Chapter Thirty-Six: In the Dark Castle
Edmund gulped, trying to steady his breathing after his brief but intense battle with a guard who had found the flashlight Edmund had dropped from the tower. By the time Edmund had reached the soldier, the Telmarine, not knowing what the cylinder was, had turned it on and shone its beam all around the darkened rampart. Edmund could only imagine how confused the Narnians, waiting for his signal, were to have this streak of light bouncing all over the place.
Now, he could not get his air back quickly enough for his liking. Peter had just hollered to him to signal the troops, and he would obey as soon as he could. He gulped again, pushing the switch of the electric torch, but it would not turn on. Utilizing the flashlight for a weapon, smashing it across the guard's face, had evidently broken it.
Edmund could hear Susan's voice addressing Peter, urging him to flee. "There's no time!" she shouted as Telmarine soldiers began to pour into the courtyard. The element of surprise was gone. This was not part of the plan.
Edmund hit the torch on the sides, trying to bring it back to life. If he could not get the light to come back on, the Narnians would never know to advance. Peter, Sigrid, Susan and Caspian would have no back up. He should just holler down to Peter to call the plan off.
"No, I can still do this," Peter's voice reached Edmund's ears. Edmund knew his brother would not go down without a fight. Edmund pounded the flashlight harder.
"C'mon," he grumbled.
"Exactly who are you doing this for, Peter?" Sigrid asked.
Just what had gone wrong with their plan?
{Earlier that night}
"Professor?" Caspian whispered, tapping on his tutor's window. He opened it and entered the room with Peter following. The room was filled with hard covered tomes and artifacts from the Pevensies' reign. Peter was instantly fascinated that Cornelius had kept so many things from the Four's Golden Age despite being under Telmarine rule. But the fact they were alone in the chamber did not escape Peter's notice. Caspian carefully picked up a pair of spectacles from a desk. "I have to find him."
Peter assisted his wife through the window, shooting Caspian a sharp glance. "You don't have time. You need to get the gate open."
Outside the window, Kili was the next to come down the rope from the tower above, where Tauriel had secured the end of the rope. He had just gotten onto the ledge and was about to go inside when he missed his footing on the sill and started falling backward. Tauriel, standing guard at the top of the tower, could not help the squeaking noise that she made, trying not to scream as she watched her husband swing over courtyard three stories below. Next second, Kili was dangling midair with Susan holding onto his quiver strap. As Susan pulled him back, the Elf gazed up at the stars in relief.
Once inside, the Dwarf and the Gentle Queen found Peter and Caspian frowning at one another. "You wouldn't be here without him," Caspian was saying, "and neither would I."
"I can make it to the gate alone," offered Susan, glancing between Caspian and Peter. "Caspian can search the dungeons with Kili–"
"How many people does it take to search the dungeons for a Dwarf and a Half-Dwarf?" demanded Peter, frowning at his sister. This was the second time Susan had willingly offered to do Caspian's task. What was wrong with her? And just how far would she go before Caspian betrayed her – betrayed them all? Telmarines were descendants of pirates, Peter had heard tell; they were not trustworthy – they had stolen the Narnian Kingdom. Caspian did not have a single right to any of the Four Thrones in this castle. Caspian could go rot in the dungeon with his professor for all Peter cared.
"If Caspian can search the dungeons by himself, I could join Susan at the gatehouse," spoke up Kili.
Peter could feel his blood boiling. They had a well thought out plan earlier that evening, and now when time was critical, they were wasting it to rewrite the scheme. "We can't go back on the original plan; we need to act on it now."
"Peter, we don't have time to argue this out," Sigrid put in, noticing that Caspian appeared to be on the verge of rebuking. "Susan and Kili will handle the gate; you and I'll deal with Miraz."
"And I can still make it to the gate in time," Caspian finished, before hurrying out of the Professor's study.
