Disclaimer: Redwall and all the characters you can recognize (ie Song,
Dann, Cregga) belong to Brian Jacques (wah). The plot and any characters
you DON'T recognize (ie Maracia, Amber) obviously belong to me. Enjoy!
=====
Wilce paced the door where her lady lay inside. She could hear Lantur's shallow breathing and panting, then a shriek, a loud shriek of pain. Instantly alert, Wilce glanced around nervously, then peeked into the room.
A young Marlfox, Lantur was perhaps the most cunning of her siblings. "She's one of the weakest as well," Wilce thought. "She can't deal with pain." An old water rat attended to her as she screamed again.
A few minutes later, the screams subsided, and Wilce risked entering the room. The old rat, whose name was Brodee, held a newborn foxcub. Wilce bowed to her superior before turning back to Brodee. "Is it male or maid?" she asked in a mutter.
"It's a maid," was the gruff reply. "Tho' I dunno what the High Queen's goin' ter say when she finds out about it. Won't be too pleased, oho no."
"That's why she's not going to find out about it," Wilce thought in cruel amusement, recalling the orders she had been given shortly beforehand. With a pretense of sudden remembrance, she said, "Brodee, Ullig sent fer ye- I'll take y'ter him."
Brodee bowed to Lantur, who was collapsed against the bedframe, breathing shallowly, and left the room still clutching the babe, following Wilce, who led her to a dark corridor. Wilce took the babe and looked down at it. It had some markings of a Marlfox, but it didn't look completely like her mother because the father had just been a regular fox. Brodee looked around Ullig's chambers, which Wilce had led her to. The room was quite empty. Wilce shut the door as Brodee asked darkly, "Well, where is 'e then?"
Wilce suddenly pulled out a dagger she had cunningly sealed behind her back and jammed it squarely into Brodee's unprotected chest. Gasping in surprise, Brodee collapsed to the floor, the last words she would ever hear ringing in her ears: "We can't risk havin' too many knowing 'bout it. Yew know too much, Brodee!"
Turning on her heel, Wilce left the dying rat behind and entered Lantur's room again, saying, "I've killed 'er now. Whaddaya want me ter do wit' the body?"
"Throw it to the Teeth of the Depths," Lantur hissed, still weakened from the birth she had just given.
Wilce nodded. "And the babe."
The Marlfox tried to sit up and failed, falling back against her bed. "Give it to me."
Wilce did so. Holding the bundle gingerly, Lantur looked at her daughter and touched the tip of her nose. The babe made small growling noises in her throat, but when she opened her mouth to express this thought, no sound came out. Lantur made a sound of disgust. "It's a mute." She handed the babe back to Wilce.
"What now?"
Growling, Lantur answered, "You can deal with a mere babe. Throw it with Brodee's worthless carcass."
Bowing again, Wilce sped off to do her mistress' bidding.
===
The babe had survived, miraculously. When she had been thrown into the lake, she had been held up by the body of Brodee, and had managed to float to the nearby shore. The pike had not caught up with her until then, but preferred Brodee's bloody carcass over the inanimate object.
So the babe had been swept to some rushes and lay there, pale golden eyes watching, never ceasing to miss a detail. She had noticed the hedgehog cautiously sneaking up on her, but made no sound or move. The hedgehog reached her and looked. The babe looked back. She could see the hedgehog's whole body was scarred, and had a gruesome-looking wound on her right cheek that completely distorted her face. The hedgehog picked her up, muttering to herself, "'Tis only a vermin babe, but still a babe."
The hedgehog carried the Marlfox babe back to her abode, where she would grow up: Unknowing of her past, but still marked as a vermin.
=====
Wilce paced the door where her lady lay inside. She could hear Lantur's shallow breathing and panting, then a shriek, a loud shriek of pain. Instantly alert, Wilce glanced around nervously, then peeked into the room.
A young Marlfox, Lantur was perhaps the most cunning of her siblings. "She's one of the weakest as well," Wilce thought. "She can't deal with pain." An old water rat attended to her as she screamed again.
A few minutes later, the screams subsided, and Wilce risked entering the room. The old rat, whose name was Brodee, held a newborn foxcub. Wilce bowed to her superior before turning back to Brodee. "Is it male or maid?" she asked in a mutter.
"It's a maid," was the gruff reply. "Tho' I dunno what the High Queen's goin' ter say when she finds out about it. Won't be too pleased, oho no."
"That's why she's not going to find out about it," Wilce thought in cruel amusement, recalling the orders she had been given shortly beforehand. With a pretense of sudden remembrance, she said, "Brodee, Ullig sent fer ye- I'll take y'ter him."
Brodee bowed to Lantur, who was collapsed against the bedframe, breathing shallowly, and left the room still clutching the babe, following Wilce, who led her to a dark corridor. Wilce took the babe and looked down at it. It had some markings of a Marlfox, but it didn't look completely like her mother because the father had just been a regular fox. Brodee looked around Ullig's chambers, which Wilce had led her to. The room was quite empty. Wilce shut the door as Brodee asked darkly, "Well, where is 'e then?"
Wilce suddenly pulled out a dagger she had cunningly sealed behind her back and jammed it squarely into Brodee's unprotected chest. Gasping in surprise, Brodee collapsed to the floor, the last words she would ever hear ringing in her ears: "We can't risk havin' too many knowing 'bout it. Yew know too much, Brodee!"
Turning on her heel, Wilce left the dying rat behind and entered Lantur's room again, saying, "I've killed 'er now. Whaddaya want me ter do wit' the body?"
"Throw it to the Teeth of the Depths," Lantur hissed, still weakened from the birth she had just given.
Wilce nodded. "And the babe."
The Marlfox tried to sit up and failed, falling back against her bed. "Give it to me."
Wilce did so. Holding the bundle gingerly, Lantur looked at her daughter and touched the tip of her nose. The babe made small growling noises in her throat, but when she opened her mouth to express this thought, no sound came out. Lantur made a sound of disgust. "It's a mute." She handed the babe back to Wilce.
"What now?"
Growling, Lantur answered, "You can deal with a mere babe. Throw it with Brodee's worthless carcass."
Bowing again, Wilce sped off to do her mistress' bidding.
===
The babe had survived, miraculously. When she had been thrown into the lake, she had been held up by the body of Brodee, and had managed to float to the nearby shore. The pike had not caught up with her until then, but preferred Brodee's bloody carcass over the inanimate object.
So the babe had been swept to some rushes and lay there, pale golden eyes watching, never ceasing to miss a detail. She had noticed the hedgehog cautiously sneaking up on her, but made no sound or move. The hedgehog reached her and looked. The babe looked back. She could see the hedgehog's whole body was scarred, and had a gruesome-looking wound on her right cheek that completely distorted her face. The hedgehog picked her up, muttering to herself, "'Tis only a vermin babe, but still a babe."
The hedgehog carried the Marlfox babe back to her abode, where she would grow up: Unknowing of her past, but still marked as a vermin.