More Alexander material, continuing on from last chapter. Next chapter will be similar, follow the same trend you see here.

Chapter 52

Alexander felt he had enough secrets to keep track of already. Such has keeping secret his involvement with the rebellion, and the plans of that rebellion, as well as some more minor secrets that he had before coming here, which were certainly more trivial given everything else. Regardless, Alexander still considered them secrets, and not things he'd go babbling about needlessly, like various embarrassing moments from his rather short lifetime, and who really stole and ate the giant apple pie from Redwall's last feast. He felt he didn't really need anymore secrets than that.

And yet, he now had the quite heavy weight of Terra's secret of the hidden chamber with the missing maidens to carry on his shoulders. Not to mention the slightly lesser secret that the Followers of Gemini wanted to make Terra a member of the Quorum of Teachers, which worried Alexander to no end. Terra made it sound like a bad thing, like there would be no turning back for him is the worshipers succeeding, and Alexander could believe it. He knew how the teachers all acted; very calm and collected, passionately loyal to Gemini and the deity's religion, and not the least bit afraid to punish the wicked.

And Terra was anything but this. Alexander worried that if and when the Gemini worshipers attempted to have Terra join the quorum, they'd discover what the mole had been up to, and not only would everything the rebellion had been working for be lost, but Terra would likely lose his life. Or worse, and be forced somehow to truly converted to the demented religion they were reluctantly tied to. These fears were not helped by the fact that Terra was clearly thinking the same thing, or he wouldn't be contemplating joining the maidens Whyteflower, Slewtail, and now Silverpaw.

But Terra assured him to not worry about that for now. They'd cross that bridge when they came to it. But Alexander was still expected to keep it secret and it was...well...hard. Particularly when he met up with Deni later that day. The grey squirrel had rapidly become a friend to Alexander, and Alexander didn't want to have to keep any secrets from his newfound friend. But he knew and understood Terra's reasons for maintaining the secret, and also knew that by not keeping the secret he would, among other things, ruin the mole's apparently profound trust in the young squirrel.

So he managed to not tell Deni, nor anyone else he met and asked what he did that day.

And the rest of the day, and the night that followed, went on as normal, or as normal as things got in the sanctuary of the Followers of Gemini. That changed when the following morning arose, and the worshipers finally realized that Silverpaw had gone missing. They quickly began to search the sanctuary once classes began for the day, thinking she was hiding somewhere. They did this quietly, not really spreading word of what they were doing, but questions started to arise from among the students, and Alexander put two with two instantly, and grew nervous as a result.

Eventually, it was clear that something had happened to Silverpaw to make her go missing, and so the Followers of Gemini switched tactics, and started interrogating creatures seemingly at random, asking if they knew the young weaselmaid's whereabouts. Naturally, no one did save for Terra and Alexander, and Terra wasn't telling. Alexander wasn't planning on it either, but when the mouse teacher that watched over him came to ask him about Silverpaw's whereabouts, the young squirrel grew too nervous to keep a straight face as he quite poorly tried to tell the teacher that he knew nothing. The teacher wasn't buying it, however, so Alexander quickly came up with an alternate cover story, and admitted that he had seen Silverpaw break away from everyone else after dinner and go someplace else, emphasizing and he didn't know where that was at all.

The mouse teacher believed this cover story, and ended the discussion then and there for Alexander. But it caused the search for Silverpaw become more determined, and certain creatures were began to be interrogated more thoroughly afterwards. Some of them were members of the rebellion, which made Alexander worry that the followers were now interrogating those who they had reason to suspect might have had a paw in things. Fortunately, though, neither of them were Alexander and Terra, and therefore, there was no one else who would know Silverpaw's whereabouts, so the Gemini worshipers grew no closer to solving the mystery.

Finally, they organized search parties from members of the quorums, and they were sent to search for the missing weasel outside. They, of course, weren't finding any trace of her out there, though, as Silverpaw had technically never left the sanctuary. They weren't going to find anything at all, they were looking in entirely the wrong way. Though, that still didn't mean the danger wasn't over yet, as Alexander knew the followers weren't going to just drop the subject.

