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*****

In spite of myself, I laughed. Hard enough to make me cough, splutter and hurt myself a little. My rueful apology to Meadow was readily accepted.

"You know, I never would have expected that from Prince Gawain, Meadow. At any rate, the King seemed to be of the same mind.

My friend looked thoughtful for a minute. "You know, I have been wondering about that. I mean, there is the obvious angle that it's a love story, and it probably would be unpopular to be seen standing in the way of two furs, especially one who gets on her knees before her King to petition him on it. And with my mistress' request involving the fur who just saved the lives of one, and probably two members of the Royal Family, that's another consideration."

"Army ties, you suppose?"

"Well, it was the King and the Crown Prince who made the decision, but I'm sure the Marshal is happy that one of his officers was treated that way, so yes."

"But there's something in the back of your mind, Meadow."

"Well, you may have seen Lord Twelveoaks more than I have, but when I saw him in the Statecraft Chamber, he was livid. I'm not sure he's going to take such a public humiliation lightly. In particular from two servants." She paused. "You aren't mad at me for bringing you into it, are you?"

I took her paw and squeezed it. She accepted that answer.

"In any event, let's watch our backs when your officer's father is around. Anyway, where was I?"

"The King had just dismissed you after getting you the result you wanted."

"Right. Well, we did find a courtier, who took us to where the Lieutenant had been brought. One of the State bedrooms used for guests! They had to scramble to fit it up, nothing had been done in it for quite a while. There were still servants everywhere, and the Herbalist Extraordinary had Fuma's own job keeping order."

"Was the Lieutenant conscious?"

"The Herbalist had put him to sleep. They told you about the poison?"

"Stranglewort. Supposed to seize up the muscles so you can't breathe."

"If you get hit in the chest. If you're hit elsewhere, it will paralyze you. Well, that's what happened to your officer. His right arm was very cold and stiff, and the coldness had spread to most of the right side of his body."

She paused briefly, and squeezed my paw back. "Which, I think, is where you come in. Even if he hadn't been hit in the chest, if enough stranglewort extract had entered his body, the paralysis would have spread. He probably would have died, rather slowly and painfully. Because you froze the extract, and managed to get some of it out altogether, that's what probably saved him."

"But he was still sick?"

Meadow closed her eyes, shuddered a bit, and nodded. "I don't quite know how badly, compared to you. The Herbalist wouldn't let me see you, because he said you were unconscious and unresponsive. That was very hard, and I tried to argue with him, but he wouldn't have it. So I stayed with my mistress, and we stayed together with the Lieutenant."

"Some of the time, he was asleep from elixirs he was given. But other times, he was exhausted because of the pain. Not just the wound in his arm, which was bad enough. But he had horrible cramps all up and down his side from the stranglewort. My mistress and I took turns sitting with him and holding his good paw, trying to give him comfort."

"Did he recognize Miss Eichelgruber?"

Meadow nodded vigorously. "I think that's what kept him going. You know, now that I say that, maybe that's what the King and the Crown Prince might have had in mind. Maybe they thought if the two of them were together, it would give the Lieutenant the will to pull through."

"Which he did?"

"Well, he started to get the feeling back in his side, and the cramps got milder, about a day or so before the Herbalist said you came out of it. He was finally able to sleep without elixirs, and my mistress had both her paws free to read to him, or feed him, or play music for him."

She paused, and gave a sly smile. "I was sent out on errands more and more around that time, so there may have been other things going on."

"I don't doubt it."

"By the way, it isn't Miss Eichelgruber, any more."

This made me perk up my ears. "I thought they had to post the banns for that."

"Well, someone had a word with the Mephitists. The day you came out of it, one of the seniors ones came into the room with a few acolytes. It was a very nice ceremony, one of the simple, old fashioned kind. Every one of us cried, and that includes the Lieutenant."

"And so where did that leave you, Meadow?"

