Firestar nodded thoughtfully. “Thank you, Leafpool.” He rose and gave himself a quick grooming. “Come on. It’s time.”
He padded out of the den and onto the Highledge. Leafpool followed and stood at his shoulder, looking down into the clearing. The Clan were already gathering below, aware that moonhigh was only moments away. Their eyes gleamed pale in the moonlight as they stared up at the ledge.
“The time has come to name ThunderClan’s new deputy,” Firestar announced. “I say these words before StarClan, that the spirits of our ancestors, and Greystripe’s spirit, wherever it may be, may hear and approve my choice.”
He paused, as if even now he was reluctant to let go of the last hope that Greystripe would come back. But his voice was stronger as he continued.
“Brambleclaw will be the new deputy of ThunderClan.”
Gasps of surprise came from the cats below. “What, that bossy furball?” Spiderleg exclaimed, then looked embarrassed that he’d spoken aloud.
Leafpool could see astonishment reflected on the faces of every cat, though none was more astonished than Brambleclaw himself. His amber eyes stretched wide with shock. “But I’ve never had an apprentice!” he blurted out.
“That’s against the warrior code,” Dustpelt pointed out sharply.
“Firestar, do you think you can do anything you like?” Mousefur’s wiry body was taut with anger. “We want a deputy to make the Clan strong, not an inexperienced young cat we can’t trust.”
“Who says we can’t trust him?” Squirrelflight demanded.
“Silence!” Firestar lashed his tail. “Brambleclaw has experience that few cats in the forest share. As for his lack of an apprentice, that will be put right soon. Daisy’s kits are almost ready for mentors, and as soon as that day comes, Brambleclaw will mentor Berrykit.”
In spite of the tension around her, Leafpool had to suppress a mrrow of amusement when she heard the squeal that went up from the direction of the nursery. Craning her neck to peer through the branches, she spotted Berrykit madly chasing his tail in excitement.
“But those weren’t my only reasons for choosing Brambleclaw,” Firestar continued. “Leafpool, tell the Clan about your dream, please.”
Leafpool stepped forward to the edge of the Highledge and described the sign that StarClan had sent her, of the circle of brambles keeping the Clan safe. When she finished, she saw Dustpelt dip his head.
“I can’t quarrel with StarClan,” he meowed.
“Well, I can!” To Leafpool’s surprise, the challenge came from Ashfur. He marched forward until he stood directly beneath the Highledge, the moonlight turning his grey pelt to silver. Instead of addressing his leader, he turned to face the Clan. “Doesn’t any cat think it’s odd that Squirrelflight is Brambleclaw’s mate, and our medicine cat is Squirrelflight’s sister? It’s very convenient that she had a sign about Brambleclaw just now, isn’t it?”
Leafpool felt her neck fur bristling. How dare Ashfur suggest that she would invent a sign to help her sister’s mate become deputy! Even if he was bitter at losing Squirrelflight to Brambleclaw, he should know that a medicine cat would never lie.
“Ashfur, you—” she began.
Her words were drowned in a furious yowl from Squirrelflight. “Say that to my face, fox dung!”
The ginger warrior lunged at Ashfur, but Brambleclaw thrust her to one side and wrapped his tail around her neck. He was saying something to her, speaking fast and urgently, too low for Leafpool to hear.
“Do any other cats agree with Ashfur?” Firestar demanded calmly.
Leafpool saw Spiderleg glance uneasily from side to side; he opened his jaws to speak and then obviously thought better of it.
“None of us agree,” Brackenfur called out. “Leafpool is an honest cat. If StarClan chose Brambleclaw, that’s enough for us. I think he’ll make a great deputy.”
Brambleclaw stepped away from Squirrelflight with a last warning glance. He dipped his head to Brackenfur and then, more deeply still, to Firestar. “Thank you,” he meowed. “I know I can never fill Greystripe’s place, but I’ll do my best to be a good deputy for ThunderClan.”
The tension within Leafpool faded as the Clan crowded around Brambleclaw to congratulate him, pressing up against him and calling out his name. Stormfur and Brook were among the first, and even Mousefur was among them. The only cat to hold back was Ashfur, who stalked off alone to the warriors’ den.
