Lady Kaltag is a supporting antagonist in High Rhulain, the eighteenth book in the Redwall novel series. She is the feline lady of Green Isle, the wife of Riggu Felis, and the mother of Jeefra and Pitru. As a mother, she deeply loves her sons, opposing them being rank-and-file cats into Riggu's army and being driven mad with despair over the death of her son Jeefra to the point of where she believed that Riggu was trying to kill both of his sons and had them be sent to be made into rank-and-file cats into his army (which unknowingly led to their deaths) and that Leatho Shellhound was responsible for it since he led the attack during which the death took place. As the book progresses, she becomes so insane that she attempts to murder Leatho in a fit of madness to avenge her son's death while oblivious to the fact that ironically, the whole time, the son she trusted, Pitru, was responsible for it.
Biography[]
As the feline lady of Green Isle, Lady Kaltag would be married to Riggu for some time and eventually begin raising their children. Throughout, while she isn't made clear to have any role in it, she appears to condone his slavery of the isle's otters and his attempts at slaying the rest of them. She is first shown after Riggu Felis got his face mauled at by an osprey he was hunting for sport with his sons whom he tried to get to kill it, waiting in a window alcove she was sitting in on the stairs outside the upper window chamber nearby the chamber where Riggu was getting his wounds and injuries treated. On the lower stairs, her two sons, Jeefra and Pitru, were arguing and fighting like they usually do with the latter insulting the former and taunting him on how if Riggu dies, he will be warlord of Green Isle. When Jeefra dodges past him and ran yowling to his mother's side to tell him they're both supposed to rule as warlords if their father dies, she took his paw and severely called to her other son to come up there to which Pitru did as he was bidden, though he stayed clear of Kaltag's grasp, pouting and stamping his footpaw on how Jeefra's soft and he on the other hand would make the best warlord. Kaltag reprimanded the pair for talking as if their father was going to die, though Pitru ignores her reprimands as he dodged forward, treading on his brother's tail, and smirked maliciously at Atunra, asking her that he will die as he saw what the big bird did to him to which the pine marten told him the healers will save him. As Riggu begins going into a rage about the job the healers were doing with his injuries and makes a vow to kill all birds on Green Isle, Lady Kaltag beckoned to her sons as she descended the stairs, stating that they will not tarry there while Riggu is in such wrath and telling Atunra to stay and await his orders.
The following day at dawn, Lady Kaltag was taking breakfast with Riggu Felis and their two sons beneath an awning on the pier which fronted the lake. She tries to stop another quarrel Jeefra and Pitru were having this time over two gull eggs which they had been served by ordering the two to stop bickering and Pitru to give his brother back his egg this instant, but Riggu Felis permits their quarrel and Pitru to keep the egg to give Jeefra a test to see if he's warrior enough to take it back by force and halts an otterslave when Jeefra ordered it to bring him another gull's egg. Kaltag objects to this, though Riffu merely snarled at her to stay out of it and ordered Jeefra to go to it as Pitru taunted him further, leading to Jeefra being easily defeated and humiliated further with the raw gull egg being smashed over his head and the runny mess splattering down across Jeefra's face, further salt being added to the wound by Pitru kicking his backside before freeing him as he fled indoors sobbing. Amused by this, Riggu addresses Kaltag on how Pitru's got the makings of a proper wildcat to which she responded that their two sons are both wildcats. Riggu angrily declared that he's the only true wildcat there and that her and all the rest of the cats are only feral cats and that Pitru only has more wildcat in him. Eavesdropping, Pitru asks if that means he'll be ruler of Green Isle someday to which Riggu declared that it takes more than a bully to make a warlord and that they have to be fearless like him, criticizing him for not having slain that bird on the eve of the storm, an incident he reminded them of many times. Disliking being criticized, Pitru turned on one paw and prowled off, leaving his father with a parting shot while reminding him that he tried and of the mess it made of him. Angered, Riggu seized his single-bladed axe and seemed to prepare to attack Pitru for the insult before he gets summoned to some of the cat guards reporting two prisoners they have taken.
