Something heavy landed on his chest. Bruno scanned the dark bedroom, looking for the assailant that disturbed his sleep. A kick to his back alerted him to the source of his discomfort. Tassel shifted on the bed, moaning. Her elbow dug deep into his side. He grabbed her shoulder and gave a hard shake.

"Wake up, Tassel, you're having another bad dream."

Tassel bolted upright, panting. A few seconds later, her sleepy voice spoke, even as she dug deeper under the covers.

"Not to worry, Bruno. I'm sure its nothing."

"Enough, sow, I have had enough of your evasive answers. I blame myself for letting this go as far as it has, but you will tell me what is troubling you. No more excuses."

Tassel's eyes widened, no doubt surprised by his tone of voice. He could sense her measuring his irritation, deciding if she could again evade his inquisition. Bruno tried calming himself, as he strived to be the voice of reason.

"Whenever one of our little ones has a nightmare, you always tell them it holds power over you because you will not tell. Must I use those words on you?"

He never expected her reaction. She wrapped her paws about him, holding on as if she expected him to vanish. His body shook in time with hers. He whispered his love, all his anger forgotten. He rocked her with a gentle motion, like he did with one of their young charges when they needed comforting. He held her head against his shoulder until she finished crying.

"Husband, I fear my words must be made known to the Abbess as well." Bruno opened his mouth, ready to protest, but Tassel silenced him by placing the palm of her paw against his nose. "How I know this, I cannot explain, but this nightly horror involves her too."

Now he understood her reluctance. Before Robertasin became Redwall's leader, she left no doubt about her contempt and dislike of Tassel. Once their children were born, and Tassel recovered her health, Robertasin spoke such horrible things that Tassel feared for her safety. Over time, the Mother Abbot's demeanor altered as she proved several days earlier when she spoke on Tassel's behalf.

Bruno led Tassel to the Mother Abbot's office. Like a frightened child, Tassel would not release his paw. Bruno felt Tassel squeeze his paw harder the closer they came to their destination. He whispered his encouragement to her and that seemed to give her the courage she sought.

A lady vole sat at a desk near a closed door at the end of a hallway. The vole glanced their way. Without asking their business, the vole approached the door that led to the inner office and the Mother Abbot. She gave a light knock and a sharp but muted voice responded. The vole entered the office and closed the door, leaving them outside waiting.

xxxxx

Robertasin sat at her desk, reviewing the many documents requiring her attention. She sometimes wondered if she was the Mother Abbot or a glorified clerk. She looked up from another series of letters that seemed to flood her desk. The intrusion of her secretary came as a welcomed diversion.

"Is there somebody I need to see, Lilly," ask Robertasin.

She watched the old vole. When Lilly pushed her glasses up her muzzle, she knew it had to be a resident. After so many years in her service, Robertasin knew her mannerisms and learned a lot about her potential visitor before they entered her office. Based on the way Lilly kept shifting from one foot to another, she had better talk to whichever resident stood on the other side of the door.

Lilly nodded. "Our Badgermom and her mate are waiting outside, should I send them in or ask them to come back at a later time, Mother Abbot?"

If Lilly addressed her by her title, she thought it important enough to interrupt whatever business held her attention. Abbess Robertasin trusted her intuition. She pushed her chair away from her desk.

"I'm sure I can spare the time. To be honest, I'm surprised they waited so long. You can send them in, we shouldn't be too long."

Lilly brushed her dress as if her spotless garment had a stray piece of lint, a habit she displayed whenever she approved of Robertasin's decision. The vole pivoted on one foot and left the office. There passed a moment of silence before the door opened for a second time. The vole remained at the door until the two badgers crossed the threshold. Lilly gave her an inquisitive look, but Robertasin said nothing. Lilly retreated to the outer office, closing the door.

Light from the late winter sun filtered through the window behind the Abbess, giving the room soft, but sufficient illumination. Both walls had ceiling-high bookcases filled with the diaries of Redwall's prior rulers. In front of the huge desk, Bruno had his choice of a wide sofa or one of two chairs.

Bruno helped Tassel sit at one end of the sofa while he took the opposite side. At no time did he release her paw. Though she couldn't read Tassel's expression due to her mask, Robertasin worried when Bruno's eyes avoided any direct contact with her.

