A soft scratching reverberated throughout the dark chambers. The Baron was stirred....
In the bedchamber of the Baron Guinea du Loc, there hung the portrait of the dead Earl opposite the soft litterbed, its penetrating gaze forever pointed towards the guinea pig whilst he slept. Mark me, the picture said wordlessly, for I was your ancestor and an Earl. The Great Earl Salomun Guinea du Loc. Reduced to a mere painting hanging on a wall! How absurd.... Thus, it was to this face that the Baron woke every morning.
But the night had not yet passed. In a frighteningly deep roar, Giuseppe yawned, "ROARRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!" The walls shook. He turned towards the door from which his crusty velvet-y ears had heard a distant stratch.
"What... is the matter at this... time of night?" spoke the guinea pig in his basso tone.
The door creaked open. A young servant guinea pig tiptoed gingerly into the chamber. "Mmm..." murmured the Baron as he noted the paper dangling from the servant's furry neck. The Baron hugged the fat hanging off his abdomen then, lifted it gently, and slid off his mattress of litter before dropping his flesh. It sloshed onto the hard floor with a loud smack.
"Oww," said the Baron as he stared down at the bruised fatty meat. The servant scurried over with ointment ready in paws.
"Never mind that!" rumbled Giuseppe. "Get on with it.... What news?"
"M-M-M-My B-B-B-Baron! I have receiveddd a l-l-letter from the cont... the cont..."
The Baron gripped his own furry chin and head to hold his impatience inside. Slowly, he released his paw's grasp. His small mouth pouted gently then, and smiled to show four incisors protruding from the gums. The servant untensed his muscles then, and slowed his breaths.
"The con-contact from the von Nuts household, my Baron, has s-s-sent a letter for your eyes only."
Giuseppe snatched the paper still hanging from the servant's neck with a fury that snapped the poor pig's backbone. It dropped instantly to the hard ground, its feet collapsed. The Baron uncurled the parchment then. His beady, little eyes perused each line, left to right. He pouted his lips ever more so, as if to recite the message to no one in particular.
"My Baron, there is unrest within the household of the von Nuts. The wine received as your gift has found another target. Word is that a certain individual under the employ of the Earl has been sent to get close to your person, one Kurio. And they plan on using 'Twenty Knives' as well.... I remain faithfully yours to command. Ta-ta."
With a deliberate motion, the Baron carefully punctured the letter with his claws and tore it apart. The fragments dropped from his paws then to rest alongside the dead servant pig.
The Baron cupped his lower jaw in a thinking pose, twisting the little hairs. He faced the portrait of his ancestor Salomun, meeting the glaring eyes with his own.
"And how would you deal with this Earl Wolfgang, Salomun?" The painting stared without saying a word. "Cut his throat in Shrewberry Lane, would you do?" Slowly, the Baron raised one claw to his lip as if to silence a nonexistent voice from the dead ancestor. "These are different times... calling for subtler measures. Like the wine! That was -- what? What do you mean it wasn't very subtle? I disagree, hahaha -- "
The door creaked once more. Giuseppe turned as fast as the fat on his neck would allow. A soldier stood in the open doorway. "Sir," he said with dignity, "I heard laughing. Are you well, master?"
The Baron Giuseppe Guinea du Loc pouted his lips again in a grin. "Why, yes, I'm quite all right, Commander Fallune.... But... it would appear our little servant pig is not." Fallune's gaze went down to the body on the floor as if he had not noticed it previously.
With speed, the soldier laid his trident aside and advanced towards the mass. He gathered the parchment fragments together and jammed them within the gaping maw of the dead servant. Before long, the body was gone from the bedchamber with the soldier, and the Baron was grinning after
him.
"If this... Kurio would do his master's bidding... I will let him come to me.... He may be used to my advantage... We shall see, we shall see...."
The Baron's eyes narrowed. Again, he lifted his flesh and lumbered his way back into bed. He sniffed the sweet night air with his two huge, dark nostrils. Sleep overcame him quickly.
Even from outside the cave walls of the du Loc family, a terrible sound was heard... Muahahahahahaaaa...
