Chapter 6 – To Paris!
Tammy couldn't tell how many hours she had spent in the secluded darkness of her cell. She had lost by now any notion of time. She didn't feel sleepy, though, so she ventured it wasn't nighttime yet out there. Or was it? Truth is, she had cried to sleep a while ago, as now bits of dreams tainted with anguish and distress came back to her.
Secluded in absolute darkness, as she couldn't tell any difference between closed eyes and open eyes. She had also suffered a panic attack, for she had awoken with the thought of being dead, or worse, buried alive. In fact, the only way she could snap out of that fantasy and declare herself alive was to relish on the pain from each scratch and bruise in her body. As result, she hadn't dared to cast cure spells on herself yet.
She was secluded in absolute silence, as she hadn't heard any noise beyond her own breaths in many hours. There was nobody with her in the cell or even on the other side of the walls. No words from her friends to comfort her. She could only hope the reason behind the lack of noises was that the wardens had locked her friends away from each other to avoid any second escape attempt.
Not long after the girl had succumbed to sleep again, noises of heavy footsteps pierced through the silence, followed by loud sudden creaks when the door swung open with fury and let in blinding torches lights.
"Stand up, little one" A voice Tammy recognized as Arnold's commanded. "Time to move".
"Where are you taking me?" She asked while raising her paws to protect the eyes.
"To the king, of course! Everybody is already there"
"Everybody?" Her voice almost broke out of renewed hope. "My friends as well?"
"Everybody! Oh, but I almost forgot. I got to take you there tied up"
The teenager squirrel was guided from the dungeons all the way up to the upper lever of the keep. On her way there she was able to notice a huge amount of tapestries and ornaments in urgent need of cleaning and washing. The corridors smelled unpleasantly and the stairs were so dusty they held deep pawprints of people who had walked by before. In general, the keep of Stone Coffer was in a most dire state of decay.
"Ugh!" Tammy wrinkled her nose. "You could hire some maids to clean this place up!"
"Yeah, well…" The brute rat looked around. "king Capone says cleaning is a waste of time and money, since everything gets dirty again in a couple of nights. Besides, he doesn't want to be compared with the previous king, who was too tidy of a squirrel"
"Huh? The previous king was a squirrel? What was his name again?"
"Captain Olivier, I think? Makes you wonder, how can somebody be a captain and a king at the same time? Anyway, I never met him in person. He died in Paris. Then we invaded, killed everyone who stood on your way and claimed the keep, all in the name of our king Capone"
However, upon stepping on a piece of rotten food, Arnold couldn't help but wrinkle his nose as well. "Huh, perhaps we should have let the keep's chamberlain live"
Some minutes later, they arrived at the throne room carved in stone. Filthy and smelly like the rest of the place. The former innkeeper's hosting senses jumped with alarm at the sight of food plates laying all around the floor; ripped banners with more pawprints hanging out from the walls by mere threads; even blood stains sprayed behind the throne. The poor girl had to spend her whole force of will to overcome the urge to vomit.
On the other side, the brutish rat had told the truth when he said everybody was there. The room was crowded with thieves, mercenaries and other shady folks. Even that horrible mockingbird was there perched over a destroyed statue. Foxglove, Dale and Gadget were at the foot of the throne: knelt, tied and flanked by armed rodents. Desiree D'allure was there as well, at the right side of the throne, giving everyone around flirtatious glances while fidgeting with the edge of her favorite knife. At her side, and trying hard not to show any hint of nervousness, was a vole dressed in a luxurious scarlet robe and black cape.
"A inquisitor here?" The cleric girl stopped awestruck. A push on the back was necessary to bring her back to reality. As result, she fell heavily on her knees next to her friends.
As she raised her eyes, found that Rat Capone was just arriving from his own quarters upstairs, then sat on the throne and looked around with a condescending grin from ear to ear. Indeed, He was feeling especially proud of himself tonight, being able to look past his desire to keep the female prisoners as a private harem, like these kings from middle east used to do. No, this time he was determined to act as regal and divine as the human king of France: Just focusing on the monetary value of these females, who by fate's hand had appeared at his doors, and pretending from them nothing else.
