The Late Rose is once again in full bloom. How wonderful it is to enjoy our sweet Redwall summers, with a cool wind settling in, making it not too warm, but not too cool either. Abbess Aristea went on one of her early morning walks outside the abbey - today she was joined by our abbey champion Fwink Firmpaw. The two, good friends as always, have been recently feeling overwhelmed with their duties at Redwall - it should do them good to get some fresh air.

Draka Spearback and her newly reunited tribe of Waterhogs visited Redwall a few days ago; good companions to us they are, and ever since she reorganized the Mossflower hedgehog tribes, Redwall has found itself in the company of a trustworthy ally, helping to keep us safe in times of increasing reports of vermin in Mossflower country. She, Skipper and Fwink led a patrol about two weeks ago that managed to clear the country out for what we hope will be a while. It's a shame that we must resort to confrontation to keep our abbey safe, but I have been assured that it is necessary. Skipper and Fwink have themselves sworn to try and keep the spilled blood at a minimum, and along the way they managed to find more of smattering of rats, foxes, and weasel families that are now welcome to visit us at any time.

Speaking of vermin, with great sadness we said goodbye to our ferret friend Ledeya Zevclaw. She's a traveler by heart, and it would be unwise to force her to stay. Nevertheless, she will be sorely missed. Did I tell you how we met her? Before we met her, I had only seen a few ferrets with my own eyes, and I had certainly never seen one with such a form as she, with her whitish fur crisscrossed by pinkish stripes. She was sent by the Badger Lord Sagaxus, y'know. I don't know how the Long Patrol managed to keep themselves from sending a scraggy ferret packing, but Lord Sagaxus's wisdom prevailed over the combat-hardened instincts of his captains. He is wise enough to tell a vermin leader from a lonely traveler, and how thankful we are for his judgment!. We have all appreciated her stay at Redwall - she has been surprisingly kind for a ferret and she has told many exciting stories to our Dibbuns, but alas, all travelers must go on at some point.

Now if you'll excuse me, it is lunchtime, so I will finish writing this script and go to the sickbay to scrub my paws - I've been assigned to go help Brother Acer and Friar Rukkal in the kitchens! Those two are such a great pair and I'm more than glad to help them any time. Our doors are open to any wandering travelers who come along, and we hope to see you soon.

- Valeria Juskawyte, Redwall Recorder

Valeria hurried down to the kitchen from her study, not wanting to keep the kitchen beasts waiting. She passed the abbess and the champion on the way down.

"How was your little stroll?" Valeria asked inquisitively.

"Oh, it was alright. We found some wild elderberries along the way, we've got a whole basket of them." the abbess answered first.

"Oh good - I'll take them to Brother Acer if you don't mind - I'm on kitchen duty today." the recorder explained as she swiped the basket from the abbess's paw.

"Oh I don't mind for sure, take all of them." Abbess Aristea turned away and continued going up the stairs. She didn't have much time to chat - she was the abbess after all.

Valeria then turned to Fwink, who seemed like he was pondering something. His bushy tail twitched side to side as he ruminated, only looking up when Valeria cleared her throat.

"How was the stroll today? You don't usually go out with the abbess."

"Oh, erm- it was great!. After so many vermin patrols and sending Ledeya off, I figured I needed some fresh air."

"And some alone time, I'm guessing?" Valeria smiled.

"Yeah. Everything's been movin' a bit fast lately. Needed some time to slow down." He let out a chuckle. His face took on a more serious tone, and his mouth opened, about to speak, but Valeria cut him off.

"If you don't mind, I'll be going now. I don't want to keep the Friar and the rest waiting for too long." Valeria waved her goodbyes and set off towards the kitchens, leaving Fwink and his thoughts to ferment.

Something was watching us during our stroll.

Fwink Firmpaw walked towards the end of Great Hall, setting the Sword of Martin down on the hooks holding it to the wall. Feeling perplexed and tired from his morning stroll, he decided to head down to Cavern Hole to wait for lunch. He met Skipper along the way, who had just finished rousing a crowd of drowsy Dibbuns.

For a while the two walked in silence as they approached the quiet banter of Cavern Hole and the kitchens.

Something's wrong, Skipper thought. He's usually more talkative than this.

Finally Skipper popped up to break the silence.

