Emmett and Queenie at Narnia's End

Copperfox

Copperfox

Well-known member
My current novel-in-progress based on a closed roleplay needs to take a short hiatus, because my dear forum-granddaughter Rachel, who created that roleplay, deserves to have some elbow room and breathing space for her own story in the same scenario. Therefore, I am turning my efforts to another project which I've had in mind for several months.

This story ALSO owes its origin to roleplaying; and the beautiful and talented Miss Vanessa, a.k.a. MrsGil-GaladTook, was indispensible in making it possible. I warn all Narnia fans that this contains

SPOILERS !!​

--with respect to the conclusion of the Chronicles of Narnia.

With this understood, I invite everyone to join me as I accompany

Emmett and Queenie at Narnia's End!!!

If you can dig it out of archives, I urge you to prepare yourselves for this by reading the roleplay thread called "Emmett and Queenie, continued."


NOTE: This has nothing to do with Emmett the vampire, nor with any other sexy vampires or even tacky ones.
 
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Chapter One: Choosing the Right Adults


Enthroned in eternity, the First Person of the Blessed Trinity, God the Father, surveyed His intricate and endlessly layered creation. He beheld not only that central and vital universe in which His plan for the redemption of lost souls had primarily been enacted; He also beheld special and supplementary realities which He had ordained for various purposes--each to have a life of its own, yet also to bear some relation to the primary cosmos. In this particular instant of eternity, He fixed His gaze upon that world in which He had willed that certain astrophysical norms would be set aside, so that there might be what mortals would call a Flat Earth. On that flat-topped world existed a country whose inhabitants included likenesses of beings from human mythology--not to validate men's errors, but to accommodate the dreams and hopes which had kept them searching. The Almighty Father was looking upon the period in time when this nation, and after it that whole flat world, would come to a final end, after which all that was pleasing to God in that world would be drawn up into Heaven.

But there was an additional intervention to be carried out before that end.

Knowing the mind of the Father, God the Holy Spirit now said, "I have spoken to Our two chosen instruments in their hearts, preparing them for what they shall be called to do. Whereas, after the installing of King Frank and Queen Helen, only children were chosen to enter Narnia in ordained service to Us, now at the end of that world there shall again be a grown man and woman summoned for a particular service. In the moment of time upon which We look, they are almost ready."

God the Son, Who bears eternally the name of Yeshua, but Who used the name of Aslan in the world of Narnia, next said, "And I have followed up with visible manifestations to them. I shall appear to them again when they are ready, conducting them to that point in space-time where they are to begin their service. When all is done, they will have both given and received wisdom among their fellow created beings."

God the Father, dimly known of by Narnian beings as the Emperor-Over-Sea (while the Holy Spirit was yet more cryptically known as the Deeper Magic from before the dawn of time), said in conclusion, "No lie shall go unrefuted. Our servants Emmett and Queenie shall raise the flag of truth even as the flags of mortal power are falling to the ground."

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At Denver International Airport, near the end of January 2009, a fair-haired man and a black-haired woman waited hand in hand for two disembarking passengers on a flight from Sydney, Australia. The waiting couple, very recently engaged, were named Jake Frankl and Trinity Morris (the woman's last name being assumed based on the older man who had been her mentor and father-figure). The incoming couple, already married for nearly two months, were Jake's elder brother Emmett and his bride Queenie.

At last came the bustling crowd, and the two dear ones in the midst of it. Emmett had the look of a hunter and a wanderer--but one who had found his heart's home. As for the tall, golden-haired Queenie--suffice it to say that she was the only woman present in that international terminal who could capture men's eyes even more stunningly than Trinity could.

Emmett hugged his brother, Queenie likewise Trinity, then they switched around, and then they headed for the escalator leading to the baggage carousel.

"Aslan's been talkin' to us," Emmett said quietly to Jake, in the tone of a man who knows that the subject is well understood by his hearer.

"An' to us too," replied Jake. "I been makin' arrangements for what y'all are gonna need."
 
