Chapter 10 The Princess sets Camp, The Swordmaid Acts
It is the beginning of the winter of the Early Snow. The badger Sagaxus and his incorrigibly gluttonous friend Bescarum have returned for another visit. We eat and huddle in our warm abbey while the snow falls and the cold winter's wind howls. It can be boring, but I have to say it's better than freezing. My uncle Skipper and his crew are away by the sea while my brother Rumbol and some other otters are in Redwall safeguarding the woods. Meanwhile, I have made a disturbing discovery that I need to bring up to our Abbey Warrior, Triss.
Churk the otter recorder of Redwall put away her quill and made her way out of the gatehouse. As the otter exited the warm gatehouse, her teeth chattered involuntarily as the freezing winter winds hit her. Quickly as she could, the otter made her way to the abbey and shut the door behind her.
In Cavern Hole, there were still some abbey-beasts eating midnight snacks. One of them was a young hare tucking into a woodland trifle, or what was left of it.
"Bescarum isn't that your third trifle already?" gasped Sagaxus. The young badger was staring at his hare friend in shock.
"Nope it's my fourth," replied Scarum. The badger slapped his paw to his forehead in exasperation. It was then that Sagaxus saw Churk approaching and stood up, bowing politely at the same time.
"Evening Churk, what brings you here?" asked the badger.
"I just want to find Triss. It's regarding the decreasing amount of vermin we've been noticing the past two seasons. I've been doing some research and I have a hunch," explained Churk.
"She's in the Great Hall. May I join you two?" asked Sagaxus. Churk nodded and the two set off to Redwall's Great Hall.
Churk and Sagaxus found Triss staring at Martin's picture in the tapestry of Redwall. The squirrel was staring so intently at the friendly, yet determined face of the warrior mouse that she didn't notice the otter and the rather large badger until they moved in front of her vision.
"Staring at Martin's picture again?" frowned Sagaxus. Triss nodded, a pensive expression on her face. The squirrel had been finding herself continuously revisiting the tapestry to stare at the image of the warrior. She soon got tired of standing and had moved a chair so that she can examine the tapestry in a more comfortable manner. Lately, Triss had been feeling restless due to the inactivity forced onto her by winter. More disturbingly, the squirrel felt as if she had forgotten something important and that she absolutely needed to remember it.
"Triss, I need to talk to you about Arganu," said Churk. Triss's ears perked up and turning around, she frowned.
"Remember our old friend Mokug?" asked Churk. Triss and Sagaxus broke into wide smiles as they fondly remembered the friendly golden hamster who had helped them find the lost badger home of Brockhall.
"He had something else in the script of the Pureblood Ferrets."
Triss blanched and Sagaxus gritted his teeth as Churk took a small, well used, but expertly forged dagger out and placed it on the table.
"Mokug had a knife which had the Royal House of Riftgard label on it. He gave it to me on the day you guys left for Riftgard as a thank you present for solving the riddle. I use it to sharpen my quills. Just yesterday though, I found this knife, could do this." Churk grasped the hilt of the dagger and twisted. Half of the hilt unscrewed to reveal a small empty space and a small rolled up piece of parchment in that space.
"The parchment was in the pureblood ferret script. Here is the translation," said Churk grimly. The otter gave another piece of parchment to Triss and as the squirrelmaid read on, her eyes got wider and wider.
"To Arganu, Prince of the Royal House of Riftgard,
Hello cousin, if you are actually smart enough to find the message hidden in this dagger, you might have a chance of finding some treasure in Brockhall. Good luck to your expedition. I will miss our games of chess in which I usually win.
Arcturus, Prince of the Royal Pureblood Ferret Caste and Warden of the Castellum de Cruor
The silence which followed this was the something that every creature wanted to break, but no one could. The badger's massive mouth was moving, but no sound was coming out. In contrast, the squirrel maid's mouth was shut, with lips pushed together, ears pointing straight up and eyes narrowed. Finally, Sagaxus managed to recover his voice and speak.
"So Arganu has a Pureblood Ferret cousin. Are we certain he will take revenge on Arganu's death?" asked the badger disbelievingly.
Triss shook her head. "Even if we aren't certain of his relationship with Arganu, those ferrets are evil conquering vermin who will like nothing more, but to harm innocent woodlanders. Also, by killing Arganu, we've given them an excuse to attack us and they are going to take it. We have to act, now! If vermin activity has decreased that means that… "
The otter blinked, "Woah, Triss, it's only a hunch and while we should be worried that Arganu has a sibling, there's no need to act right now?"
The squirrelmaid stood up so quickly, she upturned the chair she had been sitting on.
"I am not going to sit and do nothing while Kurda's relatives are preparing for an attack!" snarled the squirrel. With that, Triss marched off to the exit of the Great Hall, but Sagaxus barred her way.
"Where are you going Triss?" demanded the badger. Despite the tone of his voice, the badger's expression was one of concern.. Pushing past her friend, Triss continued past Sagaxus.
"To look for allies, we are going to need them. Tell Abbot Apodemus I must borrow Martin's sword once more," said Triss.
