CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND ONE

If Clewiston caught Grayfoot off guard at that morning's meal, both with his approach of the ferrets itself and what he had to say to them, then another encounter no less surprising took place out on the Abbey lawns at roughly the same time, with Harth and Grota deciding to join the swordfoxes for their open-air breakfast.

The rat commander insisted on sitting with Tolar and Mona, while others in the brigade who might normally seek such prestige for themselves looked on with barely-suppressed scowls of annoyance or blank expressions of confusion; certainly, no fox there had expected the very creatures at the heart of the diplomatic impasse between Urthblood and Redwall to join them. And the fact that Harth's motives were clearly disingenuous didn't help matters.

"So," the rat said to Mona between muffin nibbles, "you're these foxes' Seer?"

"I am a healer, not a Seer," the vixen primly corrected. "I've never made any pretense to the prophetic or clairvoyant."

"Hmm. Horde I came from had a nasty piece o' work called Joska, who was both those things, or so she claimed. Tho', in truth, I s'pect she was a total fraud as a Seer, as most are, an' she spent more time brewin' up poisons than remedies. Hemlock 'n' nightshade, hemlock 'n' nightshade - t'were almost like a mantra to her. Whenever some rankin' hordebeast got on Krayne's nerves too much or fell into disfavor - or showed too much ambition for his own good - he'd have Joska whip up another batch of hemlock 'n' nightshade, slip it inta their drink when they weren't lookin', an' problem solved!"

Mona sniffed at the mere intimation that Harth regarded her and Joska as being of a piece. "She sounds rather unimaginative, considering her ingredients. I know how to 'whip up' far more than just hemlock and nightshade, I assure you. Although most of what I concoct is for healing purposes, since that is my vocation, not poisoner. Your former associate sounds like exactly the kind of villain who's given us foxes such a bad reputation over the seasons, making it that much harder to win our way back into the good graces of honest woodlanders."

"Might help t' that end if you stopped associatin' with certain beasts yerselves - namely your fellow red-furred brushtails who shoot anything that moves. Puttin' Redwall under siege is hardly th' way to win favor in Mossflower, I'd say."

"We had nothing to do with that," Tolar curtly informed Harth. "We were not even notified of the operations against your species until it was nearly ready to begin in Mossflower, and to this day we've played no active role in it. If it were up to me, we never will, and Redwall would be free to do as it pleases. These orders come from a place much higher than any fox or squirrel, so feel free to take it up with Lord Urthblood directly."

"Can't do that, since I can't set foot outside this Abbey without bein' grabbed up an' force-marched away to th' coast. Tho', from what I hear, Redwall's squirrel chief might be doin' that for me right now. Wonder how that badger'll like gettin' told off to 'is superior, sanctimonious, stripy face - or whether our squirrel's still gonna have his head when he's done soundin' off."

"Lord Urthblood would never slay a Redwaller over mere verbal provocation," Mona said in defense of her master. "Relations may sadly be strained at the moment, but he has always considered Redwall an ally. And a necessary one at that. He'll not throw that away casually, or at all, if he can help it."

"Hrm. Abbess doesn't seem t' share yer rosy assessment, marm, since I've heard her voice concerns 'bout whether we'll ever see Alex back here again."

"The Abbess has not been in her right mind for three seasons, and still may not be. I'm still waiting for her to consent to have me examine her properly."

"That may be a long wait, from what I saw yesterday." Harth's gaze went between Tolar and Mona. "So, you two married, or what?"

"We're ... mates," Mona clarified.

"Are we?" Tolar bit off, not looking at her.

Mona lowered her voice to a hissing whisper. "I told you, Kyslith meant nothing ... "

"He doesn't seem to think it was nothing," Tolar shot back, making no effort to lower his own voice. "And you have advocated most forcefully to have him remain behind at Foxguard."

"As a glassmaker! You yourself agreed it would be wise keeping a beast with such skills on paw to provide for us in this area."

"Yes, I agreed. Before I knew of his ... outside activities. I wonder if you would be quite so enthusiastic about the arrangement if it were Trelayne staying behind to make our glass and Kyslith returning to Salamandastron."

"You can't expect Lord Urthblood to do without his master glass crafter. Trelayne belongs at Salamandastron, while Kyslith has shown himself most capable as well, and more than adequate to serve our needs."

"Whose needs would those be, exactly?"

