Threads
Chapter 9
(En este capítulo sale el plan pal raid. No van al how, not yet. Aquí se decide y ed dice que nikabrik NO VA. Entonces mas bien queda el compromiso de traer a interested narnians, y que se vayan yendo al how a gather there. Al burrow llegan los lobos y los griffins pa la misión. Pero todo se decide en el burrow. Lucy va también. REWRITE EL PLAN. Specifics about the relics. That they have to split to find them, but that's a secret between ed and Lu.
The siblings followed Trumpkin inside Trufflehunters burrow. Within they found Nikabrik, already talking to the rest of the party. The dwarf looked at the siblings, and Edmund could have sworn he saw Nikabrik's lip curl in disgust.
"There's word, your majesties," Reep said, "Eirene is held captive by her uncle, and is awaiting trial. Nikabrik's told us,"
Lucy nodded gravely. Edmund drew a breath in. It was exactly as the letter had said. He dug his hands inside his pocket and felt the folded letter against the palm of his hand. He clutched it inside his fist.
"And how did you come about that information?" Edmund turned towards the dwarf directly.
Nikabrik uncurled his lip and turned slowly toward the Just King.
"Soldier's talk, your grace. It's only a matter of eavesdropping—"
"—but one can only eavesdrop if one is close enough, can you?" Edmund said lowly.
Nikabrik didn't answer right away. Nobody else dared to speak, either.
"I was under the impression that Telmarines aren't used to the sight of Narnians…so, how was it that you managed to be close enough to the Telmarine soldiers to eavesdrop, but managed not to be seen?" Edmund said, breaking the silence. Nikabrik stiffened.
"Surely, if your grace recalls, both Reepicheep and myself followed you—"
"—and you stayed. For the sights?" Edmund replied back, his eyebrow cocked. Lucy nudged Edmund on the shoulder, signaling that he had overstepped.
"I'm sure he did—" Trumpkin jumped to the conversation, defending his friend, "—to gather information, to know what had happened to Eirene," he said.
"Your suspicion is misplaced, Edmund," Trumpkin finished lowly, "what matters most is that we know that Eirene is there, within the castle walls."
Edmund acknowledged Trumpkin's words but didn't reply. He settled instead on one corner of the room and watched instead. He'd never been good at taking protagonism, but rather did better by staying on the sidelines. And now, clutching the letter inside his fist, he realized its was now more imperative than ever. It'd be more useful to watch things unfold, and then decide how to act, how to avoid the scenario narrated in the letter from happening.
Lucy, who was copying Edmund's demeanor, eventually leaned to his ear.
"Shouldn't we say something about what we just read? About how we save her, in order to avoid—"
Lucy stopped when Edmund shook his head slightly. He remained attentive to the scene unfolding before him, but answered Lucy in a hushed voice:
"Not yet, no. We'll do something about what we read, but they needn't know."
"What, why? Ed the letter literally said—"
"I know, Lu. It's important and we'll do something about it. It's just—there's something off," Edmund replied. He scanned the room, and his eyes met with Nikabrik's for a moment. The dwarf turned away immediately..
Lucy returned her attention to what was being said.
"And how are we supposed to enter?" Trumpkin said, "stroll in?"
"No, we sneak in," Reep said, "we find Eirene and come back here, all safe and sound."
"And what happens if anyone notices it? What happens when you have hundreds of soldiers on your tail?" Trufflehunter asked.
"Then we fight! Me and my company of courageous mice will fight any Telmarine that dares to get in our way!" Reep answered. Trumpkin guffawed.
"Telmarines have swords as wide as your entire body, Reep—"
"Ah! But the dexterity of a mouse is—"
"I'm sorry Reep," Trufflehunter said, "For once I must agree with Trumpkin. We need a better plan than that. As much as we appreciate your courage, dear Reepicheep, that just isn't enough. If Eirene's imprisoned, that means Telmarines will be guarding her and they'll probably be aggressive. With swords and all."
"Well then, what do you suggest? Assemble a Narnian army and storm the castle?" Reep said, "I much rather prefer a simple rodent extraction."
Edmund looked up then. Nikabrik was the first to speak, "well, yes," he said, "that is exactly what we do. Wasn't there a Narnian army already assembling?"
The room stayed silent for a while. Edmund stiffened. His mind spun endlessly, figuring out how best to prevent the things in the letter from happening at all. He'd said naught before, fearing that his intervention might unintendedly set the exact course of events he was supposed to prevent.