South of the Castellum…
Mara's force was making good time. The vermin's paws crunched as thumped as they marched down the road that cut the snowy expanse of the north in half. The majority if the princess's force was composed of Ratguards. These rats were varied in size and colour, but carried the same weapons, which were a spear, round shield and short sword. There was an assorted mix of weasels, stoats, common ferrets, a few foxes and the odd wolf. The weapons and armour these soldiers sported were diverse. They ranged from flails, to swords, scimitars and spears. Some had armour, others had no armour at all. All of Mara's soldiers were strongly built veterans or had seen some combat. Each of the soldiers had weapons and were well armoured.
After they had pitched camp, Mara made her way to the campfire Todd and his friends were sharing and pitched herself down.
"For a moment back there, I thought I was dead. Thanks guys," laughed the ferret princess. Todd, Metalclaws, Nibbleteeth, Bladepaw and Blacktail guffawed.
"What about the time in which Razortooth hit you? You didn't think you were dead back then?" frowned Todd. Mara punched Todd lightly.
"Idiot! For a moment, I was dead! He hit me that hard, I still have the bruise," boasted Mara.
"That's why you never get any suitors at your door," teased Blacktail.
The white ferret arched an eyebrow at the fox, "What about you Blacktail? Are your ways with the opposite sex still as pathetic as I remember them to be?"
Bladepaw and Blacktail exchanged glances and grinned, much to the puzzlement of the others.
"Actually, they aren't. Bladepaw introduced me to a vixen, we were going to be married, but this came up," said Blacktail. Mara was crestfallen and Metalclaws was quick to realize why.
"Caw Caw, you worry too much Mara, Blacktail's vixen is in our force. She's our chief healer. You should meet her some time," said Metalclaws. The white ferret let out a sigh of relief, she was afraid that she had burdened her friends even more.
Night had fallen and Lewis and Abby were sharing a tent. Abby though, had trouble sleeping.
"Abby, what's bugging you?" asked the squirrel. Lewis was enjoying his really comfortable bedroll, but Abby's tossing and turning was spoiling his sleep. The mouse sat up, her fur as messy as her thoughts.
"Lewis, remember those…vermin at the campfire?" asked Abby. The squirrel nodded, he recalled the night's events quite clearly.
"Those vermin, they were eating, chatting, much like normal beasts. They certainly weren't your average vermin. What's your point Abby?" said Lewis.
The mouse sighed, "I always regarded Mara's care for us as a freak of nature, that she was just an odd one out. Now…I'm not so sure. What I saw, was beasts we woodlanders regard as vermin, being friendly. Does that mean that even vermin, have the capacity to be as good as anybeast?" The squirrel was silent for a moment.
"I don't know. What I do know, is that these vermin are certainly not a threat to us woodlanders and I will gladly fight by their side if the time comes."
The Castellum de Cruor
In a well lit room, a great map of the lands from the North to Southsward lay on a long table. This was King Arcturus's war room, where he planned his strategies. Now, the ferret king's narrowed red eyes were directed at where the Northlands. Thoughtfully he turned to face an ermine, a northern harrier, a rat and a wolf.
"Captain Taron, Captain Screamclaw, Captain Morde and Captain Bloodfur, where do you think my daughter has decided to escape to?"
The four all frowned and began staring at various parts of the map.
"Milord I think she might have decided to head north to gather more troops in order to oppose you," guessed Captain Taron. Arcturus rolled his eyes contemptuously at the ermine captain.
"For any normal vermin warlord, they would head north, but my daughter wouldn't. Her ideals are too uncompromising for her to just enrol any ragtag mercenary into her traitor force. She gains nothing by going north so she won't go north. Does anybody other than this lackwit have any more suggestions?"
As the ermine captain bit his lip, the rat spoke out.
"Sire, she might be along the west coast, trying to find ships in order to escape by sea. Our navy is non-existent and the princess might try to exploit that advantage in order to escape your wrath," pointed out the rat. The ferret king glanced at the location of theNorth seaon the map, but only for a second.
"A sound guess captain, but I disagree. My daughter gets easily seasick and most of the troops she took with her have no experience with sailing. She can't escape by water no matter how she tries."
"Then she must have headed east!" insisted Bloodfur.
"Why not south?" demanded Screamclaw. The wolf captain rounded on his bird counterpart.
"Go South? To Salamandastrom, Redwall and the woodlanders who will kill her on sight?" laughed Bloodfur, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Knowing Princess Mara and her sympathy for woodlanders, she will try to warn the woodlanders of our impending assault. Therefore she must go south!" The two beasts glared at eat other, until Arcturus spoke up.
"I think it will be wise to check both east and south. Screamclaw you go south with the Sky Strikers and Captain Taron. Meanwhile Bloodfur and his wolf pack will go east along with Captain Morde. Find my daughter and bring her head back on a stake. Return in a month's time if you cannot find her. We need as many soldiers as possible for the invasion. Dismissed." The four captains saluted and went to prepare their companies.