Chapter 25: Swords and Scrambles

Peter sat by the fireplace in his bedchamber. The breath of his sighs made the flames jump, but no matter how they danced, they couldn't distract him from his troubles. He opened his palm to examine the orchid once more, and with a quick flick of his wrist, he fed it to the fire. Judith was gone and there was nothing he could do about it. He had never endured a pain greater, but Narnia depended on him and for the sake of his kingdom he had to let her go. He wanted to scream and cry and hurl objects across the room…but none of that would change anything (nor was it very kingly) and so he just sat there, content with watching the flower burn up and turn to ash.

The truth of the matter was that he felt very alone. He realized that he had never known Narnia without his siblings and it was very strange to think that he was truly on his own for the first time. Whenever there was danger in Narnia, the Pevensies faced it together and without his brother and sisters, Peter felt like an imposter. For a moment he was comforted by trivial recollections and he longed to challenge Edmund to a game of chess (even though he would most likely lose), or help Lucy collect precious sandstones on the beach, or watch Susan parade about the castle in a fancy new gown. And he wished he could have their advice. But they were all back home in England and so the lonely King walked to the window and stared out over the sea. "What am I doing here?" he muttered. "I don't think I can do this alone."

He had not seen Aslan once since his arrival, but he knew that the Great Lion had a plan ("He must, otherwise I wouldn't be here at all," he thought) and he tried his best to persevere. This isn't to say that he didn't have his doubts. "Could Aslan have expected Judith's betrayal?" he said to himself, reclining on the window seat. Feeling overwhelmed, he closed his eyes to stop his head from throbbing, but his mind would give him no peace. If he had been called back to Narnia even though he was told he would never return, then all he could figure was that his purpose was to protect Judith. After all, her knowledge of the Gypsy clan could have been useful and it was probably the reason why she had been brought to Narnia in the first place. Peter feared that he had made an awful mess of things.

An endless list of uncertainties flooded his every thought. Perhaps if he had not made Judith feel so small, she would still be there. Or if he had explained his history with Narnia, maybe she wouldn't have sided against him. Or if he had snatched the map from Fernes during their first meeting, the Gypsies would have never found Narnia. Or if he had just killed Miraz in the duel, everything could have been entirely different. Or, or, or…

Peter woke in the morning to the sound of hooves clapping in the castle courtyard. He watched out the window as a messenger dismounted hastily and handed Lord Odilon a piece of parchment. The Lord looked bewildered upon reading the letter and as he marched back into the castle, Peter knew that there was more bad news waiting for him. The worst of it was that he would have to address the Council with confidence, but he still did not have a plan of action.

"Come on then. What would Ed do?" Peter grumbled, tapping on his head in frustration. He tried imagining what his brother would say had he been there to face the Treacherous Them and when he closed his eyes tight, he could picture Edmund's eyebrow raised with suspicion when Fernes' men unsheathed their swords. The curve of the blade looked all too familiar.

"Wait a tick…" he said, jumping to his feet. Without haste, he dashed from his chambers to summon the Council.

oOo

"Your Majesty, the Treacherous Them have sent a formal declaration of war. It's most insulting," Odilon sneered, handing the letter to the High King. "It appears that Lady Judith has dubbed herself as the Divine Conqueror Of Your Empire."

Peter read through it and was surprised to see that Judith had signed the document under Fernes and she had done so exactly as Odilon described:

Lady Judith,

Divine Conqueror Of Your Empire

At first he was confused by the odd and insulting choice of title, but after studying the letter for a few long moments, a large smile wiped across his face. All of the Council stared at him with horror.

"Surely Our King does not find humor in this?" Phinean groaned with cynicism.

"No, not humor. Hope. This letter confirms everything I suspect," Peter assured the Council. "But I should not smile. Not if this is any indication of what is in store."

"Sire, please. Enlighten us."

"I happened to notice something very peculiar about our treacherous guests," Peter began. "The sabers They carried were of their own unique mold, but they were remarkably similar to scimitars I had encountered long ago. I do not think I am mistaking when I say that Their swords are of Calormene design."

"But the Calormenes would never carry weapons of such inferior craftsmanship…" one lord objected.

"No, but craftsmanship hardly matters when you are covertly supplying weapons in mass to foreign rebels," another realized.

"And of the letter?" Odilon asked.

Peter held the paper in the air for all of the Council to see. "The letter itself is a declaration of war. However, the signature is a code. Divine Conqueror Of Your Empire. The first letter of each word is capitalized: D-C-O-Y-E."

"Decoy!" a choir of councilmen shouted.

"Precisely," Peter smirked. "It would appear that Lady Judith has set out to warn us of the true nature of this battle."

"It would explain why They insist on engaging us in war knowing well that our numbers exceed theirs," Odilon remarked.

"By the Lion! Are we to assume that They are only meant to distract us while Calormen prepares for an invasion?" a lord asked warily.

"We need some more evidence to be absolutely sure, but intuition tells me that we must send word quickly to Archenland to warn them to watch for Calormene troops," said Peter. "I fear that this is much bigger than we could have ever imagined."