There was a hesitant silence over the meeting. Then Big Kolun, Skipper of the Galedeep sea otters, boomed out in his loud, jolly voice, “Well that’ll do for us Galedeeps. Ye couldn’t’ave painted High Rhulain clearer, Zillo. Sounds like the kind o’ queen I’d foller to Hellgates an’ back. Right, buckoes?”
Yells of approval greeted him. Leatho winked at the big fellow. “Galedeeps were always loyal warriors, matey!”
Kolun spat on a huge paw and held it out. “Here’s me paw, an’ here’s me heart, Shellhound. I’m with ye!”
Dawn of the following day found Riggu Felis, Lady Kaltag and their two sons taking breakfast beneath an awning on the pier which fronted the lake. It was a fine summer morn, with sunbeams dancing on the water from a cloudless sky of cornflower blue. Otterslaves stood by, ready to serve the demands of the warlord and his kin. As usual, Jeefra and Pitru were quarrelling, this time about two gull eggs which they had been served.
Jeefra went whining to his mother, tears beading in his eyes as he wailed, “Mamma, Mamma, Pitru stole my egg. He’s finished his own and now he’s taken mine!”
Kaltag left off sunning herself in the early warmth. “Will you two stop bickering? Pitru, give that egg back to your brother, this instant!”
Pitru tossed the egg up, then caught it deftly, smirking. “Tell him to come and get it!”
His mother fixed him with an icy glare. “Give Jeefra the egg. Do as I say!”
The chain mail half-mask which covered Riggu Felis’s disfigured face chinked as he drew in breath. He was watching his sons with interest. The wildcat rasped, “Let them be, Kaltag. If Pitru wants the egg, let him keep it—though mayhaps Jeefra’s warrior enough to take it back by force. Go on, son, let’s see what you’re made of.”
Jeefra feared both his father and Pitru, so he took the soft alternative. Turning to an otterslave, he ordered, “You, bring me another gull’s egg!”
“Stay where you are, slave!” The warlord’s fangs showed between the quivering chain mail. “Jeefra, go and take the egg back off Pitru. Go on!”
Kaltag complained, “My lord, you should not be urging brothers to fight each other in this way.”
The wildcat ruler of Green Isle snarled at her. “Stay out of this! They have to learn to take what they want. Well, go to it, Jeefra. I’m waiting!”
Pitru taunted his weaker brother. “Aye, go to it, Jeefra. I’m waiting, too.”
Jeefra had no option. He knew it would go badly for him if he was shamed in front of his father. Gathering his nerve, he made a sudden charge, but his brother easily sidestepped him. Leaping onto Jeefra’s back, Pitru forced him to the ground, holding him there as he mocked his feeble attempt.
“ ‘Mamma, Mamma, Pitru stole my egg!’ Here, take it back, you big snot-nosed kitten!” Wilfully, he smashed the raw gull egg over his brother’s head. The runny mess splattered down across Jeefra’s face. Pitru contemptuously kicked his brother’s backside, then freed him. Jeefra fled indoors, sobbing.
Pitru licked yolk from his paw, commanding one of the otterslaves, “Go and bring me another egg, I’m still hungry!”
A gurgling laugh issued from behind the chain mail as Riggu addressed Kaltag. “That one’s got the makings of a proper wildcat!”
She sniffed. “We have two sons, both wildcats.”
Pulling the face mask to one side, the warlord thrust his hideous features close to her. “Never! I’m the only true wildcat here—I, Riggu Felis! You and all the rest of these cats, you are only feral cats. Your ancestors were tame creatures who served stronger beasts. You could not even fend for yourselves. It took my kin, the real wildcats, to conquer your masters. We brought your kind here from the sunset lands of the far oceans. See my colour, my stripes, these are the marks of the proper wildcat bloodline. I am the only one who is all wildcat, a warlord born. Jeefra is more like you, but Pitru has more wildcat in him!”
Pitru had been eavesdropping on his father’s words. “Does that mean I’ll be the ruler of Green Isle someday?”
Riggu allowed the chain mail to cover his lower face again. “It takes more than a bully to make a warlord. You have to be fearless, like me. Why could you not have slain that bird on the eve of the storm, eh?”
Both brothers had been reminded of the incident many times by their father. Pitru did not like being criticised. Turning on one paw, he prowled off, leaving his father with a parting shot. “Huh, you tried, and look at the mess it made of you.”
Springing up in a fury, the wildcat chieftain seized his single-bladed axe. “You insolent whelp! Why, I’ll. . . .”
A cry rang out from the lakeshore, distracting Riggu. “Master, we have taken two prisoners!”
Bound together by ropes, the two otterslaves, Whulky and Chab, were thrust up onto the pier. Surrounding them were catguards, with Weilmark Scaut and Atunra at their head. Still hefting the axe in one paw, Riggu wiped froth from his slobbering lower lip. He composed himself swiftly and sat down.
The prisoners were forced to lie facedown in front of the wildcat as he stared regally at them. “Why do you bring them before me? What have they done?”
The pine marten Atunra bowed. “Master, they were caught outside of the settlement before dawn. Both have been missing all night.”
Weilmark Scaut pointed with his whipbutt at the otters. A large bandage covered Scaut’s jaw, where the missile from Leatho had broken it. He was in pain and had to speak from between clenched teeth.
“This younger one I caught stealing recently. He’s already served a night and a day beneath the pier, Lord. I’ve had my eye on these two, they’re always whisperin’ together.”
He pawed at the painful swelling on the side of his face before continuing. “Last night I could not sleep, so I did a secret visit to the slave compound. They were both missing.”
Scaut winced in agony, while Riggu gestured for Atunra to continue. “After Weilmark Scaut roused me, we took a patrol of catguards and two trackers. We picked up their trail to the riverbank, but there it ended. So we hid and waited, knowing they would return the same way. Sure enough, an hour before dawn, we caught them both skulking back.”
Intrigued, Riggu leaned forward. “And where had they been?”
Scaut was not to be outdone if any credit were to be given. He took up the narrative again, despite his aching jaw. “I sent the trackers downriver, Lord. They found lots of pawprints an’ the ashes of a fire inside the circle of tall stones. They was attendin’ some sort o’ otter outlaw meeting, Sire. I’d swear an oath on it!”
The face mask swayed in and out as the wildcat chieftain beckoned the guards to stand the captives up. He peered at their bruised and battered heads. “Hmm, I see, and they’ve refused to talk, eh?”
Scaut uncoiled his whip. “Leave them to me, Sire. They’ll soon talk when their ribs show through their hides!”
Riggu glimpsed the looks of stubborn defiance the otters gave each other. “No they won’t. Put away that lash, I have a better idea. Tell me, do they have families?”
Atunra answered smartly, “Master, the younger one has a wife and three offspring. The older one has only a wife.”
Riggu looked at the two otters enquiringly. “Why do you not think of your families and talk to me?”
Whulky and Chab remained tight-lipped. The wildcat shrugged. “Bravery in a warrior is an admirable quality, but bravery in a slave with loved ones to care for is just plain stupidity. So, do you wish to speak to me now, or go to your deaths in silence?”
Whulky and Chab were trembling all over, but they stared straight ahead without saying a single word.
The wildcat leaned back in his chair, tapping his claws on the arm. “So be it. Tie them both underneath this pier until tomorrow morning. If they haven’t spoken by then, we’ll take them to Deeplough and introduce them to Slothunog.”