After a long night's journey of walking and staggering, Lily and Clover were forcibly escorted by Sainfoin and the Owsla through the main entrance to Efrafa. Clover stared at the chimney twin towers and giant crooked tree in slight awe, while Lily kept her eyes open for any doe whom could be Hyzenthlay, hoping she could find her and hopefully plan an escape with many other prisoners.
"Move it!" Sainfoin pushed Clover roughly, earning him a scathing glare from Lily.
Entering the tunnel within the chimney, the two does were told to wait at the pit of the warren's core. Another officer, named Avens (an auburn and brown mix buck with pale blue eyes), stood guard at the small opening, and he scowled darkly at the two newcomers when they made their entrance.
"Wait here," ordered Sainfoin, leaving to report to the council and had one Owsla officer stand guard to have the two does under his watch.
A small groan caught their ears as Clover and Lily discovered the form of a doe in the small opening of the pit. There lay Hyzenthlay, only this time the doe was battered and injured, and under strict watch by Avens. Lily studied her appearance, concerned by her condition.
"Are you alright?" Clover asked, worried. "Should I tell someone?"
"Tell someone?" Hyzenthlay sat up, disgusted by the question. "And who would you tell? Frith himself?" Her eyes widened slightly in inhaling Lily's scent. "And why do you smell like Man?"
"I used to live with humans as their pet. The name's Lily, by the way," she explained.
"My name's Clover," the second hutch doe introduced herself. "I've heard about this place. There's a doe here called Hyzenthlay. We need to find her."
Hyzenthlay studied the newcomers suspiciously, sniffing at Clover next. "Why do you smell like fresh straw?"
"I was freed from a hutch, just two days ago," replied Clover.
"I sort of helped her escape from a farm," added Lily.
"Two hutch rabbits... that explains why you look so soft, or why you look so hopeful," Hyzenthlay huffed, bitterly.
"What's wrong with being hopeful?" asked Clover.
Orchis came over, ending their conversation, later accompanied by Sainfoin who had just come back from the council.
"Bring her in, and keep these two in solitary confinement with Blackavar and Primrose until the Council will decide their fates," Orchis ordered.
"You'll find out soon enough," Hyzenthlay warned the does, just as the guards took her away for her interview with Orchis.
Clover and Lily gazed at the doe for a moment, just as Avens shoved them to move onward, escorting them through a dark glum tunnel. Along the way, plenty of the guards stared callously at them, making Clover shiver, but Lily kept her poker face on so not to appear intimidated. They had to stop and keep to the right for a minute, as a line of miserable does came lolloping passed them carrying flay-rah in their mouths, after half of the Owsla had returned from their raid and forcing the does to collect the food and bring it to a storage burrow. When they had gone, more does were seen kept in their burrows, some of them crying or talking amongst each other, until they saw the newcomers. Once or twice, Lily caught words of gossip along the way.
"I hope Hyzenthlay will be okay."
"Where did those two does come from? What will they do to them?"
"Do you think their ears will get ripped like Blackavar?"
"What will happen to Hyzenthlay?"
"I hear Orchis has a grudge against her after Charlock was killed."
"I thought he held Holly responsible for his brother's death."
"No, I heard Charlock and Bugloss got crushed by a giant hrududu on the iron road."
Arriving at a large boulder where two big rabbit sentries stood guard, then Avens instructed, "These does are to be kept in solitary confinement with these troublemakers until the Council reaches a decision on their fates."
Nodding, Moneywort and Marjoram worked together in rolling the boulder where an open burrow was revealed. Primrose and Blackavar stood silent and grim with sour and solemn expressions. Avens forced the two does to enter their prison cell, then the guards closed them off by rolling the boulder back into place, sealing off their escape.
"What happened to you?!" Clover gasped at the sight of this poor dark buck with torn ears and scars engraved on his body. "Have you been injured in some battle?"
