Rufus flung himself forward. Saraband, his sword upraised for the death-stroke, collapsed without a sound.
At the same moment, the Sable Lord screamed in mortal agony as a star-beam pierced its heart. Its body shrank until it was no bigger than a rat, then, with a high, thin wail of despair, it vanished.
Suddenly it was all over. The rats groaned and flung down their weapons. ‘What shall we do with them, sir?’ asked Finn.
‘Round them up. Our mice and eagles will escort them to the coast. They must return to the land they came from and never trouble us again.’
‘Right, you rats!’ cried Finn. ‘You heard his majesty! It’s back overseas for you! Oh no, you don’t!’ he snarled, as Kei and his band attempted to sidle out of the wood to freedom. ‘You’re going with them!’
Rufus held out his paws gratefully to Snout and his gang. But, to his embarrassment, the little mice knelt before him in the mud.
From all over the battlefield, through the dust and smoke, mice and moles were making their way towards Rufus. There was McCrumb, limping proudly from a leg wound, eyes sparkling behind his spectacles; Wiglaff, overjoyed that the moles had come in time to help his friends, and Elana, still holding the Chalice, her eyes fixed on Rufus.
Suddenly, great shadows loomed overhead, and the Eagle Squadron swooped to the ground. Bradwen leapt from Juno’s back, strode up to Rufus, and seized his paw. ‘You’ve done it, Rufus!’
Rufus shook his head. ‘It was the mice, the moles, the eagles and the Treasures. Not me.’
‘But you made it happen,’ said Caval. ‘You found the Treasures, and they gave us courage. You called the moles, and they came. For you. You gave us hope, and made us believe we could do it. It’s your victory, Rufus.’
Seth, who had been proudly guarding the Crown, returned it to Rufus. ‘Lord Caval’s right! You did it – and now you really are the King!’
‘King Rufus of Carminel!’ smiled Odo. ‘And when we return to Aramon, my dear friend Amren shall crown you in the Great Cathedral!’
Rufus turned to Elana. ‘I can’t manage it alone . . . Will you help?’
Elana felt as if her heart would burst. ‘Yes!’
Rufus felt better. But, as he gazed out over the battlefield, he saw the dead. ‘Oh, Lord of Light!’ he cried. ‘Let there be no more killing!’
‘They died for what they believed in,’ said Cardinal Odo quietly. ‘We shall remember them. All of them.’
The Crown shed a soft golden light over the battlefield, and a voice that seemed to come from the great Star whispered:
‘The souls of the dead live in peace on my Island,
No more misery, sorrow or death shall they see.
Now govern my creatures with justice and mercy –
A glorious King in a land that is free!’
Copyright
PUBLISHED BY APOSTROPHE BOOKS LTD
www.apostrophebooks.com
ISBN: 978-1-908556-18-9
First published in Great Britain in 2000 by Mammoth
Digital edition 2012 by Apostrophe Books Ltd
Copyright © Roger Mortimer 2000 & 2012
The author has asserted his ownership of the electronic rights and his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
Every effort has been made to obtain the necessary permissions with reference to copyright material, both illustrative and quoted. We apologise for any omissions in this respect and will be pleased to make the appropriate acknowledgements in any future edition.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
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About the author
A Londoner by birth and a Devonian by adoption, Roger Mortimer originally worked for an advertising agency, where he met his wife; they have been married for over forty years. He then became an actor, training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, and working in theatres up and down the country. Finally he became a teacher at Highgate Junior School in North London, where he started the school library, taught History, English and Drama and directed over twenty plays. (One of his former pupils is Tom Hooper, director of ‘The King’s Speech’.) While teaching at Highgate, Roger wrote the Mouse Kingdom trilogy.
He has now retired from teaching and he and his wife live in Devon. One of their daughters is a teacher in a North London primary school; the other is an actress, currently on a world tour of Richard III.
Roger enjoys gardening, photography and reading novels: his favourite author is Bernard Cornwell, author of the Sharpe series. When his wife allows him into the kitchen, Roger also enjoys cooking – curries are his speciality. He loves archery, and spends Sunday mornings at his local archery club, pretending he’s at Agincourt. He volunteers as a reader for talking newspapers for the blind, and he particularly enjoys his role as a volunteer Steward and Guide at Exeter Cathedral.
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