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THE HIGH KING IN AND quot;No;quot; said Peter, as they fiheir al, quot;Asn and the girls (thats Queen Susan and Queen Lucy, Caspian) are sowhere close. We dont know when he will act. In his ti, no doubt, not ours. Ii he would like us to do what we on our own.
You say, Caspian, we are not strong enough to et Miraz in pitched battle?”
quot;Iafraid not, High King,quot; said Caspian. He was likier ery bsp; but was rather toied. It was ch stranger for hito et the great Kings out of the old stories than it was for theto et hi
quot;Very well, then,quot; said Peter, quot;Ill send hia challeo single bat.quot; No one had thought of this before.
quot;Please,quot; said Caspian, quould it not be ? I want to aenge father.”
quot;Youre wounded,quot; said Peter. quot;And anyway, wouldnt he just ugh at a challenge froyou? I an, we hae seen that you are a king and a warrior but he thinks of you as a kid.”
quot;But, Sire,quot; said the Badger, who sat ery close to Peter and ook his eyes off hi
quot;Will he aept a . challenge een froyou? He knows he has the stronger . ar.”
quot;Very likely he wont,quot; said Peter, quot;but theres always the ce. And een if he doesnt, we shall spend the best part of the day sending heralds to and fro and all that. By then Asn y hae dohing. And at least I ihe ar and strehe position. I will send the challenge. In fact I will write it at once. Hae you pen and ink, Master Doctor?”
quot;A schor is neer without the your Majesty,quot; answered Doctor elius.
quot;Very well, I will dictate,quot; said Peter. And while the Doctor spread out a  art and opened his ink-horn and sharpened his peer leant back with half- closed eyes and recalled to his nd the nguage in which he had written such things long ago in Narnias golden age.
quht,quot; he said at st. quot;And now, if you are ready, Doctor?”
Doctor elius dipped his pen and waited. Peter dictated as follows: quot;Peter, by the gift of Asn, by ele, by prescription, and by quest, High King oer all Kings in Narnia, Eeror of the Lone Isnds and Lord of Cair Parael, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Lion, to Miraz, Son of Caspian the Eighth, soti Lord Protector of Narnia and now styling hielf King of Narnia, Greeting. Hae you got that?”
quot;Narnia, a, greeting,quot; ttered the Doctor. quot;Yes, Sire.”
quot;Then begin a new paragraph,quot; said Peter. quot;For to preent the effusion of blood, and for the aoiding all other ineniences likely to grow frothe wars now leied in our realof Narnia, it is our pleasure to adenture our royal person on behalf of our trusty and well-beloed Caspian in wager of battle to proe upon your Lordships body that the said Caspian is wful King under us in Narnia both by ift and by the ws of the Telrines, and your Lordship twice guiy of treachery both in withholding the donion of Narnia frothe said Caspian and i abhonable, - doo spell it with an H, Doctor - bloody, and unnatural rder of your kindly lord and brother King Caspian Ninth of that na. Wherefore we st heartily prooke, challenge, and defy your Lordship to the said bat and nochy, and hae sent these letters by the hand of our well beloed and royal brother Ednd, soti King under us in Narnia, Duke of Lantern Waste and t of the Western March, Knight of the Noble Order of the Table, to whowe hae gien full power of deterning with your Lordship all the ditions of the said battle. Gien at our lodging in Asns How this XII day of the nth Greenroof in the first year of Caspiah of Narnia.
quot;That ought to do,quot; said Peter, drawing a deep breath.
quot;And now we st send two others with King Ednd. I think the Giant ought to be one.”
quot;Hes - hes not ery cleer, you kno;quot; said Caspian.
quot;Ourse not,quot; said Peter. quot;But any giant looks iressie if only he will keep quiet.
And it will cheer hiup. But who for the other?”
quot;Upon word,quot; said Trukin, quot;if you want soone who kill with looks, Reepicheep would be the best.”
quot;He would indeed, froall I hear,quot; said Peter with a ugh. quot;If only he wasnt so sll.
They wouldnt eeill he was close!”
quot;Send Glenstor Sire,quot; said Trufflehunter. quot;No one eer ughed at a taur.”
An hour ter two great lords in the ar of Miraz, the Llozelle and the Lord Sopespian, strolling along their lines and pig their teeth after breakfast, looked up and saw ing down to thefrothe wood the taur and Giant Wileweather, whothey had seen before in battle, aween thea figure theuld nnize.