She grinned. "In a room down the hall. I've had to do a lot of redirecting of Sir Jasper and Lady Eudora's things. (Doesn't that sound nice, Lady Eudora?) Anyway, no bachelor's quarters for Sir Jasper in Persoc Tor, and Lady Eudora's going to hire a staff for the new house."

"But what about you?"

She smiled a little mysteriously. "Not to worry, Westersloe. I've got something lined up."

I was about to say something, when she winked and tapped the side of her nose, as Sergeant Wing likes to do. I still wanted to say something, so she leaned in and quieted me in another way.

Some time later, she helped me change into my uniform. Yes, all of it. It was now a little large for me. Having not eaten for a few weeks, I'd certainly lost a few pounds. It also took a bit of effort to stand up and walk, though Meadow held my arm and steadied me. We left my room, and began to walk through the corridors of the Palace.

Practically all of the rooms that we passed had been closed for the season, with sheets covering the fixed furniture, and the movable items probably sent to storage. Some of the rooms, though, did look similar to mine, in that they probably had not been used in a number of seasons. You could tell from the different smell.

We passed a few servants in the halls, and they all stood aside for Meadow and myself. The mels bowed, and the femmes dipped in a little curtsey, which was a strange feeling for me.

Eventually, we turned into a hall that was brightly lit, and had evidently seen recent and vigorous attention, since my nose detected the familiar scents of floor polish, metal cleaner and potpourri. There was also a faint, cheerful crackling. Meadow walked up to a pair of substantial wooden double-doors with gold handles, and gave a gentle knock.

The door was opened by Lady Chitterleigh, who upon seeing me promptly relieved Meadow of her burden and gave me a warm embrace, chittering delightedly.

"Jasper! Meadow's brought him around."

Once my line of sight was not blocked by squirrel femme tail, I could see around the State bedroom. It was a very nice one, the walls covered in green quilted silk. Very large windows looked out upon an expanse of lawn. A massive four-poster bed dominated one part of the room, draped in green damask curtains. The day was chilly, so the faint crackling sound I'd heard before was louder in here.

My officer had been gazing thoughtfully into the fireplace, but when he saw his mate cheerfully leading me on, he smiled, and got up very slowly from the overstuffed chair. His right arm was still quite stiff, but he was able to give a decent grip as he shook my paw.

"I'm very glad to see you, sir."

"Not nearly as glad as I am to see you, Winterbough. Please, won't you sit down? Eudora, dear, could you ring for some tea?"

In short order, I was seated on a sofa opposite the Lieutenant in his chair, and in between Lady Chitterleigh and Meadow.

I don't think I've ever appreciated a good cup of tea more. I did pass on the biscuits, though, and I saw that even the Lieutenant only nibbled at a hazelnut praline, which told me he was still recovering, somewhat.

"Many happy returns, sir. Ma'am. Meadow told me about it."

The Lieutenant looked a bit chagrined. "Ye-e-s. Look, dashed sorry about the timing, Private. I mean, it might have been nice to wait a bit so you could come too, but...err, well, um..."

Lady Chitterleigh smiled. "We couldn't really wait any longer, dear."

"Yes'm, I understand." And I did, too. You could see it in the way the two of them were looking at each other.

"So you've been chatted up by the Board of Enquiry, then?"

"Yes, sir. What are they going to do?"

He waved his left paw. "Well, issue a report, of course. I gather it's pretty open and shut. Your lupine chum was an imposter, but no one knows where he came from or under whose orders, if any, he was acting. You saw him those few times, eh? That's what they tell me."

"Yes, sir. He seemed pretty eager to talk to me."

"Wonder where he came from, indeed. Didn't have an accent or anything, eh?"

"No, sir. At least, not one I could place."

"Well, at least a small mercy, we won't be fighting a war, then. If they could pin it on any one of our neighbours, you can be sure we'd have been on the march already. I suppose they'll keep digging. Probably a hired mercenary or assassin, I should think, but that's me."

"They also asked me about improper behaviour on parade, sir."

