Prior Romulus couldn't believe it.
- I don't understand at all! How can you be behind everything that's been happening to us for weeks? You, one of Heike Steiner's best friends? You, who are one of the founders of the Rat Kingdom? You are far too involved in his story... and above all, it's not your personality at all, Yavandir Palebough!
The masked Elf chuckled when he heard his name.
- That's life, a life full of fun surprises!
- What game are you playing? You're an artist, you've served Prince Ludwig several times, and you've even been sworn to Verena's Order of Lorekeepers, like him and me. What does this madness mean?
- I shall explain everything, but before that, I have to take an extra precaution.
He took a small black silk bag from his pocket. Romulus reluctantly let his head be covered.
- We are moving away from the outskirts of the city, Brother Romulus. It is better to prevent you from knowing in which direction we are driving.
The Human didn't answer, still in shock. He flashed back to all the times the Elf juggler had given his time and energy to the project of building a place like Vereinbarung. He had discovered Heike, together with Brisingr Steadyhand and Hallbjörn Ludviksson. He had been very caring for her when she was still a very young teenager terrified by the slightest male smell. He had regularly entertained her, enchanted by the shows he had performed for her, in Steinerburg, and previously in Altdorf, where she had attended his performances in the greatest secrecy.
It's impossible! He can't be an agent of the Purple Hand!
- Come on, relax, Prior. Might as well annihilate the suspense right away: as long as you are nice and don't try anything stupid, absolutely nothing unpleasant will happen to you until we have reached our goal.
- Excuse me for not being relaxed in front of the one who betrayed us all, who had my best friend killed, then manoeuvred to put me in jail, before tearing me away against my will!
- For this last point, I protest! replied the Elf in an amused tone. You should thank me: soon you will have escaped the wrath of Prince Steiner.
- I am innocent, Master Palebough!
- Sure you are. But the problem is that the good people you love so much need culprits. Everything points at Brisingr Steadyhand and you, now. Your future in the Rat Kingdom seems compromised to me.
- Don't make fun of me, Palebough! You know very well that Ludwig Steiner is the complete opposite of a fool! He would have listened to me defend myself! However, you prevented me from doing it, you even aggravated my case!
- "Aggravated your case"? How funny! How could your case get worse? You have been sentenced to prison, and given what you were going to be accused of, the stake was already waiting for you.
- Not necessarily! If you had left me in my dungeon, I would have been released legally one day or another, I would have been submitted to a proper interrogation before a commission of the highest priestesses of Shallya, under the supervision of the Vereneans! My innocence would have been quickly established! Instead of that, everyone will consider me as a fugitive! Fleeing justice from a country is the best way to stir up its severity!
Palebough contented himself with a little laugh. The prior grumbled under his hood:
- Well, my case does not matter, at worst, I will be able to justify myself in front of Morr. I hope it's the same for you, because I guess your crimes are numerous!
- You will quickly understand that these were not "crimes", but "events necessary for the arrival of a new age".
- Was it necessary to take the life of my best friend? How could you assassinate the Master Mage? After all he did for all the inhabitants of this Kingdom and for Humans in general, he who trusted you... and what about his wife, for whom you are a benefactor? You literally crushed her heart!
- Alas, Prior, to move History forward, choices must be made regularly. Some can be tricky, I grant you, but I was not mistaken.
- You really thought you made the right choice when you put Jabberwocky blood in his drink?
The juggler tilted his head to the side, and emitted a brief little sneer.
- I didn't need to ask myself the question, because it was not me who did that. Even with a costume, among all these people who knew me, I risked being recognized. By you, by Steiner, by Heike, and some others. However, my employer had planned the coup: I ordered the Jabberwocky blood from Master Bert, and to cover the tracks, there was an accomplice, whose identity remains unknown from me, hired for the occasion. I deposited the poison in an agreed hiding place somewhere in Steinerburg, and the other went to fetch it. We didn't even cross paths, just to be on the safe side. The other agent from my employer mingled with the cooks to "add" an extra flavour to the Estalian wine. Thanks to the talents of this accomplice, our horned friend had already swallowed the ingredient that was to mix with Jabberwocky blood earlier that day. In fact, he was already condemned without knowing it.
- And I'm the one who passes for a poisoner, thanks to this accomplice who, I imagine, put what was left of his blood of Jabberwocky in my stuff!
