Chapter Twenty-Eight: Flame Rising
A note to JediMan - when Edmund uses words such as 'hell' and 'damn' they're simply expletives and an expression of frustration. When Peter uses those same words they're meant far more literally. In my version of Narnia I've already established that both kings are in possession of mighty tempers, Peter just has a much tighter reign on his than Edmund does, so when he loses his cool the results are far more spectacular.
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'. . . always they had been
partners in the fight, friends in need.
They killed giants, their conquering swords
had brought them down.'
Beowulf, lines 880 - 883
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A loud, raucous laugh erupted from the cluster of Ettins and for a moment Hatta looked away, watching their carousing with envy. I took advantage of his distraction and glanced down at the Bat clinging to my shoulder. "Get safely away, lady," I ordered in a whisper. "Tell Edmund I'm waiting for him."
"Lion be with you," breathed the tiny Bat, pushing off again.
I gave her a few moments to get clear, feeling strangely lonely without her small but valiant presence. I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with air that smelt of sweat and grass and wood smoke. Eyes closed, I held my breath for a few heartbeats, steeling myself and saying a silent prayer before slowly releasing this air of Ettinsmoor, opening my eyes.
Aslan, protect and guide me as you have all along. Let the truth be my shield until my brother arrives. Guard his company and see us through this storm. We are yours.
Standing straight, I looked past Hatta to the ring of Ettins at the fire, focusing on my Palish counterpart. I was as ready as I could be and Edmund needed me to do my part. I would not fail him.
"Valerlan!" I shouted, ignoring Hatta's gesture to be silent as he whirled about. "Valerlan! Crown Prince! Listen to me! I have something to tell you!"
"Sit down!" bellowed my guard as the revelry came to an abrupt stop. The Ettins stared at me across the yard.
"Valerlan! Are you afraid of me?"
That struck a nerve. Almost choking on a last swig of wine from the skin beside him, the crown prince rose and strode across the ruined courtyard, Storr and the guards flanking him with Haigha limping behind. I could feel the ground shake from the sheer size and weight of more than half a dozen Giants. They cast long, dark shadows as they drew near. Backlit by the fire, they filled my line of vision. Great Aslan, they were monstrous huge things even if Ettins were the smallest of the Giant races.
Surrounded by his subjects and cronies, Valerlan had converted to a swaggering, haughty brute, even louder and more domineering than he had been when carrying on before just a handful of his ilk. He seemed less a king and more the leader of a troop of brigands. I gave him an arch look as he stood beside Hatta, letting him know I was well aware of his play-acting and I was far from impressed. Indeed, I found myself strangely detached, numb to fear even, though I felt a thrill of relief when I noticed that they had left their war clubs behind by the fire. While some of the guards wore swords I strongly suspected they were not very adept at their use, and for the most part the Ettins were unarmed. Hatta alone retained his club.
Thank the Lion.
"Now what?" Valerlan demanded with a snide curl of his lip. I could smell the alcohol on them from where I stood.
I smiled faintly. "There's something I need to tell you."
"So you said, little king. What?"
"I need to tell you the truth."
The prince frowned. "Truth? What truth?"
"My truth," I replied smartly. I remembered Aslan's cryptic words to Edmund last Yule and added, "The truth of what is. You see, you're wrong about me, Valerlan, and you know nothing of events as they stand in Narnia."
Valerlan's small, dark eyes narrowed sharply as he began to comprehend what I was saying. He shifted, as dangerous as a wounded animal, and he was instantly defensive. "What?" he breathed as the Ettins shuffled about nervously. Most did not understand anything but the fact that their crown prince was furious beyond words.
All eyes were upon me. I resisted the urge to smirk, glad of the chance to set him aright. I raised my voice so that they could all hear even with their poor hearing.
"The truth, Valerlan! Everything that's been right before you but you choose not to see! Did you know that Jadis was immortal?" I demanded. "She ate the fruit from the same tree that gave Narnia the Tree of Protection. It grants immortality and despair. Only Aslan could have slain her and he did! Didn't your people ever wonder why she didn't age? Why she had the power to lock Narnia in a century of winter? She would never, ever have kept her promise to make your family her heirs. She didn't need any!"
The Ettins exchanged concerned glances, disturbed by such a revelation.
"You lie!" hissed Storr, betraying his own desire for the White Witch. He ignored the fact that his brother had wasted years and years of waiting in hope for something would never, could never come to him.
