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bungakertas) wrote2010-12-10 08:01 pm
bungakertas) wrote2010-12-10 08:01 pm
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The Trials of King Edmund - Chapter Three
The Trials of King Edmund - Chapter Three
Disclaimer and general Author's Notes are in the first entry, which is linked at the bottom.
Chapter Three Author's Notes: My apologies for leaving it so long between this and my previous chapter. NaNoWriMo (which I did not win this year, sadly) and IRL reared up and got in my way. However, I’ve managed to carve out some time, and so here is the next chapter. My plan is to post a chapter a day until I’m caught up to the previously stipulated schedule of one a week. Which will take us through chapter seven. So, without further ado...
*~*~* The next morning, Edmund woke earlier than usual and went for a brief ride before breakfast. It helped clear his head so that when he returned to the palace, he was much more relaxed than he had been the previous day. Susan apologized for snapping at everyone the night before, Edmund apologized for storming off, and they all apologized to Susan for being rude to her the night before.
“Since I left the two of you to your own devices last night,” Edmund admitted to Peter and Lucy sheepishly, “then if you have made any sort of plan for dealing with the giants today, tell me what you want me to do and I will do it.”
“I’m glad you said that, Ed,” Peter replied with a grin, “because I was going to order you to anyway.”
Edmund laughed. “I suppose I deserve that. All right, your majesty. What are my orders?”
Peter leveled his spoon at Edmund’s head. “Don’t press your luck, sire. I thought, and Lucy agreed with me, that since you were the one who fielded the envoy from the Marsh-Wiggles, you should also speak to the envoy from Harfang.”
That snapped Edmund back into seriousness. “When are they expected?”
“This afternoon. You’ll have to meet with them outside, of course,” Peter said.
“Of course. I’ll need Haldring with me,” Edmund answered.
“I think you should take Kerrow, as well,” Lucy put in. “Centaurs always look very grave, but the northern giants respect fierceness more than gravity and…well, it’s hard to beat a leopard for fierce.”
Edmund bowed his head. “My lady.”
“In the meantime,” Peter said, smiling as well, “Lucy and I will deal with the Calormene ambassadors today, and Susan, I want you to show Rabadash over the tournament grounds. Susan, I’m sorry, but I’m still not convinced he doesn’t have some further agenda, however much he may wish to marry you into the bargain. I know you may not believe it, but I want you to speak to him today in an attempt to uncover whatever else he may be after, if anything. Try to catch him off-guard.”
Susan nodded. She didn’t look entirely pleased, but neither was she angry any longer. Edmund was glad. This was the closest they’d come to truly working together since that day when those blasted Marsh-Wiggles had shown up.
Edmund and Peter spent the rest of the morning discussing again the situation as the Marsh-Wiggles had outlined it, along with what they expected the giants’ envoy to report. Edmund then spent the lunch hour setting up a space to receive the giants outside the castle, and in conference with Haldring and Kerrow on most of the same things he and Peter had discussed that morning.
Kerrow, who had been looking Edmund directly in the eye with an unsettlingly steady feline gaze, finally said, “Then, sire, we must convince the giants to abandon their invasion without provoking a full-scale war?”
Edmund sighed. “We must try, at any rate. Thankfully, given that they’ve already entered Narnia, we can hardly provoke them to do much worse. Unfortunately, it means we shall have to try and convince them to abandon plans they have already set into motion.”
“A difficult task,” Haldring mused, “given that they are clearly comfortable dealing with the conflict they have already provoked from the Marsh-Wiggles.”
“Our northern Narnians are ill-equipped to defend themselves from attack,” Edmund replied. “I will allow that they may fight fiercely enough, if driven to the point, but I have yet to meet the Marsh-Wiggle who could be so driven. Up to this point, the giants have been offered no resistance.”
“None, your majesty?” Kerrow asked, sounding shocked.
“The Marsh-Wiggles are clever, and quicker than they look. They are also very difficult to find when they wish to be. They have simply moved around the giants,” Edmund explained.