- Simple but effective, isn't it?
- We'll eventually find this mysterious accomplice and make him talk.
- Oh, that would surprise me, Prior. Just before I came to pick you up, my employer confirmed by a short missive that an "unfortunate accident" had happened to this accomplice. No need to think about him anymore.
- And who is this employer, Palebough? Who paid you to kill my friend, frame Magister Steadyhand, and send me to prison, the prison you took me from against my will?
- Patience, patience, I told you. It's a virtue that you are quite capable of making use of, aren't you? You have the wisdom of a man of faith. Meditate on what might have brought you here. I believe you have a little idea, deep down inside you.
The Human growled.
- You didn't have to attack a child, Palebough!
- Are you talking about Bianka? Oh, she has proven she's no longer a child, indeed, Prior. Her investigations in the Mousetrap finally disturbed the wrong persons. As she was starting to get a little too curious, I wanted to encourage her to let it go. In the end, it only strengthened her resolve, but hey, now that she's bedridden, there's no more danger there.
- You endangered her life, and that of her brothers! These people are my family, Palebough! Notice, they got lucky. Others were massacred after your passage through the Mousetrap!
- A pathetic little bandit, a raggedy forgotten by all… Who will miss them? I repeat: our cause is far greater than those miserable little lives.
- Superior cause or not, you won't take it with you at Nethu's!
- I am not the Elf in prison who is a few days away from joining him after being condemned for heresy!
- You're talking about Steadyhand, aren't you? Obviously, it was also you who put the Codex Manu Fatali in his bedroom?
- I admit that I am not a little proud of it! I added the annotations, with Steadyhand's handwriting. This book was absolutely authentic! The priests who confiscated it were not deceived by the merchandise. Another small sacrifice that was worth it, for sure. The hardest part was finding a hiding place that was effective enough to be believable, while still giving a seasoned investigator a small chance of finding it. I had to sneak into the bedroom several times to be able to gradually unseal the boards under which I hid it. Nobody noticed anything, at least until the intervention of this dear Bianka! Anyway, this chapter is over, we can move on.
The prior had had enough.
- Yavandir Palebough, you have been in the service of both Ludwig Steiner and the Lorekeepers for years. You are Heike's godfather, along with Steadyhand. But above all, you are mainly an artist, you are the kind of man to make people laugh, to make people dream, to make others think thanks to your shows. You fight everything that seems unfair to you: the stupidity of the peasant, the greed of the rich burgess, the seriousness of the magistrate or the churchwoman who has never drawn a single smile. Always a snub, a pun, a witticism or a grimace to drive people who need a good lesson crazy. You are a craftsman of comedy who crunches life to the fullest, a poet who knows how to give an angelic shine to the most insignificant of things. So at least tell me: what happened to you? How can this jolly fellow who is quick to have fun while entertaining others be a member of a cult made up of madmen who plan to plunge the entire country into a horrifying charivari of madness, murder and mutations? Answer me!
Romulus perceived no response. The black fabric hid his gaze, and also muffled the sounds that hardly reached his ears. The squeal of the wheels was all he heard. For a moment, he even imagined being alone in the carriage, when a voice answered. A deep, monotonous voice, without the slightest ounce of warmth or empathy. The prior felt a sudden surge of sweat soak into his robe when he realized that it was indeed Yavandir who was speaking.
- Alright, I'll answer you. After all, you've been bullied enough to have at least some truth in compensation. Well, here it is, Prior: what happened to me is that I finally realized that all of this was futile. Nothing matters to me anymore since Katarine disappeared.
- Katarine? repeated the prior.
- Have you forgotten this story, Prior? I nevertheless told you this one, you must remember it.
- What is Katarine doing in there?
- Katarine was everything to me, Prior. Everything! My life, my soul, my muse! I had never loved a woman as much as Katarine Braun. I didn't even think I could experience this kind of emotion before seeing her! But Katarine hurt me, so badly! Another feeling that I had never imagined!
- Oh… I remember, now, Yavandir. She left you, didn't she?
- She disappeared without leaving a trace! Not the slightest word, not a letter, not a flower on the pillow! I had given her everything, she had given me everything back, until that fatal night! We loved each other for hours, with a passion that I had never known, not even at the height of the performance of one of my shows in front of Karl Franz himself! The night lasted an eternity of pleasure and tenderness… and when I woke up, nothing! She had completely disappeared. She had faded away like a marvellous dream. I rushed outside without even taking the time to get dressed. I searched, I searched... and I never found her.
