Chapter 5: The Kingdom to Come Part 2: Old Tom

He was awoken later to find enough hours had passed to turn night into the next day.

"Good morning," Aranella greeted him with a smile.

"Good morning," he yawned. He hauled himself off the ground and stretched out the aches and pains he had acquired from sleeping on the hard ground. "I could kill for some coffee," he grumbled as he scrubbed the sleep from his eyes with the heel of one hand.

"What's coffee?" Evan asked him, curiously. Aranella must've woken him first, because he was already up and sitting with his knees hugged to his chest.

"It's a drink that helps you wake up."

"That sounds very much like tea," Aranella observed.

"It is, but I don't drink a lot of tea, I'm more of a coffee person. Though I'm not gonna lie," he dropped his hand and looked up, "I'd go for some tea right now if we had some."

She smiled sympathetically as she replied. "Well, I'm afraid you'll have to make do without either, as will we all." Her smile became more amused as he heaved a sigh, and she wordlessly handed him a sandwich.

"Anything else happen during the night?" He asked as they ate. Evan looked up from his sandwich with a mixture of puzzlement and alarm.

Before he could say anything, Aranella was speaking. "No," she replied, shaking her head. "But if they're following a standard search pattern, I would imagine they'll be on this position by tomorrow night, if not earlier."

"Who?" Evan asked.

"Patrols," Roland replied simply. "I saw one last night, possibly around midnight."

"Oh…" he replied, gaze and ears drooping.

"We'll have to leave as soon as we've all finished eating, and keep to the trees where we can," Aranella added. Evan nodded absently and wordlessly before taking another bite.

They lapsed into silence as they continued eating, and got to their feet once they'd all finished.

"All right," said Roland. "Let's go." As Aranella had guessed, they were not far from the first bridge and had crossed the second by midday, where they stopped for lunch before pressing on. They were not far from the entrance to the pass running through Snaketooth Ridge when darkness began falling once again, signalling the end of another day. "Looks like we'll have to make another camp for the night," he stated, again unnecessarily. "But I guess that's better than trying to deal with the pirates in the dark."

"Indeed," Aranella agreed. "Though, as I would imagine they'll be turning in for the night themselves, this could present us with the option of attempting to sneak through if we felt we were up to it."

"I was thinking about that, but Martha said the King's Cradle is on an island to the north. If we help the pirates out, we might be able to get some information from them on how to get there."

She looked thoughtful at that and raised a hand to her chin. "Oh. That's a point," she conceded.

"Runcible?" He asked. "You seem to be the resident expert on camping, so we'll leave it to you to find us another spot."

"Higgle," Runcible saluted. And so he did. Once they'd eaten their dinner, Roland took the first watch again, and frowned when he saw torchlight far off in the distance in the area where they'd made camp the previous night. He silently hoped Martha was all right and continued to watch the torches moving up and down, but as they didn't seem to be getting any closer, he let them sleep on. By the time it came to trade off with Aranella, the torches were gone, moving off into the distance back toward Ding Dong Dell.

He was awoken the following morning, a little later than yesterday if he was not mistaken. "Since we're so not far from the canyon now, I thought I could afford to let you sleep in a little longer," Aranella explained. "We should be safe from Mausinger and his forces once we reach the other side."

"That's assuming we do," he replied. He noticed Evan looked downcast at the prospect of failing to secure passage and what that entailed, so he quickly added. "Though I'm pretty sure we will. They'll doubtless have plenty of chores that need completing so, more hands will mean more gets done. I'll be real surprised if they don't take us up on our offer." He frowned and raised a hand to his chin in thought. "But if they don't, then… we'll have to reconsider our options." He shook his head, letting his hand fall back to his side. "But we'll cross that bridge when we get there, if it comes to that."

Evan nodded, now looking more hopeful. "Right."

They ate their breakfast and got to their feet. "Let's go then." And they were off. As they drew closer to Snaketooth Ridge, Roland realised that the curiously shaped structures coiling through the mountains were not a natural phenomenon as he'd previously assumed but were actual skeletons; The weathered remains of some gargantuan creatures that he was very glad were long dead. "So what made those?" He asked.

