The Secret King

The Assault Begins

Egbert was escorted in shackles through the Deev Castle and across the short cobbled path which led to the compound of the Scarlet Brotherhood. When he entered, he was taken to a building in the rear which in former days had served the purpose of a silo, a storage space for grain. The guards unfastened the mole's restraints and hustled him into the building, locking the door behind him. He rubbed his wrists where the shackles had irritated them and looked around the enclosure.

Over a dozen other creatures milled around inside, staring at him without speaking. There were a variety of rodents, weasels, and even two humans, a male and a female. They all seemed healthy and well fed. Some stood by a table laden with fruits and salads. No one spoke.

Egbert examined the somber group. Though healthy and clean, there was a deep look of despair in all their eyes. Almost all. Egbert approached the banquet table and popped a grape into his mouth. A cheerful voice called out behind him.
"Enjoy it while you can, my good mole."

Egbert turned and saw the grinning face of a large chubby nutria staring back at him. He had glistening dark fur and two enormous yellowed buck teeth protruding from his mouth. Egbert shot out his paw in greeting.
"Oi'm Egbert."

The nutria grabbed Egbert's paw and pumped it enthusiastically.

"Name's Bobarus, friend's call me Bobo or Lucky." He motioned to the table, "Nice spread, ain't it?"

"Surprising for prison fare," the mole commented.

Bobo chuckled.
"Not so much a prison as a feeding station, I reckon. I figure if some bunch of loonies wearin' red bathrobes feeds ya real good and makes sure ya wash twice a day, they either mean ta sacrifice you or feed ya to something. They're fattening us up you see," he said with a surprising cheerfulness.

"You seem...well...unconcerned," Eggy said with curiosity.

"No point, nothing really bad ever happens to me, lot's of little bad things, mind ya, but the big stuff? Always finds a way out, I do, that's why they calls me Lucky."

"It doesn't seem that lucky to be here," Egbert commented honestly.

"Like I said, lots of little bad stuff, like when our boat sunk and my client drowned. We was in a storm when we went down, a real bruiser, lightning, wind, the whole show. I ended up on a stray plank and washed up here. Verge of starvation by the time I arrived, dyin' of thirst too, couldn't hardly move. These loonies found me, carried me here and fed me till I was fine again...see...Lucky."

Egbert smiled.
"Your definition of 'lucky' is really loose, luckier than your cloient, Oi'll admit...what is it you did for him, exactly?"

Bobo grinned broadly.
"I'm a bodyguard, master of knives, I am. He was a merchant, scared of pirates around Minga, so he hired me."

It was Egberts turn to grin.
"Didn't do such a great job of body-guarding, did you?"

The nutria looked down slightly embarrassed.
"Yeah, on the bright side though, he wasn't killed by pirates."

"I'm sure he appreciated that before he drowned," Eggy said playfully.

"I didn't say I was a good bodyguard."

Egbert followed the garrulous rodent to a corner where they seated themselves on the floor. The mole became serious.
"Do you really believe what you said, about them sacrifoicing us?"

"All I can tell you, my enormous friend, it that once a body leaves this room, they never come back."

"How often do they take the prisoners?"

"They call 'em 'supplicants', apparently we got some duty to their god that we weren't told about. They come every few days, took some this morning, they did. Used to be a lot more of us. They take about half a dozen at a time." Bobo looked around the room and shook his head, "The Gleaners must be fallin' down on the job. They usually restock us once a week or so, the pickin's must be getting slim."