Threads
8. Chapter 7
Edmund woke up to relentless banter in the background of his groggy mind. He roamed his eyes around the room as he tried to make sense of his surroundings. There weren't any windows in the room; the light came from candles at the corners, already stuffed with mounds of wax. The roof was low and the walls seemed to be made out of dirt. It felt like being inside Mr. and Mrs. Beaver's home again.
It took her a while
"Reep saw the whole thing unfolding—I'm telling you it was a trap!"
"But how? How could've anyone known?"
He struggled to recognize the voices of those speaking. He craned his neck to make out the figures of the speakers, but immediately felt a stinging pain in his head.
He touched his brow faintly and then looked at the palm of his hand. No blood, only beads of sweat. The air felt hot and somewhat stale; but he couldn't make sense of anything else.
He stood up to his elbows, half of his body still lying down. He could see an adjacent room, with talking, shadowed figures within.
"Oh, look! Edmund's up!" that was Lucy's voice.
Wait. Lucy.
He focused his gaze and found his sister running up to meet him. She knelt to hug him. He hugged her back and it felt like everything was falling into place. At least they were together now.
"Where were you? I was out looking for you—" he asked hurriedly, his voice coarse.
Edmund broke away from the hug and looked at Lucy. He noticed she wasn't dressed in army garments anymore. She was wearing one of her old dresses, gold and red always suited her best. The gown was in remarkable condition, but it did fit her a bit large on the shoulders.
"At the other side of Cair Paravel," Lucy said, and smiled nostalgically, "what's left of it anyways."
She exhaled and changed her demeanor back into her usual bubbly self.
"You were out for a day and a half!" she said.
Edmund registered the words but they didn't make that much sense to him. He kept quiet as his sister went on.
"Took me a while to find my way up, though—and when I did you'd already gone. I found Trufflehunter instead. He introduced me to Nikabrik and Trumpkin, but Nikabrik apologized, he had to leave—anyway, we're here, Ed! Can you believe it?"
Lucy hugged him again and squeezed him hard.
"Oh, well," Lucy said, breaking apart, "best you rest a little bit more. We'll get you up to date soon."
Edmund watched his sister walking away into the adjacent room.
Up to date? What's happened? Edmund thought.
He tried standing up, but stopped when he felt pain surge in his head again. His brain pulsated furiously. It demanded rest, he couldn't give himself such luxury.
He tried to remember where he had been last, and who he had been with.A faint flash of stone castle walls came to mind, and loud clashes of swords, too.
Then, it all came weighing down with force.
The changed Narnia, the Telmarine settlements and barren soil. And Eirene.
Eirene's tale and her purposeful eyes.
He sighed. He focused on the people talking instead, hoping to find her there. But she wasn't in the room.
There was only Reepicheep, Trufflehunter, Trumpkin and Lucy. Nikabrik wasn't in the room either.
He stood up, slowly, being careful not to trip over his own feet. He moved closer to the talking party; Lucy immediately went to his side.
"What exactly happened?" Edmund asked, "I was with Princess Eirene when the ambush happened…"
There was a brief moment of silence.
Reepicheep stood closer to Edmund, and looked up at him.
"I apologize, your grace," the mouse started, but Edmund interrupted him by shaking his head.
"There's no need for such formality. We're Lucy and Edmund. Just that," Edmund said, looking up at everyone in the room.
The mouse nodded before continuing.
"As you may recall, Princess Eirene never wished to put any of us in harm's way," the mouse turned to his fellow Narnians before turning back at Edmund, "but after the Princess told you of her plans with Telmar's politicians, Nikabrik had the idea that perhaps we should escort you—make sure you got there safe and sound."
Edmund furrowed his brow. He had been turning around constantly, making sure that nobody followed them. And he didn't remember seeing Reepicheep. Nor Nikabrik for that matter.
The mouse gathered his breath.
"And so we did. But when myself, and a small party of brave mice, caught up to Nikabrik and came close enough to the castle, it was already too late. Both of you were unconscious, and Princess Eirene was already being carried off to the insides of the Castle. Trying to rescue her was futile, but at least we were able to retrieve you, my liege."
Edmund tried to picture the scene. Mice carried him off from the Castle courtyard and into the place where he was now. It was somewhat comical.
"With help, of course," Trumpkin said, reading his expression.
Edmund diverted their eyes, trying to make sense of the situation.