Once the last of the valuable prisoners was settled and secured for display in front of the throne, the rat king addressed the sweaty vole. "See, monsieur inquisitor? I've got the three bounties you were looking for, alive and in a good shape. Well, if only we had to take some measures to avoid another unpleasant escape attempt"
The king was telling the truth, as they had Gadget gagged and her paws inside a pair of old and rusty iron gauntlets, which didn't allow for any finger motion. The silk coat, her father's heirloom, had been taken away, which left her wearing only her long black silk robe and sash.
"So, I've fulfilled my part of the deal, monsieur Bonnet. Heck, even their minstrel companion is here. However, I don't see any bags of gold with you and that is a problem"
The atmosphere of the place tensed up, as all the eyes of the court turned to the unarmed vole inquisitor. These eyes that had become addicted to the otherworldly glitter of gold nuggets and were eager to kill for the mere sight of it.
That was other reason Capone decided to part with these prisoners: the greed of his subjects, which he had learned to keep satisfied to a certain extent.
"Yes, about the rewards…" Bonnet the inquisitor gulped down. "Well you see, Rouen inquisition office didn't issue the bounties, so we are not required to pay them from our coffers"
Many around gasped and, after a moment of processing what the vole had just said, a furious Capone smashed his clenched paw against the throne and jumped straight. "What do you mean you won't pay? Aren't these the witches you are looking for?"
The vole felt like shrinking. "Yes, they are, they are! I get this whole situation is confusing, your grace, even for us at Rouen! Just today we learned Paris inquisition office had been spreading bounties all over the region without consulting with us first. We - We had no need for bounties! We were handling the problem successfully with the local garrison's support. Now, if you want to claim the rewards… huh… I'm afraid you must take the prisoners to Paris"
"To Paris!? Are you kidding me?"
"You are not the only aggravated party here, your grace! We were ready to put one of this group, which we captured ourselves, on public trail and execution tomorrow. Now… now we are debating between proceeding forward or surrender him to Paris"
These words were received with alarm by Tammy and her companions. "Who? Who are you talking about!?" The cleric asked alarmed.
"Chip Maplewood, of course. The fallen ranger of Maulevrier"
Dale squirmed, trying to slip out of his shackles. "Hey you, don't you dare put your fanatic paws on my friend! He is innocent! Hum… we are all innocent"
King Capone rubbed his temples, disappointed with these turns of events. He sunk on his throne again and threw a rabid killing stare to Bonett. "Let me, let me get this straight. We need to take these bounties to the inquisitors in Paris if we want to receive any gold, is that correct?"
"Yes, yes… that's correct. High priest Lawrence Meunier is in charge there, he will…"
"Foutre!" The king interrupted Bonnet with a curse word in french, then turned to his most trusted mercenary. "Desireé, didn't you told me you desired to leave for Paris tomorrow morning?"
"Oui, my king" She nodded courteously. "A family matter demand me to arrive there as soon as possible"
Her companions, a group of scavengers mixed among the gathered crowd of thieves and cutthroats, grinned in complicity. The real reason for their travel was still secure.
"Oh, indeed you will go!" The king rubbed his paws together, and the dream of thousands of golden nuggets flashed in front of him again. "Fortune smiles on both you and me, inquisitor. Desiree D'Allure is my most trusted advisor. She will take my bounties to Paris and collect the reward for me"
A wry smile from the trusted advisor, together with a plain nod, gave the king a signal of agreement. Her tense body, however, told everybody else in the room she had just accepted the command with reluctance.
Bonnet, meanwhile, felt satisfied enough. "All right!" He clapped his paws together. "I believe it's all settled then. If your grace allows it, I'll take my leave. Where is the dove stable? I need to go back to Rouen at once to report the good news"
"Actually, I don't allow you to leave"
"Huh, what?"
At his command, Capone's guards surrounded the flummoxed vole. "Please, I insist you stay here on my keep for some days" Capone ordered with a wolfish grin. "Once Desiree comes back with the gold from your organization, you will be free to go"
All color drained from the inquisitor's fur as his paws were held and tied together. "Wait, wait! Am I being taken hostage?"
