Sadie looked up from her book, listening to the sounds of soft beetle clicks. Cornall the messenger beetle looked up at her with a small scroll in his mandibles. Closing her book, Sadie took the paper. “Thank you, Cornall.”
The beetle waved his antennae in reply and scuttled away. Sadie read the message with growing curiosity. Lady Gwendolyn was requesting her presence. Since Sadie had spent most of her time as a Guard at a remote outpost, she had never been sent for by Gwendolyn. She hurried through Lockhaven and, without effort, found the matriarch’s study.
Sadie eased open the door and stepped inside. Gwendolyn was standing beside her desk and nearby stood three unfamiliar mice. Sadie straightened her cloak. “M’lady.”
“Hello, Sadie. Now that you’re no longer at Frostic, I’ve decided to have you be a patrol mouse again. These are the gentlemice in your group.”
The first mouse had brown fur, a red cloak, and a nick in his le