"Best of badgers," he said. "You never doubted us all through.”
And then the shrill, whining voice began, "Oh, bless his heart, his dear little Majesty neednt mind about the White Lady - thats what we call her - being dead. The Worshipful Master Doctor is only making game of a poor old woman like me when he says that.
A dull, grey voice at which Peters flesh crept replied, "Im hunger. Im thirst. Where I bite, I hold till I die, and even after death they must cut out my mouthful from my enemys body and bury it with me. I can fast a hundred years and not die. I can lie a hundred nights on the ice and not freeze. I can drink a river of blood and not burst. Show me your enemies.”
"Call her up," said the grey voice. "We are all ready. Draw the circle. Prepare the blue fire.”
"Let the vermin be flung into a pit," said Peter. "But the Dwarf we will give to his people to be buried in their own fashion.”
"I - I think so," panted Edmund. "Ive got that brute Nikabrik, but hes still alive.”
"They are friends of mine," said Nikabrik. "And what better right have you yourself to be here than that you are a friend of Trumpkins and the Badgers? And what right has that old dotard in the black gown to be here except that he is your friend? Why am I to be the only one who cant bring in his friends?”
"Yes, they say," answered Nikabrik, "but youll notice that we hear precious little about anything he did afterwards. He just fades out of the story. How do you explain that, if he really came to life? Isnt it much more likely that he didnt, and that the stories say nothing more about him because there was nothing more to say?”
"That is all most interesting and - er - satisfactory," said Doctor Cornelius. "I think I now know what you are, Madam. Perhaps your other friend, Nikabrik, would give some account of himself?”
"Yes," said Nikabrik very slowly and distinctly, "I mean the Witch. Sit down again. Dont all take fright at a name as if you were children. We want power: and we want a power that will be on our side. As for power, do not the stories say that the Witch defeated Aslan, and bound him, and killed him on that very stone which is over there, just beyond the light?”
The next minute or so was very confused. There was an animal roaring, a clash of steel; the boys and Trumpkin rushed in; Peter had a glimpse of a horrible, grey, gaunt creature, half man and half wolf, in the very act of leaping upon a boy about his own age, and Edmund saw a badger and a Dwarf rolling on the floor in a sort of cat fight. Trumpkin found himself face to face with the Hag. Her nose and chin stuck out like a pair of nut-crackers, her dirty grey hair was flying about her face and she had just got Doctor Cornelius by the throat. At one slash of Trumpkins sword her head rolled on the floor.
"And why?" asked Trufflehunter. "Ill tell you why. Because it is noised among them that we have called on the Kings of old and the Kings of old have not answered. The last words Trumpkin spoke before he went (and went, most likely, to his death) were, `If you must blow the Horn, do not let the army know why you blow it or what you hope from it. But that same evening everyone seemed to know.”
"I must confess - I cannot deny it - that I am deeply disappointed in the result of the operation," came the answer. ("Thatll be Doctor Cornelius," said Trumpkin.)
"Who do you mean?" said Caspian at last.
are whom he has brought into our council and who stand there with their ears open and their mouths shut.”
"But they also say that he came to life again," said the Badger sharply.
"Lies! All lies!" said the Badger.
"Are you all right, Ed?”
"If you mean Aslan," said Trufflehunter, "its all one calling on him and on the Kings.
"To speak plainly," said Nikabrik, "your wallets empty, your eggs addled, your fish uncaught, your promises broken. Stand aside then and let others work. And that is why -”
"A King who has just won a great battle can usually establish himself without the help of a performing lion," said Nikabrik. There was a fierce growl, probably from Trufflehunter.
"You know well enough," said a voice ("Thats the King," whispered Trumpkin), "why the Horn was not blown at sunrise this morning. Have you forgotten that Miraz fell upon us almost before Trumpkin had gone, and we were fighting for our lives for the space of three hours and more? I blew it when first I had a breathing space.”
"Tell that tale your own way for all I care," answered Nikabrik. "But whether it was that the Horn was blown too late, or whether there was no magic in it, no help has come. You, you great clerk, you master magician, you know-all; are you still asking us to hang our hopes on Aslan and King Peter and all the rest of it?”
All three stood perfectly still on the outside of the door.
"Well, Nikabrik," he said, "we will hear your plan.”
There was no answer, and for a few minutes it was so still that Edmund could hear the wheezy and snuffling breath of the Badger.
Trumpkin took the torch and went ahead into the dark tunnel. It was a cold, black, musty place, with an occasional bat fluttering in the torchlight, and plenty of cobwebs. The boys, who had been mostly in the open air since that morning at the railway station, felt as if they were going into a trap or a prison.
The badgers nosed at the boys hands. "At last," they said. "At last.”
