Greetings,
Just for this time, I take advantage of my short vacation to give you a chapter earlier than usual. I'll try not to lose the usual rhythm. Happy reading, and Happy New Year, Children of the Horned Rat!
- Where is this damn scribe?
Bianka Steiner crossed the corridors of Verena's Great Temple with a hurried step, her face frozen with an angry grimace. The case between a Skaven and his Human uncle was finally about to end, but it still mobilized too much of her time and energy to her liking. She was anxious to step to another story, especially since she felt that her twin brother wouldn't come back home with good news.
She sharply threw the door of the study room, and her eyes fell on two men discussing, a middle-aged, thin, square-jawed, greying-haired Human who was carrying a pile of books, and a Skaven, sat at the back office. Her blood only made a turn.
- Well, Bernhardt?
The seated employee jumped, brutally petrified.
- I said "the record of the Vanger affair, and quickly!" What do you not understand in this simple sentence? When I say "quickly", I do not say "tomorrow" or "tonight" or "in an hour", I mean "right now"!
- Lady Steiner... I...
- What?
The man named Bernhardt Reitherman was a young, light grey, bit abdominous Skaven, who wore a pair of spectacles with thick glasses. He had been the librarian of the Great Temple of Verena for a few months, and had until then more or less performed his duties. He was someone most people would call "correct", aware of his homework, anxious to do it well, and making sure he kept in touch with those around him. Unfortunately, with time and the lack of clerics, he had to do more and more tasks at once, which did not suit him because he hated to be jostled.
Worse than anything, he lost all his means against Bianka Steiner.
He defended himself limply while stammering:
- I do what I can! I ended up with a lot offered by a friend of the Prince to catalogue!
- And...?
The young librarian could say no more. Something indefinable held him back. He just gave her a parchment lying on the desk. Bianka snatched it from his hand.
- Do not blame Bernhardt, my lady, said the Human. It is I who distracted him.
- Rutger, I don't need your explanations!
- I'm telling you it's my fault! Bernhardt is a nice boy, you don't have to pick on him like that!
- And you don't have to interfere with my business! I don't need someone nice. I need someone efficient and prompt. Not one or the other, both at the same time! You are not a fool, Bernhardt, so prove to me that you are someone capable, or I will ask Judge Tomas to find you a replacement!
And without waiting, the girl hurriedly left the room.
The Human breathed a scornful sigh.
- What a bitch!
- Oh, eh... don't say that!
- Why not? Do you see any quality in her?
- Uh... She's pretty.
Rutger's mouth squinted in thought.
- Well, I can understand that you can find her pretty, but she's a real shrew! Black Elves priestesses are famous for being pretty, too! Frankly, you shouldn't let this minx step on you! Defend yourself!
- I can't!
- Of course, you can! Why couldn't you?
- She's a real princess!
- You serious? She is not the princess, nor the duchess, nor anything at all!
- She is! Her grandfather is the Prince of the Rat Kingdom. Her mother is the adopted daughter of the Prince, which makes her a princess, and so as it is transmitted by the blood, she also is a princess, automatically!
- Not sure, Bernhardt. Only the eldest child inherits the title and the throne. And as far as I know, it is Kristofferson the firstborn of the mother of this harpy. As much as the royal family sitting on the throne, you cannot say anything to them without risking the prison or the block, as much as that one, she definitively can't do whatever she wants to everyone she meets! So, in your place, I'll stop shutting my mouth in front of her and I'll calmly tell her to talk to me politely, or go fuck herself!
Bernhardt didn't answer. He lowered his head, his heart heavy with sadness.
- Seriously, buddy. She wants to talk to Judge Tomas? We will talk to Judge Tomas, and we will tell him that she should stop wearing a very high hat against other members of our clergy!
The young Skaven remained silent. He sighed with resignation, and went back to work.
For the fourth time, Bianka checked the newly registered birth files. She smirked. Her estimates were consistent with the results, and the population of the Rat Kingdom was growing.
- M'ss Steiner? Heya! 've been told I'd find you here!
The girl raised her head, and her muzzle frowned.