As the cats began to leave the clearing, some to their dens, some to continue the vigil for Greystripe, Leafpool thought she saw another cat twining itself around Brambleclaw. A muscular tomcat, broader in the shoulders, but with the same dark tabby fur. The shape was gone almost at once, but not before Leafpool had seen its powerful, curved claws and the gleam of triumph in its amber eyes.
Tigerstar still haunted the paw steps of his son, and had been beside him when Firestar made him deputy.
Chapter 18
Brambleclaw raced through the dark forest. He felt as though every limb, every hair on his pelt, was bursting with energy. He couldn’t wait to tell his father and Hawkfrost the news. Clan deputy! When Firestar made the announcement, he hadn’t been able to believe it. But it was true. Not only Firestar, but StarClan themselves had chosen him. Now he had the chance to show the whole of ThunderClan what he could do.
He pelted into the clearing where Tigerstar waited on his rock with Hawkfrost sitting on the ground below. “Tiger star!” he panted. “Great news!”
Tigerstar fixed him with an amber gaze that brimmed with pride and satisfaction, and Brambleclaw realised that he already knew. “ThunderClan deputy,” he meowed. “You have done well.”
“Deputy!” Hawkfrost exclaimed. Brambleclaw caught the glitter of jealousy in his ice-blue eyes. “Without an apprentice?”
“I was StarClan’s choice,” Brambleclaw explained. “They sent Leafpool a sign.”
Tigerstar spoke sharply. “Do not speak of StarClan here. You have gained your position through your own skills and through everything you have learned from me. And yet when power was within your paws you almost threw it away.” His gaze darkened, so that Brambleclaw had to brace himself not to flinch. “Why did you remind Firestar that you hadn’t had an apprentice?”
“I’m sorry,” Brambleclaw meowed. “I was so shocked I couldn’t believe what he was saying.”
To his relief, Tigerstar nodded. “Perhaps it was not so foolish after all,” he decided. “Now none of your Clan can accuse you of seeking power unfairly.” He swiped his tongue around his jaws and turned to Hawkfrost. “As for you, your time will come.”
Hawkfrost’s lip curled, showing his sharp teeth. “I doubt it. It sometimes seems like Leopardstar and Mistyfoot will live forever.”
Tigerstar lashed his tail. “No son of mine admits defeat. Leopardstar is the oldest of the Clan leaders, and when she goes to join StarClan, who else could Mistyfoot appoint as deputy? Don’t forget that you have already been deputy once.”
Hawkfrost nodded and seemed to make an effort to shrug off his ill temper. “Congratulations,” he mewed to Brambleclaw.
“Thanks,” Brambleclaw replied. “I’m sure you won’t have to wait long for your turn.”
“Enough of this,” Tigerstar meowed with a flick of his tail. “There are more plans for us to make. The two of you are destined to rule the whole forest, and every cat will do as you command. Not one bite of prey will be eaten by any cat unless you say so.”
Hawkfrost’s eyes gleamed, but Brambleclaw took a pace back. What was Tigerstar talking about? It was a huge step from being Clan deputy to ruling the entire forest.
“What do you mean?” he asked. “How can—?”
Tigerstar silenced him with a snarl. “Once you are both leaders, Hawkfrost will take over ShadowClan as well as RiverClan. They will welcome him because I was their leader once, and he is my son. And you, Brambleclaw, will lead WindClan alongside ThunderClan.”
“But Onestar leads WindClan!” Bramblecla
w pointed out. “And they’ve been ThunderClan allies for many seasons.”
Tigerstar’s tail-tip twitched. “Which is why taking control of their Clan won’t be a problem. Those weak fools in WindClan are so used to taking orders from ThunderClan that they’ll hardly notice the difference.”
Brambleclaw stared up at his father, daunted by the blaze of certainty in his amber eyes. “But there have always been four Clans,” he objected, knowing how feeble his words must sound.
“There used to be, in the forest.” Tigerstar flicked his ears, dismissing the Clans’ former home. “But now that everything else has changed, perhaps it’s time for that to change too. It will change, if you have the strength.”
For a few heartbeats, Brambleclaw let himself get swept up in his father’s vision of the future. It was tempting to imagine himself controlling a vast swath of land, with two Clans of strong, powerful warriors at his command. He could lead them well, he knew. StarClan had chosen him to be ThunderClan’s deputy; perhaps this was just the first tiny paw step on his way to a glorious destiny.
