Brought Up To Speed

Caspian led Edmund, Lucy and Aura, Zahra in her arms, to his Cabin at the stern – tail end - of the ship to get some dry clothes for them to wear.

"I'm afraid the clothes might be a little big." Caspian said sheepishly handing some clothes to Lucy and Edmund before turning back to withdraw some for Aura. "And we don't have anything that could even remotely fit Zahra."

"That's okay. I have clothes for Zahra and I." Aura said reassuringly, patting the bag she had picked up before leaving the deck. "They were supposed to be for the wedding, but I can improvise. I also have a sewing kit that you can use Lucy, if you want to try and alter the clothes to fit you better."

"That would be great." Lucy said with a smile. "I could use it for mending."

Aura fingered her jewelry for a moment before looking at the three of them.

"I don't know about removing the jewelry though. It was a set that once belonged to my birth-mother." She said hesitantly, a shadow of sorrow passing over her features that all three of them recognized instantly, Caspian in particular.

"Well, you can keep the jewelry on, but you may have to remove it if we leave the ship." Caspian said, understanding the reluctance to part with a memento, no matter how materialistic it may seem. "It would mostly be for your sake, it could draw unwanted attention to you."

"Fair enough." Aura replied with a nod, smiling up at the handsome King.

"Edmund, I'll show you to the crew's quarters below deck, you can change there while the girls change here." Caspian said, turning to look at the Just King.

Edmund nodded and, with his fresh clothes in his hands, followed Caspian out of the King's Cabin.

Once the men left and the door was firmly shut, Aura lifted Zahra onto the bed and removed her dress and shoes, quickly drying her off and changing her into a short-sleeved knee-length white dress with off white dots and a red trim at the bottom border and at the collar, white leggings and red flat shoes* while leaving the earrings and anklets in place. She combed Zahra's hair and put the dark curls into two pigtails, with the red ribbons tied into bows.

"Aura, how come you don't seem all that surprised about everything you've seen so far?" Lucy asked Aura curiously, changing into a white shirt, navy blue trousers, brown boots and a russet red tunic.

"Well, I was just transported to the middle of an ocean through a painting in my room that I had never noticed before. Said ocean is clearly not of Earth, the sea air has a sweetness to it that doesn't exist on Earth, same with the warmth and glow of the sun." Aura replied dryly, putting Zahra on the ground and grinning at the teenager.

Aura proceeded to change into a simple red and white lehenga – a red skirt that rested on her hips, a short white blouse that came just below her bust with silver mirror-worked red straps and white dupatta with red border*. She had the dupatta pleated and pinned to her right shoulder, tying the ends in a knot at her left hip like a sash to keep it out of her way. She left her hair the way it was, fixing it a little so it was neat once again, along with her jewelry, anklets, shoes and the bindi between her eyebrows. The henna on her hands were as dark as ever, the dark maroon contrasting beautifully against her milk-white skin.

Red and white was the theme that the bride and groom had chosen for the bridal and groom's parties, resulting in almost everything Aura had with her following that color scheme in some way.

"Good point." Lucy said with a nod, tying her light brown hair into a side pony over her shoulder. "You look incredible."

"Thank you. You look great yourself." Aura said, looking at the way Lucy had managed to feminize Caspian's large clothes, without using the sewing kit. "And besides, my grandmother used to tell me stories of a magical land her father had been to when he was a child and of a wardrobe he had made from the wood of a tree that grew from a magical apple core. She mentioned that he had told her about four siblings that had travelled into the magical land through the wardrobe several years back, in the summer of 1940."

"Wow." Zahra said, getting to her feet and clapping her hands enthusiastically.

"Wait, 'several years back, in the 1940's'?" Lucy repeated, looking at the blonde in surprise. For the moment, she focused on the year that the blonde had mentioned, not the fact that she had heard stories of Narnia from her grandmother.

"Yeah, over 75 years ago." Aura replied with a shrug before taking note of Lucy's dumbstruck expression and remembering the style of clothing the three teens had been dressed in. "Hang on, what year are you from?"

"1944" Lucy replied faintly.

"Height of the Second World War." Aura said quietly before saying loudly to Lucy. "I'm from 2018."

"Can you tell me about the war? How does it end?" Lucy asked, hope and fear warring on her face at the thought of her family.

"The Germans don't win." Aura said reassuringly. "I can't say much more, not without running the risk of messing up the timelines if we end up going back to our world."

"That's okay. That much is plenty." Lucy said, tears springing to her eyes.

"Uh oh." Zahra said, walking to Lucy and raising her arms at the older girl, wanting to be picked up.

Lucy complied and picked the baby up, holding her close as she processed the small amount of information that she had been told by the 21st Century woman.

