Chapter Four
Meeting of the Council
Insulting.
That is what Edmund thought of the council meeting that day.
He was led by two guards into the council room, unbound, for he was still a king, though he did not know if he would be king for much longer. In the large room, the ten elders sat on smaller versions of the king's throne, watching his arrival. As he walked slowly towards the center of the room, he glanced at the man before him- High King Peter, his brother. Of course, in a council meeting, family or friend relationships were unheeded, to avoid favoritism in decisions. Edmund knew that in that meeting, Peter was his king and not his brother.
Peter sat on a large throne, set higher than the others, in the center of the room on the opposite end of the door. He sat in his kingly attire, crown and all, facing his younger brother- the accused. Edmund thought that it was quite unlike his usually trusting brother to bring the case to the counsel. Peter had not even listened to his explanations and repeated plea that it was all a lie. The High King normally took the time to think the matter over before pursuing legal action; especially when the accused was his only brother. The whole mess had Edmund in a state of shock and disbelief.
Edmund was grateful that Peter had forbid an audience to attend the meeting that day to prevent further embarrassment for the throne. Even Susan and Lucy were not allowed to watch. For that, Edmund was thankful, for he did not want to see the expressions on his beloved sisters' faces when they heard of his said crimes and the announcement of his sentence.
The large wooden doors slammed shut behind him, echoing throughout the entire room. Edmund winced at the silence surrounding him.
All eyes were fixed upon him.
They had no choice but to wait for the signal from the High King.
They did not need to wait long.
Peter began in his strong, clear voice that wavered occasionally at the realization that he was heading the meeting that would condemn his own brother.
"Elders of Narnia, I thank you all, today, for attending this meeting and aiding me in determining the guilt of the accused."
Peter sounded anything but thankful as his voice began to crack at the word 'accused'. He took a deep breath and continued,
"King Edmund the Just is accused of betrayal, treason, revealing confidential military information to the enemy, and planning to kidnap the High King, only to hand him over to the Calormenes. King Edmund, what say you to these charges?"
Edmund looked around at the council members as he spoke, avoiding the hurt gaze of his brother.
"My King, Members of the Council, I plead not guilty for these charges. I have never even met the witness, the dwarf, Baragorn, much less met with him exchanging military information for jewels. Have I not fought alongside the Narnians as their king, their leader? Have I not strove to earn the trust of every loyal subject in the kingdom? Was not I also crowned king, by Aslan, Himself? Would Aslan make a mistake in crowning a leader? I think not, my friends. Furthermore, if Aslan knew that I would rule, only to betray you all, once more, than why would I be crowned? Are you doubting the judgment of Aslan? Let it not be so, my lords, for I would rather be condemned to die than to have Narnia doubt the True Ruler of all."
Once Edmund's plea was concluded, Peter spoke once more.
"Is there nothing further you wish to say in your defense?"
Edmund shook his head as he faced his brother. "That is all, Your Majesty."
Peter looked at the members of the council.
"Then let us begin."
He addressed one of the four guards standing by the closed doors.
"Guard, bring in the dwarf, Baragorn."
The guard bowed, opened the heavy wooden doors, and disappeared into the darkness.
All was silent in the counsel room until the guard returned bringing in a bound dwarf, with his dark eyes averted and his black beard dragging on the stone floor. The guard roughly placed him down next to Edmund. Edmund avoided looking at the man that had brought trouble upon him, his household, and all of Narnia.
The King addressed Baragorn.
"Baragorn the dwarf, have you seen the accused before?" He asked motioning with an open palm towards Edmund.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Baragorn answered in a deep, solemn voice.
"Have you met or conversed with the accused before?"
"Yes, Your Majesty." The dwarf repeated.
"Will you, please, tell the counsel and myself of those times you met with the accused?"
"It would be an honor, Sire." The dwarf answered with a small grin that passed unnoticed by every man in the room.
Edmund looked at the floor, his heart pounding wildly as he listened to the dwarf begin.
"The first time I met with King Edmund, was in the woods near Lantern Waste. I had no inkling of what he was doing there. I was on my way to the mines. He saw me and called out my name. I was surprised, as to be expected, that the Just King of Narnia was calling out to me by name. Well, he told me that he knew I was in league with the Calormenes and had a vast number of jewels that I had uncovered in the mines. I was taken aback, thinking no one had known, but answered truthfully. How the young king replied, surprised me beyond belief. He wanted to know if I would be interested in exchanging jewels for military information to be passed onto the Tisroc, may he live forever. Knowing that passing on useful military information to the Calormenes came with pay, I hastily agreed and the deal was made. He gave me the plans for Castle Cair Paravel and pointed out the secret passages and hideaways that no one, not even the young queens knew about. Only he and the High King knew of these secret places in the castle. I, in exchange, promised to give him a ruby that I had recently found while working, but unfortunately that was at my home, so I agreed to send him a private confirmation letter of our next meeting so that he could receive his pay."