Blackavar stared at the hutch doe for a baffled moment, then shook his head as he answered gravely, "No, I've been punished for trying to leave the warren."
"Oh dear." Clover's eyes widened in horror.
Lily figured out this must be the unfortunate Blackavar whom Holly told her about. He was just as Holly described; the poor wretch beaten and scarred by his tormentors made her fume in silence. "You must be Blackavar. I'm glad you're still alive because I want to talk to you. I want to get you, Hyzenthlay and every doe out of this dreadful place."
"By giving yourself up? Odd way of going about it," doubted Blackavar.
"Of course not, it's a long story." So Lily told him about the raid to Nuthanger farm, Hazel's injuries sustained by the farmer, Fiver's vision locating his lost brother, their tender reunion had transformed into an unexpected kidnapping when trying to find Bigwig.
"From what I heard, the Wide Patrol had been ordered to find your friends' warren, but no one believed they would have any luck with the fog... until now," Primrose recalled. "Although, I'm not sure if the Efrafans will believe you're hutch rabbits."
"I just hope Hazel will be okay," Clover sighed, dismally.
"He will be," assured Lily. "Fiver probably alerted Bigwig of their location and carried him back to the down."
"Where exactly did you say you're from? And who are you?" questioned Primrose, before she glanced at the boulder warily. "But don't speak too loud. In Efrafa, there are spies everywhere and even the walls have ears."
Nodding, Lily explained as quietly as she could, "My name is Lily, and this my friend, Clover. We come from a warren in Watership Down. It is a beautiful place, you can see the hills, the skies, and the stars forever. And the wind blows clean and free-"
"Don't talk about your warren anymore!" Primrose interrupted, sharp yet soft. "I don't want to hear it."
"What's wrong, Primrose?" Clover asked.
"In Efrafa, it's best not to dream of a better place," Blackavar replied. "Because you always wake up to these walls. It's difficult to be free because... every time you try to escape, you keep being brought back here... and the punishment for trying to escape... well, I'm an example to it." He displayed his scars to show them what he meant.
Clover shut her eyes in despair.
Lily shook her head in disgust at the dark rabbit's lack of faith in freedom. "So you're saying that you rather surrender yourself to Efrafa's cruelty than live a life in the outside world?! You give up only because of what those bullies tell you what they want you to believe! You just have to believe in finding a better place, just like Hazel and Fiver did when they almost gave up on finding Watership Down as our new home!"
"You don't understand!" Primrose protested. "In Efrafa, hope and believing is our enemy. That's why we fail multiple times whenever we try to escape... whenever we want to go home..." Her eyes shut tight as she turned away.
"Where is your home?" Clover inquired, curiously.
"Perhaps I better tell you our story, that included Woundwort and why Efrafa is what it is, if you want to survive." As Blackavar settled down on all four paws, accompanied by the three does as they made themselves comfortable. "From what I know of Woundwort, he used to live in a place called Darkhaven, but the humans drove the rabbits out. He was orphaned at a young age when his father and his siblings were killed by a pair of foxes while trying to steal lettuce from a garden, but not before one of the foxes scratched his left eye. A fire started in the chaos, his mother slaughtered by a weasel to protect him and his brother, Ragwort. Afterwards, they were found and taken in by a human. The human owned a cat, which occasionally tormented the rabbits whenever the human isn't looking. Once Woundwort escaped his hutch, he attempted to kill his first elil: the cat who bullied him."
"Did he kill it?" Clover inquired, stunned. "No rabbit could stand up to a cat, except Bigwig."
"No, he severely maimed the cat and escaped the human's cottage with Ragwort," Blackavar continued. "They found their way to Efrafa where Woundwort quickly usurped leadership and killed the former chief rabbit, Fiorin. Back then, Efrafa was in a poor state because of Fiorin's stupidity until Woundwort began his authoritarian rule and transformed it into a military base, where he gave strict codes for when to silflay, to pass hraka, outsiders forcibly detained, and any rabbit who tried to run away will be severely punished. He used these rules to imprison the female inhabitants of two of the conquered warrens, including Redstone, Primrose's home, and Nutley Copse, my mother's home warren."
