Chapter 1

Introduction

While Peter is studying with the professor, Lucy, Edmund, and Susan are staying at a separate house alone for a month until their mother gets back. Meanwhile, Susan terribly misses Caspian and is desperately trying to find him.

Edmund's POV:

Lucy rolled her eyes as I silently groaned and tried to focus on my book. Susan was still rambling on about Caspian and now she's trying to get back to Narnia and find him. I never really understood their "relationship" or whatever it was and honestly, I didn't want to. You see, I've never really liked a girl before. Sure, I've had a couple little crushes once or twice, but never anything worth doing something with.

"Where could an entrance possibly be? There has to be one here somewhere!" She yelled. She started to pace around the room looking for any possible portal between our world and Narnia. She made so much noise, I finally gave up on my book and sat next to Lucy.

"Hey Lu, you wanna go look around the hou—" I didn't have to finish before she grabbed my arm and sprinted out of the room. I laughed when we stopped running.

"Oh my gosh she is driving me insane!" She bellowed.

"Me too! Plus, who knows how long it's been in Narnia? Caspian could be so much older or even gone for all we know!" She nodded and added, "And you can't just find Narnia!"

"I know! Well anyways, let's just look around the house and try to find something to do." She agreed and we started to explore the rooms. Most of them were pretty boring. Then, we came to an empty room with just a large full body mirror that Lucy seemed fascinated by. I wondered why. I mean, what's so interesting about a mirror? I asked Lucy just that.

"Don't you see? Look at the carvings." I reluctantly walked over and observed the carvings. They were interesting. No, not interesting, but familiar. I recognized them. Lucy ran her finger up the left curve, looking at the naiads and driads and centaurs and everything else, and I did the same with the right until our fingers met at the top. There, was a perfectly carved lion head, but not just any lion. Aslan. We both gaped and then Lucy gasped. "Look!" She yelled pointing to the mirror. But it wasn't a mirror. Before us lay a path of perfectly cut and soft grass surrounded on either side by daisies and carnations and roses and other flowers I didn't even know existed. There were trees with birds perched on the branches singing sweet songs. Sunlight flooded the scene, making it even more breathtaking and inviting. I recognized it instantly. Only one place could be this stunning. There, right in front of us, was Narnia. The land we knew, what seemed like, so long ago was here. We found it again.

Lucy took my hand and put one foot in.

"Wait," she stopped, "Should we tell Susan?" She said looking at the door across the room. We exchanged looks, then smiled and both stepped inside the mirror.

We decided to walk through the forest to try to figure out what part of Narnia we were in, but after about an hour and a half of walking around we still couldn't figure it out. It was twilight, but it was fading. Soon, we found a meadow of soft, green grass , perfect for sleeping on, right as dusk had passed. The moonlight illuminated the meadow slightly, making a kind of nightlight.

"We should be getting to sleep. We'll need a lot of energy tomorrow," I told Lucy. But I was barely listening to myself and I quickly fell asleep.

Lucy's POV:

I watched as Edmund closed his eyes and soon he was softly snoring, so I knew he was fast asleep. The whole forest was now lit by moonlight, making it even more tempting. I slowly got up and tip-toed to the edge of the meadow. Looking back once more, I made my way into the forest.

I knew we were in Narnia, but everything just seemed so… empty. No, not empty. Hiding. It seemed like everything was hiding itself. Soon, I found a very clear path and started walking on it, looking for any possible – well, anything really. Suddenly, I heard a crunching of leaves from behind a tree. I jumped a little but kept quiet, not wanting to scare away whatever was there. Taking a cautious step toward it, I heard it do the same in the opposite direction. I knew what it was doing – I did this when I babysat our neighbor's toddler once. She would go in the same direction I was chasing her, then I would trick her and go in the opposite direction and catch her by surprise. I did this and apparently startled it more than our old neighbor's daughter. It stepped back into a beam of moonlight and I realized that it was a girl. And not just a Narnian, but a daughter-of-eve. I looked at her curiously and she seemed just as shocked by seeing a human in Narnia as me.

"A-are you… are you a… human?" She asked rather awkwardly. Her chocolate brown hair fell in front of her shoulders and slightly in her face as she tilted her head. I couldn't see her eyes that well, but I could tell that they were glossy and I guessed they were some shade of blue.

"Yes. And you are … a human also?" It was an awkward question for both of us, but she answered, "Yes," also.

"What's your name?" I inquired. We still hadn't moved toward each other at all.

"Kristen. Um, Kristen Feliciano. And yours?" She replied.

"I'm Lucy. It's nice to meet you," I stated taking a step toward her. She almost stepped back, but changed her mind and stepped forward also, shaking my hand.

"So do you live here?" I questioned sitting down on the soft grass. She sat down also.

"What would you define 'here' as?"