For a moment, Romulus hesitated. He didn't know if he should feel anger, incomprehension, or immense pity.
- I can't believe it… All this for heartbreak?
- Have you ever known such suffering, Prior? It's worse than feeling a harpy's paw rip your skin, tear your ribs apart, then crush your heart. I don't wish anyone to go through such pain. Not even to my worst enemy.
- And it was in order to evacuate your pain that you decided to give up all your ideals, betray those for whom you really mattered and provoke a civil war with all its share of tragedies? You are pathetic!
The juggler did not answer. A long fifteen seconds passed. Then, suddenly, Yavandir let out a cry of rage. The prior felt himself thrown against the bulkhead of the carriage, and a cold blade bit the skin of his neck through the fabric. For a moment, Romulus was scared. What if Yavandir forgot his commitments to give free rein to his anger?
- Your assurance is pathetic, Prior. You think you know, but you know nothing. Of course it's not just a heartache! It is also a bitter observation after the shock. Reality took over, with violence, but it was a necessary violence. It's true, I've been that artist. A stupid zany who had no awareness of the real threats to this decrepit world. But what do you think is going on, while we unfortunate little mortals quarrel like impatient children over a cake too small for everyone? The Gods are watching us, judging us, and they have already condemned us! See what happened to the proud people of Ulthuan: a little temptation from Slaanesh, and… ta-da! A whole nation of degenerates ready to slaughter everyone just for the sake of suffering! What about your kind? What do you think the Humans of the Empire think about the Rat Kingdom? You probably don't know this, but the Emperor is already preparing his troops to annex your miserable country before it becomes too developed! You are doomed, all of you!
The Elf released his grip. The creaking of leather confirmed to Romulus that he had sat on his seat again. Yavandir's voice continued more calmly:
- I realized that I was wrong. So much energy wasted in such futile activities! Honestly, what good is it? Of course, I like to laugh, but when the judgment of the Gods is unleashed on the world, laughter will be useless. I had a small glimpse of what awaited us, Prior: complete Chaos, entire civilizations swept away by the madness of men, under the malevolence of the Gods who abandoned them. The influence of the northern Chaos Wastes is expanding day by day, and no one seems to care. The Lorekeepers can do nothing about it, whether they know about it or not. They think they know, but they will be very bitter the day they realize that this knowledge will not protect them. Chaos is upon us. So we might as well speed things up, and bring about change, the real one, the ultimate one! A change that the Purple Hand will be able to control to its advantage, of course. We will not be able to face and withstand the influence of the Chaos Wastes if we do not prepare for it. This is what the Purple Hand wants to do. We want to evolve. Only the power and grace offered by Tzeentch will allow us to change enough to stop being lower than the ground and rise as we should have done a long time ago! And in the general disorder caused by the Winds of Magic which will blow stronger than ever, we will be the masters!
- "Masters" slaves of your God!
- This is not slavery, Prior, but an oath of loyalty. You have sworn loyalty to Shallya, you know what it is.
- But you… Liadriel inspires you! And you are used to listen to Verena, too!
- Not anymore, Prior Romulus. They lied to me, they told me nonsense! They don't care about me. Otherwise, they wouldn't have taken Katarine from me!
The Human wanted to call the emotional fibre of his interlocutor.
- Yet, the last time you came six months ago, you once again showed your best face! We were all very happy to discover your show! Everyone was delighted: Heike, Psody, Ludwig, the children, the other guests… It was your best performance!
- The best performance I gave that night was to make you believe I still was the same. In fact, I left this role of mindless acrobat for a time longer than you think.
These words ended up shattering the prior's hopes. A sickening bitterness rose in his mouth.
- You are right. The show is well and truly over for the Yavandir Palebough I knew.
The juggler didn't answer. Romulus understood that the conversation was over.
- See for yourself.
Kristofferson was both stunned and very pained. And yet, the facts were there: the prior Romulus, best friend of his father and founder of the Rat Kingdom, imprisoned by order of the Prince, had disappeared.
- He benefited from an external complicity, without the slightest doubt. You just have to look at the state of the cell wall where we locked him up.
- I can't believe it. How could he?
