Hounded and Harried
I would be less than honest if I said I remembered a great deal about my ride out to the Lantern Waste, just key events that punctuated a long, hard journey. Within minutes of setting out I was cold and hungry and saddle sore. I didn't care a whit, so elated was I to be outside and alive and on my way to see Peter. The only thing I cared about was making good time. Kanell had sent scouts out the moment he'd gotten word and they met us every few miles and guided us further along the darkened trail, sure-footed Panthers and Owls and Gryphons.
An hour before dawn one of the Bat couriers that rode with me, tucked snugly under my cape and clinging to my back for warmth, whispered that another Bat was coming. I told Xati, who called a halt, and I clapped in rhythm for the courier to find me. A few moments later a huge, extremely fuzzy Flying Fox landed on my shoulder and arm. Jett spooked slightly, but one of the Centaurs seized her bridle and calmed her.
"Gil Mivven," I greeted, transferring the Bat so he could perch under my forearm. "What word?"
"It gives me joy to see you, King Edmund," he replied. "I bring word from the Lantern Waste. Your brother has met Aslan there and he has planted the apple he brought back from the Western Wild."
That explained why I had slept earlier, but the fact that Peter was back in Narnia was not news to me, nor what I most wanted to hear. "And how fares my brother?"
"Poorly, I am sorry to report. He is exhausted and starved and has a broken arm. His fever defies the healers' craft and he is fading."
Damn. I took a deep breath, collecting myself, well aware every ear was listening. "Gil Mivven, hurry on to Cair Paravel. Make certain you speak to Kanell and my sisters. Tell the queens I said to hurry. I mean that! And tell Lucy that if Susan hasn't finished packing to leave without her."
"I shall, Majesty."
When he was gone I looked to Xati. The Centaur had a fierce look in her eyes and I knew she fully understood my burning desire to reach my brother as quickly as possible. Glancing around me, I realized they all did.
"Let's go," I ordered.
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
We lost some of the Dogs as we went and despite my threat I made certain they were left with friendly Animals that would look after the silly beasts. Yoli was silent, knowing full well that anything he said would only aggravate me more. I had warned them about keeping up with the rest of us.
Finally we halted around Pillar Wood, which is north of Beruna and named after the many towering tupelo and tulip trees growing there. I could barely move I was so sore. Jett, for her part, was still excited and could have gone on all night. Xati set up camp and gave directions for dinner as I tended to the horse. I was almost dropping in my tracks when a Satyr took over for me and I gladly, gratefully relinquished the task to him. I sent one of the Bats to locate my sisters and let them know where I was and gave the other two an apple to eat.
There was time before dinner and with a nod to Xati I stepped away from the ring of soldiers. She knew I wouldn't go far, but at the moment I wanted very much to be alone with my thoughts.
I came upon a brace of ironwood trees and here I stopped, drawing the sword I wore and kneeling on one knee on the damp moss. This weapon was not Shafelm, but it still bore a lion etched into the blade. It would do.
"Aslan," I whispered into the falling dusk, leaning heavily on the sword, "thank you for staying with me all these months. I'm not sure how Peter or my sisters would have managed without you here. Peter...he can be thick sometimes but he needs me as much as I need him. I'm glad I finally realized that. I need him very badly right now, Aslan. I've never been away from him for so long. Thank you for listening and your advice and helping me to be a better king...and a better brother. I wish I had the words and the strength to say these things to you directly, but I usually don't think about this kind of thing until after the fact. But I think you know, just like Peter knows. I'll try my best to find a way to say it, though."
I lowered my head to my hands, resting my forehead against the cross-guard of the sword. I was tired and so very, very full emotionally; my thoughts were mere random ideas. I could only hope the Lion heard and understood what I was trying (and, I felt, failing) to convey. I was at once grateful and excited and anxious and weary, my chest still painful but nothing like two days ago. My head ached from exhaustion and hunger, but I was used to those sensations and could ignore them for a while. I wanted to sort myself out and focus on the issue of reaching Peter. I whispered on to the falling darkness to the Lion that said he always listened, and I found comfort and release in confession.
"Aslan, I did not start well here. Thank you for your love and for giving me the chance to redeem myself. Thank you for a brother and sisters that never gave up on me and gave me reason to want to redeem myself. My life before being made king doesn't seem quite real...I was someone else, wasn't I? Someone unkind and bitter. Sometimes I wish I could forget what I was, but then I'd never have that guilt to keep me from repeating myself.
"Please help me to become a judge. I know right from wrong. I've lived both, for pity's sake. Please give me the strength to see justice done. Oreius said I was a man of truth. I don't ever want to make him a liar. I will never make him a liar. The truth is hard enough. Justice must be much harder. I promise you I will do all I can never to bring shame on the title you've given me. I will be the shield that protects Narnia and Peter. Please keep him safe and let him get better soon. I-"
"King Edmund! There you are! We found you! King Edmund! King Edmund! We're back! You missed us! We're back! Do you see?"
I started out of my reverie as half a dozen creatures burst through the trees towards me, all of them shouting out my name and darting around happily. Instantly I was on my feet, the sword at the ready.
