Kaixo! Audrey here! Chapter 3 is here! Father took me to the public library again, so I was able to upload this and get some more books to read! I finally got to use my knowledge of archery in this chapter, though I don't know much about it. Poor Emilia, not in this chapter. She will be in Chapter 4 though. Anyways, I hope you enjoy. Agur!
"Amazing." Cecelia muttered.
"Welcome to my home, Cair Paravel ." Edmund replied.
"You live here?" Cecelia gaped.
"Yes." Edmund replied as he urged the horse through the gates. It was only then she realized just how big it was. It made her feel insignificant. She held onto Edmund tighter.
"Does Peter , Susan , and Lucy live here too?" Cecelia asked Edmund as she reluctantly let go of him so he could lead the horse into the stable.
"Yep. Our rooms are all in the same hallway. My room is next to Lucy 's and across from Peter 's. Come on off the horse." Edmund said as he began to walk out of the stables. He turned around to see Cecelia still sitting on the horse.
"How?" she asked looking down at the ground. Edmund laughed before walking over to Cecelia and helping her off the horse. Cecelia was able to walk out of the stables, but she was quite unbalanced as she did so.
"Are you okay?" Edmund asked as he watched Cecelia make her way across the lawn.
"I'm fine. Just trying to recover. Emilia is usually with me for things like this. Somehow whenever something big happened she was always with me, but she en't now." Edmund walked over and placed an arm around Cecelia 's shoulders to help her stay balanced. Cecelia reached her right hand out and was relieved when Edmund grabbed it. Without realizing it, she was squeezing Edmund's hand very tightly.
Cecelia, Edmund, Orieus and Mindes walked into the castle through a side door in hopes they'd run into less people. They made it quite apparent they didn't have time to talk, but many people still bowed or curtsied when they walked by. Cecelia took in everything she saw with much wonder. The floors were a gorgeous stone she couldn't identify. It was smooth and had a unique pattern and was an odd cream color. Where they currently were, the walls were painted a deep red, and the ceilings a wonderful gold. There were tapestries hanging everywhere depicting scenes of battles, people, and majestic looking lions. They reached a large golden door that was almost as tall as the ceilings. She thought the ballroom where the party was held was wonderful, but it just couldn't compare to this.
"This way. I do think the others should be eating breakfast now, and we need to get them ready. I think we might be forced to go into battle." Edmund said as the centaur called Mindes opened the door.
"Thank you, Mindes. You and Orieus go and prepare troops to leave before lunch. Tell the others to pack provisions. Food, armor, and weapons. After your done with that head to the war room." The two centaurs left immediately, leaving Cecelia and Edmund alone.
They quickly walked through the door, and before Cecelia knew it, Lucy had wrapped her arms around her waist and Susan was running over too. Peter however stood there, looking quite shocked.
"Oh Cecelia ! It's so wonderful to see you! We never expected you to come to Narnia!" Lucy exclaimed as she let go so Susan could hug Cecelia . By now Peter was standing with his hand on Edmund's shoulder.
"Oh this is wonderful!" Susan said, then suddenly pulled away. "Wait, where is Emilia ?"
Cecelia opened her mouth to answer but found she couldn't get the words out of her mouth. Tears began to fill her eyes and she looked as if she would burst into tears. Lucy wrapped her arms around Cecelia who gladly accepted and pulled Lucy into a hug.
"What's wrong?" Peter asked, completely confused.
" Pete, Emilia 's been kidnapped by a hag. I think it's one of the white witch's old followers." Edmund said.
"But, why?" Susan asked in horror.
"I don't know. Hostage, bait, maybe just for fun.." Edmund suggested shrugging.
"We have to find her." Cecelia said quietly, unable to make any sound louder than a whisper.
"Of course we will." Peter said, anger in his filling his eyes.
Peter and Edmund quickly went to discuss plans and strategies with the generals while Susan and Lucy took Cecelia through a series of corridors.
"There is really nothing more for us to do except wait for the boys to return with plans. We will however get dressed for the journey and then help prepare provisions. I don't think Lucy or I have a dress for you though. Mine will be to big, and Lucy 's to small. I do believe there are some already made for when Lucy grows though. We'll snag one of those." Susan said as she continued to walk through the hallways. Cecelia and Lucy practically had to run to keep up with Susan 's pace. It was only then that Cecelia realized how out of place she felt. She was still wearing the same skirt and sweater she had been wearing in England, while Lucy and Susan were both wearing beautiful floor-length dresses.
Susan's dress was light and airy and seemed to flow with every step, making Susan look like a fairy or something of the sort. The dress seemed to have two parts to it. The first part was a rich emerald green that made up most of the dress. It had long, flowing sleeves and a very low neckline. Though it was made up for by a pale green that was a good deal higher than the low emerald green.