“Interesting strategy,” Haldring mused, apparently caught half-way between amusement and disapproval. “No doubt frustrating for a force looking to drive them out.”
“No doubt,” Edmund agreed.
“And if we can not convince them to abandon their plan of invasion?” Kerrow asked.
“Then it will likely be war,” Edmund sighed. “We can not simply allow the giants to take over Narnian lands. If we do not defend our own citizens, then we are not fit to call ourselves Narnians.”
Two solemn nods came in response to this. The three of them went out to the open forest glade that Edmund had had prepared. He sat down on his chair. Kerrow sat beside him, tail neatly curled around his feet, and Haldring stood to his other side, looking contemplative. They all faced the two enormous chairs that had been provided for the giants who were coming.
At last the ambassadors arrived, dressed in finer clothes then Edmund usually saw ambassadors wearing. Then again, the giants of Harfang did like to show off. They were offered food and water, though of course, the Narnians had already eaten. Both were declined.
“No, your majesty,” said Daggin, who was the older of the two, once they were seated, “it is important that we straighten out this misunderstanding between Narnia and our people.”
“Indeed, it is,” Edmund agreed, “as the charge that has been laid at your feet is a very serious one indeed.”
“These are false rumors, spun by the superstitious frog-people you call Marsh-Wiggles. No giant has participated in any attacks on any Narnian citizens,” Halbert, the younger ambassador, said.
“It is impossible that they could,” Haldring said, nodding, “when the Narnians in question have hidden away whenever any giants have approached.”
“But we have been accused of trying to take their lands. This is untrue. I am afraid, sire, that the Marsh-Wiggles attribute to us the crime of which they are guilty,” Daggin replied.
“Do you mean to tell me that you claim a people, who are so uniformly negative about every possible thing that they routinely believe it will be impossible to catch frogs in a swamp, have suddenly discovered the wherewithal to attack a city of giants?” Edmund asked, deliberately allowing sarcasm to color his tone.
Halbert and Daggin exchanged a rather inscrutable glance. Finally Daggin said, “What can we do to correct this misunderstanding? You must understand that we have not entered Narnian lands, except on this diplomatic mission.”
“Then the reports of every talking bird to fly through that region are uniformly incorrect?” Kerrow asked mildly. Although it was improbable that the giants noticed, his tone had gone quiet and deliberate, in the manner that talking cats sometimes adopt when they are at their most dangerous.
Halbert frowned. “You seem to have made your minds up already.”
“We are willing to accept a logical explanation,” Edmund said. “However, we do not take lightly any concerns about the safety of our citizens. We know you have had people in the area these past several days, and they appear to be looking for something.” He assumed a non-threatening pose and made a casual wave of his hand. “Why?”
Halbert and Daggin exchanged a glance. “We speak only for the government of Harfang,” Daggin finally said. “It is possible some of our citizens or other have become lost. However, if they have made any attempts to harm any Narnian citizens, you may be certain they will be punished most severely. Our laws are quite clear on this point.”
“I find myself terribly curious to read your laws on this point,” Edmund returned. “Have you a copy?”
“We do not, your majesty,” Halbert answered.
“I see. A pity.” Edmund played nonchalant to the hilt.
Unfortunately, with nothing further to be gleaned from that day’s discussion, they quickly had to call a halt after some further, unilluminating, back and forth.
Having determined to finish the discussion the next day at the same time, they quickly set to satisfying courtesy by discussing a few inconsequentials. The Harfang envoys were just about to leave when Lucy, Peter, and all three of the Calormene ambassadors, all on horseback, rode very nearly straight into the clearing in which they all sat.
Only the ingrained force of habit, long beaten into his head by Tumnus and Haldring, among others, saved Edmund from betraying his shock. As it was, he introduced the ambassadors from Harfang to those of Calormene in what, he thought, was a distant and very flat voice. The Calormenes made their replies in much the same way, however, which made Edmund suppose that they had not noticed his own mood. Daggin stepped in and made a very polite statement of his own, but thankfully the conference was brief and the two giants left quickly.
