Runktipp tried unsuccessfully to block a rip in the canvas of the covered cart with a pennant he had plastered with mud. "Aye, we could do with lackin' this day right enough. Pesky rain'll drive me off my spikes if it don't stop!"
Borrakul, who was caked in mud up to the waist from trying to get the cart unstuck, grinned mirthlessly. "Cheer up, we're only lost, starvin' an' likely to be drowned by mornin'. At least there's plenty o' water t'drink out there."
Roop twitched his nose at the otter. "Oi bain't thursty, thenkee, zurr, tho' 'tain't ee weather oi'm wurried over, 'tis Dwopple. Ee young maister's gone vurry quiet, an' oi doan't loik et!"
Deesum instantly leapt to the defense of her charge. "You're quite heartless, mister Roop. See, the dear little chap is slumbering innocently."
Elachim, the other otter brother, who was trying to sleep at the same end of the cart as the mousebabe, shifted his position, muttering, "Slumberin' innocently? The wretch is snorin' like thunder, an' he keeps tryin' to eat my tail in 'is dreams!"
Muggle flung her soggy turban at the otter. "Gurr! Doan't ee menshun eatin' again. Moi pore stummick is a-growglin' an' a-rowglin' loik thunner an' loightnin'!"
Dejectedly, Florian pulled out his battered one-string fiddle and plucked at it experimentally. "Tchah! Confounded wet weather's knocked it all out o' tune, wot!" Nevertheless, he scraped away at it with a tattered bow and began singing a song that he composed as he went along.
"Deah mothah I am hungry, hungry,
An' starvin' as well to boot,
Oh to be back home in your orchard,
So full of delishowus froot.
If I perish'n'die before maaaawnin',
My last thought will be of yewww,
An' the smile on Father's whiskers,
An' a whackin' great bowl of stewwww!
Are Grandpa's teeth still missin',
The way I'm missin' yooooooou?
You're the nicest ma a son could have
An' I've had quite a feeeeeewwww.
Fare thee well my dearest parents,
For quite soon now I must die,
But if I get home before midnight,
Don't let Grandma eat all the pie!"
Florian's song was abruptly cut off when a soggy tunic flopped in his face. He removed the offending article, which had become tangled with his ears and whiskers, and held it up.
"Which rotter threw this? Own up immediately, wot?" he demanded with an air of injured dignity.
The troupe stared at him in blank innocence. Baby Dwopple shook with malicious mirth, but kept his eyes tight shut, pretending to be asleep. He even threw in a couple of lusty snores for good effect. Deesum stroked his head fondly, murmuring, "So young, yet so talented. One day you will be a great actor!"
Night closed in around the little cart in the woodland as the rain continued to batter down.
Chapter 5
The lake was so huge that nobeast standing on any part of the shoreline could tell that its sweeping vastness held an island at its center. Not even birds, because they knew better than to try to fly across the lake. Whipping up the surface into a frenzy of crested waves, the storm raged throughout the night hours. Rain howled like a wild thing, driven by the winds. From the billowing masses of black and purple-bruised cloud that obscured the moon, thunder crashed and lightning ripped down in a flickering dance across the heaving waters.
Inside Castle Marl a grim-faced band of brown-liveried water rats were trying to drown out the storm noise with music. They plucked at stringed instruments, struck small gongs and played strange melodies on flutes and pipes of varying sizes. From cellars to attics they paraded, up and down the fortress's many ramps. There were no stairs inside Castle Marl, just steeply sloping ramps, winding or angled, everywhere. The odd group followed a curtained palanquin, a long boxlike affair with silken tasseled drapes around its sides, borne on four thick poles running beneath its length and width. Over a score and a half rats bore the odd conveyance, treading with carefully measured paces, so that the box was kept perfectly steady at all times, and by the side of the palanquin strode a Marlfox. When a sharp tapping noise issued from within the covered box, the carriers stopped moving instantly. A harsh rasping voice sounded from behind the silken curtains.
"Lantur! Tell them to play louder. I will not be disturbed by weather noises, for I am mightier, more powerful than storms! These fools must play louder. The storm stopped me sleeping, so they must outplay it. That is my command!"
The Marlfox, Lantur, strode back to the musicians, who had already heard the order. Nevertheless, she repeated it in the imperious tone of one used to commanding others.
"The High Queen Silth decrees that you play louder. If you disobey the royal word you will all answer to the Teeth of the Deeps. Play louder! You there, bring the Chanters so they may add to the music by singing the High Queen's praises!"
More water rats were quickly brought to join the band. At a nod from Lantur the procession continued, the Chanters droning along in time with the musicians.
"All-powerful mighty Queen, whose beauty has ne'er been surpassed,
Far brighter than the sun, whose rays it will outlast,
We live to serve you truly, until our final breath,
Knowing you hold all secrets, the power of life and death,
Wisest of wise, greatness sublime,
Rules o'er our isle for all time."
Rats with incense burners scurried ahead of the bearers, wafting sweet smoke into the air so that it would drift down between the curtains. Lantur drew close to the palanquin and spoke in a comforting, wheedling tone. "You see, O Queen, whatever your heart desires is yours."
The harsh rasping voice came back to her, childish and complaining. "I cannot bear not to be surrounded by beauty and calm. Oh, my head hurts with the noise of the thunder, lightning flashes through my brain! Tell them to play louder, Lantur. Louder!"
The Marlfox smiled as she bowed low. She resembled the four who had accosted Janglur Swifteye and the Noonvale Companions, but was slightly smaller, and finer-featured in a sinister way. Silkily, she said, "Your wish is my command, All-Powerful One!"
Outside Castle Marl the storm raged on, oblivious of the pathetic sounds from within as they strove to drown out the greatest sound of alclass="underline" the power of the weather, combined with the forces of nature.
Below, in the rear courtyard, lines of manacled slavebeasts, squirrels, otters, hedgehogs and mice stood with weary heads bowed in the downpour, waiting for the barred pens to be unlocked. The sadistic Slave Captain, the water rat Ullig, lounged under the protruding roof shelter, jangling a bunch of keys at his belt.
"So then, me lucky lot, yore gettin' off easy today. Darkness arrived early 'cos o' the storm an' I ain't standin' out in the fields gettin' drenched. But you'll work twice as hard tomorrer, or you'll feel my whip around yore backs!" Shrugging his heavy cloak closer about him, Ullig smiled wickedly at the tired, saturated slaves. "Ain't that right? Come on, let's 'ear yer. Speak up!"
The wretched beasts were forced to call out in a chorus, "Aye, right, Cap'n!"
Ullig tossed the bunch of keys to a water rat guard. "You, open up an' get 'em under cover till dawn."
Shuffling through the deepening puddles, the slaves crowded into the pens, throwing themselves down on the damp straw bedding, grateful to be under cover. Locking the pens, the guard returned the keys to Ullig. Two more guards staggered from the barracks nearby, carrying between them a cauldron of boiled maize porridge, which they placed close to the bars. UUig watched the slaves thrusting their paws through and scooping the rapidly cooling mess into their mouths. He shook his head at the pitiful sight. "I'm far too kind t'you lot. Must be gettin' soft with me long seasons." Laughing to himself, he strode off to the cover of the barracks, where a warm fire and good food awaited him.