Well, everyone, this had definitely been one hell of a ride. I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Disclaimer: Narnia does not belong to me.

This chapter is dedicated to you all! Thanks for all your support!

Chapter 19.

"He'll live. He's not completely out of danger yet. He lost a lot of blood today. However, I believe that if we keep a close eye on him, and if he does not develop an infection, there is no reason why he shouldn't be back to normal within a month and a half."

It was with these words from the centaur that Aoife and Elisud let out a simultaneous sigh of relief. They were sitting just outside the large room in Anvard that was currently serving as a makeshift hospital, and had been there for the best part of three hours. Both were, as you can imagine, weary and sore, and Elisud probably had more pressing matters to worry about at the moment, but he was so concerned for Galian that he had asked his brother to take over for the time being. Now, he would get a few hours' sleep, and return to his work in the morning.

Aoife's arm had been rebroken. During the course of battle, she had fallen off her horse while avoiding an incoming spear, and had the great misfortune to land on her already fragile arm. The break had been worse than before, and the centaurs had told her she would never regain full use of it again. She would have worried about her future, if she hadn't already decided what she was going to do after this mess was over.

Three weeks passed, and everything was more or less back to normal. Galian had regained consciousness, and was just as eager to see his friends as they were to see him. They all sat, round his bed (he was in his own room now), laughing and carrying on, until Elisud finally said, "Look here, old boy, this is all well and good, but we want to know what happened. What made you change your mind and come back?"

"Let's just say,"Galian replied, "that I received some very good advice from some very influential people. They made me see that I was being rather a fool, and that my place was here. Honestly, I don't think I could have gone on with my life knowing you all might have been dead. Anyway, after I realized that, I rode over to Cair Paravel, and told them what was going on. I think at first they weren't inclined to believe me, at any rate, there was a lot of argument about the whole thing. When the finally got confirmation that, yes, there was a brutal, bloodthirsty band of Calormenes threatening the existence of Archenland as we know it, there was another hubbub about whether or not this was grounds to call out the army. Finally, that hefty fellow that called himself the General said to the regent, 'Sir, you can debate about this all you like, but if our brothers in Archenland are dying, I will not hesitate to send my army to their aid,' and after a bit, we left Narnia, and you know everything from there."

"Well, if it wasn't for you, we surely wouldn't have survived that battle. I'm glad you're alright, you damned old fool,"he said, and after shaking Galian's hand, started to leave.

"Where do you think you're going?"Galian asked suspiciously. He was loathing every minute of his bed-ridden condition and was throughly peeved that his friends were out and about doing things while he saw the inside of the same room all day and night.

"The last of the Calormenes is gone, my good friend,"he replied cheekily, "which, in everyone's opinion, is cause for a good celebration. Coming, you two?"he asked Aoife and Pericles. Aoife rose to follow, after giving Galian a peck on the cheek (one that made Pericles and Galian both turn red). She turned to Pericles, who had not moved from his position against the wall.

"Pericles?"

"I'll be right there. I've...I've just got something private to say. It's alright,"he added, when she gave him a suspicious look. She did leave though, leaving the two young men alone together. An awkward silence settled between them, growing worse and worse as Pericles was obviously struggling with what to say. Eventually, he blurted out, "Look here! We're even now, aren't we? You saved my life by telling Queen Eleytheria I was a friend. I saved yours by killing that soldier before he could cut off your head. Neither one of us owes the other anything."

Galian looked out the window a moment, contemplating what Pericles had just said, "No, we're not even. As long as we both love Aoife, we'll never be even. And we'll never be friends."

"I suppose not,"Pericles said in a melancholy voice, as if surrendering to the inevitable.

"But,"Galian continued, "we could be allies."

He held out his hand to Pericles, who regarded it for a moment, then took it.

And the two men shook hands.

Aoife was having a wonderful time at the celebration. It had been solemn at first, with tribute to those who had given the last full measure, but now there was laughter, music and dancing, and more food than she had ever seen in one place at one time. She had been talking and chatting all evening, and now stood alone, watching Elisud dance with Princess Delwyn. She was just thinking what an attractive couple they would make if they were a couple, when she heard a dry, bored, slurred voice ask, "You do not dance, Lady Aoife?"