- Put your nose close to the bars, you will smell acid residues. Someone weakened the steel of the bars to be able to pull them out. There was a carriage. Look, one of the horses left dung on the cobblestones, they didn't bother to remove it.
Kristofferson put his hand on the captain's arm.
- My grandfather already has a peremptory opinion: Romulus cannot be the accomplice of the assassins of the Master Mage.
- And yet, he did indeed leave the barracks!
- He can't have fled! He's innocent, Wally!
- I believe you, but the facts are there. I guess he would have been removed by someone, as to why...
The brown Skaven got angry.
- And what were your soldiers doing? Weren't they supposed to watch? So what?
- So, we're still looking for the four who were on guard at the main gate, as well as the other three from the courtyard! Harshly replied the captain. They disappeared too, the seven of them.
- Huh? You mean that...?
Walter's face twisted in anger.
- Yes, Kit: all were agents of the Purple Hand, I'm sure! They all make me look like a jerk! A tinpot! Well, I can guarantee you that the minions of this sect will be behind bars in the next few days! I now make a personal matter to hand them all over to the executioner! I specify: if they did not commit the madness to resist during their arrest, because if they rebel, I will not hesitate to put them down like rabid dogs!
Kristofferson raised his hand.
- And take the risk of losing information? No, prisoners are more useful than corpses!
- What difference does it make? They are just underlings who probably don't know the whole thing.
- We do not know anything! Listen, I know it's difficult, but we have to stay focused and not make mistakes.
- It's easy for you to say that, Kit! You are not the one who has been ridiculed because of these people!
Hardly had these words reached his brain than the brown Skaven's heart raced.
- These people killed my father, Wally! Excuse me not cry over your self-esteem!
His flamboyant gaze, his clenched teeth, his bristling hair, the fumes of rage exhaled through his whole body silenced the captain at once. Trembling with worry, he whispered:
- You are right, my friend. I take back what I said.
- I'm not asking you to back, my friend, I'm asking you to stay focused. We'll find those motherfuckers. We're going to capture them, then convince them to tell us everything they know about the plans of their fucking scumbags sect. We're going to find their leader, and cut this leader in half with a saw on a public place, in the direction of the height. And above all, we will make it clear to the followers of all the sects of the four forbidden Gods that they are definitely not welcome in Vereinbarung!
Walter did not answer. But he felt his heart warm when he saw his comrade reach out and whisper:
- For the Virtue of our Unicorn.
He squeezed Kristofferson's wrist tightly and repeated:
- For the Virtue of our Unicorn.
The prior of Shallya awoke with a start. He was surprised at first to find himself in the middle of a carriage, then he remembered in a few moments the sad situation in which he found himself. The events of the last few hours came back to him quickly: his arrest, his imprisonment, his extraction, the meeting with the real responsible person, his confession, his threats... After an indefinable time, he had dozed off. The juggler had taken off his hood and left him alone.
He didn't he make that mistake, did he?
It was then that he noticed a small detail: his left wrist was now free, but the handcuffs attached his right hand to a brass handle fixed near the window. The priest wondered if he was going to find something near him to pick the little lock, when he heard Yavandir's voice outside.
- Ah, here are our friends!
Shrill and characteristic whistles answered his greeting.
- There's the Elf-thing!
- You force us to go out during the day! Horrible-horrible sun! Burn my skin!
Feral Skaven!
The prior congratulated himself on having learned Queekish from Psody, for all the conversation that followed took place in the odious and aggressive language of the sons of the Horned Rat. Yavandir also mastered this dialect.
- Relax, it will be over soon.
- Many Skaven find it more pleasant than your sewer!
Eh? Who is this?
Another protagonist was obviously in the presence of the two ratmen and the spy. The voice probably belonged to a female, Human, possibly Halfling. It was rather sharp, like that of a child.
- At least you are on time for the appointment, gentlemen.
- Do you have the treasure, half-thing?
"Half-thing"... That's how the Feral ones call the Halflings. She's a Halfling, then? thought Romulus.
- I do. But before I give it to you, I want to see the warranty.
One of the Skaven growled:
- So, there it is! Message from our Master, Grey Seer Karhi.
Romulus heard the sound of a parchment unrolling, then there were a few seconds of silence, as the little person had to read the document.
- And the warranty?
- The… what?
- What you have to give me now.
- We… we have nothing-nothing to give you, half-thing.
- Don't lie to me! Your master says in this missive that there is a first pledge of friendship. Where is it?
