Review Responses:
One-Eye: That could be very bad indeed... read TBBU and find out how bad!
Abe: Ironic, is it? The only beasts capable of being good parents do not have children of their own. Thordan, Sigrun, Niels... Lorcan's a pretty big excpetion. Valdemar? A villain? You will have to see soon... Tournaments are a Jade thing, and I hope I could write it well. The Waycaster brothers? Champions? Haha! They shouldn't even attempt to meddle with politics! Renart being a degenerate again. I mean, Grey said that mine was the third best Renart he had ever read, so it can't be that bad. But then, he did only read three Renart stories... Maurice - yep. Based him on a kind man with the same name. Also a calm guy. Emetselk being nonchalant is intentional, as his Sixclaw appearance would suggest. Everybeast in that fic is pretty chill. A happy ending? In the Jade TeaLeaf universe? You are a very amusing person, Abe!
Keva: From within... what exactly is Dagbert implying to Niels? The duels will be nice to read, I shall say. Hopefully. and further future talks! One out of three down, at least. Could any of the two come true?
Unspoken
DALAGAB, THE LIGHTNINGSHARD
After the Watershard and the shrews, Igeyorhm could say that she (the days of he were long gone) enjoyed herself. Admittedly, she had seen much and learned much, including more of Conjuration, but the taste of battle lingered still. The white shrew was tough, despite what her companion would say.
"So you're telling me that this Halmarut's my father?" the marten watched Fandaniel moan about his parental issues once again.
"If you happened to be Sigurd Swalestrom, then yes." The hare nodded, a paw on his head. "My memories are filling up slower than usual, which makes nothing certain."
"Well, this is certain." Emmeroloth walked out of one of his contrived shadows. "I wasn't expecting a massive parental review like at the end of those stories, so I could truthfully say that I am quite relieved."
"You're ruining sappy moments again, fox." Igeyorhm tapped a footpaw repeatedly. "You have a talent in ruining the most intricate of things. As all vermin do, actually."
"We're vermin now, Iggie." Fandaniel rolled his eyes.
A knife or five manifested in the marten's paw. "Do not use that nickname. Ever. Or I might simply gut you again and again and again. Without even touching a knife. You'll just die."
Halmarut rubbed his chin. "Then live again? To be completely honest with all of you, having the capacity to be reincarnated devalues the prospects of living itself. What meaning is there to life if we live after we die?"
"Life has meaning, Father!" Fandaniel decided to be noisy again - Igeyorhm hated it when that happens. 'You just need time to find it."
"I know that!" Stretching a paw forward, a spear sprung out of the Rift and into the hare's paw. "I have this spear. I remember it, but the one that I hold in my paw is a mere replica. But I recall not what came before I received the original."
"You should have hints! Or are you too much of a hare to remember the important stuff?" Igeyorhm had no connection at all with her daggers, and she was better off without. Halmarut had Gungnir while Fandaniel had Balmung - blast these ex-Swalestroms and their barbaric naming of weapons!
"Quiet, you!" The hare shouted. "I remember an ottermaid. Somebeast before…"
"Great." Emmeroloth the black fox spoke. "Now you've managed to limit your search down to half of the lutrine population." He shook his head. "Your memories had been tampered with."
"What?"
"For a good cause, of course." The fox sneered. "Don't want you to do anything that may get you killed ahead of schedule. Ask Emetselk for that later after your next mission. You have your secret identity and stuff. Expect to be called Gerlach for the time being."
Halmarut revealed a wan smile, spear returning to under his wiast.. "I like the name. May I ask that Fandaniel may accompany me on my next mission?"
The Thaumaturge shook his head. "I doubt that would be possible. You three are going in vastly different directions. One of you will get to return home, while one of you gets to roam far, far away into lands unknown."
"Stop playing games, fox." Fandaniel was stone-faced - the stoat's ideal form - but he possessed anger, hidden well it may be. "I know the rules, but I have yet to know the goal of this little amusement of yours."
"You have Emetselk to ask. One fox couldn't do everything by himself."
'You could provide us with a glimmer of insight on how things are supposed to work." Halmarut tucked his spear back to the dimension where it was usually kept. 'Things are not meant to be left unspoken."
