“Butsurelyhe'dletusgo，”saidScrubb。“Whenheknehohadsentme。”
&hofus，”putinJill。）
“Yes，”saidGlimfeather，“Ithink，verylikely，hewould。ButtheKing'sakinwillsticktotherules。He'sastrueassteel，buthe'sdeafasapostandverypeppery。Youevermakehimseethatthismightbethetimefaotherule。”
“Youmightthiakesomenoticeofus，becausewe'reowlsandeveryoneknolsare，”saidsomeohe'ssooldnowhe'donlysay，'You'reamerechick。Irememberyouwheny。Don'tetryingtoteachme，Sir。dcrumpets!'”
Thisokin'svoiceratherwell，andthereweresoundsofowlishlaughterallround。ThebegaheNarniaTrumpkinaspeoplefeelatsecrustyteaeveryotleafraidofandeveryonemakesfunofandnobodyreallydislikes。
“HowlongistheKinggoingtobeaway?”askedScrubb。
“Ifonlyweknew!”saidGlimfeather。“Yousee，therehasbeenarumourlatelythatAslanhimselfhasbeeheislahia，Ithinkitwas。AndtheKingsaidhewouldmakeobeforehediedtoseeAslaofa，andaskhisadviceaboutwhoistobeKingafterhim。Butwe'reallafraidthat，ifhedoesn'tmeetAslahia，he'llgoooSevenIslesandLoneIslands—andonaalksaboutit，butweallknowhehasenthatvoyagetotheworld'send。I'msureiofheartshewantstain。”
&here'snogoodwaitingforhimtoeback?”saidJill。
“No，nogood，”saidtheOwl。“Oh，whatato-do!Ifonlyyoutwohadknookentohimatonce!He'dhavearrahing—probablygivenyowithyouihePrince。”
JillkeptquietatthisandhopedScrubbwouldbespenoughheowlswhythishadn'thappened。Hewas，orveryhatis，heonlymutteredunderhisbreath，“Well，itwasn'tmyfault，”befoutloud:
“Verywell。We'llhavetomait。Butthere'sjustohioknow。Ifthisowls'parliament，asyoucallit，isallfairandaboveboardandmeansnomischief，whydoesithavetobesojollysecret—meetinginaruinindeadofnight，andallthat?”
“Tu-whoo!Tu-whoo!”hootedseveralowls。“Whereshouldouldaatnight?”
“Yousee，”explaiher，“mostofthecreaturesinNarniahavesuaturalhabits。Theydothingsbyday，inbroadblazingsunlight（ugh!）wheobeasleep。And，asaresult，atnightthey'resoblindandstupidthatyou'tgetawordoutofthem。Soweowlshavegotiofmeetingatsensiblehours，onouroanttotalkaboutthings。”
“Isee，”saidScrubb。“Well'sgeton。TellusallaboutthelostPrihenanoldowl，her，relatedthestory。
Abouttenyearsago，itappeared，whenRilian，thesonof，wasaveryyoungkhtheQueenhismotheronaMaymihpartsofNarnia。Theyhadmanysquiresahemandallwarlandsoffreshleavesontheirheads，andhornsattheirsides;buttheyhadnohoundswiththem，fortheyweremaying，nothunting。Intheartofthedaytheycametoapleasantgladewhereafountainflowedfreshlyoutoftheearth，aheydismoueanddrankaeratimetheQueesleepy，andtheyspreadcloaksfrassybank，andPrinwiththerestofthepartywentalittlewayfromher，thattheirtalesanotwakeher。Aly，agreatserpehethidstungtheQueeninherhand。Allheardherdrushedtowardher，andRilianwasfirstatherside。Hesawthewawayfromherawithhissasgreat，shining，andasgreenaspoison，sothathecouldseeitwell:butitglidedawayintothickbushesandheeatit。Sohereturohismother，andfoundthemallbusyabouther。
Buttheywerebusyinvain，foratthefirstglanceofherfaknophysitheworldwoulddood。Aslongasthelifewasihardtotellhimsomething。Butsheotspeakd，whateverhermessagewas，shediedwithoutdeliveringit。Itwasthenhardlyteheyhadfirstheardhercry。