"Lover's tiff?" Harth ventured, thoroughly relishing this unexpected display of tension between the two most important foxes at Foxguard.

"Shut up," Tolar and Mona said to Harth in unison, which only broadened the grin on the rat's face, with Grota joining in for good measure.

The foxes were spared from further sniping by the arrival of Lady Mina, strolling across the lawns toward them bearing her own bowl of porridge and tumbler of water - the enforced light diet of her convalescence. When she spotted Harth and Grota seated with the swordsbeasts, she frowned and seemed about to issue some derogatory comment or other, then apparently thought better of it and lowered herself gingerly to the ground, on the other side of Tolar from the rats. For their part, Harth and Grota returned her icy glare with looks of their own that were no less baleful, but they too observed enough tact to hold their tongues.

Tolar had half-risen to help Mina seat herself, but the Gawtrybe Lady waved him off. "I'm not a total invalid yet, Sword," she wryly remarked as she made herself comfortable. "I'm feeling stronger and more back to my old self every day, in fact. Although I do find myself still rising later in the mornings than is my custom - a habit I'll need to break myself of if I'm ever to get back into prime shooting shape."

"O' course," Harth scoffed, "so you can try assassinatin' more innocent rats 'round here. Maybe I'll be next on your list? How the Abbess hasn't kicked you outta Redwall by now, I still can't figger."

"The Abbess has better sense - and decency - than to expel a longtime resident lying grievously wounded up in her Infirmary," Mina shot back.

"Yah - an' the good sense not t' let you near another bow neither," Grota sneered. "Noterced she's keepin' yer deadly toys well away from you."

"Only while I fully finish healing." Mina's lightweight spring tunic couldn't entirely hide the slight bulge of the bandages still wrapped around her abdomen. "Just a temporary state of affairs."

"I'll put a word in with her t' make it more perm'nant," said Harth. "Havin' yer bow break like that may've been your luckiest stroke this season; otherwise you'd be lookin' fer a new home now."

"Yes, but there would be one less troublesome ratmaid plaguing the lands," Mina returned. "Fortunately, she's almost certainly reached Salamandastron by now, and no doubt Lord Urthblood has dealt with her as she was meant to be dealt with."

Harth and Grota stirred as if provoked to the brink of physical violence over this verbal provocation, but the former general thought better of it, restraining his cohort with an outstretched paw. "Naw, Grote, don't let 'er goad ya. She ain't worth it."

The remainder of the strained mealtime consisted mostly of routine pleasantries exchanged between Tolar and Mina, since the Gawtrybe Lady and the fox Sword had caught up on more important matters the previous evening, once Mina had been alerted to the Foxguard contingent's arrival.

"You're worried about Alexander, aren't you?" the fox chieftain asked at one point in the conversation.

"How can I not be? The supreme foolishness of it, racing off in the midst of all this to Salamandastron just to spew his ire at Lord Urthblood. What was he thinking? If I weren't still restricted from heavy exertion from my injury, I'd be tempted to set out after him."

"Do you think you still might? You seem to be recovering well, and nearly back to your old self."

Mina shook her head. "With my luck this season, I'd miss him while I was going over the mountains and he was coming back to Mossflower the long way around the range, or something like that. It might well prove wholly pointless."

"You could always send a message. The gulls, the mirror ... "

"And say what? Alex is going to tell Lord Urthblood whatever he went there to tell him. Probably has already, if he's not met with misfortune along the way. Lord Urthblood is surely mindful enough of the situation to allow Alex a considerable amount of slack; he'll let my husband yell at him up to a point, then remind him if he crosses the line of acceptability - and then have Alex escorted out of Salamandastron if he insists on stepping too far over that line. I'm not worried for Alex in that sense - but when crossing such distances in such uncertain times as these, accidents and misunderstandings can happen."

"That is true. And what of overall relations between Redwall and Salamandastron? You were here to see this all unfold; what is your assessment of where things go from here?"

"There were deaths," Mina stated flatly. "On both sides. That will be a hard thing to get past. The situation may not be beyond salvaging yet - but it remains perilous indeed."

"Good thing then that I've kept my brigade out of any hostilities toward Redwall, and am sworn to engage in none against them. That may well position me to - "

"Sworn, Sword?" Mina cut him off sharply.

The fox seemed momentarily thrown by this interrogatory interruption. "Why, yes, of course. I have promised the Abbey leaders I will take part in no action against them."