So he was feeling naturally nervous about the whole matter.

And apparently it showed.

"Yeh worried 'bout somethin' Alexander?" Surt asked at lunch, after a half day of the search going on. "Yeh look like ye're 'bout t' faint." he paused, and tilted his head as he studied Alexander, who was trying to not make eye contact. "Either that, or throw up. Yeh ain't sick, are yeh?"

Alexander mumbled incoherently to himself for a moment, poking at his food with a complete lack of want to eat it. "I might as well be." he finally replied.

"All this interrogatin' gettin' t' yeh as well?"

"...aye."

"Aye, me too." the shrew sighed, shooting a glare across the cafeteria where one teacher was in the process of interrogating a creature, no one they knew, right now. "Gettin' real annoyin', so it is. Don't 'elp any that they've gone an' interrogated me three whole times now. I mean, can yeh believe that?"

Alexander could, given the shrew's outspoken character. But he wasn't going to comment on that matter.

"So 'ow many times 'ave they interrogated yeh?" Surt asked next.

"Once." Alexander stated without hesitation, and was glad it had managed to stay to that.

"Once." Surt repeated. "Yeh've been lucky, so yeh 'ave, curse Gemini." he spat the name venomously, using it as a curse, his new favorite thing to do. Anything to defile the deity they were supposed to worship, and that so many had been killed over. "Can't say I 'ave. Must think I know somethin', but I really don't, though I'd be more than 'appy t' fight over th' matter." he grinned for a moment, then continued musing the matter. "Dunno if I even know this Silverpaw. Ain't she part o' our liddle group? Ah well, she clearly 'ad sense t' git out o' 'ere when she did, though where she went is anybeast's guess. Wish I knew where she went an' 'ow she got there." he shook his head. "Once." he repeated again. "Float me boat, Alexander, I dunno wot yeh're so worked up 'bout if they've only interrogated yeh once. If they 'aven't done it again since, I 'ighly doubt they would again. Not unless they think fer some reason yeh ain't tellin' 'em everythin'." he paused at this, suddenly looking thoughtful. "Yeh ain't, right?" he asked.

Alexander glanced up at him. "Oh," he said, "of course not."

"Yeh don't know anythin' more about this Silverpaw than I do?"

"No, don't think so."

Alexander thought he was pulling off some pretty good lies during this, but apparently to a shrew who's probably spent every hour of his life lying at least once, they were easy to see through, because Surt suddenly narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Alexander. The squirrel grew nervous and shifted uncomfortably.

"Really, I don't." he repeated to the shrew.

Surt didn't seem convinced. "Really." he muttered skeptically. "Yeh don't."

"I don't."

"Then wot yeh got t' be all worked up 'bout?"

"I'm miles from home, being forcibly taught a religion I don't even believe in, and might not have a home to come home to. How can I not be worked up?"

"Yeh're more uncomfortable 'bout th' matter than yeh were th' other day, then."

Alexander continued to shift uncomfortably. "There are a great many things I still need to work to keep secret, you know." he pointed out. "Lots of secrets."

"Secrets hmm?" Surt asked, putting extra emphasis on the word's plural tense, looking victorious. "How many secrets could yeh possibly 'ave t' worry 'bout?"

"Lots, I'll have you know!"

"An' none o' 'em 'ave anythin' t' do with a certain missin' weaselmaid?"

"No!"

"Then why are yeh shiftin' around so much like an young'un needin' t' go?"

Alexander paused, and realized he had been shifting around quite guiltily. He gave Surt an annoyed and frustrated look. "I can't tell you." he finally stated, hoping to end the matter then and there.

The shrew brightened at this. "So yeh really do know where Silver..."

"Shh!" Alexander quickly shushed, looking around nervously. Once he was certain that no one was listening, he leaned closer to the shrew and lowered his voice. "Look, she's in a safe place, all right? They won't find her there. I'm not going to tell you anything more than that, though. It's a secret."

