"Peter, are we there yet?" Young Lucy Pevensie asked, her feet dragging along as they walked.
"Lucy, stop complaining. Peter is trying his best to get us somewhere safe." Susan, the second oldest, scolded Lucy.
"I don't trust him one bit," the third child, Edmund, said negatively.
Peter, the oldest, ignored Edmund's remark and reassuringly said,
"I promise we will sleep safely tonight, Lu." Peter put his sword in his sheath and and picked up Lucy, hoisting her on his back.
Lucy was only eleven years old. Edmund, only thirteen. Susan was seventeen, and Peter was nineteen. The siblings had gotten lost in the woods, trying to find their way back to their magic-filled kingdom, Narnia.
"Peter, you don't have to carry her. She's eleven years old. She can walk herself." Susan said, annoyed that he was babying her.
"She's still little, Susan. Besides, I don't want her, or any of us for that matter, to be left behind. It's dark and we are on unfamiliar land." Peter responded, looking back at Susan and Edmund. He put down Lucy and held her hand. Susan grabbed Edmund's hand.
"I don't need you to hold my hand! I'm thirteen years old and can walk on my own!" He yelled, pulling away from Susan and running to be in front of Lucy and Peter.
"Ed, keep quiet and get behind me. I don't want anything to happen to you." Peter said as he pulled Edmund's arm back to Susan's hand.
"Stay close to me." Peter warned, "you never know when something or someone could approach us and cause us har-"
Peter was cut off by a sword swinging in front of him, nearly slitting his throat. He ducked just in time, bringing Lucy's head down with him.
"Lucy!" Susan shrieked.
Lucy ran to her sister and brother. Edmund grabbed onto Susan. She held him and Lucy close to her and watched Peter fight the mysterious figure. She had her dagger ready in case someone came at the three. Then, the figure shoved Peter to a tree and knocked the crown off of his head. The crown dropped to the forest floor and rolled to Edmund's feet.
"My crown!" yelled Peter.
Susan couldn't take it. She wouldn't have her brother, High King of Narnia, be disrespected like that. Susan stepped into the fight, finding her way in the dark to the tree Peter was pinned against. She grabbed the figure and started pulling on it, hoping it would release its grip on Peter. She began to feel nervous about leaving Lucy and Edmund behind, just as another figure came up to the two young ones with a torch. It shined the light, only to reveal that the two figures were knights of Camelot, and that they were just four children.
"Daniel! Stop!" Sir Galahad yelled, "They're just four young children!" He handed the torch to Daniel, grabbed onto Edmund's shoulder and Lucy's hand. Lucy looked up at Galahad with a scared face.
"And whatta bout this one? He was wearin' a crown!" Daniel said, pointing to the crown by Edmund's feet. Galahad let go of Lucy's hand and Edmund's shoulder to bend down and pick up the crown. He walked it over to Daniel and shone the torch over the crown. Galahad let go of Peter and stopped choking him against the tree. Peter gasped for air and keeled over for a second to catch his breath.
" 'Tis a nice crown you have there..." Galahad paused, wondering the name of the young man.
"Peter, Peter Pevensie, High King of Narnia." Peter said.
"Peter. Well it's a very nice crown. And who are your friends here? Siblings I assume?"
"Yes, indeed. That is my younger sister, Susan, High Queen of Narnia." Peter said, pointing to Susan.
"That's Edmund, or Ed. He's the third child in our family. He is a king of Narnia as well. King Edmund the Just." Peter motioned to Edmund so he shook the knight's hands.
"And this young lady?" Daniel asked, looking down at little Lucy.
"This is the youngest of our family, Queen Lucy the Valiant." Lucy went over to Peter and stood behind him shyly.
"Valiant? why such a title for such a small girl?" Daniel questioned.
"Do not underestimate her," Peter laughed.
"She is a lot fiercer than she may seem," Susan admitted. Edmund sighed in annoyance at the fact that everyone was paying Lucy attention. Lucy, on the other hand, came out from behind Peter and smiled brightly. She couldn't help but giggle at all the attention she was getting.
"Well, Peter, er- King Peter, I should say," Daniel began, "I am quite sorry for attacking you like that. I believed you must have been a pack of bandits coming through the woods. You see, our King is in that tent over there, wounded. He's wounded pretty bad. We are in a war with Essetir, as a matter of fact, and he was wounded in battle. We had to stop somewhere to let him rest and recover for the night. So, we just made camp here. Is this your land? We are attacking the land of Essetir, the tyrant Cenred's kingdom. I am, indeed, very sorry."
"No, our land is far from here. I don't believe I have ever heard of the land of Essetir," Peter responded, trying to think.
"Not from around here, then, eh?" Galahad asked with a laugh.
"Yes. We are actually quite lost. We were travelling home from a council when our horses were stolen. We've been walking for a few days now." Peter explained
"Your king is injured?" Inquired little Lucy, ignoring the fact that her older brother was trying to get help.
"Yes, don't you pay any attention? He's just explained that!" Edmund began to shout at his younger sister but interrupted by Peter.
"Ed, you can be a real arse sometimes. You needn't be so rude,"
"Peter, don't use such harsh language with him," Susan scolded her older brother. "And Edmund, don't be so unkind to Lucy. She's your younger sister. She looks up to you."
"I do not!" Lucy yelled back. The two knights chuckled loudly together at the four bickering siblings.
"Anyways," Peter shouted over his siblings who were still arguing. His voice returned to its normal level as he continued.
"We could use some help. Just a nice place to stay for the night, then we will leave early in the morning and cause you no trouble."
"No trouble has been caused," Daniel stated.
"Say not another word. We are happy to aid you with a warm place to stay. And I should think you would all like some food as well?" Galahad offered kindly.
"That would be wonderful. Thank you both so much for your kindness," Susan thanked the two knights.
"It is our pleasure. Any friend of Camelot is a friend of ours," Daniel said in the friendliest voice he had used all night.
"Follow us. We will take you to our camp. It is just around this bend." Galahad invited. Susan pulled on Edmund's coat sleeve as an alternative to grabbing his hand and causing a fuss. Peter grabbed Lucy's hand once again and the four children followed Galahad and Daniel through the woods.
