A/N Hello, My lovelies. Welcome to the Beginning of my Chronicles of Narnia Fanfic. Fair warning, slight mary-sue. Mostly Ed/Oc because I adore Edmund. Slight Peter/Oc, Susan/Oc, and Lucy/oc. I've been working on this story for a good ten months and I will try to update every Wednesday or Thursday.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own The Chronicles of Narnia that belongs to C.S. Lewis and Disney. If I did I would be married to a certain Just King. ENJOY!
A Wardrobe, an Icy Queen, and the Beginning of an Adventure
Four children quietly and solemnly boarded a train headed for a safe place for them. It was dangerous where they lived with the war going on and the Germans threatening their very lives. Their mother had been tearful earlier that morning, at the thought of not seeing her children for God only knew how long.
Of the four Montgomery children the eldest, Lyra, was the leader and the listener. Lyra was about average height with small shoulders and a pale complexion. She had wavy brown locks that fell just past her shoulders and bright green eyes she had inherited from her mother. Many boys that were her age of sixteen had attempted to court her but none of them captured her interest. Her first priority was her siblings.
Erik, the second eldest, was the voice of reason but it sometimes caused him to be so logical that he did not realize the fun he was missing. Erik was taller than Lyra with broad shoulders and a dimple on his chin. He also had chocolate colored hair and green eyes like Lyra but his eyes possessed more of a seriousness in their depths while Lyra's possessed an air of warmth. Erik was mature for his age of fifteen but his rational outlook on life caused him to loose his childlike mannerisms far more than one should have to at that age.
The next child, Selene, was quiet but opinionated and genuinely believed in second chances. She, unlike her elder siblings, had dark, nearly black, tresses that fell to her mid-back and crystal blue eyes that held kindness but fairness. Selene was short, since she had not yet hit her growth spurt like her elder brother had. She had small shoulders and naturally rosy cheeks. At the age of thirteen she carried herself with grace and wariness.
The last and youngest of the children, Harry, was the most outgoing and adventurous of the four. He too had nearly midnight colored hair and ocean blue eyes although they contained a sort of light and mischievous aura to them. He was vastly smaller than his siblings and had the same dimple on his chin as Erik. Harry was only ten years old and still had much life in him that it sometimes radiated to others around him.
As the children struggled to find a compartment to sit in, Selene tripped over a boy about her age walking along the corridor as well. The boy had black hair and sky blue eyes that held so much hatred and bitterness. As Selene got back to her feet the boy sneered at her, "Watch where you're going." Selene simply glared at him before taking of after her siblings.
Not long after they found an empty compartment to sit in. The journey to the estate they would be staying at was long and quiet. The four of them hardly spoke as they watched the cities turn into open fields as they went along in the fast moving engine.
After a while they stopped at a platform deep in the countryside. As the four children got onto it they realized they were not alone. Standing with them were four other children. One of which was the boy Selene had tripped over on the train. The others appeared nicer. The eldest boy and the youngest girl both had light brown hair, while the oldest girl possessed dark brown hair. The girls both had chocolate brown eyes while the boys had icy blue eyes. The eldest boy looked about the same age as Lyra, the eldest girl appeared about the same age as Erik, and the youngest girl seemed about the same as Harry.
The eldest boy stepped towards Lyra with a friendly smile, "Hello, I'm Peter Pevensie and these are my siblings; Susan," he pointed to the elder girl. "Edmund," the boy who had sneered at Selene. "And Lucy," the younger girl.
Lyra stepped forward and shook Peter's hand, "Nice to meet you. I'm Lyra Montgomery and this is Erik, Selene, and Harry." She pointed them all out before continuing to talk to Peter.
Edmund locked gazes, or glares, with Selene. "Hi, Ballerina," he teased with fake innocence. Selene could already tell they weren't going to get along.
"Shut up, Edmund." She rolled her eyes and looked away to see her siblings talking animatedly with the other Pevensies. At least they were making friends quickly. Susan suddenly turned to Peter, confusion in her expression as well as annoyance.
"The Professor knew we were coming." Edmund looked at his identification before responding.
"Perhaps we've been incorrectly labeled." Selene turned to scowl at him again.
"We're not packaged meat." Before he could respond and antagonize her more the sound of hooves coming up the path reached their ears. They turned to see a wagon rolling up to them with a stern looking woman sitting in it.
Peter again stepped forward, it was becoming apparent that he was the leader or was trying to be. "Mrs. Mcready?" he ventured.
The woman remained serious, "I'm afraid so." She glanced down at their luggage before asking firmly, "Is this it then? Haven't you brought anything else?"
Erik sighed a little, "No ma'am, it's just us." Lucy nodded her head furiously.
Mrs. Mcready eyed them all again, "Small favors." The eight children quickly piled in with their trunks. Lucy took a seat on Susan's lap and Harry did the same with Selene as there wasn't enough room for them to all sit comfortably.
