Winter's Magic
A/N: I had meant this to post this in time for the Christmas holiday but it turned out to be much longer than I expected, and it had literally taken all of December to finish. Therefore, I beg your indulgence in posting this even though it's now January and we are many, many months away before Christmas comes around again.
My most heartfelt thank you to rthstewart for her comments and encouragement to post this here.
Disclaimer: The Chronicles of Narnia belong to the estate of C.S. Lewis. I own nothing but the plot to this story.
Chapter One:
Christmas Eve, 1942
It was almost magical.
She stared out the window, watching as snow blanketed the garden. There had not been much snow in these parts of England for several years but on this night, of all nights, Mother Nature seemed to be making up for it.
She had never been fond of winter; the cold weather always chilled her to the bones despite the abundant layers she wore before heading outside. Though she was safely ensconced in a warm house this evening, she couldn't help but shiver as she continued to gaze at the snowflakes that descended from the sky.
There was a creak behind her as the door opened and shut. She didn't turn around, as she had been waiting for him to come downstairs to join her. The shuffling of slippers on the wooden floor grew louder until she felt him standing close behind her.
"It's almost magical, don't you think?" she whispered, knowing he would hear her.
"What's magical?"
She started, surprised at the voice that answered her. It was decidedly feminine and therefore did not belong to Scrubb. She turned around, eyes wide as she took in the appearance of the other speaker.
The newcomer was a girl some years older than herself. Blue eyes looked quizzically at her from a face framed by golden curls. Even in the darkness, her blonde hair seemed to glow with an otherworldly light.
"Queen Lucy!" There was a frown from the other girl, and she amended her greeting. "I mean, Lucy."
They had first met earlier that afternoon, when her parents dropped her off at Miss Plummer's house. Scrubb had been preparing her for this eventual meeting with his cousins during the autumn term, but she still couldn't help but be surprised. It was all fine and well for him; he at least had the excuse of being related to them. When he had spoken of his cousins to her, they were often referred to as "just the Pevensies" but it was still very different if one did not belong to their family.
Though she did not know all of their stories, she had heard enough to fill her with a sense of awe for the Pevensies. She had heard it in the voices of the storytellers as well; the Centaurs and Badgers had spoken of them with such reverence and loyalty that it imparted the same type of respect for them within her.
Therefore, it should come as no surprise that she would call Lucy not by her given name (a habit she had picked up in that awful school she and Scrubb currently attended) but by the rightful title she held years ago, no matter which reckoning one went by.
"Jill?" Lucy's voice drew her thoughts back to the present. She blinked and focused her attention on the older girl.
"I—it's just," she faltered, then gave up and waved a hand at the window, "Well, it's snowing."
"Yes, it is," the blonde girl stepped forward and leaned over to get a better look out the window. "And you think it's magical?"
"Almost magical," she corrected Lucy. At that, the Queen turned to look at her, the question in her eyes. "It reminds me of Narnia, but it's not the same. It doesn't have the same," she grasped for the right word, "...magic."
"Of course not," Lucy said crisply. "Narnia is Narnia, and England is England; you really can't compare the two," she paused for a minute and when she spoke again, her voice was softer. "But even so, there is a sort of magic here, even though it's not as apparent as it is There. You'll see it too, one day, if not now."
Jill turned her attention back to the window. A light wind had picked up and she watched as the falling snow changed direction, forming random patterns as the flurries swirled around in the air. In the span of a breath, the wind shifted again and the crystalline droplets changed course once more, creating a different pattern as they descended to the ground. She imagined each flake taking on a life of its own, pivoting in the air and moving in time to music she couldn't hear.
"I think you're right, Que—Lucy," she eventually said, "I think I can see a little bit of what you mean. There does seem to be something magical in the snow; somehow it reminds me a little of Narnia."
"In what way?" the other girl asked.
She had to think for a moment before answering. There was something about the scene outside that struck a chord with her but she couldn't quite place it. She reviewed her thoughts about the view outside and then added in her memories of the adventure she and Scrubb shared. Though the events had taken place several months ago, she still remembered everything with perfect clarity.
And then she had it.
"The Dancing," she said, her eyes shining as she remembered. "We had reached the end of a tunnel that was our escape from the Underland. I was the first to climb out of it and what I saw were Narnians all around me, dancing and throwing snowballs into the air."
Lucy clapped her hands in delight. "The Great Snow Dance!" she exclaimed, familiar with the scene that Jill described. "Oh, how marvelous that you had been able to witness it that night!"
The younger girl nodded in agreement. "After all of us were freed from the tunnel, I had asked one of the Fauns about the dance and he said it was performed every year at that very spot."
"Oh yes," said Lucy, "it was a tradition that started at the end of the first year of our reign." There was a faraway look in her eyes and Jill had the impression that Lucy was thinking back to a time that was very long ago.
"It was the very first day that snow fell on Narnia since the Great Winter ended," the Queen recalled. "My siblings and I were concerned about how the Narnians would react to seeing snow again after living constantly with it for a hundred years. We were afraid it would remind them of the Witch and so we rode out that morning to see how they dealt with it."