She turned to see Lord Faolan, looking actually very nice in a woodland green-colored tunic. He was actually smiling, which Aoife knew, relatively new as she was, was a rare occurrence in itself.

"My mobility is too limited this evening to do anything but watch,"she told him, gesturing to her bound arm.

"Of course, how foolish of me. And how brave of you. Very few, men and women alike, would have the courage to do what you did."

She was beginning to wonder what exactly it was Galian disliked about Faolan. He seemed tame enough to her, "I've never liked watching, Lord Faolan. I've always been one to act instead."

"Which is why it must be hard for you to watch the dancers and not participate."

She laughed, "I confess, my dancing abilities are not as bragged about as my courage, Lord Faolan."

He laughed in return, and they both were silent for a moment as they watched the dancers. Finally, he said to her, "We captured a good number of Calormene fugitives today."

"Indeed?"

"Yes. There is one I think you would take an interest in."

"Oh?"she asked, puzzled, "Who?"

"Would it please you to follow me?"and he guided her through the crowd, away from the banquet. They went down several flights of stairs, down to the dungeons. Patrolmen heavily populated this area of the castle, and saluted Faolan smartly as he passed, Aoife in his wake. They passed several iron doors, stopping at the very last one on the left. Faolan turned to Aoife and handed her a long, sharp dagger.

"Just in case,"he told her, before unlocking the door and ushering her in.

The room couldn't have been more than nine feet long and wide. The only furniture was a waste bucket in the corner and a bed built into the wall. A small, iron tray with uneaten bread and water sat in the middle of the room. On the bed sat a dirty and ragged Calormene, his head in his hands. When the door opened, he did not look up just yet, but when he did, both he and Aoife gasped. After all, she did not expect to see her father, no more than did Suruv expect to see his runaway daughter.

He was the first to recover from the shock, "So this is where you ran away to?"

"Yes. But, you..."

"You're wondering how I came to fight in the battle? And eventually be captured?"

Aoife nodded. Suruv began, "The Tisroc (may he live forever) knows nothing of this. I assume he will know nothing of it until those that escaped arrive in Tashbaan, and of course he will not claim knowledge of our attack. No, we were organized by someone else. I only wrote that letter to the Queen demanding you back so that it would seem to the world that we had grounds to attack. No, our leader could care less about my runaway daughter."

"Who is this leader you speak of?"

Suruv hesitated, looking around the room as if trying to spot someone hidden, which it would have been impossible for anyone to hide in such as bare room as that. He motioned Aoife to come closer, who did, after gripping the dagger a bit tighter. In a low whisper, Suruv told her, "He is no ordinary man. In fact, I would not call him a man. He is more like a monster."

"Who is, Suruv?"

"We call him the Sorcerer. He is a great, horrible wizard, bent on destroying Narnia. He will stop at nothing. He will send every man, woman, and child in Calormen to his or her death until he had complete possession of these countries. And when he does get possession, because he will, oh yes, his obsession is strong and he will have them, when he has them, I say, our lives will just as well be over. He will put us through the worst hell his imagination will be able to fathom, and I can tell you, his imagination is great."

"But who is he, Suruv?"

"And what is worse, he is everywhere. He is here now, in this cell. Oh, we can't see him, that is part of his magic, but he is here. He knows I have failed. And he told me, if I failed..."and here, surprising Aoife more than everything Suruv had just told her, Suruv began to cry. Not just a whimper, either, but a sob that, even after the horrible way he had treated her, made Aoife's heart break.

"I have failed him!"Suruv wailed, "and now-and now-he will not stop at killing me, Aoife. No, he'll torture me, slowly, painfully, and I will wish for death long before he gives it to me."

He was shaking all over as the tears flowed. As he looked at Aoife, his eyes were filled with fear. She had never seen him like this, never thought he possessed any emotion but greed or anger. To see him like this, crying like a frightened little child, was new and terrifying to her.

"Aoife,"he sobbed, "I know I was a horrible father to you. I did not treat you with the respect you deserved. I made your life as terrible as I could, only because you were so wise and much braver than I, and I was jealous of you. I was jealous, do you hear! I was an awful father, but I gave you shelter, food, and clothing didn't I?"

"Yes, you did."

"I did you a courtesy. Could you do one for me?"