"Is something wrong?" Skipper asked.

"Well…. maybe. Something's on my mind."

"Well don't sit around mulling over it. Tell me."

The squirrel sighed. "While I was out taking a walk with the Abbess today, I felt like we were being watched." He paused before speaking again. "Well, it wasn't a feeling. I thought could hear bushes moving behind us. Something was watching us, I'm sure of it."

The champion could see the worry cross his otter friend's face. "Surely we cleared all of them out, no?"

"Aye, but I'm sure there's something else in Mossflower. I'm sure of it, I'm sure they were watching us, whoever they were."

Skipper nodded his head. "I don't think they'd come back so soon, but if what you say is true we might have a problem on our hands. I highly doubt any local vermin bands would come back after what we showed them, and the others have met us before, so they wouldn't spy on us from the bushes. The Juska respect us as well - if we told them to leave, they would. Maybe this is a band from far away?"

"I'd have to think about it. Maybe it was some curious woodlander, or other creature?" Fwink mused. "If Ledeya is still in Mossflower, we could ask her to keep an eye on whoever's there."

"Mhm." Skipper concurred. Before he could speak again, they were distracted by sounds of the kitchen trolley rolling out of the archway.

"C'mon, lunch is ready. I'm famished, let's go get some tucker!"

Skipper took off towards Cavern Hole, with Fwink not far behind.

King Altan of the pure ferrets had been crowned, and tension was running high in the royal court. Everyone knew of his dangerous reputation, no one more so than Prince Asaral, but it was his father's wish that he be put forth as leader. Everyone in the court bowed as the King walked forth. Dressed in a sparkling cloak, Altan walked forward menacingly, a spitting image of King Jatlak in his prime, but somehow more twisted than his late father.

On the royal walkway, a rat sneezed. Whirling around, Altan picked up the unfortunate rat by the neck and slew him with a single swipe of his blade. The lifeless body of the rat dropped to the floor, serving as a reminder to everyone of what would happen if they even slightly offended the King.

The court members visibly shuddered. Altan looked up with a gleam in his eye, grinning at his newfound power.

"Long Live the King!" Altan shouted.

"Long Live the King!" The court responded forcefully, afraid of their shouts seeming too weak to the dangerous king.

From his corner next to the King's throne, Prince Asaral knew his time left on the island was ticking. Either he would die, be imprisoned, or experience some other fate not much preferable to the first two. He stood silently, watching his brother, thinking about his next move.

Karranva the (self-proclaimed) Corsair King would attack at dawn. For a while the two forces skirmished and engaged in small battles, but there would be no battle like tonight. Anchored off the coast, Karranva cackled.

"Marfur! Have the inland archers set up positions in the forest?"

"Aye, the patrol won't have any idea what hit 'em."

"Good. Shacklenose, are all the provisions ready?."

"To yer word, Cap'n."

"Good." Karranva had set up a side archer battalion in the forests next to the battlefield. The archers would fire from the side, ruining any defensive plan the old stripedog had and making the battle easy to win. His forces were outnumbered, but only slightly, with his forces at ten and a half score - slightly smaller than the Long Patrol at eleven score. He was confident that the cloaked archers would make the difference. Sure, it was dirty, but vermin never play fair.

Some distance away, a white figure stood in the bushes, watching intently. Having seen and heard what she desired, she scurried off backwards into the foliage, disappearing into the night.

Sagaxus wanted to sleep that night, but he truly couldn't. Something was nagging at his brain, telling him to stay awake, but he knew that without sleep his battle abilities would be drastically lowered. Sagaxus was wise enough to know that if something, whatever it was, was trying to keep him awake, it probably wanted to tell him something.

Laying down his polished hardwood stick for a meteor metal blade and a helmet made from forged blue Salamandastron steel, the badger lord mused over the forthcoming battle. Tonight was the night of no return. He would only hope that he would succeed.

The badger lord decided to lie down, but not sleep, just to muse over the battle plan more.

We cannot afford any faults here. He was reasonably sure that there were none, or at least none within their control. But something was still nagging at him. The great ancestral badger lords are doing their work again, keeping me awake as always, he thought.

Suddenly two hares burst into the Badger Lord's chamber. Ferra Jaybuck, an upstart young hare, came in first, followed by Beescarum Whippscut. Beescarum was very much past his prime, but the old raggedy bag of bones still contained a formidable warrior. However, his fighting days in recent times were few, and instead he turned to being happy as a hare with his wife.