As Mother Abbot, she decided to put them both at ease right away. She bounced out of her chair and circled the desk. Robertasin sat on the front edge, as close as she could to her guests. She reached behind her and held up several sheets of paper. Robertasin continued waving them until certain she had both badger's undivided attention.

"I can guess what's brought you two here. After four days, you're looking for news about that petition. I'm happy to report almost every resident signed it. Maybe this time, King Brisson, will grant you clemency."

Instead of a joyful look from Bruno or even a raised muzzle from the masked badger, the two visitors continued staring at the floor like chastised dibbuns. That worried her.

"I give you good news and the two of you act like I did something horrible. Please, if there is anything bothering you, let me know. I'm here to help."

Bruno raised his muzzle, but did not meet her eyes. "My wife has experienced the same nightmare over the last four nights. She insists you hear her story."

Robertasin still had some coaxing to do. A few more words of encouragement from her and Bruno had Tassel recounting her nightmare in detail. She gave the sow her full attention.

"A great storm has descended upon Redwall and I fear the children will be frightened. When I enter the Dormitory, nobody is there. I rush back outside, and when I reach the end of the corridor, I find myself atop the rain-lashed battlement of some high tower. In the storm, the lightning flashes across the darkest sky ever known, and I see faces, the face of every child I nurtured."

For just a moment, Tassel lifted her masked muzzle and gazed deep into the eyes of the Abbess. "After every child I know is shown, I see one more child. As that face appears, another bolt strikes the tower and it is destroyed. I fall, seeing the Sword of Martin fly towards me like an arrow. Before it pierces my breast, I awaken."

Robertasin and Bruno remained silent for several moments. Then the Abbess stood and paced from her desk to the window and back. She made several circuits before she once again returned to a position just before the Badgermom. She lifted Tassel's muzzle. The two stared into each other's eyes.

"When first I became Abbess, we were enemies. In time, I learned of your value and dedication to this Abbey. You even inspired me to adopt Narkade a year after your pups were born. Raising him taught me just how much good you have done."

Abbess Robertasin gave the Badgermom a gentle squeeze to her masked muzzle. "I do hope you now see me as somebody that supports you. Perhaps I should have apologized for my ill manners so many years ago, but pride stopped me. I'll not ask for your friendship, but I will tell you I take seriously the message you bring me."

Bruno shifted in his seat. "Would you know the meaning of these words?"

"I'm afraid not, Bruno, but I will think long and hard on this. I'll let you know if your assistance is needed."

As the two badgers left, Lilly hesitated by the door. Robertasin wandered over to the window behind her desk. Without looking back, she addressed her receptionist.

"See that I am not disturbed, Lilly."

For several moments, the Mother Abbot gazed outside her window to the courtyard, her mind a blank slate. Many of the most monumental events in Abbey history came after a dream. Some unknown force compelled Tassel to talk to her. She couldn't dismiss this without careful thought.

Like a flash of lightning, an old memory surfaced. She turned towards one of the high bookcases. She withdrew the diary from her first year as Mother Abbot. It took but a moment to find the relevant passage and she read the words from a dream she thought forgotten so long ago, "When war comes, and it will one day." Robertasin yelled for her receptionist.

"Lilly, find Healer Shortspike, our cellar hog Tabeston, the warrior Jazzin, and General Markus. Once they arrive, see that nobody disturbs us, for any reason whatsoever."

Something in her voice must have frightened Lilly. The vole departed so fast she forgot to close the door. While she waited, Robertasin's mind compared the two dreams and their messages. It made her stomach churn. After a glance at the shepherd's crook, for the first time ever, Robertasin wished she had never left her sheep.

Healer Shortspike arrived first and the Abbess reviewed her biography. The female hedgehog started out as an orphan under the care of the prior Badgermom, as well as Tassel. She later traveled to a badger clan where she finished her training as a healer. Since her return to the Abbey, Healer Shortspike maintained a vigorous program designed to maintain the health of every creature. Though many complained, several times her advice prevented the spread of diseases that, left untreated, would have resulted in many unnecessary deaths.

A soft knock preceded the next beast. In his youth, Tabeston contradicted the stereotypical male hedgehog. Unfortunately, his job as Cellar Hog had him sampling every food stored within the larders of Redwall. Now, Tabeston displayed quite an ample girth.

