《Everdell: A Critters Tale》


 Prolouge: Hopkins

    ¡°Hoppy!¡± A high, winey voice echoes through the young prince''s room suite, ¡°I need of you!¡± This is accompanied by an incessant ringing as Prince Fir tugs on the summoning bell.


    ¡°Hoppy! I require you! Come hither!¡± His voice rings out high and clear, and so too does the bell.


    Fir hearing the pattering of paws outside his doorway nods in satisfaction, it seemed that the old butler was still able to service him adequately. Fir had needs, and those needs must be attended too, though he had recently been trying to get rid of the Gerbil, the reason being that he lacked the poise needed to be able to represent Fir when he was at social events, often leading to embarrassment in front of his peers.


    A knock and Fir looks down at his timepiece, ten seconds late! Shame! A butler must always be on time! If he hadn¡¯t served the family for three generations then he would have been sacked by now! A disappointing disgrace, and after the fifteen seconds of leeway that he had allowed! Fir shakes his head, and mutters, ¡°Disappointing, disappointing.¡±


    ¡°Come in Hoppy!¡± The door opens and in enters, an old Gerbil hunched from age and struggling to carry to the platter of food that was currently balanced precariously upon his wrinkled forearms.


    Hoppy went to place the platter in front of the young prince but was quick to wave it away, ¡°For coming ten seconds late, you must stand there for a hundred.¡± The prince''s curls his lips in disdain.


    Commoner probably doesn¡¯t even know how to read a clock! A disgrace of a butler!


    On the butlers part though, he looked at the prince askance! He has served the Royal Family for over ten years now! Serving three generations of young princes!


    Propriety though, demands that he stands still, and so he stands, arms shaking, and breathing heavy.


    Ten seconds pass by¡­. The poor Gerbil can feel his arthritis flare up and the plates start to shake ominously.


    Twenty seconds pass by¡­. Prince Fir looks on, nothing but contempt can be seen in his eyes, as he looks at the struggling Gerbil.


    Forty seconds¡­. Hoppy looks pleadingly at the young prince, begging for release, for mercy, but as he looked into those arrogant eyes he knew that none is forthcoming.


    Fifty seconds¡­. Prince Fir¡¯s stomach growls. He looks up and glowers at the Butler. The Butler is barely holding on, drawing on the reserves of willpower that he had managed to cultivate through his long years of service to the royal family, tears started forming within his eyes, tears which are also just being held back by the reserves of will that he had managed to call upon.


    Fifty-five seconds¡­¡±Hopkins! That is enough! I am hungry and require sustenance!¡± Hoppy hearing the word ¡°enough¡± rushes over to the prince and drops the plates solidly upon the young aristocrats'' lap before he dashes away into the corner to catch his breath and work out the aches and pains that had suddenly start to assault him. He would need to ask the Innkeeper for that medicine again, the one that eased the pain and took the stress away, Boor, Bear, or something along those lines he thought it was called, though he couldn¡¯t for the life of him remember the exact word for it, and at the moment he had more pressing problems.


    The Prince sends a scathing look the Butlers way, thinking about punishing him once again, but looking at the food thinks better of a decision for his stomach starts to moan and ache, letting its opinions be known. Thus he dug in and ate his fill relegating Hoppy to the corner, before falling into a food-induced coma, his chest beginning rise and fall slowly.


    Hoppy also slowly walks toward the princelings bed, taking the food platter and removing it carefully from the young mouse¡¯s chest, before stepping away quickly and letting out a sigh of profound relief. Summarily he stalks out the door and shuts it quietly behind him, careful not to make too much noise lest he wakes the young princeling from his slumber.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    Now in the hallway, he looks around at the winding oak hallways and sighs happily, the palace always did bring him feelings of comfort, it is located at the centre of the Evertree and is regarded as the most beautiful critter-made thing in existence. It is the centre of the Kingdom of Everdell and was and still is, a beacon of peace, built right after the Great Rodent-Critter wars of the first FE (Founding of Everdell.) It was a sign of peace and triumph over evil.


    He walks back to his humble room near Their Majesties Suites. He continues to think about all sorts of things, his mind wandering from topic to topic, he thinks about his sister up in Acornsville, and his poor nephew currently being sent from Lefton down here to the capital, may the Great Critter rest his poor soul.


    In no time he finds himself at the door leading to his room, and so he reaches out and opens up the old oaken entryway and prepares to use some of the other medicine the Innkeeper recommended him called whiskey. To be taken in small doses the Innkeeper said, one small cup should be enough to take the edge off of whatever was bothering him, and more should be taken if he wanted to forget all.


    So focused was he that he didn¡¯t even notice the two figures that were sitting by his fireplace waiting for him notice them.


    Going for his cupboard he prepares to reach inside and withdraw the small glass that the innkeeper had given him, only to feel a sudden prickling, a feeling that he associates as a Butler''s sixth sense, being able to tell when the nobility was close by, or when a bell was rung.


    Thus, he, turning around he gasps in surprise. ¡°Majesties! Forgive me!¡± He throws his hands up in a panic, before saying hurriedly, his expression one of worry; ¡°Perhaps a cup of herbal tea or maybe a pie?¡± He starts to bustle around his little kitchenette, ¡°Forgive me from not noticing the bells ringing I was occupied with the pri-¡°


    ¡°Hoppy! Hoppy! calm down!¡± The King raises his hand his eyes twinkling with amusement, ¡°Don¡¯t worry! We didn¡¯t ring at all!¡± The King quickly starts to comfort the poor thing.


    ¡°Oh! Thank the Evertree!¡± Hoppy putting his hands over his mouth, gasps in horror, ¡°Oh! Forgive my blasphemy! I am just tad distraught after serving the young Prince.¡± He once again starts to bustle around his kitchenette trying to get something ready and suppress his feelings of embarrassment.


    The King shares a glance with the Queen, and the amusement disappears and is replaced with something¡­ Darker. ¡°Yes¡­ Yes... The Prince¡­. Sit down, Hopkins. Please. We have much to talk about.¡±


    Hoppy stops, straightens, and takes a deep breath, he isn''t so far past his prime to not notice that something is wrong. ¡°At once.¡± He takes a seat by the fireplace, noting that another chair had been added to the usual two chairs set up.


    The Majesties seem to be lost in thought for a while, before, sighing, the Queen says, ¡°We have noticed that you have started to drink Hopkins. We would like to know why.¡±


    ¡°Drinking? What¡¯s that?¡± Hopkins looks at the Queen in confusion.


    The King looked at him askance, his expression was almost identical to his sons. ¡°You do not know what drinking is?¡±


    ¡°Indeed. I have never heard of it!¡± Hoppy looks at the Majesties a mystified expression adorning his face, and he waits for an explanation.


    The Queen starts speaking, ¡°Drinking is commonly defined as the consumption of liquor, or in your case, Beer and Whiskey.¡±


    Understanding dawns upon him, ¡°Do you mean the medicine that the Innkeeper recommended?¡±


    She speaks again, her nose twitching, ¡°The Innkeeper recommended it? And why did you ask for medicine in the first place? Why not go to the doctor?¡±


    ¡°Oh, no, no, no! It just came up in conversation when I was going into the market! I just mentioned that I was a little stressed and he recommended those medicines! Said that they helped many a person drown out their pain and stress. That is all! I obviously took it, and it worked spectacularly! Though as the innkeeper said it does have some serious side effects, after all, it is still a relatively new invention.¡± The old Gerbil is quick to explain, barely taking a breath, his tail twitching nervously.


    The King rubbed his temple, feeling a headache coming on, ¡°Sometimes I can¡¯t believe..¡± He shakes his head and starts again, ¡°Why do you feel stressed? The Queen and I try to keep our demands to a minimum and usually ask other servants to do most of the menial work.¡± The King and the Queen had talked beforehand and had come to suspect their son, they were just seeking confirmation.


    ¡°Oh, no, no, no! Not your Majesties!, Never your Majesties!¡±


    ¡°The who?!¡± The King raises his voice, ¡°Speak Hopkins! Speak!¡± The Butler seems to deflate a little, his shoulders slumping lower, his voice a little quieter, and mutters, ¡°It is the Princeling.¡±


    The Highnesses share a glance before the Queen lashing her tail sighs. ¡°As suspected. What as he been doing Hopkins?¡±


    He told them.


    It took a while but he told them.


    ¡°It seems that he must be taught the same lesson I was all those years ago.¡± The King mutters, stroking his whiskers.


    ¡°We must send him to the Everguard.¡±

 Chapter 1: Exiled

    Once again, the Prince rung the bell summoning Hopkins, once again timing him. ¡°Hopkins!¡± Once again the Prince''s voice echoed.


    This time though, no one answered, no pattering of feet could be heard and most definitely was there no aroma of food. The Prince checked his watch impatiently, tugging on the rope once more.


    Once again, no paw pattering, once again, no sweet aroma of Acorn Tea. ¡°Where is he?¡± The Prince started to mutter to himself, his stomach growling in anger, ¡°Where is he!¡± He jerked the bell more and more.


    And finally!


    Finally!


    The pattering of paws could be heard, Prince Fir though cocked his head in confusion, his honed hearing picking up more than one pair of paws pattering across the floor, and¡­ robes?


    Fear started to overcome the young mouse, his whiskers twitched, and his tailed furled and unfurled, could his parents be coming? He sat upright in his bed, looked around and was grateful to see the servants had come and cleaned. His parents always talked to him when his room was untidy it gave them the high ground.


    He must be wrong then! After all, Hopkins always comes alone, and the bells ring directly into his room, no self-respecting noble goes into the servant room! His doubts assuaged he once again looked at the timepiece, sixty seconds late, sixty-one, sixty-two, the pattering stops and Fir waits for the knock to come, the classic one knock, one knock, one, instead though all he hears is the door opening? Too much! Too much! Butler, Royalty, no one doesn¡¯t knock! He ignores the little voice at the back of his head telling him that the King doesn¡¯t knock except when it suits him.


    The door opened and Hopkins entered, ¡°HOPKINS! YOU SHALL BE SACKED! EIGHTY SECONDS LATE! EIGHTY!¡± He was immediately greeted by the triad of the young and boisterous princeling, he refused to say arrogant, a princeling that was currently very angry.


    ¡°-THINK YOUR ARE? WHERE IS MY FOOD! DA- darn it Hoppy, I am ever so stressed right now.¡± The princelings voice lowers, and he quiets down by an amazing degree and became more civil as well. This was due to the fact that his parents had appeared at the doorway, whiskers twitching and tails furling.


    He looked at them in horror, before trying to salvage his both pride and the situation, ¡°Dear Hoppy,¡± Fir sighed, ¡°I¡¯m sorry for my outburst earlier, and please accept my atonement, for I did not mean to shout, it¡¯s just that when a commoner as useless as you proves himself to be even more useless then originally thought it can be hard for an aristocrat such as myself to operate. Please accept my sincere reparation!¡±


    That should do it, Fir mused, after all, my parents are wrapped around my little finger and they¡­ what is the commoner saying? Ain¡¯t nev¡¯r unwindin. He looked at them expectantly waiting for them to forgive the butler and forgive him as they had so many times before.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Sit down, Fir. Sit down and shut up. We have much to talk about.¡± The King''s voice rang across the room, his eyes boring into his sons, allowing no room for disobedience.


    Fir sat, and Fir shut up as well, inside though he was wondering where he went wrong, his parents had never taken a tone like that with him before, he had seen them take that tone with others, but never him.


    So, he shut up and sat down. Waiting for the final verdict.


    The Queen was the first to break the sudden silence. ¡°It has come to our attention that you have been mistreating Hoppy and the other servants around this household. We would like to know why.¡± Her voice was hard and both her and the King stared at their errant son with steely expressions.