TheycarriedthedeadQueenbacktoCairParavel，aerlymournedbyRilianandbytheKing，andbyallNarnia。Shehadbeelady，wiseandgradhappy，King'sbridewhomhehadbroughthomefromtheeasterheworld。AhatthebloodofthestarsflowedihePriookhismother'sdeathveryhardly，aswellhemight。Afterthat，hewasalwaysridihernmararnia，huntingforthatvenomousworm，tokillitandbeavenged。Nooneremarkedmuthis，thoughthePrinthesewanderingslookingtiredanddistraught。ButaboutamoheQueen'sdeath，somesaidtheycouldseeahim。Therewasalookinhiseyesasofamanwhohasseenvisions，andthoughhewouldbeoutallday，hishorsedidhesigns。HischieffriendamongtheoldercourtierswastheLordDriman，hewhohadbeenhisfather'sthatgreatvoyagetotheeastpartsoftheearth。
OneeveningDriniansaidtothePrince，“Yhsoongivetheworm。Thereisnealessbruteastheremightbeonaman。Youwearyyourselfinvain。”ThePrinsweredhim，“MyLord，Ihavealmottehissevendays。”Drinianaskedhimwhy，ifthatwereso，herodesouallyihernwoods。“Mylord，”saidthePrince，“Ihaveseebeautifulthingthatwasevermade。”“FairPrince，”saidDrinian，“ofyourcourtesyletmeridewithyoutomorrow，thatIalsomayseethisfairthing。”“Withagoodwill，”saidRilian。
TheningoodtimeoheysaddledtheirhorsesagallopihernwoodsasamefouheQueeh。DrinianthoughtitstrahePrinceshouldchoosethatplaceofallplaces，tolingeriheyrestedtillitcametohighnoon:andatnoonDrinianlookedupabeautifulladyhehadeverseethehefountainandsaidnowordbutbeedtothePrihherhandasifshebadehimetoher。Aalla，shining，ahiasgreenaspoison。AndthePriherlikeamanoutofhiswits。Butsuddenlytheladywasgone，Drimawhere;auroCairParavel。Itstuian'smindthatthisshininggreenwomanwasevil。
DriniandoubtedverymuchwhetherheoughthisadveheKilewishtobeablabandatale-bearerandsoheheldhistoerwardhewishedhehadspokedayPrinrodeoutalobadfromthathournotrawaseverfoundinNarnianhblaherhishorsenorhishatnorhiselsewaseverfound。ThenDriniaernessofhisheartianandsaid，“L，slaymespeedilyasagreattraitor:forbymysileroyedyoursooldhimthestory。Thencaughtupabattle-axeaheLordDriniantokillhim，andDrinianstoodstillasastockforthedeathblow。Butwhentheaxewasraised，suddeawaya，“Ihavelostmyqueenandmyson:shallIlosemyfriendalso?”AheLordDrinian'snedembradbothwept，andtheirfriendshipwasnotbroken。
SuchwasthestoryofRiliawasover，Jillsaid，“Ibetthatserpentandthatwomahesameperson。”
&rue，wethinkthesameasyou，”hootedtheowls。
“Butwedon'tthihePrince，”saidGlimfeather，“beobones—”
“Weknowshedidn't，”saidScrubb。“AslantoldPolehewasstillalivesomewhere。”
“Thatalmostmakesitworse，”saidtheoldestowl。“Itmeansshehassomeuseforhim，andsomedeepschemeagainstNarnia。Long，longago，attheverybeginning，aWhiteWitchcameoutoftheNorthandboundourlandinsnowandiceforahundredyears。Ahismaybesomeofthesamecrew。”
“Verywell，then，”saidScrubb。“Poleao'FindthisPrinyouhelpus?”
“Haveyouawo?”askedGlimfeather。
“Yes，”saidScrubb。“e'vegottogonorth。Ande'vegottoreachtheruinsofagiantcity。”
Atthistherewasagreatertu-whooingthanever，andnoiseofbirdsshiftiandrufflihers，aheoeakiheyallexplainedhowverysorrytheywerethattheythemselvesotgowiththeontheirsearchforthelostPrince“You'dwanttotravelbyday，andwe'dwanttotravelbynight，”theysaid。“Itwouldn'tdo，wouldn'tdo。”Owoowlsaddedthateveheruiwasn'tnearlysodarkasithadbeeheybegan，andthattheparliamenthadbeengoingonquitelongenough。Infact，themerementionofajourheruiyofgiaohavedampedthespiritsofthlimfeathersaid:
“Iftheywanttogothatway—iiakethemtooheMarsh-wiggles。They'retheOnlypeoplethemmuch。”
“'True，true。Do，”saidtheowls。
&hen，”saidGlimfeather。“I'lltakeone。Who'lltaketheother?Itmustbedo。”
“Iwill:asfarastheMarsh-wiggles，”saidanotherowl。
“Areyouready?”saidGlimfeathertoJill。
“IthinkPole'sasleep，”saidScrubb。