Peter, Lucy, and the Calormene ambassadors rode into Cair Paravel, headed for the stables. Edmund followed and sought out Peter and Lucy as soon as they had entered the castle proper.
“What happened?” he asked them.
“It was no good at all, Ed,” Peter sighed. “We tried everything. Nothing would do but that we give them a tour of the area around the castle. So we took the most circuitous route we could, trying to give you time.”
“But not enough,” Lucy sighed. “Oh, the questions they were asking when we rode into the castle! ‘Is Narnia routinely forced to give audiences to creatures such as they?’ ‘How can such people be kept from overrunning your nation?’ It’s as bad as we feared.”
Edmund filled them in on the disappointing discussion he’d had with Daggin and Halbert, which lowered their spirits further. However, with nothing to do but try again tomorrow, they spent the afternoon discussing how the tournament ought to run, and then went in to supper.
Susan and Rabadash spent the meal talking, in such an overly sweet manner and with so many excuses to touch one another’s hands or arms, that Edmund found himself forced to excuse himself early or else he feared he would say something he would later regret. For a day with such promise at the beginning, at the end he had to conclude that it had been a moderate catastrophe. Rather than spend any time with his brother or sisters, Edmund eschewed their company for the first time in quite a while and shut himself into his own room with a book. Quite unusually, however, Edmund found he could not focus on what he was reading.
Finally he closed the book with a snap and looked out of his window, facing to the east. “Aslan,” he sighed quietly, “I would desperately appreciate some guidance. I…I don’t know if you’ve been watching Narnia these past few days.”
Edmund was appalled to hear the words coming out of his mouth, but he was even more shocked to realize they were true. With Susan looking thoroughly interested in leaving Narnia to marry the Calormene crown prince, he could not imagine what Aslan could be doing that could be good for Narnia. And just two weeks prior he would have sworn that Aslan governed the affairs of every man and nation.
His certainty was now shaken.
The next day, Edmund found himself practically bombarded with reports from the talking birds to the north, who informed him with absolute certainty that the giants attempting to hunt down the Marsh-Wiggles in their own lands were wearing a uniform belonging to the royal house of Harfang.
Armed with this knowledge, Edmund, Kerrow, and Haldring put this question to the two ambassadors.
“We have no knowledge of this,” Halbert replied.
“I can not believe that Harfang would send any envoy to Narnia,” Haldring said mildly, “if that envoy were not fully informed and capable of negotiating on their behalf.”
“What are you implying?” Daggin demanded, looking quellingly at Halbert. Edmund couldn’t blame the older ambassador, as it would have served better to suggest some excuse rather than disavow all knowledge and make both ambassadors look foolish.
“I believe my friend is simply affirming his belief that you must both be informed of your governments intentions since you are here to speak on their behalf,” Edmund said, quite politely.
The two giants looked at one another and after a long moment, Daggin spoke. “Ettinsmoor belongs to the giants. This is indisputable.”
“And the marshes belong to the Wiggles,” Edmund returned evenly. “These are the terms of our last treaty.”
There was another long glance. And again, Daggin spoke mildly. “Treaties can be changed.”
“Then you do not deny that you have entered Narnia?” Edmund asked curiously.
“We deny that the land our soldiers now occupy is Narnian,” Daggin finished.
Everyone blinked at that. Even Halbert.
Edmund digested this intelligence and finally stood up. “You will abandon this plan of encroachment against the Marsh-Wiggles. They do neither you, nor anyone else, any harm at all.”
“And if we do not?” Daggin asked.
“I believe we all know what happens then,” Edmund said sadly. “I do not wish it to come to that.”
The two giants exchanged a glance, but had nothing further to say. They stood, offered Edmund a bow, and then left. Edmund sank back down into his seat. “So it is to be war, then.”
