In the Interim, Out of the Interim

[Tobias]

Toby sat alone at the planning table covered with his blueprints. Tirian and Kovari had retired to their chamber, demanding to be awakened if anything pressing happened. Clutus was kitsitting Mirdros, Rexim was off doing Vulpuz knows what, and Alan, judging by the two voices he could hear yelling, was bargaining with the water rats.

The morning had been one of the worst in his life. After Alan punched out the window and passed out, Toby had to run around to every doorway and make sure it was either locked or barricaded with whatever was near. Near the side doors he had to fend off and kill some rats who had broken in, but he had recruited a few guards during his run to help him.

Then all the important beasts congregated in the dining hall, whereupon Toby had to retrieve the blueprints detailing the floor plan of the keep from his room and have everyone scrutinize them even more closely than his father had. To his relief, no flaws were found, but he had to spend the rest of the morning teaching all of them how to read his work.

The architect rubbed his eyes in exhaustion and looked over the plans spread out before him. Wax from the candles had dripped down and fused some of the overlapping parts together.

Just after his father left, Toby had considered burning all the blueprints of things that had already been built. It took well, the paper. But burning them would be the same as burning all he had accomplished over the past several seasons. He?d incinerate his purpose, much as he hated to admit it.

Toby caught two beasts emerging from the shadows in the corner of his eye. They were Rousseau and a guard when he first looked over. They were still Rousseau and a guard when he looked again.

?Rousseau! Why are you here??

The captain took a seat opposite to him. ?T? defend this place an? stop everybeast from dyin?, same as you.?

?Er, I mean, how did you get back in??

?We made a trade,? she said. Toby saw Alan walking down the stairway from the second floor.

?With who? Mirdros?? Toby said. There weren?t many others that were as valuable to their cause as Rousseau. Then again, they didn?t know that.

?One of Rousseau?s crew, the first mate,? Alan said as he approached. He stopped and stood by the table, not bothering to sit down. ?Will, was it??

?Willump.? Rousseau responded simply. Her eye had fixed on the blueprints and did not move away.

Toby had never heard of the beast. ?Is he valuable to us??

?Not very,? Alan responded. ?Rousseau here put on a good show saying that he was the real captain, and he was smart enough to go along with it. Gave us a good trade.?

Rousseau said nothing, her curiously blank expression telling Toby otherwise of the first mate?s importance. ?Right? Rousseau, did you discover anything useful while you were out there??

She looked up. ?Their leader, Morleo, said we ?ave three days t? completely surrender.?

Alan snorted. ?Giving us a time limit, eh? That?s awfully kind of him.?

?Three days?? Toby said. They had enough supplies to last a few weeks. ?He seems quite confident to put up such a short time span.?

?It?s called intimidation, Toby,? Alan said. ?It?s supposed to make it hard for us to sleep at night. That sort of thing.?

Toby glanced over at the double doors leading outside, jammed shut by four of the dining tables. ?Still?can you run through what we?ve done one more time?? Better to be safe than dead.

Alan rubbed the side of his head where some dried blood still remained from his torn ear. ?If it makes you feel better?there are two beasts at the west door, the south door, and the kitchen door. The entrance is locked and barred, the basement leading down to the tunnel is completely sealed off, and whatever beasts we have left are patrolling the halls or sleeping.?

?The tunnel,? Rousseau said. ?They had plans about the tunnel.?

?They?ve already carried out that plan,? Toby said. ?They used it to infiltrate Kotir. I don?t see how they can use it now.?

Rousseau winced and raised a paw to a bandage on her head. Toby remembered seeing her get hit; he was still amazed she survived the blow.

?It didn?t focus on getting in t? the castle, it focused on wot was on both ends of the tunnel.?

?Oh, that really helps,? Alan said, spreading his paws out on a crude layout of the tunnel they had persuaded Rexim to sketch. ?Let?s see, we have the castle on one side, and a nice meadow on the other. What the hell are they supposed to do with that??

?Where did you see this?? Toby asked.

?In Morleo?s tent.?

?Was it in a prominent place??

?There were plans all over ?is tent. They all looked the same.?

Toby still felt as if something was off. But as Alan pointed out, nothing made sense about it. Did the water rats know something they didn?t?

?Did you see any other plans of attack??

The corsair shook her head.

Toby sighed. They weren?t much better off than before, except that the four left to complete the mission were in the castle. They should get back on that soon?

The architect looked over to Alan. He had grown paler as the day wore on, looking more and more like his brother. ?You should get some rest.?