The two Skaven answered awkwardly.
- Uh…
- Well, indeed…
- Have you lost it? Or did you keep it to yourself? the small voice shouted.
- No, no! Never-never!
- Give it to her, idiot-moron!
- You are the one who have it, you pathetic-degenerate shithead!
The prior felt his lips pucker with cynicism. The two sons of the Horned Rat were blaming each other, as is all representatives of their people used to. Finally, there was an exclamation.
- There it is-is, half-thing! The purse was in my other pocket.
- Oh, how clever! Give!
A few more seconds of silence, accompanied by a slight sound of leather rustling.
- Well, you see! With a little bit of good mood, everything works out!
- Good mood… to make everything work out, half-thing.
- Now, you, give the object! squealed the Skaven, who had recovered and regained strength.
A small sigh, then a bit of reikspiel.
- Give it to him, Yavandir.
A small chuckle, followed by a loud laugh.
- Yes! This is the treasure-treasure!
- Grey Seer Karhi will be happy! Overjoyed!
- Bring it back without fail to your master, and beware! recommended the thin voice. Remind him that he promised to give me all the warpstone production of this whole year! It's written on this letter. If he doesn't get his share because of you, I won't get mine! If he doesn't keep his word, I won't get my share either. And if I don't have my share... all the Skaven of the Under-Empire will regret it, I guarantee it!
Romulus felt a shiver run down his spine. By the time it pronounced those last words, there was absolutely nothing childish about the voice. The two Feral Skaven stormed off, hissing.
- Right, come on, enough waste of time. I'm waited for.
The prior guessed that the spy was returning to the carriage. He could make out the voices approaching.
- Why did you show up?
- I had to. Without me, it wouldn't have been serious! And then, everything went well, right?
- Come on, shut up now!
- Be a good boy! replied the small voice with a small laugh.
Yavandir opened the door and sat down opposite the prior. He shouted a "Let's go again!" to the attention of the coachman.
- Ah, you're awake. Didn't find the time too long? Sorry, but it was necessary.
- You are an accomplice of the Feral Skaven!
- So what? Psody was a Feral Skaven, too, you were his accomplice for years, and I don't make a fuss about it. By the way... I hope you didn't hear our conversation, you little rascal?
- How could I? I can't talk their gibberish! lied the prior.
- Really, a Lorekeeper who has worked for years with the Sons of the Horned Rat would know nothing of their language? Sorry, Prior, but that lacks credibility. I'm sure our friend Psody taught you to understand Queekish. But, well, it doesn't matter, anyway, the result will be the same in a few days.
Romulus took the opportunity to try to obtain information.
- In that case, you could at least tell me in what kind of mess you are putting me in! A murder, false evidence, a forced escape, and now Feral Skaven and another accomplice! I would like to know how shall I be basted?
- You'll know all of it soon enough, Prior. And as for my "accomplice", know that she is only a very good friend of mine, in whom I have complete confidence, and that it is not of her that you should be afraid of.
- Who should I be afraid of, then? Feral Skaven? They've been attacking us for weeks already!
- Yes, I know. How tragic! They go after the children you stole from them, or the children of this first batch. What a misery!
- It's not funny at all, Yavandir! Dozens of families are already torn apart by grief!
- It will be the least of their worries once the war begins, Prior. But the Skaven of the Under-Empire will not be the most to be feared. In fact, on the advice of my friend, I ensured their peace of mind by giving their leader a special gift.
- A "special gift"? Great! What did you give them?
- The symbol of the Rat Kingdom. The object they fear the most, because it has masterfully illustrated on several occasions the victory of Light over Darkness. The greatest treasure that the wise Cuelepok passed on to his best student, who became a powerful Mage of Jade in Vereinbarung before returning to earth.
Romulus was suddenly stunned.
- The... you didn't do that, did you?
- I did what? Yavandir replied, more and more amused.
- You didn't give those brutes the mask of Cuelepok?
- Correct answer, my friend! You would make a fortune as a Strigany fortune-teller!
- How did you get it? This item was in a tabernacle at the back of a private and secret chapel!
- Which was hidden as well, I grant you. Impossible to spot it from the outside, with a single window opening into a closet stuck in the middle of the structure of the building, and the only entrance concealed in the office of this good rat-Psody fellow. But the back of my neck, as well as the friend you heard earlier, kindly pointed out the place to me. My friend has a very fine nose. She can smell magic. It wasn't particularly difficult for me to figure out how to get into the chapel once I knew where the source of magic that was emitting this radiation was.
