Chapter 21
Encirclement
Glory is like a circle in the water,
Which never ceaseth to enlarge itself
Till by broad spreading it disperse to nought.
-Joan La Pucelle, Henry VI Part I by William Shakespeare
The Helsker Strait was calm, which was an anomaly in the winter. As a result, the 'Duskwhisper' was able to leave port in the early evening, and it was now safely at sea.
Lorelei had not known of the ship's existence until she was a teenager, sailing across all the Southern seas in search of a husband. The 'Saltswept' was left for her father's personal use, so she went with her mother in the larger, slower craft.
She had met all different sorts of otters on her journey. There was the now-late Vatslav Highwind of Szaila, who got on with her just as poorly as his namesake son did. There was Abell Shellheart, Steward of Branaber, who was sixty seasons older than her. And finally there were both Streambattle siblings, who treated her courteously but gave her a very wide berth. By the time she had returned to Wossaham she was glad to be home for the first time in her life.
Now, however, Vatslav and Abell had left this world with their hopes and dreams unfinished, Lamont and Erlend bickered with one another on a routine basis, and Lorelei was still on the 'Duskwhisper', making her way towards Kaldos once more.
Alongside her was Sigurd Streambattle, eager to return home. Sigrid's pup had a sense of justice that reminded the princess of her earlier days, and he looked even better than his father ever had, with his emerald eyes being a font of determination. He would make a better lord than Kiormund by a fine margin… but when has Erlend Streambattle listened to the rational part of his mind?
Rissos too was on board, alongside the Komissoi otters. They had been warned that the journey across the sea would be rough, and yet they were very insistent on finding the fastest way. With so little to do on the 'Duskwhisper' the Laskarines decided to initiate several conversations amongst themselves, and served as a constant reminder to Lorelei of the loathsomeness of beasts who loved hearing their own voice over anything else.
"Are you still reading your book?" asked Lorelei as she gave Hirsent a long stare. The wolf seemed engrossed in her thoughts.
"You mean Hadagrim and Eucherius?"
"The book you specifically told me not to bring on the ship, yes."
"Um… I'm close to finishing it." Hirsent's ears folded.
"It's a priceless paw-written manuscript," said Lorelei, arms folding. "You might not want to bring it everywhere you go."
"I always leave it at my bedside back in Wossaham so it doesn't get wet at all."
"At all?"
Hirsent nodded, standing up straight and towering over the otter. "I'm a wolf of my word."
"You'd best only read when we're on dry land from now on," replied Lorelei, looking around her cabin. It was not by any means large, and most of the space was occupied by a serviceable featherbed, but she found it comfortable regardless. "How do you find the book?"
"I'm at the part where Hadagrim says his farewell to Eucherius outside Castrum Insularum. The story is just a bit too simple for me - every character may feel different emotions, but they don't change. In the real world beasts always do - not as radically as I, perhaps, but time changes us all like the tides morph the coasts."
"Then you're going to like the second half of the book far more than the first. It's a book from four hundred seasons ago, and what beasts back then enjoyed were different."
"I remember you liked the text back when you were younger."
Lorelei scoffed. "Only the parts you have not read yet, which I shall refrain from speaking of for the time being. I do not want to ruin your experience reading the whole thing."
"Thank you very much."
As Lorelei thought of how to change the subject to something else, somebeast knocked at the door. "Come in!" barked Hirsent, and the door flung open, with a quite annoyed rat standing on the other side.
"We are arriving at our destination, and I would like to remind you-" The rat's eyes widened at the sight of Hirsent. "Is that a wolf?"
"You look quite surprised," replied the Sorcerer. "My name is Hirsent, and I am pleased to meet you. Kalopolis is quite far away, but still you come to visit us!"
"Your kind, er, is not common in the south. Only select villages remain in the mountains of Valence, I recall, where they spend their lives wandering and trading across the border fortresses, spending little time in one place. What brought you to Wossaham?"
Hirsent rubbed her cheek for a few moments before she managed to fabricate an answer. "Adventure, perhaps. I've always heard tales about cities."