In front of her stood a man. A Skaven obviously from the countryside, if you payed attention to his patched clothes, cut in coarse fabrics without any ornament, the slight smell of manure that floated around him, his dirty nails which nervously tightened his cap, his brown fur awkwardly combed with his hand, and his phrasing rough and simple.
Bianka blinked, looked around to see if any of Verena's clerics working in the study room were reacting, but she had to face the facts: she was going to have to deal herself with this character.
- What do you want?
- Uh... I beg your pardon, M'ss Steiner. But... I have to talk.
- Right... who are you?
- The name's Gustavus Finston. I live in Hemsbach.
- Don't know.
- It's so small, M'ss.
- No kidding! So, what do you want to talk about?
- Well... actually... I have to see your father, the Master Mage.
The ratgirl gave a little start.
- Nothing more, sure? You're direct!
- I have to talk to him. I would like to register a birth.
- Congratulations, pal. Give me the name of your child, I write it in my logbook, he can live happily and make you happy parents, and you can go home. So?
Bianka took back her register, dipped her pen in the inkwell, and waited. But the peasant remained silent. She raised her head, and sighed with annoyance.
- Come on, I have bigger fish to fry!
- I really have to see your father, M'ss, and no one else!
- My father is a very busy man. I cannot bother him like that, especially for a... someone who is a complete stranger.
- I insist, M'ss! It is important! There is... there is a risk of scandal.
As she heard these words, the girl felt a cold sweat.
- What the Hell are you talking about?
- Uh...
- Will you tell me right now what's going on, or do I have to get angry?
The stranger panicked in an instant.
- But... M'ss, don't get upset!
- Is it blackmail that you make me there? Bianka shouted.
- No! I swear to you, M'ss!
Behind, the clerks had stopped, and watched the scene, taken aback.
- Is there a problem, young girl? asked a clear voice.
The two Skaven turned their heads simultaneously to the woman waiting in the doorway.
- Oh, Lady Gottlieb! You come at the right time, I'm dealing with a strange bird!
Franzseska Gottlieb walked calmly towards the peasant.
- A strange bird, really? This bird doesn't look very mean, indeed.
- Uh... hello, ma'am.
The tall, blonde woman, who was not born the day before, immediately knew who she was dealing with.
- You look far away from home. What are you doing here?
- I must speak to Master Mage Steiner. It's very important.
- It's an attempt to blackmail, I feel it!
The farmer was shaking to the end of his tail, and seemed ready to cry. Lady Gottlieb rubbed her forehead.
- Bianka, you see evil everywhere! Do you really believe that this good man represents a danger?
- You can never be too careful!
- And you are too much careful.
Lady Gottlieb made a sign to Gustavus.
- Come on, follow me, we'll settle this together.
- Lady Gottlieb! protested Bianka with a pat on the desk.
- I assume the responsibility.
The ratgirl grumbled again, but did nothing else. Once the peasant had left the room, she went back to her study.
Three knocks sounded the wood of the door of the Master Mage's office.
- Come in-in!
The door opened on Lady Franzseska and a young country boy.
- This young man wants to talk to you, Prospero. It seems important.
- Really? How far?
- Your daughter saw an attempt at blackmail.
- So, it must be very-really important! Thank you, Lady Gottlieb.
The tall woman withdrew. Psody spoke directly to Gustavus.
- Come in, please. Have a sit.
The peasant obeyed. He seemed both terrified and subdued by the White Skaven.
- Relax, if you have not come to trouble me, you have no reason-reason to be afraid. Do I intimidate you?
- I... I've never seen you before that day, Master.
- Yes, you did, but you don't remember. I participated in all the Harvests. You were among the pups I and my men pulled from the claws of the Feral Skaven.
- Ah... I thank you, Master Mage.
Psody smiled kindly.
- Please, Master... What is your name, by the way?
- My name is Gustavus. Gustavus Finston.
- Pleased to meet you, Master Finston. So, what can I do for you so important-important?
- Well... for a week, I... I'm a dad.
