Free [Redwall 18] - High Rhulain by Brian Jacques Page B

of our vengeance were soon to arrive.
’Twas a mouse in bright armour, he spake loud an’
clear,
an’ he carried a sword that was wondrous to see.
‘Ould Zillo the Bard,’ he said, ‘Never you fear,
for ’tis writ in the stars that the clans will run free.
From the seas an’ the oceans, from river an’ stream,
rise up all ye warriors, arm every paw.
A leader is comin’ to fulfill yore dreams,
one who’ll stand at your head as ye march off to war.
Ye’ll rise like the red dawn, all in a great band,
like a brave surgin’ tide such as never was seen,
as ye thunder her title all over this land:
All hail to the Rhulain! The High Otterqueen!’ ”
    The otters leapt up, bellowing and cheering, roaring and chanting. “Rhulain! Rhulain! Ee aye eeeeeh!”
    Leatho could not stem the noisy jubilation, but the blood was pounding through his body. He took Zillo the Bard by the shoulders, shouting in his ear above the din. “Are ye sure High Rhulain is comin’ back to Green Isle, or was yore dream just a desire to rouse the clans?”
    Zillo raised his voice in reply. “My dreams have never lied, Shellhound. ’Tis certain I am!”
    Leatho battered for a long time on the rudderdrum before order was finally restored. His voice rang out like steel. “We’ll get nothin’ done, howlin’ an’ jiggin’ about like a rabble o’ wildbeasts!”
    Zillo backed him up. “Sure the Shellhound’s right. Hold still now like goodbeasts an’ lissen to him.”
    The outlaw sea otter began outlining his campaign. “We need to work together now, buckoes, but our watchword must be secrecy. Don’t breathe a word yet of what ye’ve heard here tonight to anybeast!”
    Chab held up his paw. “Not even to our families?”
    Leatho shook his head vehemently. “Especially not yore families, mate. Little ’uns will repeat wot they’ve heard to anybeast, an’ old ’uns can’t resist gossipin’. If Riggu Felis an’ those cats caught wind of ought, they’d soon pry it out of familybeasts. They’re good at that, as ye know. When the time’s right, I’ll let ye know, then ye can tell yore kin.”
    Zillo added his own warning. “Holdin’ yore silence will stop many an otter bein’ weighted with rocks an’ tossed into Deeplough for Slothunog to feed off.”
    The very mention of Deeplough’s monster brought gasps of fear from many. Leatho let the message sink in before carrying on with his plans.
    â€œRight, here’s wot we need. Secrecy, or our plans will be ruined. Organisation an’ obedience, if we’re to see this through together. An’ weapons! When the time comes, bare paws’ll be useless against Felis’s murderers. Last, an’ most important, we need our Rhulain, a High Queen that this isle hasn’t seen since seasons out o’ memory!”
    One of the Wavedog clan called out, “How’ll we know the Rhulain when we see her?”
    Leatho, at a loss to answer, turned to Zillo. “Can you tell us, mate?”
    The bard pondered a while. “All I can tell ye is wot I know from the poems an’ ballads passed down through my forefathers. One thing is certain, though, she’ll be of the Wildlough blood. I’ve heard old paeans an’ lays that tell of a warriormaid, tall an’ swift. Fearless in battle, an’ more deadly with sling’n’stone than any livin’ beast. ’Tis said that she wore a gold coronet set with a greenstone, and also that she wore a surcoat of armour from neck to waist, embossed with a gold star. That’s about as much as I can tell ye.”
    There was a hesitant silence over the meeting. Then Big Kolun, Skipper of the Galedeep sea otters, boomed out in his loud, jolly voice, “Well that’ll do for us Galedeeps. Ye couldn’t’ave painted