"That may not have been your promise to make, Tolar. Need I remind you, you are sworn to one beast, and one beast only?"

Tolar digested this, along with his breakfast, for a fair number of moments. "And need I remind you, Lady, that it is our master's actions against Mossflower and Redwall which have largely created this crisis, and led to this dire state of affairs? Bad enough that he and his Gawtrybe threatened this Abbey with a full siege over their decision to offer sanctuary to these rat refugees - a decision anybeast could have predicted, given Redwall's history of providing safe haven to creatures in need - but imagine my surprise and shock upon arriving here yesterday only to learn of a kidnapping plot carried out against one of their most important asylum-seekers, followed by use of lethal force against the rescue party, resulting in the deaths of both Guosim and Long Patrol. If Lord Urthblood seeks to lay blame for the present regrettable circumstances, he can start by taking a long, hard look in a mirror - and not the one he uses to send messages, either."

Mina's attitude toward Tolar turned suddenly frostier. "I was given to understand you and Captain Custis had worked out your differences, and you were fully on board with the current campaign. Was I mistaken in this, Sword?"

"Custis and I have been getting along just fine together. He has not asked me to help him start rounding up rats, I have not received orders from Salamandastron to do so, and I have not volunteered myself or any of my foxes for such purposes. Custis has his mission to carry out, and he and I both know my place in that mission. When I left Foxguard to deliver the Realms to Redwall, I was not aware of any of what had happened regarding Captain Matowick's activities here, or the strife out on the Plains, and it's possible Custis wasn't either - although his refusal to share with me what his squirrels surely must have seen from the watchtower does fill me with disquiet. This is not about the Purge, Lady. This is about Lord Urthblood and Redwall. The Abbeybeasts do not see his recent actions as those of a friend, or ally, or indeed a trustworthy creature in any sense of the word. That will be a very hard hurdle to overcome, if it can be overcome at all. My primary concern is preserving relations, if at all possible. Move against Redwall? Of course I will do no such thing. I have always enjoyed a warm welcome here, as recently as this season's Nameday celebrations, and I hope the cold, suspicious reception I met with during this present visit will prove a one-time event not to be repeated. Do you know of any reason why I might be ordered or forced to move against this Abbey, Lady?"

Mina was forced to back down at this. "No. No, of course not. I was speaking only in the generalities of this season - a season which has already brought us a host of developments and occurrences nobeast could have foreseen. I merely seek to impress upon you not to rule out any possibilities or eventualities out of paw, or to limit your options through such assumptions."

Tolar raised his eyebrows. "Do you expect something might happen to strain relations between Foxguard and Redwall ever further?"

"I expect nothing, Tolar. But even you must admit your position would be rendered all the more tenuous if you were forced to go back on a promise it was never your place to make."

Harth and Grota traded a wordless glance at this display of friction between the former Northlanders and presumed allies, each resisting the urge to crack another "lover's tiff" remark, however much this might have annoyed Tolar, Mina and Mona all. With such open divisions on parade here, they were content to sit back and avoid calling undue attention to themselves, and see where it would all lead.

Unfortunately, they never got a chance to find out, for at that moment Highwing lopsidedly flutter-flapped down onto the lawns alongside them. "Good morning, ah, everybeast," the Sparra leader said by way of general greeting. "Ah, Madam Mona, if I may have a word with you alone, please?"

In spite of the tense atmosphere among foxes, rats and squirrel, Mona let slip a bemused smirk; the formality-minded sparrow was the only creature at Redwall aside from Metellus who ever addressed her as "Madam." She rose from the lawn and accompanied the bird a score of paces away from the others so they could speak in relative privacy. "Yes, Highwing, what is it?"

"It's Vanessa, ma'am. Not to beat about the bush, but I truly am concerned for her. Ever since reassuming the role of Abbess, she simply ... hasn't been herself. I've known her since she was a novice and I was a chick, and we have always been the closest of friends, but now ... ever since returning to her senses, there's been something different about her. A coldness that was never there before, a hardness ... she was always the most compassionate and kind-hearted of mice, but now she's changed. She's simply not the same mouse she was before, and I worry it may be some progression of her condition, rather than a recovery. Perhaps she is only deteriorating further, and this is the latest manifestation of her decline. I would very much like you to have a look at her, to see what you can make of it yourself."