The Skaven seemed to be still struggling to pronounce those words, as if he had not yet assumed that fact.
- Oh really? Congratulations, Master Finston. Your life will be completely changed, it won't be easy every day, but I can guarantee you that it's worth it. There will be many unforgettable moments, and I assure you that you will never regret being a father, even if you say one day the opposite!
- I'm sure, Master Steiner.
The White Skaven felt his brow crinkling.
- Still, I feel that something is wrong?
- Uh... actually...
- Is there a problem-problem?
- No! Well... something. It's rather embarrassing.
- Speak without fear-fear, I beg you.
- That's... Taal, I'm afraid to become... insulting.
- What? How could I feel insulted by a happy Skaven who comes to tell me that he has become a father?
- There is... a weird thing with my child.
Deep inside him, Psody felt something. As if a tiny voice whispered to him what this young father was going to tell him. He continued:
- Really, I insist, I love my wife, and I know that she loves me... also, I'm sure the explanation is not what you might think.
- What explanation? What are you talking about? Speak, will you!
The young Skaven cleared his throat, and said in a whisper:
- My little boy, Emil, he's not ordinary. He... he has white fur, and you can see on his head two little horns.
- Like mines, I guess.
- I know that my wife is faithful to me, and that you are faithful to yours! There must be something!
Psody raised his hand. He spoke slowly, in a reassuring and friendly tone.
- You are right, Gustavus, and you don't have to panic. Since your marriage, your wife has never loved anyone but you, and I will never be unfaithful to my Heike. You are the father of this child. Well, it is so. This kind of thing is rare, but happens from time to time, and cannot be explained in any way. It's a decision of the gods. Your son is a White Skaven. To tell you the truth, since the founding of Vereinbarung, he is the first-first, to our knowledge. But there is nothing abnormal. And that does not necessarily happen from one generation to the next. Me, as far as I know, I was born of a father who was not white. And I have no children with such traits. By cons, do you know my son Sigmund?
- Taal, like everyone!
- He's my son, definitively! No other Skaven here was old enough to have children, apart me and my wife, when he was born. Do you really think he looks like me?
The White Skaven burst out laughing, and the young brown Skaven relaxed a little.
- Seriously, it can happen to anyone. However, I can understand your embarrassment, so we will take the lead. We will warn your neighbours, in order to avoid them start to imagine things and chatter. As I am the only adult White Skaven here, it could be confusing!
Psody stood up.
- You live far from here?
- I live in Hemsbach.
- Ah... I'll have to go away for a while, I think. I would like to see your child.
- Came here with my wife and our sonny, didn't want to leave them alone.
- Excellent initiative! answered the White Skaven with an admiring pout.
Half an hour later, they were in the Mouse Trap district, escorted by half a dozen guards. As Psody had expected, the Finston had stopped at the Fishing Cat Inn, the most miserable establishment around. When they entered the building, everyone stayed silent. It was barely enough that the man-keeper dared to greet the White Skaven. Gustavus leaded him as quickly as possible to the room where his wife was waiting for him.
Erika Finston was a rather tall woman, with a thin face, a light coat, a generous breast and wide hips. It corresponded well to the image that the Master Mage had of the peasant women. Strong, able to perform farm work as good as men, while giving birth to many children and educating them with love and firmness. She was lying in the only bed in the room. When she saw the White Skaven, she tried to get up.
- Please, my lady, stay in bed. It is already brave enough-enough to have made the road so early!
The young mother had tears in her eyes, shaken by emotion.
- Master Mage, I'm so happy to see you!
- Your husband explained-explained everything to me.
Psody took place next to the bed, and knelt to be in front of Erika's face.
- I'm ashamed to say it, Master Mage, but I'm scared!
- You don't have to, Erika.
He gently squeezed the peasant's hand between his fingers.
- Is this your first child?
- Taal, yes!
- You love him?
The Finston mother burst into tears.
- All the Renegade Crowns couldn't contain all the love I have for him, my lord! But I'm so scared! I'm afraid not to be a good mother!
The White Skaven passed his knuckles over the woman's cheek.
