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"The wisest men follow their own directions

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"The wisest men follow their own directions."
- Euripides












Narnia, 2557.

If Shift didn't do it first, Olivia would. Tirian was a dead man.

As the Calormenes dragged them by their arms, Tirian's eyes desperately tried to find hers, but she refused to even look at him.

Tirian's golden circlet was taken off his head, and their spear and sword had been confiscated, with a few other daggers they found, too. Luckily, Olivia's rings were carefully hidden inside her bodice, which the Calormenes wouldn't dare touch (due to their religion, even though cruel, Calormenes were extremely conserved– even looking at a woman without her consent to them was scandalous).

The three prisoners were taken up a hill, where a group of Narnians circled a makeshift house, with Shift the Ape in the centre of the clearing. The house behind him was small, but not too small: big enough to fit a regular lion, but not Aslan himself. The door was shut, and there was no way to see anything from the inside because there were no windows as well.

"Oh Lord Shift, Spokesman of Aslan," said the chief Calormene as Olivia still tried to get free from the bonds. They forced them both to kneel on the ground. "By the courage given to us by Tash, we bring you these three prisoners: two murderers and their unicorn accomplice."

"You haven't seen murderer yet–!" Olivia growled, still debating the grip of the three men holding her (the number only seemed to increase because she was very strong for a girl). 

Shift laughed. "Queen Olivia!" He said with a taunting scowl. "What a pleasure. I'll take care of you in just a moment." He motioned for the Calormenes to give him the spear and the sword the Queen and King carried, which made them both shudder.

"Now listen, everyone!" Shift drawled the attention of the crowd, who gawked at the kneeling King and Queen stopped by the ropes. "Where is the Head Squirrel?"

"Here, sir." Chirped a squeaky little voice, albeit ashamedly.

The Ape grumbled. "There you are. Listen up! I want– I mean, Aslan wants– some more nuts. The ones you brought weren't nearly enough. You must bring some more sundown tomorrow, and there can't be any bad or small ones, do you hear?"

All of the squirrels in the crowd let out low murmurs of sadness and discontent. The head squirrel did not back off. "Sire would Aslan himself please speak about this to us–"

"Well, he will not." Shift snapped, cutting the squirrel off. "He may be very kind, despite you not deserving his kindness, and may come out tonight: then you can all talk to him. But nobody will be crowding around or pestering him with your silly questions! Now, go and resolve those nuts! I want them all tomorrow, remember?!"

The poor squirrels went away. The only nuts they now had left were the ones saved for winter, which meant when the cold came, they would have to starve or seek refuge in Cair Paravel (not like the King and Queen would deny them refuge– but winter was usually a time filled with creatures who lost their homes and needed someplace to stay, so it would likely be very crowded).

𝐖𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐨𝐦 || Edmund PevensieWhere stories live. Discover now