"More secret than our liddle schemin' plots t' work against th' Followers of Gemini?" Surt inquired cheerfully, apparently pleased to learn this much about the secret he had discovered.

"As a matter of fact, it is. Only two creatures know about it, and I'm one of them."

"Who's th' other?" Surt wanted to know everything he could about this secret, apparently, even though it wasn't his place to know.

"Terra." Alexander replied instantly and without thinking. "And he want's it kept quiet, so tell no one."

"Well, why not?" Surt demanded. "I think I 'ave a right t' know!"

"Surt...there's a very good reason why I can't tell you!"

"Then just tell me, an' I'll know wot it is!"

"It doesn't work like that."

"Oh, I see, I git it now, yeh don't trust me."

Alexander winced, but he knew better than to try and deny it. "Admittedly...yes."

"I knew it."

"But Surt, can't you see why? You get in trouble with the Followers of Gemini everyday! They don't trust you either! We can't risk telling you something so secret if there's such a high risk of that secret getting out."

"Alexander, th' only reason I'm even still 'ere puttin' up with this whole mess is because o' yer liddle rebellion, an' th' 'ope it'll git me outta 'ere, sooner rather than later! Now yeh tell me, is that goin' t' 'appen?"

Alexander hesitated, and didn't reply, knowing he couldn't give the answer Surt was looking for. Escape just didn't seem likely to happen anytime soon. But he knew how the shrew would react when he was told this, so he hesitated from saying it. Unfortunately, Surt didn't need to be told.

"That's wot I thought." Surt grumbled, picking up his tray and rising from the table. "Fine, then. T' 'eck with yer liddle lot, I'll just do things me own way."

"Surt, you can't!" Alexander said, moving to stop the shrew as he started to walk away.

"Watch me, Alexander!" the shrew snapped, shrugging off the squirrel's paw, and marching off, leaving Alexander alone at the table. He quickly vanished into the midst of the many bodies that were currently in the room.

Alexander cradled his head in despair. "What have I done?" he murmured.


He found out sooner than he would've liked.

Later, after classes had resumed, it was clear that Surt was planning something. Thankfully, the shrew was in the same class as he and Deni, and was there for Alexander to watch closely. Technically, Surt, being a couple seasons older, should be in a more advanced class with creatures that were his age, but the shrew quickly proved he couldn't (or wouldn't) keep up with the lessons, so he kept getting bumped down to easier and easier classes until finally he arrived in Deni and Alexander's class. He couldn't go much lower than this, Alexander suspected, not without the followers finally catching on that Surt was probably and purposely refusing to learn, but he still could, and probably would eventually, but for now, he was here, and for Alexander, this was where he wanted the shrew, until he knew whatever it was Surt planned to "do things his way."

And as was already noted, he didn't need to wait long.

At the moment, their hare teacher was in the middle of explained how the Quorum of Priests worked. "Their job," she was saying, "is to exercise the various rituals that periodically need to be preformed so to remain in Gemini's favor. A most notable one is the offerings of the choice pickings from the crops we harvest and present to Gemini to take. Such things, we have learned, are pleasing to him, and..."

"Boooring!" Surt suddenly and loudly called out.

Even though hardly anything ever bothered the class and distracted it from the lesson, this brought everything to a halt, and everyone turned to look at the shrew in surprise.

"Excuse me?" the hare asked.

"Yeh heard me." Surt remarked. "It's borin'. Th' whole lot of it."

"I fail to understand." the hare remarked, calmly. "I do not find the teachings of Gemini to be boring."

"See, that's th' problem!" Surt said, standing up. "Yeh don't think that 'cause yer brainwashed t' believe in this junk!"

Several of the students, including Alexander and Deni, winced at this comment, and all eyes turned to the hare teacher to see her reaction. She was surprising composed.

"Please sit down, Brother Surt, and we will continue." she instructed calmly.

"But I ain't sittin' down 'til I've made a few things clear!" Surt objected.

"I am not interested in what you have to say." the hare replied.