Sir Jasper winced, rolled his eyes, and chittered. "Would you believe, Winterbough, the chaps who interviewed me had the bloody brass to read me the King's Regulations on the subject? Couldn't believe they'd bring that up. Oh, very sorry, Lieutenant, but we must follow procedure. Rubbish. Well. I don't think there's anything for it, but we're going to get gigged."

A "gig," so you know, is where they make you walk post, usually at some Fuma-forsaken hour of the morning, and at an equally Fuma-forsaken place.

The Lieutenant reached out, and gently patted my knee. "Never mind, Private. That's the Imperial and Royal Army for you."

Lady Chitterleigh gently scolded her mate. "Jasper, you're forgetting something, aren't you?"

"Eh? What?"

"The item , Jasper."

"Hmm? Oh! Oh, right, of course."

The Lieutenant got up from his chair (still slowly) and moved deliberately to a side table, returning with a carved wooden box, which he placed in my lap.

"Eudora had Meadow bring it from her things; it belonged to her family, but both of us thought you might like it."

I undid the catch of the box and lifted the lid. Nestled inside the box, on a bed of velvet, was the ivory tooth of an ancient beast. It had been carefully shaped to form an olifant, chased with silver-steel, and carved upon its surface was the arms of the Imperial and Royal Army, as it had been centuries before. More to the point, it was sized for a smaller paw, such as mine.

It was a very tasteful and thoughtful gift, and I said so to both of the Chitterleighs. Sir Jasper coughed gently. "Yes. Well, y'know, part of that is because, well, you know, helping the two of us." This met with a giggle from both Meadow and Lady Chitterleigh. Sir Jasper raised a finger.

"Now, by Fuma's beating heart, don't you two get in the habit of being match-makers. You start out with one lucky couple, then it's two, and then a third, and before you know it, you'll be unable to stop, and you'll be trying to marry off everyone in the Kingdom."

Lady Chitterleigh wagged a finger back at her mate. "And what, Jasper, is the problem with that?"

Sir Jasper took a sip of tea, and a second as he tried to think of a reply. "I'll get back to you on that, my love."

I did notice that Meadow was wearing around her neck a necklace that was of the same era as my oliphant, with a roughly shaped emerald set in an intricate design. Meadow saw that I was looking there (yes, I was, what of it?), and feigned indifference. Though they way she held her tail said otherwise.

The conversation did eventually wend its way back to business. The Lieutenant looked serious.

"I'm not quite sure what's next in store for us. Oh, I don't mean honours, as such. We'll probably be hearing tomorrow on that, there'll probably be a letter in your room when you get back."

"You mean duty, sir?"

"Mmmm. You won't be a batman anymore, Winterbough. I'm pretty sure of that. No fur that knows Gramerye (and yes, the Herbalist told me what you did, damned clever) is going to be kept folding shirts for very long. No, I think you're in for an interesting conversation, make no mistake."

"What about you, sir?"

"Oh, well, they'll have me pottering about Persoc Tor doing this and that, I suppose. They'll find something."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that a look of concern crossed Lady Chitterleigh's face, and her mate quickly caught her expression.

"Ugh. Shop talk. No wonder they ban it at the mess tables. Eudora, my love, could we impose on you to bring out your lute?"

It was many more cups of tea, and a number of ballads, before I could bring myself to go "home," sent on my way with another pawshake, and another very warm embrace from the two squirrels.

As the Lieutenant said, there was a letter waiting for me on the bed in my room. Meadow looked on with me as I read:

"Pte. Winterbough, W., 612397:

You are hereby ordered to report to the Statecraft Chamber, the Royal Palace, Albric Tor tomorrow morning at Terce. The purpose of the meeting will be to discuss the recent events involving Lt. Chitterleigh, J. and yourself. Escorts will call upon you. Service Uniform "A" is required.

/s/ Sgt Major Wing, aide to HRH Prince Roland, Marshal of the Imperial Army."