And here we have an Angola-centric chapter, covering what we've missed during all of this. Actually, not a whole lot, but you'll see. Great to be back and covering Angola again, I had started to miss the bunch. And I've got a few ideas in store, so...well...you'll see. ;)
Chapter 58
Things had not improved in Angola.
In fact, the situation had hardly changed.
True to his word, Captain Moroni and his followers, which now included every male mouse capable of fighting in the village, stood their ground, and besieged Midnight Castle. Bottled up inside, Methusael and what few followers he had left couldn't go anywhere. No creature got in or out, nor did any supplies, which meant that only the supplies already existing in the castle was all Methusael and his crew had, and would not last forever.
In the village, the so-called rebels had full control, something only Methusael disputed, even though he presently couldn't do anything about it. Whomever was not working with the Angolian militia to keep Midnight Castle surrounded stayed in the village, where life more or less continued as usual, except everyone was more tense, and constantly looking up at the castle that overlooked the valley, for everyone knew that the very fate of Angola currently hinged upon what occurred there.
The side favorite to win in the conflict among the mice was currently Captain Moroni, whom they all recognized as the creature trying to prevent a terrible fate befalling the land. Very few of the mice held much of any respect to Methusael anymore. His actions as of late, particularly that at the planned, but failed, execution of Moroni and Bluejay that started the conflict, had caused the fox to loose all prestige in the view of the mice. They no longer supported him.
Worse still, was that the members of the royal guard that were bottled up in Midnight Castle as well and was Methusael's only real support that he had left weren't really supporting him that much anymore either. They saw the situation as lost, that there was no point in continuing the conflict. Many of them had been quite outspoken about surrendering to the mice than letting this conflict continue. And few were very keen about the idea of a battle breaking out with the mice that would force blood to be shed, which fortunately had not really happened since the siege began.
Even the two mercenaries under Methusael's employ, Grim and Sais, that Methusael had managed to keep their presence in Midnight Castle secret, were starting to loose their confidence in their employer. They were of little more use to Methusael either, for after the siege had began, not even the two mercenaries could get out of the castle safely. It was only by a sheer stroke of luck that they had managed to get back in anyway, after failing to find and stop Adah. A stroke of luck that could not be repeated.
And Methusael knew it.
So he saw no harm in uncorking the bottle of powerful blackberry wine he had found hidden away in the throne room, and taking it to his study to drink, in a vain attempt to try and drown his problems with the substance. He had already gotten through roughly half the bottle before Juniper turned up and found him.
"Your lordship," the young fox began, opening and stepping through the study room door without knocking, "I wish to report that..." he trailed off when he saw Methusael lounging in the chair behind the desk, footpaws propped up on the desktop, draining a glassful of the dark purple wine, the bottle itself sitting nearby on the desk.
Methusael turned to look at him when he did not continue after a moment. He was still sober somewhat, but it was also clear he was still under the effects of the alcohol as well. "Go on, Juniper." he prompted after a moment.
"Um," Juniper, quickly avoiding Methusael's gaze as if it was impolite to look the intoxicated lord in the eye, and sought to continue with his original thought, "I, uh, though you would like to know that we completed taking account of our supplies. We could last for about another month if we ration those supplies greatly, but by the end of that month, we'll be virtually eating a bread crumb a day to survive." he paused as he watched Methusael grab the bottle of blackberry wine and refill his wineglass. "Your lordship, are you sure it is wise to be doing that?" he asked despite himself.
Methusael drained half the glass with one gulp, pulling a slight grimace at the drink's kick, but shrugged it off, and he stood. "Might as well, Juniper," he said, taking out another empty glass and filling it as well, "What do we have left to loose, eh?" he offered the new cup to Juniper, but Juniper silently turned it down. "Those accursed mice have us completely besieged."
"Yes milord." Juniper wasn't sure how else to respond.
Methusael drained the rejected glass he had poured for Juniper, then returned to his first glass. "So," he continued, changing the subject, "about our supplies issue. Any ideas how we can get more?"
"Well, we either look into creating a garden somewhere in the castle, or find someway to get more supplies from outside the castle." Juniper replied, being blunt.
"But we can't get more from outside; the rebels have us completely cut off."
"Exactly the problem, milord."
Methusael grunted, and gave the matter some thought, swirling the dregs of his wine in his glass as he did so. Juniper also thought about the matter for a few moments.
"Milord," he began carefully, "why can't we just surrender?"
"Surrender?" Methusael repeated, looking stunned. Slowly, he set down the wineglass, and leaned forward on the desk, eyes narrowing. "Surrender, Juniper?"
"With all due respect, we may have no other choice, your lordship." Juniper pointed out.
"We haven't lost yet."
"Might as well have, your lordship. We're at a tactical disadvantage, and outnumbered."
"We have skill on our side, though, don't we? The royal guard is military trained, and among the best of the best. The mice have no such skills."
"True, your lordship, but with their numbers, they won't need it. Furthermore, they have access to resources, and could easily outlast us in a siege." Juniper hesitated a moment, then added, "We should really consider surrendering to them, your lordship."
