CHAPTER TWELVE SORCERY AND SUDDEN VENGEANCE（第3页）

Thatgrayandterriblevoiceokenonlyoncebeforesaid，“Oh，isshe?”

Aheshrill，whiningvoi，“Oh，blesshisheart，hisdearlittleMajestymindabouttheWhiteLady—that'swhatwecallher—beiheWorshipfulMasterDoakinggameofapooroldwomanlikemewhehat。SweetMasteryDoctor，learor，whoeverheardofawitchthatreallydied?Youalwaysgetthemback。”

“Callherup，”saidthegrayvoice。“Weareallready。Drawthecircle。Preparethebluefire。”

&eadilyinggrowloftheBadgerandelius'ssharp“What?”rosethevoiglikethunder。

“Sothatisyourplan，Nikabrik!Blacksordthegupofa。AndIseewhoyourpaniandaWerewolf!”

&minuteorsowasveryfused。Therewasananimalr，aclashofsteel;theboysandTrumpkierhadaglimpseray，gauure，halfmanandhalfwolf，iofleapinguponaboyabouthisownage，andEdmundsawabadgerandaDwarfrollingonthefloorinasortofcatfight。TrumpkinfouofacewiththeHag。Hernoseandstuckoutlikeapairofnut-crackers，herdirtygrayhairwasflyingaboutherfadshehadjustgotDoeliusbythethroat。AtoneslashofTrumpkin'sswordherheadrolledohewaskwasallswords，teeth，claws，fists，andbootsforaboutsixtyseds。Thensilence。

“Areyht，Ed?”

“I—Ithinkso，”pantedEdmund。“I'vegotthatbruteNikabrik，buthe'sstillalive。”

&sales!”gryvoieyooff。You'relikeayou。”

“Sorry，D。L。F。，”saidEdmund。“Isthatbetter?”

“Ow!rumpkin。“Yyour‘bootinmymouth。Goaway。'”

“IsKingyeter。

“I'mhere，”saidaratherfaihingbitme。”

Theyallheardthenoiseofsamatch。ItwasEdmuleflameshowedhisfagpaleanddirty。Hebluforalittle，foundthedle（theywerehelamp，fortheyhadrunoutofoil），setitoable，andlitit。Whentheflameroseclear，severalpeoplescrambledtotheirfeet。Sixfakedatohedlelight。

“Wedon'tseemtohavea，”saidPeter。“There'stheHag，dead。”（Heturnedhiseyesquicklyawayfromher。）“AndNikabrik，deadtoo。AndIsupposethisthingisaWerewolf。It'ssolongsinceI'veseenone。Wolf'sheadandman'sbody。Thatmeaturningfrommanintowolfatthemomenthewaskilled。Andyou，Isupp?”

“Yes，”saidtheotherboy。“ButI'venoidea

“It'stheHighKing，Kier，”saidTrumpkin。

“YourMajestyisverywele，”said。

“AndsoisyourMajesty，”saidPeter。“Ihaven'tetotakeyourplaow，buttoputyouintoit。”，

“YourMajesty，”saidanothervoiceatPeter'selbow。HeturnedandfouofacewiththeBadger。

&erleanedforuthisarmsrouahefurryhead:itwasn'tagirlishthingforhimtodo，becausehewastheHighKing。

&ofbadgers，”hesaid。“Youedusallthrough。”

“ome，yourMajesty，”saidTrufflehunter。“1'mabeastandwedon'tge。I'mabadger，what'smore，andweholdon。”

“IamsorryforNikabrik，”said，“thoughhehatedmefromthefirstmomenthesawme。Hehadgonesourinsidefromlandhating。IfwehadwonquicklyhemighthavebeeagoodDwarfinthedaysofpea'tknowwhichofuskilledhim。I'mgladofthat。”

“You'rebleeding，”saidPeter。

“Yes，I'mbitten，”said。“Itwasthat—thatwolfthing。”gandbandagiookalongtime，awasdorumpkinsaid，“Now。Befelsewewantsomebreakfast。”

“Butnothere，”saidPeter。

“No，”saidwithashudder。“Aseakeawaythebodies。”

&heverminbeflungintoapit，”saidPeter。“ButtheDillgivetohispeopletobeburiedintheirownfashion。”

TheybreakfastedatlastihedarkcellarsofAslan'sHow。Itwasnotsuchabreakfastastheywouldhave，fordeliuswerethinkingofvenisonpasties，aerandEdmundsandhotcoffee，butwhateveryowasalittlebitofeat（outoftheboys'pockets），alumpofhardonion，andamugofwater。But，fromthewaytheyfellto，anyoneoseditwasdelicious。