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The Heartwood
The Arch Bridge
Attaday, the Eighth Day of Yrick

Pietro, Clever Rat and a collection of Rats

“Oh Great Lord Rames the Protector on his White Horse in the Forever Fields of Paradise Green …”

The Prince just looked up at Bekkah, looked up and with a slow theatrical motion raised his Imperil hand.

And covered his face.

“Of course. Of course she had to be a Navigator’s child! They are nothing but Trouble! Trouble with a capital Tee that rhymes with Vee which means Very Much Trouble!

“I thought we sent all the Navigator’s back to the Archipelago! I know I ordered mine back! Unless … unless … unless…

“Don’t tell me you are from that infernal place called Dawnview, are you? On the far edge of the world where the Snowqueen rules? Those mainland grown Wild Things that do things like drop mountains on you!”

His hand moved from face to chin, which he then rubbed contemplatively.

“Wait … wait … wait … this can be a good thing.

“If this is true, when we marry, we can parlay this into something beneficial to the Empire. Never surrender? Hah! We shall claim that last territory in the best Imperial manner! Through inter-marriage and assimilation! That accursed Vale will be ours!”

This banter was odd for Pietro to listen to. It was going on interminably, long enough for the Squires holding him down to start becoming restless. That didn’t stop them from holding him down any less. The truth was more than a little interesting. The Squires were looking between their Lord and the Lady as one might watch a game of Horse and Castles. Some were waiting for their Lord to put the Lady into check and yet some looked more concerned – as if the Prince might actually be losing this game.

The Dwarves were certainly starting to look annoyed. That was probably not a good thing.

Maybe there was a lesson to be learned here.

“As for The Forest.

“If it is a choice between the Forest and Dayalans …”

That was also odd but understandable. From his time in Talantal he had heard of the women warriors. The young Squires discounted them. The older Knights, however? They said there was only two things more troublesome than the Wheel of Chaos. A Dayalan and an uppity Atteran. He had never seen a Dayalan but he had the funny feeling he was learning about uppity Atterans right now.

“Sea and stars, dealing with the Forest is a more palatable task!”

Pietro


He continued to occasionally test the tightness of the grips holding him down, not struggling violently, but checking for a lack of attention of the squires as the byplay between Prince Faast and Bekkah continued.

Pietro wondered, not for the first or perhaps even the fifth or fiftieth time whether the fierce female he had met - and with whom he had conversed - the one who had told him of some of the happenings at the Mid Summer Councils, had indeed been a Dayalan warrior.

Not that it mattered at the moment. Nothing much seemed to matter overmuch at the moment.

But he did not know what to try... what he could do to improve the more than awkward situation.

Bekkah

She hated dealing with this madman, but she had to keep going for everyone's sake.

"Dawnview is my home. I grew up amongst, the Allaine's. And no, I would never be a part of taking over the vale. It's a beautiful place, filled with amazing people."

"No. Once again we are not going to marry. Could you imagine a Dayalan Knight in full armor, riding a Black unicorn to our wedding? Oh how tongues would wag."

She considered telling him about Romanas, but that might be pushing things too far. She wanted to stall him, distract him, not send him into a rage.

"We are not a good match Lord. So why not allow the good squire and I to be on our way? Your days would indeed be long, having to deal with a woman as stubborn as me."

The Heartwood
The Arch Bridge
Attaday, the Eighth Day of Yrick

Pietro, Bekkah, Clever Rat and a collection of Rats, a Prince and a stonewall of Dwarves

“We should never have let Snowgate Pass stop us …”

The Prince’s dark words rose to Bekkah, her sharpness returned by his. Perhaps that had been a tactical mistake. While he was bemused and believed he lead the conversation, the Imperial had been happy to let the conversation wind wherever it may have desired to go and for s long as it took.

It was the difference between tactics and strategy. Tactically they had lost the fight the moment they engaged the Prince’s retinue.

But strategically they had been winning the war.

Held down by other Squires gave Pietro time to speculate on such matters. Perhaps this was why Dorian Korie and Hadrian Montague were much more dangerous than Jakal or Marcus. The latter dealt in tactics, the former saw the big picture. But he could tell that the Atteran Lady had made a tactical mistake – he was no longer following her lead, his stance, his voice, were no longer patronizingly amused but annoyed and aggressive.

His Squires noted that too, that disturbance allowing Pietro to finally push himself up, up to his knees and then up to a half crouch.

The act that the Dwarves were no longer paying attention to the Forest Folk, Lady Bekkah or him probably helped. A lot.

Pietro had only heard this sort of thing once before. It was the end of Storm season, out on the High Tarn, in the shadow of the Skaefla Plateau. It was a low rumble, a deadened roar, and when he had heard it before he had ridden up on a hillock to see what was causing it. That simple action had saved his life. A gout of water suddenly sprayed over the plateau’s edge, slammed into a creek bed and just as suddenly at his horses feet was a rampaging river.

It was the first he had ever witnessed a flash flood.

“It’s not time …

“We have a schedule …

“Which one of you fools ordered this, Faast! We filled the pools last Restday!

“It’s not stopping …

“What’s not stopping …

“The gates … they are not stopping!”

As one the dwarves turned, they abandoned their place, running back towards the keep’s main gate.

They were strong, hardy, almost impossible to knockdown if their feet were upon stone.

But they did not run very fast.

“Halt! What are you doing! Get back here! By my Command!”