"Surrendering would mean giving them what they want, Juniper." Methusael said, stepping from around his desk to face the highest-ranking officer of the royal guard fully, "And they're the rebels. What do you think would happen if we surrendered to them, hmm? What would happen to Angola?"
"At this rate, it cannot be much worse than not surrendering, your lordship." Juniper said flatly, not backing down. "Not at the rate things are going here. We cannot win."
"I will be the judge of that, Juniper." Methusael growled. "And I say we still have a chance to win, if we simply wait for the chance to present itself."
"We have been waiting for more than a week, your lordship. Is that not long enough?"
"Obviously not."
"So you would rather have us starve, then? Because that is going to start happening in a matter of days. No matter how we ration the food, there will simply be less and less with each passing day. Very soon, we will be simply too weak with hunger to resist the mice. By the end of the month, we will have starved, your lordship."
Methusael frowned, and turned his back to Juniper. The fox continued speaking.
"That is, unless, we start eating each other."
Methusael glanced back at him. "I won't stoop that low."
"That's good to know, your lordship."
Giving another low growl, but otherwise not protesting the matter further, Methusael stepped back around the desk and reached for his wineglass. "There must be a solution, Juniper, and I intend to find it. And until then..."
He got no further than that when, unexpectedly, an arrow was shot through the window behind the desk, shot through the wineglass Methusael was just about to grab, shattering it, then whisked past Juniper and embedded itself in the doorframe of the study door. Surprised, both creatures dropped the floor, fearing more arrows.
"They're sniping at us!" Methusael snapped loudly from where he lay under the window, clearly frustrated at the situation. "The mice have hardly fired a shot since this absurd siege began, why start now?"
Juniper looked carefully over the desk at the window, and saw that no more arrows were being fired, then looked across the room to where the arrow had embedded itself. He noticed that a piece of parchment had been tied around it's shaft.
"I...don't think they planned this to be interpreted as an attack, your lordship." Juniper remarked, getting up and heading towards the arrow, pulling it free from the doorframe.
Methusael sat up as well to look. He watched Juniper for a moment, then looked back at the jagged hole the arrow had left in the single pane of glass in the window. "Why the arrow then?" he asked.
"To deliver a message." Juniper said, his brow furrowed as he unrolled the parchment and read the message written on it. He looked up at Methsuael. "They're asking for our terms of surrender."
Methusael blinked, and jumped up to his feet at this. "Them too?" he asked, looking bewilderedly out the window for the culprit that fired the arrow. He saw no one.
"Clearly, they know of our predicament just as well as we do." Juniper reasoned flatly, bringing the message to Methusael.
The fox grabbed it from Juniper and ripped it up without reading it. "It changes nothing!" he argued. "We will not surrender! There is a way out of this, I know it! And I will find it!"
In the kitchen of Moroni's home, the key people of the Angolian rebellion was working on their own plans.
"All right, let's start with what we know." Moroni began, motioning to the map of Midnight Castle that had been drawn and now lay on the table before them with one paw. "Where are all of the exits in and out of the castle?"
"Here, here, here, here, and here are the conventual ones." Mordecai remarked, pointing at the spots with his claw. "And I know of a few lesser used ones here, here, and here."
"Don't forget the secret tunnel we found that runs along the dungeons." Amulek pointed out, tapping his claw at the general vicinity of the tunnel on the map, even though it was not on it. "That could potentially be used as an entrance."
"Or an exit." Hyrum pointed out.
"Doesn't help that both sides knows it's there, does it?" Ammon commented.
"Let's just stick with what we know." Moroni pressed, then tapped the map again. "Now, how many creatures do we know to be in there?"
"Roughly about four score of the royal guard, and Methusael, not counting any servants that are in there as well, by our last count." Neph replied. "And we know that Methusael has guards stationed at all of the trademark entrances and exits. The rest are stationed all throughout the castle within, out of sight."
"And we know that Methusael typically stays in the upper levels, either in Kani's study, or the royal chambers." Bluejay added, pointing.
Moroni stared at the map for a few moments, processing this information. He shook his head. "I'm just drawing a blank." he confessed. "I mean, I can see a whole mess of ways to potentially get in the castle, and take it by force, but...I want to try and do this as peacefully as possible."
"Unfortunately, we may not have that choice, Captain Moroni." Mordecai remarked, sitting down in a chair at the table.
"We do outnumber them, however." Amulek said. "We can still fight this battle and win."
"Yes, but not without losses on both sides, and there is still a good chance it all ends poorly for us." Moroni said. "If it did come to a full frontal battle, I would rather that I had more creatures in our ranks."
"We already have every capable fighting creature in the village rallied to us, though." Neph pointed out.
Moroni nodded. "I know."
"We could just wait a little longer." Hyrum remarked, scratching his head between the ears. "I mean, we know that resources at the castle are running low, and are about to run out. That has to be seriously trying the loyalty of the royal guard. If we wait long enough, they might just turn against Methusael on their own, and solve our problems for us."
"Yes, but then again, they might not." Ammon said. "And who knows how much longer that might take."
"We can afford to wait." Neph said. "We have the steady flow of supplies."