"Or you could tell us everything!" Igeyorhm snapped. "Why are we alive? Why can you and I use magic? Why am I vermin?"
"I have a better question to ask you." The fox lifted up his staff. "Do you want to explode?"
Igeyorhm could have killed the fox like the vermin he was, but caution was better - as Somerled, she had learned that the hard way. "No."
'Then be a good martenmaid and go do what you're told - back to Triel with you, vermin or not." Emmeroloth turned towards the other Warders. "You two can spend some time together - about a month of vacation. Father-son bonding should be a morale boost." With a gesture of his paw, a Pathway was formed, and the fox stepped through. "I have a Taggerung to find. After all, is all not etched?"
UZNAIR, DUCHY OF THAVNAIR, KINGDOM OF TRIEL
"It is with my greatest pleasure that I welcome you, Your Grace." Lord Aymer Brackenridge smiled as he gestured Lorelei into the seating room. The atmosphere was warm enough, but Lorelei did not have to be a seer to scent tension, if not outright hostility.
"The pleasure is shared, Steward." The otterwife could not remember the last time she had traversed these halls alone. Erlend had accompanied her for the last ten or so times, and her children tagged along once or twice. They hated the land.
Lorelei had other opinions. After all, she was born here, while quite a lot of beasts watched (in what must have been another embarrassing scene for her mother). It is also here where he grew up, and where she had her first taste of ruling. It was a taste that she would rather forget, but she knew the importance of remembering that.
Her father's advice wasn't that good. 'Trust everybeast,' he said, 'and rely on nobeast.' That said, he did say that she needed to find her own method of managing a realm. But what would that be? All the beasts who she could have asked were either dead, away, or both.
She thought of Corrado, then Thordan. Both of them were dear to her, but she could not pass them knowledge she did not possess herself. Corrado had known what she had figured out from her surroundings, and she had little involvement in his raising. Thordan may had been a slow learner, but he had other pieces of knowledge that had been proved to be useless time after time again. What ruler has need for herbs?
"What brings you here?" Aymer scratched his head, while he plunged into a seat, instructing Lorelei to follow suit.
"I am here to inspect a few defences, and to restore control over my duchy." She smiled like a cat ready to fight a mouse. "Seeing that the Southards are retreating over the Greatrange as we speak, I have but the latter to accomplish."
"Well-"
"I know you rebelled against Duchess Marla in the past. Beaten by a lady was not one of your best memories, was it not?" Before Lord Aymer could respond, Lorelei silenced him with a finger. "If you cross me now, or ever, you would have to relive it all over again, until the day you die, anyway. And that day will not be long if you incur my wrath."
Aymer stammered once, then twice, until he fell silent to clear the way for a deep breath. "I understand. I will obey your will as much as long as you do not forget your obligations to your post."
This was as good as total submission. "Very well. Allow me to relieve you of your duties temporarily. Take a vacation of sorts."
"Yes, Your Grace." Aymer said as he quickly departed the room. Technically, Lorelei was a queen, but Triel only had two kings at least, and they tended to be mice. A ducal title suited her better, at least for now.
Lorelei sat impassively until the lord left, after which she shifted into a more comfortable posture. Beckoning a servant to give her a tankard of ale, she thought of what was to come.
Corrado had been doing well within Niels's inner circle, and even though he had declined to notify her of his every move, that would mean that he is completely safe or in the greatest danger. His track record would suggest the former.
Her other boy was another story. The last she had heard of him was when her former brother-in-law sent a gloating letter. She would get Thordan out of Southsward. Without restarting a dying war.
But how? What could she do?
She had to keep a clear head, that was clear. Lorelei groaned. She always had trouble with this aspect of politicking.
"Patience is a virtue, you know," a playful voice poked out from the back of the room. An otter stepped out of a dark corridor, carrying with himself and he had nobody following him this time.
"It just happens to be a very boring virtue, Father. Or should I say Emetselk now?" Lorelei expressed nothing at the sight of Emetselk. She had memories of her father, both good and bad in their nature. But why bother expressing her thoughts? They would meet again, and again, and again. Until she dies, and is reborn again.
'I, as usual, have other plans." The taller otter smiled, being a beast of emotion rather than logic. "To act in the realm of normal beasts requires me to have an alternate identity. No longer King Thordan I am. That beast is dead."
