Chapter Twelve

The Board is Set

"Ouch!"

"It's not that bad. Don't be an infant, Peter," Susan scolded.

Peter was sitting shirtless on one of the many beds in the castle infirmary. A female Centaur stood next to him and carefully stitched the wounds on his arm which had been caused by Primus' sword.

"That's easy for you to say," Peter grumbled as he watched the Centaur doing her work.

"Enough! Peter, you should have never agreed to that match," Susan shouted as her frustration was finally released.

"I had too; if I had refused in front of the entire court I would have made Narnia look weak!" Peter defended.

Susan began pacing up and down, wondering what to do now. They had to be careful and watch the Galmans more than ever before. She turned back to Peter and saw that his stitches were nearly complete. But if only Lucy was here he would have not needed stitches at all.

"Peter, you have shown them how well you fight with a sword. If they do decide to attack us then they will no longer be afraid of you and Rhindon because they have seen that their best knight is your equal," Susan explained.

"He is not my equal; I could have beaten him," Peter scowled.

"The point is you didn't, and now the ambassadors are probably sending word back to King Priham as we speak," Susan rebuked, turning away from him once again.

"We don't even know if they are plotting anything. Su, you're just going on the word of a stranger that you have only met once," Peter shot back.

"He saved my life, Peter! What purpose does he have for lying after that?"

"I don't know, but I have never met the man therefore I cannot trust him!" Peter shouted.

"So your saying you believe the Galmans"? She asked shocked

"No, I do believe something is being planned but right now we have no proof and therefore we can't do anything about" Peter replied

Susan stared straight at him with her eyes full of anger. She then turned her back on him and quickly exited the infirmary, ignoring his calls for her to come back. She hurried down the corridors, up the grand staircase and into the royal wing where she finally arrived at her bedchamber.

She slammed the door behind her and walked over to her bed where she instantly grabbed her pillow and threw it across the room. Susan then threw herself down on her bed and began trying to think of a solution to all of her problems but everything now seemed a mess for which she had no idea how to clean it up. She moved over to her window and watched the sun as it began to set on the horizon. She remembered seeing the mysterious man by the woods earlier but once again he had disappeared. She wondered whether he was in Narnia to help them or was he in Narnia to dispose them?

"Aslan, give me a sign," she whispered as the sun disappeared from the sky and the darkness of night arrived.


The forest had grown dark with the setting of the sun; the hoot of owls and the screech of bats could be heard in the distance. Six Galman soldiers sat around a fire which had been lit, eating and laughing. It seemed they were unafraid of being in a strange land.

"So there we were… the middle of the Seven Isles with the enemy coming straight at us," one of the soldiers said.

"Then what happened?" asked another.

"General Tiberius led us into battle, and we killed whatever soldiers we could find and practically won the war single handed," the first one bragged.

"That's not what happened. I rode with the Prince during the war and at Gulltown we came to the General's rescue," a third Galman added.

The first Galman shook his head while the rest all laughed at him. They continued to eat and drink wine well into the night. A young soldier then agreed to be lookout and take the first watch. He rested against the tree, staring into the darkness, while the comrades slowly fell into drunkenness.

The night wore on and became colder, causing the lookout to wrap a blanket around himself as he tried desperately to stay awake. The rest of the soldiers had one by one fallen asleep, and the lookout knew that he would have a hard job waking up his replacement.

He then heard movement in the trees; he sat up straighter and tried to peer through the darkness. He heard more movement which confirmed someone or something was definitely out there.

He quickly moved over to the other men and began shaking them awake. They groaned and tried to push him away, but he continued his shaking. Finally one of the soldiers sat up and glared at him.

"What are you doing?" the soldier demanded.

"I heard movement in the trees," the lookout whispered back.

"It's a forest! Of course there's going to be movement in the trees," the soldier replied.

"You know the stories. There is evil in these lands," the lookout urged.

The soldier shook his head and slowly raised himself to his feet where he stumbled; the other soldiers did not stir until the first Galman shouted for them to get up. One by one they stood. A couple of them drew their swords, wondering why they had been awoken.

"What's happening?" someone asked.

"Junior here heard movement in the trees," the first one answered, nodding at the lookout.