    Fir on his part was outraged! ¡°Mother! Father! Do you take me for some common thug? I merely tell the servants off and tell them to do their jobs better so as not to bring embarrassment to the royal family!¡± Fir felt that he was completely justified in his beliefs, never once thinking that it might actually be him that was the problem here.


    The King spoke this time, ¡°First! You never take that tone with us youngling, we are your parents! Your rulers! Your guardians!¡± The King was outraged! ¡°Second! Your ¡®telling off¡¯ has put servants into tears! It has even made them leave our service!¡± The King looked hard at his son, ¡°Thirdly, we have seen first hand what you have done and we are disgusted by it, not only does it bring dishonour on our family name, it brings dishonour on all of Everdell!¡±


    ¡°Forsooth! We are royalty! Who cares what the common folk think? Their job is to serve us and the kingdom, and our duty is to help them in a way that we see fit! What I have been doing is for the good of the kingdom!¡± The response was quick, well thought out, and only served to cement the King and Queens decision.


    The Queen sighed and shook her head, her tailing lashing about, ¡°It is for those very reasons that we have come to the conclusion that you must be sent to the Everguard. To truly learn what it means to serve the critters of our kingdom and truly learn what it means to help the critters of our kingdom.¡±


    Fir gasped in horror, this was worse then he had originally thought, ¡°Those barbarians? You would consign me to such a thing? You would consign me to rolling in the mud with the peasantry! Please! Anything but that!¡± He looked desperately into his parent''s eyes, but all he saw was a steely resolve, not an ounce of pity or any emotion that he would be able to use to help his desperate situation.


    ¡°Yes, you must train with the Everguard and learn what it means to be part of the royal family. There is no getting out of this Fir.¡± His parents would not budge.


    Prince Fir straightened his back, smoothed his whiskers, and prepared himself mentally for what was about to come.


    It would be a hard time, a time of trial and tribulation, but he would come out on top, so long as he had his entourage of course.


    His parent''s musn¡¯t know what he was planning though otherwise, they would be sure to shut it down. So Prince Fir with a confident voice said ¡°I am ready to serve! My life for the Kingdom!¡±


    The King looked on in pride, the Queen with a little bit of scepticism, but the butler, the butler knew what was about to come, and he had to warn all the critters currently in residence, for the when the Prince was ready to move¡­. Nothing would stop him from taking an entourage, and all the critters that were to here about it would be shaking in there boots.


    For the fallout that was to come would not be pretty, especially with the prince''s parents going on a season-long trip tomorrow.


    The prince looked at Hoppy evilly already thinking about who would be the first to join his entourage.

 Chapter 2: Judgement

    ¡°Please, let the proceedings begin.¡± The Judge had called court, Florence snorted, the last time the old turtle had held real court was probably back when he was in the capital a year ago.


    Still, though, this case was about him and he would obey.


    He took a seat and glowered at the judge, who started to move uncomfortably in his chair. Yeah, that¡¯s right, Florence thought, you better be uncomfortable.


    The other critter that was acting as his ¡°lawyer¡± was also uncomfortable with Florence''s glare, and nudged him, attempting to get him to stop, only for the guinea pig to transfer his glare over to this unfortunate critter.


    His glare was only directed at the lawyer for a split second before moving on to his real victim, the mouse. The mouse also started to shift uncomfortably, only to let out a little whine as his bruises were aggravated, and the mouse had a lot of them. Two black eyes, several missing patches of fur, a bruised and bloodied tail, a chipped tooth.


    The Judge cleared his throat and began, ¡°We are gathered here today to talk about the case of the critter Florence, a guinea pig, and his alleged assault on the critter Simone, the mouse.¡±


    Florence jumped up, ¡°Who do you think you are?! I ain¡¯t no pig! I¡¯m a Cavia Porcellus, and proud of it, you would do well to remember that, and if that is too much then you can call me a Cavy!¡± His lawyer grabbed him by the shoulders and sat him down, the angry Cavy¡¯s chest was heaving, the judge called him a guinea pig! A pig! The cavy glared at the poor turtle, once again making the Judge move uncomfortably.


    The Judge restarted, ¡°We are gathered here today to talk about the case of the critter Florence, a Cavia Porcellus, and his alleged assault on the critter Simone, the mouse, could the accused party please rise.¡±


    Florence zoned out at this point, he had already been questioned plenty and all the proceedings were pretty much formalities they were all doing to appease whoever the Evertree was in charge of this leaf-forgotten place. Florence took pleasure in using these swear words even if they were just in the confines of his mind.


    The short of it was that he had beaten up the mouse for bad-mouthing his race calling them all nothing but pigs, that earned him the two black eyes. The rest of the good for nothing rodents injuries were because of him bad-mouthing his parents and calling him an orphan, both of which he really didn¡¯t like.


    Florence sighed and hung his head, he reached for his rat fang that he wore on a necklace around his neck, remembering, he was only sixth months old when he got the news and he was seven months old when he saw them. The adults of the family had tried to keep him away but he wanted to see his parents, see if they were really dead, see if they would wake up.


    Florence wished that he had never been so curious, he still has nightmares about what he saw. Both his mother and father were chewed up, the very rat fang that he was holding now had been embedded in his mothers head. Their faces were unrecognizable. He had slunk away after that and cried under his favourite flower, cried himself to sleep, clutching the rat fang.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    He shook those thoughts off, there was nothing to be done. His parents were dead. Florence promised vengeance against the rat race and had tried to find someone that he could blame for what happened.


    Florence sunk lower into his chair remembering his fallout with Hoppy. He had screamed and shouted, saying that it was the Royal Family¡¯s fault, that it was them that had sent his parents on that mission.


    He was regretful about he treated Hoppy, the adopted uncle, but he was the only one that had any connection to the Royal Family who he had blamed.


    Florence clutched his rat fang harder, and rose in his seat, he would find the rats that did it and punish them as for the Royals? He would find something¡­. Something. He just wanted them to understand what they did to him and how much it had hurt. How much it had changed him, how it had led him to this situation.


    He tuned in again, ¡°¡­.He has beaten up so many of us! We hardly do anything to him but it doesn¡¯t matter, he always just attacks us and for no reason at all! Look at what he has done to me! We can¡¯t defend ourselves at all because he is much bigger, and stronger than us and even the one that was bigger than him got beaten up. All I asked was what the orphanage was like and he just lost control!¡± The little critter that he had beaten up was crying by now, which served only to highlight the mouse¡¯s bruises and other injuries.


    He needed to leave, he needed to get out of here.


    Florence got up and charged out of the courtroom bowling over the mouse on his way out and no doubt just cementing the whole ¡®big stupid bruiser,¡¯ thing.


    Florence continued running, running through town and ignoring all the looks that he was given, running through the farms and ignoring the farmers shouting. He ran and ran, until eventually he got to the cemetery, and collapsed at the foot of his parent''s gravestones.


    Once again he read the inscriptions:


    Here Lie Florence II and Alia.


    Loving Husband and Wife, killed while on a mission Outside.


    May we forever remember their noble sacrifice.


    At the bottom of the gravestone was another line of wording,


    ¡°Son, we love you. We will always love you.¡±


    Florence III felt the energy leave him as he looked at the gravestones. ¡°Mother, Father, I¡¯m sorry, I am. I just¡­.¡± His voice broke, and he just sat down and chirped, a sign of sadness and of mourning among his race of critter. Florence chirped for a while, his eyes moist, and his energy all but gone, when he felt a hand touch his head.


    ¡°Six inches of dark earth, son.¡± The Overseer said, antennae twitching, ¡°three inches for your Mother, three inches for your father.¡± The ant continued to look down at the grave, ¡°they were brave, boy, and gave their lives for something that they believed in¡­. Gave their life knowing that they would never be hailed, except, of course, in the halls of the Everguard.¡±


    Florence looked at his guardian, and sighed, ¡°I know, but it doesn¡¯t make me feel any better, didn¡¯t they remember that they had a son? A young son? Didn¡¯t they?¡± He looked at the Overseer, distraught.


    ¡°When you were born they were the happiest I had ever seen them, I was part of their squad, I would know, your dad was snuggling you and your mother was too.¡± The Overseer looked up, overtaken by memories. ¡°You were a miracle, a miracle, they had tried to have babies before but it never worked, and they thought that they were barren. Then you came along. It was a profound joy that they felt. It was, frankly, beautiful.¡±


    He patted Florences head, ¡°I never saw them more unhappy than when they had to leave you. Duty called though, and they gave their lives to protect you. To protect me, to protect all those that live in the Evertree, they were brave, and would¡¯ve been proud had they seen you now.¡±


    ¡°You think so?¡± Florence asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. I know it.¡±


    The Overseer left, and Florence looked at the words on the gravestone once more.


    ¡°Son, we love you. We will always love you.¡±

 Chapter 3: Taking the Mantle

    ¡°After much deliberation, I have made my decision. Florence shall be sentenced not to go and spend time in the dungeon but instead, he shall join the Everguard. May he serve well and the Evertree rest his soul. Case closed.¡± The judge slammed his gavel down and Florence¡¯s case was sealed, he would be joining the same organization that his parents had.


    He wasn¡¯t sure whether to laugh or to squeal, he was about to go to the organization that had played a major part in the death of his parents, a very big part.


    Thinking about if further though he found that he didn¡¯t actually mind going, sure his parents had died serving the Everguard, but he had also been brought up with stories of glory about the Everguard. Afterall the Overseer was one of their number, Florence remembered that as a pup he would ask the Overseer about one of his scars and after a while of looking into the fireplace would be rewarded with a tale of battle, or sometimes he would be rewarded with silence, and told to ask him to tell a different story. This still didn¡¯t put Florence off, after all, he was still hearing the stories of glory.


    One question he had asked though and that was brought to the fore as he thought about the Everguard was that, why, if the Evertree had been supposedly at peace for centuries did the Everguard still have casualties? He had, of course, asked this wondering about his parents.


    The Overseer had looked into the fire, antennae twitching and was about to ask the young pup to tell a different story, then thought better of it and explained; ¡°The Evertree is at peace because of the continual watch of the Everguard. The Everguard eliminates any and all Outside threats and thus brings peace to the Evertree, this, of course, is fraught with danger and is swept under the rug for the most part. After all your not truly at peace if you are continually warring with the Outside are you?¡±


    The Overseer sighed at this point and looked deep into the dying fire, ¡°They are praised as heroes within the Everguard but are often never heard of outside of those circles. Such is the way life, and such is the sacrifice of the Guard.¡±


    Florence thought about these things as he was packing his stuff, taking what little possessions he owned. He took his fathers mace, an old thing, but strong, and he took his mothers shield, a metal shield for strong women as his father used to say.


    He also took the root slayer shovel that the Overseer had given him as a gift, ¡°You never know when you might need to dig a hole, or slay a root, or attack a rodent.¡± Florence had looked up at him with wide and said ¡°really?¡± The Overseer had answered in the affirmative and Florence had taken the shovel.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Florence, of course, grabbed his necklace with the rat fang and bagged it.


    The last thing that he grabbed was several sets of clothes for the long journey that he was about to undertake. It was at least a kilometre from here to the capital and another two kilometres after that, a long, long trail to say the least.


    Regardless it was the trail that he would have to journey on, maybe he could ask his uncle though to get him a carriage once he made it to the capital, that should cut down his journey time by quite a while.


    After he finished packing he went to say goodbye to the one critter that he actually liked in the Evertree¡­. He went to say goodbye to the Overseer.


