The_Complete_Chronicles_of_Narnia_(volumes_1-7,_in_order_of_publication)

away, but as the talk grew quieter and slower, one after another would begin to nod and
finally drop off to sleep with feet towards the fire and good friends on either side, till at
last there was silence all round the circle, and the chattering of water over stone at the
Ford of Beruna could be heard once more. But all night Aslan and the Moon gazed upon
each other with joyful and unblinking eyes.
Next day messengers (who were chiefly squirrels and birds) were sent all over the
country with a proclamation to the scattered Telmarines - including, of course, the
prisoners in Beruna. They were told that Caspian was now King and that Narnia would
henceforth belong to the Talking Beasts and the Dwarfs and Dryads and Fauns and other
creatures quite as much as to the men. Any who chose to stay under the new conditions
might do so; but for those who did not like the idea, Aslan would provide another home.
Anyone who wished to go there must come to Aslan and the Kings at the Ford of Beruna
by noon on the fifth day. You may imagine that this caused plenty of head-scratching
among the Telmarines. Some of them, chiefly the young ones, had, like Caspian, heard
stories of the Old Days and were delighted that they had come back. They were already
making friends with the creatures. These all decided to stay in Narnia. But most of the
older men, especially those who had been important under Miraz, were sulky and had no
wish to live in a country where they could not rule the roost. "Live here with a lot of
blooming performing animals! No fear," they said. "And ghosts too," some added with a
shudder. "That's what those there Dryads really are. It's not canny." They were also
suspicious. "I don't trust 'em," they said. "Not with that awful Lion and all. He won't keep
his claws off us long, you'll see." But then they were equally suspicious of his offer to
give them a new home. "Take us off to his den and eat us one by one most likely," they
muttered. And the more they talked to one another the sulkier and more suspicious they
became. But on the appointed day more than half of them turned up.
At one end of the glade Aslan had caused to be set up two stakes of wood, higher than a
man's head and about three feet apart. A third, and lighter, piece of wood was bound
across them at the top, uniting them, so that the whole thing looked like a doorway from
nowhere into nowhere. In front of this stood Aslan himself with Peter on his right and
Caspian on his left. Grouped round them were Susan and Lucy, Trumpkin and
Trufflehunter, the Lord Cornelius, Glenstorm, Reepicheep, and others. The children and
the Dwarfs had made good use of the royal wardrobes in what had been the castle of
Miraz and was now the castle of Caspian, and what with silk and cloth of gold, with
snowy linen glancing through slashed sleeves, with silver mail shirts and jewelled swordhilts,
with gilt helmets and feathered bonnets, they were almost too bright to look at.
Even the beasts wore rich chains about their necks. Yet nobody's eyes were on them or
the children. The living and strokable gold of Aslan's mane outshone them all. The rest of
the Old Narnians stood down each side of the glade. At the far end stood the Telmarines.
The sun shone brightly and pennants fluttered in the light wind.
"Men of Telmar," said Aslan, "you who seek a new land, hear my words. I will send you
all to your own country, which I know and you do not."