Trinity was the only proficient motorist of the four...because the Frankl brothers were natives of the 19th-century West, who had come through a space-time gap to the modern world not many years before the turn of the millenium...while Queenie had made an even greater transit, out of another of those worlds which reflected myth and fantasy.

Trinity had her own remarkable origin. Aslan had restored her to life after she had been pointlessly killed in her own space-time dimension, and had brought her to where she would meet, and come to love, Emmett's brother. In any event, SHE was familiar with cars.

Queenie was, in fact, none other than the legendary Snow Queen about whom Hans Christian Andersen had been moved to write by causes he understood not. She had been every bit as evil as the story portrayed her; but the grace of Aslan had saved her from the eternal condemnation her deeds deserved. And since Emmett had been a key part of Aslan's plan for her redemption, her departure from evil had been combined with a dawning of tremendous love for the honorable Western gunslinger who was now her husband and most definitely the head of their household.

Emmett was now listening attentively to his kid brother saying:

"I had ta call in some favors, but I gotcha the special piece we were talkin' about before you'n Queenie went on your honeymoon to Australia. Fifty-caliber single-shot bolt-action heavy-snipin' rifle. Got a hunnerd rounds of teflon-coated ammo. Should penetrate even a dragon's hide, no sweat...."
 
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Some while after entering the modern world, Emmett and Jake had been recognized by a Western-history buff as the two brothers upon whom the Scott Glenn and Kevin Costner characters in "Silverado" had been based. This had led to a string of rodeo and county-fair appearances which had enabled the brothers to earn their own living while becoming adjusted to their new existence displaced in time. Further adventures had led to Emmett becoming the founder and front man of the Emmett's Gunslinger Steakhouse franchise chain.

The very first of these restaurants had been founded in a small town under the shadow of the Colorado Rockies (the mountains, not the baseball team). Numerous of the town's colorful characters were gathered there to meet the returnees; among these were Titus Finney, the minister who had performed the wedding of Emmett and Queenie, and his wife Louise and son Joel. Rosita, a trusted employee, had created a nacho platter in the likeness of a decorated cake, with the inscription "BIENVENIDOS" written with squirt-on cheese.

It was near enough to night that the returned couple blended the welcome-back celebration into supper (in which none of the nachos went uneaten). Afterward, Emmett and Queenie went to their nearby house, where they were soon enthusiastically engaged in what, for the benefit of some suffocatingly prudish friends, they jokingly referred to as "shaking hands."
 
When they were up and dressed in the morning--after still more "handshaking"--Emmett and Queenie stepped outside to gaze at the nearby mountains. But their eyes were drawn to a pioneer-style covered wagon, to which five unfamiliar horses were hitched: two and two and a fifth one front and center, in wagon tack custom-made for this unusual arrangement.

What made it still more unusual was when the lead horse, a gray stallion, _spoke_ to them.

"Good morning, Son of Adam and Daughter of Eve! It is fabulous to have even a brief glimpse of Adam's world! It is like a foretaste of Aslan's Country...though I hear that Earth folk who have been to Narnia say that rather _our_ world is more like Aslan's. But that may be only a matter of taste: barley and oats, you know."

"You're _from_ Narnia?" Emmett marvelled. "But Aslan told us--never mind."

"What's your name?" asked Queenie, her girlish face bright with the benign inquisitiveness which had replaced her former cruel craftiness.

"My name is Shufshuffashoohoo; but I imagine you'll prefer to call me Shuff. The other horses are ordinary ones, by the way. They will respond to spoken OR whinnied commands from me, as well as normal use of the reins by you. Everything you need for your mission is already loaded in the wagon...including the special weapon that your brother-in-law obtained for your husband."

"Then we're supposed to go _right_ now?" asked Emmett.

"Yes, My son," said the unseen but unmistakable voice of Aslan Himself in the gunslinger's ears. "All will be explained to you as shall be needed. Climb onto the wagon and take the reins."
 