"I would like nothing better, my friend, and stated as much yesterday in Great Hall. The Abbess, however, seems to have other ideas on the matter. She expressed fairly blatant skepticism over whether I would be able to diagnose her with any greater success than I have in the past, and was, to be quite frank, bluntly dismissive of my talents in this area. I fear she will prove most resistant to any such effort on my part." She favored the sparrow with an appraising look. "However, if the two of us present a united front of concern - particularly to Arlyn and Metellus, who after all are Redwall's official healers of the moment - perhaps we could browbeat Vanessa into sitting still for an examination."

Highwing ruffled his plumage. "These days, Nessa seems to have taken back the mantle of Infirmary keeper, along with Abbess. Wouldn't surprise me if she appoints herself Champion next, and calls for Monty to bring the Sword of Martin back from the quarry for her to start carrying around. Did you hear what happened with those four rats up in the Infirmary?"

"Yes, Mina filled me in on that last night. I was shocked to hear of such behavior from Vanessa. Most abnormal - and all the more reason for me to have a look at her."

"And all the more reason for us to involve as many others as we can," added Highwing. "I was thinking of Geoff in particular. After all, if Nessa should take yet another drastic turn - one which might perhaps render her once more incapable of discharging her responsibilities as Abbess - then Geoff would once again need to reclaim the Abbot's chair. So, this affects him directly, perhaps moreso than any other Redwaller."

"Very well. I spent some time speaking with Arlyn and Metellus yesterday, and the subject of Vanessa did come up, so they know where I stand, and I don't think they will need much persuading to join us in what you propose. Let me know when you'd like me to go with you to speak with Geoff, and I will make myself available."

Highwing cocked his head, a gleam in his eye. "No time like the present, is there, Madam?"

As vixen and Sparra excused themselves to see to this task, Harth too rose to take his leave, Grota standing along with him.

"It's been ... a breakfast," the rat said to Tolar and Mina. "Let's do it again in a season or two. Until then ... "

As they ambled away to rejoin their fellow rodents, Grota grumbled, "Well, that was a waste of a mealtime, with beasts who'd just as soon see us dead, or in chains. Muffin's sittin' heavy in my stummick now ... "

"A waste? Were you sittin' with the same creatures I was, Grote? You've got that head fox and his vixen givin' each other th' cold shoulder, an' then that archer she-devil almost gets inta it with him too, an' not just over something trivial, but the very heart of matters 'tween Redwall an' the badger's forces."

Grota grinned. "Yeah, that was kinda fun t' watch, I'll admit."

"Fun?! Grote mate, they're comin' apart at th' seams! That fox was about three breaths away from tellin' our favorite squirrel queen t' go jump in the pond, and declarin' outright that he wasn't gonna follow his Lord's orders no more. He's none too pleased by what's gone on here with Lattie bein' snatched an' Redwallers gettin' slain over it. This could be a break 'tween that badger's forces - which could be a break for us. They start fightin' 'mongst themselves, they might just forget all about us rats!"

00000000000

"Something's gone wrong."

Vanessa stood on the west walltop directly over the main gate, staring across the Plains to the nearly-invisible line of mountains beyond. Maura and Winokur flanked her on either side, and nobeast else stood near; whether that was through idle happenstance or the eldritch will of their Warrior/Abbess, the badger and otter could only guess.

While the rest of the rising Abbey greeted the new day in Great Hall or Cavern Hole, or out on the lawns under the blissful golden spring radiance, the three conspirators had climbed up to this vantage to speak privately - if in full view of anybeast who cared to look their way, although few did - Winokur and Maura sensing that Vanessa might have news of import to impart.

"Wrong?" Maura prompted, a flutter of dread settling upon her heart. "Wrong how?"

"Latura is no longer at Salamandastron. She has moved beyond that. And still she lives ... "

Hope lit Wink's face. "Urthblood didn't slay her?"

"It appears not. Which is good news for Latura - up to a point - and also for you, who hoped so fervently that she might somehow be saved, and emerge from her ordeal with her life. But it is hardly good news for us - for Redwall, or the lands."

"Because your trap failed?" Winokur said, his tone flirting with accusation. "And Urthblood now stands unchecked?"

"Yes - and because he now must know it was a trap. He would not have gone to the lengths he did to secure Latura - risking war with Redwall, and alienating all of Mossflower - and then just turn her loose. Somehow he figured out the threat she posed to him ... realized that destroying her would also destroy him, and stayed his paw before striking the fatal blow, because I have no doubt that destroying her was his ultimate aim all along."