“So it seems, your majesty,” Haldring agreed sadly.
Kerrow huffed a breath and flicked his tail. “Why bother sending an envoy at all? They never had any intention of stopping.”
“They wanted to know if we would fight back or not,” Edmund answered, “and now they know we shall. There will be no surprises here.” He called to one of the attendant dryads and instructed her to strike their meeting place. It was time to go back to the castle and give Peter the bad news.
Peter and Lucy took Edmund’s report as well as they could be asked to, given that they’d just spent several hours of fruitless negotiating with the Calormene ambassadors.
“War with Harfang will be a serious undertaking,” Lucy observed. “We’ll need to start recruiting for the army now.”
“Our giants will have to come, of course,” Peter agreed. “Lucy, you get on very well with them…”
Lucy nodded. “I’ll leave right now. Hold the archery contest for me, if you can manage it.”
Peter nodded. As Lucy left, he turned to Edmund. “Find Haldring and dispatch him to get as many centaurs as will come. I will send messages to the talking animals and dwarves.” He sighed. “That leaves you, Ed, and Susan to handle things with the Calormenes. They can not know of this.”
“Consider it handled,” Edmund assured him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Do whatever you need to.”
Peter gave him a nod before striding off.
Lucy was going to be gone, probably, for several days. And though Peter was present for the evening meal, he was thoroughly distracted. Edmund and Susan, however, managed to completely distract the Calormenes. Susan concentrated on keeping Rabadash’s attention on her while Edmund engaged the three Calormene ambassadors in a debate on philosophy.
It was a simple matter, as Edmund was king of a nation of talking animals and trees and rivers, to attest from personal experience that any creature, regardless of size or other factors, that might live to have a future as an intelligent being ought to be treated as a person, if only to prevent that future from being stolen. Calormenes, coming from a kingdom entirely of human beings, and one with a practice of buying and selling some of them, generally disagreed with this and so entered the debate with great spirit. Edmund was careful to maintain a sufficiently academic and theoretical tone that he avoided giving offense, which also enabled them all to easily carry the discussion throughout the whole of the meal.
Peter’s distraction was not noticed, nor Lucy’s absence remarked on.
They all made an early night of it, and the next morning the whole of the Calormene party was taken up in preparation for the tournament, leaving Edmund free to do the same. He was well aware that he had not taken up his sword to practice for at least a week now, which he actually found quite gratifying. The peace that Narnia now enjoyed enabled him to go long stretches at a time without having to touch neither lance, nor spear, nor sword, nor bow was quite pleasant and he was proud to have been one of the architects of it.
Unfortunately, he could not afford to look less than battle ready today. While Rabadash’s behavior to Susan was nothing less than it should be, his pointed questions to everyone else, and obvious investigation of their defenses revealed his true intentions to anyone who cared to see. And with Peter already forced to raise an army to travel north, it would not do to let the Calormenes think Narnia was weak. Having engagements in the north and south at once was a nightmare Edmund did not care to think on.
He went through his warm-up routine almost without thinking about it and was gratified that everything felt just as natural and comfortable as it ought. After putting himself through a few of the more challenging drills, he joined Peter and Susan for the mid-day meal.
Peter was, by now, practically buried in reports from talking birds that were coming in from the north. The two ambassadors from Harfang had taken their leave during the night and were now crossing the hills into Ettinsmoor. They would be in Harfang by the next day. The day after, Harfang would begin preparing for war.
Edmund was impressed, however, at how normal an impression Peter managed to convey to everyone during lunch. He suspected that only himself and Susan had any idea how distracted he truly was. Finally, after they had dined, everyone left Cair Paravel for the tournament grounds.