    The Overseer was where he always was, Overseeing the cemetery, making sure that no errant spirits escaped and resting the souls that did. An important job, though one that was shunned by the conventional clergy. A bit too rodent-esque for them, the Overseer would say, before admitting that they were in parts right.


    ¡°Flo, I see that you have come to say farewell.¡± The Overseer as always seemed to be able to sense where he was, despite him being directly behind.


    ¡°You know I don¡¯t like that nickname!¡± Florence grumbled, but the Overseer was having none of it, ¡°Flow was your first word, so Flo you shall be. To me at least. You can name yourself whatever once you get to your destination.¡±


    The Ant turned around and looked at Florence this time, before nodding. ¡°Your parents would proud of you, following in their footsteps, I¡¯m proud of you. Yet, I am also worried. The Everguard is not a place for the weak of heart, body, or spirit, and it is also not a place for the foolhardy, the reckless, or the angry.¡±


    The Overseer sighed, ¡°Weak in body and heart you are not. In spirit though, you are still healing. As for the foolhardiness, recklessness, and anger? You have all of those, just like your Father. And your Mother as well for that matter.¡± The Overseers antennae waved about remembering the past, before continuing;


    ¡°The Guard is also a place where you can heal Florence, it can heal your spirit or it can tear it apart, so too can it teach you to temper your vices. For this to happen though you must not let in break you, for that has happened. You must grow.¡± With this Overseer walked toward his charge and hugged him, his grip strong.


    ¡°Remember though. I am here should you need me. I will always be here, at least until I join my wife and children down underneath the dirt.¡±


    Florence hugged him back, he has thought about arguing but had decided that it was true, that he did suffer from all those problems despite his efforts to control himself. He hugged the Overseer once more and then turned away.


    It was time for him to move on, it was time for him to take up the mantle that his parents had set for him. It was time for him to join the Everguard.


    He touched his heart and said one of the Guard creeds. ¡°My life for the forest may peace reign forever.¡±

 Chapter 4: Beginning to Leave

    The dreaded bell once again rang throughout the servants quarters and once again all of the servants hid. All but one that is, the slowest of the bunch and now most likely the next servant to join the young prince''s entourage, may the Evertree cast its shade on the poor critters soul.


    Fir for his part was having a fabulous time! Maybe the Everguard wouldn¡¯t be so bad after all, his entourage was already coming along nicely, a bard was playing music in the corner, soothing his ears, while acrobats pleased his eyes. He continued to ring the bell, and servant after servant continued to come, each of them was added to his entourage.


    Of course, just as many servants were sent away, after all, if they couldn¡¯t carry at least one trunk of clothing then they didn¡¯t deserve to be part of entourage as prestigious as his own. He was also rating each servant a one through ten based on how they presented themselves to him. Any servant that rated less than a seven was sent away. Each servant left with a sigh of relief, no doubt happy that they would no longer be embarrassing the young princeling.


    Trunk after trunk of clothing came, clothes straining against the confines. Fir looked over to his most scholarly critter who was currently doing the math and logistics of it all. ¡°How many trunks do I have?¡± Fir asked.


    The critter looking down exhaustedly at her papers said, ¡°One hundred and three my prince.¡± Fir shook his head in disappointment, that was much too little! He had at least five hundred trunks of clothing. At first, he was planning on bringing them all but after a little bit of deliberation decided to pack light and only bring three hundred.


    The bell rung. The servants hid. The slowest of servants were sent up.


    Days passed like this, everything was just a blur of motion, trunks being carried in and out, clothing being folded and servants being dismissed, it was all in a days work. Fir was enjoying every part of it.


    On Hoppy¡¯s part, though he was looking at the letter in his hand with much apprehension, the King and the Queen had asked him to deliver it to the Captain of the Everguard who was to use at his discretion the Majesties had said.


    Hoppy already new the contents and was doing everything in his power to keep the letter away from the young princeling for should the letter be discovered a tantrum the likes of which had never been seen before would rock the palace at its very foundations.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Happily, Hoppy had so far been able to hide the letter from the princelings eyes. All he could hope was that once the letter had been delivered he would be far, far, away from the prince.


    The princeling after a week of ¡°preparation¡± was now looking at a map and trying to decide the best route for his entourage to take.


    The capital was of course in the middle of the Evertree and everything was built around it. He would go on a tour of the capital for a week, stopping by the grand tavern and the theatre. Afterwards¡­. Fir was unsure.


    Lefton was of course out, seeing at it was above the capital and was merely a rural village, he wouldn¡¯t have minded going and visiting the Guinea Pig city that was four hundred metres above that¡­ but, it was not to be for his destination was much further down.


    Fir looked hard at the map once more, there were around two cities within a four hundred meter radius of the capital, the Gerbil city and the Hare City, Fir didn¡¯t like either and wouldn¡¯t be visiting them.


    Afterwards though¡­. Around a kilometre straight down you would hit Hamster town, and one hundred meters away from that was Chipmunk city, he would have to stop there he heard that the theatre was absolutely amazing! One of his acquaintances had been there and couldn''t quit chattering about it. It made him truly want to stop by. Unfortunately, it was probably not to be.


    Fir wondered though why critters often made cities almost exclusively with their own kind, of course, this was rather rare, each critter family had at least one city to their name.


    He quickly purged such thoughts, nobles did not think about commoner settlement habits.


    Hoppy approached him and asked ¡°Highness, I have a question for you,¡± he stopped waiting for the prince to wave and let him continue, the wave came and Hoppy went on ¡°my nephew is coming through the capital and I would ask that you give him a spare carriage in which he may ride. He is also going to be going to the Everguard.¡±


    Fir thought about this for a second and was about to reply in the negative when his parent''s voices came back to him, and he replied ¡°It would be my pleasure to provide such a service to a critter that has been with my family for such a long time. A pleasure I say!¡± With that simple sentence, a months-long journey was reduced to just a couple of weeks. For Florence at least. Fir still had things to do.


    ¡°Thank you, Majesty.¡± Hoppy bowed and went away.


    The bell rang once more. The servants hid. Fir voiced his request, ¡°I require armour, and weapons. Any Critter that can get what I desire will be promoted! Chop, chop!¡±


    A week later Fir was ready to leave. Two hundred trunks of clothing. A bard, acrobats, a blacksmith, and of course Hoppy was accompanying him. Plus, the three hundred or so servants that were also following him.


    He strapped on his sword, an elegant thing, or so he thought. Most of the servants thought that the number of jewels was just obnoxious and that it just looked garish.


    His armour looked the same, though that stored in one of the many extra non-clothes trunks.


    Prince Fir was ready to leave.

 Chapter 5: Trepidation

    Lydia had been called before the Rat King, and she wasn¡¯t sure if she would be able to come out of this one alive. She looked around her room, she hated it here.


    Yet, it was her home. Deep underground, damp, dank, dark, but still her home. The place where she had lived her entire life.


    She was in the great Undercavern, where all the rodents had gathered after the defeat they had suffered at the hands of the Evertree denizens all those years ago. A time so long ago that only tortoises even remembered anything about that time.


    She sighed and rubbed at her snout, it seemed that the grudge had held out even after all these years. The Evertree would probably have fallen had the Rat Kingdoms joined together for once and attacked their mutual enemy instead of constantly plotting against each other. Especially since there were so many rodents in their respective territories, they could probably overwhelm the Evertree through numbers alone.


    Lydia once again sighs, and this times rubs her broken fang, the fang that she had lost when she was but a kitten. Her nest had gone out, and teamed up with another nest, to try to find something to kill and bring back to the caverns, it was a rat''s entrance into real society.


    Her group was unfortunate enough to come across two of the Everguard, she rubs her broken fang more vigorously, those two had already killed three rat soldier and a weasel! The young rats though needed to prove themselves and the two Everguard were injured from their encounter.


    To say the least they didn¡¯t make it out of their alive. She had been one of last to jump on them, she had jumped on the biggest look guinea pig and bit it right on the head! Sadly, the pig had been wearing a helmet, and while her fang had gone through the helmet and killed the thing it had broken off inside its skull.


    Now here she was, with an angry Rat King waiting to see her, a broken fang, as well as a destroyed reputation. She had wanted to join the Rat Kings special forces, meant specifically for killing guinea pig but hadn¡¯t even managed to pass the first inspection! Apparently no matter how well trained you were beforehand if you didn¡¯t both your fangs and weren¡¯t bigger than average then you didn¡¯t even have a chance!The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Not her fault she was born small and could pass for a large critter! She had no control over stuff like that! And so what if she had lost a fang? She could still fight! She had killed one of the Everguard for goodness sake! Sure, they were injured, sure, they were completely swarmed by over thirty other rats, but Lydia was the one that landed the killing blow! Who cares about all the other rats?


    Even forgetting that, she was still able to defend herself! You die if you can¡¯t fight, that is the way of the rat! She had made sure that no one was able to mess with her!


    So to prove herself she had gone out on her own, trying to find a critter or something else to kill that she could bring back and show to the special forces, something to prove that she was able to fight without a fang.


    Lydia did find something as well! An owlet that had fallen from its nest, Lydia was on that thing in a second! A second! The owlet was dead before it had even managed to see her, then the Kings nephew had come strutting over, Lydia could still remember his horrible voice and just as horrible words.


    ¡°Ooh, lookie here. A dead owlet.¡± At that point, he had glanced up at her and leered, ¡°a pretty rat to go with it as well! Pretty rat, give me the owlet so that I way I can show my uncle, you¡¯ll be rewarded of course.¡±


    She had responded quickly, baring her teeth at the scrawny little creature that was leering at her, ¡°No way! My kill, my reward, you can go and pit yourself! Thank you very much!¡±


    The other rat hadn¡¯t liked that at all and started going off about all his family connections and blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda. She didn¡¯t give one skunks fart, but when he started to look at her again and reached out for a touch?


    That was too much for her, he was on the ground bleeding within a second, his throat ripped out and his expression one of shock. Didn¡¯t even have a chance to defend himself the poor buffoon, sadly a kings nephew never goes without an entourage and they had chosen that exact moment to appear when her teeth and paws were stained with the blood of the stupid rat.


    Lydia growled at them, warning them away, but they attacked, no doubt hoping that their efforts would be rewarded. Lydia went down, she was a good fighter, but she wasn¡¯t a soldier. Something that the special forces also rejected her for.


    Thing is on the application it said that they would train the person selected! Regardless of whether that person was a soldier or a mere rodent. Just another example of the bias of the rat race.


    Anyway. Here Lydia was, preparing for an audience with a King. Normally she would be exited after all it¡¯s not every day you even get to see a king, much less meet one. This time though¡­.


    Lydia sighed, got up, and prepared herself for what might very well be the last moment in her relatively short life.

 Chapter 6: The Rat King

    Lydia stalked her way through the cavern and caves that made up the rodent kingdom of Rat King Rel, his was one of the stronger rodent kingdoms. There were six kingdoms, three Rat kingdoms, one Weasel kingdom, one Fallen Critter Queendom, and the last kingdom was the Mixed Rodent Kingdom, obviously, they each had ¡®special¡¯ names, what they were called officially but all of them were stupid names and she was pretty sure that even the Rulers themselves thought of their kingdoms, queendoms, whatever¡¯s, as Rat Kingdom #1 or The Weasel Kingdom.


    She shook those thoughts off and continued on her way sinking her thoughts into what she was going to say to the Rat King. She had heard that the King actually didn¡¯t like his nephew that much. So maybe she could capitalise on that? Lydia continued to think on these things as she navigated through the tunnels.


    Lydia had also heard that the Rat King was willing to make deals, so Lydia set to thinking about different exchanges that she could make.


    Sadly, she wasn¡¯t able to think of anything that she would actually be willing to carry out, but then again you never know what you''re going to do when your life is on the line.