As the Snow Queen, Queenie (named Lind at birth in her Nordic realm) had been waited on by servants, whom she abused at will. This was one of the fundamental things which had begun to change on the day Aslan had appeared in her very castle, held her at His mercy under His omnipotent claws, made her understand that He could slay her anytime He chose, but given her the chance to repent of her wickedness and be saved. Now Queenie was a new creation, and she revelled in _giving_ service instead of demanding it from others. One of her favorite Scriptures was, "He who would be greatest among you must be the servant of all." It was thus in character for her new character, that as the wagon began moving she climbed into the covered compartment and began to inventory the contents for Emmett.

"Your heavy rifle's here, with its ammunition...your twelve-gauge pump shotgun too, with five large boxes of shells...your magnum revolver, with two boxes of shells...a Glock nine-millimeter pistol with four clips, the one Trinity gave me...your Bowie knife...the lady-sized hunting knife you gave me...a shovel and a hatchet...first-aid kit...our hiking boots, yours and mine...some rope in different thicknesses...two suitcases full of outdoor clothing...a sewing kit...food supplies including dried fruit and venison jerky...army-surplus metal cans of drinking water..." Her voice turned coquettish. "Oooh, and a sleeping bag for two."

"Sounds as if Aslan ain't plannin' on lettin' us die in the first three hours of this here mission," Emmett called back. Shuff, hearing Emmett, said in turn, "But as you know, friends, if we do die in this errand, we shall simply find ourselves in Aslan's loving presence."

"Well spoke, Shuff," replied Emmett. Then, to Queenie: "Darlin', by the proportions of ammo supply that you describe, it does appear that Aslan don't expect most of our shootin' to be done at nothin' so _small_ as a human bein'."

Queenie, who in her former world had seen actual dragons and giants, took that statement seriously. Returning to the wagon's front seat, she began hugging and kissing her adored husband.

Shuff looked over his shoulder at them. "Go ahead and kiss her back, Master Emmett. Remember, I can do the driving for you."
 
They were moving southward along the base of a foothills ridge. This particular corner of Colorado had been visited by wonders before now, including comicbook-like superheroes; but the wonder Mr. and Mrs. Frankl saw next was unprecedented for this locale.

A huge section of the steep slope on the wagon's right came loose and swung out before them, like a door whose hinges were the far edge, letting them see that a green-tinted light was shining from within the opening. Out of this light emerged the God-Lion Himself. The wagon halted, and humans and horses alike bowed in worship to Aslan. Even the non-intelligent horses appeared to realize Who stood before them. "Blessings to you, faithful ones," Aslan rumbled.

"We're at Your service, Lord," said Emmett, as he and Queenie tightly clasped hands. "But I reckon You won't be peeved at us if'n we ask You just _what_ it is that You want us to do?"

"First, follow Me," said Aslan with a lion-smile. "That is always the first thing. Follow Me, for I am going to make you something very much like fishers of men."

He turned to stride back into the greenish brightness. Shuff got the wagon moving to follow the Lion. As they passed through the huge doorway, it and everything else seemed to turn inside-out, like a pillowcase being changed. When reality settled down again, they were with Aslan in a place full of beautiful trees, but with no animal sounds except those made by the horses. From past conversations with Aslan, Emmett and Queenie knew that they were now in The Wood Between The Worlds.
 
Aslan cast a meaningful glance (the only kind of glance He ever gave) at Shuff, who turned to address Emmett.

"I know this much from our Lord," said the Talking Stallion. "The kingdom of Narnia fell at last to a stealthy, treacherous invasion by the foul empire of Calormen. I say 'fell,' because I know that the event is in the past for you. The last time any Earth persons crossed into the Narnian world with a parallel match of time was fifty or more years ago as you experience time.