The wagon soon came too an enormous mansion nestled with lots of open grass surrounding it. The mansion's outside was a light tan shade with ivy growing up it. The eight children followed Mrs. Mcready inside as she lectured them about the house.
"Professor Kirke is not accustomed to having children in his house. And as such there are a few rules you need to follow." Mrs. Mcready started to ascend the stairs as the children silently followed. "There will be no shouting, or running." She glared slightly at Lucy and Harry. "No improper use of the dumbwaiter. No touching of the historical artifacts!" she said the last bit in an exasperated and shocked tone to Susan, who had reached out to touch a marble head sitting on a pedestal. Susan withdrew her hands as her siblings smirked at her hand; apparently she was the "follow the rules" type. Mrs. Mcready lowered her voice to just above a whisper, "And above all, there shall be no disturbance of the Professor."
Later that night, Lucy lied in her bed in the girls' room while Peter listened to the radio in the room. Susan and Erik entered and Susan turned off the radio. Selene looked up from the book she was reading on the window seal thinking Susan had turned it off because it was introducing a solemn atmosphere into the room causing everyone to think of the war going on at home. A minute later, Lyra entered the girls' room with Harry who took a seat on one side of Lucy by her feet as Peter sat on her other side.
"The sheets are scratchy," Lucy complained. Susan came over and smiled at her reassuringly.
"Wars don't last forever." Erik nodded in agreement.
"We'll be home soon."
Edmund's voice sounded from the doorway in its usual derogatory tone, "Yeah, if homes still there." Selene shot him a glare, to which he only smirked and reveled that he'd upset her again.
Susan sighed in exasperation, "Isn't it time you were in bed?" Well, he was wearing pajamas.
"Yes mum."
"Ed!" Peter scolded. Selene felt a pang of pity for Edmund but shook it off knowing he deserved it. Peter turned back to Lucy with a smile tugging at his lips. "You saw outside. This place is huge! We can do whatever we want here."
Lyra smiled, agreeing. "Yeah, tomorrow's going to be great."
Harry nodded enthusiastically, "Really." They all said their good nights and trotted off to bed anxious for the following day.
The next morning Lucy and Selene sat in the parlor at the window seal watching the rain pour over the countryside. Susan and Erik sat together on the sofa with a rather large dictionary in each of their laps. Peter and Lyra sat in two chairs next to each other, both with agonized expressions on their faces. While Edmund carved his name into the underside of a desk Harry was sitting on. The four eldest children were playing a sort of defining game, to which all but Susan and Erik were thoroughly bored with.
It was Peter's turn to define a word that Susan had found. "Gas-tro vas-cular? Come on Peter. Gas-tro vas-cular?"
Peter thought for a moment, "Is it Latin?"
Erik nodded, "Yes."
Edmund came out from under the desk and sat up smirking, "Gastro vascular, worst game ever invented." Selene grinned at the same time as Lyra and Peter. Edmund shot her a puzzled look. She only shook her head and looked away as Susan slammed her book closed. Lucy suddenly got up and wandered over to Peter.
"We could play hide-and-seek."
Lyra cast Susan an ornery look as she said, "But we're already having so much fun." Susan glowered at her. Lucy gave Peter her best puppy dog face as she yanked slightly on his arm.
"Come on, Peter please." He sighed.
"1, 2, 3…"
Edmund gaped, "What?" At the same time Selene grumbled, "Ugh." Quickly the other seven dispersed. Selene ran past Susan as she hid in a trunk and past Erik a few rooms later as he crouched behind a suit of armor. She then ran up a flight of stairs as Lyra hid on the cupboard underneath them. At the top of the stairs she saw Edmund steal Lucy and Harry's spot behind an ugly yellow curtain with red flowers. Lucy and Harry ran off as Selene heard Peter's counting nearly to the nineties, she didn't have much time. So she slid behind the curtain with Edmund, he opened his mouth to say something but she cut him off.
"Stay quiet or I'll slap you." Edmund closed his mouth as a scowl crossed his face. They heard Peter finish counting.
"96, 97, 98, 99, 100. Ready or not, here I come!" Just as the words reached their ears, Harry and Lucy came running back down the stairs towards them.
"It's alright, we're back. I'm alright!" Harry shouted.
Edmund poked his head out from the curtain, "Shut-up he's coming." Selene elbowed him in his stomach. "Ow!" Peter then appeared and Selene and Edmund came out from behind the curtain. Peter looked at them all perplexed.
"I don't think you four have quite got the idea of this game." Lucy looked at him as if it were obvious.
"Weren't you wandering where we were?" Selene gazed at the two of them bewildered.
"Uh, Lucy that's kind of the point, he was seeking you." Lyra, Erik, and Susan suddenly appeared.
Susan looked at them in confusion, "Does this mean we win?"