Dogs. All the Dogs we had left behind. They had caught up. Even before they burst onto the once-serene grove the forest around me erupted as members of the royal guard - never distant but far more subtle and respectful of my privacy – came rushing to my defense. The Dogs halted in shock at seeing naked swords and spears leveled at them. I let out a miserable sigh, the moment for serenity and prayer shattered and my irritation at the Dogs immeasurable.
"Lower your arms, good my guard," I muttered before someone got hurt, wiping off the tip of the borrowed sword and sheathing it. Without another word I strode back to the camp, the guardsmen following and the chastised Dogs bringing up the rear. Once she read my expression and body language Xati had a scorching glare for the returned Dogs that had disturbed my vigil. I said little at dinner and retired to the tent set aside for me immediately after.
As I climbed into the bed warmed by cloth-wrapped rocks from the camp's fire, I winged one final prayer to Aslan.
Great Lion, give me patience...
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
The next day passed much the same, which is to say I was cold, sore, and supremely annoyed at the pack of Dogs following us. Despite repeated orders for quiet, they could not help their own enthusiasm and barked ceaselessly. I was tempted to have the guard arrest the lot of them, but I had promised Aslan I'd make an effort to put up with them and arresting them would simply be avoiding the issue. So they would bark, I would glare at Yoli, he would silence the lot of them, and half an hour later the cycle repeated itself.
We stopped to rest around noon and once again I removed myself from the main group, not wanting to inflict my anxieties on the soldiers. I knew they had to eat and rest, but I certainly wasn't happy about it. Given a choice, I would have pressed on until I collapsed. Luckily, Xati took the choice away.
I sat on a log and closed my eyes, trying to calm my racing heart and forcing myself to take some time and count my blessings. At this point just being awake and alert was a blessing, but I think the stern, stubborn, and loving care of our subjects was the foremost blessing right now.
Something approached and I looked up to see Yoli sitting a few feet away, his expression serious. I refrained from sighing.
"What is it, Yoli?"
"We've annoyed you, King Edmund."
"Yes, you have," I agreed, "but you'll notice we've all managed to survive somehow."
"I'm sorry you were disturbed last night. They didn't know you were praying. They were just so happy to see the troop again and you were the first one they came upon."
"I know," I said softly, feeling close to guilty. "But Yoli, there are times when I, and my brother and sisters, need to be alone."
He frowned. "You want to be alone?" he asked in amazement, all manners forgotten at this astounding announcement.
I remembered I was addressing a pack animal. "Yes. We think better sometimes when we're alone. We Humans don't need constant company."
"But that's so lonely!"
I could tell the harrier actually felt sorry for me. "Not always. Sometimes I'm my own best company. Besides, when I'm praying I'm hardly alone."
His brown eyes grew wide. "Did you want to be alone now?" he asked in a small, nervous voice, realizing he had invaded my privacy once again with his clumsy devotion.
"You're here," I replied quietly. "You may as well stay."
He came and sat close beside me, somehow managing to keep silent. I reached out and thumped his side, counting him among my blessings.
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
"King Edmund! King Edmund! A courier!"
I jerked awake instantly and scrambled for my boots. Hurrying outside I saw Xati standing with a huge Gryphon scout named Glynis. It hadn't been very long since I'd gone to bed, the moon wasn't much higher, but Glynis looked extremely worried for one of her kind. She bowed low to me.
"King Edmund, General Oreius' respectful compliments to your majesty. He bade me address you as Sir Edmund How and orders you, as a soldier of Narnia, to proceed with all haste to the Lantern Waste. Your brother's condition worsens. He has not taken food for days and his fever is mounting. Majesty, he is starving amidst plenty. General Oreius feels you may have more success caring for the High King than the healers."
Peter, you idiot! How was it I was related to anyone so dense?
Even before she was done I gestured to Xati to break camp. Her shouts roused the troop and they immediately set about leaving. There was no time to waste. In my last vision of Peter he had been terribly thin. What was left of him if he was starving? I was afraid and furious all at once.
"Glynis, find my sisters and tell them what you've told me, especially that bit about starving. Tell them I expect them to move out as soon as you reach them and I'll press on ahead through the night. Hurry!"
With a great swirl of dust and a rush of wind the Gryphon launched into the night sky, her shrill cry echoing off the hills. I didn't watch her go, but called out, "Bathelstane!"
Immediately the Chief Bat replied, "Here, Majesty!"
I turned, following the voice to where the two remaining Bat couriers hung in a tree like dark, misshapen fruit.
"You heard?" I demanded.
"Every word, my king," he said, already eager to be off.
"Good. Fly ahead to my brother. Bid him greetings and give him my love. As he clearly needs some motivation to care for himself, tell him from now on I'll only eat and drink as much as he does, so unless he wants me to starve to death right alongside him, EAT! Go! Send word back when he eats something."
Wide wings spread, Bathelstane bowed to me and dropped like a stone before fluttering up into the sky. He was the swiftest of the couriers and would not stop until he arrived. I reached up for the other Bat and she crawled onto my arm. Xati lead Jett up to me, holding her as I mounted. The whole troop, including all the Dogs, was ready.
"We're not stopping," I told them, and I received determined nods in reply. "Aslan grant us speed."