"But the fall of Narnia still is in the future for me, though not by much. It happened that my wife Plimbeenaheena had passed away in an accident; and Aslan appeared to me--the first time any horse in my family of that generation had seen and smelled Him directly--to speak to me about my loss. He told me that Plim had in fact been rescued from what was coming, spared from great pain and grief. The Lion opened my eyes to behold my dear love gazing down on me from the far cliffs which cannot be climbed from below; and then He told me a little of what I must pass through before joining her in everlasting joy." Here Shuff turned back toward Aslan, who was looking at Emmett and Queenie.

"I chose My time to lift Shuff out of the time-stream," Aslan rumbled, "so that in the trials he will share with you, he will not suffer the bewilderment of being in the midst of events he knows to have already happened, and wondering if he can make any change in them. As for you Children of Adam and Eve...

"At the time of Narnia's ending, I remove out of it certain other humans who are precious to Me. Allowed to see that world perishing behind them, they perceive this as happening all in a matter of moments. But in fact, what they see is like that which in your world and time you call a 'fast forward.' The perishing of the Narnian world is actually much slower for those existing inside it. And in that span of time, even though the land of Narnia proper falls first, there is great good which can still be accomplished, and _should_ be accomplished."

"Lord Aslan," said Queenie, "I know this much from You, that at other times you called Earth people into the Narnian world while they were children. Why are You calling adults now?"

"Because, dear daughter, the former crossings were ordained in large part to give those children wisdom which they would carry back to Earth. But now--which is to say, at that point in the Narnian time-stream to which I will send you--My concern is for numerous dwellers IN the Narnian world, who need wisdom themselves and are running out of time to acquire it. They do not have time anymore to wait for children to mature and become leaders; they need to hear _now_ the things you and your husband can tell them about choosing truth and rejecting evil. This is no longer merely a matter of prolonging the survival of a mortal nation; it is a matter of redeeming spirits for eternity."

Queenie nodded silently. Redemption was a thing she understood.
 
Chapter Two: Northward the Tigers


Two other married couples were also part of Aslan's design for the last days of the Narnian world. Only, these were native to that world, and were not Children of Adam.

The westernmost lands of this flat-topped world never had been so thoroughly explored and settled as the eastern. There were nomadic societies, human and otherwise, which had existed for centuries in western regions, only occasionally playing some part in the histories of the more organized peoples. Several chieftains of the most successful of the human tribes had been among those rulers who, in a bygone era of Narnia, had unsuccessfully sought the hand of Queen Lucy the Valiant in marriage. But no one from the western wilderness had achieved that much prominence in the Narnian world since the Pevensie Era.

Now, however, close to the ending of that world, someone from that obscure branch of displaced humanity _would_ have a chance to shine...in company with the four non-human servants of Aslan who were coming up from the south.

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"How are the leaves, husband?" a female Talking Koala called out, looking upward. Her name was Fandilly, and her high-climbing spouse was named Puktor.

"A bit stringy, but tasty," Puktor answered her. "Better than any of the other unfamiliar tree types we've sampled in the last four days. Come on up and try some."

"I'll bring her up," interjected a third voice, resembling that of an uncommonly deep-voiced human woman. This voice was issuing from the furry throat of a Talking Tigress named Searchwide, on whose back Fandilly had been riding for hours. "Hold on, little sister;" and Searchwide climbed the tall tree while Fandilly clung to her back with all four hands. Soon both Koalas were feeding together.

With the needs of their little friends attended to, Searchwide descended to rejoin her own husband, Tiger Hardsprint, who for more than an hour, in addition to carrying Puktor, had been dragging along the Tigers' own lunch: the remaining portion of a deer he had killed in the morning. Both couples thus could eat after their fashion.

Between mouthfuls of venison, Hardsprint called up to the Koalas: "While you're up there, do you see any sign of the human village Aslan told us to seek?"

"Possibly," replied Fandilly, "far off by the water."
 
Primitive regions are just as sure to have a watershed as heavily populated ones. Though mostly unvisited, the western half of the great landmass of the Narnian world had its own ocean--admittedly less grand than the Eastern Ocean which gave access to Aslan's borderland.