“Of course we have the strength,” Hawkfrost meowed. “At the next Gathering we should start making friends in our future Clans, so that we’ll have their support when we take over.”
Tigerstar nodded, but Hawkfrost’s words disturbed Brambleclaw. He already had friends in WindClan. They wouldn’t support him if he tried to take over; they would think he had betrayed them. He glanced at Hawkfrost, who was obviously waiting for him to respond, and gave a noncommittal murmur. He wasn’t going to agree to anything until he’d had time to think this through.
“A Gathering would be the perfect opportunity to take power,” Hawkfrost went on, his eyes gleaming. “Brambleclaw, when you and I are leaders of our Clans, we could choose our strongest cats to come with us to the Gathering—”
“Cats who will carry out your orders without question,” Tigerstar put in, dipping his head to Hawkfrost as if he already guessed his son’s plan and approved of it.
“Of course. And then we simply kill the other two leaders and take over their Clans while they’re all trapped on the island.”
“What?” Brambleclaw felt his neck fur rising. He couldn’t believe what he had heard. “At a Gathering?”
“Yes—that’s the clever part of it,” Hawkfrost explained. “No cat will be expecting trouble.”
“And two strong warriors will be all you need to guard the end of the tree-bridge,” Tigerclaw added. “No cat will be able to escape.”
Brambleclaw took a step back. “How can you suggest killing at a Gathering? StarClan would never forgive us if we broke their truce.”
Hawkfrost shrugged. “StarClan were angry when the fight broke out at the last Gathering—or so Barkface said. But I didn’t see any cat being hurt because of it.”
“Everything is possible.” Tigerstar’s voice growled deep in his chest; his amber eyes were fixed on Brambleclaw with a baleful glare. “You will never be a powerful leader if you keep cringing to StarClan. Or if you’re afraid to get blood on your paws.”
“I’m not afraid of anything,” Brambleclaw retorted. “But I won’t kill at a Gathering.”
Hawkfrost padded over to him and swept his tail across Brambleclaw’s shoulder. “Keep your fur on,” he mewed. “It was only an idea. If you don’t like it, there are other ways.”
“There’d better be.” Brambleclaw wasn’t sure he wanted to go on with this at all, but he found it hard to talk freely—or even think—under Tigerstar’s ominous amber gaze.
“We need to talk properly about this.” Brambleclaw jumped as his half-brother seemed to echo his thoughts. “Why don’t we meet when we’re awake?”
There can’t be any harm in that, Brambleclaw decided. Perhaps if he could discuss things with his half-brother without their father listening to every word, he could get things straight in his own mind. He might even be able to convince Hawkfrost that leading their own Clans would be enough, without trying to take over the others.
“OK,” he mewed. “Where?”
“Your territory, I think,” Hawkfrost replied. “I’ll find it easier to get away than you will, now that you’re deputy.”
Brambleclaw nodded; that made sense. “By the lake, then. Just beyond the ShadowClan border the woodland stretches right down to the water’s edge. Let’s meet there.” That way, he added to himself, Hawkfrost could stay within the agreed two tail-lengths from the shore. No cat could accuse them of doing anything wrong.
“Fine,” Hawkfrost agreed. “Let’s meet in two days, at sunrise. You’ll need all of tomorrow to get used to your new duties,” he added with a friendly flick of his tail.
“Excellent.” Tigerstar’s voice rumbled in his throat, the nearest the fierce cat ever came to a purr. “Go now. We will meet again soon and discuss the plans you have made.”
Brambleclaw turned to go, only to glance back as Hawkfrost called his name. His half-brother’s ice-blue gaze was fixed on him with glittering intensity.
“You won’t forget our meeting?” Hawkfrost meowed.
“No, of course not.”
“Remember, the way to power is hard, and paved with difficult choices,” Tigerstar warned.
He held Brambleclaw with an unwavering stare. For a heartbeat Brambleclaw felt like a piece of prey, trapped and unsure of which way to run.
“I’m not afraid,” he meowed, trying to sound confident. “I’ll be there, don’t worry.”
“Hey, wake up!” A paw prodded Brambleclaw sharply in the side. “Are you planning to sleep until leaf-bare? It’s time to appoint the patrols.”