The dwarf was interrupted by King Peter's stately voice.
"Guards bring in the letter."
The guards disappeared for a moment and returned with a folded up piece of paper, one that Edmund thought to be long gone in the ashes among his fire place. The men brought it to their Sovereign and strode back to their posts by the doors.
"This letter, sitting in my hands, is a copy of the original, discovered by the maids in King Edmund's bed chambers early last week. The original was thrown into the fire- a folly of my own."
Edmund cringed as he remembered the incident of last week.
It was all a lie. Peter never really trusted him. It had been a sham.
He felt used, betrayed.
Edmund dreaded the rest of the meeting, as he stone facedly listened to his brother continue.
"This letter contains very same words in the original confirmation letter which the dwarf, standing here today, sent the accused. Elder Maiven, would you do me the honor of reading the body of evidence sitting in my hand?"
Elder Maiven stood up and bowed. "It would be an honor, Sire."
The long legged, thin, pale man had always reminded Edmund of a giant spider.
The Elder scurried to retrieve the letter from King Peter and shuffled back to his seat where he remained standing. His high, whining voice narrated the first letter found in Edmund's room, reminding him where to meet Baragorn, once more, so that he could receive his pay.
Edmund cringed for the third time so far, as he listened to that loathsome letter being read. His face turned red with embarrassment, so he decided to remain looking at the hard, stone floor.
Once, the Elder was finished, a small sigh of relief escaped Edmund's trembling lips.
The Elder returned the letter to Peter, who gave it to a guard for safe-keeping, and then the Elder sat back down, ready to listen.
"Please continue." The king told the dwarf.
Baragorn dipped his head slightly in reply before continuing his narrative,
"King Edmund agreed to meet me in Lantern Waste once more to receive his pay- the ruby. It was there that he mentioned the kidnapping of Your Majesty. He was wondering if a large sum of money or jewels would be paid to him for the handing over of the High King to the Tisroc, may he live forever. Of course, I learned from the previous times that I had delivered military information to the Calormenes that it does not come without its pay, so I could just imagine how much I would receive for handing over the High King for their captive. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
Peter did not look very forgiving as he sat up straight, waiting for the dwarf to continue.
"I told King Edmund, there at Lantern Waste, that I would send him yet another letter delving deeper into the plans for the kidnapping. He agreed and was gone in minutes."
Edmund wanted to shout out in his defense; to proclaim that it was all a lie, but he did not want to risk being thrown out of court; not with his life at stake.
Peter spoke to the guard once more.
"Guard, please bring in the second letter and the jewel."
The guard bowed and disappeared once more, returning a few minutes later with another piece of parchment paper and a bright red ruby, gleaming from the sunlight streaming in from the glass windows.
Edmund knew what was coming.
The guard walked up to Peter handing him the objects which he had retrieved, and returned to his post by the large double doors.
Peter spoke once more.
"Once again, I have with me, yet another letter found in Edmund's bed chambers, yesterday afternoon. With the letter, a ruby was found- the said payment from the dwarf, Baragorn, who stands here before us. Elder Corikin, would you please do us all the honor of reading this second letter?"
The fair haired, middle aged faun stood up and answered Peter.
"It would be a pleasure, my King."
His hooves pitter-pattered across the stone floor as he received the second letter from the High King, and returned back to his seat, though he remained standing.
The faun's clear, strong voice reverberated throughout the entire room as he read the second letter Peter used to accuse Edmund with, the previous day in the stables.
As the letter went on, Edmund continued to avoid the eyes of anyone in the room, especially the troublesome dwarf standing beside him, in chains.
As ritual, the faun returned the letter to Peter and sat back down.
Peter spoke, pertaining to the read letter.
"As you heard from this letter, the accused received his pay, a ruby, at the last meeting. Consequently, a ruby was found beside the letter, yesterday, under King Edmund's desk. The very ruby found, sits in the palm of my hand."
He held it up for all to see.
"Baragorn is that all of your testimony?"
"Yes, Your Majesty." Was the solemn reply.
"Do you have any witnesses that saw the exchanges between yourself and the accused?"
"Yes, Sire." The Dwarf answered.
Peter addressed the guards for the fourth time, since the meeting first began.
"Bring in the witnesses." He demanded.
The guards bowed, exited out the doors, and minutes later, reentered with a hag and a minotaur.