Edmund spurred his horse on, trying to catch up with his brother. The sand on the beach danced and was kicked up by their horses' hooves. Why was it that Peter always got the faster horses?
He noticed that, up ahead, Peter had reined in his white steed in to a sudden stop. There was a large object in front of him; it looked like a large rough block of ice, which had washed up on shore. Edmund caught up with Peter and they looked at it curiously.
It was ice and there was someone frozen inside it. It was a woman, about twenty years old, the same age as Edmund, and he saw that she was very beautiful. She had very long vibrant red hair and amber almost eagle-like eyes. She was wearing a red velvet dress with the Narnian lion embroidered in golden thread onto the bodice. On her head stood a small golden coronet with rubies in it. One hand held a golden sword topped with a lion's head like Peter's sword and the other was raised as though she was throwing up a magical shield. The look on her well defined face was a mixture of exhaustion, fear, defiance, and resolution. Her dark red lips were open in what was probably a scream. There was a large male lion frozen mid leap and roar beside her.
"I wonder who did this to her." Edmund muttered, pitying this poor girl.
"Who do you think? Ice and magic if this kind can only mean Jadis."
"Pete, Jadis has been dead for thirteen hundred years. And she turned people into stone instead of freezing them." Edmund dismounted and approached the ice. He looked up into the woman's face. "I wonder who she was, and what her story is." He touched the ice. "It's melting. Let's build a fire next to it."
Peter nodded and turned his horse around to find wood.
The day grew dark and the ice was almost completely melted by the side of the large fire. Peter had left, gone back to the castle. Edmund remained, sitting by the fire staring at the woman.
Her raised arm was no longer covered in ice and as the fingers slowly curled into a fist Edmund got to his feet. Suddenly her fist snapped open again with a spasm and with a flash of blinding golden light, almost like sunlight, the ice shattered.
Edmund flung himself to the floor to shield himself from the light and shards of ice. When he sat up he saw the woman kneeling beside the lion with her arms around him, her sword back in her sword belt. She appeared to be sobbing.
"Are you alright?" Edmund asked gently.
She jumped and stared round at him with fear in her eyes. The lion growled a little.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. My name's Edmund. Do you know where you are?"
She shook her head.
"You're in Narnia."
"Jadis." The woman snarled. "Where is she?"
"She's long dead. Killed by Aslan. Did she do this to you?"
The woman nodded. "Tried to defend Narnia, as was the job Aslan charged me with."
"What's your name?"
The woman observed him and seemed to think he was a friend.
"Rosaline." She said quietly.
Edmund smiled and got up. "We should get back to the castle. I don't know about you but I'm pretty hungry." He said holding out a hand to help her up.
He lifted her up onto his horse and then got on himself in front of her.
About an hour later they were riding into the castle courtyard with her lion running along by their side. The other four kings and queens, who were out taking the air, looked up and a shared look of relief ran round their faces briefly.
"Where've you been, Ed?" Lucy asked.
Edmund dismounted and lifted Rosaline down gently. "Defrosting our mystery woman. Rosaline, meet the monarchs of Narnia. High King Peter, King Caspian, Queen Susan and Queen Lucy."
"Why am I always last?" Lucy complained.
"Because you are the most important." Peter told her affectionately, giving her a hug.
"The prophesy came true then?" Rosaline asked Edmund quietly. "These are the four Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve?"
"Not exactly." Edmund said, not sure how to explain.
"Edmund is their brother. They are the kings and queens of old." Caspian explained.
"King Edmund?" she enquired quietly.
"Yes." He replied giving her a curious look.
Rosaline raised a hand and placed it gently on his forehead. A golden white light glowed around her hand and a moment later she retracted it. "What have you done to my country?" she turned and ran towards the gate, her lion at her side, but stopped before she bumped into Aslan as he stood there.
"You're not going anywhere, Rosy Dawn." Aslan told her with a smile.
"Try and stop me. You can't catch me; I have wings." She fired back, raising her voice for the first time and showing a glimpse of what she used to be like.
"I know. But I also know the kind of girl you are. You swore an oath to protect and serve your country, whatever the cost. And you have a lot of work to do."
"I had noticed. I knew Narnia would be lost without us but I never expected they'd be this far astray. It'll take more magic to restore it than you've got."
"Indeed. That is why the Deep Magic has seen fit to bring you back to her shores. Only you have that ancient magic."
"All my magic's gone from the land. A dark cloud hangs over my land."
"Then I say it's a good thing you're a sun." Aslan told her seriously.
Rosaline sighed. "They even destroyed Cair Paravel. Do you know how long it took me to build that palace?"
"Better part of fifty years wasn't it?"
"Yeah. And it stood for more than two thousand years."
"Rosy, all you have to do, apart from Cair Paravel, is wake it up."
"How do I do that? It's been asleep for so long."
"As soon as dawn appeared, fresh and rosy fingered." Aslan said cryptically. Rosaline understood though.
"That's from the Odyssey isn't it?" Edmund asked.
"Stick around Aslan, it'll take both of us to wake the dead." Rosaline smirked.
"It'll take more than that, my child. No star can shine with a broken heart."
"Oh no. No, no, no. Not doing that. I quit."
"Rosy, you can't quit. You're a guardian and a guardian does what is necessary to aid her land. You may not like it, but it is the only way to lift the shadow."
"Ugh! Fine. Come back in a month. That should do it."
"You're pretty confident."
"Darling, I'm always confident. I've spent a millennium watching humans and Narnians fall in and out of love and I know how to do it." she said quietly, so only the lions could hear.
"Rosy, observing and practicing are very different things. You've never been in love."
"It's against the guardian code."
"When has that ever stopped you?"
Rosaline paused. "Good point."