Brambleclaw blinked his eyes open to see Squirrelflight standing over him. “You’re deputy now,” she informed him. “Or had you forgotten?”
Brambleclaw scrambled up, shaking himself to scatter scraps of moss and fern from his pelt. To cover his confusion, he gave his chest fur a few quick licks. Since the Clan had been in their new home, the senior warriors had divided the deputy’s duties among themselves; now they would all fall on his shoulders.
I can handle it, he told himself.
A misty light was already filling the warriors’ den; the dawn patrol would have to leave right away.
“OK,” Brambleclaw meowed. “I’ll lead the dawn patrol. Squirrelflight, will you come with me? Cloudtail, we’ll take you as well, and Rainwhisker.”
Cloudtail stretched his jaws in a huge yawn, mumbled, “Right with you,” and woke the younger warrior by tickling his nose with the tip of his tail. Rainwhisker sat bolt upright, staring around as if he wasn’t sure what had disturbed him.
“Sandstorm,” Brambleclaw went on, feeling awkward to be giving orders to a senior warrior, “would you choose a hunting patrol, please?”
The ginger she-cat dipped her head in agreement. “Two would be a good idea, don’t you think?” she suggested. “Which cat would you like to lead the other?”
“Er . . . Dustpelt?” Brambleclaw would have been quite prepared for the tabby tom to react with annoyance at being ordered around by a younger cat, but all he did was stretch and mutter, “OK.”
“You know, Brambleclaw,” Sandstorm meowed, a trace of amusement in her voice, “you don’t need to worry about giving us orders. You’re deputy, and that’s that.”
“Thank you,” Brambleclaw replied. Trying to sound convincing, he added, “I’ll be loyal to my Clan as long as I have breath enough to fight.”
He repeated the words in his mind as he led his patrol out through the thorn barrier and up the slope towards the ShadowClan border. It was true. Nothing mattered to him more than the well-being of ThunderClan. He would show every cat in the forest what a great deputy he could be. Regretfully he realised that there was still more than a half moon to wait before the next Gathering, when Firestar would announce his deputyship to the other Clans, and he would be able to sit on the oak roots with Mistyfoot, Ashfoot, and Russetfur.
When they reached the border he half hoped that they might meet a ShadowCla
n patrol, so that he could mention his new position to them, but everything was quiet. The scents of ShadowClan cats were fading, suggesting that their dawn patrol had passed by earlier. Brambleclaw’s pelt prick-led with impatience. He was desperate to tell his news to some other cat; he almost felt that if a mouse crossed his path he would stop to inform it that it was about to be eaten by the ThunderClan deputy.
By the time the dawn patrol returned, the hunting patrols were bringing in their first catches. Brambleclaw dispatched Birchpaw and Whitepaw to take prey to the elders, and to Firestar and Leafpool. Then he called the remaining cats around him and started assigning patrols for the following day. He didn’t want to be flustered again as he had been this morning; besides, he wanted to be sure he was free for his meeting with Hawkfrost.
While Brambleclaw was speaking, Berrykit scurried out of the nursery and skidded to a halt in front of him. “I want to go on patrol,” he announced. “Can I?”
“No,” Brambleclaw told him firmly. “Not till you’re an apprentice.”
“You’ll take me then, won’t you?”
“Yes, of course.”
Berrykit’s eyes shone. “I’m going to be the deputy’s apprentice,” he announced to every cat within earshot.
Brambleclaw gave him a friendly nudge with one paw, and went on giving out the duties.
“Hey, bossypaws.” Squirrelflight’s voice held a mrrow of laughter as she flicked his ear with her tail-tip. “You’ve already assigned Ferncloud to a hunting patrol. She can’t do the dawn patrol as well.”
“Sorry,” Brambleclaw muttered to a confused Ferncloud. “You go hunting with Dustpelt. I’ll find another cat for the dawn patrol.”
“Later will do,” Squirrelflight told him. “First you can come and eat.” She led the way over to the fresh-kill pile, glancing over her shoulder to add, “Deputies do eat, I suppose? They don’t have to do their duties all the time?”
Brambleclaw relaxed; in spite of her teasing words, there was a warm gleam of affection in Squirrelflight’s green eyes. But would Squirrelflight still want to be near him, would her eyes still glow as she gazed at him, if she knew that he had arranged to meet Hawkfrost tomorrow?