You made a mistake, Prince Charming. You should never have let me go in alive. I'll come back someday. I'll be the first to find a way out of the Witching Well. And when I do, you'll all die. Starting with you, prince of hypocrites. You rail so eloquently against betrayal without ever once thinking of all the women you've wronged. You first, prince of lies. 
- — Trusty John, in a dream
Fables #39 is an issue of the series Fables (Volume 1) with a cover date of September, 2005. It was published on July 13, 2005.
Synopsis for "Meanwhile"
A young man, Mr. Jagatbehari, exits the airport terminal where Trusty John was waiting. "Mr. Jagatbehari" was an alias that Mowgli of the Seeonee wolf pack was using among the mundies. It translated to "World Traveler".
When they arrive in Fabletown, John sends Mowgli on ahead into the Woodland Apartments while he carries in the bags. Beast meets Mowgli in the lobby, with Kay at his side, to welcome him back home from the wilds. Mowgli already heard that Beast was the new sheriff, and Beast promises to try not to screw up too badly. He just wants Mowgli to continue the same activities he's been doing under Bigby; espionage. He and Kay leave to let Mowgli get settled in, passing John on the steps who seems determined to carry all of Mowgli's bags at once. When they pass, Kay leans over to whisper in Beasts ear that "he's the one". Beast can't believe it, but Kay pulls down his shaded lenses revealing the new eyes and reminded him that nothing could fool his eyes.
When night falls, Mowgli visits the Farm upstate, where he finds his brother Bagheera in a cage. Punishment for taking part in the rebellion as few years ago, Bagheera explains that he was given a choice between imprisonment or hard labor. Being a proud black panther, he would not reduce himself to performing the tasks of a plow-horse. Mowgli wants to find a way to spring him loose, though he doesn't know how yet.
The next day, John is called in to the Business Office by Beast and Grimble, who appear suddenly apprehensive around him, as he notes. Prince Charming and Beauty wait with Kay, as John is told to have a seat. They know he's been spying for the Adversary these last four years. Kay saw it all when he looked at him with his eyes. Everything he revealed about Fabletown and the people who live there, they already had it all recorded. Charming just wants the answer to one question: Why? He was Trusty John, the most faithful Fable in history. John admits that they're right but adds that long before he signed the Fabletown compact, he made an unbreakable vow of fealty to his king. The first oath trumps the second in this case. Which wasn't a problem until four years ago, when John's king, who was thought to have been killed, made contact with him. The king was working with the Adversary now and told John to be their spy. He had no choice but to obey.
Meanwhile, Mowgli spends time with Baloo the bear. The discuss the hunter's discipline, which Mowgli still practices out in the world of man. Feet that make no noise, eyes that see in the dark, ears that can hear the winds change, and sharp white teeth; although maybe the last one not so much. But Mowgli has learned to improvise. Rather than claws and fangs, man makes use of weapons like knives and machine guns. Baloo asks if he wants to go down to the fishing hole, or search for a honey tree, but Mowgli had to return to the city. He had business there...
In the sheriff's office, Beast is taking a short break from interrogating Trusty John. Frau Totenkinder visits him, asking for a favor which he owes her after she regrew Kay's eyes. She simply asks he relay a message to the mayor, without revealing where it came from: Boy Blue's been captured by the Adversary. Her spies in the Homelands told her as much. Beast heads back to tell Prince Charming, who decides to worry about it after they deal with Trusty John. He gives John the choice of being killed here first and dumped, or jumping into the Witching Well under his own power. John chooses to jump. They escort him to the well.
Later, Charming and Beast share a drink. John's turn to traitor had taken it out of them. No one outside the office would know, the other Fables would simply think he disappeared, letting them keep their warm memories of him. Even Charming admits to having to really force himself not to forgive him, even though he was only being loyal to his king. Beast does bring up an upside though; all of the info John had been delivering was done in dead drops, without the two parties ever seeing each other. Meaning, they could continue feeding false information to the Adversary's forces! Even more, once they discover the info is fake, they'll assume everything John told them was a lie. Charming asks Beast before he leaves where he got the tip about Boy Blue from, but Beast keeps tight lipped.
Later that night, as he dozes off at his desk, Charming has a nightmare about Trusty John's body above the Witching Well being torn apart as he speaks. He calls him a hypocrite who has committed so many wrongs against women. John's body turns from skeletal remains to ash as it names him the prince of lies.
As he wakes up, Charming sees Mowgli sitting across from him. They did have a meeting scheduled, and since it didn't seem like he was going to get much sleep anyway, Charming laid it all out. A year ago, he met with the other tourists, which Mowgli wasn't able to attend at the time, but Charming hands him the plans they drew up. Plans to take back the Homelands. He felt they only had a chance with this if Mowgli could help, which surprises the young wolf. He thought they were going to talk about how he can free Bagheera, either by allowing him to take his place in captivity, or by performing a deed that went above and beyond his normal duties. The latter was exactly what Prince Charming is thinking. He wanted Mowgli, with all he learned from his time in the Seeonee wolf pack, to track down Bigby Wolf and bring him back home. The moment Bigby is standing in this office, Charming will sign the order to set Bagheera free.
Appearing in "Meanwhile"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Kay
- Bagheera
- Beauty
- Prince Charming
- Baloo (First appearance)
- Frau Totenkinder
Antagonists:
- Trusty John (Dies)
Other Characters:
- Grimble
- Bigby Wolf (Cameo)
Locations:
Items:
- Witching Well
Vehicles:
- None
Notes
- Frau Totenkinder mentions she has spies in the Homelands that report to her.
See Also