The other soldiers all grumbled showing their annoyance for being woken; however they all became silent when they heard the sound of a horse galloping towards them. They all stood frozen, listening as the horse approached. The lead soldier quickly drew his sword and turned to his men.

"Arm yourselves!" he ordered.

The soldiers all prepared their weapons and waited as the sound of hooves grew closer until they could see a lone rider approaching them. The six soldiers formed together as a group and all pointed their weapons at the rider whose face was covered in shadows by his hood stopped in front of them.

"Who are you, stranger?" the lead Galman demanded.

"You men are trespassing in these lands. You will return to your lord at Cair Paravel, and you shall not venture outside its walls again for the duration of your visit," the stranger said firmly, ignoring the Galman's demand.

"We are guests in this land. Your Kings and Queens have welcomed us here, therefore we are not trespassing," the Galman replied.

"The great King Aslan says different," the man shot back.

"We do not know of this Aslan. Now I suggest you go, stranger, and leave us be," the lookout piped up.

"I'm afraid I cannot do that. You must all return to Cair Paravel immediately," the stranger commanded.

"What happens if we choose not to?" the lead Galman asked.

"Then I'm afraid all of you will die."

The Galmans all started laughing; the stranger however just stayed on his horse and waited for the laughter to stop. The lead Galman quickly gestured for his men to be silent before he took a couple of steps forward towards the stranger.

"I would love to see you try," the Galman said with a leering smile.

The stranger sighed before he dismounted from his horse and faced the lead Galman who had his sword ready in his hand. The man however did not seem afraid of facing six men by himself; he just stood calmly waiting for the Galmans to make their move.

"Well, stranger, if you want to move around hooded in the darkness like a bandit, then you shall die as one," the lead Galman snarled as he swung his sword towards the stranger's head.

The stranger quickly moved out of the way and there was only a flash of silver as he drew his own sword. The Galman tried once again to swing his sword at his head, but again the stranger dodged the attack and with one quick stroke sliced the Galman's throat who collapsed to his knees with blood pouring down his neck.

The other soldiers all stood in shock as the stranger raised his sword and pointed it at each of the men in turn, inviting them to try and attack him. Four of the soldiers all lunged forward, causing the clanging of steel upon steel to echo around the forest.

The lookout however stood frozen as he watched the other four men trying to fight the stranger who managed to hold his own against them. One of the Galmans tried to slice the stranger through his torso, but he blocked the strike and sliced the Galman through his torso instead, causing blood to splatter against the trees.

Another Galman attempted to slice his sword at the man's leg, but he blocked it and quickly disarmed the Galman before sticking the blade through his stomach so that it burst out of his back causing the ground to be stained in blood.

The stranger retracted his sword and faced the other two Galman soldiers. They both swung their swords towards him but he dodged one and blocked the other, he then quickly sliced one of the Galmans across his chest while drawing a dagger from his belt and sticking it through the other soldier's throat.

He looked around at the five bodies which now lay on the ground as the lookout still stood frozen at what had happened. He watched as the man wiped his sword clean with his cloak and then slowly approached, his blade pointed straight at his heart.

"Please, make it quick," the lookout whispered as he prepared himself for the killing stroke.

"I will not kill you today," the stranger replied lowering his sword.

"Why not?" he asked suspiciously, not quite believing him.

"I want you to return to Cair Paravel and tell your commanders that this is what will happen if any more Galmans step a foot outside of the castle walls without the presence of Narnians," the stranger commanded, pointing at the bodies of the five men.

The lookout nodded before the man turned away and quickly jumped onto his horse before riding into the darkness. The lookout waited until the stranger had for the long ride back to Cair Paravel to tell the ambassadors and Lord Primus what had happened.


Lord Primus sat in the bedchamber which had been given to him in the guest wing of Cair Paravel. The wound on his shoulder had been cleaned and bandaged, however that did not stop it from hurting every time he moved it.

He had always believed the tales of King Peter's skill with a sword were only stories, today he learnt that they were indeed fact and he knew that Peter would be a very deadly enemy. That is why they needed to move quickly so that the four rulers could not rally their loyal Narnians to fight back in time.

There came a knock on the door and he told the person to enter. The door slowly opened to reveal Sicundius, who looked at Primus with a piercing stare. Sicundius did not speak, stepping silently into the room and slowly closing the door behind him.

