Diamond Age or a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer

Princess Nell uttered a light-making spell that Purple had taught her, kindling a ball of luminance that hung in the air in the center of the room. The words of the spell had been concealed in the howl of the mountain winds through the rickety structure of the old inn, and so the mouse was caught entirely by surprise, blinded by the sudden light. Nell was startled to see that the mouse was not gnawing its way into her supply of food, as any mouse should have done, but rather was going through some of her papers. And this was not the usual destructive search for nesting material-this mouse knew how to read and was looking for information. Princess Nell trapped the mouse spy under her hands.

"What are you looking for? Tell me, and I shall let you escape!" she said. Her adventures had taught her to be on the lookout for tricks of all kinds, and it was important that she learn who had dispatched this tiny, but effective, spy.

"I am but a harmless mouse!" the spy squealed. "I do not even desire your food– information only!"

"I will give you a big piece of cheese, all to yourself, if you give me some information," Princess Nell said. She caught the mouse's tail and lifted him up into the air so that they could talk face-to-face. Meanwhile, with her other hand, she loosened the drawstring of her bag and drew out a nice piece of blue-veined Stilton.

"We are seeking our lost Queen," the mouse said.

"I can assure you that none of my papers have any information about a missing mouse monarch," Princess Nell said.

"What is your name?" the mouse said.

"That is none of your business, spy!" Princess Nell said. "I will ask the questions."

"But it is very important that I know your name," the mouse said.

"Why? I am not a mouse. I have not seen any little mice with crowns on their heads."

The mouse spy said nothing. He was staring carefully at Princess Nell with his little beady eyes. "Did you, by any chance, come from an enchanted island?"

"You have been listening to too many fairy tales," Princess Nell said, barely concealing her astonishment. "You have been most uncooperative and so do not deserve any cheese– but I admire your pluck and so will give you some anyway. Enjoy yourself!" She set the mouse down on the floor and took out her knife to cut off a bit of the cheese; but by the time she was finished, the mouse had disappeared. She just caught sight of his pink tail disappearing under the door.

The next morning, she found him dead on the hallway floor. The innkeeper's cat had caught him. .

So the Mouse Army did exist! Princess Nell wondered whether they had ever located their lost Queen. She followed their trail for another day or two, as it went in approximately the right direction and was almost as convenient as a road.

She passed through a few more campsites. At one of them, she even found a little gravesite, marked with a tiny headstone carved from a chip of soapstone.

The carvings on this tiny monument were much too small to see. But Princess Nell carried with her a magnifying glass that she had pilfered from the treasury of one of the Faery Kings, and so now she removed it from its padded box and its velvet bag and used it to examine the inscription.

At the top of the stone was a little bas-relief of a mouse knight, dressed in armor, with a sword in one hand, bowing before an empty throne. The inscription read,

Here lies Clover, tail and all

Her virtues far outweighed her flaws

She from the saddle took a fall

And perished 'neath her charger's paws.

We know not if her final ride

Hath led her into Heaven or Hell

Wherever she doth now abide

She's loyal yet to Princess Nell.

Princess Nell examined the remains of the fires, and the surfaces of the wood that the Mouse Army had cut, and the state of their droppings, and estimated that they had passed by here many weeks previously. One day she would rendezvous with them and find out why they had formed such an attachment to her; but for now, she had more pressing considerations.

. . .

She'd have to see about the Mouse Army later. Today was Saturday, and on Saturday morning she always went down to the Leased Territories to visit her brother. She opened up the wardrobe in the corner of her sleeping room and took out her traveling dress. Sensing her intentions, the chaperone flew out of its niche in the back and whined over to the door.