The spies behind the rock slithered away to inform Marshgreen and his toads of what they had seen.

* * *

Tsarmina slept heavily after the night spent in Mossflower Woods. The nightmare visited her dreams again; once more she was engulfed by cold, dark, rushing water. It flooded her senses as she fought feebly against the muddy engulfing tide that filled nostrils, ears and eyes. At the very moment when she felt all was lost and drowning was inevitable, she came awake with a start. Stumbling heavily, she slumped on the floor, pawing the solid stones to reassure herself. Stone was real; it was good. These stones belonged to her, Queen of the Thousand Eyes. She looked gratefully at the floor.

That was when she saw the pawprints in the dust.

Two mice and two moles!

* * *

Fortunately, Ashleg was halfway up the chamber stairs when he heard the Queen screeching his name. As quickly as his wooden limb would allow, he hop-skipped the remainder of the distance. Bursting into the chamber, Ashleg found himself confronting a Tsarmina he had not encountered before. The wildcat sat on the floor, hunched up in a cloak that had once belonged to her father. She was rocking back and forth, gazing intently at the stone floor.

Ashleg closed the door and bowed apprehensively.

“Your Majesty?”

Tsarmina did not look up. “Mice and moles. Search this room for mice and moles.”

“Immediately, Milady.”

Ashleg did not stop to question the order. Knowing how dangerous Tsarmina’s mood could become, he set about the task. Peering into cupboards, looking beneath the table, behind the wall hangings and drapes, the pine marten searched the entire room thoroughly.

“No mice or moles here, Milady,” he reported.

Tsarmina sprang up, pointing imperiously at the door. “Then go. Search the whole of Kotir!”

Ashleg saluted and hobbled swiftly to the door.

“No, wait!”

He halted, not sure of which way to turn next. Tsarmina was smiling at him. Ashleg gulped visibly as she put a paw about his shoulders.

“Ashleg, where is Gingivere?”

“He escaped, Majesty. You followed him yourself,” he replied, puzzled.

“Oh, come now, you don’t fool me,” Tsarmina chuckled, almost good-naturedly. “First it was those two hedgehogs that escaped—but they didn’t really, they were here all the time. Then there was the fox who was really an otter. Now my very own room is covered in the tracks of woodlanders. Come on, out with it, old friend, you can tell me.”

Ashleg began to be very frightened. “Milady, I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m only Ashleg. I served your father faithfully and now I obey and serve only you.”

Tsarmina smiled knowingly. “Completely loyal to all my family, eh, Ashleg?”

“Oh yes, indeed, Milady.”

The murderous claws shot out, burying themselves into the pine marten’s shoulder through the feathered cape he wore. Tsarmina’s whiskers brushed against his face as she snarled, “So, that’s it. You’re helping my brother now. Gingivere never really escaped, did he? It was all a trick. He’s still here with those woodlanders. They’re turning my army against me. Maybe he was with me all the time I was in the forest looking for him. Ha, he’s a sly one, that brother of mine. I’ll bet it was him who pushed me into the water when the otters loosed the big pike . . . Ugh!”