I glared at him so fiercely he shrank back behind his brother. "I am the High King of Narnia," I snapped. "I have no reason to lie even to the likes of you."
"High King?" wondered Haigha softly, confused at my title.
"Your next mistake," I said to Valerlan, "was in believing Jadis' version of the prophesy. You should have delved into it for yourself. She never told you the entire thing. For her power to be overthrown two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve had to enter Narnia and be enthroned in Cair Paravel. By Aslan's law none other are allowed to rule this land as monarchs! You could never reign in Narnia, Valerlan. I am the eldest of four sovereigns of the realm. By seizing me you have done nothing but call down the wrath of my brother King Edmund the Just." Since I couldn't point with my hands tied, I stamped my foot at the prince standing before me, shock written on his ugly face. "I warned you Narnia would not tolerate this affront, nor will she!"
Beyond them, above the ruined walls of the keep, Bats streaked by, more than I had ever seen before. They rose up in a great swarm high in the sky, waiting for the signal to attack. I needed no such signal, but pressed on with my assault. I'd had nothing to do but walk and think for an entire week and I had come to a great many conclusions in the process. Like a spark igniting a flame I let my temper have free reign, seeing no reason to hold back any more.
I stepped forward and shouted the words I had been longing to say since I had woken up in the throne room of the White Witch's ice castle. "I am not the Blood Heir! I never have been!"
Valerlan's eyes grew huge and he gasped. "You said -"
I cut him off with a sharp gesture. "I never said a thing! You assumed and I didn't correct you! Oh, you're quite right, there is a Blood Heir, but it's not me. Jadis' Blood Heir is my younger brother, King Edmund. He fell under her power and enchantment and he was the one among us she made heir to her legacy. Edmund carries Jadis' taint, not I. He was the one she chose, not you! A simple Son of Adam over the Ettin crown prince! She tricked him into eating and drinking a potion made of her blood and the price he paid was more terrible than you can imagine.
"Your father thinks to breed a line descended from Humans and Ettins and whatever Jadis was? Do you actually think for one instant Narnia would accept such a ruler, from such a people as yours? Valaner is mad to believe anything so far-fetched. You accuse me of stealing your birthright? I can't steal something you never had! You have no respect for Aslan, for his works, for revinim, for everything that makes Narnia the seat of his grace and power! You destroyed the Tree of Protection, killed and ate Narnian citizens and helped empower a tyrant!"
"You are not the Blood Heir," murmured Valerlan, staring at me as if he had never seen me before. He was fixated on this single fact. I saw his hand creep towards the knife in his belt reflexively. Kanell and Xati had better hurry back - I didn't think Valerlan would stay his first impulse to kill me. He shifted, his cunning mind searching for a way to salvage the situation even as it fell apart around him. "Where is this brother, then?"
"Closer than you'd wish," I snapped, my heart hammering in my chest. It was as much a thrill as a relief to menace them back after the abuse and terror I'd endured in their company. "There's something else your people's legends haven't taken into account. You say Human blood is what made your race so great in the past. Are you so sure? If Etainn was the grandson of King Frank and Queen Helen he would have been half Human. There were no Humans besides the royal family in Narnia at that age in history. The children of Frank and Helen married Wood Nymphs and River Gods. It's impossible for Etainn to have been purely Human because unlike the Ettins we are not in the habit of bedding our sisters. How do you know Ettain's intelligence didn't come from the native Narnians?"
There was absolute silence as I tore apart the beliefs and legends of more than eight hundred years of history. Perhaps because Humans had always ruled Narnia, the Ettins had assumed the Human blood in them had given them their genius. Perhaps it had, perhaps not. It didn't matter. They were a doomed race.
Valerlan's alcohol-muddled mind processed my words and he became increasingly angry. I think he knew full well that I was telling the truth, he simply didn't want to hear it.
"Narnia is what lifted your people from the mud, Valerlan, and Narnia is the one thing you will never possess!" I looked at him squarely. "You are not worthy."
That did it. Valerlan's face twisted into a savage mask and with a scream of rage he raised one huge hand, winding up to smash me to pulp. One blow and he would kill me, but I stood my ground. Suddenly another scream, distant and terrified, tore through the night. The Ettins froze, even the prince, as the terrible howl ended as abruptly as it began. They cowered and whimpered, lumping close together. Storr seized his brother's sleeve in both hands but Valerlan shook him off with a savage growl.
