Lords of Trillium

by Hilary Wagner

  “Elvi said it’s vital that a rat know how to protect herself,” added Texi, staring down at the blade. “She said one never knows what can happen.” Her eyes widened. “There are enemies all around us, and sometimes those enemies are staring you right in the face—you just don’t know it.”

  Juniper’s brow furrowed. “I’ve never known Elvi to take such a dark view of things, but then again, all those years she spent in Tosca . . . She was around your age when she was forced onto that boat during the Great Flood. She wasn’t prepared for what life had in store for her, surviving in that jungle on her own. Luckily, she made it out alive.”

  “To be strong in mind, one must be strong in body,” Texi recited.

  “I suppose Elvi said that, too.”

  Nodding her head, Texi glanced at his wounded arm. “Juniper, do you think we’ll ever find the lost Hunters?”

  “I don’t know,” he replied gravely. “But I’ll find them or die trying. Everyone on the Council is trying to figure out where they might be. Speaking of the Council, Ulrich misses you.”

  “I haven’t seen him for a while. Elvi said I mustn’t. Not until I learn all my life lessons. That’s what she calls them, life lessons.” She smiled weakly. “I do miss him, though. Ulrich always makes me laugh . . . that stubby tail of his.”

  “Well,” said Juniper, rapping his claws against his chin, “let me speak to Elvi. You’ve come a long way this past year.” He patted Texi’s shoulder. “I think it’s high time you had a little diversion. Besides, we’re all sick to death of Ulrich’s constant grousing.”

  “Oh”—Texi looked down at her feet—“it’s all right. You don’t have to do that for me.”

  “But I want to,” said Juniper.

  “But after what I did . . . to . . . to little Julius, I don’t think I should do anything but study for now, learn to be . . . good.”

  Juniper lifted Texi’s chin. “My dear, you are good. All has been forgiven. We are not angry with you. Why, we never were. Maddy and I know how very hard you’ve been working . . . and how far you’ve come. You’re stronger, more self-assured. Even your eyes—they shine brighter than before.”

  Texi placed the dagger back in the holster on her leg. The same kind Elvi had. “Thank you,” she said softly.

  Batiste was killed on Hallowtide Night,

  while searching Topside for sweet delight.

  Batiste was killed at quarter past three,

  while searching for food in the Battery.

  Now he is lonely, now he is dead,

  now he Pennies-and-Pranks for your tail and your head!

  The morbid verse ran through Billycan’s head as he placed a grimacing gourd with a fanged mouth in a corner. There weren’t any pumpkins to be found, so instead he and a band of others had absconded with a crate of small squashes they pinched from one of the many vendors at Tosca’s open market. They’d do just fine.

  After insisting the others go to bed, he and Ajax worked furiously through the night. When he thought about it, it sounded preposterous. Two grown rats who’d seen more war, death, and destruction than any creature should ever witness, sitting on the floor, surrounded by gourds and colored paper, whittling Jack-o’-lanterns and hanging cutouts of devils and spooks. He supposed it was fitting. It was something, in any case. It was yet another happy moment, another good moment, to help force out all the bad ones . . . the ones that haunted him far worse than any Hallowtide ghost ever could.

  “They will be horrified!” he shouted as he made a frenzied dash down another corridor. He had planned everything so well. His white snout highlighted by firelight, he would start with the story of Batiste. He couldn’t wait to tell the little ones of Tosca all about the aged phantom, roaming the corridors for Pennies-or-Pranking, searching aimlessly for his stolen sweets! His heart raced in anticipation. He hadn’t felt this kind of rush in ages . . . not since that night . . . He shook his head vehemently. He didn’t want to think about that. Not right now. No dark thoughts. Not today.

  After hanging the last decoration, he stormed into the throne room just in time to find Ajax finishing up the face of a particularly demonic yellow squash. The black rat dropped a small candle inside it and lit it, raising a critical eyebrow at the gourd’s ghastly yellow grin.

  Ajax turned and stared at Billycan, who leaned against the doorway, catching his breath. “What? You don’t like it?” asked Ajax. He folded his arms and sighed with frustration. “Too scary?”

