Before the it was invaded, while there was still peace and joy in Narnia, its citizens would gather together to tell tales of Narnia's history. There were warm summer days when humans, fawns, and all other creatures would gather in town squares for festivals, and the nights would always end with the story tellers.
A story teller, usually someone of great age, someone who had heard the stories countless times before, and maybe even lived them, would raise a hand, and people would fall to silence. Parents would shush their babies, children would stop running and screaming to sit down and listen. Teenagers would stand behind the sitting children, not sitting because hey were no longer children, but they weren't enough of adults to stand back and not listen to the story intently.
The elder would sigh slightly, then begin the tale, of the Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve. Every story, they would begin with High King Peter, the Magnificent. They would tell how there was no greater leader, well besides Aslan, and not even King Arthur could best him with a sword. King Peter led armies into battle, but kept peace whenever possible. He never sent his army to fight without him, because he believed that if a King was going ask others to die for him and his cause, then a King better be ready to stand by their side in battle.
Then the elders would remind the crowd that he never ruled alone. All that power was shared. Peter was a great ruler because he listened to his siblings and people around him. He would always want all the information presented to him, and there was no one better at learning than his sister, Susan the Gentle.
Susan was one of the most knowledgeable people in the kingdom. She would devour books, but she never kept the information she read from them to herself. She would share. Susan established schools, and an education system across Narnia. She personally visited each one, and wanted to help each child read and write. Susan learned as much as she could whenever and wherever she went, and would relay the information to her brother, then advise him on what to do with it. Susan could always be trusted to know something, and if she didn't, you could be sure she would be discovering the answer the second she got a chance.
Of course, the elders would say, information is good, but you have to know what to do with it. Peter was a great leader, and Susan was very smart, apart the two are fine, together even better, but if you have someone who knows how to use the information and the good leader, then you have an indestructible force. You need a strategist, someone who can see all the pieces on the board and know how to best move them to victory. King Edmund the Just was that man.
Edmund was fair and just, as his title stated. He was also considered one of the smartest men in the kingdom, but different that his sister. While Susan acquired knowledge, Edmund was brilliant in other ways. No one could beat him in chess, his plans were perfect, whether it be sending in spies on other kingdoms, or sneaking a cherry pie from kitchen. While Edmund was decent with a sword, Peter still beat him but Edmund could hold his own, he preferred to use his skill of strategy to formulate the best plan that would get the least amount of people killed. Whenever Narnia was at war, as much as Edmund wanted to be fighting with his sword, he knew his skills were better served commanding where troops go. Even Peter listened to his brother's orders during battle. It never steered them wrong.
But Edmund wasn't just in charge of formulating plans; he was also the diplomat of the four, as well as the king entrusted with sentencing.
Sometimes the children would ask why he was in charge of that, because shouldn't the traitor be the one locked up in the cells instead of roaming to other countries and locking up others.
The elders would listen to the questions from the children, before holding up their hand for silence, and then would explain.
Peter put Edmund in charge of those things because there was no one more qualified. Edmund knew how to talk to people. He knew when to push, and when to back down. He also had a slippery way of talking that made people spill their secrets to him, but he also was the best at negotiating. He was titled King Edmund the Just, which means fairness, and whenever there was a treaty to be signed, Edmund was sent to make sure that everything was fair.
"But what about sentencing? Why was he allowed to sentence people when he should have joined them?" The youngest kids would ask. The older kids knew better by now.
"Ah," The elder would say "because he knew best."
Edmund's justness didn't just extend though diplomacy; he used it when hearing cases. When Edmund betrayed his siblings, he learned many things. When he returned, no one could ever doubt his loyalty to his siblings again. Edmund was the best choice because he knew where the people brought before him were coming from, and he would show mercy, but only to those who deserved it. Edmund also upheld the law to all. It didn't matter if it was a stranger or friend, Edmund would give out the same punishment. And he always knew if a person was telling the truth or not.
Then finally, the elder would bring up the bravest and most noble soul of them, Queen Lucy, the Valiant. How she possessed bravery like no other, how her courage was unmatching, and her kindness, good will, and skill in the healing arts spread across Narnia. She was never a warrior, but a healer. Whenever her siblings fought, she healed the divide between them. She established free clinics and worked with scholars to create new medicines to help her people.
But she wasn't just the kind soul to the people; she was also her sibling's conscience and moral compass. Occasionally, her siblings would lose their, way, but Lucy was always there to bring them back to the right path. She was the backbone of the Kings and Queens. She was the voice for the people. She was Lucy, simply Lucy, one of the greatest souls to ever grace this earth.
Yes, High King Peter was great, but if it wasn't for the knowledgeable Susan, the brilliant Edmund, and the good of Lucy, Narnia would never have happened, or have been as great.
The elders would then launch into the tales of the Four Rulers adventures, through war, triumph, and loss, up until the last of the kids would be picked up by their parents and taken to bed, where they would dream of riding Unicorns into battle, winning at chess with the tacticians of the Western Isles, exploring a library full of books all with new adventures, and the childlike grace and innocence that held them as their dreams roamed castles along the sea.
And even when Narnia was invaded, and was lost, people still gathered together to tell the stories of the King and Queens of Old. As fewer fawns and dwarves wandered among the humans, their stories joined the group. Their numbers might have dwindled, but their stories lived one forever, and were eventually put into books.
There were a few people old enough, the immortals like sorcerers and unicorns, and Aslan, who could remember the glistening halls of Cair Paravel, the battles the Kings and Queens fought, the White Witch. And when they received a book containing all the adventures that these people, people they had considered friends and leaders, people they had loved dearly, they couldn't help but cry.
Younger generations would ask why, and the immortals would run a hand over the cover, flip to a page where a picture of their long gone friends were illustrated, and say
"Its tragic, that the written word is immortal, while people are not."