THE PRINCESS, THE APPLE, AND THE HORN

Disclaimer: The characters (including but not limited to) Peter Pevensie, Susan Pevensie, Edmund Pevensie, Lucy Pevensie, and Aslan are all property of Disney® and C.S. Lewis, as is Narnia.

Redemption

Angel had not left the sitting room she had been carried into by her uncle since the incident an hour earlier. She sat on Aunt Lucy's lap while Aunt Susan sat across from her, silently stitching another sampler. Both her uncles were in the room across the hall, and she could hear every single word that came from them, Oreius, and the dryad. It wasn't a pleasant thing for the young princess to hear, but it was impossible to block out nonetheless.

"You don't leave her alone, Avawood!" Uncle Edmund shouted. A tear fell from Angel's eyes, and down her already stained cheeks. She hadn't meant to get anyone in trouble. "You're lucky we don't banish you for your incompetence."

"Brother!" Angel flinched as her older uncle's voice came booming from across the hall. She could feel Aunt Lucy's arms tighten around her. A silence followed. "Dryad, you recognized the individual. How could you leave here there alone? You knew how dangerous he was."

More silence followed, and Angel felt she could take it no longer. She moved to get up, but Aunt Lucy's grip held her fast. "Your Uncles advised you to stay here until they returned, young one," the young Queen said, readjusting her grip on the girl.

Angel's lips twisted as she tried to think of a way to stop her uncles and get Ava out of trouble. It wasn't her fault! And besides, the man couldn't have been all that bad. He hadn't done anything to her except give her a hug and hand her something folded in a handkerchief. Angel had not been able to open it yet; she didn't want anyone else to get in trouble for that young man's gift either. Since when had that been a crime? Suddenly the shouting was gone and there was the squeak of iron door hinges. Angel craned her neck far enough to see the Dryad friend leave the room in tears, followed closely by Oreius escorting her out.

Angel moved to follow but was held back "Avawood!" She didn't know if the Dryad turned back to look at her, because her two uncles soon entered the room. The mere look of severity they had on their faces was enough to keep Angel from attempting to leave Lucy's arms again. She held her head in shame from getting her friend into trouble. After a moment of dreadful silence, she looked up in both fear and dread. "Avawood's not going away is she?"

"For your sake, Angel, no," the High King replied, though his voice and expression certainly contradicted his personal thoughts on those words. It was easy to tell he would have rather kicked her out of the castle for what happened. "She will not, however, be allowed to go anywhere with you without another escort. She knew better, and considering what that man could have done-"

"I don't understand why everyone thinks he's so dangerous," Angel mumbled, dangerously interrupting her uncle.

"He is dangerous," the younger king replied, crossing his arms. The younger queen hugged Angel in an assuring way while the elder Queen simply shifted slightly in her stiff position. She hadn't said a word this entire time, but she did give him a questioning stare, almost demanding an explanation. "There are some things that are not meant for you to know, Princess."

"But I want to know!" Angel insisted. "Why do you think he's dangerous? How can he be dangerous? He said he knew them, that I looked like them!" Angel stiffened her face and scowled at her Uncles, which probably wasn't the smartest move for her to do. "How can he be dangerous if he knew my parents."

"There are some tales not meant for young girl's ears," Uncle Peter replied.

"What are you hiding from me?"

"Angel, now is not the time for you to know." Aunt Lucy insisted.

"Why are the guards still out looking for him?"

"He helped kill your parents, Angel." All heads turned to Queen Susan. She finished pulling the thread on one embroidery before setting it aside, and finally looking up. "Despite what everyone here thinks, Angel has a right to know who killed her family."

"Susan—"

"Edmund," the Queen looked up at her brother and gave him a stern look. "I am only telling her what she must know." Queen Susan's eyes moved from her younger brother's, who was now quite angry, to Angel, who had a look of horror upon her face. She had always known her parents to be killed by pirates when she was a little girl. But she didn't know why or by whom exactly. Even now she didn't know if she could believe it.

"Your parents were killed by pirates, Angel, as we have told you many times. What we have not told you is that that man was one of those pirates. He was exiled from Narnia years ago for raiding this castle, stealing our treasures, and attempted murder on your Uncles and an esteemed guest." Queen Susan looked as though she could cry, but she kept firm and emotionless, unlike the Gentle Queen she was renown for around the country and usually was in most situations.

There was a moment of silence before Angel shook her head. "That's not true. That man did not kill my parents."

"Angel," Uncle Edmund came over and knelt down in front of the little girl. "Some things are hard to believe. But you have to know that this man is dangerous. If you see him again, you run. As fast as you can. Find us, and we will protect you."

"Why then?" Angel practically screamed; Aunt Lucy was so taken aback that she let go of the girl, who had time enough to storm to the door before looking back. "Why did he hug me like you do? Why did he seem so sad at the sight of me? If he killed my parents, truly, he wouldn't act so kindly!"

"Angel—"

"Stay away from me!" Angel screamed, running down the hall.

Right when she left a Raven flew in. "There's no sign of the pirate Darit anywhere," he informed the Kings and Queens with a bow. "It is as though he escaped by magic."

"Do not say those words," the King growled, making the Raven bow quite low and very apologetically. "Magic such as this would mean the re-arrival of the White Witch." He moved over to the window and looked out. The sky had gotten dark and heavy, thunderclouds moving in at an alarming rate. A grim look crossed his face. "Bring the search in. No one needs to catch their death out here."

The Raven nodded and bowed deeply before soaring out. The four stood quietly in the room together. Susan had gone back to her sewing as though nothing had happened. Peter was leaning back against the wall. Edmund continued to watch out the window as though he expected the White Witch to pop out of nowhere. Lucy was the only one who showed her insecurity openly, fidgeting and looking around at everyone in turn before finally standing up and heading toward the door.