What the Talking Koalas beheld from their arboreal vantage was an independent fishing village on the shores of the Western Ocean. There, unseen so far by Puktor and Fandilly, was an eight-year-old girl named--

"Coral Maid! You are being warned for the last time!" the village headman Oaken Thumb roared. "You will forget this imaginary talking lion, and pay worship to the sacred image of the Underworld Goddess!"

In the slender child's reply was no such impudence as might have been shown by someone ignorant of consequences. Her voice was tiny and faint...but what it _said_ was firm. "Headman, I _didn't_ imagine the Lion. He _spoke_ to me as He carried me back to shore from the sinking boat." Coral Maid was referring to her father's leaky boat, which had capsized while she was a passenger; her father had swum for it to save himself without a thought for his daughter, because she was already regarded as a troublesome nonconformist.

"We might have believed you, since talking beasts have been reported at times," grunted an elder named Jar Breaker. "But the Goddess would never permit any animal to deny her divinity in the way you describe."

"Saying that the Goddess was put to death long ago! What rot!" shouted Oaken Thumb. "She could not possibly die! It is _you_ who will die, wicked girl, if you do not prostrate yourself before the holy image NOW!!!!"

Weeping at the unfairness of all this, and seeing no help coming, Coral Maid was about to give in and bow down to the idol of a green-kirtled woman to save her life...when the roaring began. Seeming to come from every direction, such roars as no villager had ever heard, even from the huge cliff-bears, were drowning out the surf and shaking the ground. Amid the alarmed cries, no one but Coral Maid herself realized that the spot _she_ stood on was _not_ shaking.

Oaken Thumb's house began to crack apart, evoking useless curses from the headman...the carven image of the Underworld Goddess broke into pieces...and then Coral Maid heard...HIS voice.

"Run away now, daughter! Go southeast, and do not wait for anything. Run with My strength in you, until you see those of whom I told you. They will be your friends, because you are My friend."


"Did you hear that?" said Hardsprint. "That was--"

"Aslan's roar!" cried Searchwide. "He must want us to go in that direction!"

"Yes, the Daughter of Eve whom we seek must be there. Koalas, make ready and mount our backs again!"
 
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Coral Maid was so moved by the Lion's voice that she actually felt no regret at leaving her family behind without a goodbye. Of course, the fact that all of them had been vociferously in favor of killing her if she didn't worship the idol, did help to ease the pain of parting.

The village was so panicked over the disembodied roaring and the shattering of their idol that no one even thought of pursuing the little girl till it was much too late to track her. There would only have been another scare for any who had pursued her...for less than half a mile inland from the village, Coral Maid was met by the very creatures whom the Lion had told her to expect: a mated pair of tigers, each of whom was carrying on its back a smaller creature like a baby bear.

The larger of the tigers spoke to her: "Well met, human cub! The Great Lion, for we know that He is known to you, has commanded us to find you and receive you into our company! I am called Hardsprint."

"What is your name, Daughter of the Lady Eve?" asked the bear-like animal seated on the back of the smaller tiger.

"I beg your pardon, wonderful creatures," Coral Maid responded meekly, "but my mother is named Net Mender, not 'Eve.' My own name is Coral Maid."

"So you know nothing of the--Never mind, that can wait," said the bear-like animal on Hardsprint's back. "I am Puktor; my wife who just spoke to you is Fandilly; and the tigress on whom Fandilly rides is Hardsprint's wife Searchwide."

"I'm--pleased to meet you," replied Coral Maid, coming near them as she felt more sure of their friendly intentions. "I have no home now; but Aslan told me I would be safe with you four creatures."

"As safe as anyone is now," huffed Searchwide. "Forgive me, child, I don't mean to alarm you. Now that we've found you, we must head inland, by Aslan's will." Fandilly hopped off the tigress' back to join Puktor on Hardsprint's back; then Searchwide lay down and said, "Climb onto me, Coral Maid, that we all may travel as one group."
 