And if he did come - how do we know hed be our friend? He was not always a good friend to Dwarfs by all thats told. Not even to all beasts. Ask the Wolves. And anyway, he was in Narnia only once that I ever heard of, and he didnt stay long. You may drop Aslan out of the reckoning. I was thinking of someone else.”
"Worshipful Master Doctor," came a thin, whining voice. "So please you, Im only a poor old woman, I am, and very obliged to his Worshipful Dwarfship for his friendship, Im sure. His Majesty, bless his handsome face, has no need to be afraid of an old woman thats nearly doubled up with the rheumatics and hasnt two sticks to put under her kettle.
"And so is your Majesty," said Peter. "I havent come to take your place, you know, but to put you into it." , "Your Majesty," said another voice at Peters elbow. He turned and found himself face to face with the Badger.
"Im here," said a rather faint voice. "Something bit me.”
of the central chamber. The voices inside were angry ones. Someone was talking so loudly that the approach of the boys and the Dwarf had not been heard.
"Sorry, D.L.F.," said Edmund. "Is that better?”
"Your Majesty is very welcome," said Caspian.
"Yes," said Peter. "That makes one think.”
"Yes," said the other boy. "But Ive no idea who you are.”
"Im not likely to forget it," came the angry voice, "when my Dwarfs bore the brunt of the attack and one in five of them fell." ("Thats Nikabrik," whispered Trumpkin.)
You know - and he knows that this Telmarine boy will be king of nowhere and nobody in a week unless we can help him out of the trap in which he sits.”
"Court manners, court manners," sneered Nikabrik. "But in this hole we may talk plainly.
"Youd better have shoved your grey snout in a hornets nest, Badger, than suggest that I am the blab," said Nikabrik. "Take it back, or-”
Peter leaned forward, put his arms round the beast and kissed the furry head: it wasnt a girlish thing for him to do, because he was the High King.
"Yes," said Nikabrik. "And by their help that I mean to execute it.”
"Give us a light, friends," said Trumpkin.
Above the steadily increasing growl of the Badger and Corneliuss sharp "What?" rose the voice of King Caspian like thunder.
"Youre bleeding," said Peter.
"No credit to me, your Majesty," said Trufflehunter. "1m a beast and we dont change.
"For shame, Dwarf," came a thick voice ("Trufflehunters," said Trumpkin). "We all did as much as the Dwarfs and none more than the King.”
"No," said Caspian with a shudder. "And we must send someone to take away the bodies.”
I have some poor little skill - not like yours, Master Doctor, of course - in small spells and cantrips that Id be glad to use against our enemies if it was agreeable to all concerned. For I hate em. Oh yes. No one hates better than me.”
"Its the High King, King Peter," said Trumpkin.
"The help will come," said Trufflehunter. "I stand by Aslan. Have patience, like us beasts. The help will come. It may be even now at the door.”
And I see who your companions are-a Hag and a Werewolf!”
They breakfasted at last in another of the dark cellars of Aslans How. It was not such a breakfast as they would have chosen, for Caspian and Cornelius were thinking of venison pasties, and Peter and Edmund of buttered eggs and hot coffee, but what everyone got was a little bit of cold bear-meat (out of the boys pockets), a lump of hard cheese, an onion, and a mug of water. But, from the way they fell to, anyone would have supposed it was delicious.
Sweet Mastery Doctor, learned Master Doctor, who ever heard of a witch that really died? You can always get them back.”
The Dwarf went on ahead and then turned to the right, and then to the left, and then down some steps, and then to the left again. Then at last they saw a light ahead - light from under a door. And now for the first time they heard voices, for they had come to the door
There was a minute or two during which Trumpkin and the boys could hear Caspian and his two friends speaking in low voices but could not make out what they were saying.
it. When the flame rose clear, several people scrambled to their feet. Six faces blinked at one another in the candlelight.
"And it is in the presence of these two that you wish to disclose your plan?" said Caspian.
"But, heaven and earth!" said the King, "havent we always been told that she was the worst enemy of all? Wasnt she a tyrant ten times worse than Miraz?”
"Yes, Im bitten," said Caspian. "It was that - that wolf thing." Cleaning and bandaging the wound took a long time, and when it was done Trumpkin said, "Now. Before everything else we want some breakfast.”
"His Majesty is the King to whom you have sworn allegiance," said Trufflehunter sternly.
"Perhaps," said Nikabrik in a cold voice. "Perhaps she was for you humans, if there were any of you in those days. Perhaps she was for some of the beasts. She stamped out the Beavers, I dare say; at least there are none of them in Narnia now. But she got on all right with us Dwarfs. Im a Dwarf and I stand by my own people. Were not afraid of the Witch.”
"I am sorry for Nikabrik," said Caspian, "though he hated me fromthe first moment he saw me. He had gone sour inside from long suffering and hating. If we had won quickly he might have become a good Dwarf in the days of peace. I dont know which of us killed him. Im glad of that.”
