Part Twenty One: Challenge
Caspian sat in his tent for the whole day, Ouranos at his side. They discussed battle plans and listened to the reports from the freshly returned scouts. "There wasn't too much action to the naked eye, but look through a spyglass and you'll see that Ettinsmoor is preparing for a battle. Wild men are gathering along with wolves, menataurs, and other such creatures."
"Creatures that the White Witch favored," added the second scout.
Caspian's strained eyes moved to him. "The White Witch? You don't think she's returned?" he asked sharply.
"Well, not that we could see," said the first scout, "but someone powerful is over there. Their army is the size of ours and steadily growing. And that's not counting the men already in Cair Paravel."
Ouranos frowned. "As my great, great grandfather said, 'numbers do not win a battle'."
Caspian sighed. "We must offer a challenge to this enemy. If we attack Cair Paravel we'll be at a disadvantage and we don't want to destroy what's left of the castle. In Ettinsmoor we do not know the land and have yet another disadvantage. We must challenge them here in Narnia, where High King Peter fought along side the Narnians against the White Witch. We must gather all Narnians who are willing to fight."
"Already done," the third scout said, stepping into the light. "The quickest creatures were sent to spread the word and gather troops. They should be here within hours."
"Very good, Davin," Caspian complimented. The young scout smiled. "Will they listen to reasoning or shoot down our messenger before he gets a chance to deliver the challenge though?" He rounded the conversation back to the wild men of the north.
"Please, Your Highness, if you'd allow me, I will take a dozen men at once and do the deed!" Reepacheap spoke up from his position on the table.
"With all do respect, Reep, the enemy may not see you at first. The wild men are not very smart and thus, not very observant," Caspian chose his words carefully and spoke them seriously.
"Two of my sons will deliver the challenge," Ouranos spoke up in his deep tenor voice.
"They will take the Horn of Peace and blow it four times. Also they will take olive branches."
Caspian nodded. "Good. Let the challenge be written. I will dictate, you will write, Trufflehunter." The badger nodded and picked up a quill in his paw, wrapping his claws delicately around it. "I, Caspian X, King over Narnia, Lord over Cair Paravel, Etc, In the Third Year of His Reign, on this day of August the 20th, do declare war upon those in question who have taken over the Narnian city of Cair Paravel. If you accept this challenge we will meet in battle in four days time upon the Battle Field just south of the Border. If you do not acquiesce to this challenge then we will take back Cair Paravel in whatever way we see fit. You have until sunset tomorrow to deliver your answer." Ouranos and Reepacheap nodded their agreement to his words and Trufflehunter dotted in the last period. Caspian signed the bottom in scrawling writing and then stamped his seal next to it. He then rolled up the parchment and delivered it into the hands of a young centaur. Another joined the first's side and they shared a few words with Caspian before the whole company departed from the tent.
Bacchus and Bahir were Ouranos's eldest sons and both were tall and strong with black bodies and wild black hair. Bahir held some olive branches in his arms and Bacchus had a small, ivory horn slung around his shoulder. Caspian handed the challenge to Bacchus and then the two centaurs were galloping off towards the north.
. . .
No one ever said that waiting wasn't hard, but later Caspian described waiting for word from the North as the hardest thing he'd ever done. He paced back and forth in his tent for the rest of the evening and into the next morning until finally he heard hoof beats. Bacchus and Bahir had returned. Caspian hurried out to meet them, noting that both centaurs looked grim. "They have accepted the challenge," Bahir announced.
A cheering went up from the Narnians, but Caspian didn't cheer. "Who answered you?"
"A man who did not belong to the wild men; he was better groomed and more intelligent-"
"They seemed to be waiting for this challenge," Bacchus broke in. "They were ready, and they seem to think they will win."