"You know, here. Narnia." I said obviously.

"So the question is do I live in Narnia?" I was starting to get impatient with her.

"Yes! That's the question! Can you answer it please?" I accidently shouted at her.

"Oh, sorry," I said regretfully. She smiled forgivingly.

"It's okay. And I do live here, but I can't tell you much more." I didn't push her for more, even though I wanted to. She seemed so… mysterious. After talking for about half an hour until she said she had to go. I had to admit, I had this urge to follow her, but I didn't. I had a feeling I was going to meet her again very soon.

"Lucy. Lucy. Lucy! Wake up! I know where we are! Wake up!" Edmund yelled in my face.

"Huh?" I said groggily.

"Come on, get up! I know where we are!" I stretched quickly, then followed him into the forest.

"Edmund, where are you—" I stopped short as we came in front of it. I still don't know how we didn't see it before, but it was right there. The enormous lake, right in front of us. The mountains in the distance, valleys and fields.

"Lucy, look." Edmund pointed to the east and I saw our old home, Cair Paravel. Most people wouldn't call it home, you know, being a castle and everything, but it was our home once and it always was after then.

"What do you suppose we do first?" I asked.

"Well, what do you want to do first? After all, you found this place." I laughed and said, "I always do." He laughed too.

"I would like to see Caspian again and Cair Paravel. How about you?"

"Absolutely! I can't wait to finally get my sword out again! I've been waiting all month, you know." I rolled my eyes and we were on our way.

Edmund's POV

On our way to Cair Paravel, we ran into many old friends and creatures we used to know. The beavers even invited us in for lunch, which we gladly accepted. But we were determined to get to the castle before sunrise, so we didn't stay long with them. We also ran into some centaurs who were incredibly helpful. Seeing that Lucy and I were both on foot, they gave us a ride to the castle. And I can't tell you how good that felt. The wind blowing on me as we went faster and then the light breeze as we slowed down. Soon, we were at the front of the castle. We thanked the centaurs and waved goodbye before going into the castle. Everything seemed so… different. Not in a bad way, really, just different.

As we approached the stairs, I started to become nervous. I started walking slowly, then stopped all together. Lucy turned to me.

"What's wrong Ed?"

"I'm nervous." I confessed.

"Why would you be nervous?"

"Well, what if Caspian's really old and he doesn't even remember us? Or what if he's not even here anymore?" She smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Edmund, Edmund, Edmund. Always worrying! Caspian is here, that much I know. And if he's older, then he's older, but I /know/ he wouldn't forget us. They remembered us after 100 years, remember?" I nodded and shrugged.

"I guess I just feel a bit different to be back."

"It's okay, Ed. So do I. Anyone in our positions probably would be."

"Yeah. Except maybe Susan," I said chuckling. Lucy did, too.

"Yeah. She would probably sprint through the doors and throw her arms around her love!" Lucy exclaimed dramatically.

"Oh Caspian!" I squealed in a high-pitched girly voice that, in my opinion, sounded just like Susan, "I've been waiting so long to see you! I love you sooo much!" I then gasped and threw myself at the invisible Caspian, planting fake kisses all over his 'face.' Meanwhile, Lucy was literally on the floor laughing her lungs out. I bellowed with laughter also.

Once we had finally gained control of ourselves, we brushed ourselves off a bit and approached the door. Slowly pushing it open, it revealed the grand entry room. All the pillars and half oval windows perfectly draped with royal purple silk and the perfectly polished floor and everything else twice as magnificent as when we were kings and queens.

After staring in awe around the room, I noticed that it was empty. Lucy apparently did too because she looked at me and asked, "Where do you suppose he is?"

"Hello? Hello?" We called out. Then, through an open doorway behind the thrones, came Caspian. He was dressed in a silver and blue suede tunic with a standing collar with gray trousers and navy boots.

"Edmund? Lucy? Is that you?"

"Caspian!" Lucy said engulfing him in a big hug.

"So it is you! But where are the others?" He asked looking to me.

"Well, Peter is studying with the professor and Susan is… um… back at the house."

"So she didn't come with you?" I could tell he was a bit disappointed about this.

"No, she didn't. She was –" I stopped mid-sentence as I saw someone come in. No, not someone. Her. I believed I saw heaven right in front of me. She wore a royal blue and silver dress with a white border of little thread balls attached by strings. Around the waist was a blue belt with a thin white border and the sleeves were mid-elbow length and flared out a bit at the end. She had pure chocolate brown hair that went about halfway down her back and was perfectly straightened to the last strand. Her eyes were a glossy electric blue and almost exactly matched her dress color.

Her voice matched her angelic looks as she said, "Hey Casp, who's here?"

"Hey Kris. I'd like you to meet Edmund and Lucy Pevensie. Edmund and Lucy, this is my cousin Kristen."