"I mean a power so much greater than Aslans that it held Narnia spellbound for years and years, if the stories are true.”
"Weights and water-bottles!" came an angry voice. "Its me youre sitting on. Get off.
Im a badger, whats more, and we hold on.”
SORCERY AND SUDDEN VENGEANCE MEANWHILE Trumpkin and the two boys arrived at the dark little stone archway which led into the inside of the Mound, and two sentinel badgers (the white patches on their cheeks were all Edmund could see of them) leaped up with bared teeth and asked them in snarling voices, "Who goes there?”
"And anyway," Nikabrik continued, "what came of the Kings and their reign? They faded too. But its very different with the Witch. They say she ruled for a hundred years: a hundred years of winter. Theres power, if you like. Theres something practical.”
"All said and done," he muttered, "none of us knows the truth about the ancient days in Narnia. Trumpkin believed none of the stories. I was ready to put them to the trial. We tried first the Horn and it has failed. If there ever was a High King Peter and a Queen Susan and a King Edmund and a Queen Lucy, then either they have not heard us, or they cannot come, or they are our enemies -”
"Pah!" snarled Nikabrik. "You badgers would have us wait till the sky falls and we can all catch larks. I tell you we cant wait. Food is running short; we lose more than we can afford at every encounter; our followers are slipping away.”
"The D.L.F. had better lead," he said. "We dont know our way about this place.”
Youre like a young elephant.”
"He established the Kings and Queens," said Caspian.
The badgers found a torch just inside the arch and Peter lit it and handed it to Trumpkin.
"No. Youre right there," said Nikabrik. "Aslan and the Kings go together. Either Aslan is dead, or he is not on our side. Or else something stronger than himself keeps him back.
"We dont seem to have any enemies left," said Peter. "Theres the Hag, dead." (He turned his eyes quickly away from her.) "And Nikabrik, dead too. And I suppose this thing is a Werewolf. Its so long since Ive seen one. Wolfs head and mans body. That means he was just turning from man into wolf at the moment he was killed. And you, I suppose, are King Caspian?”
"The White Witch!" cried three voices all at once, and from the noise Peter guessed that three people had leaped to their feet.
They were his servants. If he will not send them (but I make no doubt he will), is he more likely to come himself?”
"Trumpkin," said the Dwarf. "Bringing the High King of Narnia out of the far past.”
"Or they are on the way," put in Trufflehunter.
That grey and terrible voice which had spoken only once before said, "Oh, is she?”
"Ow! No!" bellowed Trumpkin. "Youre putting your boot in my mouth. Go away." ` "Is King Caspian anywhere?" asked Peter.
"Stop, stop, stop," said Doctor Cornelius. "You go on too fast. The Witch is dead. All the stories agree on that. What does Nikabrik mean by calling on the Witch?”
"Put that sword back in its sheath, Caspian," said Nikabrik. "Murder at council, eh? Is that your game? Dont be fool enough to try it. Do you think Im afraid of you? Theres three on my side, and three on yours.”
"But not here," said Peter.
Then the light was knocked over and it was all swords, teeth, claws, fists, and boots for about sixty seconds. Then silence.
There was a pause so long that the boys began to wonder if Nikabrik was ever going to begin; when he did, it was in a lower voice, as if he himself did not much like what he was saying.
"Perhaps," said Cornelius, "your new friends would like to speak for themselves? You there, who and what are you?”
"Is this open treason, Dwarf?" asked the King.
They all heard the noise of someone striking a match. It was Edmund. The little flame showed his face, looking pale and dirty. He blundered about for a little, found the candle (they were no longer using the lamp, for they had run out of oil), set it on the table, and lit
Then Caspian spoke aloud.
"I say, Peter," whispered Edmund. "Look at those carvings on the walls. Dont they look old? And yet were older than that. When we were last here, they hadnt been made.”
"But youve joined with us," said Trufflehunter.
"Yes, and a lot of good it has done my people, so far," snapped Nikabrik. "Who is sent on all the dangerous !, raids? The Dwarfs. Who goes short when the rations fail? The Dwarfs. Who -?”
"Dont like the sound of that," whispered Trumpkin to Peter. "Lets listen for a moment.”
"You can go on saying that till Miraz has fed us all to his dogs. As I was saying, we have tried one link in the chain of old legends, and it has done us no good. Well. But when your sword breaks, you draw your dagger. The stories tell of other powers beside the ancient Kings and Queens. How if we could call them up?”
"So that is your plan, Nikabrik! Black sorcery and the calling up of an accursed ghost.
"And so," said Nikabrik, whose voice now rose to a scream, "if you cant help my people, Ill go to someone who can.”
"Come on, then," snarled Trufflehunter, but he was immediately interrupted.
"Oh, stop it, both of you," said King Caspian. "I want to know what it is that Nikabrik keeps on hinting we should do. But before that, I want to know who those two strangers
