Chapter 11 The Challenge
"Don't be so alarmed," Nikabrik said. Peter thought it sounded a bit like Susan telling one of them something adultish. "If you have forgotten, the stories all agree that Aslan Himself was slain by the White Witch."
"But they also agree that He rose from the table, the very one that is in here this very moment," the Badger put in.
"Yes, on this very table, the Stone Table," Nikabrik went on. "But oddly enough, after the witch killed that lion, for some reason He just fades out of memory. Nothing much is told about Him after the night the White Witch killed Him."
"Have you gone mad, Nikabrik, or are you just an idiot?" growled Badger. "Aslan defeated the White Witch after she killed Him. He put to place our Great Kings and Queens of old and knighted the Knights of Narnia, all after the White Witch killed Him."
"Or so the stories say. However, there is no proof. We tried Aslan and his Kings, Queens, and Knights of Narnia, but they have not come! So we should try the witch."
"And you think she will be on our side?" spat the Badger.
"Maybe she has not always been good to all beasts, or humans, but she has been good to us dwarfs."
"You actually believe she will be on your side?" King Caspian asked.
"Why wouldn't she? I would have brought her back. She would be grateful."
"But she's dead," Cornelius reminded.
"Oh," came the whiny voice, "you play with an old woman, you Wonderful Dwarfship. You can never kill a witch, for there is always a way to bring them back, if so desired."
"That's impossible."
"Nothing is impossible, Caspian," Nikabrik stated. "You say Aslan defeated death, so why not a very powerful witch?"
"Let the circle be drawn," came the old creepy voice. "Prepare the blue smoke."
"That's treason!" cried King Caspian. "I know what you two are now, a hag and a werewolf. You come here to poison our minds!"
"Put that sword away, boy," Nikabrik nearly whispered.
"Not until justice is done," the king said evenly.
And then all hell broke out. The children and the dwarf heard the table get knocked over and the light went out. Yells and fighting sounds came from the other side of the door.
"What are you waiting for!" yelled Ron. "Open the bloody door!"
"It's locked," Peter said.
"Ouch!" With that, Trumpkin dropped the torch and the light went out.
"Where's that flashlight, Ed?" asked Draco.
"Here," and Edmund switch it on just in time to see Harry, Ron, and Peter break the door down.
"Grab that thing!" Draco yelled as the hag tackled the Badger.
"My flashlight!" cried Edmund as he dropped it and the light went out.
They were fighting in the dark, hoping they didn't hurt or kill anyone on their side. They heard a high pitch scream followed by a deadly thud on the ground. Another scream followed, but this time it sounded more like a boy's. Several people or beasts fell against the wall, tripped over the chairs or table, and fell to the ground. Just as fast as it had started, it ended and silence resumed. The only sound was heavy breathing.
"Ed? You alright?" Peter called.
"Got one, I think," he replied out of breath.
"You stupid idiot! You've got me!" shouted Trumpkin.
"Oops, sorry about that, DLF."
"Who is here?" asked a frightened young voice, but they could tell it was the king's.
"You're a little big to be a dwarf, aren't you?" asked Draco suddenly.
"Bloody hell, Draco," Ron gasped, "stop choking me!"
"Sorry, Weasley."
"Hey, here is your flashlight," Harry said brightly as he turned it on.
The scene everyone saw was quite different than what they had thought. The hag lay dead by the corner, her head a yard away from her body. The werewolf had been slain. The body of a wolf was clear, but the head of a man was bleeding in multiple places. Nikabrik lay dead on the other side of the table, out of site except his feet. Trufflehunter was a few feet away from the hag, Draco still held Ron's neck in his arm; Harry and Peter were back to back, Edmund stood awkwardly next to Trumpkin, and a boy no older than Peter was standing slouched over in another corner holding his arm.
"Are you King Caspian?" inquired Harry.
"Y-yes. Who are you?"
"This is," Trumpkin introduced, "High King Peter, King Edmund, and Knights Harry, Ron, and Draco." He pointed to each boy in turn.
"You're a lot younger than I thought you'd be," King Caspian said with a grin.
"So are you," Ron grinned back.
"Are you hurt?" Peter asked, looking at King Caspian's arm.
"That werewolf bit me, but I'm fine otherwise."
"Well, I'm not," Ron grumbled. "I'm starved. Do you have any food?"
( )
"Thank you again, Trufflehunter, of your unyielding faith in us," Peter thanked. "It means a lot to us to know that Narnia has such devoted followers."
"Do not give thanks to me," Trufflehunter blushed, if a badger can do so. "I am a badger which means I do not forget, for it is mine to remember, and remember well we badgers do. If thanks are to be in order, King Caspian would be proper."
"You are too modest," Peter chuckled, "and I do thank you." He turned to face King Caspian. "And I thank you as well. I know Narnia is in good hands. I have not come to take your place. However, I, er we, have come to help you out. Possibly to be-rid Miraz and his so-called rulership over your country, if you'll let us."
"Of course," King Caspian said. He hadn't spoken much, but seemed to like the children very much."
"Aslan is here, with the girls, and will act on his own time, not ours. We cannot do this without Aslan. I've tried to do things without Him, but it never works. So we will simply have to do what we can and wait for Him to do whatever it is He's going to do."
"Excuse me, but who are the girls?" King Caspian asked.
Ron chuckled, "The Queens and Knights of Narnia. Queen Susan, Queen Lucy, and Knights Hermione and Pansy."