"How could he have found out?" asked Maura.

Vanessa's shoulders shrugged. "He would of course have wanted to examine her before carrying out the execution. Who knows what that badger sees through his eyes? Even I can do no more than guess at that. I'd assumed - counted on - the precise nature of the peril she posed to him remaining hidden from his perceptions until it was too late. That's what I was depending on. But Urthblood, it seems, has frustrated my plans, either accidentally or by design."

"Do you suppose he knows about you now?" Maura ventured.

Vanessa was silent for many heartbeats. "Divining the nature of Latura's threat, and guessing that some other paw may have played a part in guiding that threat his way, are two different things. I did not create Latura, I did not reveal her to his prophetic sight, and I did not spur him to the extremes to which he has gone in order to bring her to him; all of that would have happened anyway, without my involvement. My pawprints are not on any of this, plain or obvious for anybeast to see, or even for an otherworldly creature such as Urthblood to easily suspect. The mere fact of Latura being brought before him should in no way have tipped him off to my part in these events. And yet ... I sense an attack coming."

Maura and Winokur both straightened in alarm. "An attack?" they said in unison.

"Yes," said Vanessa, raising her voice, "the scones were especially flavorful today, and complement the pennycloud cordial splendidly!" As she spoke these words, Harpreet, Skytop and Brybag fluttered low overhead, chittering among themselves and calling out hellos to their old teacher Winokur. The otter Recorder smiled and waved back, hoping the gesture didn't come across as too forced in light of the powderkeg Vanessa had just dropped.

"Well, that was a close one," Maura remarked as the Sparra trio flittered away.

"Not really. I sensed their approach, and changed the subject before they could decipher anything of import from us. It probably would have been safe for us to continue uninterrupted, but birds' hearing is sharp, and best not to take any chances."

"Indeed." Maura lowered her tone, even though the three of them now stood completely alone again. "Now, what is this of an attack?"

"I can't know Urthblood's exact thoughts, although I can sometimes catch a sense of his mood, just as I can never know his precise intent but sometimes glean insight into which way his attention lies. And just now I perceive that attention turned our way - with an accompanying mood that is anything but amicable. This is something new - and he would not hold such an attitude unless he suspects that Redwall played some part in this affair. And not just the part of victim either."

"If this is true, Nessa, then your bid to bring Urthblood down could end up being the very thing that brings an attack from him down on us. How do you imagine he will strike at us? How hard, and how soon?"

"That's what has me puzzled. This strategy of mine was always designed to provide us some wiggle room, and leave us with some options ... options it now appears I will have to pursue. But Urthblood's position is not entirely enviable either. We know he's gone to great lengths and risk to find and capture Latura; how long has he searched for her, and to the involvement of how many of his forces? We may only be aware of half the story in this regard. For him to have gone to such extremes, entirely of his own volition and initiative, and then turn around and try to declare it some nefarious plot against him hatched by Redwall's long-dead former Warrior ... well, he had better use exceeding caution in how he voices such suspicions, or else he risks casting himself as unhinged in the eyes of even his most loyal commanders. This, if nothing else, provides us with some mantle of protection, and might be enough to stay his paw from launching any direct assault upon us."

"Is this why you wished to keep your identity a secret from all the other Abbeybeasts?" Winokur guess.

"A large part of it, yes."

"But, as you were telling Tolar yesterday, Uthblood is very good at creating crises, and coming up with justifications for any course of action he cares to pursue. If he does now realize you've returned, and sees you as a threat to be dealt with, he won't necessarily have to tell his troops the real reason he's moving against Redwall; he'll just come up with some other excuse."

"Like our slaying of his gulls out on the Plains," Maura put in.

"Which I neither ordered nor approved, and was done in direct defiance of my wishes," Vanessa retorted. "Traveller and Log-a-Log made it clear they were acting as the Guosim and the Long Patrol, independently of Redwall."

"Yes, but does Urthblood know that?" Winokur pointed out. "Or, more to the point, does he care? If he's looking for a pretext to attack us, he wouldn't exactly share that with his troops, now would he?"

"And you yourself just said you sensed he'll attack us," Maura added. "What should we be doing to prepare for such an assault? What can we do, if he throws everything he's got at us, all at once."