"Is there something I can help you with Lord Sicundius?" Primus asked courteously.

"You performed well today, however the King feels that more still needs to be done," Sicundius informed.

Primus nodded at that. It was true that they had gauged how good of a warrior King Peter was, but if they were to truly crush the Narnian spirit then they needed to make them lose faith in their rulers which meant bringing the monarchy down to its knees.

"Tell King Priham that the thrones of Narnia will fall, and that nobody will stop us from our plans."

"That is a bold statement, Lord Primus. I do hope you will prove your words to be true," Sicundius replied.

"My Lord, I will do all in my power to do what my King asks. I shall not fail," Primus said staring Sicundius straight in the eyes.

"I hope not… for your sake anyway," Sicundius whispered venomously before walking out and disappearing into the darkened, leaving Primus alone to ponder on his thoughts.


The tents in the camp had all been erected and the flags decorated with a golden lion upon a red background blew in the wind. The Narnians had lit a massive bonfire in the centre of the camp while the guards patrolled the perimeter established by Edmund and Peridan.

"Peridan reported no signs of any of the followers near the woods," Edmund informed as he and Lucy walked through the camp.

"Where do suppose they are?" Lucy asked worriedly.

"I am not sure; they may be closer to the marshlands than we thought. Tomorrow we shall send out scouts and see if we can find them," Edmund answered.

Lucy nodded at that as they passed a group of Narnians who stood in a circle muttering. Lucy understood that this was a difficult time for Narnia. Not only were they facing an invasion from the White Witch's followers, but they had suspicion that Galma was planning their own plot against them.

"Has there been any more news from Peter?"

"None. I'm worried, Lu. How can fifteen thousand troops just disappear without a trace?" Edmund asked, frustrated.

Word had reached them today that the rest of their army had vanished. Peter and Susan had no explanation, and Peter was forced to inform both of them that help could not come until the soldiers had been found.

"What happens if we have to fight the followers, Ed? What happens when they outnumber us?"

"We will have to fight smarter then, holding them off as best we can," Edmund replied.

"Aslan, protect us in the face of danger and give us the strength to defend Narnia," Lucy prayed as the stars began to shine in the night sky.

Edmund nodded at that and then placed a comforting arm around her shoulders. Together they watched the stars and begged Aslan to send them any sort of help as soon as possible.


The waves crashed against the cliffs causing a white spray to launch up against the rocks, a man stood on the cliffs silently watching the darkened sea in front of him. He was an elderly man with grey hair and beard, wearing a long blue robe which billowed behind him in the ocean wind.

He heard a horse whinny behind him and heard somebody stop the steed and dismount. Seconds later, young man with dark brown hair and emerald green eyes stood next to him, watching the rhythm of the water below.

"You're late," the older man reprimanded.

"Sorry, I had to take care of a small problem," the other man replied.

"How many were there?"

"Six."

The elder man turned to the younger one and sighed; the young man looked at him and rolled his eyes. He knew what was coming and wished that he didn't have to stand here and go through it all again.

"Did you kill all of them?" the older man asked.

"No, as a matter of fact I allowed one to return to Cair Paravel unharmed," he replied.

"So he could deliver a message?"

"Yes."

"That was very foolish. They will now hunt you," the older man informed gravely.

"Yes, I know" the young man replied.

"You need to let go of your anger. It's time to move on," the elder man pressed gently.

The young man however turned to him and gave him a very hard stare. He hated these talks. Everyone was always trying to get in his head and trying to make him let go. However he could never let go. There was no new future on the horizon for him.

"How can I move on when everything I ever cared about was taken from me?" he demanded.

"What happened was tragic, but you were still sent back because he believes in the man you are."

"That man died a long time ago," the young man said resolutely before turning back to the sea again.

The older man slowly nodded and also looked out across the ocean; they stood in silence until finally they spotted two ships slowly making their way towards the shore. The young man then walked forward and quickly lit a torch to light a small bonfire which shone upon the cliff top.

A few minutes later the ships had landed on the small beach below with many soldiers began exiting and heading up towards the cliffs. The young man walked back to the elder man and he stopped in front of him with a small smile on his face.

"The board is set."


Thank you once again to my Beat Cosette 24601, you are helping me a lot with this story and I will always be appericiative :)