MAI SAT HIGH in her throne of gold, towering above the rest of the room. Cats, dogs, mice, hogs, and even a few other humans sat at the three long tables, eating fruit and pies and drink cherry-flavored water. There was much conversation among the corsairs and pirates, and Mai knew that sooner or later, a fight would break out; it was just another average meal in her castle.
"So, would you be liking some dinner, Niblet?" the blue squirrel at her side asked, offering up a tray of apples.
"How many times have I asked you not to call me that, Nibbles?" the human replied, raking fingers through the coarse, red hair that dangled down from her black snappy hat, "It's such a pathetic name! I 'd like to be called something more power, something along the lines of 'Mistress of the Seas'."
Nearly annoyed enough to send the plate of apples down Mai's throat manually, Nibbles tried again. "Look, 'Mistress of the Seas', I'm here to make sure you're healthy, not to try out your new titles. Now, are you hungry for these apples? If you don't want to eat them, I'll send them down to the slaves. They're hungry enough to eat them."
Mai's hand shot out for an apple. "And hungry they'll stay." The squirrel smiled, placing the tray on the throne's arm and pocketing her paws into the mint gingham she wore. Carefully, she began to back up and away from the island's queen.
"Nibbles,before you leave, would you tell me if news has come from Captain Bentwhiskers? How long ago did I send Bones to check on him? Two months? Yes, it's the seventeenth of November today."
"Bones has yet to return." Nibbles replied in a small voice. "Something must have happened to him. It was a small vessel- perhaps the Great October Storm sunk it?"
"Go to the docks and see if any vessels have returned today, would you Nibbles?" Mai picked up another apple and sank her teeth into it. Then, rising, she shouted to all the pirates, "Anyone who can bring me news of Cap'n Bones and his ship Pear-Smasher or of Cap'n Bentwhiskers and his ship Cabin Snatcher will be rewarded a bag of thirty-thousand bells! Do it by morning, and I'll make it two bags!"
The ringside tables used to eat dinner on were knocked over, and tidbits of food landed all over the floor in the scramble. Captains line up their crews and made plans to find the source of information. Ambitious captains who hungered for easy bells made their crews march through the taverns in search of anyone who knew anything, while realist captains, knowing that the only way to find real information was to get it themselves, set out to the docks to visit Captain Bentwhiskers on the island.
Nibbles thought herself to be at a loss. The task that was supposed to be for her had been given away, handed without a care to the countless other animals who served under Mai. Sadly, she left the dining hall, letting Mai alone to finish her apples.
By now the docks were nearly empty. All of the sizeable liners had been taken out to join the race for the island held by Captain Bentwhiskers, which showed on maps as the Island of Lost Dreams. Why the early explorers called it that, of all things, none knew. Either way, there wasn't a doubt in anybody's mind that Bentwhiskers had taken the island for himself, and they would soon be fighting him to uphold Mai's honor.
And poor Nibbles was left all alone with Mai. Sighing and sitting at the edge of the dock, the young squirrel allowed her tail to float on the water as her mind dwelled on her lousy position. How much trouble she would be in by Mai, for she would fail to find the information requested of her.
Her eyes were focused out on the ocean, where the deep blue waters came toward her in the form of waves, where she was watching the backs of the disappearing vessels. So lost in her problems was she that she took a moment to realize that a ship, a very small ship, was coming her way. At first, she thought it had to be a mirage.
There was a single mast, and a single sail that rippled weakly in the westerly wind. Only one ship in Mai's fleet was that small: the one dubbed Pear-Smasher by the blue, peeling paint on its front. Nibbles leapt up and squinted out towards the ship.
A single form stood on-board, the form of a human female with pink hair and a patched shirt. Her large, black eyes were filled with sadness, and her mouth was suppressed into a thin frown. Catching sight of Nibbles and the Fortress of Mai behind the dock, she heaved an unheard sigh and disappeared into the cabin to tighten the sail.
The monkey porter sidled up behind Nibbles. "Well, who's coming in, eh? Eeek, eek!" He asked, squinting his eyes to better read the name on the approaching bow. "The Pear-Smasher? Isn't that the one Mai's looking for? Why, Miss Nibbles, I do believe you have won Madame Mai's contest, eh, eek?"
"Hey down there!" the human had returned to the deck. Leaning on the wood edge, she narrowed her eyes in an attempt to recognize the two forms staring at her. "Can you tell me if this is the island of Queen Mai?"
"Yes, it is," Nibbles called back, "may I speak to the captain of the ship?"
The Pear-Smasher inched closer, ready to take up a place at the end of the jetty. "I am the captain, and the crew. Cap'n Bones and the rest shall probably never return to this island."
Nibbles bit her lower lip with her bucked teeth as the human struggled to heave the anchor overboard and lay the boarding ramp safely over the side. Captain Bones being lost would not settle well at all with Mai.
"Come with me, would you? Our Mistress of the Seas dearly wishes to hear of your adventures." the squirrel said, at the girl came down the ramp.
By the look on her face and the heavy gulp she took, Nibbles could tell that the human was about to face the inevitable thing she would rather not. Yet, she stood strong and followed Nibbles silently with her black beetle eyes devoid of fear. Apparently, she had been ordered to return to Mai by a superior.
The gravel road crunched underpaw and the bleak, black walls of Mai's Fortress loomed higher and higher over their heads until they were swallowed up by the heavy, obsidian front doors. Braziers lined the Entrance Hall, sending up thick, dancing flames that were promptly eaten by the black, oppressive walls.
In the chamber that branched off to the right, the dining chamber, Mai had dozed off in her throne. The sound of the black, wooden doors sliding against the polished planks of the floor was enough to awaken her. Angered at her nap having been interrupted, she focused her eyes on the human next to Nibbles.
"Ah, Kaita, I see that you have finally returned. And about time, too. Have you come as spokesperson for the crew?" Though Mai's voice was high-pitched and friendly, her brown eyes were filled with contempt.
"Er, something like that." Kaita replied, stepping ahead of Nibbles and continuing up to the dais that held the queen's throne alone. "I have been sent across the seas by Bones to bring a very important message and deliver his final farewell."
Mai sat back in her heavily-padded throne. There was no need for Kaita to continue, as it was obvious what had become of the crew, but she waved to girl on anyway. She would have to hear the news before deciding what to do about it.
"Just as scheduled, we reached the Island of Lost Dreams on the first of October. Cap'n Bentwhiskers welcomed us grandly and offered an exquisite feast of rich fruit, mouth-watering fish, and the best cherry wine on the seas. Naturally, we all ate it. But the food was filled with a sleeping draught mixed by Bentwhiskers himself."
Here Mai interrupted her. "I don't really care for long stories. Spare the adjectives and get on with it."
In a hurried voice, Kaita finished her tale with few details. "They us. Cap'n Bones and the rest created a diversion while four of us escaped and took Pear-Smasher back here. We got caught in a storm on the way and the other three were lost. Without enough people to work the oars and quite unfriendly winds, it took me a while to get back. Here's my message: Bentwhiskers has betrayed you. He's taken the island for his own and says he can defeat anyone you send to fight him."
"Kaita, I know your message is true, but I'm a bit wary of your story. There is something you're lying about, I can tell, and you will become my personal servant because you can't tell the truth." Mai smiled at the horrified look on Kaita's face, then turned to Nibbles.
"Niblet, go out to the slave yard and bring me Parker. We have a war to fight with a traitor in our ranks."