"And what did you see?" Jill asked.
Lucy smiled. "We saw that our worries were mostly unfounded. There were a few groups that thought Jadis had returned from the dead but when they saw us—two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve—riding out to greet them, they truly realized that awful Winter was over and the Witch would never return.
"So instead of fearing the snow and the coming of winter, the Narnians rejoiced and reveled in it. There were many young ones born earlier that year and they took pleasure in frolicking around in the snow, as they should. The older ones that lived through the Great Winter were a bit more solemn but they did not fear it as they once did.
"By the time we were ready to turn back, the sun had already set and it was getting too dark to return to Cair Paravel. We decided to just set up camp in the forest, on an open field just north of the Great River."
"It must have been wonderful," Jill said when Lucy paused for a breath. She could easily relate to sleeping outside; she, Scrubb and Puddleglum had spent many a night under the Narnian skies as they went in search of Prince Rilian.
"It was," the Queen agreed. "We could not have picked a better night to spend in the woods. The Narnians that lived in the area came out and helped us with our tents and brought kindling for the fire. After dinner, we began to settle down for the evening when there was a break in the clouds and the moon shone down all around us. The snow seemed to sparkle in the moonlight and it was so beautiful to behold.
"And then one of the Satyrs suggested a dance and everyone else quickly agreed. The Narnians decided that it was the perfect way to celebrate so many things. It would be their way to mark the changing of the season and to honor the Great Lion and my family, since we helped to fulfill the Prophecy and brought an end to the enchanted Winter.
"So the Fauns brought out their pipes and together with the Dwarfs and their drums, they started to play a most wonderful tune. The other Beasts and Creatures formed a circle and as soon as we heard the first note, they began dancing and kicking snow into the air." Lucy paused again in her tale and there was a twinkle in her eye as she looked to Jill. "After the first dance, they realized it was easier (and more accurate) for everyone to throw snowballs instead of trying to kick up loose snow.
"And that was how the Great Snow Dance was born."
As Lucy described the origins of that Narnian tradition, Jill could vividly picture in her head the Dance as she had seen it. She remembered Dwarfs in scarlet cloaks, talking Animals and Nymphs swaying to the music. There were rings of Centaurs and Satyrs, moving their hooves in time with the beat of the drums. She blushed as she remembered how engrossed she was in watching the Dance that she didn't see the snowball flying towards her until it hit her square in the face.
"I'm glad to hear that one of the old traditions from our time survived long after our rule had ended." She thought she heard a mix of sadness and relief in the Queen's voice. She shot a glance in Lucy's direction and was surprised by what she saw. Lucy wasn't much older than she or Scrubb yet her eyes held something that she had never seen in other children their age. Where there was normally mischief and innocence, Jill saw wisdom and gravity reflected in the other girl's eyes.
Scrubb had not spoken much of his cousins' past. He told her that they had made several visits to Narnia and during their first trip, they lived there for quite some time. That they became Kings and Queens around the same age as she and Scrubb were now and were well into adulthood by the time they returned to England and their proper ages.
When she inquired further, he simply said, "It's not my story to tell," and that she should ask them in person. She would never have guessed that such an opportunity would present itself so soon after her own trip to Narnia.
Jill had recorded the details of her adventure in a journal after she and Scrubb returned to Experiment House. It was a way for her to remember that it hadn't been a dream, though Scrubb had been there with her and they still had the Narnian clothes to prove they did travel to another world.
And in the back of the journal, she had compiled a long list of topics she wanted to ask the Pevensies. There were questions about the various Talking Beasts and other Creatures, and how the geography of the Narnia had changed since their last visit. She was curious as to how they met King Caspian, and she wanted to know more about Aslan. The list went on for several pages and as her thoughts drifted to Narnia occasionally, new questions popped into her head.
Yet with Queen Lucy standing next to her at that moment, she was unable to work up the courage to ask even a single question.
Silence fell between the two girls as they were lost in their own thoughts, though their eyes continued to watch the snow fall. The quiet lasted for several minutes before Lucy spoke again.
"I hope you'll forgive my intrusion earlier," the older girl hesitated slightly, an apologetic smile on her face. "I went to fetch a glass of water and saw a light coming through the crack in the door. I thought everyone had gone to bed already and someone had accidentally left a candle burning in the room."
"Oh." Now it was her turn to look embarrassed. She had waited until the house was quiet and still before she crept out of her room. Jill felt her cheeks grow warm as she wondered how much she should say. "Well, that's quite all right. I was waiting for Scrubb, actually."
Lucy raised an eyebrow. "For Eustace?"
She was saved from further explanation when the door opened again. Both girls turned their heads at the sound and saw the boy in question appear in the doorframe.
"Sorry, Pole," he said in a low voice as he stepped inside. His back was to them as he carefully pushed the door closed. "I had some trouble getting away and—" It wasn't until he turned around that he found yet another person in the room besides Jill. "Oh."
"Hello, Eustace."
Up next: In which getting caught leads to questioning, and even the questioning is questionable.