Soon, after the two sons get into another quarrel over Pitru threatening and mocking Jeefra, Riggu Felis has them be taken by Weilmark Scaut to be disciplined into becoming rank-and-file members of his army. However, at night, during a battle between the rebel otters and the cats, Pitru and Jeefra's boat got overturned, leading to Pitru purposely causing his own brother to drown to death and murdering him while pretending to search for him afterwards. This leads to his corpse being found and taken to the castle where Lady Kaltag howled and screeched like a wounded beast when she learned about the death of her own beloved son. Catguards crowded in front of her, barring the way to his body while she fought to get past them, wailing dementedly. Following Groodl and the catguards who were bearing Jeefra's body away under Riggu's angry orders, seeing her remaining son, she turned and ran to him. Seizing Pitru's paw, she sobbed brokenly and asked what happened to him to which Pitru pointed accusingly at his father and told her to ask him as he was the one who forced them to join the catguards and Jeefra would still be alive if he hadn't. Kaltag flung herself at Riggu, scratching and biting as he held her off and seemingly falsely stating that he grieves for the death of his son and that it was her always shielding and making excuses for them both and turned them into spoiled cats, adding on that Jeefra's death is a hard thing for him to bear but he died like a warrior honourably in battle before signaling to Atunra and two guards standing nearby to get her away from him. As she was led indoors, she continued yelling at him, calling him a murderer and assassin who killed his own son and asks him if he will slay both her and his other son next so he can rule alone. Later, while Riggu Felis had been haranguing his army and killed one of them to set an example, Lady Kaltag had come out onto the pier, standing looking across at Riggu with Atunra and Pitru joining her, the latter being garbed out like a chieftain himself. She pointed at Riggu Felis accusingly and scorned him for slaying those who serve him and mockingly asks him to go slay some real enemies unless he's afraid that they might fight back to which Riggu sneeringly tells her he is planning on seeking out his enemies right away and suggests she goes and attends to her own affairs and orders Atunra to attend him. However, Kaltag stopped the pine marten as she stepped forward to tell him she stays with him and Pitru to defend the fortress against attack while he is "out playing [[his]] games.'' As such, Riggu left while ordering Weilmark Scaut to take fourscore guards and attend Lady Kaltag. Afterwards, Lady Kaltag explains to Scaut that she appointed her son, Pitru, as commander of the fortress and that he will address him by that title from then on and ordered him to leave them.
Throughout their stay at the fortress, Lady Kaltag largely kept to her tower chambers, allowing Pitru the run of the fortress, which he took full advantage of to have Atunra be slain and her body disposed of into the waters. After the battle, Riggu Felis would return to the fortress and be furious to see all the otterslaves camped outside in the open and orders for the gate to be open on the double. Going in, he orders for all the slaves to be locked back in their compound and, learning that Lady Kaltag is in her chamber, he takes down some guards on his way into the room and confronts his son who swiftly moved behind his mother's chair, crying out for her to stop him and that he means to kill him just like he slew Jeefra. Facing Riggu fearlessly, Kaltag mocked him for not capturing any otters and wounding his footpaw. As they converse, Kaltag points out a horrible smell Riggu brings into his chamber with Pitru pointing at him and saying that it's all over the back of his cloak with some kind of slop, leading to Kaltag mocking him further by asking if those who wounded him plastered him with filth. Infuriated, Riggu explains that all he stepped on was a thorn and angrily asks where Atunra is. When Kaltag explains that she has not seen her since he marched away from the fortress to destroy his enemies, Riggu angrily glared at Pitru, asking him what he did with Atunra. Pitru could not meet his father's gaze, but he was regaining his confidence and addressed his mother to tell him he knows nought of Atunra and that as fortress commander, he was far too busy organizing the defenses against the enemies he was supposed to have defeated. This leads to Riggu driving the knifepoint deep into the tabletop and yelling at and insulting his son for doing a poor job by allowing half the otterslaves to wander outside the walls. Kaltag comes to Pitru's defense and scorns Riggu even further by criticizing his failure, leading to Riggu realizing he lost the argument before leaving the chamber to seek Atunra out and set up a trap for the otter rebels.