"Let's go see if Edmund's dressed yet. I'm sure he would love to know about this." Lucy said a few minutes later as she put Zahra back on the floor, walking towards the door and opening it. "And I want to know everything we've missed since the last time we were here."

"What was it like?" Aura asked interestedly, already having realized that Edmund and Lucy would have been to the amazing magical land previously from their lack of surprise and the way they had greeted the crew and had been greeted in return.

"Well, the first time we came…." Lucy began, changing direction to sit on the bed with Aura sitting next to her.

Lucy proceeded to spend the next thirty minutes giving the blonde a cliff notes version of their previous two adventures in Narnia while Zahra began exploring the Cabin.

"Wow, talk about an adventure." Aura breathed in amazement once Lucy had stopped talking.

Lucy was about to speak but was cut off by a knock on the door.

"Lu? Aurelia?" Caspian called through the door. "Are you two dressed?"

"Yeah, come in." Aura called, getting off the bed and looking around the room for Zahra as the two Kings entered the Cabin. "Zahra? Where did you get to?"

Intent on her search for her mischievous daughter, she didn't notice the look of amazement she was getting from the dark haired Kings, Caspian in particular.

Zahra giggled and crawled out from beneath the bed, on the opposite side from Aura, and ran towards the open door. She giggled and ran between Caspian and Edmund's spread legs, out onto the ship deck.

"Zahra!" Aura cried, hurrying after her daughter.

Caspian and Edmund jumped to the side, barely managing to avoid being run into by the blonde woman chasing after her daughter. Aura ran out onto the deck, not noticing the raised eyebrows she was receiving due to her unconventional attire.

"Wow." Zahra said with a giggle, climbing onto a box that was by the Crow's Nest pillar and standing on top of it, clapping her hands delightedly.

"Zahra. Do you have to give Mummy a heart attack?" Aura asked with a sigh, crouching in front of her daughter and looking at the little girl with exasperation all over her face. "Just once, can you sit in one place and not run off?"

Zahra giggled and babbled in response, clapping her hands happily. She reached out and grabbed Aura's earrings, tugging on the ornament.

"Ow, ow." Aura moaned, gently pulling her earring out of the baby's hand and pulling back.

"Quite the grip the young lady has, doesn't she?" Reepicheep said cheerfully, appearing next to Zahra.

"Yes, Reepicheep, she does." Aura said with a grin, rubbing her ear to ease the mild pain from being grabbed.

Zahra turned to the Mouse and babbled happily, reaching out to touch the Mouse's fur.

"Gentle, Zahra. You need gentle hands." Aura cautioned gently, watching her daughter like a hawk.

Zahra gently patted the Mouse's fur, laughing delightedly at the feel of the soft coat.

"I see you found her." Caspian said from behind Aura.

Aura gave a startled scream and shot to her feet, whipping around to look at the chuckling King. Edmund and Lucy were behind him, both chuckling at the blonde's startled reaction as were the crew members that were on deck.

"Not funny." Aura said, stepping away from Zahra and giving a small pout to the eldest King. "But yes, I caught up to her. And as you can see, she is now preoccupied with Reepicheep."

Without even realizing it, Aura subtly ran her eyes over Caspian's form, taking in the fresh clothes he was dressed in - a dark maroon velvet long sleeved tunic with an open sleeveless knee-length coat over top in a more redder shade of maroon and embroidered with greenish gold along the trim, brown baggy trousers tucked into brown leather boots. His hair was unbound, falling in gentle waves to his broad shoulders.

"Come with me, we have much to discuss." Caspian said, gesturing for Aura to follow him and the Pevensie siblings to the upper level at the stern of the ship, right above the King's Cabin.

Aura looked at him uncertainly, her gaze turning to Zahra who was still playing with Reepicheep by the Crow's Nest pillar a few feet away. Her uncertainty of letting Zahra out of her sight so soon after their near drowning was clear on her face. She had already let the baby stay with Edmund while they were in the water, the trust being well-placed, but the fact remained that she didn't know them and was understandably hesitant.

"Don't worry, Dr. Aura. I'll will keep young Zahra safe." Reepicheep said reassuringly.

"Oh, it's not that. I know you will, Reepicheep. It's just that she doesn't usually go to strangers very quickly and we're in a completely new land." Aura said hurriedly in explanation, not wanting the noble Mouse to think she was ungrateful for the time he was spending with her daughter. She frowned and added thoughtfully, "Actually, I'm kinda surprised she's being so friendly."

"Why don't we take advantage of her being friendly with Reep?" Edmund suggested. "You need to be brought up to speed like Lucy and I do, and the moment she gets fussy and cranky, someone can come get you."