"They're the bones of Kingmakers that died in the wars that once ravaged the land," Aranella explained.

He looked to her in astonishment. "Wait, those were Kingmakers?!"

She smiled in amusement. "Yes, we did say they could get quite big didn't we?"

"You weren't kidding." He looked to Evan in disbelief. "And you mean to tame one of these things, Evan?"

"Impress, not tame," she corrected patiently, raising a finger. "They're not animals."

"Right, sorry."

"But as I also said, not every Kingmaker reaches this colossal size."

He quirked an eyebrow of confusion. "Is there a… reason for that?"

She nodded and gestured in explanation. "Kingmakers are empowered by the citizens they protect. The more people who believe in their king, the more powerful the bond between king and Kingmaker, and the more power the Kingmaker has."

"And this is why a Kingmaker shows up to challenge the ruler if they lose the people's faith? Because it means they lose the power to protect the nation?"

She nodded. "Yes, that's right."

He gestured in questioning. "So would that mean they'd also lose power if lots of people moved away, or died suddenly?"

"Yes, it would."

"And with all of the unrest in Ding Dong Dell, wouldn't this mean that Oakenhart is one of, if not the weakest Kingmaker?"

She grimaced. "Yes, I'm… sure it does."

His expression became a mild frown as he asked, "So how did you last so long if that was the case?"

Aranella looked off absently into the distance. "It seems that war was the only force that could unite the people. There are accounts of how Oakenhart grew so big that he would tower over people's homes during those times."

Roland's eyebrows raised involuntarily. "I see. And… the Kingmaker we're hoping to impress, they'll be very small and weak won't they?"

She nodded. "Yes, they will." She raised a finger in warning as she continued, "But don't go thinking that will make them desperate or willing to form a bond with just anyone who comes along. If Evan fails this Kingmaker's Trials, I'm afraid," she shook her head, "there isn't likely to be a second try."

Roland shifted his gaze Evan who gulped. "No pressure, huh?" By now they had arrived at the entrance to Cloudcoil Canyon. Recalling Martha's words regarding "eyes in the sky", he looked up but couldn't see anything to clue him in to what she'd meant. "So… where are these Sky Pirates?"

Aranella looked skywards as well, as did Evan. "We may need to go further in before we encounter any." They all looked ahead to the entrance to the pass but none of them moved, as if they were each waiting for the other to take the first step. It was Runcible who was the one to lead the way.

"Runcible!" Evan called after him.

Runcible looked back. "Higgle!" He beckoned them over.

"That little Higgledy's braver than I am," Roland remarked.

"He's braver than all of us," Aranella agreed. They followed and as they ventured deeper into the canyon, the lush greenery of the Rolling Hills gave way to dry rock and earth. Withered trees here and there suggested that once upon a time, the canyon may have looked more vibrant than it did today. But after whatever it was that had caused the shift in habitat, only the hardiest of plant life grew here now. The way ahead opened out and they were all surprised to find a grimalkin merchant idling with his llapaca seemingly waiting for someone or something.

"Look at that," said Roland. "It seems we're not the only ones who thought to come this way."

Aranella clutched a hand to her chest in hope. "I wonder if that means more will have managed to escape."

"Let's hope so. And let's hope they made it through the pass as well." He frowned and placed a hand on one hip as he added, "But if this is the obvious and only way out of the lands controlled by Ding Dong Dell, I'm surprised the soldiers haven't thought to set up a blockade here."

"Perhaps they feel the Sky Pirates are an adequate deterrent?" She suggested. "Otherwise, I don't imagine the pirates would be too appreciative of Dellian forces occupying their territory, and becoming embroiled in an altercation with an enemy force so soon after the coup would be the last thing the mice would want to do."

"Right, good point," he conceded and looked ahead. "Anyway, we should go say hi."

The grimalkin merchant brightened when they approached. "Why, hello there! I'm Thomas, or Old Tom as most people call me."

"Hello, Mr Thomas," Evan replied brightly. He placed a hand on his chest. "I'm Evan." And gestured to Aranella and Roland as he introduced them. "And this is Aranella and Roland."