"What?"

"I want you to kill me."

"You-you what?"

"You must have wanted to a thousand times in the past. Now is your chance. Kill me, Aoife."

"No...no I won't."

Suruv rose, too petrified with fear and surprise to say anything. Aoife continued, "You were a dreadful father to me. In fact, I do not believe even now that I ever called you my father. But you are right, you did allow me to sleep in your house and gave me clothes to wear and food to eat. For that, I owe you something. I'll make sure you stay here, in this cell.. I'll give you a roof over your head, food to eat, and clothes for your back, as you did for me, and what's more, I'll see to it that you are protected from this sorcerer of yours. And I will never think of you again."

Suruv began to laugh insanely. Indeed, Aoife thought he was losing his mind, "You fool of a girl! Did you not hear me? This is no ordinary man. He is a sorcerer, an evil, inhuman monster. He sees all, he knows all, you cannot hide from him. Large, locked iron doors make no difference to him. He will come into my cell, tonight, and he will take me away, and he will torture me for the sake of his own pleasure. He won't kill me just yet. I need you to kill me, Aoife. I need you to do me this courtesy."

He was on his knees now, holding Aoife's hands, his voice fraught with despair. But Aoife could not bring herself to kill him. She withdrew her hands from his grasp, and left that room as quickly as she could. Just as she closed the door, she heard a blood-curdling scream from inside.

Faolan was standing at the far end of the hall. He looked at her curiously as she walked to him, thrusting the dagger into his hands, "I don't know why on earth you thought it would be a good idea to bring me down here. I wish it had never happened!"

"What, Aoife? What happened?"

She did not answer, "Will you do me one small favor?"

"Alright."

"Post a guard outside that door. No one is to go in. Make sure his food is safe to eat before you give it too him. He claims someone is trying to kill him. Make sure that doesn't happen."

The next morning, as breakfast was being served, the guards found Suruv hanging in his cell by his bed sheet. He had been dead for hours, everyone decided, and his body was graciously sent back to Calormen along with the rest of the soldiers who had died in battle, at the request of Aoife.

Galian, absolutely fed up with sitting around all day missing the action, found her on the terrace facing east while he was stretching his legs later that morning. She looked thoughtful, though she brightened up a good deal when she saw Galian up and about.

"How are you feeling?"he asked her after she hugged him.

"You'll think me strange, but I'm actually a little sad,"she commented, returning to her seat. Galian joined her, saying, "I do not think you strange at all. He was the only father you had ever known. No matter how terrible he treated you, there must have been some affection between the two of you all those years."

They were silent for a moment, then Galian asked, "How did you know he was here?"

She looked a tad sheepish, "Lord Faolan took me to see him."

"He what?"

She sighed. She had known he would get angry, "Last night, at the celebration, he told me they had captured a prisoner I might take an interest in, and sure enough, he brought me to Suruv."

"But why?"

"I overheard him telling Queen Eleytheria this morning that he had hoped I could get information out of him."

There was a tense pause, then Galian asked, "Well, did you?"

She wasn't sure she should tell him. It just seemed too fantastic to believe, and he might think she had made it up. But she looked into Galian's face, and knew that he knew she wasn't one to make up stories in situations like these. So, she told him the whole story, about a deadly sorcerer who hired a group of Calormene soldiers to attack Archenland. Even as she said it, it sounded completely outrageous. Galian didn't say anything, looking uncomfortable, and she wondered if he thought she was insane after all.

"A sorcerer? Are you sure?"

"I'm only repeating what he said. Do you think it's true?"

"That's the problem. I'm not exactly sure. I mean, ever since I was a boy, there was always some hoax about a man or a women pretending to have magical powers, and everyone would bow to them for a bit, but it was always uncovered that they were nothing more than common marketplace magicians, you know, the sort that pulls rabbits out of their hats and does card tricks and things like that, completely harmless people."

"But Suruv seemed to think he was the real thing. He talked about this sorcerer like he was all powerful and extremely evil."

"But, Aoife, a sorcerer? A real, living, breathing sorcerer?"

"Well, why not? I mean, everyone thought that race had died out until King Rilian was captured and then rescued. What if the enchantress wasn't the last of that breed?"