"The ambushers were Telmarines, too," Edmund said, "perhaps they knew about Eirene's plans—"
"What?" Lucy asked Edmund, and then she turned to the rest of the room. "What were Eirene's plans exactly? Did she call us to assist her?
There was a second of confused glances.
"Oh, assist her? I think you are a tad bit late for that," Trumpkin said, hurt in his eyes as he looked at the siblings, "350 years too late."
"It never was our intention to leave—" Lucy said, her voice breaking.
"But you did. And for 300 years we've suffered, cowering in the shadows. Our friends here have been too polite to explain that to you, but I'll enlighten you," the dwarf spat, no tenderness in his eyes.
"Trumpkin…" the badger interjected.
"No, Trufflehunter. They're here now, might as well tell them exactly what they've missed," the dwarf took a breath and composed himself.
"For 300 years we Narnians have been treated like vermin—hunted and displayed as curiosities when captured—you know that yourself, Trufflehunter."
The badger turned his gaze down and said nothing.
"We were driven away," Trumpkin continued, "Some of us became extinct and some of us turned into dumb beasts. There was nothing left for us. We were alone, until the son of a dwarf came to us. Cornelius was his name. He promised that the Dark Days were over. He said that a young Telmarine prince was being educated about Ancient Narnian magic, and that he taught him to respect us. And that when he would be crowned, everything would prosper—"
Edmund heard Trumpkin and considered Eirene's story. "Caspian?" Edmund asked. Trumpkin nodded gravely.
"It was hope, a tiny bit of hope," Trumpkin said, "but then he was taken too. Disappeared. Poof," he expressed with his hands, "to the shadows we returned. And the worst part was that we never even saw the Prince."
There was silence, guilt overriding the young monarchs' expressions. Edmund pictured what Trumpkin described. He suspected that the horror of reality was far worse than any of those words. Nausea crept up his throat.
"No," Trufflehunter interjected. "Not all hope was gone. It was then that Princess Eirene came to us," the badger said, looking at the dwarf accusingly. "She learned about us, our history from our point of view. That is more than any Telmarine had ever given us. An opportunity for us to speak our mind. An opportunity to have our voices listened to."
"Princess Eirene," Reepicheep added, "promised to look for her brother, promised to keep Cornelius' pledge. And that we, Narnians, could reclaim our lands, our life," he said excitedly, standing on his tiptoes, speaking a little bit too rapidly.
"She was always looking out for us, of what we needed, of how we were. And this is why I swear on my honor," the mouse stood straight up, holding his sword next to his body, "that I will find the soldiers who ambushed her and bring them to justice ," Reep said, flickering his sword in the air, attacking invisible enemies.
Lucy couldn't help but giggle. The mouse stopped immediately.
"Who? What? Who's mocking me?" said Reepicheep, turning around on his own axis, his sword still pointing forward. Lucy blushed.
"I'm sorry, Reep."
"Oh, your grace—Queen Lucy—I mean, Lucy, pardon me, I—" Reepicheep said, sheathing his sword.
Trufflehunter shifted his weight, and Trumpkin spoke again.
"All of us have heard of you lot, the ancient legends about the four Kings and Queens of Narnia, who would one day return to save us all—we all knew this but at some point we stopped believing. I don't know why you are here now—but I know you can make this better," the dwarf looked at both of them pleadingly.
"The fact is that Ancient Magic is in the air and you are here. Make this right. Help us find our Princess and bring our hope back. Please."
The conversation made Edmund remember the responsibilities the four of them had sworn to when they'd ruled. Protect the realm, guide it into prosperity. But he too remembered the promise he'd made to himself-protect Narnia from catastrophe, from Dark Magic.
He thought he had been relatively successful at all of those promises but now-
Edmund stopped his train of thought.
He remembered the most recent promise he had made. Protect his family's possessions. His stomach and heart dropped. He turned around, but he couldn't see Rhindon lying about anywhere in the room.
He couldn't find his satchel, either.
He could feel color draining from his face.
Had he lost both things during the ambush? Maybe it was now in Telmarine possession. He cursed himself. 'How could I have been so stupid'?!, he thought, 'I've lost the one thing I was guarding with my life'.
His eyes opened wide and he swallowed hard. The Fire Flower, Susan's bow and arrow—'well I'll be damned', he thought.
"We need to go back to the castle," he said bluntly, and gained everyone's attention, "as soon as possible."