"What is it, Sergeant Jaybuck, and Captain Whippscut?"

"Sah, the lady ferret is back. She says she has terrible news - Karranva is setting up archers to the side in the bloody forest!" Jaybuck, the younger, answered.

"It is as I feared. Keep Ledeya and Colonel Melconey inside - they will defend the interiors in case of a surprise attack - for the duration of the battle. You can lead a small split of forces to intercept the archers."

"But what about the main forces, m'Lord?" This time it was Beescarum's turn to ask.

"Sergeant Rockfur will lead those forces. He's a good few seasons younger than you anyway."

"Hmph, I'm not that old, wot, but I guess you do have a point there."

"Mhm. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to sleep. Jaybuck, can you give Rockfur a quick briefing?"

Jaybuck nodded and hurried off with a salute. Beescarum stood there, awaiting his instructions. But Sagaxus just stood there, seemingly stuck on the battle to come.

"m'Lord, you seem uncertain about the battle." Beescarum finally spoke.

"That's because I am."

"Well, what is there to worry about, wot wot? We've done all we can, might 's well carry through with it." Beescarum smiled. "Besides, if something goes horribly wrong, you know I'll be up there fighting with you, till the end, chap. It'll be just like the old times, Sagax. Just me n' you."

Sagaxus did not answer for a while, but eventually whispered his final words of the day. "Just like the old times, eh?". He then motioned for his friend and captain to depart.

Nothing like Beescarum to cheer me up, huh? Sagax thought, as a smile crept up on his face.

Asaral stood silently in the middle of his study. He had gone over all of the relevant documents: books and past records about wind currents, road layouts, guard shift times - not that he needed to look at them, since much of the information he already knew, in order to make his escape. Now he stood pondering the course of his actions. Asaral had already began to prepare for an exit from the island and royal life, but whether that was what he actually wanted to do was still unanswered. There was always to option of staying and keeping a low profile - or at least as low of a profile you can keep being the king's brother.

Asaral heard the study door open behind him. Slowly turning around, he saw his brother standing in the doorway.

"Welcome, Alt-... your majesty."

"Hello, Selendil". Asaral watched a dry smirk form over his brother's face and rolled his eyes.

"Pleaszze, can you just call me by my properr name anzd not my dzhuvenile one!" Asaral retorted.

"I'm zhe king, I ken call you vhacheverr I vant." Altan walked forward and around his brother, stopping at Asaral's desk, covered in scrolls and tomes.

"May I ask vhat yoou're zhdoing up sho late shtudying? I alwaysh zhknew my brothherr vas a pathevchtic bookvorm, but it looks like yoouu've vreally outdzhone yoursself." The king asked.

Asaral didn't have an immediate answer, but his brain managed to cobble something together for his mouth to speak.

"I am sshimply looking at zhe old vrecords. You haff been crowvned now, and so all of zhe current svcrolls will haff choo be marrked vith our farhver's seal in order choo make vay forr paper rvecords dzhuring your reign."

Altan looked at Asaral with a mockingly quizzical expression. "Vell, yoou're noht our official schholar. Kiglas the sshtoat is."

"I know, but zhere's no problem vith me helping him out vunce in a vhile. Zhe nexcht few veeks are going choo be very busy forr him."

Altan chuckled. "You sshay zhat like yoouu're acthually inchrested in helping people! How many times haff I told you zhat feeling zhe need to help someone is a veakness. You must be rrvuthless to be a leeder." He paused and then continued. "Although I suppose zhat doesn't matter anymore, ssshince now I'm king."

Asaral drew in his breath, contemplating his next words. After a couple seconds, he responded. "Rruling vith a kruel iron paw ishn't likely choo boost your popularity with the corrsairs. Zhooing favvorrs every now and zhen could vreduce zhe number of corrzhairr rebellions and dzesherterss."

"Sure zhat'll help. You sseee, vhat zhis iszland needs ish total control. Everyone'so on zhe seas ish getting outch of line, and vee need choo put zhem back inchoo zheir place." Suddenly, the king whipped around and stuck a knife into the floor, 3 inches away from Asaral's footpaw. "Including you."