Galian shook, though the weather was quite warm, "It's a terrible thought, but I don't doubt you may be onto something."

"And what's worse, we don't know who this man is. He's obviously clever enough if he's able to mobilize half the Calormene army without the Tisroc's consent or knowledge. Why shouldn't he be a spy of some sort? He might be here, now, in Anvard. He could have put some sort of a spell over us, confusing us, and we might find ourselves doing things we never did before, and we're not sure why..."

"Hold on a minute,"Galian interrupted, half chuckling at her overactive imagination, "let's not lose our heads. We can't be paranoid about this. We've just got to be calm and patient, and keep our eyes open. I think you should tell the Queen about this, privately. She needs to know."

"I will,"she promised. Galian thought she would go immediately to tell the Queen, but instead, she remained, looking as if she weren't sure what to say next.

"Does-does that mean you're staying in Archenland?"she asked, and he thought he detected a bit of wistfulness in her voice, but he wasn't sure.

"Queen Eleytheria is going to have me knighted. I suppose there will be no getting rid of me now."

"What about your land in Narnia?"

"Vacation property, I suppose,"he said dryly, knowing there would be no vacation for him. Not in the near future anyway, "Why do you ask?"

She took a deep breath and said, "After I tell the Queen of our sorcerer, there is something else I intend to ask."

She hesitated, and Galian said, throughly, confused, "Well?"

"Galian, if you and the Narnians hadn't showed up, we probably would have lost the battle. If they had broken through our lines, nothing would have stopped them from riding straight to Anvard and the Queen. There is no defensive structure between the border and Anvard. Don't you think there should be?"

Galian looked at her incredulously, "So, basically, you want to build a castle?"

"Or something of the sort,"she said quickly, blushing, "really, just a fortress to match the Calormenes' fortress. Just an outpost where we can have a small garrison. Maybe a place to combat all the bounty hunters, so our citizens won't be kidnaped. And, maybe, it could be a safe haven for slaves who want a chance at freedom."

Galian said nothing, only looked to the horizon, deep in thought. He could see it. The strong, massive structure, a welcomed sight by their friends and a fearful one to their enemies. The last line of defense. The Last Castle before the border.

"I think it's a wonderful idea,"he told Aoife. Her glowing face was all the reward he would ever need.

"Do you really think so?"

"Absolutely. You're very right about there being no defense for Anvard. I don't know how it was never spotted before. But what does this have to do with me?"

She hadn't been looking at him before. She had been staring straight ahead, at the horizon. Now, she turned to him, and there was something in her eyes that he had never seen before.

"If I want this project to work,"she said, her voice shaking, "I need you. You and I...I just feel there's nothing I can't do when we're together. With you beside me...I just know we could do it."

She flushed again, and turned away. Galian asked, his voice shaking as well, "And how long am I to stay beside you?"

She didn't answer directly, "Galian...you weren't supposed to happen. I was supposed to come to Archenland, and perhaps wait on Pericles, and he and I would marry and live happily together. I loved him. I still do. But then you came and...nothing is simple anymore."

He didn't dare believe what he thought she was telling him. It seemed to good to be true, a dream turned to reality, "Aoife,"he asked, "do you love me?"

Her answer came, soft as the wind, "I do. But,"she added, stifling his momentary feelings of extreme joy, "I love Pericles as well. Both of you are so wonderful, and I can't decide which of you I love more. I'll need time, time to sort my feelings out. Do...do you think you could wait?"

"Do you remember that day I told you I'd wait for you forever?"

"Yes."

"I still mean it. I mean it more now than I ever have. I love you, so much it hurts, and no matter what you decide, I will be here for you, now and forever. And I will help you with this fortress in any way you might need me."

She smiled, and hugged him shyly, then left for her meeting with the Queen. Galian remained on the terrace, looking at the land of Archenland, sloping away before him, the morning mist just beginning to rise. He made an effort to slow his heart down. What he had just heard was the answer to all his prayers, the only thing more wonderful than hearing that Aoife loved him was having her in his arms and keeping her there forever. But he had no intention of rushing her. He could make her love him, make her forget Pericles. He wouldn't give up, he knew that for sure.

He sighed, then turned to walk back into the castle. There wasn't a moment to lost. After all, he had a castle to build.

THE END