"Hostage? Such a strong word, inquisitor! Think of yourself more as an insurance. A triumph card in case this priest Lawrence you mentioned intends to play the same game as you and tell my men to go to Rome itself to collect the reward!"
"No! Let me go at once, I order you!"
"Ugh! Arnold, take our guest to the dungeon. Desiree, I leave the prisoners on your capable paws. I'm sure everybody here will wait eagerly for your return. Isn't that so, comrades?"
Wild shouts of approval reverberated across the throne room. So many thieves were excited about this new adventure and the promise of gold at the end that only one or two noticed the burly figure of Arnold leaving the room with Bonnet – still resisting - on tow.
The king had just called for another round of wine to celebrate when Pietro slipped like a shadow and whispered some words at the ear of Desiree. Words that were received with an arching brow. The female then stepped forward and called for everyone to shut up. "Stop, stop! King Capone, what about this pink bat? She isn't one of the wanted criminals"
"Huh? Is not? Let me see these warrants again"
Just as the rat went through the bunch of bounty notices, both Foxglove and Dale looked at each other with growing fear.
"Blow me down, you are right!" Capone's eyes set on the tied bat and glowed with an indisputable spark of lust. "And to think we were just going to send her away! No, my girl… you will be better here, in my castle, at my side"
Foxglove froze and shut her eyes close as Capone walked towards her with the intention to touch her face. "Please, no…" The bat shivered.
Dale, on the other hand, got berserk and fought off the restraining chains with all his strength. "Don't you dare touch her, you filthy rat!"
But for Capone, such threats were more like an invitation to continue. "Like this, you mean?" He said as he ran his paw from Foxglove's cheek down to her neck, and ended up tearing her shirt to expose her bare shoulder.
"You monster, I'll kill you!" The chipmunk tried to reach him again and again, every time barely restrained by the guards.
The crowd around fell in silence – every second more disgusted by the scene unraveling in front of them. The shivering fear of the girl, the screams of her boyfriend and the desperate efforts of their friends to get rid of the chains and help somehow. How different this Capone was, as opposed to the late Olivier and his chivalrous mannerisms which, more often than not, provoked embarrassed smiles on his comrades. With these memories still fresh, more than a pair of thieves found themselves reaching for the pommels of their knives.
Fortunately, the sharp Desiree read the atmosphere and reacted by addressing the king with her best and most persuasive voice. "My king, I believe we can still get a profit out of this cutie bat"
Capone's ears perked up while the eyes kept devouring Foxglove's figure. "A profit?"
"Of course!" She continued. "By taking advantage of the animosity between the church and the bat clans of our forests. Chiropters have such a bad reputation, I'm sure they will pay dearly for one who was involved in the events of Saint Pierre. It suits the church's narrative to the letter"
The rat simply flashed at her a cold smile of disagreement, but Desiree still had one card left to play. "That means more gold for us"
Now truly irked, Capone opened the mouth to order his advisor to shut up. However, the command was cut short by an echo that came from the crowd: "More gold for us!"
And soon the whispers among the gathered thieves became cries of support. "More gold for us! More gold for us!"
Despite his obvious intellectual flaws, the king knew better than to jeopardize the level of approval he received from a population of greedy criminals. As result, grinding his teeth, he took his paw off the young bat and walked as regal as he could back to his throne, if only to signal he was still in charge.
"As I was saying" He spoke calmly, hiding his true feelings. "Desiree, take this foul bat with you to Paris. Make sure you get a good price for her, understood?"
The female mercenary nodded and bowed down with a flourish of her paw. "Your wish is my command, your grace"
And so, the audience came to an end. Capone walked away to his quarters as fast as he could. His face a mask of bitter disappointment. Tammy, Gadget, Foxglove and a still irate Dale were dragged out to the mainyard to sit and wait while the expedition got assembled. At a certain moment, Desiree walked by the chipmunk and playfully whispered to his ear: "Don't forget, you owe me one"