"Yes, I do sense an attack - but that sense remains vague and ill-formed. It could be that even he still ponders precisely what he will do. And perhaps he realizes his own choices are limited. In any case, he will not be able to move against us at once, I suspect. He will want to weigh his options, explore different avenues, and only once he settles on a definite response can he begin planning for it ... all of which means we have time. Perhaps not a lot, but we do have breathing space. A window we must use to our fullest."

"Yes, but ... how?" Winokur asked. "Whether we have one day, or ten, or the rest of the season, how will that time avail us? We won't be able to raise any kind of army to stand against Urthblood. Not if he goes with an all-out attack on us."

"Lord Sodexo has spoken of his ability to win south Mossflower to our cause, should we come to that pass. Maybe it is time to more fully explore just how completely he can deliver on such a pledge. But even the most stalwart woodland allies we might be able to call upon from that region will not be fighters of the skill and experience Urthblood commands. No, I deem such reinforcements would hold more symbolic value than anything, to show that Mossflower truly does stand united against him. In the end, I suspect the battle may hinge upon not what fighters we can convince to join us, but which ones we can convince not to join Urthblood."

Winokur's eyes widened. "You speak of Foxguard?"

"I do. Tolar has labored hard and gone out of his way to make sure he remains on friendly terms with Redwall, and already felt his efforts in this area were being undermined even before learning of the incident with Latura. As I told you last evening, Wink, I sense a deep and undeniable dissatisfaction coming from him, one he would never voice aloud. At least not yet. That gives me a lot to work with, and believe me when I say I am working on it to my fullest. If a division exists to exploit, then exploit it I will. And if the day comes when Urthblood finally does move openly against us, then maybe - just maybe - he will find himself without one of the key forces he was counting on in such a conflict."

Winokur wrinkled his whiskers. "I'm still not sure how I feel about reaching into other beasts' minds, and twisting them to our own advantage without them even realizing it."

"There are risks, besides just the moral questions," Vanessa conceded. "But Urthblood fights dirty when it comes to influencing potential allies and winning them to his cause, and I will do no less. Not where the safety of Redwall is concerned."

"What of Lady Mina?" Maura broached. "Winning her to our side over Urthblood's would be quite a prize too, I'd think - and with her in such a weakened state after her injury, she must have been vulnerable. Have you, uh, been 'working' on her as well?"

Vanessa's head shook. "That's comparing apples and acorns, Maura. Tolar is riddled with doubts and apprehensions, which makes him especially susceptible to my influence. Mina possesses none of this, arrogant and sure of herself and her allegiance as always. She would not be easily swayed. But more to the point, she lacks strategic value. Tolar commands an entire fortress and a brigade of Urthblood's most elite fighters; push him slightly sideways out of Urthblood's chain of command, and Foxguard goes with him. In Mina's case, even if I could sway her, I would gain only her; the rest of the Gawtrybe infesting Mossflower now remain too fanatically dedicated to that badger, too set upon carrying out his orders, to ever deviate from that. They are not winnable; they will always remain Redwall's enemy as long as Urthblood controls them, even should their High Lady turn our way. They would likely blame Alex and the rest of us for making her 'soft.' In fact, such a view might only harden their resolve against us in any larger confrontation, convinced that we've somehow compromised the one they hold in such high esteem."

"And they'd be right," Winokur wryly pointed out.

"So Mina's right out." Maura heaved a sigh. "I just wish we knew what beast told him about you. How Urthblood learned of your return ... assuming he has."

"A large part of it could have been him figuring it out on his own - assuming, as you say, he even does know it's me, and not just Redwall in general. It could have been Alex; I didn't see him before he ran off on his chase with the Colonel, and thus had no chance to impress forgetfulness upon him. It could have been Latura herself; she was never a force I could control. It could have been somebeast else - I just don't know. But that bridge is crossed, and now we must look ahead to what's to come, and what must be done."

"Can we get Latura back?" Winokur proposed. "If Urthblood has neither slain nor imprisoned her, then he might not concern himself with her any longer - which could free us to rescue her as we couldn't before."

"To what purpose? As far as Urthblood is concerned, she has been neutralized. He now knows he dare not kill her, since that was the only way she could endanger him, but since there is no other way she can harm him, she has been rendered inconsequential."

"I wasn't thinking of that ... Abbess," Wink bit off, not even trying to hide how this mercenary attitude toward the ratmaid incensed him. "We should rescue her because it's the right thing to do - especially now that she can no longer be used as your secret weapon against Urthblood."