"So, you were born in Nutley Copse?" Lily guessed.
"Not exactly," explained Blackavar. "My mother was taken prisoner with the other rabbits when General Woundwort attacked the warren. My father was an Efrafan captain who had been killed on Wide Patrol. As a kitten, I was proud of my father and grew up with the idea to become an officer in the Owsla. But my mother had strictly forbidden it because I was conceived not out of love, and she resented Efrafa, as I had come to realize this. I befriended some of the does who wanted to leave Efrafa, two of them were Hyzenthlay and Primrose, newcomers taken prisoner after the Efrafans attacked Redstone Warren. I encouraged them to give Woundwort a proposal to start an expedition to start a new warren. It was out of the question, but this warren is overcrowding, the system is breaking down, and most of the does cannot produce litters as their embryos dissolve and melt back into their bodies whenever they are anxious or unhappy. There used to be a great number of does in this warren, until they died of old age or the Owsla killed them off. Now there is only sixteen does left, though counting you two, that makes eighteen. Hyzenthlay, Primrose and a few others were separated to prevent further plans of leaving. Hyzenthlay took charge as their leader, often hatching plans to get the does out of here and they looked up to her with great admiration. Primrose is the second-in-command, she's our heart and soul." He noticed Primrose blushing at his compliment. "We tried our luck of running during silflay when nobody was watching, while most of the does dug a tunnel underground to get out of the area. Unfortunately, the Owsla captured us and brought us back. They found the tunnel and sealed it off by making the ceiling crumble down. I was deemed a traitor, and the Council tore my ears. Woundwort decided that I must be presented before every mark as an example to discourage further ideas of escape."
"Oh dear..." sobbed Clover, the sorrow and sympathy on her pretty features.
Lily gently placed a paw on his shoulder, as to show reassurance and her condolence for his loss. Her thoughts mused back to what it felt like to losing a home. "Tell you the truth, I got separated from my home when the farm caught fire."
Primrose gazed at her sadly. "I'm sorry."
Suddenly they heard the boulder being rolled over to open their cell. Lily, Primrose, Clover and Blackavar gasped, startled. There stood two familiar rabbits whom Lily had never seen before; Campion and Vervain, both accompanied by the intimidating Ragwort. In Lily's mind, Vervain was the ugliest buck she had ever seen, but for Campion, he was the most attractive buck in the warren, second best to her dear Bigwig.
"Good news, Primrose... you are being freed, but you are to be remarked," Vervain smirked, fixing his hideous smirk at the two hutch does. "The Council made the decision. You're lives are being spared, but you will be marked and kept under surveillance if either of you try to run off."
"And if you..." Ragwort pointed sharply at the worried Primrose, "think of escaping us for a second time, you will be severely punished!"
"Follow us, please." Campion instructed, not smirking nor threatening them like the two bucks beside him, but he suspected what might have happened in the cell as he studied the prisoners' facial expressions.
"Goodbye, Blackavar. Please, keep believing in hope," Lily whispered goodbye to the dark rabbit, as she and Clover and Primrose left his cell where the guards rolled the boulder back into place, imprisoning poor Blackavar inside as the torn rabbit gave the three departing does a little smile.
Trailing through the same darkened glum tunnel that Holly and his comrades once did when marked brought a painful memory back for Primrose. Even if she couldn't feel it, she could still feel that creepy rabbit's sharp claw buried in her hind leg.
"Where are we going?" Clover inquired.
"You're to be marked," Primrose explained, hastily. "On which body part determines where you'll live in Efrafa, what time you can go out, either to eat or to pass hraka."
"That doesn't sound right."
"It's to keep you safe from elil or humans. It's best for you to give up trying to run away in exchange for your safety."