Chapter One - A Proposal is Made to Queen Susan
Chapter Two - Prince Rabadash Arrives in Narnia
Chapter Four - The Narnians Hold a Tournament
Chapter Five - A Voyage to Tashbaan
Chapter Six - In the Court of the Tisroc
Chapter Seven - Prince Corin Goes Missing
Chapter Eight - The Plan of Mr. Tumnus
Chapter Nine - Escape to Narnia and the North
Chapter Ten - The Battle of Anvard
Chapter Eleven - King Edmund and Queen Lucy
Chapter Twelve - The Return To Cair Paravel
Disclaimer and general Author's Notes are in the first entry, which is linked at the bottom.
Chapter Three Author's Notes: My apologies for leaving it so long between this and my previous chapter. NaNoWriMo (which I did not win this year, sadly) and IRL reared up and got in my way. However, I’ve managed to carve out some time, and so here is the next chapter. My plan is to post a chapter a day until I’m caught up to the previously stipulated schedule of one a week. Which will take us through chapter seven. So, without further ado...
“Since I left the two of you to your own devices last night,” Edmund admitted to Peter and Lucy sheepishly, “then if you have made any sort of plan for dealing with the giants today, tell me what you want me to do and I will do it.”
“I’m glad you said that, Ed,” Peter replied with a grin, “because I was going to order you to anyway.”
Edmund laughed. “I suppose I deserve that. All right, your majesty. What are my orders?”
Peter leveled his spoon at Edmund’s head. “Don’t press your luck, sire. I thought, and Lucy agreed with me, that since you were the one who fielded the envoy from the Marsh-Wiggles, you should also speak to the envoy from Harfang.”
That snapped Edmund back into seriousness. “When are they expected?”
“This afternoon. You’ll have to meet with them outside, of course,” Peter said.
“Of course. I’ll need Haldring with me,” Edmund answered.
“I think you should take Kerrow, as well,” Lucy put in. “Centaurs always look very grave, but the northern giants respect fierceness more than gravity and…well, it’s hard to beat a leopard for fierce.”
Edmund bowed his head. “My lady.”
“In the meantime,” Peter said, smiling as well, “Lucy and I will deal with the Calormene ambassadors today, and Susan, I want you to show Rabadash over the tournament grounds. Susan, I’m sorry, but I’m still not convinced he doesn’t have some further agenda, however much he may wish to marry you into the bargain. I know you may not believe it, but I want you to speak to him today in an attempt to uncover whatever else he may be after, if anything. Try to catch him off-guard.”
Susan nodded. She didn’t look entirely pleased, but neither was she angry any longer. Edmund was glad. This was the closest they’d come to truly working together since that day when those blasted Marsh-Wiggles had shown up.
Edmund and Peter spent the rest of the morning discussing again the situation as the Marsh-Wiggles had outlined it, along with what they expected the giants’ envoy to report. Edmund then spent the lunch hour setting up a space to receive the giants outside the castle, and in conference with Haldring and Kerrow on most of the same things he and Peter had discussed that morning.
Kerrow, who had been looking Edmund directly in the eye with an unsettlingly steady feline gaze, finally said, “Then, sire, we must convince the giants to abandon their invasion without provoking a full-scale war?”
Edmund sighed. “We must try, at any rate. Thankfully, given that they’ve already entered Narnia, we can hardly provoke them to do much worse. Unfortunately, it means we shall have to try and convince them to abandon plans they have already set into motion.”
“A difficult task,” Haldring mused, “given that they are clearly comfortable dealing with the conflict they have already provoked from the Marsh-Wiggles.”
“Our northern Narnians are ill-equipped to defend themselves from attack,” Edmund replied. “I will allow that they may fight fiercely enough, if driven to the point, but I have yet to meet the Marsh-Wiggle who could be so driven. Up to this point, the giants have been offered no resistance.”
“None, your majesty?” Kerrow asked, sounding shocked.
“The Marsh-Wiggles are clever, and quicker than they look. They are also very difficult to find when they wish to be. They have simply moved around the giants,” Edmund explained.
“Interesting strategy,” Haldring mused, apparently caught half-way between amusement and disapproval. “No doubt frustrating for a force looking to drive them out.”
“No doubt,” Edmund agreed.