"This is your last chance, Valerlan," I said, knowing that Kanell and Xati had fulfilled their mission. "Release me. Let me walk out of here unmolested and you and your people won't be destroyed. Otherwise . . . the fate of the Ettin race be upon your head."
If ever Crown Prince Valerlan had wanted to kill someone, it was Narnia's High King. With a hiss of murderous fury he drew his hand back to strike me -
"NARNIA!"
- my brother's war-cry echoed throughout the keep -
- and the whole world erupted into chaos.
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Screams rang out as a volley of arrows sped from the shadows and found their marks. Two of the Ettins clutched their faces, hands over their bleeding eyes and their howls of agony and fear filling the air. An instant later swarms of Bats swooped down from above, their shrill voices rising up in a piercing screech. They flocked around the Ettins, clawing and flapping, a confusing veil of darkness and motion and aggressiveness. Caught completely off guard, the Giants were thrown into disarray, some screaming, some covering their heads to run, the injured tripping and falling.
All this happened in the span of a few seconds. I darted back out of Valerlan's range. Behind me I heard another shout and I barely looked up when Edmund came scrambling down the crumbling wall behind me, Rhindon in his hand. Behind him archers and Animals broke cover and moved to attack the Ettins.
"Peter!"
Landing heavily, Edmund ran a few steps towards me before he thrust Rhindon point-down into the sod and yanked his dagger free from his belt. I stumbled towards him, falling to my knees, holding out my bound hands. I barely had time to take in his appearance. He was as filthy as he was resolute and he wasted a few moments scrutinizing me, looking for injuries or signs of hurt. I found myself doing the same to him, unable to talk as he worked on cutting me free.
"To Keern!" roared Valerlan.
I looked behind me, keeping my hands braced against Edmund's belt as he tore at my bonds. It was pandemonium as Animals and Dwarfs and archers attacked from all sides. Valerlan, vainly swiping at Bats as if they were mosquitoes, hauled Hatta to his feet. The older Ettin's exposed flesh was covered with tiny, bloody scrapes from the Bats' claws.
"Get to Keern! Have Daichoe send troops!"
Hatta nodded silently, staggering off. I whipped around.
"Ed, we have to stop them!" My voice was desperate to my own ears.
"Consider it done," he swore without hesitation.
My younger brother cut through the last leather strap binding my wrists. He shoved his dagger back into his belt and stepped back in order to draw the sword I had given him less than a month ago. He let out a shout of warning and swung Shafelm in a wide arc over both of our heads as I instinctively ducked low. His reward was a hiss of pain as the tip of the sword sliced across Valerlan's palm. The Ettin had been reaching for me but now he staggered back, stung, blood dripping from his hand.
Edmund hauled me to my feet and then he was gone, darting after Hatta as the Ettin staggered away towards the center of the keep. What had I just done? I had set my only brother after the worst of our enemies.
Aslan, protect him!
"Pa'ala!" I heard Edmund shout and then Hatta screamed as a massive Bat swept down, dragging huge wings across one of his eyes. He knocked the Bat aside and ran on, stumbling up the steps and into the darkness beyond.
"Run!" screamed Valerlan, and the desperation in his tone gave me a surge of hope. They were not used to resistance, not trained to react as we were. They postured and bellowed and threatened, where we simply attacked.
He was afraid.
I snatched up Rhindon in aching hands, the familiar weight of this perfect blade all the more reassuring for having been delivered to me by my only brother. I hope it had comforted him in his journey as much as it comforted me on this battlefield.
"Valerlan!"
He turned at my shout. All around him his soldiers and kin were under direct assault. I caught a glimpse of Athan, the Mountain Gorilla, clambering up a guard's armor and attacking the Ettin's face with powerful blows of his fists and his razor-sharp teeth. Two of the Giants were down, groaning in pain, and I saw the Bobcat, Flinder, going for the throat of one while a pair of Black Dwarfs wielding axes went for the other without mercy. Bats swarmed everywhere, like black snow caught on the wind.
The crown prince focused on me. Once he had marveled at me and all that I represented. Now he looked upon me with absolute hatred as his plans and his world came to an end.
"Kill you," hissed he. "I'll kill you!"
I was already running at him, Rhindon at the ready. I didn't waste my breath on words, but let my actions speak for me:
Not today.
