𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐱 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 (𝐒𝐂 & 𝐋𝐁)

Chapter 22- Meeting on Stable Hill

Sorry for the long wait for an update. I've been busy but I also have to reread the books as I write. Even though I was going to make this chapter longer, I've decided to post it as is.
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After a long discussion about what to do next, we headed back to Stable Hill, as we called it. It was where the Calormenes and the Ape held meetings at night. Puzzle had been kept in the stable there. No one was keen on going there but we knew it was our best option. Especially after Cair Paravel had been taken over.

King Tirian had tried to convince Jill and I to return home. We all knew we would be fighting off Calormenes and who knows what else once we got to the Hill. He told us we didn't need to fight and be involved in a battle. The others agreed. He even told us that we had done all that we came here to do. But I knew that wasn't true. If it had, Aslan would've sent us back home. Even if we wanted to go home- which neither Jill nor I did- we couldn't without Aslan. He had always been the one to allow us to return home. I didn't know how we'd get home otherwise.

Once I pointed this out, they realized I was right. Tirian then wanted the two of us to go to Archenland. We would be safe there. But neither of us knew how to get there and none of them would be able to take us. The dwarf also pointed out that once the Calormenes had taken Narnia, they would invade Archenland as well. Jill and I would still be involved in a battle.

Eventually we came to an agreement and headed to our destination. Farsight came with us. I was pretty sure everyone knew that more than likely we wouldn't make it back alive. But we didn't care. As his Majesty had said 'the adventure Aslan would send us' was what we were doing. We were doing it because we believed this is what Aslan wanted us to do. Even if it was to our deaths. All I could hope was that Aslan would send us a message of some kind if this was not his plan. But for now, we pressed on.

We reached Stable Hill by nightfall and hid further behind the stable, behind the hill upon which it stood. We would have to wait of course, but Jill and I avoided most of the waiting by falling asleep. However, once it grew cold we couldn't sleep. Puzzle never managed to fall asleep. Both the King and Jewel slept soundly through the cold. I never knew what happened to Poggin the dwarf. Whether he fell asleep or not. All I knew was that everyone was awaken by the sound of a gong. A fire soon followed. It lit up the night sky and we could hear creatures chattering.

Slowly and quietly we all crept to the stable. We left Puzzle just behind the stable and told him not to come out until someone came for him- our plan was to still show him to the other Narnians. Then the rest of us moved to the side of the stable, still hidden by its shadow, and watched. The bonfire had just been started and the Narnians had just gathered. They were facing towards the stable but none of them glanced our way.

A little ways away, we could see three figures walking towards the bonfire. One was a Calromene captain- Rishda Tarkaan the King told us- another was Shift, the Ape holding the hand of the Calormene, and the third figure was one we had been warned about. He was too clever for his own good. It was Ginger, the cat. The three walked so close to the stable that if they had looked over, we would've been spotted immediately. Thankfully they didn't and we were safe. Our plan could work.

Then Shift spoke.

"Listen. All of you," he told the Narnians. "A terrible thing has happen, a very wicked thing. It is the worst thing that has ever happened in Narnia. And Aslan-"
The Calormene interrupted him, whispering, "Tashlan, you fool." None of the Narnians heard but we did.
"Yes," the ape recovered. "Tashlan is very angry about it." The crowd grew silent as he spoke. "Right as this moment when the Terrible One is among us- in the stable right behind me- one wicked Beast has chosen to do what no one would ever think of. Even if he was thousands of miles away. This creature has dressed himself up in a lion's skin and wandered about these woods pretending to be Aslan."

The Narnians in the crowd grew angry. They threatened to hunt down the creature and kill it. I was confused. Why was the ape confessing his plan about dressing Puzzle as a lion? Jill looked like she agreed. For a moment I thought that this would help bring an end to the Calormenes rule. But only for a moment because Shift began talking again and all hope faded.
"The Beast was seen last night. But it got away. It's just a donkey. A common, miserable, stupid donkey. Should any of you see this donkey-" he was cut off by shouts from the crowd.
"Grr!" they growled. "We will. We will. That donkey had better keep hidden or he'll be sorry."

Jill and I looked at the King. His mouth was open wide in shock and his face was filled with horror. We both understood the cunning, devilish plans of our enemies. They had mixed a little truth into a lie. It had made the lie much stronger. What good would it be to show Puzzle dressed as a lion only to deceive them? The ape would only agree with everything we said and it would prove nothing. Even if we did show Puzzle to them, they would tear him to shreds. Another plan had been foiled. I was starting to believe that Narnia was beyond saving.