Lorelei raised an eyebrow. "You don't look very dead to me. Not at all." She stood up. "I have lived with your mysteries and your games since I was able to walk and talk. Can't you be slightly less discreet just this once? Or perhaps you enjoy keeping your secrets?"
"Oh please, Lori!" Emetselk waved a paw in the air. He was incredibly fond of doing that. Lorelei knew by experience. "You have got to let me have my fun first."
"I'm uninterested in your games, Emetselk. Tell me what you're planning." Lorelei could only wish that Shadowbringers were here. There were moments where she had wanted to punch her father so hard that he went flying, though she had yet to test out her ideas. He would just come back from the dead regardless of what happens to his body.
"Ah. The gist of things is this." Emetselk took a deep breath. Then the monologue began. Oh, how Lorelei wished that part of her father was dead and buried.
"I have promised to cease my activities offworld, so expect me to remain here for the time being. Perhaps until mey second death, even. But in any case, here I go scheming again!"
"Charming."
"But I need another figure, a title. A cloak to hide my soul. Now, I would like to ask for a single thing. A little affirmation. A tiny nod."
"Just tell me what the Hellgates you plan to do! Is it that hard? Do you know what you're doing? The slightest idea? I've been tired of you and your amusements!"
"Calm down!" With a single push of his paw, Lorelei was seated down in her chair. "Now, I need to pose as your brother in the meantime."
"What?"
"By brother I meant half-brother, of course." Emetselk plopped down into another chair. "After all, King Thordan was a massive pervert. What are the chances that he won't have a few illegitimate children bouncing about?"
"Well, if you - Thordan actually had a son, then he didn't have to fight for me being his heir and all that stuff, right?"
Thordan crossed his paws in a mock gesture of anger. "Shut up about the plot holes and nobody would notice! Sheesh. Not everybeast is as perceptive as you. But anyway, you're going to acknowledge me as your half-brother, and revert to calling me Thordan. One Thordan every generation, remember?"
"Yeah, yeah." Lorelei sighed. It shall seem that she won't be free of her father - or much younger half-sibling now - any time soon.
"One affirmation should suffice, Lorelei." For a brief moment, Thordan was in the realm of memories, but within the blink of an eye he was in the real world again. "You just have to proclaim that this 'Thordan Heavensward' is your brother. Sorry. Half-brother. Then you have to ask good old Niels to recognise me, and kablam! I'm back, baby!"
Lorelei nodded, being too surprised to do anything else. It shall seem that her father had indeed changed. Kings on average do not really know the future, but Emetselk - not anymore. But Thordan Heavensward spoke as if he was from a long-lost time or place.
"Good! Expect less of the supernatural, though. I'll be taking a short break from that stuff. Political maneuvering is so much more fun." With a bow - her father had never bowed to her before - a corridor of shadows sprung up, and he left without saying another word.
Lorelei sighed. The tankard she had ordered would be very welcome.
FLORET, CROWNLANDS, KINGDOM OF SOUTHSWARD
"You're back." Bellamy found herself with less of a smile than she would have liked. Her father had returned, but she was not glad. Not glad at all.
"I am." Lord Becker's arrival back into Floret was a muted affair. "It seems that we have won."
"You have indeed." Lorcan Stalwart quickly made himself comfortable in another armchair, right in between father and daughter.
The tall otterlord and his twin were the only ones of the Dravanians who were free, the former being an emissary, the latter in a tournament. Gustav Strandsor and his son were imprisoned comfortably in a cell befitting a noble, while Becker thought it well for Sigrid's daughter to occupy a guest room in the meantime. Falseking Thordan and his vermin companion got no such easy treatment, despite Becker's requests. King Gideon thought that treason has its price, though Thordan, not being the quickest of beasts, will be willing to pay it with his life.
"What did you call me for?" Becker asked.
"I see the tournament as of questionable importance, Father." Bellamy sighed.
"So you're marrying Alfyn?" Lorcan piped up. He had a habit of asking the wrong questions at the wrong times.
"No, nay, never." The ottermaid's response was quick, short and to the point. "He has few good qualities to speak of, Skipper of Arnet."
"He's quite handsome, if I must say so myself. And he has the bravery to match your father."
