Two people stood at the center of a softly lit room in the castle of Cair Paravel. One was a tall young man about seventeen years old, he had the stature of a brave king. He was dressed in admirable clothes, and had a crown of gold atop his head. The crown was adorned with vibrantly colored jewels and at the center lay the coat of arms of the Narnian people. The boys hair fell in short ringlets of pitch black just above his deep brown eyes. What he seemed to be was true, that boy, was the king of Narnia, and my brother. King Rylan of the Southern Sun.
The other person in that room was myself. Queen Aria of the Northern Sky. Queen of Narnia, I ruled alongside my brother up until this point in our lives. We were just beginning to argue about who was to take charge of the kingdom while Aslan was away. Yes, Aslan himself helped rule his country with us, I was beginning to think it was because he didn't trust us. But he had all rights to not trust us with his whole kingdom. We were just kids. Rylan is seventeen and I am only sixteen. No one can assume that two teens can run a whole country. Anyway, we were bickering about how and who should rule the whole of Narnia. Rylan insisted that he was more mature and that he was more charismatic so the people would accede to him more easily than to me. But then I made my argument.
"Rylan, you and I both know who does and who doesn't trust us. Aslan doesn't want us to split the kingdom in two. So I conclude that we should go on ruling 'together' and just leave it at that," I say to him firmly. Just as I turn my gaze to his lightning flashes from outside and thunder booms off in the distance.
"Aria, I believe what I say. And I say that I should rule, and you should step down."
"Fine, but you are no longer my king. Nor my brother. Goodbye Rylan," I say in a bitter tone as I tear my gaze from him and make my way out of the room.
Once to my room I begin to pack my things. While I grab my pack a shrill cry of a bird sounds from outside. I make my way to the window and I can just make out a silhouette of a raven circling near the top spire of Cair Paravel. The raven dives down and lands on my window sill. "How are you today Swallowpad? Hope the storm hasn't made flying too difficult," I inquire.
"Oh no no, flying has been fine my queen. But I wonder, where are you going at this late hour?"
"I'm going away. Anywhere but here. Rylan has betrayed me. He's trying to take over the whole kingdom, even against Aslan's orders he still tries to do it. How bothersome is that?" I mutter as I continue to pack my things. At last I grab my cloak which is a faded forest green color and wrap it around myself. "Would you like to come with me Swallowpad?"
"Oh yes, yes miss. Someone has to look after you m'lady."
Once in the stables near the courtyard of the palace I search for my horse. Although he isn't really a horse, I like to keep it simple. My horse is actually a unicorn and his name is Jewel. Jewel's coat is pure white and it almost gleams even in the dark of the night. I saddle him up, and he doesn't make a sound as I do. After minutes of silence Swallowpad finally speaks up. "Where exactly are you planning to go Miss Aria?"
"At this moment I'm planning to head to Anvard in Archenland and then to the Castle of Telmar from there to seek help from their king. If Rylan keeps going on about power it will consume him and everything will start crumbling to the ground and there will be nothing left of Narnia." I swing myself up onto Jewel's back and pull the hood of my cloak up to conceal my face from any unwanted stranger, but my long braid trails down the side.
"But m'lady... You have to cross the mountains and go through the Western Wood to get to Telmar," Swallowpad replies in his whining voice. It's almost as if he doesn't want me to go.
"Swallowpad, I'm not saying you have to come. You can stay here and be ruled by a self-centered king. Or you can come with me and help liberate the poor souls of the Narnian people."
"I'll come," he grumbled, "but only if you let me rest on your shoulder when my wings start to ache."
"Deal."
Jewel, Swallowpad and I made our way out the gates of Cair Paravel just over an hour ago. The guards were not quite as easy to get past as I had planned but we made it. Most importantly we made it past without any one of them noticing who I am. At this moment I had Jewel cantering at a steady pace across a vast plain. Swallowpad flew over and ahead of us at a constant pace, his figure was just a faint silhouette in the brightening sky.
The forest came upon us sooner than I thought. We had left Cair Paravel, the river and the ocean behind us and we were about to make the journey of our lives to help save the people of Narnia. The closer we got the the brink of the forest the more I could hear the gentle hum of the naiads and the tree spirits talking to each other. Off in the distance I could see the faint light of Aravir, the morning star. Aravir's light used to be so much more brighter when you saw it from the cliffs that the castle of Cair Paravel stood on. But from near the edge of the forest it was just another light.
Swallowpad, Jewel and I needed to sleep soon but I urged Jewel onward. "Come on Jewel, just a few more minutes and I'll find a good place to camp."
I fulfilled my promise thirty minutes later after we happened across a small clearing. Unstrapped my bag and blanket from Jewel and let him roam around until he fell asleep. Then Swallowpad landed beside me on a tree root, he cawed and looked at me with his golden eyes. "Queen Aria. Do you still think this is a good idea?"
"Of course I think it's a good idea. The whole of Narnia's population is in the balance here... Now go to sleep Swallowpad. We have a lot of traveling to do tomorrow," I reply to him as I wrap myself in the blanket and start to fall asleep.
I stood in the clearing alone. Nothing was around me but the coolness of the morning air and the murmuring of the tree spirits. "Hello? Is anyone here?" I ask to the forest.
Many voices answer mine, the voices are a soft chorus of lines that I cannot quite make out. It seems like the voices are whispering. A poem? A prophecy? They continue and as they do their voices become louder and clearer. I only hear the last line, and by that time there are tiny pink cherry blossom petals drifting around me on the light wind. "You will save yourself, and your people."
My eyes fly open as I awaken immediately from my dream. I glance around to see if I'm still in the general area I set camp last night. To my surprise, I was. Unharmed and unmoved, and thank Aslan because if something happened I doubt I would ever see daylight again. Just as I look into the trees a shrill voice calls out to me, "how was your sleep m'lady?"
"Good... quite good Swallowpad. And yours?"
"Not as good as yours seems to be. I tried to wake you to keep watch the second half of the night, but you refused to open your eyes. You were much too tired," Swallowpad replies to me cawing out a bout of laughter afterwards. "I don't even think a Minotaur could have woken you."
"Oh hush up Swallowpad," I mutter as I get to my feet and begin to clean out our little campsite. A few minutes later the whole site is cleaned up and I swing myself up onto Jewel. "Let's go, we have to be at Anvard within two days time."
And so we went. I encouraged Jewel to go at a steady canter as Swallowpad flies overhead in the clear skies.