Lily shook her head, fuming, "Those are lies! It's nothing but a load of hraka!"
"I'd watch your tongue if I were you, outsider!" Vervain snarled, twisting his head in her direction and glaring dangerously.
Climbing down the small round staircase, they arrived at the small basement where that huge, monstrous, creepy rabbit with droopy ears and sharp buck tooth waited patiently. He was busy sharpening his longest nail, growling eagerly to bury his claw in the does' bodies.
"Which of you wants to go first?" demanded Ragwort.
Though hesitant, Lily decided to volunteer so to protect Clover and Primrose. "I'll go first," she said.
Sliding down the iron grate to reach the bottom, Lily bravely approached the creepy rabbit. He caught her by the scruff of her neck and pressed her down to the iron floor. He sniffed and growled at her. Then he started to mark on Lily's right shoulder, causing the doe to wince in agony. She could feel a part of her flesh and fur opened. Her claws extended, engraving a set of marks on the iron floor.
Clover and Primrose stared at their friend in horror, forced to watch her suffering of the mark. But they were astonished at how Lily never cried out or screamed. When it was over, Lily limped back up out of the basement.
"You alright?" whispered Clover.
"It hurts," Lily quietly assured her, before she advised, "be brave and don't scream."
"You're next!" Vervain instantly pushed the trembling Clover forward and she tumbled down the grate and into the basement.
Displeased, Campion cast a cold frown in the ugly rabbit's direction. Lily noticed this, as she recalled Blackberry telling her of his reaction to Moss' mistreatment by Charlock. A little voice in the back of her mind told her that perhaps Campion was not as bad as he looks. Sensing the doe's gazing at him, Campion's cold blue eyes glanced her way and Lily had to avert her gaze.
"Campion's not all bad," Primrose whispered to her. "Sometimes I feel like he's the only decent rabbit in Efrafa. But he's very loyal to Woundwort, no matter what."
Pressed down on the cold floor by the creepy rabbit, Clover felt her right hind leg pierced by the sharp claw. The hutch doe began to whimper as the nail tore open her fur-covered skin. When the mark was completed, the droopy rabbit removed his nail and pushed Clover out of the basement, as the doe limped her way out to rejoin her friend. Next, it was Primrose's turn. She descended down the iron grate, where the creepy rabbit pressed her down with superior strength. Primrose winced slightly when her left arm was torn open. Finished with her remark, the pale yellow doe limped her way out to rejoin the others.
After their marks had been finished, Lily, Clover and Primrose were escorted outside to the warren's courtyard, where a small group of does were being forced to lie underneath a scorching sun in order to oppress them. A few sentries stood guard on the broken stone hedge, keeping their eyes peeled for any signs of trouble. Ragwort had to return inside the burrows to speak to his brother. Primrose rushed forward, where the does greeted her warmly.
"Hello..." Clover politely greeted the does, as they just stared at her and Lily. "Aren't you all hot, lying there in the sun?"
"And what do you suggest we do about it, hutch rabbit?" Hyzenthlay questioned, dryly.
"We have to be out here, for certain hours for each different marks," Primrose explained sadly.
Clover thought it would help that perhaps that everyone should head back inside. She climbed up on the stone hedge and politely asked one of the guards, "Excuse me? The does and I are very warm and wondered if we could move in-"
But the Efrafan guard callously struck her, and Clover fell off the wall to the ground.
In a flash, Campion cuffed the Efrafan guard across the face, angrily chiding, "Do that again and I'll cuff you harder this time!"
Lily hurried over to help her friend up, aiming a scathing glare at the Efrafan guard, she was secretly impressed how Campion stuck up for her friend like that.
Primrose watched in deep concern, before she glanced up at Campion with amazement for coming to her friends' aide. "Thank you, Captain Campion."
"You watch yourselves now," Campion cautioned, sternly. "In Efrafa, you do as you're told."