  Billycan’s eyes brightened to an intense ruby in the candle’s flickering light. His chest still heaving, his voice came out as a raspy whisper. “Just scary enough.”

  Juniper smiled as he watched Julius and Nomi zip around the breakfast table, Nomi intent on catching her brother’s tail. The older boys, Tuk and Gage, had gone off with Mother Gallo to Nightshade Passage already, eager to get a look at the latest batch of diaries recovered from the swamp.

  Hob, still finishing his porridge, watched thoughtfully as Julius and Nomi fell headlong into the pillows surrounding the fire pit, giggling hysterically. “Father,” he said, his eyes wandering cautiously over to Juniper, “can I ask you something?”

  Juniper regarded the young rat, who poked at his porridge with a spoon. “What is it, my boy?” He winked at Hob. “You’re not getting out of finishing your breakfast, if that’s what you’re after.”

  “No, that’s not it,” said Hob. His voice dropped to a whisper. “Father, we all know Billycan is Julius’s father.”

  “Yes,” said Juniper.

  “Well . . . what I’m wondering is, who is Julius’s . . . mother?”

  Juniper eyed Julius as the little rat rolled cheerfully on the floor, his white hairs shedding on the pillows. “We haven’t a clue. Billycan disappeared before we could ask him.”

  “Does Julius ever ask about her?”

  “He asks about Billycan from time to time, wanting to make sure he’s all right.” Juniper shook his head, a part of him still amazed that the white rat—his brother—was no longer a mortal threat. “I think Julius is content with the mother he has.” He chuckled. “Why, Maddy all but smothers that boy with affection!”

  Hob wrinkled his nose, thinking. “But, Father, what if Julius’s mother is bad, just like Billycan? What then?”

  “I’ve thought about that, and it’s entirely possible—birds of a feather, as they say—but no one has come forth to claim Julius, good, bad, or otherwise. I fear whoever Julius’s mother is, she’s long gone. Perhaps she ran away when the Catacombs citizens were freed. Perhaps she lives Topside now.”

  “How could she leave her own son?”

  “That’s hard to say. When I told our citizens the truth of what really happened here with Billycan last year, the cure, how it changed him, I think it gave them little relief. I, of all rats, certainly understand. Without proof, how could they not still think of him as the same fiend they knew back in the Catacombs—the brutal High Collector and Commander? I wanted to put their minds at ease, to assure them that he was no longer a threat, but without seeing his change with their own eyes, I cannot expect them to believe it.” He shook his head. “Perhaps if they truly knew they were safe from him, Julius’s mother would come forward. I’ve always wondered if she’s hiding in Nightshade City, right under our very noses, simply too afraid of Billycan to come forward.”

  Hob studied his little brother with a gloomy expression. “Perhaps she’s dead.”

  Juniper patted Hob’s back. “Yes . . . sad to say, but perhaps she is.”

  “You’re doing it!” said Elvi. “That’s it, Texi!”

  Texi’s paw felt heavy as she flew at her would-be attacker, but she wielded her dagger nimbly, sticking the rat all the way up to the hilt. Growling intently, she pivoted in a taut circle and sliced it again, this time in the belly. As soon as the blade entered, she pulled it downward, gutting the rat in one solid motion. Her teeth clenched, she yanked the knife out, landing on her feet as she dropped to the ground.

&nb
sp; “You’ve done it, Texi!” shouted Elvi, clapping her paws as she jumped up and down. “You’ve killed him!”

  Panting furiously, Texi looked up at the burlap rat dangling from the ceiling of the deserted cell Billycan had once inhabited, now serving as her training room. She’d sliced the poor fellow stem to stern. Sand poured to the floor, covering her feet. She gasped, dropping her dagger to the ground. “I . . . did it?”

  “Yes, darling, you did,” said Elvi proudly, patting Texi’s ginger head.

  “But—but how could I?” asked Texi, mystified. “How did I jump that high?”

  “Rats are accomplished jumpers, darling,” Elvi replied. “You’ve been training for many months, not knowing your own strength. Your hard work has paid off.”

  “But . . . I’m so small, so slight. . . .”

  Elvi wiggled a claw at her. “Now, now, my little soldier, what did I tell you about that sort of talk?”

