darkness. "I think you got out of spending time with Richard rather nicely." Maggie rolled her eyes at his response. "I meant what did you think about the jackalopes?" "Oh." Justin could feel his cheeks flame and took a step away from the torches. "Yes, well, I don't know what I expected to witness or feel but it seemed much more reverent than I thought it would be."
Maggie nodded as she wrapped her arms around herself. "I think it is because the milk is being used to help save people's lives. It is a noble thing that is extremely important, so the process to get the milk becomes something more." Maggie shrugged and looked questionably at Justin. "Does that make any sense at all?"
Justin smiled and then came to stand closer to Maggie. "It makes perfect sense. But it is getting late and I think you have gotten chilled, so we probably need to go in." Justin was sure that she was more uncomfortable then cold, but he also knew that she probably needed a change of scenery and conversation. Her smile was all the confirmation he needed.
They walked towards the castle with only one guard trailing behind. Even though he had never had a guard in his world he was oddly comforted knowing he was there. He thought he would have felt uneasy about having a stranger follow him, but with the threat of magical creatures and the darkness being complete any extra eyes was appreciated.
With the guard being able to solely focus on their surroundings Justin could relax a bit and focus on cheering up Maggie. "So, what are the plans for tomorrow? Do you think the mages will have a concrete plan for us to begin?"
Maggie ran her hand through her curly hair and smiled up at Justin. "I think tomorrow at the very least I need to learn how to tame a unicorn. Good thing we have our expert here to show me how to do it."
A sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach settled on him as he looked at her peaceful smile. He knew that they were counting on him to make this happen and he didn't know if he had the expertise that they needed.
As they said goodnight Justin was almost certain that if he got an hour of sleep he would be lucky. His thoughts were filled with what would happen if he was not the expert he had claimed to be.