"Then you'd love to be in Kalopolis - it's a far more impressive location."
"Perhaps not - it is best to start small. But I thank you for the invitation."
Lorelei's eyes rolled as she spoke once more. "You're here for a reason, right?"
The rat turned back to Lorelei and nodded. "I just wanted to inform you that getting off the ship without explicit local permission is a very bad idea."
"They don't have a concept of diplomatic immunity?"
Rissos shrugged. "While I was in your city I heard tales from merchants who were unlucky enough to stop there. Everybeast - and I do mean everybeast - had to pay ten dinari to enter the city, unless you were lucky enough to have been there in the past."
"What happened to those who didn't pay?" asked Hirsent.
"I had the misfortune to find a squirrel who decided to sneak into the city. She was discovered by the local authorities. After a short trial they tied her to a stake and… she told me her back still hurt from what they did."
"Then it's good that you have the coins on paw," said Lorelei.
"Wha- I'm sorry, but I do not recall agreeing to this!"
"Well, I thought us northern barbarians were too poor to do anything properly."
"I never-"
"It's not like we have any cultural achievements to name, or the gold to prop ourselves up."
Rissos sighed, covering his face with both paws. "Just this once you shall have your way."
"Thank you very much."
The rat darted out of the room to get the necessary funds prepared, and Lorelei followed him out, but turned and moved up the stairs. A peek across the rails of the ship revealed a tower that the ship was approaching.
"We're going to cross the harbour chain," said Sigurd, with his arms placed on the rail. "But first we need to talk with the beasts on the tower. I have no idea why Revesvakt is so worried about its security."
"This isn't Revesvakt," said Lorelei, looking at the city in the distance. There appeared to be no fortress or citadel - the otter knew it was out of sight. But there were the lines of smoke that rose into the sky behind the city's massive walls, as well as the ever-clearer sound of daily activity. From the look and material, the princess guessed that they were built by the old Briscans, from an age where the Empire only knew otters as foes and needed fortifications like these to keep them out from the sea-lanes. "This is the city of Eucheria, bound by treaty with the rest of Helskerland, named after a hero of old, and it claims still to be the last light of Brisca."
"It's not as if half of it remains to the South," interjected Rissos. The emissary had put on a richly decorated cloak the colour of emeralds. "Then again, a flicker of civilisation trapped between seas of barbarity and saltwater needs to cope with reality by telling every tall tale at their disposal."
Sigurd turned to the rat, eyes squinting. "Surely we are not that barbaric?"
"A sun has every right to call a lamp dim. Especially if said lamp has not been lit."
As the younger otter grasped at retorts he was suddenly swept down to the deck as the ship slowed suddenly. The rat fell to the planks too, and Lorelei narrowly missed such a fate by regaining her footing in time. A yip from within the bowels of the 'Duskwhisper' indicated that Hirsent was not so lucky.
"We're going to have to check in with the tower!" shouted a crewbeast, a slim hedgehog with a linen cap. "After that they'll let us through the harbour chain."
Lorelei nodded. "Have they signalled us with more instructions?"
"They're telling us to remain here until we are given further ones."
The otter growled softly before returning to silence.
On the shallow coast even the sleekest of ships must move slowly, and docking took at least a quarter of an hour. Hirsent emerged from the steps soaking wet, and it took a while to rouse the Kommesoi from their bed, but in the end everybeast was ready to make landfall.
A weasel holding a quill greeted them, sitting at a desk on the docks. He had an expression Lorelei knew very well - a smile that was plastered on one's muzzle when they were completely overwhelmed by their duty and are not in a mood to meet new beasts. That smile was soon shattered when he realised just how many beasts were manning the vessel. "Mellia!" he shouted. "We have another Imperial ship - a fancy one!"
"Oh?" a stoat's head poked out from one of the windows, and she stared at the 'Duskwhisper' for a few long moments. "Vulpuz's fangs - we need all the papers!" The sounds of panicked descent down a flight of wooden steps could be heard, followed by the rustle of myriad documents, before the door opened.