Old Tom smiled around at them, inclining his head in greeting. "A pleasure to meet you all. Would you be interested in making a little purchase today? I have some lovely fresh herbs in stock if you have guilders to spare."

They exchanged looks. "This is a little out of the way for a market stall isn't it?" Roland quipped, one hand going to his hip.

Old Tom's eyebrows disappeared into his hat. "Why your accent… you must be from Broadleaf if I'm not mistaken."

He blinked. "Uuh, sure. Originally."

"Are you from Ding Dong Dell?" Evan added.

"Why yes, I am," Old Tom nodded in confirmation then looked from Roland to Aranella. "And judging from your clothing, you must be as well." He sighed, shaking his head in dismay. "Dreadful business that coup. I didn't much like the look of how things were going, so I made good my escape while I still could." He gestured to them with both hands. "And I see you all did as well." His expression became sympathetic as he turned to Roland. "And you have my sympathies in that regard, Mr Roland. To have left ones home to find another, only to lose that too," he shook his head, "is most unfortunate indeed."

"We all lost our homes that day," Aranella observed both sadly and somberly.

His shoulders sagged at that. "Yes," he sighed in agreement. "So we did."

"How did you get here?" Roland asked. "We came up from the south, and we didn't see you on the road ahead of us."

"That would be because I made my way here from the north," he explained. "The journey is not as long from that direction, but I had to dodge patrols on the way. And the patrols have been stirring up the local monster population – even more than they are already – so I had to avoid them as well."

"Oh I see. We've been able to stay ahead of them, so we've been pretty fortunate in that regard."

"Indeed."

"Do you know if anyone else has managed to escape?" Aranella asked hopefully.

He nodded. "Yes, I believe so. I was more concerned with my own safety at the time of course, but I'm fairly certain there was a group that was ahead of me." He shrugged hopefully as he added, "I presume they must've made it through the pass already, as there was no one here when I arrived."

"So what're you still doing here if I may ask?" Roland asked, gesturing towards him.

"Unfortunately in my rush to leave Ding Dong Dell as soon as I could, I wasn't able to collect all of my wares or money."

"Ah, so you don't have enough of anything to barter passage through the Canyon?" he stated more than asked.

He gestured in explanation. "That is what I am waiting to find out. You see, before all of this business with the coup transpired, some merchants from Broadleaf arrived with the most marvellous of inventions. Leafbooks, they're called. As my most valuable of wares I made certain to secure my stock before I left. I gave one of them to the Sky Pirates as payment and they are now in deliberation over its suitability to their needs."

"So…" Roland raised an eyebrow in questioning. "They'll be back?"

"Yes," he nodded. "They will be returning to give me their answer, though they did not give me a time frame." He shrugged helplessly as he added, "Nor can I tell you how long I have been waiting as the flow of time is much harder to judge in the Canyon than it is on the plains."

"So we just have to wait for them to return."

"Indeed," he replied with a nod. He smiled pleasantly, spreading his hands in invitation as he added, "And you are quite welcome to wait here with me if you're so inclined. I shan't mind the company at all."

"Thank you," said Aranella, returning his smile with one of her own. "That is most kind of you."

"Um, pardon me, but what's a Leafbook?" Evan spoke up. One hand was raised to his chin and his head was tilted in puzzlement and he was wearing an expression of confused wonder.

"I was wondering that myself," she added.

"Yeah… so was I," Roland confessed, rubbing the back of his head. Off Old Tom's look of confusion, he added. "I left Broadleaf some time ago. We didn't have Leafbook back then."

A look of understanding blossomed on Old Tom's face. "Oh then allow me to explain," he replied happily and eagerly. He spread his hands as he continued, "It's the greatest place to find the latest news and gossip from all over the world!" He raised a finger. "And the device for accessing it is the hottest new product from the technological wizards over at Broadleaf Inc.!" He stopped when he noticed their expressions and scratched sheepishly at his sideburns with one finger. "Ah do forgive me. Launching into a sales pitch is a force of habit that is hard to break I'm afraid."

Evan smiled. "That is quite all right, Old Tom."