    She finally made it to the outside of the palace and looked for the secretary that was usually there.


    Nothing, except a pair of rat guards standing by the doorway. She was a bit hesitant to approach them though, they had made a reputation for themselves as the most unpredictable, loyal, and vicious soldiers in the entire kingdom, and she had heard that they even took pride in their reputation, and looked to fulfil it whenever possible.


    Unfortunately it looked like there were no alternatives, at least that she could see, and she wasn¡¯t willing to go snooping around the palace in plain sight of the guards, and so sighing Lydia made her way over to the guards, stopped in front of them and started to speak.


    ¡°I have come to meet with the King, he should be expecting me, I was the one that killed his nephew.¡± She just wanted this to be over and so she gave it to them straight, pretty much every rat in this kingdom heard about the latest of gossip.


    The guards just stood there silently, not acknowledging her presence, just completely emotionless. It was unnerving, to say the least, Lydia just waited for any type of acknowledgement, any type of anything. She was pretty confused, this wasn¡¯t normal rat behaviour at all, this wasn¡¯t normal rodent behaviour.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Lydia would¡¯ve thought they were statues if she hadn¡¯t heard them breathing.


    She waited, and waited, and waited, until a rumpled looking secretary came back, looked at her and said ¡°You the murderer?¡±


    Lydia glared at the other rat, ¡°I killed the king''s nephew, yes.¡±


    The other rat wasn¡¯t amused, and said, ¡°The king is ready to see you¡­. Murderer.¡±


    Lydia sighed, remembering why she was here, really remembering.


    Remembering that she might not make out of this one alive.


    She swept past the secretary and the guards opened the door for her, and she found another pair of guards on the other side that fell in behind her. No doubt as an ¡®escort¡¯ though honestly, they were probably going to be her executors or her jailers.


    The Rat King liked public executions, he probably thought they were good for morale.


    Lydia continued, but ended up having to be led, the palace was a labyrinth! Twisting hallways, and traps, how paranoid can a king get? The guards seemed to be able to identify where the traps were and they also seemed to be able to navigate the palace, Lydia, on the other hand, couldn¡¯t for the life of her make rhyme or rhythm of the cursed place.


    The guards moved on ahead of her, obviously not worried about her somehow escaping, fair enough all things considered.


    A couple turns and couple traps later she found herself at the beginning of a huge hallway, which the guards immediately lead her down. Statues of old Rat Kings lined the hallway but that was about the only thing interesting in the entire place, there was no decoration, no colour, even for a rat it was a bit dull.


    Finally, she found herself at a pair of huge stone doors that rose high above her, they were huge! They might even be a remnant of the time Before, where rodents and critters weren¡¯t the highest power, a time where they were merely slaves and scavengers.


    She shook those thoughts, she had to remain focused and clear-headed for what was about to come. The Guards knocked on the door, there wasn¡¯t any sequence that she could detect, just a simple knock. Surprisingly simple all things considered.


    The stone doors slowly, opened, the stone moaning, opening into a huge throne room, at the end of which was a stone throne a simple thing, and sitting on that throne was the most average looking rat she had ever seen. He wasn¡¯t too big or too small, his fangs were normal-sized, his hair was the usual black, his tail was an average length. He just looked average. Except for the small crown that rested upon his head and a sceptre clutched in his other hand.


    The crown was a simple affair with a diamond set into the head of it but that was all, it was the sceptre that really gave Lydia the chills, it was a rod of iron and gold, but that in itself wasn¡¯t what gave her the chills. It was the skulls that adorned the top and the bottom of the sceptre, at the bottom was a mouse kings skull from the rodent-critter conflict, and at the top was the previous rat kings skull.


    She bowed before the king, and was about to speak when the king held up his sceptre and, leaning forward said,


    ¡°what are we going to do with you, little rat?¡±


    She felt shivers go up and down her spine.


    The rat king didn¡¯t look happy.

 Chapter 7: Rat Kings Judgement

    ¡°Now, what are we going to do with you?¡± The Rat King repeated himself, looking at her intensely, Lydia felt like she was being seen through, her entire self being laid bare before the Rat King, her motivations uncovered.


    He hadn¡¯t even asked her any questions yet.


    ¡°Well?¡± The Rat King said, obviously looking for an answer to his own question. Lydia looked up in surprise, not expecting to have to answer what she thought was a rhetorical question, she thought for a little bit for answering.


    ¡°I have no idea.¡± As soon as the words came out of her mouth she regretted them, they were weak words, and probably didn¡¯t do her any favours or raise her standing in the eyes of the king.


    The Rat King looks at her with derision, ¡°What type of answer is that?¡± He squints at her, then answers his own question, ¡°A bad answer is what that is, a very bad one.¡± He points his sceptre at her, ¡°but I am merciful!¡± He grins, showing his fangs, ¡°I will grant you another try, should you fail to answer in a satisfactory way your life is forfeit, should you answer well I will grant you the benefit of the doubt and not execute you immediately.¡± His grin gets wider, his eyes widen as well, and Lydia is pretty sure that he is insane.


    Lydia knew that this would either kill her or it would save her, she had to choose her next words carefully, she took a deep breath and went over what she knew about the king once more.


    He was insane, that much was obvious, but it seemed to be the more lucid side of insanity, so that was a plus. He also liked deals, she had heard of people that had managed to get out of execution by just making a good deal with him. The King was also a rat that enjoyed ingenuity and creativity, both things Lydia knew were not things that she had any aptitude at.


    There was one thing though that she thought might be able to save her, the Rat King likes bravado and an insane type of bravery, both things she knew that she could do. With these thoughts in mind, she carefully started to form her next sentence, ever aware of the burning gazes of the Rat Kings Guards right behind her and even more aware of the Kings gaze.


    She straightened her back and tail took a deep breath in and spoke, ¡°Your nephew was a coward! A roach! He didn¡¯t deserve to be alive, anyone could see that! I merely did what everyone else was secretly itching to do!¡± She took another deep breath and looked at the Rat King, and felt hope flare as his grin turned from predatory to amused. ¡°Only I had the guts to do what had to be done! That¡¯s why I laid that trap! I knew he was in the area and knew that I would be doing everyone a favour by removing that Critters Son.¡± She spat that last bit out, getting more and more into the act, committing more and more.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    After all, it was the only thing that could keep her alive. ¡°When I killed him, I knew the consequences! I knew what would happen! Thing is, I knew that no one would blame me so I did it, knowing that I would be forgiven!¡±


    She looked at the king and smiled, then bowed low. She was sure that she had played her cards right if the king''s smile was anything to go by anyway.


    The King sat on his throne for a little while, the smile slipping from his face and turning contemplative, mulling over what was said, then he straightened and looked her straight in the eye.


    ¡°A good answer.¡± He said finally, his facial expression still one of contemplation.


    Lydia felt her shoulders slump in relief, she was safe, for the time being at least. She immediately straightened her shoulders, she had a part to play, a part that was keeping her alive, and so she would play that part to perfection.


    He seemed to think for a while longer before straightening. ¡°Not good enough, unfortunately.¡±


    Lydia felt horror overtake her, and went down on her knees trying for one last word, one last anything to prove herself innocent. She expected the guards to take her away, but by the pit, she would at least try to live.


    The Rat King started to laugh, and laugh, and laugh, he laughed for a solid minute, rolling on his throne, shoulders heaving type of laugh. Then he started to giggle and giggled for a solid minute.


    Lydia stood by watching, her body slacks with relief, whatever doubt she had harboured about the King not being insane was completely destroyed. She had truly thought for a moment that she was about to be killed.


    The King after minutes of laughter and giggles finally calmed down and took control of himself. ¡°Forgive me. I couldn¡¯t help myself! It was worth it though! The look on your face! The reaction! It was beautiful, I¡¯ll need to try something like that again!¡± He looked at her happily, and sighed, ¡°Aaaaa, that was the best laugh I¡¯ve had in months!¡±


    He turned a bit more serious, ¡°Now. Onto your judgement.¡±


    Lydia felt her chest seize up, this was the moment, the moment where her fate would be decided. She was sure that she wasn¡¯t going to die, but wasn¡¯t sure about how severe whatever punishment he would throw at her would be.


    He held up his sceptre, ¡°You start at ten points! Minus five points for a bad answer, minus four points for killing my nephew. Plus six points for superb acting and second answer. That is seven points in total. Minus another two because why not!¡±


    Lydia honestly wasn¡¯t that surprised at this point, scared? Yes. Frustrated? Yes. Surprised? No. She just waited for her judgement to fall, waiting for what she hoped was something that would save her.


    ¡°Your final score is three! Your punishment is gonna be harsh but interesting.¡± He looked at her, more specifically at her broken fang. ¡°You¡¯re the girl that got rejected from the elites.¡± It was a statement and she nodded confirming it.


    He grinned and raised his sceptre high, before pointing down and right at her. ¡°Your final punishment is¡­. To prove yourself worthy of special soldiers.¡±


    She was angry at his bad math but was hopeful that maybe this wouldn¡¯t turn out so bad after all.


    ¡°More specifically you will go into the land of the Pit cursed critters, infiltrate the Guard, and destroy them from within.¡±


    He smiled.


    ¡°Good Luck!¡±


    All she felt was horror.

 Chapter 8: The First Meeting

    Florence had arrived! He looked at Everguard Castle in amazement, he had never seen something that big. It was built at the biggest entrance to the Evertree and had never been taken. It was also one of the biggest constructions ever built.


    The only thing that could rival its side was its sister castle on the opposite end of the Evertree blocking the next biggest entrance into the Evertree.


    That was when he heard the trumpets, turning around his facial expression quickly turned from amazement to disgust.


    Looked like a noble had come to pay a visit, the Cavy snorted in the general direction of the convoy. He was just glad that he wasn¡¯t in the line of sight, otherwise, he would probably have to bow. Florence sighed, shouldered his packs and started to approach the gate of Everguard castle.


    As he approached he was once again struck by just how big the castle was, it was even bigger than the palace! He remembered that when he was just a pup he had been to the palace and was struck by how big it was. The castle put that to shame.


    As he got to the gates he approached what looked like a guard, waving he said, ¡°Hi, my name is Florence. I am here to sign with the Everguard, where do I go to do that?¡± The guard looked him up and down, before saying, ¡°usually there is a recommendation letter, or at least a letter of some sort, do you have one?¡±


    Florence started to take out his sentence letter that the judge had told him to take. Florence had thought that it was just rubbing his nose in his crime, and so he had crumpled it and stuffed it in his bag.


    He pulled the letter out and was just about to hand it over until he was bumped out of the way by a couple of ducks with trumpets.


    ¡°His Majesty Prince Firiniel Florinica Agustinius Tragen has arrived, please make way.¡± The ducks shoved him out of the way.


    The Cavy growled angrily and pushed the ducks out of the way, he was here first! He wasn¡¯t making way for some arrogant entitled princeling! The ducks quacked angrily but he continued to push them away until they left him alone.


    He smiled at the guard and started to hand him his letter, until he heard a voice, a high and grating mouse voice.


    He hated mice squeaky voices, they just didn¡¯t mesh well with his ears.


    ¡°Excuse me! Who do you think you are?!¡± The Princeling himself had arrived and oh, was he angry. Stopped by a Guniea Pig? He shook his head furiously this just wouldn¡¯t do. He nodded at a couple bigger looking critters to take away this nuisance. No one would stop him! He was a prince!