- Nothing abnormal, Lady Finston. When I had my first-first child, I was scared too. Right, my kids are not white, but I am. And I was raised by a Grey Seer, a nasty little freak who taught me to hate-destroy the Humans. I was afraid to do the same mistakes he did, luckily, I had friends to guide me. Are your Human parents still alive?
- Yes, the four of them, Gustavus said.
- So, you can always count on them to help you in case of a hard situation. When I see both-both of you, I think they rightly rose you up.
Psody stood up.
- Can I see him now?
- In our cradle, there, Erika replied, pointing to an assemblage of nailed planks in one corner of the room.
The White Skaven approached the cradle like a thief in the night. When he saw his occupant, he couldn't restrain a tender smile. In the little cot, a baby, a tiny Skaven, was sleeping peacefully on a cushion. His short coat was bright white, and two small horns pointed to the top of his triangular head.
- Hey, Emil, Psody whispered.
The White Skaven raised his head.
- I'd like to examine him, but I will need your help.
At the request of the White Skaven, Gustavus cautiously lifted his son out of bed. Emil woke up and moaned immediately. His mother hastened to breastfeed him. Once fed, Erika undressed her child and laid him on the mattress. Both parents gently held the little, naked baby boy, in their hands. The Master Mage raised his eight fingers above the new-born Skaven, closed his eyes and focused.
They stayed that way for a long time. Anxious parents looked alternately at their son and the magician, in search of the slightest tension in one or the other. Finally, Psody's face relaxed. He took a deep breath, lifted his eyelids and made a beautiful smile.
- You can be reassured, your little boy is in perfect health! In any case, I did not feel any unhealthy energy in him.
- Taal and Rhya be praised, Erika murmured.
- I've finished, you can dress him up.
The spleen-woman put his layette back to her little child, and held him in her arms.
- True, you didn't find anything evil with him?
- How could such a so small, innocent thing, be evil, Gustavus? But beware! That does not mean that there is nothing.
- So there is something anyway?
- Well, I felt a very, very light wind of magic coming from him.
- What do you mean?
- I mean he will probably be able to use the magic winds in a few years.
- What? My son, a wizard?
Erika seemed to have a hard time believing it.
- That's normal, Lady Erika, the White Skaven have magic in their blood.
- What should we expect, my lord?
The White Skaven thought, chose his words, and explained:
- It won't be easy for him every day, because the other children of his age may be wary of him. It will be necessary to explain to them that it is not an illness or a punishment of a god. Black Skaven are different, and rare, and White Skaven are also different, and even rarer. Your love is what will help him the most. Be very patient, because it will be something he will have to assume, and some days will be more difficult.
- Good, my lord. I knew we could count on your wisdom.
- My friend, there is something else. When your son has grown up a little, he may have new questions.
- Questions? What kind of questions?
Psody walked a little up and down.
- Well, when a White Skaven comes into adulthood, something happens to him. At the dawn of my fifth year, I... the day of my first experience with a girl, I felt a particularly stunning vertigo. The emotion, of course, but also a kind of "contact" with my god, the Horned Rat. Emil may hear someday the call of the divinity of the Feral Skaven.
Erika looked terrified.
- You're saying black gods would... take him away?
- No, Lady Erika. Emil is your child, and no one will take him away from you, apart, perhaps, his future wife, which shouldn't bother you too much. But it is possible that he starts to see things in his sleep, or even while he is awake. Things that might seem very real. Things he might not understand, and that could scare him. And if it should happen, do not reject it. He will need more than ever your love. And if he's really looking for answers... I sincerely wish things to be different, but I'm afraid I'll be the only one who can bring him answers.
- That's a fact, Master Mage, said Gustavus. You're the only White Skaven in Vereinbarung. If it's his dest'ny, we'll send him to you.
- No, said Psody firmly. It will be up to him, and just him, to decide his destiny. I will always be willing to help him answer his questions. But he must remain master of his choices. Only the Grey Seers indoctrinate the little White Skaven to make them their servants. It happened to me, and I know how different it is from Human education. I refuse to snatch him from your home. Otherwise, I would behave like my own master, what I categorically refuse.
