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'I spent part of last night fighting a dog in a rat pit, and then I think I was stuck in a rat trap for a while,' said Darktan, in a voice like ice. 'And then there was a bit of a war. Apart from that, I can't complain.'

The mayor gave him a worried look. For the first time he could remember, Darktan felt sorry for a human. The stupid-looking kid had been different. The mayor seemed to be as tired as Darktan felt.

'Look,' he said, 'I think it might work, if that's what you want to ask me.'

The mayor brightened up. 'You do?' he said. 'There's a lot of arguing.'

'That's why I think it might work,' said Darktan. 'Men and rats arguing. You're not poisoning our cheese, and we're not widdling in your jam. It's not going to be easy, but it's a start.'

'But there's something I have to know,' said the mayor.

'Yes?'

'You could have poisoned our wells. You could have set fire to our houses. My daughter tells me you are very… advanced. You don't owe us anything. Why didn't you?'

'What for? What would we have done afterwards?' said Darktan. 'Gone to another town? Gone through all this again? Would killing you have made anything better for us? Sooner or later we'd have to talk to humans. It might as well be you.'

'I'm glad you like us!' said the mayor.

Darktan opened his mouth to say: Like you? No, we just don't hate you enough. We're not friends.

But…

There would be no more rat pits. No more traps, no more poisons. True, he was going to have to explain to the Clan what a policeman was, and why rat watchmen might chase rats who broke the new Rules. They weren't going to like that. They weren't going to like that at all. Even a rat with the marks of the Bone Rat's teeth on him was going to have difficulty with that. But as Maurice had said: they'll do this, you'll do that. No-one will lose very much and everyone will gain a lot. The town will prosper, everyone's children will grow up, and suddenly, it'll all be normal.

And everyone likes things to be normal. They don't like to see normal things changed. It must be worth a try, thought Darktan.

'Now I want to ask you a question,' he said. 'You've been the leader for… how long?'

'Ten years,' said the mayor.

'Isn't it hard?'

'Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Everyone argues with me all the time,' said the mayor. 'Although I must say I'm expecting a little less arguing if all this works. But it's not an easy job.'

'It's ridiculous to have to shout all the time just to get things done,' said Darktan.

'That's right,' said the mayor.

'And everyone expects you to decide things,' said Darktan.

'True.'

'The last leader gave me some advice just before he died, and do you know what it was? "Don't eat the green wobbly bit"!'

'Good advice?' said the mayor.

'Yes,' said Darktan. 'But all he had to do was be big and tough and fight all the other rats that wanted to be leader.'

'It's a bit like that with the council,' said the mayor.

'What?' said Darktan. 'You bite them in the neck?'

'Not yet,' said the mayor. 'But it's a thought, I must say.'

'It's just all a lot more complicated than I ever thought it would be!' said Darktan, bewildered. 'Because after you've learned to shout you have to learn not to!'

'Right again,' said the mayor. 'That's how it works.' He put his hand down on the desk, palm up. 'May I?' he said.

Darktan stepped aboard, and kept his balance as the mayor carried him over to the window and set him down on the sill.

'See the river?' said the mayor. 'See the houses? See the people in the streets? I have to make it all work. Well, not the river, obviously, that works by itself. And every year it turns out that I haven't upset enough people for them to choose anyone else as mayor. So I have to do it again. It's a lot more complicated than I ever thought it would be.'

'What, for you, too? But you're a human!' said Darktan in astonishment.

'Hah! You think that makes it easier? I thought rats were wild and free!'

'Hah!' said Darktan.

They both stared out of the window. Down in the square below they could see Keith and Malicia walking along, deep