Lucy's dress, though light and airy, did not have the same affect on her. When Cecelia looked at Lucy she felt that Lucy could take on the world. She shown with such confidence and the dress she wore perfectly complimented it. The dress was a stunning pale purple with a beautiful silver sash around the waist. The pale purple stopped at the knees, and the silver fabric continued on to the ground. Both girls looked stunning in their dresses.
"Here we are!" Susan said as she opened the door into a small room were women sat with bolts of fabric surrounding them.
" Queen Susan the Gentle! Queen Lucy the Valiant! Welcome! Come in, come in. May I ask who your friend is?" One of the women asked.
"Oh, Alavia! It's so nice to see you. Alavia, this is Miss Cecelia. Cecelia, this is Alavia of Archenland. Alavia, We were wondering if you have a dress that would fit her. She needs one now, so it doesn't have to fit her exactly, but we want it as close as you can. I almost forgot, it needs to be a dress for travel, something easy to move in." Susan stated as she looked Cecelia up and down. "I think that's all. Cecelia, Lucy and I will be right back, you stay here with Alavia." With that Susan and Lucy left the room leaving Cecelia standing there with many seamstresses staring at her. She smiled slightly and then Alavia came over and began to measure her.
"I need to find a dress with the closet measurements to yours." Cecelia stood there for awhile feeling quite uncomfortable. "I think I have a dress for you. It might be a bit big, you're a very petite girl. You need to eat more."
Cecelia only nodded, not knowing what to say to Alavia's comments.
Alavia left the room and when she came back she was holding a beautiful red dress. She ushered Cecelia into a small dressing room where Cecelia quickly changed. The dress itself very much reminded Cecelia of the dresses girls wore in the fairytales she read. It was a very light dress, and much like Susan said, easy to move in.. It had a square neckline with gold embroidery surrounding it. The upper part of the sleeve was a bit fitted, but past the elbow it turned into a light and airy bell.. The dress had an empire waist with a full skirt. The beautiful red fabric split revealing a golden underskirt. She twirled around once where she was standing, feeling like princess.
She walked out of the dressing room to see Lucy and Susan were back, a pile of odd things beside them. Lucy was putting on a belt with a dagger on the left, and a bottle of red liquid on the right. Susan was helping her adjust the straps, as she had already finished getting ready for the trip. She had on a leather jerkin with a cuirass over it. On her left forearm she had a diamond-shaped red leather bracer. On her back she wore an ivory quiver with the initials "SP" on it and she carried a short recurve bow in her right hand. Also attached to the strap that held her quiver was an ivory horn with engravings to look like an open lion's mouth.
"Oh Cecelia . You look marvelous in that dress." Lucy said with a smile. "I think it fits you perfectly!"
"You do look quite wonderful Cecelia." Susan said, also she smiled. "Oh yes, I almost forgot. Emilia told me you know archery, so I have some things for you here." Susan said as she rummaged through a pile laying on the table beside her. "Here, I have a back quiver for you and a short recurve bow. Orieus and Mindes have already prepared a horse for you. There is a quiver on the horse's saddle where all your arrows are. Yes, what else? Oh, here is a leather bracer, and I do believe that's all you need for now." Susan picked up the back quiver and helped Cecelia put it on. Susan then put the unstrung bow into the quiver while Cecelia put on the leather bracer on her left arm.
"When are we leaving?" Cecelia asked Susan as the three girls left the sewing room and made their way back through the halls.
"As soon as the boys are done, which I'm sure will be any second now. What's this?" Susan was walking through the halls and was about to go into one of the rooms when she noticed the one next to hers had a parchment nailed to the door. She took it off, trying to rip the paper as little as possible.
"My goodness. It's a threat. Look at this." Susan said as she handed the paper to Lucy .
"Oh my." Lucy said as she looked at the parchment.
"Oh. Emilia ." Cecelia said as tears filled her eyes.
"We must hurry. Follow me." Susan took off in a mad dash and Lucy and Cecelia were again barely able to keep up. "We must get this to Peter and Edmund now. They should still be in the war room." The three girls made there way through the hallways, barely missing those unfortunate enough to be caught in their path. They finally reached a large wooden door which Susan quickly went through followed quickly by Cecelia and Lucy.
Peter, Edmund, and many other Narnian creatures were surrounding a table with a large map of Narnia on it, discussing strategies and plans.
"What brings you girls here?" Peter asked.
"This." Susan replied simply handing the parchment to Peter.
"What is it?" Edmund asked.
"It's a threat towards us and Emilia . Here, read it yourself." Peter said quietly as he handed the parchment to Edmund.
"Oh, I knew it. We die or she dies. They're using Emilia as bait." Edmund said with a scowl. "At least they gave a reasonable time. We have 'til the end of the week."
"Well, of course the Kings and Queens cannot die!" one of the Narnian creatures said..