Peter quickly replied, "I don't think Lucy and Harry want to play anymore."
Harry stared at the older children mystified, "We've been gone for hours." The other children glanced at each other warily and followed the two youngest children as they recounted their adventure through a wardrobe into a frozen magical land with a fawn called Mr. Tumnus. When they reached the almost empty room besides the cherry wood wardrobe, Susan and Erik opened its doors and peered inside. While Edmund and Selene looked at the back of it to find it appearing completely normal, Edmund even tapped it for good measure. They all turned back to the little ones.
"The only wood in here is the back of the wardrobe," Susan told them.
"One game at a time Lu," Peter scolded.
"We all don't have your guys' imagination," Erik said as he, Edmund, Peter, and Susan began to walk away.
Lucy cried out, "But we weren't imagining." Susan turned around reprimanding her.
"That's enough Lucy."
"We wouldn't lie about this!" Harry exclaimed.
Lyra put her hand on Lucy's shoulder and knelt down so she was their height. "We believe you; don't we Sel?" Selene nodded as she put her hands on her brother's shoulders, knowing full well that neither of them believed Lucy and Harry but they needed someone on their side.
Edmund spoke up for the first time, "Well, I believe you."
Selene and Lucy both questioned at the same time, "You do?" Edmund grinned wickedly in response.
"Yeah, of course. Didn't I tell you about the football field in the bathroom cupboard?" There was a sort of group sigh when he said this.
Erik gazed at Edmund in exasperation, "Now, will you just stop?"
"You just have to make everything worse don't you?" Peter said, his temper flaring.
Edmund tried to backtrack a little before Peter exploded, "It was just a joke."
"When are you gonna learn to grow up?"
"Peter!" Lyra shrieked getting to her feet once more.
Edmund got right in his face and shouted, "Shut up! You think you're dad but you're not!" He quickly turned and stormed out of the room. Selene actually wanted to comfort him; even though he deserved it and had been acting like a prick, Peter had been too harsh.
Susan glared at Peter, "Well that was nicely handled." Then she too ran out of the room followed by Erik.
"But it really was there," Harry said quietly.
Peter glanced at them and sighed, "They're right, guys. That's enough."
That night Selene was awoken by the sound of hushed voices and opened her eyes to see Harry and Lucy leaving the room. Selene got up, put on her pastel purple robe and something told her to put on her boots as well, she then opened the door to the hallway. She saw Edmund come out of the bathroom and follow the two little ones. Selene muttered to herself, "What is he doing? What are they doing?" She crept along after them making sure none of them were aware of her presence. Edmund soon entered the room with the wardrobe and began to taunt Harry and Lucy.
"Lucy? Harry? Where are you?" he opens the wardrobe door. "Boo! Lucy? Hope you're not afraid of the dark." He closed the wardrobe door in an effort to scare the two children. Selene waited a moment and then enters the wardrobe herself and ended up in the snow! Selene instantly felt sorry for doubting Harry and Lucy. She shivered from the cold as she trudged after Edmund past a glowing lamppost. It was so beautiful, there were crystal clear icicles hanging from the trees and frost covering the branches. Selene saw Edmund just ahead of her still calling for Lucy and Harry.
Suddenly, a white carriage drawn by caribou approached Edmund. Selene quickly hid behind a tree but still within earshot. Edmund was knocked back into the snow by the carriage and a small man with a long white beard got out of the carriage. He stalked towards Edmund and held him to the ground as he took out a knife.
Edmund cried out, "Leave me alone!" Some lady in the sleigh called out to the tiny man.
"What is it now, Ginnabrick?" 'Is he a dwarf, it is a magical land after all,' Selene thought to herself.
Edmund called to the lady, "Tell him to let me go! I didn't do anything wrong!"
"How dare you address the Queen of Narnia!" the dwarf growled.
"I didn't know!"
"You will know better here after." The dwarf, Ginnabrick, raised the knife; Selene was just about to jump out of her hiding spot and save Edmund's arse when the Queen intervened and approached the two on the ground.
"Wait!" the moment she spoke, shivers ran down Selene's spine at the coldness of her voice. Selene looked at the Queen and saw that she was rather pretty, she had pale golden hair and eyes as blue as ice. But there was something about her Selene automatically did not trust. "What is your name, son of Adam?" Ginnabrick released Edmund and he got to his feet.
"Uh, Edmund."
"And how, Edmund, did you come to enter my dominion?"
"I'm not sure. I was just following my sister and Harry."
"Sister? How many are you?"
"Eight; Lucy and Harry are the only ones who've been here before. They said they met a faun called T-Tumnus. Peter, Susan, and Erik didn't believe them. I didn't either." The queen's facial expression completely changed into one of kindness.