"Here you go," said Mellia, clutching a stack of papers to her chest. "Everybeast here needs to fill out one of these, though Cosmin here will help you."
The next hour felt like five. The weasel called Cosmin asked each and every traveller their names and purposes to enter Eucheria, while the stoat put down their replies in ink. For most of the crew it was 'carry beasts far more important than they were', while Lorelei just put 'sightseeing' down, which was not a lie by technicality. Rissos, on the other paw, took so long to explain that Mellia just handed him both the quill and the paper to write down everything himself.
Finally, the pair of mustelids double-checked every sheet, and proceeded to bring out another sheaf of paper. "Alright," said Cosmin, putting on a pair of spectacles. "There are thirty-two of you, which means a total of three hundred and twenty dinari, or pence, or chelones, or whatever you foreigners call those silver coins of yours. But then there's the cargo you have just declared you possessed on the ship, the repair and maintenance of your non-licensed vessel, as well as the newly instituted mandatory otter tax…"
Lorelei raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?"
Mellia shook her head. "He's just just pulling your leg."
"We're even more bored than you are." Cosmin coughed as he rubbed his lenses with his shirt. "And in the end this totals to five hundred and seventy-five dinari, but we're going to move it up to five and eighty to avoid all the unpleasantries of small change.
Mellia's eyes scanned over another document, with a large table dotted with numbers printed on it. "This should total two pounds and three groats, or four fiorini and five soldi, or two solidoi and five vasilika. Now, please pay up."
Rissos shook his head and opened his purse.
It took the crew five minutes to lower the harbour chain, and another ten for the 'Duskwhisper' to make its way into the port of Eucheria.
There was no doubt the sight of such an impressive vessel would make an unforgettable impression on the minds of the locals, but unlike her father Lorelei was not going to put on a proper set of regalia to awe the crowds. After all, she was not a ruler in her own right, and she could not afford to let pageantry triumph over practicality.
The beasts on the streets were fewer in number than the princess had expected. There were fisherbeasts operating their stalls who spared the 'Duskwhisper' a look before returning to their duties. There were children who played their games right next to the docks, and they did not give a fig about whomever was approaching. And finally, there were the notables of the city, who started trickling into the square next to the coast. They were the ones who had to pay attention to Lorelei, and vice versa as well.
"Welcome to Eucheria, beasts of high renown," said one of them, a tall beast in purple robes that were too small for him. "My name is Padrut, and judging by your stares, none of you have seen a beech marten before."
"I have," replied Lorelei. "I am more curious about your clothing. It looks quite regal, especially for a small city."
"I would advise against denigrating the dignity of Eucheria," said the marten, twitching his nut-brown ears. "This is the attire of the Vicarius Insularum Borealium."
"You're Briscan," remarked Rissos. "I'm sure of it."
Padrut nodded. "We are the last torchbearers of what was once the Northern Briscan Empire."
"I know beasts who would dispute that, Padrut." Lorelei shook her head. "But surely-"
"Your father is a great beast, and some of our number who had been to Wossaham praised his generosity and warmth. But he is a mere king, and nothing more."
Rissos chuckled. "Then Gregorios is your true lord, I take it?"
"We know nothing of this 'Gregorios' you speak of," replied the Vicarius. "But he sounds disappointing."
For the first time since they met, Lorelei notice a crack in the Rissos's smug expression. "But he retains the eternal light, far to the South in Kalopolis!"
"And tell me, does this light reach us? When we called for swords and spears, were we answered? When we required gold and silver, were we acknowledged? Where were you when we needed you?"
"You do not look very threatened to me," said Sigurd, shaking his head. "What are you afraid of?"
"The next Helsker Lord," replied Padrut, "and the upheaval he will bring to the beasts of these islands."
The younger otter shook his head. "Kiormund is a goodbeast! I can vouch for him with my honour, and that of all my line!"
The marten winced. "Who are you again?"
"Sigurd Streambattle, son of Lord Erlend of Kaldos, son of Lord Steffen of Kaldos, son of Lord Gawin of Hildrinn, son of Lord Erlend of Hildrinn, son of King Sigurd of Travrik."