"You actually mean to wage war, Nikabrik?" Trufflehunter asked, dumbfounded.
Edmund couldn't let it go any longer. He knew he had to intervene—but when Edmund opened his mouth, Lucy was already talking.
"I—don't know much about Eirene. I didn't meet her, I only know her from what you speak of her," Lucy said, moving towards the center of the room, "but from what I gather, I don't think she'd want that. All of her plans were to protect you, weren't they? Then she wouldn't want to risk you by saving her."
"Then are you suggesting we do nothing?" Nikabrik spat, "some saviors you are."
Nikabrik's words stung every member inside the room, but perhaps to Lucy the most. She stepped backward.
"No," it was Edmund who broke the guilt tripping silence, "we do something. But we don't raid the castle, and we don't just sent Reep and a company of his mice. We need to find a middle ground," he said, his voice commanding.
"Well that's the first intelligent thing anyone's said today," Trumpkin said.
"Eirene wouldn't let any one of us remain prisoner, so what Edmund says seems fair. We fight for her, just as she would for us. But we do it the right way," Trufflehunter said.
Edmund had moved back to the shadows of the room, considering the best course of action for what was to follow.
"You've said there was an army assembling," Edmund said, his hand on his chin.
"Yes," Nikabrik answered forcefully.
"Then we ask Narnian soldiers for help—"
"Ed, I thought you said you didn't want a full scale attack—" Lucy hastened, the words of the letter fresh on her memory. Edmund met her eyes, and nodded at her slightly as a way of letting her know thathe knew what he was doing.
"Indeed, not soldiers for a forceful incursion, but rather ones that are skillful at remaining undecided, but know how to fight, if needed. And that includes you and your company of mice, Reep," Edmund said quickly, careful not to offend the chivalrous mouse.
Reep stood tall, proud of himself at Edmund's comment.
"If you want stealth," Trufflehunter said as he thought, "…wolves come to mind. They'll be the best suited to help us find know, great sense of smell and all."
Edmund pursed his lips. Years ago, he'd spent weeks in the company of wolves, trapped inside the Witch's castle. While they'd been a vicious pack, Edmund had learnt to recognize their amazing tracker qualities and their unwavering loyalty, even if Mawgrim's had been misplaced. He nodded.
"We summon the wolves and the rest of my courageous mice then," Reep said, "and who else will be accompanying us, my liege?"
"We are," Edmund said, looking at his sister and then back at Reep.
"We are?" Lucy asked, her voice dancing between nervousness and excitement.
"And what about the rest of us? I've seen the castle, I know where things are distributed. I may be of help."
No one said anything. Edmund stopped pacing and looked at Nikabrik. He, in turn, stared at Edmund. The young king was certain that Nikabrik shouldn't return to the castle. At least not until he found his sibling's gifts. But he didn't want to say that he explicitly did not want Nikabrik on the mission.
Edmund held his tongue, and Trumpkin spoke.
"Did our words not get through that thick head of yours?" Trumpkin said, his voice mockingly playful, "We don't want to be detected. What will the guards say when they see a dwarf strolling in the castle?"
Nikabrik clicked his tongue and laughed bitterly.
"C'mon old friend, all I'm saying—" Nikabrik said and Trumpkin smacked him on his arm. Nikabrik laughed and said something that escaped Edmund's ears.
Lucy reached up to him and touched his shoulders.
"Are you sure?" Lucy asked, "that this will prevent…you know," she twisted her eyes.
Edmund nodded.
"We need to get her out of there," he said.
Before Lucy could say anything else, Trufflehunter approached the hushing siblings.
"Your majesties, if you want to help us save her, then we better move. Tonight," he said, looking gravely at the eyes of the young monarchs.
Edmund nodded, "then we shall leave at dusk."
"Reep will find the wolves that will help us. Meanwhile I advise you to get ready."
Edmund nodded. "We shall leave when they arrive."
"Aye," Trufflehunter said, and then returned with the rest of his friends.
Lucy turned beseechingly towards her brother.
"Will I stay here?" She asked, "I know how Peter always thought that battles were something for boys—I know that I've never been in one, but I was wondering if—" she said nervously.
"You wanna come with?" Edmund cut in.
"Could I? I know that I've never done anything of the sort, but…" her eyebrows shot up into her forehead.