"If not even exceed me." Becker admitted. "He's the best choice that we have. Better than the Crestworths, anyway. I cancelled Sverker's betrothal to you for a reason and just look at Harald! He makes Alfyn look like Thordan, Fates afire!"
"That doesn't make Alfyn good!" Bellamy exclaimed, earning her stares from the two males. "He's not exactly responsible! He has a daughter roaming around Triel while we speak, and I doubt he's even acknowledged her! Besides, what kind of idea is to let a Trielian near me after we just won a war against them?"
"It's the best way to make a lasting peace." Lorcan was still stone-faced.
"And having brothers - twin brothers! The Stalwarts as Otterguard Skippers mean that Triel and Southsward will not fight each other for a generation! We need peace!"
"After a war you directly started! Southsward needs the next Skipper to keep a level head, and not go starting wars for fun and profit!"
"Don't-"
Becker was quickly shut up by Bellamy standing up. "I will obey you for now. If Lorcan here was unmarried, I would have married him, reluctantly or not. But Alfyn's just too much. I will play by my own rules! Galen and Dirk may be loyal to you, but they will fight for me, even if only one of them's the champion!"
Bellamy was too busy storming out of the room when she heard Lorcan say softly. "Then I must wish you the best of luck. You will have much need of it for the trials to come."
ARNET, KINGDOM OF TRIEL
King Garmund watched as the last of the Otterguards disembarked from the ships. Little Thordan Swalestrom had freed them from Southard imprisonment, and freed the mouseking from paying large ransoms.
Orience and Trielian dominion over Southsward were small prices to pay - and Garmund would have them back, one way or the other. It does not matter how many truces would have to be forsaken, how many treaties would have to be broken, or how many alliances would have to be repudiated. Least of all that mattered would be how many lives should be lost. Garmund himself was not afraid of death, so why should his beasts be any different?
No. There happened to be many other things to be afraid of.
"So what are you doing here, Your Radiance?" The mouseking would have cut the voice's owner clean in half if he had not greeted him properly. The second mouse in front of him was about as richly dressed as Garmund himself, though he did show reverence. And that was good enough, Garmund supposed.
"Inspecting our troops." The king's tone was as flat as a steel sword, and probably just as deadly. "The ones that will live to fight for Triel again."
"I see." Duke Randyll bowed again. The minister's movements seemed even slower than usual. "You seem worried, Your Radiance. Is it about the prophecies that the vermin make?"
"What do you know of them?" Garmund turned his head and for the first time acknowledged Randyll's presence. The duke was young for a son-in-law, but he has always had a talent for intrigue that Garmund never seemed to possess.
"No more than what the seers talk about. The Taggerung and all that."
"The Taggerung would come into Triel with Vulpuz's own, and the mouseking shall deliver the world to him with no blood shed." Garmund recited. "But Triel shall never fall until the chosen breaks the chains of vermin, and until he puts vermin into chains. Arnet shall never fall until the dead come back to life and smile in the face of chaos. Arnet shall never fall until the Foxwolf returns to Floret, and before the Scourge returns to Redwall."
Randyll was more puzzled than Garmund could afford to be. "It does not make sense, by any means. How could the dead return? The Foxwolf is long gone, and the Scourge probably is as well. Will Triel never fall?"
Garmund turned back to the sky. The sun was shining brightly, like suns were prone to do. But the rays will shine no more within minutes - over the mountains it was headed. "Triel has lived for four centuries. I will not see it fall to vermin filth."
Garmund smiled. "I shall see the Taggerung dead before my footpaws before Triel would be even close to fall."
Had the king decided to turn his head back, he would have seen the Randyll's Veil dissipate and a pine marten entering a Pathway.
But Garmund, like those who walked before him, was blind to the powers that silently blanket the world.
A/N: Garmund Point of View, as promised. Jade characters seldom have these moments, and he's the only antagonist to have his! Oh, and did I say antagonist? I meant villain - as Jade intended him to be. I mean, he's a ***** and an *******, not to mention a pretty horrible beast to talk to. He is the sort of beast that makes Longclaw from Black and White likeable, and he makes Somerled the Village-Burner seem like a friendly puppy. Not that puppies exist in the Redwall-verse, but you get the idea.
Chapter 45 (From the Ashes) will be up on 26/27 February!