    Florence saw four large looking Hamsters start to approach him and grinned, what? Did the princeling think that they could stop him? It was obvious that they were all pansies! Their posture, clothing, and everything was shouting court ¡®toughs¡¯. He bet that they had never even been in a real fight.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    He charged and laughed as they all hurriedly got out of his way. He didn¡¯t stop until he got to the prince''s carriage, walked right up to it and said ¡°Oi! I was here first! I ain¡¯t going nowhere!¡± With those words, he started to approach the guardhouse.


    The Prince, on the other hand, was having none of it! ¡°SOMEONE! REMOVE THE PIG PLEASE!¡±


    Florence heard the word pig and turned right round, he ignored the smirking guard and stomped right up to the golden carriage. Then, opening up the carriage door he reached in and grabbed the prince only to feel himself suddenly grabbed from behind.


    The hamsters.


    He fell backwards and so did the prince. He struggled but the hamsters had quite the grip and they weren¡¯t letting go anytime soon. He saw the ducks starting to waddle over, probably coming to get their piece.


    The Prince got up, dusted himself off and started off on a verbal triad, ¡°Piggy, piggy, piggy, who do you think you are?¡± He leaned in close. Taking pleasure in the anger that was showing on the peasants face. ¡°Peasants, don¡¯t annoy princes. Got that? I am the ruler here. Not you. Go back to rolling in the mud. It suits you better.¡± With those words, he raised his voice.


    ¡°Hamsters, show him a lesson.¡±


    The hamsters dragged him off and prepared to have some fun, already thinking about all the fun that they would inflict on the arrogant Guinea Pig.


    Hoppy, on the other hand, looked on in horror. He had been told to get things ready and establish the prince within the castle.


    Until he saw his cousin¡­ and the ducks. He looked on in horror as the events unfolded.


    Then he quickly went to the guard.


    ¡°Sir, please, can you break that up? Please! The Cavy is my nephew, and the prince is my charge.¡± He looked at the guard hopefully.


    The guard smirked. ¡°I think it¡¯s kinda funny. Look at that!¡±


    And Hoppy looked, and almost fainted. His nephew was marching up to the carriage and appeared to be insulting the prince, or something along those lines.


    He looked at the guard and gulped. ¡°Please, sir! Please¡±


    He heard the prince shout and looked back at his nephew marching back to the carriage, open the door, and grab the prince, he also watched as the hamsters pounced on him from behind.


    Hoppy looked pleading at the guard.


    The guard rolled his eyes, set down his weapon and prepared to sort the miscreants out.


    The hamsters held him down and prepared to give him the beating of his life. Then he saw the guard come up behind them. He growled at the guard. How many people did the prince need to order to beat him up? Whatever the case.


    This wasn¡¯t the last that the prince had seen of him.


    ¡°Let him go.¡± The guard said. Florence looked up surprised.


    The hamsters looked at the guard incredulously, ¡°The prince himself gave us these orders! You have no authority here!¡± The hamsters turned their backs on the guard and Florence laughed. It was obvious now. The guard just wanted to curry favour with the prince. To do that he would beat the hamsters then beat him.


    Florence grinned he wasn¡¯t going down that easily.


    The guard started by grabbing the first hamster and throwing him into the other two. Then proceeded to knock them all unconscious. Within moments the ¡®fight¡¯ was over.


    Florence got up and looked on in amazement, before charging the guard while he was still even a little bit occupied.


    The guard snorted, rammed his elbow into Florence''s midriff, turned, and swept him off his feet before looming over him.


    Florence prepared to receive what was bound to be a hard beating.


    All he saw was a foot, and then blackness.


    His last thought was that he and the prince weren¡¯t done, not even close.


    The prince on the other hand promptly forgot about the peasant and prepared to enter the castle.


    He heard footsteps, turned around and saw a fist.


    Then he saw blackness.


    The guard stood over both of them and smirked.


    ¡°I needed a little bit of fun.¡±

 Chapter 9: First Approach

    Lydia looked at the mangled stump of what was once a tail doubtfully. She also grimaced at the pain that radiated from her teeth and she also looked disgustedly at the dyed fur that now adorned her skin.


    She then began to shudder at the memories that all of these brought. The Rat King had pronounced the sentence and then she had felt a sharp pain in her tail.


    The guards had chopped it almost right off, and yelping she had turned around and tried to run.


    The guards were there first. They knocked her out, and started to mutilate her teeth, a bit more of her tail, and they dyed her fur.


    When she woke up and seen all of these changes, Lydia almost screamed, the pain was too much for her to properly express the depths of her horror. Afterwards she was kept in the castle for a week just eating. She was told that she needed to look ¡®plumper¡¯ after all she was supposed to go in there as a mouse.


    If she saw one more piece of ¡®mystery meat¡¯ she was going to puke.


    They said that she was lucky that she was a girl, it gave her a more mousy sounding voice. She remembered the Rat Kings nephew.


    He had sounded mousy, or at least she thought so. She had after all only ever seen one mouse, and that was at a distance. The mouse was an envoy from the corrupt critter kingdom. The smallest kingdom. If they had been any bigger then the Evertree would have fallen long ago. In fact, she was sure that they already had spies in the Everguard. At least she thought so. They did after all have the easiest time infiltrating the Evertree. Sadly, most of their people were angry farmers instead of trained soldiers.


    They were also the least militant. They hadn¡¯t been absorbed by the other kingdoms yet because of how good their fortifications were. After all, they had come from the Evertree, and every rodent knew (but wouldn¡¯t admit) that critters had much better knowledge of architecture then they did.


    She shook these thoughts off and focused on the present. Apparently, they were going to sneak her through some ¡®secret¡¯ passageway that would lead into the Evertree almost right next to Everguard Castle.


    When she had voiced her concerns about coming out so close to the Everguard Headquarters the King had just laughed her off, saying that ¡°You are an experiment, it doesn¡¯t matter if you live or die. If you live? Great! We get information! If you die? It¡¯s a criminal that has just been killed. A win-win situation.!¡±The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    With those words, he had sent her off¡­ With the special forces.


    It was the final humiliation.


    Anyway, here she was now standing at the bottom of the Evertree and preparing to enter it. Enter into a place where no rodent was welcome.


    They had entered under the cover of darkness, going through a tiny hole that she almost got stuck in and then having to try to sneak out of that same hole.


    In the dark.


    One at a time.


    Without getting seen.


    They managed it but there were a couple of pretty close calls. None of the Everguard of course, just normal critters, still each time a critter passed it always made them jump.


    They all got out, scouted the area, told her to come back to the hole at least once a month to report. Then they all went there own ways, scouting out just a little bit more of the Evertree.


    They left Lydia on her own of course. She sighed and looked at the huge castle that rose up in front of her, imposing, and evil-looking in the darkness of night.


    She shouldered the pack that her ¡®helpers¡¯ had left with her and went off on her own to find a place to camp. Preferably a secluded place.


    She found a cave and slept there. Shivering, she was used to caverns but they were manageable. Sleeping in a cave? With the wind blowing in constantly? She barely got any sleep and only drifted off when the sun was just starting to rise.


    She woke with a start, where was she? This wasn¡¯t her bed!


    Then Lydia remembered. She peaked out and breathed in deeply. The air was fresher by the Evertree. Much fresher then it was in the caverns.


    Lydia shouldered her knapsack and walked toward the castle, she briefly thought about running away but knew that she was being watched.


    Besides, where would she go? No going back to the caverns only thing that would spell was death, painful death. No running away to live with the critters, she had no idea how their society worked and would end up being found out, she shuddered just thinking about it. Critters showed no mercy. The stories that were told in the caverns always highlighted that fact.


    At least with the Everguard, she knew the basics. After all, she was schooled a little bit in the ways of the critters.


    Lydia approached the castle with trepidation, going slowly, studying it.


    She didn¡¯t like what she saw.


    She continued walking just in time to catch an altercation between what looked like a noble and a¡­ Big rat thing? Lydia didn¡¯t know any of the critters beyond mice and¡­ That was it.


    Lydia stopped and watched, and decided that she would need to get on that nobles good side. She would also have to try to befriend the other critter but in a more subtle way. The noble was the priority.


    She was just about to go and interfere when she saw a guard detach himself from the wall, she stopped and watched. It would be good to get a feel for what the Everguard could do.


    The guard promptly took out three large critters and the other critter. Then go on and take out the noble. All within the space of a couple of minutes.


    Then the guard looked up at her and grinned.


    Crap.

 Chapter 10: The Warden

    Fir opened his eyes and groaned. A splitting headache had formed, and he couldn¡¯t remember why. Something about a Guinea Pig? A guard? It started to come back to him then, it was also then that the full implications hit him.


    A commoner.


    Had touched a prince.


    A commoner.


    Had knocked out a prince.


    If this got out then his reputation would be sullied! He started going over ways that he could hide this travesty from the rest of the outside world then realized with a horror that it was probably too late; his entire entourage had seen what happened, his entire entourage had seen a pig try to manhandle him! Then even worse they had seen him knocked unconscious! It was a travesty!


    Not only that but his bed was hard as a rock and his pillow harder! Where was Hoppy? He should¡¯ve had this fixed by now!


    Fir¡¯s headache burned stronger and he just relaxed, rolled over, and tried to get back to sleep. Just as he was entering that stage between wakefulness and deep sleep a voice pierced through his fugue.


    ¡°RISE AND SHINE! IT¡¯S MENTOR TIME!¡± A Rabbit was where the voice originated from.


    Fir thought for a moment about showing her what it meant to annoy a prince but then decided against it. His head ached just a tad too much for him to bother. Fir instead rolled over once more and shut his eyes tighter.


    He vaguely noticed the Rabbit shouting some more and a bunch of critters surrounding his bed. Fir was just entering into a deep sleep when his bed was flipped and he went flying¡­. Right into a Guinea Pig, he recognized this pig though¡­ TI was the same pig that had laid hand on him yesterday and now he was standing over Fir grinning.


    Filled with righteous anger Fir leapt up, ¡°How dare you!¡± He sent a withering glare at all the critters surrounding his bed. ¡°What makes you think that you can flip my bed!? That you can wake me from my peaceful slumber?!¡±


    He felt a small measure of satisfaction as some of the critters shuffled uncomfortably as his glare lighted on them.


    ¡°That would be me.¡± The Rabbit that had caused this came to the front of the group, Fir now with a specific critter to target began his triad.


    ¡°You may be older but that does not give you the right to do this to me! I should have you sacked for this!¡± Fir began.


    He was quickly cut off as the Rabbit began to laugh. ¡°We ain¡¯t in the palace no more princely, here? I am the law!¡± The Rabbit came right up to him and leaned in close, whisker to whisker. ¡°Understand that?¡±


    Fir started to laugh, ¡°You think that you¡¯re in charge here? I¡¯m the prince here. If you think you¡¯re outside of my jurisdiction then you are wrong.¡± He laughed harder, ¡°I may be exiled to this mud pit filled with unwashed critters but I will not be treated with anything other than respect.¡± He glared, ¡°Understand that?¡±


    The Rabbit sighed, ¡°It seems that you still do not understand.¡± The Rabbit looked at him, ¡°Come with me.¡±


    He grinned smugly and followed. The Rabbit leads him through a couple of hallways before ending up at a door labelled Warden.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    The Rabbit knocked, and a voice sounded from within, ¡°Come in.¡±


    In they came.


    The Rabbit walked out motioning Fir too stay, then she closed the door behind them.


    The Warden was a Capybara, the biggest of critters and he outsized Fir prodigiously. The Warden sighed, ¡°hello Fir.¡±


    Fir decided that with a high ranking individual like this it would probably be best to use some of his courtly manners, ¡°Warden, how are you this fine day?¡± He articulated and bowed.


