After rinsing themselves off in the cool abbey pond, Deyna and the rest of the otters trotted in to breakfast. Ricky's face was a picture of wonder at the immense spread that graced the tables in Great Hall. There were steaming blackberry scones topped with meadowcream and damson preserves, savory pasties with melting yellow cheese oozing out of their middles, candied russet apple slices, whole salted almonds and chestnuts, creamy porridge filled with oats and wild honey, bubbling thick oatmeal which many of the otters were eagerly sprinkling with ground hotroot, and even the infamous Deeper'n Ever Turnip'n Tater'n Beetroot Pie, which the moles seemed to think was appropriate for any time of day. There was also a sizable platter of cabbage in front of the highly-miserable Boorab, who was munching on his breakfast in resigned silence and ignoring the questions and befuddled looks of his peers.

To Deyna's slight surprise when he entered, Great Hall was packed more than usual compared to the average breakfast. Most abbeybeasts tended to take their dishes wherever they liked in the mornings, sometimes eating on the wall-tops with their friends, or sprawling in the orchard for a shady picnic. However, the presence of the three strange travelers and their round drawling accents had drawn a sizable crowd. Some abbey-dwellers were more subtle with their interest than others, merely eating their breakfast within earshot of the three Nevarr siblings… but plenty of others, especially the boisterous Dillypins, were wedging themselves onto benches and straining to speak with the trio.

"I don't recall seein' you three come to Redwall yesterday. Whenever did you arrive?"

"Hurr, try'ee some Deeper'n Ever pie, zurr. It be a gurt start fur'ee day!"

"Where'ja come from, and why d'ya where them big silly hats?"

"Be sure to tell Friar Bobb which of these recipes is your favorite! Have you tried the cheese pasties yet? They were my idea!"

"What happened to your face, marm? That's quite a black eye there. And what's that poultice for?"

Tumbol was munching away at nearly every item on the table, keeping her ears flat as she tried to ignore the remarks about her appearance — particularly the chuckles about the cumbersome linen-and-dockleaf bandage that Sister Alkanet had ordered her to keep pasted on her jaw wound for the entire day. Fortunately, she still somehow looked the least intimidating of her siblings, and as a result the curious dibbuns were starting to flock over to her as soon as they each finished eating. A passel of mousebabes and Jurkin's niece Tingle were stroking or tugging at the great scruffy tail that swished out behind her, and one courageous little squirrel babe had even climbed on and was attempting to ride it. At first some of their parents looked mortified at this behavior and had started to scold them, but Tumbol quickly waved the adults away with a wild grin. Though she kept her back turned and ate without a word, she gently swept her rudder back and forth and chuckled whenever the dibbuns squealed and attempted to recapture it.

Beside their sister, Ricky and Tikky were tucking into anything that the abbeybeasts were recommending — even the Deeper'n Ever pie, which they praised enormously while their audience giggled at their strange accents. "Faw, that's a fine dish an' no mistake! You could fill a hare up wiv' it!"

"Perfect to start the day, just like you said, mite!"

Skipper of otters slid them each a bowl of oatmeal that had been generously covered in spicy red hotroot. "Hoho, take a sample o'this, mateys! That ought to put some curl in those rudders and a spring in yer step!" The brothers bolted it down without question — however, while Ricky licked his whiskers and continued to the next dish, Tikky's face suddenly flushed scarlet. He fanned his mouth desperately, then snatched up the nearest bottle of dandelion and burdock cordial and sucked it down, gulp after gulp. Many of the otters guffawed as Tikky emptied the bottle — which had been one of the larger vessels on the table. He glared at them while he panted and while his tongue hung uselessly out of the side of his mouth. "What sort o hellfire you tryin' to poison me wif, stream-dog?" he cursed irritably at Skipper. Several beasts gasped, and some attempted to cover the ears of nearby dibbuns.

Mhera, who had been watching the proceedings from the head of the table, opened her mouth to chide the scruffy sea otter… but Ricky had already caught his brother sternly by the ear with a grip of iron. "No language o'that sort here, Tik," he ordered flatly. "Mind yesself, an' apologize to these goodbeasts. Sharpish!"

Tikky gritted his teeth in pain, but for a fraction of a second he did pass some of his hosts a repentant glance — as if he'd forgotten that there were babes about. "Sorry, mites."

Mhera met Ricky's eyes across the table and mouthed the words, "Thank you," to him as the meal resumed.

"Hurr, that trinket be's moight purty, Mizz," Churrkin the molemaid remarked to Tumbol as she climbed onto the bench beside the young sea otter. She pointed a claw at the guest's smooth golden earring. "Why'd ee'brothurrs be wurrin' jewelry just like et?"

Tumbol chuckled and swept the inquiring dibbun into her lap, then tilted her head so that Churrkin could touch the twinkling ornament in question. "Why, 'tis the mark of a sailah-beast, liddle-un."

"Oy," Tikky chimed in. "We travel all ovah the seas, but iffin' our boat sinks an' our bodies— oof!" He wheezed as Tumbol elbowed him and knocked the air from his lungs.

"If our boat sinks," she told Churrkin with a pointed glance at her brother. "Then when we swim ashore, we can give 'em to anybeast who'll help us. As payment."

Deyna could see Skipper and a few other otters within earshot covering their amused grins at Tumbol's change in the story to keep from frightening the dibbuns. Beside her Tikky, who was now nursing his wounded pride and his wounded side, nodded sagely to Churrkin and the other babes who were staring at him and his sister in wonder. "Oy, every sea ottah in the Thundah-Holt has one o'these. Just in case."

At his inevitable mention of his heritage, a few of the otters who hadn't been at the morning's wrestling match looked up from their plates with expressions of awe and delight. "The Thunder-Holt, did'ja say?" one of them called over to Tikky in surprise. "What in the seasons brings you this far north, and in the middle of the night?"

"Nuffin' at all," Ricky laughed through a mouth full of crumbs. "Just explorin', really. We sleep durin' the day to avoid vermin, and go where we please."

"We 'eard about Redwall when we was at Salamandastron," Tumbol confirmed. "Nevahhs is always on the lookout for good vittles!"

There was an audible hush from the few otters around the table who hadn't heard about the night's events, but Skipper merely rolled his eyes and rubbed his temples at the family name that the visitors had brought up yet again. "Aye, you keep sayin' you're Nevarrs, mates, but forgive me if I honestly tell ya, I just don't see it!" There was a rumble of agreement from many beasts in his crew.

Deyna saw the hackles rise on all three siblings — Tumbol looked very close to bearing her teeth — but Mhera immediately stood to her footpaws and they remembered themselves in her presence. "There's no need to debate anyone's heritage here," she began calmly.

But Nimbalo waved his paw wildly for her attention. "Say, what's a Nevarr, any'ow? Why all the fuss about it?" Many of the abbeybeasts chimed in with him.

Down the table, Boorab looked practically delighted to be distracted from his pannier of raw cabbage. He snapped his claws at Skipper eagerly. "I say, ol' bean! Sing the jolly old Ballad of the Five Brothers! That ought to straighten out the confusion, wot! I'll even throw in a little accompaniment!" He paused abruptly and dealt Mhera a sweeping bow, so low that his long ears brushed the sandstone floor. "Th'tis, if the ever-so-wise mother abbess permits it! Wouldn't dream of interrupting her if she'd prefer to give the orders 'round here! Bad form, don'cha know."

"Hmm, that song may be the fastest way to explain things to anyone who isn't an otter here," Mhera agreed after a moment of thought. She gave Boorab a nod and a bright smile that made the hare's plain breakfast suddenly melt into the back of his mind entirely.