"Well, what about Emilia?" Cecelia asked in horror.
"She isn't going to die either." Peter replied very quickly. "We are going to get her back Cecelia. Don't you worry. Besides, this gives us an excuse to go to battle with the Fell. I've been wanting to get rid of them. Orieus, are the troops prepared?"
"Yes, Sire." he replied.
"Good. Then we leave for the Witch's castle within the hour."
/
Cecelia felt very uncomfortable sitting on her horse. There was too much stuff hanging from her saddle. There was a quiver filled with arrows and her unstrung bow, a blanket, a cloak, and a small satchel filled with food. She shifted in her seat, trying to find a comfortable position. When she failed to find one she sighed and turned to face Edmund.
"You're different now then you were in England . What happened?"
"What do you mean?" Edmund asked Cecelia in confusion.
"Well, in England you were a right foul beast. Now, well, now I don't know. You're just different."
"So are you. You used to be a beast in England too." Edmund said looking ahead.
"Hey!" Cecelia lifted her hand as if to slap Edmund but stopped. "I'd hit you, but I think I'd fall off if I tried."
"I take it back. Maybe you haven't changed that much. You still are a beast." Edmund said with a smile. Cecelia scowled and urged her horse forward so she was riding along side Lucy . While doing this she lost her balance and practically fell off. Lucy however was able to catch her hand and pull her back upright.
"I don't think I like horses." Cecelia said as she stared at the ground. "I wasn't even able to get on by myself. Peter had to lift me up." Lucy laughed at this.
"Hey Lucy . You guys have all changed since coming here. Well, you've all grown taller and stuff, but personality wise, what happened?" Cecelia asked Lucy .
"Oh. I thought you would ask that sooner or later. It's very hard to explain. You kinda have to hear the whole story."
"That's fine, I want to hear it." Cecelia said.
"Well, it started when we were playing a game of hide-and-seek and I went into a wardrobe..." Lucy began telling Cecelia the story of how the Pevensie's came into Narnia, Edmund's capture by the witch, redemption by Aslan, the Battle at Beruna, and finally their coronation. "The past year has been quite boring actually. Passing laws and meeting with those from other countries is what fills most of our days."
"So, this Aslan person, he's the one who changed Edmund?" Cecelia asked.
"Oh yes. He's the only one who could've helped Edmund at the point he was at. Only, Aslan is not a person. He's a lion." Lucy replied.
"A lion? Aslan is a lion?" Cecelia asked, disbelieving what Lucy just said.
"Yes he is, and he's the only one who knows what happened to Edmund while he was with the witch. I do believe Peter knows most of it, though."
Lucy and Cecelia continued talking about the Narnian creatures, Lucy explaining what everything was and about them.
"Oh, those must have been dryads." Lucy said when Cecelia mentioned the trees talking while they were asleep. "Dryads are beings that live in the trees. They probably came out when they thought you were sleeping. They aren't shy creatures, just curious. They also don't like to be bothered while sleeping."
Lucy and Cecelia continued talking about centaurs, fauns, dryads, minotaurs and all the other creatures of Narnia. As they walked through the forest the sun slowly began to set.
" Peter! We've been riding for hours. When are we going to get to camp?" Lucy asked.
"As soon as we get out of the forest there will be camp. It's only about a mile up."
"We're stopping already?" Cecelia asked.
"Yes. If we push ourselves to hard, we won't be prepared for the battle to get Emilia." Peter replied.
Cecelia frowned and continued on in silence. She knew they were right, but she wanted Emilia as soon as possible.
"Oh! Look at it! We're here! We're at the camp! Look how many people there are!" Lucy exclaimed. "Oh come on! Let's go!" With that Lucy began to gallop to the camp, quickly followed by her other three siblings. Cecelia, who had stopped her horse to take a good look at the camp, couldn't get the horse to move again.
"Come on, horsey. Onward, go, uh, mush?" Cecelia scowled while the horse just stood there. "Maybe I should have taken riding lessons like mum suggested." She heard someone laugh behind her and turned to see the centaur Orieus. He took the horses reins from her hand and began to lead the horse to the camp.
"Thank you." Cecelia said to the centaur.
"The pleasure is all mine, my lady." the centaur said.
When Orieus and Cecelia arrived at the camp the Pevensies had already given their horses to their valets and were now walking around the camp.
"Lu, you've been at a camp before." Edmund said with a laugh.
"Yes, but that was a year ago. Since then anytime you've gone somewhere you've left me at Cair Paravel . This is the first time I've gotten to stay out since Beruna."
"Come, let's go to the archery range Lucy." Susan said as she began to walk off. "You too, Cecelia!"