    The Warden chuckled, ¡°you remind of your father when he came in here, you walked in exactly the same way. You also thought about how to treat me in exactly the same way. The only difference is that you recognized my status and he didn¡¯t.¡±


    Fir bowed once more, ¡°I have always been more perceptive than father.¡±


    The Warden nodded and looked at him, ¡°why have you been sent here?¡±


    Fir looked at him, ¡°now that is a good question and one with which I have no answer too. I think it may have been because I ignored that loud rabbit''s summons.¡± He took a breath, ¡°which is, of course, withing my rights, and I will tell you what I told her; I may have been exiled here but I will be treated with all the respect that my status deserves. By everyone.¡± With these words, Fir ended with a significant look at the Warden.


    The Warden sighed, ¡°so much like your father Fir, too much like your father. I will give you one chance and one chance only. Treat everyone with the respect that you treat me with. Pretend that you are at court if you must. Being arrogant will do you no favours here.¡± The Warden ended with a note of finality. Then waved his hand in clear dismissal.


    Fir left with a huff.


    Right into a gathering of lesser critters, with the Rabbit right there shouting with her high voice once more. ¡°ALRIGHT!¡± She looked at Fir. ¡°NOW THAT WE HAVE ALL OF OUR FIRST YEARS WE WILL COMMENCE MENTOR TIME.¡±


    She motioned beside her and drew their attention to a bunch of critters lined up, ¡°These are the second years. Each of you will be paired with one, and they will teach you the ins and outs of the castle. Where to go and where not to go.¡± Fir noticed that her volume had decreased drastically.


    She pointed at the second years, ¡°These second years will choose which of you they will mentor for this year.¡± She smiles at them then pulls out a list.


    ¡°Adern, from Oxgin, who will mentor him?¡± The critter in question was a bird, a raven from the looks of it. Fir noticed that one of his talons was missing.


    A hamster stepped forward and said that he would mentor Adern.


    ¡°Agnilian Firnocitus, from the capital, who will mentor him?¡± Once again a second year stepped forward. Fir paid special attention because this was obviously a noble, he also paid attention because this was a noble that wasn¡¯t a mouse. He was instead an ant. Unusual to say the least. A low ranking noble based off of the name but a noble nonetheless.


    He would need to befriend him. There didn''t seem to be many nobles here, perhaps for the best?


    ¡°Bleg, from Tortiseshire, who will mentor him?¡± A tortoise, it seemed that the Everguard did indeed accept anyone. Fir snorted as if anyone would willing come to the Everguard. The stories abounded.


    It went on for a couple of minutes before another name was mentioned that actually interested Fir. Well, it wasn¡¯t the name really but the critter. ¡°Florence, from Leftown, who will mentor him?¡± It was the Guinea Pig that had laid hands on him! His name was Florence, was it? From Leftown? Interesting.


    A second-year stepped up grinning and quickly volunteered to be Florence, grabbed him and whispered something in his ear. After this Fir listened in for his own name. It seemed that the list was a little bit out of order if Florence had gone before him.


    ¡°Firiniel Florinica Agustinius Tragen, from the Capital, who will mentor him?¡± The second years shifted uncomfortably, and Fir looked at them askance, who wouldn¡¯t want to mentor the prince?! The silence went on longer, and Fir looked on confused. Why would no one mentor him? He was a prince!


    The Rabbit coughed and sent a glance at the second years. Once again they all shifted uncomfortably. Once again silence reigned for a while.


    Fir was confused, why? Why would no one mentor him? Was he not good enough? Was there something wrong?


    Finally, finally, one of the second years stepped forward and said, ¡°I will mentor the prince.¡± Before looking at Fir at beckoning him over. The second-year lowered his voice and said, ¡°come on, let us get something for you to eat.¡±


    As he was exciting the room he bumped into Florence, who leaned in close and said, ¡°No one likes you princeling, no one will ever like you.¡±


    Fir stumbled on, letting out a small whine only heard by him.

 Chapter 11: Mentors

    Florence woke with a start as a loud voice pierced his thoughts, ¡°RISE AND SHINE! IT¡¯S MENTOR TIME!¡± He noticed that all the critters were getting out of bed and so, so did he. He followed an ant that he had met that last night when he had woke from his punch induced sleep.


    A nice fellow and one he would like to befriend, the only thing that he didn¡¯t like was that he was a noble. He wasn¡¯t part of the Royal Family though so that didn¡¯t matter as much.


    They started to line up when the Rabbit shouted at a critter that refused to wake up. ¡°GET UP!¡± The critter-mouse, Florence saw rolled over and ignored the words that were shouted at him.


    The Rabbit muttered something and then pointed, ¡°you, you, you, and you! Get onto the other side of that bed please!¡± The critters in question quickly moved to the assigned spots and waited for further instruction.


    ¡°Flip the bed.¡± The Rabbit said with a grin.


    And flip the bed they did, and out came a very disgruntled looking mouse. Who proceeded to roll over and over and stop right at Florencecs feet.


    Florence grinned as he saw who it was. It seemed that the princeling once again had decided to pay him a visit. The princeling jumped up, and seeing himself in the middle of a circle of critters made his thoughts known.


    ¡°What makes you think that you can flip my bed!? That you can wake me from my peaceful slumber?!¡±


    Florence would have laughed had the words not been spoken with such seriousness. After that, it was mostly just the rabbit speaking with the prince spouting nonsense in reply.


    The only thing that Florence got out of it was that the prince had a serious superiority complex. After that, the Rabbit took the prince away and the critters were left on their own.


    Florence spoke first, ¡°What was that?¡±


    His almost friend the ant, answered, ¡°That, was the prince. The most spoilt, stuck up, arrogant, little brat that ever lived. Why he is cursing us with his presence? I have no idea.¡±


    Florence was starting to think that he would like being here. The other critters looked at them sceptically but that whole fiasco proved that the ant was right, at least, partially so.


    The Rabbit came back in and looked at them, then sighed. ¡°Come one.¡± She turned and walked out the door. The critters followed.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    They weaved through a bunch of hallways before stopping in an atrium looking room. Facing them were another group of critters, the Rabbit held up her had and motioned for them all to stop. ¡°We''re going to wait for the mouse to get back before we start.¡±


    Sure enough after a few minutes of waiting the princeling arrived. ¡°ALRIGHT!¡± The Rabbit looked at Fir. ¡°NOW THAT WE HAVE ALL OF OUR FIRST YEARS WE WILL COMMENCE MENTOR TIME.¡±


    Florence¡¯s attention was jerked back onto the Rabbit. ¡°These are the second years. Each of you will be paired with one, and they will teach you the ins and outs of the castle. Where to go and where not to go.¡± She said. Florence wondered why it was that they were called first years from what he could tell they were only going to be here for around a year. No more, no less.


    A question for another time. The Rabbit had started to speak.


    ¡°Adern, from Oxgin, who will mentor him?¡± A second-year stepped up and volunteered. Florence looked on with interest. He had heard a little bit about training but the stories told were mostly about the Overseers time fighting.


    A couple more names were listed off, none of interest except for a tortoise and his prospective friend the ant. Who as he was told yesterday, was noble.


    Then it was his turn, ¡°Florence, from Leftown, who will mentor him?¡± He was nervous for second that no one would choose him, but his worries were unfounded and a second-year quickly came through for him.


    ¡°I¡¯ll mentor him,¡± a grinning Cavy stepped up. Then taking him around the shoulders led him to the back of the group. ¡°My mother knew your Overseer, your father and your mother. They were in the same squad. It¡¯s my pleasure and my duty to mentor you.¡±


    With those words they went to the back of the group, waiting for everyone to be paired off. It was also here that he noticed that the princeling was about to be mentored off. ¡°Firiniel Florinica Agustinius Tragen, from the Capital, who will mentor him?¡± The Rabbit announced.


    His mentor leaned in close, ¡°No one wants to mentor a prince. Too much responsibility, too many things that could wrong. I fell kinda bad for him actually, it¡¯s never nice having to wait to be chosen.¡±


    And wait they did. The second years remained silent. None of them willing to mentor the prince. It went on like this for several long minutes.


    Florence took some perverse satisfaction in the way that Fir looked so hurt. That was just a little bit of the hurt that the royal family had caused him. The princeling deserved all he got.


    The Rabbit glanced at the second years, silently begging one of them to step up and take responsibility for the prince.


    The second years once again shift uncomfortably.


    Finally, a mouse steps up and volunteers to mentor the prince. Florence''s¡¯ mentor shook her head, ¡°Fig, always the one to volunteer for the jobs no one else wants. Hopefully, the prince doesn¡¯t break him.¡± The Cavy shakes her head.


    As the prince left the room, head down, he bumped into Florence. Florence seeing a chance leaned in close and said,


    ¡°No one likes you princeling, no one will ever like you.¡± He muttered it in a whisper so that no one but the prince would hear.


    Fig led the princeling out of the room, and into the cafeteria. That was what Florence assumed at least. He ignored the twinge of pity that he felt, he also ignored the twinge of shame and guilt.


    After all, the royal family had done much worse.

 Chapter 12: Entering the Castle

    Lydia approached the guard hesitantly. Then taking a breath, started to speak, ¡°Hello, my name is Sar, and I would like to join the Everguard.¡± She had been told not to use her real name, and make it sound like a name a critter would use. Unfortunately, she had no idea what type of names critters used and had to ask the King himself for help.


    He had laughed and told her to use the name, Sar. Sar, she then became. Lydia honestly felt like there was no need for a name change, but she wasn¡¯t about to go around and start defying the king now was she?


    Looking at her quizzically the Guard, slinging the unconscious mouse over his shoulder, replied ¡°yup, do you have  a letter of introduction from your local judge, mayor, or an Everguard veteran?¡¯¡¯


    Lydia, luckily, did indeed have a document like that. The Rat King had written it himself. She was told that it wouldn¡¯t hold up under scrutiny but that no one should be closely scrutinising anything anyway if they were they she had failed. These words didn¡¯t really comfort her, but she had no choice except to forge on.


    She once again went over her plans. Befriend the princeling, succeed at anything they threw at her but not exceed. She needed to be totally average, just another rodent-no, critter now, filling the seats. She would go to any events that she was invited too, but if it was a day before a test or something then she would skip.


    The Guard grabbed the letter, stuffed it in his pocket, turned around and started walking, ¡°follow me." He grabbed the guinea pig and slung him over his other shoulder.


    Following the guard, she entered into the castle of her enemies. He stopped and said, ¡°I¡¯ll be leaving you now. Go left and then right and then left. You¡¯ll find a Capybara there, she will be taking the names of all the new first years.¡±


    She started to turn and leave, when the guard shouted after her, ¡°She¡¯s the Wardens wife. You should get on her good side. It¡¯ll do you good.¡±


    Lydia had no idea who the Warden was or even what a Capybara was, but, following the Wardens instruction, she found herself at a door. She knocked. It was quickly opened by the biggest critter that she had ever seen, it towered over her and all she could do was gape.


    The critter grinned, ¡°What? Never seen a Capybara before?¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    Lydia responded by continuing to gape. ¡°I¡¯ve¡­Never seen¡­¡±


    The capybara laughed, ¡°come inside, we¡¯ll talk about what you want in there.¡± With those words, the critter turned around and went inside.


    Lydia followed her and headed in.


    The room was huge, at least by her standards. Then again, you would need a big room to fit a critter like the one she was currently facing. It wasn¡¯t the size of the room that amazed her most though, but the number of books and bookshelves populated it. Every single wall was covered in floor to ceiling bookshelves and each of those bookshelves were stuffed full of well-organized books.


    The capybara motioned for her to sit down at a desk that placed in the middle of the room. If the bookshelves were a warm sunny day then the desk was like a tempest. Prodigous amounts of letters, papers, and other files were strewn about it.