“And if we can not convince them to abandon their plan of invasion?” Kerrow asked.
“Then it will likely be war,” Edmund sighed. “We can not simply allow the giants to take over Narnian lands. If we do not defend our own citizens, then we are not fit to call ourselves Narnians.”
Two solemn nods came in response to this. The three of them went out to the open forest glade that Edmund had had prepared. He sat down on his chair. Kerrow sat beside him, tail neatly curled around his feet, and Haldring stood to his other side, looking contemplative. They all faced the two enormous chairs that had been provided for the giants who were coming.
At last the ambassadors arrived, dressed in finer clothes then Edmund usually saw ambassadors wearing. Then again, the giants of Harfang did like to show off. They were offered food and water, though of course, the Narnians had already eaten. Both were declined.
“No, your majesty,” said Daggin, who was the older of the two, once they were seated, “it is important that we straighten out this misunderstanding between Narnia and our people.”
“Indeed, it is,” Edmund agreed, “as the charge that has been laid at your feet is a very serious one indeed.”
“These are false rumors, spun by the superstitious frog-people you call Marsh-Wiggles. No giant has participated in any attacks on any Narnian citizens,” Halbert, the younger ambassador, said.
“It is impossible that they could,” Haldring said, nodding, “when the Narnians in question have hidden away whenever any giants have approached.”
“But we have been accused of trying to take their lands. This is untrue. I am afraid, sire, that the Marsh-Wiggles attribute to us the crime of which they are guilty,” Daggin replied.
“Do you mean to tell me that you claim a people, who are so uniformly negative about every possible thing that they routinely believe it will be impossible to catch frogs in a swamp, have suddenly discovered the wherewithal to attack a city of giants?” Edmund asked, deliberately allowing sarcasm to color his tone.
Halbert and Daggin exchanged a rather inscrutable glance. Finally Daggin said, “What can we do to correct this misunderstanding? You must understand that we have not entered Narnian lands, except on this diplomatic mission.”
“Then the reports of every talking bird to fly through that region are uniformly incorrect?” Kerrow asked mildly. Although it was improbable that the giants noticed, his tone had gone quiet and deliberate, in the manner that talking cats sometimes adopt when they are at their most dangerous.
Halbert frowned. “You seem to have made your minds up already.”
“We are willing to accept a logical explanation,” Edmund said. “However, we do not take lightly any concerns about the safety of our citizens. We know you have had people in the area these past several days, and they appear to be looking for something.” He assumed a non-threatening pose and made a casual wave of his hand. “Why?”
Halbert and Daggin exchanged a glance. “We speak only for the government of Harfang,” Daggin finally said. “It is possible some of our citizens or other have become lost. However, if they have made any attempts to harm any Narnian citizens, you may be certain they will be punished most severely. Our laws are quite clear on this point.”
“I find myself terribly curious to read your laws on this point,” Edmund returned. “Have you a copy?”
“We do not, your majesty,” Halbert answered.
“I see. A pity.” Edmund played nonchalant to the hilt.
Unfortunately, with nothing further to be gleaned from that day’s discussion, they quickly had to call a halt after some further, unilluminating, back and forth.
Having determined to finish the discussion the next day at the same time, they quickly set to satisfying courtesy by discussing a few inconsequentials. The Harfang envoys were just about to leave when Lucy, Peter, and all three of the Calormene ambassadors, all on horseback, rode very nearly straight into the clearing in which they all sat.
Only the ingrained force of habit, long beaten into his head by Tumnus and Haldring, among others, saved Edmund from betraying his shock. As it was, he introduced the ambassadors from Harfang to those of Calormene in what, he thought, was a distant and very flat voice. The Calormenes made their replies in much the same way, however, which made Edmund suppose that they had not noticed his own mood. Daggin stepped in and made a very polite statement of his own, but thankfully the conference was brief and the two giants left quickly.
Peter, Lucy, and the Calormene ambassadors rode into Cair Paravel, headed for the stables. Edmund followed and sought out Peter and Lucy as soon as they had entered the castle proper.