Orieus had just left Cecelia to get off her horse. She tried lifting her leg over so she could jump of, but lost her balance and ended up falling off the horse. She heard someone gasp and heard footsteps coming towards her. She looked up to see Lucy looking down at her.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Just a little. Okay, a lot of pain." Cecelia said. Lucy laughed and extended her hand to pull Cecelia up. When she stood up she groaned.
"I repeat: I don't think I like horses." Cecelia walked back to her horse and switched the contents from the quiver on her saddle to the quiver on her back. The five children made their way through the camp to a make-shift archery field. Cecelia quickly strung her bow and placed an arrow on it, while Susan did the same beside her. Susan shot first and her arrow plunged itself deep in the bullseye. Lucy began to clap, while Edmund and Peter just smiled. Cecelia quickly pulled back the string of her bow and placed it it on her right cheek. She plucked the string and watched as her arrow flew through the sky and buried itself in the bullseye just as Susan 's had done.
Lucy began to clap again and Edmund walked over and stood beside Cecelia .
" Emilia told me you were a champion archer, but I didn't believe considering what happened that day. What was it you shot? A book? I believe that was it." Cecelia gave Edmund a playful shrug before she began to walk to the targets to retrieve her arrow.
"Where did you learn archery?" Susan asked.
"It runs in the family. Well, that's what my mother told me. Every member of my mother's family have been archers at one point. She began to teach me when I was seven with a home-made target. I was horrible at first, but she made me practice. Eventually, when I was able to actually shoot the outside of the target, she took me to an indoor target range. Over the years, I don't know, I guess I just got the hang of it. Then when I started boarding school I joined the archery team."
"You lot! Orieus is calling for you! Wants to talk 'bout plans on getting that Emilia back!" Cecelia turned around to see who was calling them but only saw two beavers.
"Who said that?" Cecelia asked as the three began to walk off the field.
"Them." Edmund said pointing to the beavers.
"The beavers said that?"
"Of course. There is nobody else here." Susan said. Cecelia stopped in her tracks staring at the beaver while Susan and Edmund kept walking.
"Come on you girl!" Cecelia shook her head and continued on walking. Cecelia continued walking thinking about how mad this world was. Cecelia looked around for Peter , and saw he was no longer there.
"Where's Peter ?" she asked.
"Oh, when he heard that girls name he took off in a mad dash towards the tent." The beaver replied.
"That's odd." Edmund replied. "Wait,Oh..."
"What?" Cecelia asked giving Edmund an odd look. Edmund smiled and simply said:
"Nothing."
The three youngest Pevensie children and Cecelia made their way through camp to Orieus's tent where they found him and Peter outside looking at a map.
"Orieus. You're a genius. I see it now. Yes, that'll work wonderfully. We do have to remember it's their territory that we're fighting at, not ours. They may have traps laid out."
"I have already taken that into account." Orieus then began to point to places on the map speaking in very large, technical, military words.
"So, what are you two planning now?" Edmund asked as he walked over. Peter pointed to spots on the map and muttered things about tents, barricades, and archers. Edmund stood there pondering the plan.
"Brilliant." He finally managed to mutter. "Absolutely brilliant. Who thought this up?"
"It was all Orieus's idea." Peter said as he placed a hand on the centaur's shoulder.
"You've outdone yourself again Orieus."
/
Edmund shifted uncomfortably around the campfire. He scowled silently when a faun began to talk with him. He didn't have time for this, he wanted to talk with Peter alone. He practically jumped for joy when he saw Peter take his leave. Edmund quickly excused himself from his conversation and followed after Peter into the tent they were sharing.
" Pete , I need to talk to you." Edmund said as he flopped down into his hammock.
"Sure Ed , what is it?"
"I was wondering, how you feel about Emilia ." Edmund said.
"I think it's horrible, threatening to kill her like that."
"That's not what I mean. I mean, do you have feelings for her?" At this Peter blushed furiously. He felt the blood rush to his cheeks and quickly turned around so Edmund wouldn't see.
"Don't try to hide it Peter, I know you do."
"Ed, it's not like that. Well, actually I'm not really sure anymore. In England , I remember that I liked her a lot. She made me blush and she made me feel to nervous to talk to her. When we got to Narnia I slowly began to forget her, but now that she's back, I think the feelings are coming back with her."
Edmund stared at the ceiling of the tent not knowing what to say.
" Pete, are you worried about her?" Edmund asked.
"Immensely, though I'm quite worried about Cecelia too. She's lost her parents and now Emilia . It must be hard for her. She seems to be handling it well, but I think it might be an act." Peter said.
"I think it is an act. She broke down completely after Emilia was taken. She was crying and screaming for Bella, who I suppose is Emilia. I don't think she could've truly gotten over it that quickly.
"Maybe we should ask her about it." Peter suggested.
"Sure."
"And, Ed?" Peter called out.
"Yeah?"
"Don't tell anyone I like Emilia ." Peter said.
"I won't."