Chapter 7- Seeing and Believing
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Alicia was having second thoughts about having left the How. The entrance had collapsed seconds after she and Finnigan emerged. She caught a glimpse of Peter and Edmund and Susan and Caspian before they charged back towards the approaching Telmarine infantry. Most of the Telmarine cavalry was gone, she noticed. She then saw the gaping hole in the ground that the Narnians were charging around and the bodies of men and horses scattered around and in it. And in the ruined stone circle in front of the How, she saw Miraz's body and another headless corpse. Looking further, she saw the head, that of Lord Gregoire.
Alicia had never seen a battle before, and the sight made her sick for a moment. So much blood all around her…
She noticed that there was fighting going on inside the hole as well, where Trufflehunter and other Narnians were battling the trapped Telmarine cavalry. On the far side of the hole, Caspian and Trumpkin were now fighting back to back. Edmund's twin swords were reaping death in a circle around him. Susan was turning everywhere, shooting her red-tipped arrows or stabbing Telmarines who came too close with them before fitting them into her bow and releasing them. She saw Glenstorm fighting with his ridiculously large sword, and Reepicheep with his miniature one stabbing a Telmarine in the face as he tried to climb out of the hole. Most of the Telmarines were draftees with little training and experience, but the Narnians had even less. Even worse, the Narnians were all being surrounded. They were too few…
"Alicia!" cried Edmund when he caught sight of her. "Finnigan, I'm going to kill you!" But he was far too occupied to give more than a very angry glance at them
"The Telmarines don't need any help," the dwarf shot back as he stabbed a Telmarine.
There was a ground-shaking crash and she saw the giant Wimbleweather falling to his knees, with what was left of the Telmarine cavalry circling and stabbing him. There was death all around.
But there was nobody between Alicia and the woods behind the How. She started running, but then stopped in horror. The trees were moving toward her!
There was nothing left but to retreat, toward the battle. She looked around desperately for another path to safety, but there was only fighting all around. Edmund, Susan, and Finnigan were backed into a circle but holding their own. Reepicheep was nowhere to be seen. Glenstorm was charging one of the Telmarine infantry squares, followed by a few fauns and a satyr. The gallant fools, she thought, as they leaped over the wall of shields and crashed into the inside of the square. The thought that at least their weight would trap some Telmarines passed grimly through her mind. A sickening feeling filled her as she scanned the field for Caspian. There was no hope for her to escape; her thoughts now turned to her friend.
Then she saw him. Trumpkin was down on the ground, though not dead. Two Telmarine foot soldiers were double-teaming Caspian, driving him toward the edge of the hole. Too good to be draftees, she thought. Probably men-at-arms of one of the lords…
She gasped as Caspian fell over the edge. The two soldiers looked down and then headed for new targets. And she began running. Nobody paid her any attention, though an arrow whistled by her ear. Running to the edge, she saw Caspian lying on a patch of collapsed grass. He was not dead, but the wind had been knocked out of him. And his sword was lying several feet away.
It was a long jump down, but she had to do it. For her dear friend. And she was probably going to die anyway, so why did it matter? She took a deep breath and jumped. It was a hard landing, but she got to her feet and ran to Caspian. He was fumbling around his head for his sword, clearly disoriented. As she bent to help him up, he pointed. "Get away, Alicia!" he gasped. A Telmarine with a halberd was running toward them.
The halbard was suddenly lowered, and Alicia's eyes followed the handle to its wielder. "Lord Glozelle?" she heard Caspian say.
"Father?"
"Alicia?"
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Three people stared at each other in shock on a grassy piece of rubble. The sounds of battle all around them, inside and above the massive crater, were lost in that moment.
Caspian stared at the man who had tried to murder him in the castle, albeit on his uncle's orders, and who had just tried to kill him again. The experienced soldier could have easily dispatched him, effectively ending the rebellion. Was it for himself or for Alicia that he had been spared?
Alicia stared at her father. He had tricked her, he had used her as a pawn in his plots, and yet he had spared Caspian. She knew that he was ruthless enough to have no second thoughts about killing the prince. It had to have been her. Was there still a place in his heart for her?
Suddenly, a root shot out of the side of the crater and encircled Lord Glozelle. Alicia gasped as it flung him against the side of the depression and deposited him on the dirt bottom. The trees had arrived.
"Thank you," Caspian whispered. Alicia nodded, and they had no need to say anything. That would have to wait; they could now hear the Narnians cheering, but there was a battle to finish. Caspian ran to the edge of the hole where Peter was waiting to help him up; together, they led the Narnians in chasing after the retreating Telmarine army. The fighting had also died out in the crater as the remaining Telmarines scrambled wildly out by any way they could and Trufflehunter ordered the remaining Narnians to let them pass. Enough groans from dying men and creatures filled the crater already.
Two Telmarines, little specks in the field of so much death, were ignored. Alicia did not see any of this, though, as she cradled her father's head. He was bleeding from the side of the head, but otherwise looked fine. A slight shudder passed through him and he opened his eyes.
"Daughter? You're alive?"