Edmund knew perfectly well that Peter didn't like for the girls to join them in any battle. He never really questioned it, but in retrospect, it seemed like a stupid assumption. Sure, he couldn't imagine Susan wielding a sword, but the image didn't seem to be too wild for Lucy. Perhaps it had been Pete's attempt at protecting them from gruesome imagery, but overprotecting did as much damage as not protecting them at all.
"Well of course you can, Lu. A pair of extra hands are always welcome."
"Great!" Lucy said, her cheeks turning red with excitement, moving about the room with some sort of giddy nervousness.
Edmund stayed where he was, leaning against the wall of the burrow. Both Trumpkin and Trufflehunter were conversing with Nikabrik, and Lucy now, too who had joined them.
Edmund used the time to keep rummaging in his thoughts. The relics were his main preoccupation. He couldn't get off his mind how important it was for him to find them all. He couldn't get off his mind the consequences of him not finding them either.
In that sense, he was well aware that liberating Eirene wasn't his priority. His first concern was to find his siblings' gifts. Rescuing Eirene was a collateral effect.
The thought made him feel wretched, but it was the truth. He didn't know her, but he did know what could happen when magical objects fell into the wrong hands. Finding them was his priority.
He didn't want to relive what had happened with Ansurius. Much less if he had to experience that again with Eirene as the protagonist. His stomach sank. His soul was heavy with memories, and how it begged for a new beginning. Edmund shuffled his hair, realizing that when he thought of new beginnings, liRmemories of Eirene flashed back. Her braided hair, the scent of roses and how impeccable her riding garments were. But what struck him the most were the responsibility that her eyes conveyed. There was something alluringly powerful and mature about her, and Edmund wanted to know more of it, more of her.
It really caught him off guard. It really did. All throughout the 15 years they had ruled, and the during the 3 years they'd been back in England, no woman had ever caught his attention in such a manner. He'd been with some, but the endeavors had always been somewhat irrelevant. Flings that came and went. All nonsensical and senseless.
Hidden inside his thoughts, Edmund lost track of time. He thought about the letter, his past and his present. Despite all of his efforts to think of something else, he found himself thinking about Eirene time and time again.
He'd been lying back in the cot he'd woken up in when Reep bolted through the door. Edmund immediately stood up and the mouse nodded at him and Lucy.
"It's all ready your majesties. I took a few liberties in assembling the team," he said, as they all exited Trufflehunter's burrow. The sun was already setting, and shadows began to extend themselves along the horizon of the forest.
"Wait, we're leaving now? Like this?" Lucy said, before crossing the threshold of the door.
"Yes, Queen Lucy, it's only just getting dark so it's the perfect time to leave I'd say—"
"But don't we need swords? Or armor? Ed?"
Edmund, too concerned with about everything else, had been too distracted to remember the little detail of the necessity of weaponry.
"If it is as swift as we intend it to be then perhaps we won't—" Edmund began saying, but Reep cut in.
"Don't worry, your graces. We brought some knives with us as well. I'm afraid we weren't able to bring swords, but I hope these will suffice," Reep pointed ahead.
The knives were laying on the forest floor, placed on display for the monarchs to pick. Some were rustic, and others looked like an entire work of art. Edmund selected three: two which he placed in his belt and one to sneak in his boot. Lucy took one, but didn't know what to do with it.
"It'll be just like your dagger, Lu," Ed said, trying to comfort her in a way.
"Right," she said, smiling nervously.
"And now—""King Edmund the Just, and Queen Lucy the Valiant, I have the honor of presenting my brave company of mice, at your disposal."
Both monarchs bowed in return, and Lucy would have stifled a giggle, had she not been as nervous.
"The wolves have been summoned, too, per your request. They, however, have already started their trek toward the castle. We'll meet them there," Reep said.
Edmund listened, and then moved his eyes behind the mouse. There were a pair of griffins, waiting for them.
"We thought it'd be easier if you flew there," Reep said.
"Good thinking," Edmund said, nodding.
"We'd like too ride with you, if your graces allow," Reep said once more.
"Just don't go flying off," Lucy joked, and Reep laughed nervously.
Edmund turned backward, at Trumpkin and Trufflehunter. He eyed Nikabrik as well, who was still by the door of the burrow.
"Thank you for your kindness," he said, and Lucy ran to hug them.
"Next time we see each other will be with Eirene, too.," Edmund said. He bid goodbye and mounted the griffin. He made sure Lucy was comfartably seated in hers before taking off.
The cold wind of the dusk caressed his face as they flew toward the Telmarine castle, and the only thing he could think of was the scent of roses.