From a sack, Puktor produced a small woven basket with bound-on lid, which he tossed over to Coral Maid. "Good catch. That contains berries, which will be your first meal with us."

"Thank you, sir." Before beginning to eat, the girl asked generally, "Where do all of you come from? From Narrinia?"

"That's 'Narnia,' " Searchwide corrected her. "My husband and I are descended from Talking Tigers who migrated away from Narnia long, long ago. These others, who are called Koalas, were created by Aslan _outside_ Narnia; the early tiger wanderers encountered and befriended them in a region not too far from present-day Calormen. Together with some humans, our different kinds created a society that worked, and has endured to this day. It is thought to have been originally named Slimtalonia, in honor of the great Matriarch of Talking Tigers; but that name was a mouthful, and over the centuries, it shrank down to Limtal. That makes us Limtalians."

"But our hearts were ever Narnian hearts," added Hardsprint. "Long ago, when the White Witch came to power, and forced all humans to flee for their lives from all territory where her magic worked, Talking Tigers were called by Aslan to venture up from Limtal and give aid to the fleeing Narnian humans."

"And now, the Tigers arise one final time to do Aslan's bidding," said Searchwide.

"Why the _final_ time?" asked Coral Maid.

"I don't know," Searchwide answered sheepishly. "I only know that Aslan has hinted at a finality in our mission. But be not afraid, little one; whether we live or die, Aslan will be our good Lord."
 
To their embarrassment, there was one thing which Coral Maid's new friends could not provide for her: the means of lighting a fire. As strict raw-meat carnivores and strict herbivores respectively, the Tiger and Koala couples had had no cause to think about cooking meat on their journey north from Limtal. And even the plants edible to Puktor and Fandilly were not always edible to the girl. In the end, Coral Maid shrugged. "I've eaten raw fish before; I guess I can also eat raw meat. I sure feel hungry enough to eat it."

So they called a halt, and Hardsprint went out on his own to hunt for game, while Searchwide kept a protective watch over the others. Eventually Hardsprint returned and said to Coral Maid, "Child, my kill is behind those bushes I just came from. Puktor with his knife will help me to separate off a fairly neat portion of flesh on the hide, which hopefully will mean less, um, staining on your clothes. You shall have your food before Searchwide and I eat; and I shall stay by you while my wife eats, so you will never be without immediate protection."

When the two male Talking Beasts had the desired meat-on-rawhide serving cut away clean, Hardsprint did the best job he could of shredding the meat somewhat on the patch of deerskin with his claws, to make it a little easier for human teeth to take mouthfuls.

With hunger driving her efforts, Coral Maid was able in time to devour all the raw venison thus provided to her. She was just as glad not to have seen the deer's carcass. As for water, the Koalas had vessels to draw it from a nearby stream. As for digesting: the Narnian world was in some respects _less_ fallen than the Earth of Adam and Eve, with one consequence being that raw flesh of beasts was not so frequently infested with disease organisms and parasites as would be the case on Earth. No such thing entered the girl's body.

When the four animals and the one human child settled down for the night, Coral Maid found plenty of warmth and furry softness to comfort her for sleep, although there was always one beast up and watching for danger. Delayed feelings of missing her family came to the village girl; but Aslan came to her in her dreams and spoke comfort to her, promising that He would be her friend sticking closer than a brother.
 
Chapter Three: The Servants Converge


Before the sun of the Narnian cosmos had worked its way up from beneath the Narnian quasi-planet (for that really was what it did in this creation) to rise over the inland expanse, all of the party was awake except Coral Maid. The two Koalas kept an eye on her while breakfasting on the nearby foliage (Aslan having made them able to digest a far greater variety of vegetation than their Earthly counterparts could); the two tigers, for their part, ate the remainder of Hardsprint's kill from last night.

When the Talking Beasts were ready to move, the Koalas draped the still-sleeping little girl over Hardsprint's back. Then the day's march began. Since for now they would not be travelling at speed, the Koalas toddled along on their own feet. This left Searchwide unencumbered to do some of what her name suggested, scouting the land ahead.