"So it's some kind of device we can use to get the latest information from all over the world?" Roland concluded and raised his eyebrows involuntarily. "That sounds like it would be pretty useful…"

"It's a shame we don't have any money with which to buy it," said Aranella.

"You don't have any money?" Old Tom asked.

"No," she replied with a shake of her head. "We had to leave in rather more of a hurry than you did you see," she added, gesturing towards him.

He blinked first then scrutinised them more closely at this. "Why just a moment. That greatcoat. Your uniform." His eyes went wide in realisation. "Why goodness me, you must be from the castle!" He threw up his hands in further realisation. "And heavens above, could it be…?" One hand went to his chest in hopefulness as he asked, "King Evan? Is that you?"

Evan smiled and nodded. "Yes, it is."

"Why, Your Majesty!" Old Tom dropped to one knee and bowed his head. "Please do forgive my rudeness, King Evan."

Evan held up his hands in objection. "No that's all right. I didn't think you were being rude at all. Please, stand."

He stood and grasped his hands together in relief. "Your Majesty, I'm very glad to see you safe and sound. The rumours say you were driven out of Ding Dong Dell. We all just assumed that you had perished."

Evan hung his head. "Well the first part is true. But thanks to Aranella and Roland here, I'm alive and well."

"Then if I may ask, what is your next move, Your Majesty?"

"We're hoping to get through Cloudcoil Canyon in order to reach the Cradle of Light."

Old Tom blinked. "You are?" He assumed a thoughtful posture. "If you're seeking the Cradle of Light, then you must seek the Kingmaker enshrined within."

Evan nodded. "That's right!" He raised his fists in eagerness. "I'm going to build a new kingdom where everyone can live happily ever after."

"Then…" Old Tom blinked at him. "What of Ding Dong Dell?"

"I don't think there's much we can do about Ding Dong Dell," Roland cut in. "We're just three people after all."

"Well that is true…" He gestured with one hand. "But there would be many that would rally to Evan's side if he called for them."

"I'm sure there would be, but that would mean having to find them, or finding a way to get the word out without jeopardising Evan's safety. Or the safety of the people joining him."

Old Tom raised his fists. "But what better time than now? While Ding Dong Dell is still in turmoil?" He spread his hands. "They'd never see it coming."

"Well…" Roland faltered for a moment. Old Tom's reasoning wasn't exactly unsound, and truth be told was probably the plan of action Roland himself would've suggested if his goal had been to put Evan back on the throne of Ding Dong Dell. But it wasn't, so he had to take a moment to figure out an effective counterargument. Although if he was being honest, the level of ignorance the others were displaying regarding the full picture of the current state of affairs happening in Ding Dong Dell was beginning to irritate him. So maybe he could let that do the talking instead? He took a deep breath that he exhaled through his nose and folded his arms, fixing the grimalkin in a glower of interrogation. "Let's be honest about what you really want, shall we? You want Evan to take revenge on Mausinger. You want Evan to take revenge on the mice." He quirked an eyebrow. "Am I wrong?" Old Tom was silent, so he pressed the issue. "Have you stopped to consider that they're the ones taking revenge on you," he gestured towards him.

"That doesn't make it right," Aranella objected, turning to him with a most disapproving scowl.

"I'm not saying it does," he replied with a shake of his head. "But responding in kind doesn't make it right either. As far as I could tell, every single mousekind soldier in the kingdom heeded Mausinger's call. They did that for a reason. Removing him isn't gonna make that reason go way. If anything it's likely to make things worse."

"I see," said Old Tom in such a way that Roland raised an eyebrow at him. "Of course you would not be up to date on the news emerging from Ding Dong Dell."

"What do you mean?" He asked flatly.

He pulled out a small green device with a leaf motif that Roland immediately assumed to be the aforementioned Leafbook. "See for yourself."

Roland wordlessly took the Leafbook and opened it while Evan – with Runcible sitting atop his head – and Aranella crowded around. The technology was similar to that of back home so he had no trouble in immediately discerning how it worked and how to operate it. He went straight to the entries regarding Evan's coronation and the coup, which were now a couple of days old at this point, and skimmed through them quickly – ignoring Evan, Aranella and Runcible's protests – until it became readily apparent that the only person who seemed to be the closest thing Leafbook had to an official correspondent, was the platform's moderator. If anything they were certainly the most illuminating.