The White Skaven headed for the exit.
- Well, now I'll let you take-take care of your son. Remember: what he needs the most is your love-attention. I'm sure he'll become a real little man thanks to you! Do you think you'll be able to make the road back your home soon?
- Tomorrow, my lord. I must not neglect my job!
- You don't have any assistant?
- Taal, I'm too poor for that!
- Hum... You'll be accompanied by an escort, for more safety. And I'll take the opportunity to give you a cradle a little more comfortable.
- I crafted it as I could, my lord, but I'm a farmer, not a carpenter!
- Don't worry, it's fine. Let's say it will be a little gift-encouragement from me.
- And so, you think he will be able to practice magic?
- If he learns how to do it, Father. He will probably not be the only one. I think we should still think about opening a school of magic here.
Ludwig Steiner scratched his head.
- It's an operation that will take time and money! First of all, we need willing mages, then we must be sure that it does not offend Karl Franz, who remains the most powerful person in this part of the world, and who has the authority over magic according to the laws that we have copied. But this little miracle deserves indeed that we seriously study the question.
The Prince yawned.
- Well, it can wait tomorrow. I don't know if it's because I'm becoming old, but I want to go to bed early tonight.
Heike got up from the table.
- Me too, Father, if you allow me.
- Please.
- I really need to get into bed. It must be the change of season...
The ratwoman passed behind her companion, who had also risen. Bianka, sat a few feet from Psody, jumped. She was sure of what she had just seen: her mother had quietly slapped the White Skaven's buttock. The latter accelerated the movement and followed her, pressing his pace.
An hour later, Bianka was in bed. But sleep didn't come. She turned and turned again, looking for a more comfortable position. Nothing helped. With an annoyed sigh, she stood up. She groped for the curtains she pulled, opened the shutters, and remained at the window.
Everything was quiet in the Steiner property. In the distance, the young ratgirl could hear the sounds of Steinerburg's nightlife. And in the sky, the warpstone moon Morrslieb was at its highest. Clouds passed in front of the emerald globe, without altering the brightness of the sky.
What a day…
Bianka reviewed everything she had done during the previous day, looking for something, the little detail that had turned the day so bad that she couldn't sleep now.
Suddenly she understood. Tears came to her eyes.
Indeed... Although I am better educated and much richer than most inhabitants of the Rat Kingdom, I still am a narrow-minded girl who comes out painfully from adolescence, with her joys, her sorrows... and her frustrations.
She gazed at Morrslieb again, which was glowing greenish from the window, vainly trying to think of something else. She scanned the room lit by this ominous light, and her eyes stopped on her big bed. She thought for a moment, and finally took her decision. She stretched out all the way on the mattress and sighed for the second time, much deeper. She glanced at the front door, but changed her mind. At this time, everyone was sleeping.
She gently took the serrated edge of the bottom of her nightgown, and slowly went up the fabric over her breasts. The cool wind made her shudder. Then she stroked her naked body with her fingertips, sliding them from her thighs to her chest. At first very light, the contact became more and more pronounced, more and more rapid. She let her left hand tickle her bust, and guided her right hand in circles gradually concentrated towards her lower abdomen. She slowly spread her knees, and the feeling turned into sensuality. Her breath became panting as her heartbeat accelerated. Her eyes narrowed as tears fell on her cheekbones. She took a deep breath, and her lucidity slipped into vertigo.
Gabriel started. He had thought he heard a noise in the next room, the one occupied by his older sister. A sort of groan, halfway between pain and... something indefinable. The little Skaven listened, surprised and worried, but nothing but the wind in the trees tickled his eardrums.
Must be dreaming! he thought, shrugging his shoulders, before going back to sleep.
- Who are you?
Psody was standing, his toes felt the contact of planks of wood, splintered laden. He looked briefly around, and realized that he was on the dais of the large nave of the Horned Rat temple of the colony of Brissuc, the colony where he was born. His four brothers were near him. All of them were holding their ear, or had a bloody cloth on it. They had just received the ritual scarification making them true adult Skaven. It was now his turn. He had to answer the ritual question that had just been asked to him by the greatest authority of the burrow, Grey Seer Vellux, his master. He stammered shyly:
- I am Psody, a White Skaven... I am your servant, and the servant of the Horned Rat.