Sweat rose to the prior's forehead.
- Do you realize what will happen, Palebough? They will never be able to use his power! It is a concentrate of Jade magic! That Grey Seer the Feral Skaven you gave it to were talking about is crazy or stupid! If he tries to do anything with this artefact, it shall get him in big trouble!
- This is not my problem, Prior. I need resources for my own project, and only the Skaven of the Under-Empire can provide it to me.
- Warpstone, of course. And why do you need… oh! Oh, Shallya!
The Elf's smile turned into a thick laugh.
- Ah, I see that you're understanding!
- Tzeentch is the God of Mutations! You want to cause a wave of Mutations, don't you?
- Oh, no! I will surprise you, but you're wrong! Precisely, Tzeentch is also an unpredictable God. Warpstone-poisoned wells are a thing of the past. No, we are planning something much more… monumental. But you don't need to know more, this is not about you.
- Whatever you plan, it won't do you any good, Palebough! Chaos Gods always offer tricky deals, and this one is no exception! When you have satisfied your God, he will no longer need you, and then he will destroy you!
- Please, don't you have anything else newer? Always these old-fashioned beliefs…
- The Gods live in temporal spheres that have no common measure with ours. Their mentality is immutable, on our scale. Including that of the God of Change!
- Your Rat Kingdom is proof to the contrary, Prior. The Horned Rat would have pushed his dear little children to devour you all long ago if he had not decided to let them prosper in your Human hands. Or, perhaps he is just about to do so, since his will, out of all proportion to our temporal sphere, is immutable?
Romulus didn't answer, too tired to argue. He thought again:
Yes, the Yavandir Palebough who was my friend left the stage for good.
He still felt a thump in his stomach when he heard the juggler.
- Notice, it's not too late for you yet... Maybe you can save your own skin in the end?
- You have already sealed my fate, Palebough.
- Yes, I will deliver you to someone, but if you ask me nicely, I may be able to take the wrong direction at the next intersection, and take you to a completely different destination? Of course, my current employer would be very unhappy, but we need not fear his wrath. Tzeentch will take care of silencing him. Sure, there will be a counterpart: you will take an oath before the Purple Hand, you will renounce your Goddess, so compassionate that she is abandoning you to a sad fate, and you will swear allegiance to Tzeentch, the God of Magic and Change. So, do we have a deal?
- Never!
Kristofferson Steiner rolled up the paper on which he was compiling all the observations he had made over the past few days in an attempt to understand everything that was going on at Vereinbarung.
- The Prior would never do that, never!
Alas, he had no other more concrete track to follow. Of course, the poison found in the prior's room was a trap, he had no doubt about that. But how could he have disappeared like that?
Has the prior really gone over to the side of the Purple Hand?
No, he was far too loyal to the Steiner family for that. Someone else had dragged him away from the justice of Steinerburg. Who could have done? And why?
Maybe these famous vanished soldiers know something?
Kristofferson had no doubts about that either; his friend would find the missing guards, and perhaps other infiltrated sectarians, even if it meant interrogating all the elements of the garrison one by one, and using force. But that was not enough to mitigate the feelings of the young brown Skaven.
Fear began to compress his guts unpleasantly.
If there were traitors even in the Vereinbarung Guard, it could go right back to the princely domain itself!
Gabriel and Isolde will have real reasons to be afraid... and I don't know if I can reassure them!
What bothered him the most was his own loneliness: he no longer had any attentive ear to listen to, no comforting shoulder on which to pour out. His mother was so sad that she now isolated herself in her bedroom, never leaving. His adult brother was still behind bars. His sister was so ill that even if her life was no longer in danger, it was important not to disturb her rest. His grandfather was drowned under the obligations to deal with both external and internal dangers.
And the Twins who have gone frolicking I don't know where, looking for documents that exist nowhere else than in their imagination, I bet!
His ear twitched nervously. He heard through the partitions that separated his room from that of his parents the cries and tears of little Isolde, victim of a nightmare again.
Don't cry, don't cry!
A waste of time, the tears were beginning to slide down his muzzle. He clenched his fists in frustration.
Marjan, Jochen… come back, come back quickly!