“What happened?” he asked them.
“It was no good at all, Ed,” Peter sighed. “We tried everything. Nothing would do but that we give them a tour of the area around the castle. So we took the most circuitous route we could, trying to give you time.”
“But not enough,” Lucy sighed. “Oh, the questions they were asking when we rode into the castle! ‘Is Narnia routinely forced to give audiences to creatures such as they?’ ‘How can such people be kept from overrunning your nation?’ It’s as bad as we feared.”
Edmund filled them in on the disappointing discussion he’d had with Daggin and Halbert, which lowered their spirits further. However, with nothing to do but try again tomorrow, they spent the afternoon discussing how the tournament ought to run, and then went in to supper.
Susan and Rabadash spent the meal talking, in such an overly sweet manner and with so many excuses to touch one another’s hands or arms, that Edmund found himself forced to excuse himself early or else he feared he would say something he would later regret. For a day with such promise at the beginning, at the end he had to conclude that it had been a moderate catastrophe. Rather than spend any time with his brother or sisters, Edmund eschewed their company for the first time in quite a while and shut himself into his own room with a book. Quite unusually, however, Edmund found he could not focus on what he was reading.
Finally he closed the book with a snap and looked out of his window, facing to the east. “Aslan,” he sighed quietly, “I would desperately appreciate some guidance. I…I don’t know if you’ve been watching Narnia these past few days.”
Edmund was appalled to hear the words coming out of his mouth, but he was even more shocked to realize they were true. With Susan looking thoroughly interested in leaving Narnia to marry the Calormene crown prince, he could not imagine what Aslan could be doing that could be good for Narnia. And just two weeks prior he would have sworn that Aslan governed the affairs of every man and nation.
His certainty was now shaken.
The next day, Edmund found himself practically bombarded with reports from the talking birds to the north, who informed him with absolute certainty that the giants attempting to hunt down the Marsh-Wiggles in their own lands were wearing a uniform belonging to the royal house of Harfang.
Armed with this knowledge, Edmund, Kerrow, and Haldring put this question to the two ambassadors.
“We have no knowledge of this,” Halbert replied.
“I can not believe that Harfang would send any envoy to Narnia,” Haldring said mildly, “if that envoy were not fully informed and capable of negotiating on their behalf.”
“What are you implying?” Daggin demanded, looking quellingly at Halbert. Edmund couldn’t blame the older ambassador, as it would have served better to suggest some excuse rather than disavow all knowledge and make both ambassadors look foolish.
“I believe my friend is simply affirming his belief that you must both be informed of your governments intentions since you are here to speak on their behalf,” Edmund said, quite politely.
The two giants looked at one another and after a long moment, Daggin spoke. “Ettinsmoor belongs to the giants. This is indisputable.”
“And the marshes belong to the Wiggles,” Edmund returned evenly. “These are the terms of our last treaty.”
There was another long glance. And again, Daggin spoke mildly. “Treaties can be changed.”
“Then you do not deny that you have entered Narnia?” Edmund asked curiously.
“We deny that the land our soldiers now occupy is Narnian,” Daggin finished.
Everyone blinked at that. Even Halbert.
Edmund digested this intelligence and finally stood up. “You will abandon this plan of encroachment against the Marsh-Wiggles. They do neither you, nor anyone else, any harm at all.”
“And if we do not?” Daggin asked.
“I believe we all know what happens then,” Edmund said sadly. “I do not wish it to come to that.”
The two giants exchanged a glance, but had nothing further to say. They stood, offered Edmund a bow, and then left. Edmund sank back down into his seat. “So it is to be war, then.”
“So it seems, your majesty,” Haldring agreed sadly.
Kerrow huffed a breath and flicked his tail. “Why bother sending an envoy at all? They never had any intention of stopping.”