    Lydia felt sorry for her. It looked like the critter was busy, but Lydia needed to join the Everguard and it seemed like she was the only creature that could. Lydia was sure that there were others who could sign her up but she was the closest.


    The capybara motioned for her to sit and sit she did. Lydia spoke, ¡°Hi, my name is Ly- Sar, I would like to join the Everguard.¡± She mentally winced at her slip up, she was Sar now, a critter. Someone that has lived in the Evertree her entire life and doesn¡¯t know the ins and outs.


    The Rat King had given her liberties when it came to her fake identity and she had prepared as best she could. Thinking out all the questions that she could be asked and then answering them. Asking the Rat King¡¯s entourage for help when needed.


    The Capybara smiled. ¡°Ah, straight to business huh? I can appreciate that. My husband is like that, admirable, in its own way. As for whether you can join the Everguard, the answer is a yes. Since you came a little bit late I¡¯ll need to sign you up.¡±


    Lydia, no, Sar now, said, ¡°Thank you, so should I be going now?¡±


    The capybara replied, ¡°Don¡¯t want to stay around? That¡¯s fine.¡± She scribbled on a paper in front of her, ¡°could you please sign here?¡± Lydia froze, she didn¡¯t know how to write, and she had no idea what a signature was.


    She decided to be forthright, ¡°um, ma¡¯am, I don¡¯t know how to write or read.¡±


    The capybara stared at her for a while, ¡°Oh, oh, okay then, um, could you just scribble there, please?¡± Sar had no idea what thoughts were going through the critters head. All she could hope was that her cover wasn¡¯t blown.


    Sar fumbled with the quill and managed to get a few inkblots and even a line onto the paper. She pushed it back toward the capybara.


    ¡°Must have been from a more conservative family huh?¡± The capybara said.


    Lydia thought about this and decided not to commit, ¡°strict, is what they always used to say.¡±


    The capybara nodded, and then said, ¡°Alright! All done. Just go out and then go right, left, and then right again. You should find yourself at the cafeteria.¡±


    Sar got up and left quickly. The capybara''s questions just showed how flawed her cover was. She needed to think everything out again.


    First, though, she needed to learn more about the Evertree.


    She headed toward the cafeteria.

 Chapter 13: Cafeteria

    After walking for a while, Sar reached the cafeteria and was surprised at the number of people that were already there. She had been under the impression that the Everguard was an undesirable place to be. After all from what the Rat King said, ¡®¡¯no one likes the Evergaurd except the Everguard themselves.¡¯¡¯


    Sar also noticed that there were already cliques forming. She needed to get on the action and establish herself with a group before it was too late and she became an outcast.


    Outcasts didn¡¯t learn much information, and she was a spy. She had briefly thought about being a loner but ended up going the opposite direction because while as a loner she would be able to go places unnoticed and that would allow her to sneak into places and be places where people would not usually go and it would be attributed to the fact that she was a ¡®weird.¡¯


    This was desirable, but the main reason why she decided against it was that without social interaction with other critters then if she was questioned as to why she was outside a place she wasn¡¯t supposed to be she would probably mess it up. She also needed to be able to interact convincingly and the best way to do that was to observe. This was easiest when she was known and accepted into a clique.


    The second reason was that she didn¡¯t really want to have to spend a long chunk of her life without any friends and no companionship except for herself. After thinking it through some more Sar admitted to herself that this was probably the main reason why she decided to befriend some of the critters. Also, you learn more information by talking to others, though listening on the outside you can learn, you learn more when you can quiz someone.


    With these thoughts in mind, she headed toward the guinea pig that she saw had been knocked out by the guard. She walked over and said, ¡°were you the one that got knocked by that guard? I saw it happen and honestly, it was pretty crazy!¡±


    The critter frowned, ¡°yeah? So what?¡±


    Sar sensed that things might start to get sour and so she tried to lead the conversation onto a note that made him look good, ¡°I just thought the way you stood up to that noble was pretty nice. I¡¯m not a huge fan of nobility myself and was surprised that you even tried it!¡± She truly was, anything like that happened in the Rat Kingdom you would be executed or in her case, sent on a suicide mission.


    She also was impressed, it was true that she really didn¡¯t like nobility at all, the Rat King scared her and the nephew that she killed was a downright creep.


    The guinea pig grinned, ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t like the nobility really either, and that stuck up princeling was getting on my nerves. We¡¯re living in the Evertree for shade''s sake, not the Rat Caves! What gives him the right to something like that? He may be a prince but he ain¡¯t king! Evertree save us when he does.¡±


    His triad over he looked at her a bit sheepishly, ¡°I, um, gotta go.¡± With these words, he beat a quick retreat.


    Sar could see why she wasn¡¯t sure about the Evertree but words like that spoken about the King? His fate would not be a happy one. Not at all.


    She was happy with herself, she had planted the seeds of friendship and just needed to talk to him a bit more often and then maybe she could befriend him.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    A Rabbit hopped into the room, ¡°Alright! It¡¯s bedtime first years! MOVE!¡±


    Sar moved, she was happy with what was accomplished. All she needed to do was find a way to get some more interesting information.


    ¡­


    Sar had slept in a shared dorm under the promise that a suitable arrangement would be made at a later date. She had actually been quite comfortable, it was much better than the rock floor of the cave or the moss patch that she slept on in the cavern.


    After that, the Rabbit came back in and screamed at them until they had all gotten up. Then she got her first glimpse of the prince.


    Sar found that she was not impressed. In fact, the prince reminded her of the Rat Kings nephew, unfortunately, she had decided long ago that befriending the prince was a priority. Already she was going through different ways to make a good impression on him.


    Now, she was wondering who would choose to mentor her. She didn¡¯t know anyone here and no one knew who she was, she just hoped that she would be chosen as fast as everyone else was. One thing that she did know though was that she probably wouldn¡¯t be in as awkward a situation as the prince was. The tension was still in the air now.


    ¡°Sar, from Lefton, who will mentor her?¡± There was a brief silence before a Gerbil stepped up, ¡°I¡¯ll mentor her!¡± She was glaring at her evilly, Sar was decidedly uncomfortable with that clear and hoped for a different critter to step up if that was allowed.


    To begin with, that glare meant a lot of things, Sar was used to such glares and knew that they never came with good intentions. That glare would blow her cover and make her time at the Everguard miserable.


    The second years started to shift uncomfortably, it seemed that they also knew that something was up. Muttering abounded with lots of glances, this went on for a while before a mouse stepped up. ¡°I volunteer in her stead! I will take the first year!¡±


    The Rabbit coughed, ¡°Timone, this is against the rules and you know it!¡±


    The mouse responded quickly, ¡°Give me a break, we both know what would happen if Teek became her mentor.¡±


    Sar looked on in interest, it seemed that her misgivings were well-founded and it also seemed that maybe the Rabbits authority wasn¡¯t as well-grounded as she first thought.


    The Rabbit looked at Timone and then at the Gerbil, before saying, ¡°I am willing for you to take on the mentorship but you will treat me with more respect!¡±


    The Gerbil, Teek, spoke up, ¡°No! I insist! I have already volunteered to become this critters mentor and tradition states that once a critter volunteers it can not be taken back!¡±


    Timone sighs, ¡°you and I both know that tradition nowadays is as easily ignored as an ill-intentioned Gerbil.¡± He looks at the Rabbit, ¡°I¡¯ll take her.¡± Timone promptly turns around, grabs Sar, and leads her out of the room.


    Once they get out Sar speaks, ¡°Why¡¯d you volunteer to mentor me? What¡¯s the point?¡±


    Timone sighs, ¡°I know first-hand what''s it like to have a worthless, ill-intentioned, and downright mean mentor.¡± He looks up, whiskers twitching, ¡°I would save you from that fate.¡±


    He smiles, ¡°Your lucky! If you had gotten her then the Everguard would be like living Pits!¡±


    Sar sighs, ¡°Thank you then. I knew that she meant no good but I had no idea that it was that bad.¡± Lydia, of course, had no idea what he was talking about when he mentioned the pits but she assumed that it was some sort of curse word.


    Timone winks, ¡°My pleasure. Now, let''s get you to the cafeteria and then we can see about your dorm.¡±


    Sar was led through the castle and was amazed at how windy it was, it rivalled even the Rat Kings palace! She could see why he needed a spy, there was no way that they could manage to take the castle even if they got people on the inside.


    Though if they just snuck an army through the hole they snuck her through then they would probably be fine. Honestly though, the whole layout was confusing. She questioned Timone about it and got a secretive smile in return. ¡°You¡¯ll be told.¡± Was all he said, which wasn¡¯t saying anything at all.


    It probably had to do with Everguard secrets or something. She was shaken from her thoughts when Timone announced that they had reached the cafeteria.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to leave you now, each of the years eat in different places. You won¡¯t be seeing the third or fourth years anyway though. They eat at different times. Don¡¯t know why so don¡¯t ask.¡± Timone said, before disappearing down another corridor.


    Leaving her. Sar sighed and went looking for the prince.

 Chapter 14: Travesty

    Fir walked with his new mentor, still stewing over what happened. His mentor looked at him and sighed, ¡°You alright buddy?¡±


    Fir looked up, ¡°of course I¡¯m all right!¡± He said maintaining a straight-backed posture, his tail still, his whiskers straight and not drooping.


    On the inside, though he was still wondering why.


    His mentor glanced at him, then sighed once more. ¡°Better get you something to eat. Follow me, I¡¯ll show you to the cafeteria. Pretty sure it¡¯s leaf pudding today.¡±


    Fir followed him. ¡°Mentor?¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡± The critter in question looked at him.


    Fir said the question that was bugging him most, almost as much as the why question. ¡°Where am I sleeping and where is my entourage?¡±


    His mentor looked at him and started to laugh, and laugh, and laugh, not mean laughter but rather the laughter of someone who was genuinely surprised and found something funny.  It took a while but eventually, he regained control of himself and said, ¡°Has no one told you yet?¡±


    Fir looked at him annoyed, ¡°No, no one has told me about this mysterious something that has caused you to laugh for at least a minute straight.¡±


    His mentor looked at him sympathetically, ¡°Sorry bud, but your entourage has been sent home. So have all of your many clothing trunks.¡±


    Fir stood stock still for a moment, unable to process the words that had just been said, or rather, processing the words that had been said and being unable to comprehend them. His reputation would be more than just tarnished. It would be ruined! A noble without an entourage had almost nothing to distinguish himself from the common mud-soaked critter! For an entourage to be taken away without his consent?


    It was a travesty. That was what it was. A travesty. A crime! An insult!


    ¡°What do you mean my entourage has been taken away! I demand it returned!¡± Fir snapping out of his fugue went into a righteous fury, expressing all of his thoughts on the subject.


    His mentor looked shocked for a moment before he said, ¡°Calm down! It wasn¡¯t me that made this happen!¡± His hands were out, making calming gestures, trying to calm the prince down.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Then tell me who I can see to undo this! I demand it!¡± Fir shouted more, his tail lashing, his composure completely lost.


    His mentor shouted at him, ¡°CALM DOWN AND I WILL TELL YOU! BY THE EVERTREE!¡±


    Fir sensing that he was about to lose the favour of the only critter who could help him undo the disrespect that has been shown to him. Remembering the words that his parents said to him he decided to try to get on this critters good side after all the critter might be a noble.


    That meant apologizing.


    ¡°Look, I¡¯m sorry for my misconduct toward you, please, forgive me,¡± Fir said through gritted teeth, apologizing was something he had practised but had never really done. After all, apologizing was beneath the nobility. Nobility do not apologise. Unfortunately, Fir recognized that he was in a new environment and when you are in a new environment you must adapt.