By the time Coral Maid yawned herself awake, the Tigress had been gone for the better part of an hour. The girl asked after Searchwide; was told what she was doing...

And then, with the others, beheld her coming back in some excitement.

"There are men!" she exclaimed, "Calormenes, by the look of them; and as if to confirm it for my benefit, they were speaking The Other Speech."

"What does that mean?" asked Coral Maid, forgetting for the moment to be hungry.

Fandilly drew close to her. "Daughter of Eve, in all your short life you have only heard one kind of words, one way of speaking. So you don't realize that there are other ways of speaking. Those who are aware of the different ways, call them 'languages.' In Adam's world there are many of them. What we are speaking to each other now is what on Earth would be called 'the English language.' It is known all across our world, because the first humans to settle here, used it. Later waves of humans, coming here by various ways and for various reasons, had languages of their own; they learned to speak English because that was this world's first language for dealings between differing kinds, but some still kept the memory of different words. At least, the Calormenes did."

"Which is why we refer to 'The Other Speech,' " Searchwide took over. "We in Limtal are acquainted with the language the Calormenes brought with them from Adam's world, a language still remembered by some of them, though trade with the first-built kingdoms prompted them to learn English."

"Then tell us, wife," said Hardsprint, "were you able to make out any of what the Calormenes were saying in The Other Speech?"

"Alas, no," Searchwide admitted. "Perhaps Puktor would understand better."

"Perhaps," the male Koala suggested, "if you think they are up to mischief, you could capture a prisoner for me to question? Then we could gather the meaning...or better yet, just tell him to speak English."
 
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Everyone walked on their own feet now, following the best route for stealth that Searchwide had been able to discern. While the Calormenes were still far enough ahead that speech was permissible, Coral Maid asked Puktor, "Why are Calormenes any different from other people?"

"Take a baby Calormene out of the Empire of Calormen and raise her among those who love Aslan, and there _won't_ be anything wrong with her," said the Koala. "But the majority of Calormenes have been taught to worship things which are as false and wrong as your villagers _thought_ Aslan Himself was. Worst of all, the chief god of their false faith actually _does_ exist--but as evil, not as anything good."

"It began at the very beginning of the Calormene people," added Hardsprint. "Finding an opening into this world some while after the English people who came first, some other people came in, under the leadership of a wicked man who didn't _want_ the truth about Who made all worlds. He wanted only power and pleasure for himself; and this made him the perfect servant for the demon Tash, Aslan rebuke him. Those people dwelt for generations not too far from the original English-speaking people, and so learned the words that we also use. There was even some intermarriage--but _never_ could there be a marriage between truth and lies. Everyone entering such a marriage across the divide of peoples had to choose between the true God and the false one. Eventually, when they saw that they were not gaining ground overall in the effort to trick Narnian humans away from following Aslan, the Calormenes moved south."

"Why didn't they stay in the south?" asked Coral Maid. "Why are they up here now?"

"Because they're never satisfied, just as their false god is never satisfied," Fandilly told her. "Over time, they gradually captured and ruled all the other settlements of humans anywhere near them in the south....except our well-defended western haven of Limtal. They tried in the past to conquer Narnia and Archenland also, but failed. If they're moving north again, they intend either to colonize and control the less-peopled western regions like your own, or make another try at conquering the organized northern kingdoms...or both."
 
"We're getting close," declared Searchwide. "Puktor, Fandilly, help the Daughter of Eve up into that large tree over there. I think you'll be able to see from that height what befalls with us. If ill befalls Hardsprint and me, you must seek Aslan's guidance for your own further actions."

Coral Maid hugged Searchwide's furry neck. "Please be careful. You beasts are all the family I have now." The Tigress nuzzled her in reply, then gently nudged her into the keeping of the Koalas.