Primrose nodded, although the others knew she only did to feign obedience. The two hutch rabbits limped their way towards the small gathered group of does. Hyzenthlay wasn't the only doe present. There was Vilthuril and Nettle immediately, but there were others all whom glared suspiciously at them and some whom felt sorry for them; Thethuthinnang, a doe with a coat of tawny golden fur and faint white marks around her orange eyes. And there is Nettle's younger sister, Nelthilta, a long nosed doe with bright blue eyes and a coat of buttercream fur.
"It's worth the try, hutch rabbits," Thethuthinnang kindly spoke to them, who was the only one other than Vilthuril and Primrose, concerned for them.
"Don't talk to her, Thethuthinnang!" Nettle warned harshly.
"Are you Hyzenthlay? I want to talk to you." Clover recognized the doe, recalling their earlier conversation.
"There is no doe here by that name," Hyzenthlay denied, coldly.
"Please. I know the rabbits from the other warren: Blackberry, Fiver, Bluebell and Holly," pleaded Clover.
"She's lying!" accused Nettle, bitterly.
"No, you can trust me."
"She's telling the truth, Nettle. They know Holly and the others." Primrose tried to stick up for her new friends, confused at why the does are behaving so scornfully. Then she glowered at her leader. "What's the matter with you Hyzenthlay?"
"For all we know they could be spies," warned Hyzenthlay.
"We're not spies!" protested Lily.
"YOU!" a familiar voice interrupted. "What are you does plotting now?!" Vervain leapt forward, glancing suspiciously at the group.
"Nothing! We're just chatting with our girlfriends," Lily denied, trying to act innocent.
"Need I remind you the General will be on his way out for inspection, and you're all a mess," added Vervain. "Groom yourselves!"
"Who cares what we look like?" Primrose replied, disgusted. "Why should we groom ourselves at this time of day?"
"Because it's expected. Groom yourselves, now!" ordered Vervain.
Rolling their eyes, the group of does began to lick and groom at their paws, arms and ears. Lily and Clover had to do it as well, otherwise there will be trouble for them. Some of the sentries standing by watched the does' grooming with creepy expressions that made Lily think of stalkers.
"I know you're thinking of escape, Primrose. And I hope you try, I really do," Vervain snarled smugly at the pale yellow doe, "because I want to be the one to catch you." He bent downward and leaned his face closer to hers. "I'll make you scream for the Black Rabbit of Inle, but he'll be a long time coming."
Those words made Primrose squirm, but Lily was quite fed up with Vervain's bullying. Her eyes narrowed fiercely. The voice in her head encouraged her to fight back. "That's enough!" she snarled. "Leave her alone!"
Vervain lifted his head mildly disturbed, but mocked at her defiance, "And what are you going to do about it, outsider?"
Without another word, Lily lunged forward and bit him on the left ear, yanking a piece of his flesh off. Vervain squealed in anguish at the unexpected bite. The does gasped in surprise at the hutch rabbit's defiance, even Campion was taken aback. The guards' eyes widened, alerted by Vervain's cries and stunned by what just happened.
Vervain's ear was dripping of blood, but he grew angry by the doe's rebelling. "I'll teach you a lesson you won't forget!" he roared, raising his paw to hit her.
Campion, realizing what the abusive Vervain intended to do, growled furiously as he jumped off the stone hedge and was close to striking Vervain to protect the new doe, whilst Bartsia leapt forward to join Vervain's fight.
"ALL BUCKS TO ME!" General Woundwort bellowed from the chimney's entrance.
The does gathered together at the broken part of the stone hedge, watching warily as General Woundwort emerged from the shadows and into the courtyard. Campion and Vervain left the does and assembled in line with all of the other soldiers, including the Council, as their leader inspected them carefully. Ragwort stood in the shadows, calmly watching. However, the General paused when his eyes shifted at Campion and Vervain.
"You're not on wide patrol," he grumbled.