All the frustration and grief of the past two days broke out. "You lied to me! You knew Caspian was alive! All you wanted was power, and all I mattered for was to help you gain it. I was a woman, so I wouldn't be suspected. I remember you telling me that. Is that all I was good for? Is that how much you cared for me?"
Glozelle sighed. Every word stung his heart, especially since he knew they were true. "Alicia, that is true and much worse. But these past two days, I realized I had always taken you for granted- you, and what you mean to me. You're my only child; I did what I thought would be best for you and our family. I see now I was wrong. Please forgive me and let us go back to how it was. We'll have nothing; we Telmarines have lost; I can only hope Caspian and the Narnians will be fair to us. Please don't let me lose my daughter as well."
"It'll never be the way it used to be," Alicia said, sighing. "Caspian will be fair, but our world is over. And frankly, I'm not entirely disappointed. We can start again, father, just not in the way you want."
Glozelle had not realized how his daughter had matured. But now he could no longer dictate his will to her as he could to his personal guard or the royal armyl. He was only a father, one who had forfeited the love he could have had. "I think we both need some quiet to think about this."
"Not yet. Can't you hear the shouting? There's still a battle going on, and you can stop it."
Glozelle nodded. The general and lord of Telmar on the inside was coming forward again. Followed by his daughter, he walked determinedly toward the Ford of Beruna.
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Lord Glozelle and Alicia arrived just in time to see the river, transformed into a raging man, sweep away Lord Sospesian and the remains of the bridge that had girded the river. The Narnians, seeing Alicia walking by her father, somewhat hesitantly allowed them to pass through their ranks to the Telmarines crowded together on the edge of the river. These were frightened, and Alicia did not blame them. On one side were strange creatures led by their supposedly kidnapped prince. On the other was a river that had swept away their leaders, with a lion and a little girl on the other bank. They kept looking back and forth, unsure what to do.
"Men!" shouted Glozelle, standing on a stump. "I see your shock, and I feel the same way you do. But I am guilty of deceiving you, men. I was ordered by Lord Miraz to kill the rightful king, who stands before you alive and well. Later, I also concealed the fact that he was alive for my own selfish purposes. But enough blood has been shed for a cause that has no meaning anymore. I beg you to lay down your weapons and cease this sad conflict. Let us bow in homage to our king, Caspian the Tenth, and the legendary Narnian monarchs of old!"
He was the first to do so, and most of the army quickly followed. For all his faults, Glozelle was loved by his men; it was common knowledge that he had helped three men, whom Miraz had unjustly ordered executed, to escape. His popularity, in fact, was the only reason he still had his head.
Trumpkin and some of the other Narnian leaders efficiently directed the disarmament of the Telmarine army while General Glozelle watched sadly. Alicia followed the monarchs as they forded the river to where Lucy and a Being that could only be Aslan waited.
Alicia had never been religious. The Telmarines did not subscribe to any one deity. Some worshiped the gods that their ancestors had brought from another land, strange gods with feathers and beads. Others venerated a more likable version of Tash. The Aslan that the Archenlanders and Narnians believed in was supposed to be a demon. Needless to say, none were very appealing to Alicia.
Yet, here He was, approaching in all His splendor and majesty and goodness. Alicia had always believed only in herself, but here was a visible manifestation of how wrong she had been.
The next few minutes passed as a blur. She saw the other five humans rise at His word; she heard a melancholic tune as Reepicheep was carried forward on a stretcher by his fellow mice; she even remembered laughing at his discomfiture about appearing without a tail before Aslan healed it. For all his pride, she was beginning to admire his character. But it was on the lion that she remained focused. If there was only one thing she could love, it would be Him.
"Rise, Lady Alicia the Faithful. See and believe," she heard Him say. "Let your heart be at rest with the knowledge of Me."
She looked around and hesitated. The lion was looking straight at her with those eyes she could never look deep enough into. "That's you!" she hear Lucy whisper.
"The Faithful?" she asked. She had betrayed her nation; now she had separated from her father. How was this possible?
"Leave the past behind you," she heard Him say. "In time, all will be revealed." Alicia suddenly felt content. This all-knowing being could not be wrong. "Now where is this dear little friend of yours?"
Alicia smiled with the others at Trumpkin's expression as he shuffled toward the lion he had doubted. The scowl was gone from his face, replaced by an almost childlike wonder. The mighty growl that Aslan unleashed on him was enough to make him want to sink into the ground. But like Alicia, he was convinced, and Lucy went out of her way to cheer him up afterward. She succeeded, as always.
"Come," Aslan said. "A new world awaits."
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Fun book-verse fact: Caspian made Doctor Cornelius Lord Chancellor after the battle.
I have to disagree with this, though. It would be one thing for the Telmarine lords to accept Narnian leaders like Glenstorm, whom they knew of as great warriors. It would be another thing to have one who had lived among them, and whom they knew to be a commoner, be elevated above all of them.
I feel that the Telmarines aren't developed enough. After The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, besides the kings, they just seem to fade from Narnian history. Not one is mentioned as alive in the Last Battle besides Tirian. I want this story to show what I think could have happened to them.