Devotees of the royal doings of Ding Dong Dell are in for a treat, as the new king gets ready to forge a kingsbond with the might Oakenhart! Will young Evan meet with the Kingmaker's approval? What does the future hold for the kingdom? So many questions, but only time will tell!

Unbelievable news is emerging from the palace of Ding Dong Dell, folks! Apparently the late King Leonhard's most trusted advisor, Lord Chancellor Otto Mausinger, has seized power for himself and has driven the young heir apparent – Prince Evan – out of the kingdom. Only time will tell what this will mean for the future of the nation of cats and mice.

The latest entry, Roland read aloud. "For those of you following the happenings in Ding Dong Dell, we have another update. Just this morning, King Otto Mausinger – formerly Lord Chancellor – made a speech to the nation on his first day as king. Here's what he had to say."

Ding Dong Dell, the morning after the coup

Vermine stood atop the terrace that overlooked the King's Pond and stared out at the crowd assembled below. They had all been organised into three groups; One for each of the races that lived in Ding Dong Dell. He turned when Mausinger joined him. "Your Majesty," he bowed. "They are ready to receive your address."

"Excellent." He raised his arms and the low murmur of conversation died away as all eyes were on him. "Citizens of Ding Dong Dell. I am sure you all know who I am, but allow me to introduce myself regardless." He placed on his chest, "I am Otto Mausinger. No doubt by now you have all heard the rumours of how I have seized power for myself, and have driven Prince Evan out of the kingdom." He raised his hands in a gesture of placation as he said, "So let me assure you that those rumours…" A sneer twisted his features as he declared, "Are all true." A confused and in some cases, horrified outcry arose from the gathered crowd. "And it is I," he placed a hand on his chest again, "who stands before you as your new king." The outcry turned to an uproar. "You require proof of course, and you shall have it." He called forth his sword and held it aloft. "Here it is! The sword over which Oakenhart and I swore our pact!" At his words it began to glow with the unmistakable light of a kingsbond and the crowd gasped… and then fell silent.

He dismissed the sword and continued. "Now you may be wondering, what does this all mean? Well you need wonder no more, because that is precisely the reason that I have gathered you here today." He turned to his people with a warm smile and held out his hands to them in invitation. "To my fellow mousekind, I offer you a gift. The gift of freedom. No longer will you live in misery." He shook his head. "No longer will you live in fear. From this day forth, it is we," he raised his hands, "who will be the masters of our future." He clenched his firsts as he triumphantly declared, "And it will be a glorious future indeed!"

His attention turned to the now nervous and agitated grimalkin with a look of contempt as his hands fell back to his side. "To the grimalkin, who have persecuted my kind for centuries, I offer you," he raised a fist, "retribution. All that you have done to us shall be repaid in kind." He gestured dismissively, "You will oppress us no longer. You will control us," he shook his head for emphasis, "no longer. For the first time in your miserable lives you will finally be made to endure what we," he placed a hand on his chest, "have had to endure for far too long!" This statement was punctuated with a sweep of his arm, as if he was cutting the air with his bare hand.

For a moment it seemed as if he would end his speech there. But then he turned to the final group his expression unreadable. "And to the humanfolk, who stood by and did nothing, whilst my people suffered, I offer you…" he held out a hand, "a choice. Stand by mousekind, and I will show you benevolence. Stand by the grimalkin," he gestured towards them as his expression hardened, "and you will share in their fate. So make your choice," he narrowed his eyes, "but know that we will be watching you always."

His final statement was directed to the crowd as a whole. "A great change will be sweeping the nation. But until that time comes you are to return to your homes to await further instruction. That will be all." He swept away as the crowd erupted into cheers from the mousekind and cries of horror from the grimalkin, while the humanfolk looked on with deeply troubled expressions.

A/N: I don't know how this keeps happening. But Mausinger keeps perfectly positioning himself to appear at the end of the chapter. At least this won't happen from this point on, as we won't be seeing him again for a while. :p