“They wanted to know if we would fight back or not,” Edmund answered, “and now they know we shall. There will be no surprises here.” He called to one of the attendant dryads and instructed her to strike their meeting place. It was time to go back to the castle and give Peter the bad news.
Peter and Lucy took Edmund’s report as well as they could be asked to, given that they’d just spent several hours of fruitless negotiating with the Calormene ambassadors.
“War with Harfang will be a serious undertaking,” Lucy observed. “We’ll need to start recruiting for the army now.”
“Our giants will have to come, of course,” Peter agreed. “Lucy, you get on very well with them…”
Lucy nodded. “I’ll leave right now. Hold the archery contest for me, if you can manage it.”
Peter nodded. As Lucy left, he turned to Edmund. “Find Haldring and dispatch him to get as many centaurs as will come. I will send messages to the talking animals and dwarves.” He sighed. “That leaves you, Ed, and Susan to handle things with the Calormenes. They can not know of this.”
“Consider it handled,” Edmund assured him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Do whatever you need to.”
Peter gave him a nod before striding off.
Lucy was going to be gone, probably, for several days. And though Peter was present for the evening meal, he was thoroughly distracted. Edmund and Susan, however, managed to completely distract the Calormenes. Susan concentrated on keeping Rabadash’s attention on her while Edmund engaged the three Calormene ambassadors in a debate on philosophy.
It was a simple matter, as Edmund was king of a nation of talking animals and trees and rivers, to attest from personal experience that any creature, regardless of size or other factors, that might live to have a future as an intelligent being ought to be treated as a person, if only to prevent that future from being stolen. Calormenes, coming from a kingdom entirely of human beings, and one with a practice of buying and selling some of them, generally disagreed with this and so entered the debate with great spirit. Edmund was careful to maintain a sufficiently academic and theoretical tone that he avoided giving offense, which also enabled them all to easily carry the discussion throughout the whole of the meal.
Peter’s distraction was not noticed, nor Lucy’s absence remarked on.
They all made an early night of it, and the next morning the whole of the Calormene party was taken up in preparation for the tournament, leaving Edmund free to do the same. He was well aware that he had not taken up his sword to practice for at least a week now, which he actually found quite gratifying. The peace that Narnia now enjoyed enabled him to go long stretches at a time without having to touch neither lance, nor spear, nor sword, nor bow was quite pleasant and he was proud to have been one of the architects of it.
Unfortunately, he could not afford to look less than battle ready today. While Rabadash’s behavior to Susan was nothing less than it should be, his pointed questions to everyone else, and obvious investigation of their defenses revealed his true intentions to anyone who cared to see. And with Peter already forced to raise an army to travel north, it would not do to let the Calormenes think Narnia was weak. Having engagements in the north and south at once was a nightmare Edmund did not care to think on.
He went through his warm-up routine almost without thinking about it and was gratified that everything felt just as natural and comfortable as it ought. After putting himself through a few of the more challenging drills, he joined Peter and Susan for the mid-day meal.
Peter was, by now, practically buried in reports from talking birds that were coming in from the north. The two ambassadors from Harfang had taken their leave during the night and were now crossing the hills into Ettinsmoor. They would be in Harfang by the next day. The day after, Harfang would begin preparing for war.
Edmund was impressed, however, at how normal an impression Peter managed to convey to everyone during lunch. He suspected that only himself and Susan had any idea how distracted he truly was. Finally, after they had dined, everyone left Cair Paravel for the tournament grounds.
Chapter One - A Proposal is Made to Queen Susan
Chapter Two - Prince Rabadash Arrives in Narnia
Chapter Four - The Narnians Hold a Tournament
Chapter Five - A Voyage to Tashbaan
Chapter Six - In the Court of the Tisroc
Chapter Seven - Prince Corin Goes Missing
Chapter Eight - The Plan of Mr. Tumnus
Chapter Nine - Escape to Narnia and the North
Chapter Ten - The Battle of Anvard
Chapter Eleven - King Edmund and Queen Lucy
Chapter Twelve - The Return To Cair Paravel
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