{Section Break}
Having hauled up the rope so that no passing guard would notice it hanging down to the professor's window, Tauriel began her task as lookout from the tower. Her Elven eyes could make out Edmund on the farthest tower, waiting for the right moment to signal the troops who should be waiting within the Glasswater city limits by now.
Her eyes swept over the rest of the silent castle, noting the dead men-at-arms that they had struck down when making their entrance on the Gryphons' backs. No other guards seemed to have noticed them yet, but just as soon as one did, an alarm would be sounded. Tauriel pulled her bowstring taut with one of her arrows. She would not let anyone sound the alarm while she was on patrol.
{Section Break}
Having grown up as a mischievous boy in this castle, Caspian had no trouble remembering his way down to the catacombs. Only one guard on the stairs going down to the prison interfered, but Caspian easily dispatched him. At the bottom of the stair, he could barely make out the cells in the dim light of a couple of torches. He saw one short figure stand up from where he had been sitting in the back of the prison.
"Who goes there?" his deep voice questioned the semi-darkness, unable to see much of the figure.
"Who are you?" Caspian strode toward the door, keys from the slain jailer in his hand. As he drew closer he could see that this was, in fact, a Dwarf. "Trumpkin?"
"You're that boy we saved from the Ringwraiths," the Dwarf returned, confirming his identity to the Telmarine, who hastily unlocked the door and the iron cuffs from Trumpkin's wrists.
Caspian then looked into the next cell. Now that his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, he was able to recognize the person who lay on the cold stone floor. Quickly, he let himself in and helped the doctor to his feet.
"What are you doing here?" Cornelius demanded as Caspian removed his professor's shackles. "I didn't help you escape just so you could break back in. You have to get out before Miraz learns you're here."
"He's going to learn soon enough," Caspian announced, handing Cornelius the spectacles he had picked up in the professor's study. "We are giving him your cell."
The Prince made to move back up the stairs when Cornelius caught him by the shoulder, forcing Caspian to halt and stare back at the half-Dwarf.
"Don't underestimate Miraz as your father did."
Caspian gawked in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
Cornelius lowered his gaze. "I'm sorry."
Realization began to dawn within Caspian. He knew he had only been kept alive because Miraz did not have an heir of his own. It had not occurred to him before that Miraz had coveted the throne while Caspian the Ninth had been upon it.
Jerking away his professor's arm, Caspian bolted, nearly tripping over Trumpkin in his haste to get up the stairs. Trumpkin went over to the dead jailer and took his sword, then made to go after Caspian.
"We're going to need to get out of here." Cornelius was right on Trumpkin's heels as they mounted to the floor above. "You get Caspian, and I'll get some horses."
{Section Break}
Sigrid followed Peter up a flight of stairs and down several corridors. It had been so long since last she visited Cair Paravel, she had no idea where Peter was leading her. She only hoped he remembered. Based on Caspian's directions, it had sounded to Peter that Miraz and his wife, Prunaprismia, had taken over Peter's old bedroom.
As Peter came to halt at the elaborately carved wooden door that had once signified the entrance to his personal chambers, Sigrid felt a strange feeling rush through her veins. Never once had she regretted living her married life in Bag End with all of Peter's family and Bilbo and his cousin, but as she stared at door, she wished that she and Peter might have lived in their own place. What lay behind the door could have been theirs under different circumstances. As Peter drew his sword, he shot his wife a look. She notched an arrow in place, and nodded. Tonight, they would take back what belonged to them.
Peter threw open the door, and both he and Sigrid rushed in, weapons pointing straight ahead. They both stopped, however, only a few paces away from the door. There was no bed, no people, just a cradle in the middle of the room. Both Peter and Sigrid stepped up to it to find a baby beginning to squawk at being so rudely awakened. The couple quickly turned on their heels and fled, knowing a nurse would come tend to the child any second.
Back out in the hall, the two looked at each other. "Caspian steered us wrong!" Peter growled under his breath.
"Or maybe you just tried the wrong door," Sigrid hissed back. "What is the matter with you, Peter? Are you too magnificent that you can never be in the wrong?" Sigrid tightened her grip on his father's old bow. "Let's try the next door. The parents can't be far."