He knew he should not make mistakes. Any mistake would ridicule him, in the eyes of the Horned Rat, and all the Skaven citizens who formed the audience. The tall White Skaven asked with a loud and inquisitive voice:
- Why were you born?
The answer was obvious to the young ratman.
- To... to... to transmit the sacred word of the Horned Rat. His words guide the people of Skaven, and his magic destroys his enemies. I am...
He turned his head nervously, and suddenly his heart leapt into his chest. On his left, there was a heavy curtain crafted with dark red cloth. A face appeared in the shadows, on the side, behind the scenes. Someone was watching him. He couldn't quite distinguish the features of the individual, but he spotted his eyes sparkling in the dark, and a smirk that twisted his face. He realized that Vellux was waiting for the rest of his argument, and hastened to resume:
- His most humble servant. I was born to serve him... to serve you, my master.
He turned his head back to the face behind the curtain, but it was gone. The Grey Seer approached, slowly raising his dagger, and cut his ear three times, thus engraving in his flesh his belonging to the colony.
- May those who hear you hear only the Horned Rat. May those who suffer your anger only see the will of the Horned Rat. May those who follow you be blessed by the Horned Rat.
Psody was at once relieved, happy, and proud. At last he was a true, whole member of Brissuc's terrier. At last he was a real Son of the Horned Rat. Vellux then ordered:
- Hey! Bring the sacrifices!
The sacrifices? Psody wondered.
Three Stormvermins brought six Skaven on the platform. All six were naked, tied to each other by a heavy chain slipped into the collars they wore. Psody saw three males and three females. The males appeared to him relatively young. The one in the head, a brown Skaven, looked a little older than he was. The second, a Black Skaven, seemed to be born after one a seasonal cycle, at most. In contrast, the small Skaven boy following was skinny, and very young. The three females were otherwise more surprising: slender, walking on their two legs, nothing suggested that they came out of a hatchery; they had not been treated with warpstone. One of them was very small, and probably had not lived more than three complete seasonal cycles. Another raised her head with a very unpleasant insolence, considering the assembly with contempt. But it was the last of the procession that struck the White Skaven with astonishment.
At first it seemed old, perhaps it was as old as Grey Seer Vellux. Then, it was really disturbing. Deep down, in the depths of himself, Psody felt something. That female had something special. He couldn't say what. Something deep, visceral. It was a complete stranger to him, yet he felt there was a connection between them.
- Here is the lie of the Horned Rat, said Vellux. They don't belong to our world. They don't belong to our race. They don't belong to our kind.
Indeed, Psody noticed that none of the six prisoners were wearing burr scarification on their left ear. Vellux raised his arms, and turned to the huge idol standing at the back of the stage. This tall statue, more than twenty feet high, represented a Skaven with two pairs of horns, its two fists stretched towards the ceiling and its jaw wide open on a cry of challenge to the attention of the surface world. The little White Skaven knew that Clan Skryre Warplock Engineers had carved this idol by assembling quantities of metal pieces. The inside of the head was hollow, and a warpstone burst from its eyes and mouth.
- See, O Horned Rat! Vellux inverted. We found a whole bunch of traitors-disbelievers! These unworthy children of the Horned Rat have chosen to live among men-things! With their language, their habits, even their clothes!
The whole assembly exploded with jeers, sneers, and cries of indignation. The attached Skaven were all petrified in terror. Suddenly, the smaller male reached out his hand, and smudged a few incomprehensible sounds in a shrill voice. The mature female opened her eyes wide, and moaned in her turn, tears in her eyes. Once again, the little white Skaven did not understand anything.
- They are not worthy-worthy Clanrats! You, take care of them as they deserve-deserve!