"Well, yeh better be!" Surt snapped. "I don't like it 'ere, an' I ain't the only 'un!"

The hare suddenly looked at him as if quite interested, and Alexander felt his stomach drop, wishing Surt hadn't said that.

"Really?" the hare asked. "Such as?"

"None o' yer business! But I want out o' 'ere! I don't believe in this Gemini fellow, or wot yeh claims he teaches yeh! I wanted no part o' this from th' beginnin'! I ain't worth it t' yeh, anyway! So if yeh let me go, I'll get out o' yer fur, once an' fer all!"

Finally, the hare narrowed her eyes, and she advanced upon the shrew. The class watched with baited breath, wondering what would happen next.

"You will do no such thing, Brother Surt, even if you were allowed to leave." the hare commented coldly. "You would bring back an army and try to attack us." she gave the shrew a very leveled glare. "You would fail, as well."

"Try me." Surt barked. "I'm willin'. I'll fight yeh all t' me dyin' breath."

"Would you now."

"Anythin' t' avenge me father." the shrew was now returning the glare. "Th' likes o' yeh are wot killed 'im, after all."

"He was a wicked creature, and was refusing to repent."

"He was no such thing, an' yeh know it too, don't yeh? He never did a thing t' 'arm anybeast! But you, yeh an' this whole lot yeh've got, yeh've truly 'ave done things worth gittin' murdered fer."

"Hold your tongue, shrew. I will not allow you to speak such wicked things in my classroom."

"I jolly well will speak wot I want!"

"Not here. Gemini will not permit it. He will punish you severely if you continue, shrew."

"Gemini couldn't fry an egg!"

"I said hold your tongue!"

"Why? Yeh finally realizin' I'm 'wicked' too?"

"Like father, like son."

This was entirely the wrong thing to say to Surt. Alexander couldn't help but gasp as the shrew grew more angry than he had ever seen him before.

"Yeh...take...that...back." the shrew growled, barely staying calm to even speak.

"No. You need to know the truth. Your father was no creature to respect, and had no honor, being as wicked as he was. No creature should even give him another thought..."

The next thing anyone knew, the shrew was on the hare, and had the much larger beast tackled to the floor, pounding every square inch of body the shrew could get at. The class all arose at once and was quickly panicking, but didn't know what else to do but stand there and watch. But the hare knew how to fight as well, probably better than Surt did, and despite initially being caught off guard, she quickly worked to hold back the worse of Surt's attack long to get both footpaws under the shew and kick once with her powerful legs. Surt was instantly sent into the air, failing wildly, then hit the stone floor hard on his side. Dazed, the shrew struggled to get back up again and continue the fight, muttering colorful curses, but the hare wasn't going to let it go that far, and stepped forward, and with one strike knocked Surt out cold. The shrew crumbled and fell to the floor and did not move.

Not even panting, the hare stood over him for a moment, then glanced around at her class. All eyes were on her, looking somewhat frightened, especially know that they knew what this creature was capable of.

The hare wasn't worried however. "Please be seated." she calmly requested, walking up purposely up to the front of the room, leaving Surt where he lay.

The class reluctantly sat, all eyes watching the hare as she pulled a cord that hung in one corner of the room. It rang a little bell somewhere nearby. A second later, two teachers, a dormouse and a rat, entered the classroom.

The hare pointed at Surt's limp body. "Remove him, please, and take him back to his room." she requested. "Inform his teacher that he requires more attention, immediately. We should have done it sooner."

The two teachers nodded, and stepped forward and picked up Surt, dragging the shrew out of the room.

"Surt..." Alexander began, turning in his seat to watch the shrew be dragged out.

He went to stand without thinking, but Deni stopped him, and gently shook his head. He knew that there was no helping Surt now.

Alexander silently understood, and remained seated. He looked quite upset. "Deni, what can we do?" he whispered, as the hare resumed her spot at the front of the room to resume teaching.

"Pity him." Deni replied. "And worry for our own well being." he glanced away from his squirrel friend. "It's all we can do, Alexander."

The class then resumed like nothing had happened.