  Texi smiled shyly. “Don’t belittle myself—ever. I’ve the spirit of a lion.”

  “Yes, my dear, the spirit of a lion from the deepest Toscan jungle, and the heart of a true warrior. You’ve come a very long way this past year.” Texi’s smile melted away.

  “Why, what is it darling?” Elvi asked, concerned. “Why such a sad face, on such a triumphant occasion?”

  “Oh,” said Texi, “I’m not sad, really. I’m grateful . . . to you. You’ve done so much for me. You’ve always said we were sisters, but you’re more like . . .” Her voice trailed off.

  Elvi took Texi’s paw in her own. “More like . . . a mother?”

  “Yes,” said Texi, lifting her chin. “I never knew my mother, but if I had, I’d want her to be just like you. You know, I’d do anything for you.”

  “Anything,” repeated Elvi softly. She pulled down the hood of her cloak and embraced Texi. “Then, my dearest girl, your mother I shall be.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  The Madness of King Silvius

  BARELY KEEPING HIS BALANCE on the edge of the stool, Ajax leaned forward, trying to reach the last of the Hallowtide decorations with a stick. He eyed Billycan tromping down the corridor with an armful of cutout ghouls and ghosts. “How on earth did you get this one so high?” he called out in a strained voice as he tried to stretch farther. “For goodness’ sake, did you fly up here?”

  Billycan laughed. “I think in my excitement I may have quite literally scaled the wall.”

  “Well,” said Ajax, grunting as he jumped down from the stool, “you’re taller than me.” He offered the stick to Billycan. “Here, you try.”

  Cocking his head, Billycan stared blankly at the stick for a moment. His face went completely slack. His eyes flickered with recognition, shifting from crimson to a brilliant orange. The stack of paper cutouts fell from his arm, spinning through the air and scattering about the corridor.

  “What is it?” asked Ajax. “What’s the matter?”

  Still eyeing the stick, Billycan swallowed stiffly and took a cautious step forward. He pointed at it with a yellowed claw. His voice was guarded and taut. “Where . . . did you get that?”

  “It belonged to the empress, our former leader.” Ajax scoffed disdainfully. “I fetched it from the storeroom.”

  “What was her name, this empress?”

  Ajax flared his nostrils and sneered. “Her name was Elvi.” He looked at Billycan with concern. “You still haven’t said . . . what’s wrong? Why, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  Billycan took the stick from Ajax, staring at the chipped black paint. It was an old one, one of his first, from the days before he and Killdeer took over the Catacombs. He wrapped his digits around it, feeling the cool handle. It felt comfortable, like reuniting with an old friend. His mind flashed back to the past, back to the nightmare that had been his life. Familiar scents came back to him, scents of those dead and buried, and scents of those whose black hearts brimmed with nothing but rancor and revenge. He felt ill to his core. “A ghost I could contend with. This is something far more deadly, I fear. I should have known.” His body went rigid. “Show me the rest of her things. I need to see them.”

  “But . . . why?” asked Ajax. “Her reign was a wretched time in our history! She brought over a decade of despair to every rat in Tosca—to my family. She and her lot invaded our peaceful home, starved us, enslaved us—”

  “Her lot?” asked Billycan, cutting him off.

  “Yes.” Ajax’s face tightened. “She did not come here alone. She had a swarm of male cohorts with her.”

  Billycan exhaled heavily, trying to control himself. “Take me to her things now.” He set a jittery paw on Ajax’s shoulder. “I promise, my friend . . . I’ll explain everything to you later. Now, please, take me there.”

  “Follow me, then.” Ajax turned and strode down the hall.

  Without a word, Billycan reached up toward the ceiling of the corridor, clawing down the last decoration. Holding the stick Ajax had given him, he smashed his fist into the wall. He glanced down, snorting at his bloodied knuckles. His billy club was unscathed.

  Sitting on a crate in a musty storeroom, Billycan pored over Elvi’s former belongings. All around him were piles of exotic silks, velvets, and linens, trunks filled with ornate silver and gold cutlery, goblets, and necklaces, encrusted with jewels. He picked up a red silk cloak, etched with gold thread, its collar adorned with fine obsidian stones. It dangled from his claw as he regarded it. “Such finery,” he said. “Not to my taste.”

