Disclaimer: Narnia, its people, and its hold on our hearts have never been mine. I only hope to go further up and farther in with those who love it too.
A/N: Writing Reepicheep for this series terrified me. If there was ever an Apostle Paul in Lewis’s works…how do you write someone who truly doesn’t pay the cost, but counts it all as loss compared to going to Aslan’s country? May God guide my writing, because I’m in over my head.
Sword ever in hand. Feet always ready. Eyes always alert. Aslan may have made us small, but gave us dignity, honour, and courage. He added us to His own the day He broke death’s hold on the Table. We fight for His cause and for His honour since that day we first began to speak.
Since Caspian became his king, my sword was for his side, eager for battle! Since the day Trufflehunter called me at the mouth of my hole in the bank I swore myself and my own to his service. Such glorious service! We fought his battles, shed our blood in the war, and feasted with him when we won. Then Aslan came, and by His word and work Narnia was freed.
Sword ever in hand, feet always ready, eyes always alert. ‘Tis not a cost, but a way of life. A life I cherish.
A life Aslan gave back to me. When my band bore my litter to Aslan’s feet, and the Valiant Queen herself healed me, I met Him face-to-face. And for the love my people bore me, He gave me my honour, and a lesson. And I loved Him more than before. This is the One I serve.
Sword ever in hand, feet always ready, eyes always alert. ‘Tis a glorious thing to be His knight.
Narnia prospered, and I learned to be a knight in peace. Swords are ever ready to defend the weak (not always the small, for the smallest can have the highest spirits), feet always ready to run where they are needed, eyes open to His will. It was good to see His Narnia prosper, and to serve it, serve it with every breath and word and thought. For it is His, and it is a glorious thing to serve.
Sword ever in hand, feet always ready, eyes always alert. Ready for His call.
He called, called my king to sea, and me with him. Called to find the one thing I had always longed for, one I had heard sung over me in my cradle. Aslan placed the call in my heart since my earliest days, and then called me away from Narnia to find what I had always been seeking. There is no cost in such a calling, only eager feet, willing hands, and eyes searching the furthest sea for the country we were heading towards – that or the edge of the world.
Sword ever in hand, feet always ready, eyes always alert. Ready, alert for the adventures Aslan sends His knights.
For adventures came, sea serpents, slave markets, magic islands, and dragoned companions. The serpent, alas, we did not kill! though we pushed the foul thing from our ship. And in the adventures He sent His knights, the slaves were freed by use of trumpet and force, the Dufflepods freed and taught to swim, and a coward and dishonest villain became a true knight of Aslan as His knights were reminded of the sin of greed. The adventures He sends are quests indeed!
Sword still in hand, feet firmly planted, eyes looking for His face. Islands more, and then –
One last quest. Several goodbyes, “Till we meet again in Aslan’s country!,” and then at last, the end – and the beginning of the greatest adventure. For death is the gain of Aslan’s country, home, and Him.