"Perhaps she can," Maura begged to differ. "If it does come to open battle, being able to field a beast Urthblood dare not slay, and that no other beast might be able to, could have its advantages. Even if Latura can't wield a blade, sling or bow for the life of her - pardon my choice of words - her mere presence could disrupt things enough to throw the other side into disarray."

"I will not deny she possesses the potential to do just that, Maura. But remember, fate protects her, and lashes out against those who would do her harm. I have already sought to use her for my own ends, and look at how that turned out. Even if our motives were pure, if we were to thrust her into the middle of a battle where she didn't want to be, the backlash could just as easily break against us as Urthblood, and we'd find ourselves reeling from the repercussions of exploiting her so, at exactly the time when we could least afford it. Fate could perceive us as Latura's enemy just as easily as it could place Urthblood in that role."

"Hmm - hadn't thought of that," Maura confessed.

"I don't see how," Winokur disagreed. "Redwall is the sanctuary where she and her kind were granted safe haven, and where her family and fellow villagers reside still. She would act to protect it; I know she would. And if she were here, we wouldn't even have to ask her to place herself in harm's way if it might save Redwall. She'd do it herself."

Vanessa sighed. "I fear you may be attributing traits of altruism and sacrifice to Latura that lie totally beyond her. But the point is moot; where Latura has gone, we cannot recover her."

"Why?" Winokur asked. "Where is she now? Where did she go after Salamandastron?"

"West. She went west from Urthblood's mountain."

"West? But that's not possible! Salamandastron lies on the very shores of the Western Sea, and that's as far as ... " Wink's voice trailed off as the light of dire comprehension lit his eyes.

Vanessa gave a sedate nod. "Yes. Tratton has her now, I fear."

Winokur blanched, recalling the horror stories he'd heard from some of the liberated slaves of how the Searat Empire treated its unwilling guests.

"So, is that good for Tratton, or bad for him?" Maura pondered. "Having Latura in his realm?"

"Urthblood most certainly would not have turned her over to Tratton if he thought the searats could benefit from the situation in any way. Since this is Latura we're talking about, I cannot answer with any more certainty beyond that. But I suspect the forces of fate protecting her are about to be put to the ultimate test."

Before they could speak further, they became aware of a lone creature climbing the nearest wallsteps and heading toward them along the ramparts. Either Vanessa's mantle of exclusion wasn't working on this Abbeybeast, or else she didn't mind being joined by this particular badger.

"Excuse me, Mother Abbess?"

"Yes, Metellus, how may I help you?"

"Um, I'm not interrupting, am I?"

"No, we've pretty much hashed out this particular dish. What's left of it is nothing that can't wait. What's on your mind?"

Metellus looked to Maura and Winokur, as if debating whether to speak openly in front of them, then said, "It's Mona, Abbess. I ... I fear there's something wrong with her."

"Oh? In what way?"

"Well, that's just it. It's nothing I can put my paw upon. But yesterday we talked a lot. She wanted to ask me and Arlyn how my training was going, and if I wanted to go to Foxguard to study with her some more. And ... well, there was just something about her, something I've never seen or sensed before. She's changed, somehow. Arlyn noticed it too, when I asked him about it after, but I don't think he thought much of it, saying she's just feeling the strain of recent events. But I've worked with Mona a lot more than he has, so to me it was very obvious. Her mood, her manner ... it's just not right. Something's happened to her, Abbess. In fact, when she invited me to return to Foxguard with her, for the first time ever I could tell she didn't mean it. She only did it because she knew I expected her to ask, but in her eyes and her voice, I could tell she really didn't want me to say yes."

"Is that so? Most interesting. At yesterday's tea and last night's supper, I may have sensed a certain ... pensive guardedness on her part that was new to her, but I do not know her normal demeanor and habits nearly as well as you do, so I thought nothing of it. Would you like me to have a closer look at her, to see if I can shed any light on this matter?"

"If you could please, Abbess, I'd very very grateful. I figured you'd be the best one to ask about this, since ... well, with what everybeast is saying about you."

"Ah, yes. My eyes see deeper and father than most, hm? Yes, Metellus, I will be more than happy to do this for you." Turning to Maura and Winokur, the once-and-current Abbess of Redwall said, "Mona has been needling me to submit to an examination to satisfy her curiosity about my return to coherence. It seems she will finally be granted her wish - but what she won't know is that while she's examining me, I'll be examining her much more closely!"