In the bedchamber of the Baron Guinea du Loc, there hung the portrait of the dead Earl opposite the soft litterbed, its penetrating gaze forever pointed towards the guinea pig whilst he slept. Mark me, the picture said wordlessly, for I was your ancestor and an Earl. The Great Earl Salomun Guinea du Loc. Reduced to a mere painting hanging on a wall! How absurd.... Thus, it was to this face that the Baron woke every morning.
But the night had not yet passed. In a frighteningly deep roar, Giuseppe yawned, "ROARRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!" The walls shook. He turned towards the door from which his crusty velvet-y ears had heard a distant stratch.
"What... is the matter at this... time of night?" spoke the guinea pig in his basso tone.
The door creaked open. A young servant guinea pig tiptoed gingerly into the chamber. "Mmm..." murmured the Baron as he noted the paper dangling from the servant's furry neck. The Baron hugged the fat hanging off his abdomen then, lifted it gently, and slid off his mattress of litter before dropping his flesh. It sloshed onto the hard floor with a loud smack.
"Oww," said the Baron as he stared down at the bruised fatty meat. The servant scurried over with ointment ready in paws.
"Never mind that!" rumbled Giuseppe. "Get on with it.... What news?"
"M-M-M-My B-B-B-Baron! I have receiveddd a l-l-letter from the cont... the cont..."
The Baron gripped his own furry chin and head to hold his impatience inside. Slowly, he released his paw's grasp. His small mouth pouted gently then, and smiled to show four incisors protruding from the gums. The servant untensed his muscles then, and slowed his breaths.
"The con-contact from the von Nuts household, my Baron, has s-s-sent a letter for your eyes only."
Giuseppe snatched the paper still hanging from the servant's neck with a fury that snapped the poor pig's backbone. It dropped instantly to the hard ground, its feet collapsed. The Baron uncurled the parchment then. His beady, little eyes perused each line, left to right. He pouted his lips ever more so, as if to recite the message to no one in particular.
"My Baron, there is unrest within the household of the von Nuts. The wine received as your gift has found another target. Word is that a certain individual under the employ of the Earl has been sent to get close to your person, one Kurio. And they plan on using 'Twenty Knives' as well.... I remain faithfully yours to command. Ta-ta."
With a deliberate motion, the Baron carefully punctured the letter with his claws and tore it apart. The fragments dropped from his paws then to rest alongside the dead servant pig.
The Baron cupped his lower jaw in a thinking pose, twisting the little hairs. He faced the portrait of his ancestor Salomun, meeting the glaring eyes with his own.
"And how would you deal with this Earl Wolfgang, Salomun?" The painting stared without saying a word. "Cut his throat in Shrewberry Lane, would you do?" Slowly, the Baron raised one claw to his lip as if to silence a nonexistent voice from the dead ancestor. "These are different times... calling for subtler measures. Like the wine! That was -- what? What do you mean it wasn't very subtle? I disagree, hahaha -- "
The door creaked once more. Giuseppe turned as fast as the fat on his neck would allow. A soldier stood in the open doorway. "Sir," he said with dignity, "I heard laughing. Are you well, master?"
The Baron Giuseppe Guinea du Loc pouted his lips again in a grin. "Why, yes, I'm quite all right, Commander Fallune.... But... it would appear our little servant pig is not." Fallune's gaze went down to the body on the floor as if he had not noticed it previously.
With speed, the soldier laid his trident aside and advanced towards the mass. He gathered the parchment fragments together and jammed them within the gaping maw of the dead servant. Before long, the body was gone from the bedchamber with the soldier, and the Baron was grinning after
him.
"If this... Kurio would do his master's bidding... I will let him come to me.... He may be used to my advantage... We shall see, we shall see...."
The Baron's eyes narrowed. Again, he lifted his flesh and lumbered his way back into bed. He sniffed the sweet night air with his two huge, dark nostrils. Sleep overcame him quickly.
Even from outside the cave walls of the du Loc family, a terrible sound was heard... Muahahahahahaaaa...
Just don't kill indiscriminately. 
Remember that peasants would not ordinarily be allowed in the Shrewberry Lane residence.
Well, hurry up and catch them before they float away.