"We've just brought the two hutch rabbits outside after their marks, sire," Vervain tried to explain, then attempted to tattle on Lily for ripping at his ear, "that doe, she-"
But Woundwort had no time for such trivial nonsense as he ordered, "Then go out again!" His voice increasing the volume as he raged, "Until you find the outsiders, until you find their warren, UNTIL THEY'RE ALL DEAD, UNTIL I TELL YOU TO STOP!"
Vervain trembled like a coward as the General's voice made his ears, including Campion's ears, fly back.
"Wide Patrol Owsla, fall in!" shouted Campion, and three tough bucks by the names of Mallow, Thistle and Gorse marched in.
Vervain was still grumbling at the General's refusal of listening to his report of the hutch rabbit assaulting him, nevertheless he glanced back at the does with a cruel sneer. "I'll have that little troublemaker shaking at the sight of me. You watch and see."
Disgusted, Campion's eyes flashed fire when he neared his face closer to Vervain as he angrily threatened him, "Treat anyone like that and you answer to me! We're Owsla, not mad dogs!"
Stupefied by his rival's warning, Vervain said no more words.
No sooner had the Wide Patrol left Efrafa, the General's eyes shifted over toward the does. One particular and lovely hutch rabbit caught his mismatched eyes, taking a deep interest in her; Clover, who shuddered at her first sight of the powerful and deadly ruler of Efrafa.
"Bring her to my quarters," Woundwort whispered to a guard, who happened to be Bartsia.
Bartsia nodded, then he whispered something else in the General's ear. Woundwort's eyes widened slightly, then his eyes shifted in Lily's direction. Woundwort nodded at Ragwort to follow him, gesturing at whom they were going to lecture. The three bucks approached the hedge stone while the does backed away, frightened by the General's massive intimidating appearance.
"You, approach!" Ragwort ordered, gesturing his paw out to Lily, much to her shock.
As she stepped forward shyly, Lily feared this would have something to do with her attacking Vervain and she was about to receive her punishment. However, Woundwort did not stand on his hind legs like Vervain did earlier when ready to strike someone.
"A strong-willed doe..." General Woundwort smirked, though Lily was surprised by his compliment. "You're not short of nerve, are you? Hardly any doe in this warren has the strength or nerve to engage in physical combat with a Captain of the Owsla, but you seem to prove an example of that," he chuckled. "You keep fighting every officer in my Owsla until you tire yourself out... and then, we kill you." The General's voice darkened as he bent down closer to her eye level, his extended claw lifted her chin up forcibly to gaze into those savage mismatched eyes. "The next time you're caught in the same offense, you may not have another chance." This time, he spoke in a cruel, mocking tone. "You seem to think you're here to fight and defend these slaves. We are the ones to say what you are; a slave in Efrafa, a doe under our Mark and under our orders."
"You train your bucks to behave like Men, who abuse their power over them," Lily spoke, calmly yet coldly enticing Holly's words. "They never set their wits to devise ways of manipulating or spoiling other rabbits' lives. They have dignity and animality - both of these qualities of which you lack."
Murmurs and whispers started within the crowd all around them, as the General and the hutch doe gazed loathingly at one another. The tyrant towering over the smaller doe, hoping his size can at least intimidate her. The doe never backed down at least one bit. This was the very creature who nearly enslaved her friends, any thoughts of tackling him were pushed away to avoid being killed.
"Count yourself lucky that you are still alive," Woundwort cautioned her, coldly. "There will be no further occasion for you to waste my time." As he let go of her chin, he turned away. "It is Lily, isn't it?" he asked, correcting her if that is her name. "I shall remember you, Lily."
The second the General nodded at Bartsia to have Clover brought to his den, the soldier began to shove Clover forward, much to her surprise. Lily tried to intervene, but Ragwort blocked her path, growling. The other does began whispering amongst one another, stunned by Lily's courage and nerve, whilst others still doubted her loyalty to them because they barely knew her.