{Section Break}
Kili was let into the gatehouse above the drawbridge by Reepicheep and two of his trusted Mice soldiers. The second the door was open, Kili spied a Telmarine guard coming from the far side of the room, but he barely had time to react before Kili had silenced him with an arrow. There were two other Telmarines laying on the floor, suggesting that the Mice had seen a little action since sneaking into the castle.
Reepicheep looked up at the Dwarf. "We were expecting someone…you know…taller."
"Aren't you one to talk?"
"Is that supposed to be irony?" rebuked the Mouse, leading the way to the wheel that would lower the drawbridge.
One of the Mice jumped onto a window ledge, waiting for Edmund's signal. "There's the light!" he shouted after a moment, before his face contorted with confusion. Kili and Reepicheep came over to the window to see what was going on. The flashlight beam was shining like an airport spotlight – not that any of the Narnians knew what that was. The Mouse turned to his commander-and-chief. "What's that supposed to mean?"
{Section Break}
Susan had taken on the task of raising the interior gate while Kili went to assist the Mice. As she crept down the stairs to the courtyard, she was met by two guards. Moving quickly, Susan drove an arrow under one soldier's armor and threw another arrow at the soldier who was running away from his fallen comrade. Hoping that no more Telmarines would interfere, Susan pressed on toward the gate.
At one point she looked up to see if Edmund was ready with his flashlight, instead she saw the beam streaking out across the night sky just before the bells started ringing. Their sharp, clear peal pierced Susan to the core. Someone had announced the Narnians presence in Cair Paravel; they did not stand a chance at reclaiming their home tonight.
{Section Break}
Peter shot Caspian a hard look. "You were supposed to be at the gatehouse."
The Prince, nursing his bloodied arm, returned Peter's angry stare. "Kili went in my place."
"This is not the time to argue about this!" Sigrid interrupted, shouting to be heard over the warning bells that had just started ringing. She, her husband, Caspian, and Trumpkin were running down the hall, having abandoned Miraz's bedchamber. When she and Peter had entered, they discovered that Caspian had beat them to the destination by a few minutes, and he already had Miraz out of bed at swordpoint.
Queen Prunaprismia had hauled out a crossbow which she had used to shoot Caspian in the arm and provide her husband with an escape. Sigrid had shot an arrow after the fleeing King, but he ducked behind a door to the side of the room before her dart could catch up with him. Realizing it would not be long now before Miraz would sound the alarm, the three Humans, plus the Dwarf whom had just arrived, left the room, leaving Prunaprismia wailing in a hysterical fit on the bed.
"We can get out by way of the servant's entrance," Caspian suggested, turning down a corridor, followed by all but Peter. They stopped to watch the blonde man continuing his course toward the courtyard.
"Peter, it's too late!" Sigrid shouted after him.
"Our troops are just outside!" Peter hollered back over his shoulder. Kili and Susan should have the gates open by now and Edmund would have signaled the troops. They could still take the castle.
Peter was irritated, however, when he found the courtyard devoid of life except for Susan running toward him. He looked up to where Edmund was fighting with a Telmarine soldier.
"Now, Ed, signal the troops!"
"I'm a bit busy, Pete!"
"There's no time!" warned Susan, pointing to the men-at-arms who were beginning to swarm into the courtyard. "We have to call it off while we still can!"
"No, I can still do this," Peter hissed back, beginning to spin the wheel that would open the iron gate. "Help me!"
Caspian, Trumpkin, and Sigrid joined him, while Susan notched an arrow on her bow.
"Exactly who are you doing this for, Peter?" his wife demanded, standing next to him.
With a final whack to the electric torch, the light came back on and Edmund clicked it on and off the correct number of times that the Narnia soldiers had been waiting for. Instantly, the Narnians charged across the drawbridge that had been lowered into place, arriving at the interior door just as Peter and the others had finished raising it.