It seemed the Prince had run into a whole lot of folks who weren’t going to listen to him today. Somewhere deep in the Keep the Forest Folk must have been rescued. Somewhere in one of the towers, Cesare must have raised the gates.

The conflict between Pietro, Bekkah and Lady Bekkah had been one grounded in Law. It seemed that the centuries had not at all been kind to His Highness, Prince Faast Bankorpool or his Squires.

They had forgotten how to deal with a little chaos.

**whumf**

A small form appeared next to Lady Bekkah, a little Mouse with emerald eyes.

“YOU!”

Prince Faast looked up, and his – and every one of his Squires - attention was fixed. He recognized that Mouse. How could he not. How could they not.

All of a sudden Pietro found that no one, not a one, was paying attention to him any more. The Prince had his back to him, looking up to the Atteran atop the monolith of stone.

“Executioner!”

He saw just what covered her face and cloak. The dark streaks of blood.

“What have you done!”

The Mouse didn’t answer the Imperial Prince, her first Owner. Instead she just lightly tugged on Bekkah’s cloak.

“It’s time to go.”

<minor edits made to fix autocorrect mis-corrections>

Pietro


More than anything else in the world, the squire of Lord Rames wanted to rush Lord Faast Bankerpool, hit him from the rear and drive him from the bridge.

But that was the one thing he could not do. Above and beyond anything else, Pietro was a devotee of Lord Ramos and that meant a devotee of Law. He had not covered himself with honor in this confrontation, had not impressed even himself, but, despite all his faults and mistakes, all his obtuse disregard for the tenets of and duty to the Law, apparently the others of their group had freed the little folk.

There was a sardonic shred of humor in the fact that his mistakes - and Bekkah's help - had cancelled each other out just enough to give the more proficient and efficient members of their group time to accomplish their mission.

He moved back and stared upward toward Bekkah, wondering how he could make his way up to where he stood. He leaned down next to the nearest Rat and spoke quietly.

"Can you and your friends throw me up there?"

Bekkah

She could tell he was getting angry with her. She didn't care that he was angry as long as he didn't take it out on Pietro. She heard the sound and understood the dwarves concern.

*It's time to go.* she thought as Mouse showed up, telling her the same thing.

"We need to get Pietro up here Mouse. Quickly. Unless you think we can get to higher ground quickly."

[ooc: If I misunderstand or there is a clear escape path for them let me know. You can safely assume that she's all for getting away from him as long as Pietro was saved as well.]

HWD: Lady Yuridotter’s Quest: The Rescue – Pietro + Bekkah

The Heartwood
The Arch Bridge
Attaday, the Eighth Day of Yrick

Pietro, Bekkah, Clever Rat and a collection of Rats, a Prince and a stonewall of Dwarves

The last question of His Highness Prince Faast Bankorpool was answered by the oddest sound. It was like a crockery stein in a tavern hitting the floor; both the noise it makes shattering and the commons room silence that traditionally follows. That silence, however, only lasted for one, maybe two heartbeats before there was a deeply muffled thunder.

A few moments later the bridge shook, the smooth calm surface of the lake suddenly covered in ripples.

“Only what you had trained me to …”

Those were Miss Emerald’s final words, to the man who had had her crafted. Then, just like a Mouse she vanished, the air about her popping as it filled the space where she once was. She could not do what Bekkah asked, that was not the Way of Mice.

Pietro had it right.

It was Rat work.

Withdrawing was actually easy. The Dwarves, they understood what was happening and the dire consequences of the lower portions of the Keep suddenly filling with water. The deepest parts of the Keep were where the forges and furnaces were. Powered by magic, not coals or wood or peat, they would not be gently extinguished.

The Prince and his squires, they did not. They took a step back – abandoned by their centuries long allies and then, just as quickly abandoned by their opponents. When a Rat wants something moved it gets moved.

Pietro was first tossed through the air up to Bekkah, to the drawbridge top. Then it was across the lake to the first portion of the bridge, where the rest of their vanguard waited. There was no worry for weasels. They may have been annoyed when they were dropped in the water but being dropped on the bridge itself silenced any complaints.

In the darkness they could see a hint of movement at the base of one of the towers; it was a small group, probably Cesare’s, returning to their boats and escape.

In the long run, despite their difficulties, Pietro and Bekkah had accomplished their task, without a cost of any of the Forest Folk. They held the Prince and his retinue long enough or the others to finish their own tasks – to not slay not a Dragon but instead, execute a Keep.

Pietro


It seemed as if all his deplorable mistakes and fumbling actions had somehow - miraculously - cancelled each other out and, despite his less than honorable, certainly less than lawful decisions, the mission seemed achieved.

"Certainly not my fault it worked out," he muttered once his stomach had resumed its rightful place after being tossed violently around by the powerful rats.

He turned to the lady of healing grace.

"Bekkah, come with me and I will help protect you on our way out of... this."

Bekkah

The breaking of the damn was a welcome event. It meant that at least part of their plan had worked. She only hoped that everyone made it out okay. She would soon see as she felt herself lifted from the drawbridge. She was not the type to gloat over the prince or anyone, so she simply turned away from him and let the rats do their thing. Bekkah always seemed to be graceful and in control even when being moved around by rats. She landed on the safe part of the bridge, gently, her skirts rustling in the breeze.

"Are you hurt Pietro? or can you move well enough for now?" she said before moving off.

Pietro


"Oh, just a few bruises, milady," he said with a nod of greeting.

"I appreciate your concern, but I can move quite well, thank you."