"Yes, but...should we really have to wait?" Ammon reasoned.
"Waiting could possibly resolve this more peacefully, however." Moroni confessed. He sighed, then looked to one corner of the kitchen. "What are your thoughts, Mistress Adah? Any ideas?"
Adah was the only one who wasn't gathered right at the table, and instead stood off to one side, leaning against the kitchen wall, and looking at her footpaws. She looked up when she was addressed, and was silent for a moment.
"Well," she began, "there is one thing we could wait for." she took a step towards the table. "Kani."
The gathering looked at one another, considering this possibility.
"I suppose," Amulek said, "But we have no guarantee his lordship would return with the necessary help."
"Or in time." Ammon said. "He's been gone for several weeks now, with no signs whatsoever that he will be coming back anytime soon."
"Or at all." Moroni confessed, lowering his head. "Adah, I know you don't want to hear it, but Kani has already been gone far longer than any of us anticipated. Something must have happened. And we know that Methusael sent a mercenary after him, so maybe..."
"No, if that were true, that mercenary would have come back by now, but she has been just as long herself." Adah pointed out. "Kani still lives, I know it. Something has simply...delayed him."
"I do not believe we can wait for him, however." Mordecai commented. "This situation cannot continue like this for much longer."
"Mordecai's right, either we strike soon, or Methusael will, and then the whole matter will be in fate's paws whether we like it or not." Bluejay agreed. "We cannot afford to wait. For Kani, or for anything. We need to decide on our move and make it. Quickly."
Moroni nodded. "Agreed." he said, rolling up the plans. "So here's the deal. Mordecai, Bluejay, Adah, you all know Midnight Castle better than we do. Sit down and try and think of anything we might have overlooked about it. Hyrum, I believe you're going to be heading up to the castle for a turn on patrol? When you go up there, keep your eyes out for anything we can use to our advantage. Amulek, I liked your message arrow idea we tried earlier today. Go ahead and look into trying it again. Use the same message, a request to surrender. Maybe sooner or later, someone in Midnight Castle will listen. As for the rest of you, just sit tight. One way or another, we're going to finish this matter once and for all."
Everyone nodded in understanding, and broke apart to go carry out their assigned duties. Moroni stayed to finish wrapping the materials they had pulled out, put them away, then stepped out of the kitchen. On his way out, he crossed paths with his wife.
"Ruth, good afternoon." he greeted, as they passed by each other. Once they had, he paused, then followed his wife into the kitchen, giving her a puzzled look. "Everything all right?"
"Yes, of course it is, Moroni, you worry about your rebellion." Ruth replied, pulling out a loaf of bread and slicing it distractedly. She seemed tired.
Moroni frowned. "You sure?" he asked. "You haven't been yourself lately."
"It's this confounded rebellion, Moroni." Ruth snapped, taking a slice and biting into it.
"No, it's more than that, something else is bugging you." Moroni persisted, approaching his wife. "You have been more irritable than usual, more tired, and you just seem over all...off." he looked her up and down for a moment, noting her attire. "And you've been wearing that robe a lot lately. You sure there isn't anything wrong?"
"No, I'm fine, Moroni, I'm just..." Ruth trailed off for a moment, glancing at her husband, "...cold."
"Cold?" Moroni repeated, finding that hard to believe. He reached out to feel her forehead with his paw, but Ruth moved out of reach. "You aren't ill, are you?"
"No, no, I'm fine, you just worry about your stupid rebellion." Ruth said, avoiding eye contact.
Moroni stared at her for a moment, then pulled her into a caring hug. "Ruth, don't be like that." he pleaded. "Ever since this whole mess began, you have been very cold with me. I probably have deserved it, and I haven't been giving you the attention like I should. But that doesn't mean I don't want to, that I don't care for you, that this rebellion is more important than you are."
"Yes it is." Ruth said, starting to pull away. "Angola's very fate hinges on this rebellion. It's fate is in your paws. Of course it matters more."
Moroni was silent for a moment again. Then, he pulled Ruth back to him, and kissed her.
"Ruth, I'm more worried about whether or not your happy than whether or not Angola is about to fall apart." he promised her. "You mean the world to me. Maybe I haven't shown it recently, but it's true." he nuzzled her cheek with his snout for a moment. "I want you to know that."
Ruth didn't reply, but Moroni could tell that she couldn't argue the point. She returned Moroni's hug, and the two stayed that way for few moments. Finally, Moroni pulled away again.
"Now, I'm going to go and have Sister Daisy come in and check you over..." he began.
"Oh, Moroni..." Ruth began to object, but Moroni gently silenced her by pressing a claw to her lips.
"I want to make sure you are all right, and not falling ill." he pressed. "Please let me do that much."
Ruth hesitated, then nodded. "All right." she said. "So long as Daisy does it."
"Of course, anything you say." Moroni said, giving her a grin, a brush through her whiskers, then one last kiss before he turned to leave. "I'll be right back when I'm done with that. And remember Ruth, if there's anything wrong, you tell me, understand? I want to know."
Ruth nodded. "Yes, I will." she promised. She watched her husband leave, then added under her breath, "all accept for one thing."