"Let her go, sister," Susan said, not looking up from her embroidery. "She needs time alone to think with herself."

Lucy turned back to Susan, a livid look on her face. "You need not still be harsh after your incident of betrayal with Prince Rabadash, dear sister. It has passed since last year. There is no need to continue being moody about the situation."

"I do not continue to brood on what is past," Susan replied, setting her sewing aside for the second time and looking right at her sister. "Angel is old enough and deserves to know the truth."

"She is but ten!" Lucy argued, disbelieving her sister's calm and almost seemingly cruel nature. "Why not tell her about her parents being pirates as well? Or that she was supposed to die along with them?"

"A mere ten years passed you when you were thrown into the Lion's mouth and helped defeat Jadis," Susan replied, standing to slightly overpower her sister in height. "The girl must learn discipline. If she doesn't know everything she will wander astray. You cannot continue to baby her. There may be a time soon when Narnia will need her and discipline is the only thing that will help her survive. Even Edmund knows this."

"Susan." Peter's words weren't harsh or loud, but they brought a stop to Susan's rant. "What has past is past. And what was done is done." He glanced at the both of them. "We cannot bar her from who she truly is for she will find a way to escape. We must do what we can to protect her."

"Peter's right." All eyes turned to Edmund. "Some what reminds you of another individual, doesn't it?" Lucy's mouth turned upward slightly into a smile and her eyes softened. Peter nodded slightly. Susan still looked like she wanted to take control of the situation. "We can no longer deny who she really is, Susan. She is her parents' child. She will be wild and free."

"Wild horses can be tamed," the queen replied replied. "Angel just needs to learn to be a proper princess."

"Who are we to decree what a proper princess is?" Lucy replied. "We were not born into this glory. We only learned. Perhaps it is not within Angel's nature to be tamed. After all, Aslan isn't tame, but he is good."

"This isn't Aslan we're talking about. It's Angel."

Lucy nodded. "Yes, but besides him being the Great Lion, I find a great number of similarities between the two." Her eyes sparkled slightly and she replied a moment later, a bit quieter, "Perhaps some things are meant to be free."

Susan raised her eyebrow. "I am not certain Narnia is ready for an heir with so much—"

"So much what Susan?" Edmund now stepped forward, crossing his arms and looking at her expectantly. "What could Angel possibly have that isn't good enough for Narnia?"

Susan stood there for a moment chewing her lip before replying with one word, saying it a little offhand as her eyes went to the floor. "Spunk."

Edmund cracked a wide grin. "If she's got too much spunk, they should have thrown me out years ago."

The four siblings shared a little laughter that had been lost within the last fifteen minutes that they had been congregated within the room together. Susan's lips blossomed into a small smile, which in turn caused Lucy to giggle, Peter to chuckle. The laughter of the four blossomed and grew. After a few more moments it settled down again.

"Forgive me," Susan said, looking at the other three apologetically. "I still am slightly unsettled about being betrayed. The idea of someone attempting to tear this family apart again makes my stomach turn and my blood to boil."

"Dear sister," Lucy said, holding out her hand for Susan, "There is no need for you to ask our forgiveness. I should not have accused you for such a thing. If it had been me, I would have been still sore from the matter." She gave her a smile.

Susan took Lucy's hand gently and squeezed it. "I don't know what I would do without you dear sister."

The room fell silent. Edmund had turned back toward the window during the exchange between his siblings while Peter was brooding against the wall. His eyes were furrowed as though he were thinking on something important. He didn't respond to Susan and Lucy's curious looks, or even their asking him what he was thinking until a few moments after.

"Why wouldn't he do it?"

Edmund turned away from the window once again and looked at his brother. "Who do what?" he inquired. "You're going to have to be a little more specific if you want us to follow you."

"Why wouldn't Darit hurt, even kill, Angel?" Peter asked, looking up at his brother. "Think about it, Edmund. He helped assist in her parents' murder. We saw his actions aboard the Nomad. Why would he travel all this way just to say hello and give her a hug? It doesn't make sense."

"Just be thankful he didn't," Edmund replied, his voice low as he remembered that scary winter evening aboard the pirate ship.

Lucy glanced from Edmund back to Peter. "Do you think we exiled the wrong individual?"

"No," Edmund replied. "We saw what he did. He got less than what he deserved."

"Our brother is right though, Edmund," Lucy added. "His recent actions make no sense to what we previously knew about him. His actions can be compared to another individual we knew."

"This is not something I will discuss, Lucy." His eyes were stern and voice low, daring anyone to argue with him. "If he comes near her again, I will hunt him down like a Minotaur kill him myself." Edmund stormed out of the room, heading toward the direction of his study.

The three remaining stayed silent for a moment more before Susan sat back down, long since released Lucy's hand and sat back down on the couch. She had almost started working on her sewing again when she looked up at Lucy. "Oh! At the dawn of summer, King Lune had invited us down for his sons' birthdays."

"How wonderful!" Lucy said, but her attention was quickly focused on her older brother.

He had moved quickly to the window where he unlatched it and threw it open. The same Raven from earlier flew in and practically collapsed upon the floor. Susan immediately stood and picked up the Raven in her cupped hands and gently laid him on a spare couch cushion. The Ravin soon hopped up but settled on the cushion. Peter had moved over to stand near.

"You almost ran into the window, Raven," he said, looking quite confused. "What has happened?"

"Black dwarves!" The Raven replied in a panicked voice. "Minotaurs! Werebats! By the number, it seems like the last of the witch's army we've been hunting out. They came in an army and stormed those who had begun returning from the search of the pirate."

Peter was at the door in a second calling for the guards, who were standing right in the hall. "Call Oreius and my brother. Have our armor ready." His eyes were dark and determined. "This battle ends tonight."