Nor indeed would the other boys at Ednds school hae reized hiif theuld hae seen hi?at that nt. For Asn had breathed on hiat their eting and a kind of greatness hung about hi
quot;Whats to do?quot; said the Llozelle. quot;An attack?”
quot;A parley, rather,quot; said Sopespian. quot;See, they carry green brahey are ing to surre likely.”
quot;He that is walkiweeaur and the Giant has no look of surrender in his face,quot; said Glozelle. quot;Who he be? It is not the boy Caspian.”
quot;No indeed,quot; said Sopespian. quot;This is a fell warrior, I warrant you, whereer the rebels hae got hifro He is (in your Lordships priate ear) a kinglier n than eer Miraz was. And what il he wears! None of our sths ke the like.”
quot;Ill wager dappled Poly he brings;ar;/ar a challenge, not a surrender,quot; said Glozelle.
quot;How then?quot; said Sopespian. quot;We hold the ene in our fist here. Miraz would neer be so hair-brained as to throw away his adantage on a bat.”
quot;He ght be brought to it,quot; said Glozelle in a ch lower oice.
quot;Softly,quot; said Sopespian. quot;Step a little aside here out of earshot of those sentries. Now.
Hae I taken your Lordships aning aright?”
quot;If the King uook wager of battle,quot; whispered Glozelle, quot;why, either he would kill or be killed.”
quot;So,quot; said Sopespian, nodding his head.
quot;And if he killed we should hae won this war.”
quot;Certainly. And if not?”
quot;Why, if not, we should be as able to win it without the Kings grace as with hi For I need not tell your Lordship that Miraz is captain. And after that, we should be both ictorious and kingless.”
quot;And it is your aning, Lord, that you and uld hold this nd quite as ely without a King as with one?”
Glozelles face grew ugly. quot;Not fetting,quot; said he, quot;that it ho first put hiohrone. And in all the years that he has e, what fruits hae e our way?
What gratitude has he shown us?”
quot;Say no re,quot; answered Sopespian. quot;But look - herd es oo fetch us to the Kings tent.quot; ` When they reached Mirazs tent they saw Ednd and his two panions seated outside it aained with cakes and wine, haing already deliered the challenge, and withdrawn while the King was sidering it. When they saw thethus at close quarters the two Telrine lords thought all three of theery arng.
Ihey found Miraz, unard and finishing his breakfast. His face was flushed and there was awl on his brow.
quot;There!quot; he growled, flinging the part across the table to the quot;See what a pack of ales our jaapes of a nephew has sent us.”
quot;By your leae, Sire,quot; said Glozelle. quot;If the young warrior whowe hae just seen outside is the King Edioned in the writing, then I would not call hia ale but a ery dangerous knight.”
quot;King Ednd, pah!quot; said Miraz. quot;Does your Lordship beliee those old wies fables about Peter and Ednd and the ;q;/qrest?”
quot;I beliee eyes, your Majesty,quot; said Glozelle.
quot;Well, this is to no purpose,quot; said Miraz, quot;but as toug the challenge, I suppose there is only one opinioween us?”
quot;I suppose so, indeed, Sire,quot; said Glozelle.
quot;And what is that?quot; asked the King.
quot;Most infallibly to refuse it,quot; said Glozelle. quot;For though I hae neer been called ward, I st pinly say that to et that young n in battle is re than heart would sere for. And if (as is likely) his brother, the High King, is re dangerous than he why, on your life, Lord King, hae nothing to do with hi”
quot;Pgue on you!quot; cried Miraz. quot;It was not that sort of cil I wanted. Do you think I aasking you if I should be afraid to et this Peter (if there is such a n)? Do you think I fear hi I wanted your sel on the policy of the tter; whether we, haing the adantage, should hazard it on a wager of battle.”
quot;To which I only answer, your Majesty,quot; said Glozelle, quot;that for all reasons the challenge should be refused. There is death irange knights face.”
quot;There yain!quot; said Miraz, now thhly angry. quot;Are y, to ke it appear that I aas great ward as your Lordship?”
quot;Your Majesty y say your pleasure,quot; said Glozelle sulkily.
quot;You talk like an old won, Glozelle,quot; said the King. quot;What say you, Lord Sopespian?”
quot;Do not touch it, Sire,quot; was the reply. quot;And what your Majesty says of the  olicy of the thing es in ery happily. It gies your Majesty ecellent grounds for a refusal without any cause for questioning your Majestys honour or ce.”
quot;Great Heaen!quot; ecid Miraz, juing to his feet. quot;Are you also bewitched today?
Do you think I alooking frounds to refuse it? You ght as well call ard to face.”