"For Narnia!" Peter shouted, drawing his sword.
The following moments were chaos as the two armies clashed together. Susan was loosing arrows left and right, but took a quick moment to scan the courtyard when she heard an order that was not from anyone in their army.
"Archers!"
She looked up to see Telmarines lining up along the highest parapet, preparing to shoot down into the courtyard. Their position was too high up for Susan to shoot at them with her bow, but they would have no difficulty taking out the Narnians.
"Pick a target!" the officer in charge of the Telmarine archers directed.
Edmund peeked over the roof behind the rank of archers and could see that one of the Telmarines had his crossbow trained at Peter down below. Without another thought, Edmund leapt over the rooftop, sliding down and knocking the soldier over the railing.
The other archers, realizing that there was a Narnian in their midst, turned their weapons to face him, but they were met with a surprise attack. Another figure followed Edmund's lead over the rooftop and crashed in amongst them, sending two over the rail to their deaths. With twin blades spinning in her hands, the Elf slayed a few others before she felt something sharp graze her shoulder blades.
Thanks to the confusion Tauriel had caused, Edmund was able to draw his sword and fend for himself, killing another soldier and cutting another's crossbow in half. He was about to attempt working his way to the She-Elf when he saw her nodding toward the door behind him.
"Get out of here!" she cried before jumping back onto the roof.
Taking her command to heart, Edmund ducked into the tower room, closing the door behind him as quickly as he could, though some darts still made their way in.
Back on the roof out of reach of the Telmarines' weapons, Tauriel rubbed a hand over the top of her back and pulled it away bloodstained. The wound stung like a severe burn, but it did not seem to be deep. Getting to her feet, Tauriel ran along the rooftop, hunting for an unoccupied battlement. She had to find aid for the Just King.
{Section Break}
Peter swung his sword, slicing through the Telmarine with whom he was fighting. Taking a moment to look around, he spied Miraz standing on a balcony, watching the proceedings of the battle. Nodding toward a Satyr that was no longer engaged in man-to-beast combat any more, both he and the Satyr mounted the stairs to the main entrance of the castle. While Peter battled with some soldiers, the Satyr mounted the stairs that climbed along the side of the castle wall, and he jumped from these to the railing of the balcony. Miraz was startled by the intrusion, jerking back just before the Satyr could strike.
Next second, Glozelle was standing behind the Telmarine King with an empty crossbow in his grasp, and the Satyr was only holding onto the rail by one hand, an arrow in his other arm. Miraz came toward the hapless creature and pushed him back.
Peter looked up to the see the Narnian fall and to hear Miraz order Glozelle to get the gate closed. Miraz intended to cut off the Narnians' only escape route. Within a moment, a Telmarine soldier was in one of the gatehouse windows, hacking at the chain holding the weights that were keeping the iron gate open. They fell to the ground, and the gate began to drop. A Minotaur, witnessing the incident, rushed forward, holding the gate in place as best he could. Peter knew that the creature could not hold it up for long.
"Fall back!" the High King ordered. With a sinking heart, he battled his way back through the Telmarines. The battle was lost.
{Section Break}
Tauriel sent the Gryphon on his way before she worked her way down to the courtyard, flexing her shoulder and arm muscles, preparing her body for the grueling task of fighting once again. Just then, her Elf eyes caught sight of some commotion going on in the gatehouse. Kili was standing in one of the windows, loosing arrows at some soldiers who had just entered. All of a sudden, one of the Telmarines rushed at him with a shield, bashing it against the Dwarf, causing him to fall backward out the window.
Battling her way through the throng of Telmarine soldiers, Tauriel reached her husband's side. She heard Peter give the order to retreat and she saw the Minotaur in her peripheral vision.
"Come on, Kili; I'm getting you out of here."
The Dwarf turned a battered and bloodied face toward the sound of her voice, but his eyes did not focus on her. "I don't think she can save me this time."
Tauriel felt her voice catch in her throat. "Kili, snap out of it. Can you get up? I'll carry you!"