?What for?? he said. ?Seeing as my job entails me to protect Kotir and that we?re under a siege with the enemy in the castle, I?d say my skills are needed the most right now.?

Toby didn't need this right now. ?I get that, but you collapsing again won?t help. Honestly Alan, you?ve lost a lot of blood. Have you even tried bandaging your paw??

The mink took his maroon-streaked paw off the table. ?I couldn?t use my sword if it was bandaged, now could I??

As most attempts to direct Alan, this one was getting nowhere. Toby tried again. ?Look, there?s nothing to be done now. Whatever the water rats are planning, we can handle it. You can sleep here if you want. I?ll wake you if anything happens.?

?Aye,? Rousseau said before Alan had a chance to retaliate, ?I kin help Toby with the defense, an? I might remember somethin? else if this headache goes away.?

?Please, Alan, just go to sleep.?

The elder mink looked at him for a few seconds. ?If anything?anything?happens??

?I?ll wake you up,? Toby finished.

He looked at both of them one last time and walked down the aisle of unmoved tables and over to the corner where his brother lay; Alan had demanded somewhere comfortable for Konnor to sleep right after he regained consciousness. Toby had to help haul several large sacks of flour to that corner for the ?bed? so Alan wouldn?t collapse from exhaustion again.

First time he?s actually listened to me, Toby thought while rubbing his shoulder. The mink looked back at Rousseau.

?Need something to eat??

?Aye,? she responded automatically.

He stood up from the table and tried to shake some feeling back into his slightly numb legs. ?Alright. I?ll be back.?

Toby walked to the back of the hall and through the side door into the kitchen. The room?s warmth and savory smells were much more welcoming than the musty and faintly smoky aroma of the rest of the cold castle.

He searched for Luka in the mess of beasts for just a few seconds before he realized the fox wasn?t here anymore. Toby saw an apron-clad rat slicing carrots at an impossibly fast rate and figured he was the replacement head cook.

The rat nodded towards Toby as he approached. ?Here fer somethin? t? eat??

?Yes, I?ll have two dishes of whatever?s cooking.? Toby hadn?t had anything to eat since the day before as well.

The cook took the carrot slices and dumped them into a large pot. ?I?ve got t? ration the food, mate. Only one dish per beast.?

?Oh no, that?s not just for me, I?m taking some to the captain that came from Terramort?? Toby looked the rat up and down again. ?You?re part of her crew, aren?t you??

?Aye, I cooked on the ship 'til I was tol' t' take over here,? he replied, picking another set of vegetables and slicing them. ?I thought Rouss got captured. How?d she git back in??

?We traded your first mate for her. Willump, I think is his name.?

His knife stopped mid-cut. ?Will??

Toby?s suspicions were further confirmed that Alan had underestimated the crewbeast?s value. ?Yes? should I come back in a little while for the food??

The rat started cutting again. ?Nah, it?ll be ready in a few minutes. Find somewhere out o' the way 'til then.?

The architect sat himself on a barrel by the door and watched the organized chaos of the kitchen. He imagined how the kitchen staff learned of the siege:

?We heard a lot of yelling outside. Was there a battle??

?Yes, the water rats found their way into the castle and we?re trapped in the keep. But you?ll be fine, just keep cooking.?

Cooking is probably the best job you could get, Toby thought. You eat your work, and if any enemies capture who you work for, they?ll most likely keep you because you can make good food?

?Oi! Soup?s on,? the cook called from his station, jolting Toby out of his musings.

?Right, thanks.? The mink left the kitchen carrying a rather hot bowl of stew and a plate of some sort of fish he?d seen before at some of Rolf?s banquets his father had forced him to attend.

Rousseau was still at the table, idly scratching something on the corner of Rexim?s plan with a quill.

Toby sat down and offered the plate to the corsair. She took one look at the fish and said, ?I hope that?s not fer me.?

?Er, how about this?? Toby put the plate in front of himself and passed the bowl to the captain.

?Aye. Much better.?

As Toby ate the fish (which he thought was quite good), he studied the tunnel drawing again. Something didn?t add up. Why would they have to draw up such a simple plan for infiltrating the castle if they executed it so quickly? The bluepreents do not tell the whole story, Rexim had said when he visited him earlier.

?I?m going to find Rexim. I?ll be back.? Toby hated to leave the rest of his meal, but this was more important than eating.

?Okay,? Rousseau said as he left the dining hall.

Toby started walking down to Rexim?s room, but increased his pace until he was practically jogging. He only had a theory, and he desperately wanted it to be wrong because if it was, the rats breaking into the keep in three days could very well be possible. Even tomorrow, if they got impatient.