Sometime later, Clover is brought to the dark burrow of General Woundwort. She looked around nervously, frightened and wondering what the General had in store for her. Suddenly the massive Chief Rabbit made his presence, forcing Clover to become silent and fearful.
"I see you have been marked. An unpleasant experience, I know. But a necessity, nonetheless," said Woundwort, as he circled her. "There's a warren somewhere nearby that's been causing us trouble. First, we thought that you and your friend were from that warren, but today I heard on the wind that you're actually an escaped hutch rabbit, just like your friend."
Clover's eyes widened in horror, someone must've told him where she came from.
"A few here know that I lived in a hutch for a brief while," he recalled, back to his traumatic childhood from his imprisonment in a hutch. "But like you, I managed to get out. And here I am. From hutch rabbit to Chief Rabbit," the General reflected, quite proudly.
Leaning close enough down to her level to the frightened Clover, Woundwort sniffed at her scent, inhaling it deeply for he found it entrancing. "King of the warren... but Kings need Queens, an empire is born not in a lifetime." He placed his massive paw on top of her tiny paw, whispering seductively, "But over generations, don't you think that's right?"
Distressed, Clover realized what his intentions were of her. She refused to look him in the eye and refuse his offer, feeling not quite as brave as Lily was back in the courtyard.
"You need time to settle in. You may leave." Woundwort dismissed the shaken doe, deciding to give her time to settle in Efrafa and think it over. "Clover? It is Clover, isn't it? I don't like to be disappointed," he warned, just before he disappeared within the shadows.
Meanwhile, Lily and the does had to return back to their burrows once their time out in the blazing sun was over. The does were looking forward to rest in their cool yet darkened burrows. The Council had decided to have the newcomers, Lily and Clover, share a burrow with Vilthuril and Thethuthinnang because, like Blackavar mentioned earlier, the burrows are overcrowded.
"So, did Fiver and the others really make it out alright?" Vilthuril questioned, hopefully.
"Yes, he's safe," assured Lily. "They're all safe. It sounds like you've taken an interest in Fiver."
"I've never met anyone quite like him before. He reminds me of myself," sighed Vilthuril. "Sometimes I can tell when things are true. Sometimes I can see it... a high down with trees in it... rabbits living happily and peacefully amongst friends..." she sighed, dismissing these visions. "I've become foolish to believe in them."
"That's where I live! The high down with trees in it and rabbits living there!" Lily gasped, astonished. "You'll have to tell Fiver about your visions when we get out. He talks just like that."
"How do we get out?" inquired Thethuthinnang.
"I haven't quite worked it up yet." Lily shrugged her shoulder, embarrassed.
At that moment, Clover entered their burrow. The poor hutch rabbit was shaken and trembling violently.
"Clover, what happened?" asked Lily, worried.
It took a minute for Clover to find her voice. "The General... he wants me... to be his... queen."
"He what?!" Lily gasped, incredulous.
Vilthuril and Thethuthinnang exchanged bewildered looks, gazing sympathetically at her.
"Oh, Lily! I don't know what to do! I wish Hazel was here!" Clover began to cry, burying her face in her paws.
As Lily gently pulled Clover into her embrace, her thoughts mused on her last conversation with Blackavar, Primrose and Hyzenthlay. She wanted to do something to help the does get out of Efrafa, Blackavar included, instead of surrendering themselves to Efrafa to avoid death, and to prevent Clover from becoming Woundwort's mate. Some promises can't be made without making them, but Holly's promise to free Hyzenthlay was one of those promises she would fulfill. It wasn't just Hyzenthlay, Primrose, Blackavar or the does who needed to be rescued. Clover needed to be rescued from an unwanted courtship.
"It's alright, Clover. I'll do whatever it takes to get us out of here, all of us. I promise," Lily vowed, silently. Oh Frith, please guide Hazel, Fiver, Bigwig and the others to find us. If not, help me find a way to free everyone from this prison, even if I die trying.