The Dwarf's eyes began to roll back.
"Kili! Kili, don't leave me! Kili!"
"…they will die. Today, tomorrow, one year hence, a hundred years from now; what does it matter? They are mortal."
{Section Break}
"We need to retreat now! Back to the gate!" Peter roared. "Go!"
The Centaur, Glenstorm, saw the King's face and hurried to where Sigrid was standing in the center of the courtyard, pausing to catch her breath. She noticed Glenstorm coming toward her with Peter yelling behind him. Reaching out her hand to the Centaur, he hauled her aboard his back.
Susan was standing to the side of the courtyard, nocking another arrow in place before pushing her way toward the exit. Peter would be the last one out; he would wait to make certain that his siblings were out of the castle – he had already made sure that his wife was on her way to safety. Susan looked around for Edmund. There was no knowing where on the battlements he was by this point. Then she realized who she had not seen.
"Caspian!" she shouted, gazing around. She had not thanked him for rescuing her in the forest earlier that day. In fact, she had been snappy and rude to him for returning her to the How rather than catching up with Lucy so that Susan may have continued on the journey with her sister. A part of her had not forgiven him for abandoning Lucy, but the other part was not about to leave him just like how he had not left her to the Telmarines.
Peter frowned, hearing his sister shout. Despite having pirate ancestors, Caspian had evidently never heard the saying, "The Captain always goes down with his ship." And if any them deserved to receive judgement from the Telmarine soldiers, it was the person who had gotten them into this mess.
Just then four brown stallions galloped into the courtyard from out of the stables. They shook their manes in anticipation for battle – they were all war-hardened destriers. Caspian and Cornelius rode two and lead the other two, having taken the best mounts complete with saddles and reins, though the tack had been hastily put on. Catching Peter's and Susan's attention, Caspian nodded toward the two empty animals. Susan, being the closest, swung hurriedly into the saddle, and followed Cornelius out of the courtyard.
The Minotaur was doing all he could to keep the gate high enough for Centaurs and those on horseback to gallop through the castle entrance. Susan glanced back to see Caspian riding close behind with Peter running alongside his own horse, kicking down a Telmarine which gave him enough leverage to jump into the saddle. Just before the two Men could ride through the gate, the Minotaur received an arrow shaft in his leg. With his final ounce of strength, he raised the iron structure one last time to allow the High King and Prince past. Then another shaft struck him in the shoulder, and he fell with the gate on top of him.
Peter slowed his horse and looked back to see the Narnians who had not been able to get to the gate in time. Some of them were shouting for the others to get out of Glasswater and save themselves. Others had nothing courageous to say; their scared faces revealed their desire to live. One Faun was frantically trying to climb over the gate but was shot with an arrow.
The darkness of night could not hide their faces from their High King, and one particular redhead was vibrant in the blue-black haze of predawn. Peter gasped to realize the Elf was still within the castle walls, and he mistook the tears on her face as ones for loss of her freedom. She gave him a determined look and a deep nod. Then she turned toward the courtyard so that Peter saw the dark splotches on her back.
"Let's give the Telmarines a Narnian farewell they won't soon forget!" she roared, mustering the bravest to her. "In the name of Aslan!"
"Peter, the bridge!"
The High King was drawn away from the sight of the Narnians' last stand by Sigrid's voice. He saw her still on Glenstorm's back, waiting on the other side of the rising drawbridge. Spurring his mount in action, Peter rode across the bridge, jumping the expanse created by the advancing bridge. He gazed back once again to watch his loyal subjects fight before the bridge blocked his view.
A.N.: Two deleted scenes from PC were used in this chapter. The first one being where Kili nearly falls off the window ledge. In the movie, though, it was Trumpkin that Susan saved. And remember how I mentioned in my one of my other A.N.s that there was a deleted scene that explained why Peter and Susan took longer to get to Miraz's room than it did for Caspian? Yep, that would have been the wrong door incident.
So, there's that. Please let me know what you think.