The ersation was goily as the two lords wished, so they said nothing.
quot;I see what it is,quot; said Miraz, after staring at theas if his eyes would start out of his head, quot;you are as lilyliered as hares yourseles and hae the effrontery to igine heart after the likeness of yrounds for a refusal, indeed! Ecuses for not fighting!
Are you soldiers? Are you Telrines? Are you n? And if I dog refuse it (as ail good reasons of captaind rtial policy urge to do) you will think, and teach others tan think, I was afraid. Is it not so?”
quot;No n of your Majestys age,quot; said Glozelle, quot;would be calleward by any wise soldier for refusing the bat with a great warrior in the flower of his youth.”
quot;So Ito be a dotard with one foot in the grae, as well as a dastard,quot; roared Miraz. quot;Ill tell you what it is, Lords. With your wonish sels (eer shying frothe true point, which is one of policy) you hae dohe ery opposite of your i. I had ant to refuse it. But Ill aept it. Do you hear, aept it! Ill not be shad because so witchcraft or treason has frozen both your bloods.”
quot;We beseeajesty -quot; said Glozelle, but Miraz had flung out of the tent and theuld hear hibawling out his aeptao Ednd.
The two lords looked at one another and chuckled quietly.
quot;I knew hed do it if he were properly chafed,quot; said Glozelle. quot;But Ill not fet he called ard. It shall be paid for.”
There was a great stirring at Asns How when the news ca bad was unicated to the arious creatures. Ednd, with one of Mirazs captains, had already rked out the pce for the bat, and ropes and stakes had been  ut round it.
Two Telrines were to stand at two of the ers, and one in the ddle of one side, as rshals of the lists. Three rshals for the other two ers and the other side were to be furnished by the High King. Peter was just epining to Caspian that he nbsuld not be one, because his right to the throne was what they were fighting about, when suddenly a thick, sleepy oice said, quot;Your Majesty, please.quot; Peter turned and there stood the eldest of the Bulgy Bears.
quot;If you please, your Majesty,quot; he said, quot;Ia bear, I a”
quot;To be sure, so you are, and a good bear too, I dont doubt,quot; said Peter.
quot;Yes,quot; said the Bear. quot;But it was always a right of the, bears to supply one rshal of the lists.”
quot;Do hiquot; whispered Trukin to Peter. quot;Hes a good creature, but hell sha us all. Hell go to sleep and he will suck his paws. In front of the ene too.”
quot;I t help that,quot; said Peter. quot;Because hes quite right. The Bears had that priilege. I t igine how it has been reered all these years, when so ny other things hae been fotten.”
quot;Please, your Majesty,quot; said the Bear.
quot;It is yht,quot; said Peter. quot;And you shall be one of the rshals. But you st reer not to suck your paws.”
quot;Ourse not,quot; said the Bear in a ery shocked oice.
quot;Why, youre doing it this nute!quot; bellowed Trukin.
The Bear whipped his paw out of his uth and pretended he hadnt heard.
quot;Sire!quot; ca a shrill oice frohe ground.
quot;Ah - Reepicheep!quot; said Peter after looking up and down and round as peo藏书网;/aple usually did when addressed by the Mouse.
quot;Sire,quot; said Reepicheep. quot;My life is eer at your and, but honour is own.
Sire, I hae ang  eople the only trueter in your Majestys ar. I had thought,
 erhaps, we ght hae bee with the challenge. Sire,  eople are grieed.
Perhaps if it were your pleasure that I should be a rshal of the lists, it would tent the”
A uhunder broke out frosowhere oerhead at this point, as Giant Wileweather burst into one of those not ery intelligent ughs to whibsp; the nicer sorts of Giant are so liable. He checked hielf at ond looked as grae as a turnip by the ti Reepicheep dered where the noise ca fro
quot;I aafraid it would not do,quot; said Peter ery graely. quot;So huns are afraid of ce -“
quot;I had obsered it, Sire,quot; said Reepicheep.
quot;And it would not be quite fair to Miraz,quot; Peter tinued, quot;to hae in sight anything that ght abate the edge of his ce.”
quot;Your Majesty is the rror of honour,quot; said the Mouse with one of his adrable bows.
quot;And on this tter we hae but a single nd... I thought I heard soone ughing just now. If anyone present wishes to ke the subject of his wit, I aery ch at his serice - with sword - wheneer he has leisure.”
An awful silence followed this rerk, which was broken by Peter saying, quot;Giant Wileweather and the Bear and the taur Glenstorshall be our rshals. The bat will be at two hours after noon. Di noon precisely.”
quot;I say,quot; said Ednd as they walked away, quot;I suppose it is all right. I an, I suppose you beat hi”
quot;Thats what Ifighting hito find out,quot; said Peter.
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