It was the
second day of Fangus employment as Ratar-O’s new servant and he was busy writing
a report about damages created by the earthquake which caused the extraction of
the sword of Plundarr. Fortunately said damages were just an unpleasant number
of fallen cups and plates but not a single rodent citizen of Geopolis, a new
town nearest to the mine in mount Plundarr, was harmed.
After finishing
arguing with the last Gerbil mother distressed that her daughter lost half her
dowry, he prepared for the return back to palace. On his way he mused about
what he saw this day and also sooner before he got his new job. The people were
noticeably shaken by recent events.
The earthquake
was bad enough and then Ratilla’s sword was taken by rogue Cats and to top it
all the released magic lured to the mountain the core of Mumm-ra’s army. The average
Rodent citizens were distrustful of the old warlock and more of his armored
Reptilian troops. In the past there were some skirmishes between the Mammals
and Reptiles, which were still remembered in folktales and the recent incursion
of the foreign soldiers didn’t help to improve the relationships between these
two societies.
All in all,
Ratar-O’s popularity among his subjects dropped significantly. There wasn’t any
riots against king being formed yet but the masses needed something to boost
their morale again. Fangus used the time on the road to think what and, more
importantly, how he will tell his superior what should be done to secure the
throne.
The journey back
to the palace was short and soon the king’s servant found himself on the way to
the meeting hall, where important happenings such as negotiations with other
species were held. Today the highest lords of Rodents assembled to discuss
matters of politics, economy and interracial relations. The assembly of rodent
lords consisted largely from Ratar-O’s various uncles, cousins and other more
or less distant relatives. Today’s meeting was almost finished so it didn’t
take long till the last lord bowed before Ratar-O and left and Fangus was soon
allowed to approach his ruler.
After finishing
the formalities and discussing the report, Fangus gathered the courage to start
talking about the topic of rising spirit of Rodent population: “My lord, excuse
me for speaking my mind but I have the feeling that the inhabitants of your kingdom
are unhappy.”
Ratar-O paid his
servant only little attention and snorted: “People are always unhappy and
complaining. Once it’s farmers because the fields don’t have enough water,
other times it’s merchants because the taxes are too high. They all come to me
whining about their pathetic lives. Are you done?” asked the large rat man
annoyed by the long assembly filled with petty arguments and the report didn’t
exactly make him happier either.
Fangus was
afraid his master may not be in the mood for talking about something like this,
however he wasn’t someone who gives up easily: “I see, but what about providing
some entertainment for the people. It can help with our cause.” That was
something that finally caught Ratar-O’s attention.
He looked at his
new servant and began thinking aloud: “Right, the shestnut festival starts in a
week. I could prolong the festivities for a day this year,” suddenly Ratar-O
stopped and observed Fangus, the smaller rat looked rather nervous. “May I
suggest something?” asked the servant slowly. “Go on,” said the king interested
what clever or stupid thing had his servant on mind.
“I was talking
about a wedding,” said his right hand man reluctantly. The larger rat man
tilted his head to one side:“A wedding? Interesting idea. Go ask if any of my relatives
is going to marry, the closer to me the better. We will make it a special
occasion for everyone. Family stays and celebrates together,” said the king
halfheartedly relieved that this problem was solved and he was about to close the
subject.
Unfortunately
for him Fangus hurried with his reply: “Actually I meant you, my lord.” “I’m not
going to marry, you halfwit,” said Ratar-O more surprised than angry. Fangus
breathed deeply. Now or never. “That’s what I want to talk about. I couldn’t
help but notice that your highness isn’t married and doesn’t have any heirs.
I’m sorry to say that but you’re not getting any younger. Finding a suitable
bride would solve two problems at once.”
After speaking
those words an awkward silence reigned for a while. The shorter rat was afraid
he signed his own death sentence. But Ratar-O just barred his teeth. His new
servant was right. In a way. He would never admit it openly but Fangus had a
point.
Weddings and other celebrations organized by
nobility meant at least a day off work and a lot of free food and drinks for
even the poorest mice. And more importantly, every empire needed an heir to
ensure there will be a ruler in the future, otherwise the kingdom may fall
apart in a civil war.
Unfortunately it
wasn’t such merry occasion for the ruler and Ratar-O himself was always
occupied with some sort of project like renovating old halls or finding and
extracting the sword of Plundarr. Not that he didn’t like a woman’s body. But a
concubine was more of a service he could use whenever he wanted. Later they
always conveniently vanished when he didn’t need them anymore. A wife on the
other hand…
That lion
bastard had the advantage that he could have fun with any female who crosses
his path and even if it had some consequences, he may easily avoid any
responsibility. He on the other hand has to pick carefully as to win as much
political support as possible without offending other powerful families. Then
there’s the thing about the bride’s personality.
Ratar-O was
secretly worried that either he will end up with a wealthy, yet stupid gossipy
hen or even with some power hungry beast that will assassinate him as soon as
their first son is born and set herself as a regent. His concern stemmed from
the fact that he met quite a few of such females in person.
In the rat
society the women were forbidden to start a conversation with a male stranger.
Therefore many females sought out the opportunities to meet attractive men and
tried to catch their interest nonverbally. For example an assembly of Rodent
lords or an audience was considered to be such an opportunity. Many a father
was pestered by his daughter (and wife) that she has to accompany him to
meeting with king Ratar-O. This began already when Ratar-O was a boy. The rat
women would come in hope that they will be the wife of a mighty rat lord. Some
she-suitors were twice as old as the young rat prince, some would wiggle on
their chair and constantly wave their hair around. It was unnerving for a
little rat boy but as he grew up, Ratar-O got eventually used to such behavior,
though he still regarded it as silly.
“I will think
about it but don’t get too cocky because you suggested that idea,” warned
Ratar-O his servant Fangus and shoot a death glare towards him to strengthen
his words. The servant understood its meaning and deeply bowing left his master
to his own thoughts.
There was other
thing than stupid girls on king’s mind. Eventhough the empire of Thundera has
fallen, the rats still weren’t at the tip of the hierarchy. The cat warriors
were bad enough, now that the mighty undead wizard was released things might
become even tougher. If Mumm-ra knew that Ratar-O was planning to keep the
sword of Plundarr for himself, he would unleash his worst spells on the Ratmen.
Ratar-O sighed. He wished the decayed warlock had stayed away rotting in his
pyramid forever. But these damned Cats made everything worse. They are so sick
they destroyed themselves and now we must pay for it.
Notes:
Thundercats 2011
belong to Warner Bros. Animation
So this time I
added a bit about how the Rodent society works. I have to say it’s really
funny. I hope the show won’t get cancelled because I really enjoy writing this
fic. Are you’re interested why I let Fangus call Ratar-O ‘my lord’, ’sir’ and
such? Well, I found it weird for a servant to call his master with his name.
Particularly someone as arrogant as Ratar-O. They probably knew each other very
very long, like Mordax being servant of the previous king or something. Apropos
king, Ratar-O’s title is never explicitly stated but I thought that the title
of king fits best. Even though real life Huns called their leader khan I assume
that Ratilla after obtaining Sword of Plundarr would like to call himself the
same as leader of the Thundercats, hence the king. Ratar-O’s last words belong
to the fact that Mumm-ra was released by Grune, a Cat, which only strenghtens his hatred for them.
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