The two tapped foreheads in typical hedgehog fashion before he shook paws with Robertasin. When Tabeston sat, the sofa's springs twanged in protest. He slouched on the sofa as if he thought he could catch a quick nap.

The mouse warrior, Jazzin, and the hare, Markus, entered the office together. Even in the chilly air, the two were bathed in a heavy sheen of sweat. Both carried practice swords sheathed about their waist and bearing heavy padding. The two argued in a friendly, but heated manner, about which of them had scored the last kill. Neither of them noticed the room's other occupants waving their paws before their snouts.

Robertasin retreated to the window. She opened one of the panes closest to her head, allowing the chilled air inside. The slight breeze kept the musky body odor of the two warriors away from her nose. At least she wasn't gagging from the stench of the sweat-soaked padding they wore.

"Shame on both of you," snarled Shortspike. "At your age, Jazzin, you should have more sense than to fight some beast almost half your age." She then turned on the laughing hare. "As for you, Markus, you should know better than working up such a heavy sweat outside during the winter. I swear, if I see either of you in my Infirmary with a cold or fever, I'll give you so strong a purge, it'll take three meals before your stomach even knows you ate."

While the healer admonished the two warriors, Robertasin returned to her desk. Before either warrior could retort, she rapped her knuckles on the wooden desk, like a teacher trying to catch her student's attention. It worked in the classroom, and it worked here.

Robertasin pointed to the Cellar Hog. "Tabeston, I want a full inventory of everything within this Abbey, be it food or some other material under your control."

"But Mother Abbot," whined the hedgehog. "You get an inventory of what we stored and used every month. I'm sure the actual count wouldn't be that far off."

"Oh yes, I have seen your reports. 'A little over three barrels of flour delivered from the grist mill, several dozen eggs discarded as rotten.' They will not do, sir. I want to know, by the gram, and by the count, exactly how much of everything there is within Redwall, and you have three days to do it."

Tabeston shifted his position. The hedgehog pushed his glasses off the tip of his nose and against his head. When he stood, every spring sounded a note of relief.

"Three days? How am I going to accomplish all that in three days?"

"I don't care if you and your whole crew have to work around the clock, nonstop. You will have those numbers for me, at the end of the third day or I will find somebody else competent enough to do your job. That deadline isn't being pushed back because you're standing here catching flies. I strongly urge you to leave now while you still hold the coveted title of Cellar Hog."

Tabeston hustled from the room, the slamming door attesting to his rapid exodus. The Healer bolted from her seat. Shortspike stormed over to the desk as if she meant to do physical battle with her. The hedgehog's finger snapped out like a whip aimed at Robertasin's snout.

"I don't care if you are the Abbess; you have no right addressing an honored elder in that manner or in that tone of voice. Why I have half a mind to …."

"Your next words had better be something like 'do a full inventory of the Infirmary.' Have a full count of every medical supply and a list, by priority, of whatever else you require no later than tomorrow's final bell."

Shortspike blurted "You gave Tabeston three days, why am I getting less than half that time?"

Robertasin stood to her full height, her back straight. Her tail puffed out in a visible display of her agitation that anyone would dare challenge her authority. Now it was her turn to wag a finger within a whisker's length of the Healer's nose.

"You have but one small part of this Abbey to account for. Are you telling me you cannot have such a list ready?"

Shortspike's quills remained in an upright position. "I'll have it done, but I do want some allowance if there's a medical emergency. You and your bloody list can go to Hellsgate if it means compromising my services." With that, the hedgehog stomped out of the office. The female hedgehog slammed the door so hard that Robertasin's shepherd's crook fell off the wall.

The Abbess now focused her attention onto the two warriors before her. She continued staring at them until their smiles disappeared. The Abbess returned to her seat. She beckoned them closer and dropped her voice to a near whisper.

"I am giving the two of you whatever authority you need. Requisition as much additional help as necessary, take anything you want. I expect, no, I demand, immediate results. If we are fortunate, we may have more time, but I cannot guarantee that, so have this Abbey ready to withstand an extended siege within five days."

Markus broke the stunned silence that followed this pronouncement. His ears flickered, a sure sign of his distress. "Mother Abbot, do you have any idea who will be placing the Abbey under siege?"

The Abbess leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. Neither of the two warriors spoke as they awaited her answer.

"Gentlemen, Redwall is already at war. The only pertinent question is how ready we will be when the enemy is knocking at our gates."