"Edmund, you look so cold. Come sit." The Queen turned and sat back down in the sleigh and Edmund joined her. Selene waited until they were distracted by wrapping themselves in a sort of fur pelt before she moved to a new tree to see and hear better.
Once they were settled the Queen resumed her conversation with Edmund. "Now, how about something hot to drink?"
Edmund nodded, "Yes, please, Your Majesty." Selene nearly snorted at his sudden use of manners, she had been wondering if he had them at all.
The Queen took out a sort of silver flask and a drop of green liquid fell onto the snow turning into a glass with a warm brown liquid in it. Selene and Edmund gasped in unison.
Ginnabrick bent down and grabbed the goblet and handed it to Edmund, "Your drink, sire."
Edmund looked wide eyed at the Queen. "How did you do that?" he took a sip from the glass.
The Queen smiled, "I can make anything you like."
Edmund grinned, "Can you make me taller?" The Queen laughed as Selene rolled her eyes.
"Anything you'd like to eat."
Edmund looked up at her after taking another drink, "Turkish Delight?" The Queen let another emerald drop fall from the flask and a large silver box appeared full of Turkish Delight. Ginnabrick took the, now empty, cup and threw it at a tree; at which time it turned into snow. Edmund opened the box and began to eat greedily. 'Well, there go his manners,' Selene sighed to herself.
The Queen smiled down at Edmund, "Edmund? I would very much like to meet your family and friends."
Edmund stared at her in confusion, "Why? They're nothing special." Selene scowled at his answer. 'How dare he?'
"Oh, I'm sure they're not nearly as delightful as you are." She grabbed Ginnabrick's hat and wiped Edmund's mouth with it. "But you see, Edmund, I have no children of my own. And you are exactly the sort of boy, who I could see, one day, becoming Prince of Narnia. Maybe even King."
"Really?"
"Of course, you'd have to bring the others."
Edmund frowned, "Oh. Do you mean, Peter, Erik, and Harry would be King too?" Selene's scowl deepened.
"No. No, no. But a king needs servants."
"I guess I could bring 'em." The Queen took the box and handed it to Ginnabrick before pointing to two hills in the distance, Selene looked as well.
"Beyond these woods, you see those two hills? My house is right between them. You'd love it there, Edmund. It has whole rooms simply stuffed with Turkish Delight." Edmund stood up and got off the sleigh.
"Couldn't I have some more now?"
The Queen yelled, "No!" before returning to her sweet expression. "Don't want to ruin your appetite. Besides, you and I are going to be seeing each other again very soon."
"I hope so, Your Majesty." Selene rolled her eyes again; as soon as the food was gone he remembered his manners.
"Until then, dear one. Mmm, I'm gonna miss you." Ginnabrick whipped the caribou and the sleigh rode away. As soon as it was out of sight, Selene stepped out from her hiding place and Edmund spotted her.
"Selene?" he questioned approaching her.
"Edmund," she replied shortly and nonchalantly.
"How long have you been there?"
"Long enough."
"You saw everything?" he tensed as he said that, 'Probably worried I'll tell the others.'
Selene nodded, "And I just have one question." Her resolve faded, anger replacing it. "Are you absolutely and totally out of your mind? Do you really think that some queen you just met will make you King of Narnia someday? And all you have to do is bring all of us to her? You don't know anything about her or this place!"
Edmund immediately retaliated, "She was nice to me! A load lot nicer than all of you are!"
"Oh, really? Nice to you? Before or after her dwarf nearly killed you? Or was it after you told her about all of us?"
Before Edmund could respond they heard their names being called. They turned to see Lucy and Harry approaching them.
"Edmund?"
"Selene?" The two younger ones hugged their siblings.
"Oh you guys got in too! Isn't it wonderful?" Edmund pushed Lucy off of him, gently.
"Where have you two been?" Harry smiled at him.
"With Mr. Tumnus." Lucy grinned as well at the thought of their friend.
"He's fine. The White Witch hasn't found out anything about him meeting us."
Edmund stared at her, "The White Witch?"
Lucy frowned slightly, "She calls herself the Queen of Narnia."
Harry nodded in assent, "But she really isn't." Selene sent Edmund an 'I told you so' look but he ignored it except he paled slightly. Lucy noticed his sudden paleness.
"Are you all right, Ed? You look awful."
Edmund was quick to answer callously, "Well, what do you expect? I mean, it's freezing. How do we get out of here?"
Harry replied by taking Selene's hand, "Come on." Lucy followed suit by tugging on Edmund's arm, "This way." They followed Harry and Lucy back through the wardrobe into the empty room in the Professor's house. The little ones took off to go tell the others; but before Selene could pursue them, Edmund grabbed her arm.
"Don't tell anyone about the Queen."
Selene sighed before glaring at him, "On one condition, stop being such a toss pot and don't go back to her." Edmund released his grip and Selene took off after Harry and Lucy with Edmund hot on her heels.