As day sank into dusk, Kaltag emerged with Pitru, clad in an armoured breastplate and greaves overlaid with flowing red silk, and as Pitru taunted him, Kaltag scorns him for searching all day for her despite her not being of their blood and not spending any time trying to find and punish the murderer of her son Jeefra. Just as Riggu was about to snarl a reply, a slingstone whirred out of the dusk and dented his helmet, recognizing it as the otterslaves as Pitru had some guards go nearby the bushes and kill anything that moved while Riggu goes to the rear of the fortress where the barracks and slave pens were situated. There, he finds Leatho Shellhound and has him be knocked out and captured. Lady Kaltag picked up a scimitar Pitru had dropped when he was knocked to the ground by Riggu who berated him for his stupidity getting several guards killed and came to his defense, holding it between Riggu's shoulder blades and yelling at him to get away from her son under the threat of slaying him. Riggu reluctantly frees Pitru and taunts him for having his mother fight all his battles as he himself states that he will kill him to which Riggu suggests he do it now and orders Kaltag to give him his sword. Kaltag only berates him to do better facing the real enemy, the otters, instead of trying to take the life of her only son to which Riggu stated that he no longer has to do battle with outlaws now that he has their leader and that he instead has special plans for him, which are to send a message to the rebel otters to make it clear he plans to subject him to a brutal fate of starving to death should they not surrender.
While Leatho was imprisoned in a cage starving, Lady Kaltag would batter at the bars with a spear from within the tower at one point, trying to kill him in a blind rage under the belief that he slew Jeefra while shrieking at him that he will pay before raising the spear high and thrusting downward at him. Leatho Shellhound struggled wildly to avoid the spear as Kaltag stabbed viciously down at him, soon feeling a stinging pain close to his left paw as the spearhead glanced off it. Drawing back the weapon and thrusting it down, Kaltag screeched out vengeance for her dead son and grazed Leatho with the spear twice more as he wriggled about the confines of his narrow prison and roared insults at her. Yowling with rage, she gripped the spearpole with both paws and centred on the back of the otter's neck to prepare to kill him only for Weilmark Scaut and two catguards to drag her back from the windowsill and haul her roughly from the chamber. Standing outside, Riggu slammed the door shut and ordered her downstairs as no one is to come into the room except him while she yelled accusations at him for seeing Jeefra's killer left alive. She is locked in her room with three guards posted on her door. Later, Leatho would escape his cage as the rebel otters arrive to battle against the fortress and as Riggu Felis makes plans to wipe them out and hunt down Pitru when discovering he was responsible for Atunra's death and for the threat he served, Lady Kaltag stood nearby as the guards had been dismissed from her chamber door to assist in defending the fortress, leaving her to wander freely. She looked manic and unkempt, her silken robes stained and tattered, her red-rimmed eyes blazing hatred at her husband. With neither the time nor the desire for a confrontation, Riggu ordered for Scaut to see to it that her chamber is guarded and get her out of his sight, leading to her being hauled off by four guards, kicking and scratching as she poured scorn on her husband to kill his son as he killed his brother as he won't find him as easy to slay, asking him how he's going to defend his fortress now that he's taken a band of guards and broken free of his vile schemes while laughing crazily.
Riggu emphasized his order for her to be locked up to which Scaut hurried to assist his guards in dragging Kaltag off, but her mocking shouts could still be heard echoing down the passage as she taunted him that his enemies will dance on his grave as evil has its own reward, a long slow death. However, Scaut and his guards wind up abandoning the chamber, two to go to the slave compound and the others to go and get the ones who are trying to rescue Shellhound. Overhearing Scaut carrying out these orders from the other side of the door of the chamber in which she was imprisoned, Kaltag waited until it was quiet outside before coming out of her room. Holding two blazing torches, she ascended to the antechamber at the top of the tower stairs and hid until she heard the catguards running downstairs to the slave compound. With no beast outside the chamber which held Shellhound, chuckling to herself dementedly, she crept along to it and tapped on the battered door, calling in a singsong voice if he's coming out. Leatho's voice came defiantly at her that he won't and asks if she is coming in to get him. Cackling insanely, Kaltag talks about how she can reach him without having to enter the room and that he must pay for the death of her son Jeefra to which Leatho, not being responsible for his death, gave a puzzled reply asking what Jeefra she is talking about as he doesn't know any beast named Jeefra. Not believing him, Kaltag calls him a liar and declares that he and his otters slew him and now he will roast before he reaches Hellgates. Losing what's left of her sanity, she proceeds to light the place on fire while laughing crazily. Then, she began screaming like a mad beast as she tore down wall hangings and flung them on the blaze and dropped the other torch on the floor. Standing back from the blazing door, she went into a crazy shuffling dance and crooned for him to burn and that he cannot escape a mother's vengeance. While it's not directly stated or shown, it can be inferred that she died laughing madly from the fire as flames raced unchecked along the landing ignored by her who was screeching and dancing as tongues of flame licked greedily at her tattered cloak and gown.