Hardsprint assumed the lead as they crawled up a small rise of ground. Using vegetation to best advantage, they were able to reach the crest without offering conspicuous silhouettes on the skyline. Less than half a mile away--and, as Searchwide had planned, upwind of the Tiger couple--was a force of at least four hundred Calormene cavalrymen. They were not making camp, only resting their horses and eating rations....and two or three of them appeared to be talking with some non-human creature that was hard to see.

"Did you get closer than this when you first reconnoitered?" Hardsprint asked his wife.

"Yes, almost close enough to hear their speech as they were first calling the halt. Have you an idea brewing?"

Hardsprint laughed a purring laugh. "Oh, yes, I think a good one. Please lead the way to the closest cover possible to one of their sentries."



Five or so minutes later, a Calormene warrior named Guzmin, one of the first rank-and-file men to have been allowed to eat, was keeping watch at the edge of the chosen rest area while others ate, when he heard what seemed two human or humanoid voices, which seemed to be trying not to be heard, yet which were audible.

A female voice was harshly scolding: "Why didn't you start hiding the treasure sooner? Didn't I tell you that those big dangerous humans might come this way?"

"A lucky guess!" retorted a defensive-sounding male voice. "This empty region should have been safe for us poor little Dwarfs: plenty of room to store our gold and silver and platinum and--Hey! Be more careful! You almost dropped that box of rubies!"

"Don't you nag me, husband! With twelve years' worth of earth-found treasures to guard, you should have made plans in advance!"

"Well, maybe we should just show ourselves now, and ask the Calormenes to agree only to take part of our treasure..."

"You idiot! Why did I ever marry you? If the Calormenes inspect our treasure hoard, their commander will surely take for himself the magical helmet which makes a man invincible in battle and successful in everything he undertakes..."

Guzmin's dreams of glory led him away from his post. Even if he couldn't get that magical helmet for himself, he could at the very least pocket some of the Dwarfs' gems, while being commended and honored for having made so valuable a capture. But Guzmin's reward was a blow to the back of the head by Hardsprint's massive though velveted paw, which knocked him unconscious.
 
With claws, teeth, and caution, Hardsprint managed to remove Guzmin's lacquered-leather helmet without maiming the captive's head. He took the helmet, and the Calormene's dropped spear, and moved with them in a direction other than the way he and Searchwide had come from. As he went, he scuffed up the ground and tore up the vegetation as much as he could, making it glaringly obvious that something had gone this way. Ten yards on, he dropped off the spear; fifty yards on, he dropped the helmet. He continued his conspicuous trailblazing for another twenty yards; then he leaped laterally into undamaged foliage, from which he would circle back toward the rise where he had shared his plan with his wife.

But before starting the covert retreat, Hardsprint shouted at the top of his lungs one of a few words he knew of the Calormenes' alternate language, the language they had brought out of Central Asia when they left Earth, before they learned English from their first contacts with Narnians:

"HELP! HELP! HELP!"

As he beat his retreat, then, he could hear the other soldiers beginning to react. They would soon have missed their sentry no matter what; but now they would search for him in almost exactly the opposite direction from the direction the Tigers would be going.

During all of her husband's diversionary measures, Searchwide had been dragging the man Guzmin away with the _least_ possible sign left of her passage. She heard the deceptive shout, heard the enemy soldiers taking arms, and hastened her escape. Hundreds of spears, arrows and swords were no joke.

Presently Hardsprint overtook her and relieved her of her burden. Searchwide then dashed ahead to call Coral Maid and the two Koalas down out of the tree--which proved unnecessary, for those three had observed enough from their vantage point to realize that they should come down.

Hardsprint was coming up to the others when his prisoner began regaining consciousness. Positioning a forepaw to muffle Guzmin's mouth, he spoke softly but clearly:

"Are you awake now? Good. Listen closely. We are Limtalians, which is the same as being Narnians; we therefore will not tolerate your mischief against our ancestral country. If you do as you are told, I swear by the God I worship that your life will be spared. Now get on your feet, hand over your swordbelt to my smaller friends, and come with us--QUIETLY."
 
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