CHAPTERTHREETHEAPEINITSGLORY
“MASTERHorse,MasterHorse,”saidTiriailycutitstraethesealienstoenslaveyou?IsNarniaquered?Hastherebeenabattle?”
“edthehorse,“Aslaisallbyhisorders。Hehasanded—”
“er,King,”saidJewel。TirianlookedupandsawthatixedwithafewTalkis)werebeginningtoruntowardthemfromeverydire。Thetwodeadmeadsoithadtakebeforetherestoftheeenowtheydid。Mostofthemhadarsintheirhands。
“Quiyback,”saidJewel。
TheKingflurideofhisoldfriendwhallopedaway。Hegeddiretwiceorthriastheywereoutofsightoftheirenemies,crossedastream,aslaghispace,“Whitheraway,Sire?ToCairParavel?”
“Holdhard,friend,”saidTiriameoff。”HeslidofftheUni'sbadfacedhim。
“Jewel,”saidtheKing。“Wehavedoneadreadfuldeed。”
“Weweresorelyprovoked,”saidJewel。
“Buttoleaponthemudefyiheywereunarmed—faugh!Wearetwomurderers,Jewel。Iamdishonouredforever。”
Jeweldroopedhishead。Hetoo>
“Andthen,”saidtheKing,“theHorsesaiditwasbyAslan'sorders。TheRatsaidthesame。TheyallsayAslanishere。Howifitweretrue?”
“But,Sire,howcouldAslanbeandingsuchdreadfulthings?”
&atamelion,”saidTirian。“Hohathewoulddo?We,whoaremurderers。Jewel,Iwillgoback。IwillgiveupmysutmyselfinthehandsoftheseenesandaskthattheybringmebeforeAslahimdojustie。”
“Youwillgotoyourdeath,then,”saidJewel。
“DoyouthinkIcareifAslah?”saidtheKing。“Thatwouldbenothing,nothingatall。WoulditobedeadthahishorriblefearthatAslanhaseandisheAslanwehavebelievedinaisasifthesunroseonedayandwereabla。”
“Iknow,”saidJewel。“Orasifyoudraweredrywater。Youarei,Sire。Thisistheendofallthiusgoandgiveourselvesup。”
“Thereishofustogo。”
“Ifeverwelovedomegowithyounow,”saidtheUni。“IfyouaredeadandifAslanisnotAslan,whatlifeisleftforme?”
&urnedaogether,sheddiears。
Assoootheplacewherethewoingontheenesraisedadwiththeironsinhand。ButtheKihisswordwiththehilttowardthemandsaid:“IwhowasKingofNarniaandamnowadishhtgivemyselfuptothejusticeofAslan。Bringmebeforehim。”
“AndIgivemyselfuptoo,”saidJewel。
&hedarkmeheminathiellingofgarliioeeyesflashingdreadfullyintheirbrowheyputaropehalterroundJewel'sheKing'sswordawayandtiedhishandsbehindhisbaeoftheenes,whohadahelmetiurbaobeinand,shegoldcircletoffTirian'sheadandhastilyputitawayshisclothes。Theyledthetwoprisonersuphilltoaplacewheretherewasabigg。Andthisrisonerssaw。
Attheteroftheg,whichwasalsothehighestpoiherewasalittlehutlikeastable,withathatchedroof。Itsdoorwasshut。OnthegrassinfroheresatairianandJewel,whohadbeeoseeAslanahingabouta,wereverybewilderedwhe。TheApewasofcourseShifthimself,buthelookedtentimesuglierthanwhenhelivedbyPool,forhewasnowdress—edup。Hewaswearingascarletjacketwhiverywell,havingbeenmadeforad>
HehadJewelledslippersonhishindpaouldnotstayonproperlybecause,asyouknow,thehindpaearereallylikehands。Heworewhatseemedtobeapaperhishead。Thereileofnutsbesidehimautswithhisjaittingouttheshells。Andhealsokeptonpullijackettoscratchhimself。Agreatalkioodfaghim,andnearlyeveryfathatiserablyworriedandbewildered。Whentheysawwhotheprisoheyallgroanedandwhimpered。
“OLordShift,mouthpieceofAslan,”saidtheene。“Webringyouprisoners。ByourskillahepermissiogodTashwehavetakewodesperatemurderers。”
&man'sse。SotheytooktheKing'sswordahthesword-beltandall,tothemonkey。Aroundhisownneditmadehimlooksillierthanever。
“We'llseeaboutthosetwolater,”saidtheApe,spittingoutashelliiowotsomeotherbusi。Theywait。ome,everyohingIwanttosayisaboutnuts。Where'sthatHeadSquirrelgotto?”
“Here,Sir,”saidaredsquirrel,ingforwardandmakitlebow。
“Ohyouare,areyou?”saidtheApewithanastylook。“ome。Iwant—Imean,Aslanwas。Theseyouhtaren'tanythinglikeenough。Ysomemore,doyouhear?Twiy。Andthey'vegottobeherebysuomorrow,an'tbeanybadonesoranysmallohem。”
Amurmurofdismayranthroughtheothersquirrels,andtheHeadSquirrelpluckedupcetosay:“Please,wouldAslanhimselfspeaktousaboutit?Ifwemightbeallowedtoseehim—”
“Wellyouwon't,”saidtheApe。“Hemaybeverykind(thoughit'salotmorethanmostofyoudeserve)aforafewmi。Thenyouallhavealookathim。Buthewillnothaveyroundhimaeringhimwithquestions。Anythingyouwanttosaytohimwillbepassedhme:ifIthinkit'sworthbhimabout。Iimeallyousquirrelshadbettergoahenuts。Aheyareherebytomorroweveningor,myword!you'llcatchit。”