"Hah! You otters' love of family history amuses me." Padrut shook his head. "For centuries you have always protected us from the lords you invest, but now one of your own sits across the river, waiting for the best moment to leap on us. And I know for a fact that you would not stop your kin from bringing these walls down. But there is something you can do to help."
"Hm?"
"Guards!" barked Padrut. A score and a half of spear-wielding mustelids emerged from the alleys and buildings, and Rissos could not help but take a step back unconsciously.
"Here's the reception that's been denied to us, I see…" said Lorelei.
"Apologies, Your Highness, but we thought you might have harboured ill intentions."
"Apparently they were all on your side of things!" shouted Rissos. "I am an emissary of the one true Empire, and my flesh and bones are sacrosanct! Make a move on me if you dare!"
"I don't understand you, little rat. Why would we harm our guests?"
"Hostages, more like!" said Sigurd.
The marten shook his head. "No, guests. We are here to ensure you spend the night here, and whatever you choose to do after sunrise tomorrow is your own choosing."
Lorelei rubbed her whiskers. "By staying here we would be granting you recognition and a sign of independence from the Helsker Lords… you are more clever than I thought."
"One does not occupy my position without a sound mind, Your Highness. Shall I prepare our largest room for you?"
"If you so wish, but I do have to be in Revesvakt quite soon."
Gasps and hisses rang out from the guards and onlookers, while Padrut remained impassive.
"For what reason do you have to cross the river to that accursed place?"
"I have to meet with my son's future vassals and extract oaths from them to never harm him."
"You have a mother's will, I see - but you shall swear to return before sundown. Or else."
"Or else what? Are you going to kill all my companions for crimes they did not commit or slights they did not give?"
"Worse," said the marten, shaking his head. "Far worse. I shall deposit them in suboptimal lodgings - one with neither proper bedding nor warmth nor the promise of a ready meal for the morning to come."
The two beasts locked their eyes in a contest of stares and wills. While Padrut stared down at the diminutive otter, Lorelei's vision rested on the marten's robes. The murex-dyed fabric clashed mightily against Padrut's muted brown fur, but he carried the few remnants of his office with his head held proudly against the sea-borne winds. Despite that, his paws remained tightly gripped behind his back, and the faint twitches of his fluffy tail indicated an unease that could not be suppressed.
"Very well," replied Lorelei. "I shall swear if you do so in return - lest you have to give my father gold and silver to stave off what he might bequeath you instead."
Padrut's brows furrowed. "Fire and sword?"
"Fire and sword."
"Very well." The marten clutched the rim of his cloak and spoke in perfect Oldspeak. "I, Padrut Valla, Vicarius of Eucheria, swear to keep the safety of the beasts who have come and shall depart on the 'Duskwhisper'. I swear by my pallium, which represents the dignity of my office, and the centuries of legacy we have to bear. If Lorelei daughter of Kiordan swears as well, may they be rent to myriad pieces, should I fail to keep my oath on my own volition."
Lorelei lifted up three claws. "I, Lorelei Skyward, Hope of the Empire, swear to return across the river from Revesvakt to Eucheria before sunset this evening. I swear by our blood, bloodline and futures, and if I fail to keep my oath without coercion or deceit my life shall be turbulent and my death violent."
She let her claws drop. "Is it done?"
"Normally we have to share a ceremonial meal, but since you are on a time limit we can omit that part. For all intents and purposes it is done."
"Then take me to the nearest bridge and send me off."
With surprising haste Padrut's expression morphed into one of embarrassment. "This might be rather complicated…"
"Speak what you mean."
"The bridges you want do not exist, and have not since Revesvakt came into existence."
C/N: I think Redwall is not that bad now come to think about it. These Eucherians make everybeast there seem interesting, and say what you will about the Abbeybeasts, they managed to be polite the entirety of my visit. I was taught never to judge vermin negatively, but these beasts love to test my patience.
Ah well, thank you, all of you readers, for giving this fic a read. I hope I did not fail in being a main character.
You might have noticed that I'm too frustrated to say more. Goodbye.