Chitik, Diassyon and Klur approached the prisoners, looking menacing. Moly, standing back, took a key out of his pocket and unfastened the locks that held the six traitors in their chain. He took the opportunity to put his warty legs on the females, by the way. The other three Psody brothers grabbed the three males. The treacherous Stormvermin and the brown Skaven tried to defend themselves, but Chitik knocked out the Black one with a punch, while Diassyon and Klur grabbed the arms of the brown Skaven and immobilized it to the floor. The little bright Skaven tried to flee, but the Pestilens jumped on it, pinned him to the ground, and cut its throat in a gesture with his rusty dagger, before biting its neck and sucking greedily its warm blood.
The three females screamed together so loudly that the White Skaven's ears whistled. Vellux raised his fist.
- Sacrifice! Sacrifice!
Klur, Chitik and Diassyon then began to slaughter the other two males, with their blades, claws and fangs. Whole handfuls of hair hung on shreds of skin flew, viscera spread, and blood spurted out. Chitik, Diassyon and Klur feasted on the two biggest, while Moly tore the small body of the young ratboy with full bites.
As his brothers did their terrible task, Psody felt worse and worse. His brain was racing at full speed. Why such a reaction? All he saw was just justice: these three young males had agreed with the men-things, and had thus betrayed the Horned Rat. And these three females showed excessive outrage, daring to imagine themselves equal to the Clanrats! He should have rejoiced to see thus accomplished the will of the Grey Seer, and that of his god. He could even have given the execution order himself! Maybe he would do it again, once his title of Grey Seer earned?
Yet... he was not so upset not to have ordered this carnage.
Psody suddenly realized that the screams had stopped. The three males were now in pieces, their guts spilled on wooden planks, their limbs torn off. Behind, the three females were clutching one another, petrified with terror.
Grey Seer Vellux raised his hand, and pointed a firm finger at them.
- And now, sons of the Horned Rat, I will finish fulfilling his will.
The assembly remained silent as the great White Skaven approached. He reveled with the scent of fear emanating from the three breeders. He gazed at them for a long time, licking his chops. Then he grabbed by the arm the young female who had not lost his arrogant air. He pulled it towards him and threw it on the floor. After which he made a gesture towards the assembly.
- You, and you, out of my sight!
Three masked Skaven burst onto the stage, gripped the old layer and the little pup with their claws, and hurled them into the pit. The effect was immediate. The Clanrats of the first rank threw themselves on the two females with excited squeals. Before disappearing, buried under a mass of horny Skaven, the mature female cried in a desperate voice:
- Psody! PSODY!
Psody's heart stopped dead. Had the layer just pronounced his name?
Near him, Vellux plunged on the female who remained on the stage, turned it over, and lay down on it, crushing it with all his weight. He rolled up his robe, and flanked the breeder with violent thrusts. His moans of pleasure mingled with the desperate cries of the young breeder. Shouts that were silent soon, so much suffering was strong. The female turned its head to the little White Skaven, who perceived the glare of its eyes between two hiccups. A heavy look, full of regret and reproach.
Vellux, in full ecstasy, reared backwards and pushed a powerful:
- Glory to the Horned Rat!
- Glory to the Horned Rat! repeated the Skaven of the assembly.
Soon the formula echoed throughout the temple without interruption. Klur, Diassyon, Moly and Chitik took up the refrain, delighted to be from now on real Skaven, citizens of Brissuc, with the same rights.
- Glory to the Horned Rat! Glory to the Horned Rat!
The little White Skaven saw his brothers encourage him to proclaim the same sentence with them. Still stunned by what he had just seen, he tried as best he could to assert himself.
- Glory to...
But Psody couldn't articulate another syllable. A terrible sorrow crushed his intestines, and tears came to his eyes. Unable to detach his eyes from the young breeder mated in front of him, he stammered:
- No… NO!
- What?
Psody awoke with a start, hardly repressing a little cry of fright.
- What's going on? asked the voice of his wife.
- Huh? Oh... oh... nothing.
- Bad dreams?
- It will pass. Sleep, it will pass...
But the White Skaven didn't know if he wanted to reassure Heike or reassure himself.