| |
|
The palace was deep, wide, extensive; it had taken night after night of digging to get it into shape and His Lordship's supporters had even burrowed through into the homes of other animals in the process, killing and eating them if they were rabbits and, in the case of the old, hoary badger who would not be moved, putting guards on him to wait until she died.
At this very moment, His Lordship was holding court in the throne room.
“Imagination”, he said, between mouthfuls of rabbit, “is a powerful tool. It is not for the weak.”
There was a chorus of approving barks from the courtiers.
“Furthermore”, he continued, “because I have dined on the ecstatic grapes, I can tell you all that what I imagine comes true. They have revealed to me my true status as Lord of the Forest. Thus, when I say that beyond my enlightened empire lies nothing but stones, it is true. More rabbit.”
There was a moment of stalling and then a rush as the other foxes scurried to bring him more meat. His Lordship lay back contentedly, and then waved his paws.
“Go away, now. I'll be alone.”
The others moved off in a rustle of wiry orange fur, but, even as the last one departed, there remained a young vixen, who stepped forward shyly.
“What do you want?”, barked His Lordship. “I've had my fuck for today. Piss off.”
“Sir”, she began, “I've something terrible to tell you! Out in the woods, I saw a bird-”
“I said nobody was to talk to the birds!”, started His Lordship suddenly, his eyes blazing.
“I saw a Nightingale, and it said-”
“I don't care what the Nightingale said, they're liars, all of them! Treason!”
“The nightingale said that you never took the grapes, it said that you tried and tried but you couldn't- and all the birds saw- and it's not your empire at all-”
With that he jumped forward, mouth open, and struck her down and they rolled in the dirt, snapping and barking. The other courtiers rushed into the throne room, but they were suddenly brushed aside by the titanic form of the old badger, who lunged forward and grabbed His Lordship by the neck, swinging and rattling him until he was quite still.
“And that's the end of it!”, growled the badger, her mouth and whiskers spattered with blood, and the courtiers fled, yapping, tails between their legs. Dropping His Lordship on the floor, the badger went to the Vixen, who lay, gasping for breath, her leg broken.
“Leave me!”, said the vixen in fear. “I never liked what they did!”
The badger nodded.
“I'll bring you some food. You're the first of a new breed.”
Outside, the Nightingales circled above the trees, singing their alien songs as His Lordship's empire fell apart. |
|
|
]