“Aii—Aii—Aaow—Awah,”screamedtheCat。
“Artthoualki?”saidthe。“Thenholdthydevilishalk。”
Whatfollowedwasratherhorrible。Tiriae(andsodidtheothers)thattheCatwastryingtosaysomething:butnothiofhismouthexceptthelyoisesyoumighthearfromanyangryhteominabaEngland。AndtheloerwauledthelesslikeaTalkihelooked。UneasywhimperingsandlittlesharpsquealsbrtheotherAnimals。
“Look,look!”saidthevoiceoftheBear。“It'ttalk。Ithasfottenhowtotalk!Ithasgoobeingadumbbeast。Lookatitsface。”Everyoitwastrue。AhegreatestterrorofallfelluponthoseNarnians。Foreveryohemhadbeentaught—whenitwasonlyachickorapuppyoracub—howAslanatthebeginningoftheworldhadtursofNarniaintoTalkisahatiftheyweren'tgoodtheymightournedbaahepoorwitlessasiries。“Andnowitisinguponus,”theymoaned。
“Mercy!Mercy!”wailedtheBeasts。“Spareus,LordShift,staweenusandAslan,youmustalwaysgoiohimforus。Wedaren't,wedaren't。”
Gingerdisappearedfurtherupiree。Nooneeversa>
Tirianstoodwithhishandonhissword-hiltandhisheadbowed。Hewasdazedwiththehorrorsofthatnight。Sometimeshethoughtitwouldbebesttodrawhisswordatondrushupontheemomeitwouldbebettertowaitaurnaffairsmighttake。Andurncame。
“MyFather,”cameagiheleftofthecrowd。Tiriaowasoheenesspeaking,foriisroytheoheofficers“MyMaster”buttheofficerscalltheirseniorofficers“MyFather“。Jillaa'tknowthisbut,afterlookingthiswayandthat,theysawthespeaker,forofcoursepeopleatthesidesofthecrowdwereeasiertoseethahemiddlewheretheglareofthefiremadeallbeyonditlookratherblack。Hewasyoungandtallandslender,aherbeautifulinthedark,haughty,ene>
“MyFather,”hesaidtothe,“Ialsoin。”
&h,”saidthe,“Whocalledtheetosel?Doesitbeeaboytospeak?”
“MyFather,”saidEmeth。“TrulyIamyouhou,yetIalsoamofthebloodoftheTarkaahouart,andIalsoamtheservantofTash。Therefore。。。”
“Silence,”saidRishdaTarkaan。“AmnotIthy?Thouhastnothingtodowiththisstable。ItisfortheNarnians。”
“Nay,myFather,”ahouhastsaidthattheirAslanandourTashareallone。Andifthatisthetruth,thenTashhimselfisinyonder。AthouthatIhavenothingtodowithhim?FladlywouldIdieathousahsifImightlookohefaceofTash。”
“Thouartafoolanothing,”saidRishdaTarkaan。“Thesebehighmatters。”
&h'sfacegrewstertheashandAslanareallone?”heasked。“HastheApeliedtous?”
“Ofcoursethey'reallone,”saidtheApe。
&,Ape,”saidEmeth。
“Ohdear!”whimperedShift,“Iwishyou'dallstme。Myheaddoesache。Yes,yes,Is>
&her,”saidEmeth,“Iamutterlydetermiogoin。”
“Fool,”beganRishdaTarkaan,butatoheDwarfsbeganshouting:“ealong,Darkie。Whydon'tyoulethimin?WhydoyouletNarniansinandkeepyourow?Whathaveyougotiyoudon'twantyourow?”
TirianandhisfriendslyseethebackofRishdaTarkaan,sotheyhisfacelookedlikeasheshruggedhisshouldersandsaid,“BearwithatIamguiltlessofthisyoungfool'sblood。Gettheein,rashboy,ae。”
&asGingerhaddohcamewalkingforwardiripofgrassbetweenthebohestable。Hiseyeswereshining,hisfan,hishandwasonhissword-hilt,andhecarriedhisheadhigh。JillfeltlikegwhenshelookedathisfadJewelwhisperedintheKing'sear,“BytheLion'sMane,Ialmostlovethisyoungwarrior,ehoughhebe。HeisworthyofabettergodthanTash。”
“Idohatisreallyihere,”saidEustace。
&hopehedoorain,intotheblackmouthofthestable。Heclosedthedoorbehindhim。Ospassed—butitseemedlohedooropenedagain。Afigureinorreeledout,fellonitsbadlaystill:thedoorclosedbehiaiowarditaostareatitsface。Hegaveastartofsurprise。Thenhereselfahecrout:“Therashboyhashadhiswill。HehaslookedonTashaakewarning,allofyou。”
“ill,”saidthepoorBeasts。ButTirianandhisfriehedeadeohey,beingsoclose,couldseewhatthecrowd,beingfurtheroffahefire,otsee:thisdeadmanwash。Hewasquitedifferent:ahiotsotall,withabigbeard。
“Ho-ho-ho,”chuckledtheApe。“Anymore?Aogoin?Well,asyou'reallshy,I'llchoosethe。You,youBoar!Onyoue。Drivehimup,enes。HeshallseeTashlaoface。”
“O-o-mph,”gruheBheavilytohisfeet。“eorymytusks。”
&iriansawthatbraveBeastgettiofightforitslife—andenesinningtoonitwiththeirdrawnscimitars—aoitshelp—somethioburstinsidehim。Henolohiswasthebestmomenttoi。
“Swordsout,”hewhisperedtotheothers。“Arr。Follow。”
&theastonishedNarnianssawsevenfiguresleapforthinfroable,fouroftheminshiningmail。TheKing'sswordflashediashewaveditabovehisheadandagreatvoice:“HerestandI,TirianofNarnia,inAslan'soprovewithmybodythatTashisafoulfiend,theApeamanifoldtraitor,andtheseehyofdeath。Tomyside,alltrueNarnians。Wouldyouwaittillyourershavekilledyouallonebyone?”