    His mentor looked at him in surprise and then softened his voice. ¡°That¡¯s okay, we all lose our temper sometimes, especially when something precious is taken from you.¡± He looked at Fir with sympathy.


    He leaned in close, ¡°look, if want to try to change something that has been decided then you will need to go meet with the Warden. Either him or his wife.¡±


    Fir remembered the Warden and thought it probably wouldn''t be prudent to meet with him again so soon. The reason being that the Warden had already warned about arrogance, and while Fir didn¡¯t think that asking for what was rightfully his counted as arrogance he wasn¡¯t as sure about what the Warden would think, after all, he didn¡¯t think that the Warden held the royal family in particularly high regard.


    ¡°Where is the Wardens wife located?¡± His mentor looked at him and his whiskers twitched in amusement,


    ¡°You must have already met the Warden then huh?¡± Fir nodded in agreement, ¡°Indeed I have. I do not think he will be as sympathetic to my plight as you have been. Therefore I will try to talk to his wife.¡±


    His mentor, spoke again, ¡°She will probably be more sympathetic but you will have to weave your argument pretty well. If she thinks that it is at all for your own benefit then you will be refused. If she thinks that it would be for the benefit of the whole then she would most likely allow it.¡±


    Fir excogitated on these words, he had done debate in the palace. In fact, he was rather good at it. He had only ever lost once in his life and that was too his parents. Indeed he and another noble had debated on whether being a prince was better than being a peasant. His opinion, was in support of the peasant, an opinion that was obviously weighed against him and yet still he won!


    Of course, he was only putting on a show and was one hundred per cent certain that being a prince was better than being a peasant. Thinking back on it though it was rather curious that he won, in fact, he could have sworn the other noble changing his argument mid-sentence and looking quite pleased when he lost.


    Fir dismissed these thoughts, it was evident that he was just a superb orator. His attention turned to the matter at hand-the Wardens wife.


    Fir turned to his mentor, ¡°Where can I find the Wardens wife?¡±

 Chapter 15: New Friend

    Florence and his mentor headed toward the cafeteria, they had stayed and watched the rest of the first years get chosen but no one was interesting. Only other bump was that a mouse that he had yesterday was almost chosen by who he assumed would be a rotten Mentor. Not that he knew the Gerbil question of course, but some things can just be assumed.


    He ignored that had he been a second year and able to volunteer as a mentor he would have definitely chosen the prince¡­And would have done his hardest to make the Everguard seem like living in the Pits.


    He was a first-year though and he could just ignore the actions that he may or may not have done had he been in a different situation.


    As he was walking he started talking to his mentor, ¡°so, your parents knew mine? They knew the Overseer as well?¡±


    ¡°Yup! They knew them alright like I said they were in the same squad as my parents.¡±


    Florence thought about this, ¡°Did your parents ever talk about mine?¡±


    She looked at him, ¡°Yeah. Why?¡± She looked a bit uncomfortable, sensing where the conversation was going.


    ¡°What did they say about them?¡± Florence looked up at her hopefully, always eager to learn about the parents he never knew. ¡°Did they like them? Hate them?¡± He wanted to learn more.


    She sighed, ¡°Your parents were interesting. At least that¡¯s what they told me. They were also a very good match. They balanced each other out but also shared a lot of the same interests.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Florence asked, interested.


    ¡°Well, this is only what my parents told me mind. They said that your father was often very hot-headed and prone to holding very long grudges for seemingly small reasons. Sometimes for no reason at all.¡±


    Florence opened his mouth to protest but was quickly shut down. ¡°Do you want me to keep on going or not?¡±


    His mouth closed. And she continued. ¡°Your mother was quick to anger, but also quick to laugh. It helped to temper your father, his was buried anger that came out rarely. When his anger did come out though it often led to vicious fights and arguments, especially if your mother got angry. Yet, they loved each other, and your mother was more often than not kind, caring, and was a balancing influence.¡± She took a breath.


    ¡°Your father also tempered your mother. My parents say that it is a shame that they never got to raise you.¡± With that, she sighed. ¡°That¡¯s all I know. Don¡¯t ask any more questions.¡± She knew that he was most likely going to keep on asking questions until they all dropped dead, so she forstalled the questions before they came on.Stolen novel; please report.


    Florence for his part was disappointed but understanding, he had a lot to think about now. The Overseer wasn¡¯t one for emotion and like most ants had trouble understanding the concept and recognizing it, because of this he didn¡¯t often get explanations like the one his mentor gave him.


    They headed to the cafeteria and stopped. ¡°I am going to leave you here. I¡¯ve got other stuff do. If you have any questions just look for me, okay?¡±


    Florence nodded and headed onto the cafeteria. It was semi-full, a bunch of critters were still talking to their mentors about one thing or another. He looked around for anyone that he knew. The only person he found was a mouse that he met yesterday. He couldn¡¯t remember her name, but she was distinctive. Longer teeth than normal, a thicker tail, she probably had some rats blood in her family.


    Florence walked over and said, ¡°Hi, I can¡¯t remember your name sorry. Would you tell me?¡± He thought he might as well see what the mouse was like.


    She looked up surprised, ¡°Oh. Hey. Didn¡¯t see you there, what was your question again?¡±


    Florence repeated his question, she smiled, ¡°My name¡¯s Sar, what¡¯s yours?¡±


    ¡°My names Florence, my friends call me Flor though.¡± He decided that he was not going by the nickname of Flo, no matter how nice-sounding the Overseer thought it was.


    He stuck his hand out, and she looked at him oddly. ¡°You''re supposed to shake my hand,¡± Florence said, did she not know what a handshake was?


    She grabbed his hand shook it, holding it for just a tad too long. It seemed like she really didn¡¯t know what a handshake was. Weird, Florence decided to ask her, ¡°Do you not know what a handshake is?¡±


    She laughed, ¡°Oh, yeah, I know what they are it''s just been a while since I¡¯ve had to shake someone''s hand, everyone in my town knew each other and visitors didn¡¯t really come by. Except for the peddler that is, otherwise though we all knew each other.¡±


    Florence thought that that made sense, it was much the same in his own town, ¡°What¡¯s your town called? I come from Lefton.¡±


    She looked a bit uncomfortable before saying, ¡°My towns name is Lefton as well! What a coincidence! We must be from different towns though, because I haven¡¯t seen you around, and my town is pretty small.¡±


    Florence was confused, he knew that the Evertree was big and that sometimes multiple towns had the same name, but he thought that he would have heard about it if there was. He shrugged, obviously, there was, there was nothing to gain from her lying so she probably hadn¡¯t.


    ¡°Weird huh? I never would have thought that there is more than one town by the name of Lefton.¡±


    Sar laughed, ¡°It is weird, isn¡¯t it? It¡¯s not like Lefton is that common a name. I thought you were lying at first!¡±


    Florence chuckled, ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I thought about you!¡± She looked a bit alarmed, ¡°then I thought to myself, why would she lie? What¡¯s even the point?¡± Florence went from chuckling to laughter.


    Sar kept on laughing, ¡°Honestly Flor when I first saw you I had no idea¡­¡± She couldn¡¯t finish because she was laughing. It sounded a bit fake but Florence was giggling and didn¡¯t notice.


    ¡°Oh, Evertree, nice meeting you Sar! We should find another place to meet, maybe talk about the Leftons huh?¡±


    Sar nodded, ¡°Sounds good.¡±


    Florence went and got some food, sat down, and invited his knew friend to sit with him.

 Chapter 16: Dorms

    Sar at the same table as the critter which beat up the prince and had the ability to completely destroy her disguise as a critter from Lefton. She had no idea if there were other Lefton''s but she was pretty sure there weren¡¯t.


    Which lead her to her second item of business. Befriending the Prince. If she was going to befriend him she would most likely have to forsake Flor. Flor, who could easily reveal her identity, and if she left and wounded him along the way then he might try to find a way to hurt her. Both physically and socially.


    Usually, she wouldn¡¯t have minded a situation like that, but with her new job as a spy? She couldn¡¯t afford to make a nemesis, especially one that only had to look a little deeper to find out that she was actually an imposter.


    He sat in front of her chattering away and Sar pasted a smile on her face, laughing when he laughed, nodding, making exclamations of surprise. But otherwise thinking about the predicament in front of her.


    She still needed to somehow befriend the prince. To do that though she would need to catch him without Flor around. Sar was new here but based on what she had seen outside of the castle gates there was a lot of tension between the Prince and Flor.


    Sar decided that she would need to stay friends with Flor and try to become friends with the prince. She would need to ingrain herself with both of them so that way when they found out that she was ¡®friends¡¯ with both of them, they wouldn¡¯t just break off the relationship but instead advise her to not associate with the other.


    She was pretty sure that getting to that point with Flor shouldn¡¯t be that hard, all she needed to do was come up with fake details of Lefton and start sharing them with him.


    Then she would need to learn more about him and try to become a confidant.


    It was the prince that she was truly worried about. From what she had seen he was an arrogant brat that took everything he wanted. Sar was sure that wasn¡¯t all there was to it but she was pretty sure that that was most of it, the arrogance would be hard to get past.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    She knew that she still looked a little bit like a rat and the prince probably wouldn¡¯t like that. She came to the conclusion that she would most likely have to seduce him.


    Sadly she had no experience when it came to seduction. The only thing that she had going for in that regard was that there were no female mice first years other than herself as well as her ¡®exotic¡¯ ¡®rat¡¯ look.


    It was annoying but most likely necessary. She would, of course, try to simply befriend him first and soak up as much information as she could. Sar knew that if she could get enough relevant information to the Rat King she would be able to go back to the Pits a hero and join the special forces.


    She would also be able to leave behind all of the stress, calculations, and scheming that this brought. She was barely a couple of days into this and she was already scheming like a noble! Not only that but she was under the constant threat of discovery!


    Flor laughed and she laughed as well. Flor sighed, ¡°Nice talking with ya, but I gotta go, my mentor is over there by the doorway. Probably going to show me to my dorm.¡±


    ¡°Bye Flor.¡± Florence got up and left.


    ¡°Sar?! Saaaaaar!?¡± Her mentor was at the doorway, calling for her. Interesting, she noticed that a bunch of other mentors were also there at the doorway. As if this was all planned. She walked over to him.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening now?¡± Sar asked, she had a foggy idea but was still a bit unsure.


    Smiling her mentor said, ¡°We¡¯re going to put you into a dorm now.¡± Taking a breath her mentor went on, ¡°There are six first-year female dorms and six first-year male dorms, each of them can sleep up to a hundred people though the number of new recruits we get every year barely ever exceed one hundred. There are only fifty new recruits total this year. Thirty guys and twenty girls. So your dorms are going to be pretty empty.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t they just put everyone into the same dorm?¡¯ Sar asked it didn¡¯t make sense to spread everyone out among the five dorms when you could have them all in one.


    ¡°The answer to that question is tradition. There have always been five dorms, and there have always been new recruits to fill the dorms. Also, each dorm competes for the against next in special tournament days that we have occasionally.¡±


    ¡°Occasionally? Do you not have an exact number?¡±


    ¡°Nope. They happen whenever the teachers want them to happen. Sometimes there might be two in a week and then none for the rest of training. Sometimes there might be one every week. The teachers are unpredictable that way.¡±


    ¡°Why haven¡¯t I seen any of the teachers?¡±


    ¡°Oh, there just not hear yet. That Rabbit is a teacher. Though she¡¯s a new one. Just graduated, still trying to establish her place here at the school.¡±


    Her mentor stopped in front of a big wooden door with the number three carved into it.


    ¡°Welcome to your home for the next year.¡±