  “When she left the island, there was no easy way to take her things with her, so she was forced to leave them here,” said Ajax, fingering a pile of silk. “Our kingdom was once a beautiful place. We all shared in its splendor. She took that from us, forced us into slavery, turned rats I once considered friends into our jailers.” He snorted. “I wanted to give the Toscans peace of mind after she left, and I was worried that the sight of her extravagant possessions would only dredge up constant memories of the suffering she caused. I thought hiding away all her things would somehow make us all forget, but even after all this time, her shadow still lingers.”

  “Even in my darkest days, I never believed in such trappings,” recalled Billycan. “I left that up to the High Minister . . . Killdeer.”

  Ajax scratched his head. “That name . . . I’ve heard it before, from the empress herself.”

  Billycan exhaled with regret. His mind slipped back to the seaside warehouse where he and Killdeer plotted with their army to overthrow Trilok. And she was there, sitting among them, hanging on Killdeer’s every word, the only female major among a sea of males, a high major to be exact, and the only female Killdeer respected, a female so crafty and cunning, always listening, always learning.

  “The lot you said she came with,” asked Billycan, pulling himself back to the present, “who were they?”

  “At first she passed them off as refugees, same as her. She said they jumped a boat, escaping a fatal flood in Trillium, but they were actually her criminal associates . . . deadly ones at that.”

  “More of Killdeer’s majors, I’m afraid . . . my majors, as was she.”

  “Lucky for us, they left the island with her, along with the Toscan rats who betrayed us.”

  “How many rats were with her when she left?” asked Billycan.

  “A small army, enough to overpower us, and we are no small kingdom.”

  Billycan pulled anxiously at the hair on the sides of his head. “She used the name Elvi when she returned to Trillium. It was the name of a rat who had been a childhood friend of my brother’s. She claimed to have been lost in Tosca all these years. Her real name is Hecate.” Billycan tossed the garish cloak to the floor and got to his feet. Growling, he kicked a silver serving tray across the room. He paced in an agitated circle. “I knew she’d fled to Tosca, but only to save her own skin from the flood! I thought she’d merely been stranded here—alone. It never occurred to me she’d taken control, building herself an army! I thought the lost majors died in the flood, that
she was the lone survivor.” His shoulders slumped. He thought back to that night in the Catacombs when he said good-bye to Juniper, leaving his son with him, certain he’d be protected. I’ve made a grave mistake in judgment, he thought. Juniper could easily handle one vengeful rat, but a pack of Killdeer’s majors and disloyal Toscans . . . even with his Council, he won’t be prepared. Billycan ran a paw down the length of his snout, remembering calling out to Juniper, the Catacombs collapsing around them. Had Juniper heard his warning over the thunderous noise? I left too soon, he thought. At the time it seemed right. I only wanted to do something right, for once in my life!

  Ajax sighed. “I knew she and those battle-worn brutes she came with were up to no good, but Silvius would not listen. He took to Elvi immediately—treated her like a daughter. She acted so sweet and vulnerable around him. Silvius was too kind for his own good.”

  “Silvius?”

  “Yes, the rat who led Tosca for nearly two decades. He built our kingdom into a wonderful place . . . much like you described Nightshade City, much like that.” Ajax bowed his head. “She befriended King Silvius, became his protégée, and then . . . she poisoned him. She was horrid, constantly testing her vile potions on innocent Toscan rats. She terrified them. They believed in black magic. They thought Elvi—Hecate—was a sorceress, and she was only too eager to prove them right. Silvius never saw her treachery.” He sighed again.

  “I’m sorry about Silvius. Hecate is not beyond murder,” said Billycan. “In fact, she’s rather a practiced hand at it.” He looked down at his scarred torso, remembering how she attacked him in his cell. “She nearly killed me.”

  “I should explain,” said Ajax. “Silvius. He isn’t dead.”

  Billycan’s hackles rose. “You mean this Silvius is alive? He’s in Tosca?”

  “Yes, he’s here, only . . .”

  “Only what?”

  “He’s a bit, well, what’s the best way to put it? He’s . . . mad.”

  Ajax led Billycan to an older part of the Toscan underground kingdom, a place were few rats still dwelled.