"Well, I think we've got more than what we bargained for," King Caspian said, his eyes lit up. "How can we fail?"
"I thought that way before," Harry said, "but then Slytherin won the Quidditch game."
"Potter, that game was so easy to win. How could you have possibly thought you'd even have the slightest chance?"
"Quidditch?" asked King Caspian.
"It' complicated," Ron answered unhelpfully.
"We're talking but not solving anything," Peter said. "What shall we do?"
"We need to give Aslan time," Harry said. "Doing nothing will only hurt us, but we're not strong enough to go into a battle and have any chance of coming out of it alive."
"Brilliant!" Edmund exclaimed. "We'll challenge Miraz to single combat. One against one."
"Who will be the one from our side?" King Caspian asked, hopefully. "I will gladly do it. He killed my father and I wish to avenge his death."
"I don't think that's the best idea," Ron thought out loud. "I mean, he thinks of you as a kid. There's no way he'll accept."
"We know you're much more than a kid," Peter cut in quickly.
"Perhaps one of us, like Peter?" Ron said thoughtfully. "Don't look at me like that, Harry, you've got to stay alive to piss off Snape and You-Know-Who."
"Who?" asked Trufflehunter.
"Professor Snape, you dolt," Draco drawled.
"Then that's settled," Peter hastily confirmed. "Do you, Doctor Cornelius, have paper and ink with you?"
"Of course, my lord. It would be a crime not to have them with me at all times."
"I'll dictate what you should write. Stop me if I'm saying things wrong. It's been a long while since I've done any Narnian dictation."
"When was the last time you did any English dictations?" chided Edmund. "Never."
After a minute or two, Peter had dictated what was proper for a challenge in Narnia and Doctor Cornelius had written it down perfectly, reread it, and then folded it that way it should be folded in Narnia, in a circle so there are no creases.
"Edmund, you should deliver it. You're very good at stalling and getting your way."
"Ron is good at stalling too, but he'll give in if there's a spider involved," Harry laughed.
"Hagrid never said anything about those things eating us," Ron said under his breath, but he blushed all the same.
"You're so weird," Edmund chuckled.
"So Edmund, perhaps Ron, and two others," Peter said. "What about that giant?"
"He's not very clever," King Caspian said apologetically.
"He wouldn't be a giant if he were clever, would he?" Edmund laughed.
"He looks intimidating and it'll cheer him up," Peter said in the giant's defense. "Now who should be the third?"
"Reepicheep would do well," King Caspian offered.
"He's so small," Draco said. "He's a three foot mouse. They'd step on him before they saw him."
"But he can kill with looks and he is very brave," King Caspian praised.
"We'll get laughed at," Edmund sighed.
"Send Glenstorm, Sire," Trufflehunter said. "No one laughs at a Centaur.
( )
"You're sure they won't kill us?" Ron asked Edmund as they led the way to Miraz's tent, passing sentries and soldiers.
"If they do, it'll show them to be cowardly and disrespectful."
"Do they know giants aren't very clever?"
"They've never seen a giant until they battled them a few times. That's what King Caspian said anyway."
"What do we do now?" Ron inquired as two sentries started walking towards them, their swords at the ready.
"We're going to ask to deliver this challenge to Miraz personally," Edmund said. Then looking at Ron's face he added, "I'll do the talking."
A few moments later, Edmund, Ron, the giant Wimbleweather, and the Centaur stood before Miraz's tent, however, only Edmund and Ron were allowed inside. Miraz looked at them in surprise, but a little bit of fear betrayed him.
"And what is it that you want?" he asked. "I don't think surrender is your business."
"No, it is not," Edmund said. "We have a challenge for you."
Miraz waited impatiently as Edmund read the challenge.
"…Given at our lodging in Aslan's How this XII day of the month Greenroof, in the first year of Caspian Tenth of Narnia."
"Do you accept or decline?" Ron asked as officially as he could muster. He was still frightened about being surrounded by the enemy.
"I will have counsel," Miraz said firmly. "You may wait outside," he ordered.
The boys stood outside with the giant and Centaur. A few seconds later two soldiers appeared and disappeared in Miraz's tent. They looked to be of importance and very possibly had great authority, under Miraz of course.
And then Miraz told them to read the paper. Once read, he asked them what they thought. The first soldier replied saying pretty much that Miraz shouldn't fight because he was too cowardly, but never saying it as plainly as that. The second one gave excuses for Miraz to refuse due to different policies.
The four Narnians heard all this easily because of the thin fabric that separated them.
"It sounds as if they want him to fight," Edmund whispered to Ron.
"How so?"
"They're making him upset in order to trick him into accepting."
After a minute went by, Miraz flung himself outside of the tent and heatedly told Edmund and Ron that their challenge was accepted. He wasn't going to look like a coward in front of his men, but he sure didn't mind looking like a fool. Both Edmund and Ron agreed to that.
"Well," Edmund began on their way back, "Let's tell everyone at Aslan's How the good news."
"It was almost too easy, you know?" Ron asked. "How did a blazing idiot like that ever get control of a country?"
"I have no idea, but if he's anything to compare the coming combat, it's going to be a piece of cake," Edmund replied. "An ugly, but easy, piece of cake."
I saw HPDH Part 2 again. Inspiration at its best. Tune in next time my internet is up and running for the twelfth chapter.
Courtesy of both C. S. Lewis and JKR