The Just King was dressed in a blue grey cotton shirt with long sleeves, a velvet lavender grey sleeveless waistcoat buttoned over top, tanned baggy trousers and black leather boots. Over the outfit, he wore a knee-length dark brown sleeveless leather coat, left open.

"Okay, sounds like a good plan." Aura said, conceding to the idea.

Edmund had a point, she might as well take advantage of Zahra's uncharacteristically friendly behavior for however long it lasts.

"Reep, you will alert us if Zahra becomes fussy?" Caspian asked the Mouse.

"At once, your Highness, Dr. Aura." Reepicheep said, bowing his head respectfully to the Monarch.

Zahra, seeing Reepicheep bow his head to Caspian, turned and mimicked the move, bowing her head to the King as well. The move, seen by many of the crew members, earned the baby several fond expressions. Unfortunately, being the first time Zahra had ever bowed to anyone, she accidentally went too far forward and toppled over the box she had been standing on.

Caspian darted forward and caught the baby before she could hit the floor and Aura rushed forward as well, her heart in her throat. Caspian straightened Zahra in his arms and adjusted his hold on her so that she was resting against his hip. Zahra had a wide-eyed look on her face, stunned by her fall and the sudden shift in height when she was caught and held.

"Zahra, what did you do?" Aura asked the baby in calm exasperation, despite the clear alarm on her face. Noticing the worried and alarmed looks on everyone else's faces, particularly Caspian's, she said gently without looking away from Zahra, "Don't let Zahra see or notice your alarm. It will frighten her." Seeing that they didn't really understand, she continued, "She is stunned by the fall and the shift in height when Caspian caught her. If you let her see your alarm, it will frighten her."

As if to prove Aura's point, Zahra began babbling rapidly, the only word anyone understood was 'uh oh' that slipped out amidst the babble.

"Kids are a lot of work." Edmund muttered, a hand on his chest as he calmed his heart rate.

"You have no idea." Aura sighed, looking at him. "None whatsoever."

Zahra began wriggling in Caspian's hold and he put her on the floor gently, making her sit on her bum. Reepicheep went to the little girl and let her pat his fur once more, making sure to keep his sword out of her reach.

Caspian led the siblings, Aura and Captain Drinian to the State Room – the Stern Cabin - next to the King's Cabin. He opened the double doors and walked in, stepping aside and allowing for Lucy, Edmund, Aura and Drinian to follow.

"Wow, this is beautiful." Aura breathed, her eyes wide as she looked around the room.

Aura, despite being used to extravagance and wealth regardless of whether she liked it or not, had never seen any kind of interior décor done so beautifully. So majestic and regal in its simplicity. Not just the Stern Cabin, but the entire ship itself, designed to resemble a dragon from the bow being shaped as the head to the stern resembling the tail.

The middle of the room held a large wooden table, a hand-drawn map covering almost its entire surface. Behind the table was a leather sofa, sectioned into three wide seats that rested against the hull of the ship, the stain glass windows letting the golden sunlight stream into the room with varying degrees of beautiful color. Around the room, several beautifully crafted paintings covering the length of the walls.

"Aslan." Lucy said with a small smile, walking to the furthest left of the room and looking at a golden motif of the Lion that hung in the center of the wall.

"I still can't believe the stories were true." Aura breathed quietly, looking around the room.

She didn't notice the three Royals and the Captain exchanging looks, hearing her quiet words in the silence of the cabin.

"You had said your grandmother told you stories?" Lucy asked Aura, looking at the blonde's back.

"Yes." Aura replied, turning around to look at the four of them. "My grandmother told me stories about a magical land her father had found when he was a boy. She said her father told her stories of four siblings that had traveled through a wardrobe into a magical land, returning 15 years later only to find out that seconds had passed on Earth."

"What was your great grandfather's name?" Edmund asked, a thoughtful frown on his face.

"His name was Kirke. Professor Digory Kirke." Aura replied, smiling sadly and looking out through the stain glass window. "Honestly, I always thought they were just stories. Wonderful stories that helped me get through some of the darkest moments of my life."

She thought about how the stories had helped her recently, with her falling sick while pregnant, the risks she faced while trying to carry Zahra to term and give birth to her successfully, and later navigating the life and responsibilities of a single mother while working as a doctor full time.

"Wait, was?" Edmund asked in confusion and worry, they had just spoken with the Professor a few months earlier. Lucy winced, not having had the chance to tell her brother that in Aura's time, the Professor had been dead for years.

"Yeah, of course." Aura said, looking at the tall Just King. "He passed away years ago. Before I was even born." Seeing Edmund's still confused look, Aura turned to Lucy. "You haven't told him?"

"I haven't had the chance." Lucy said sheepishly.

"Told me what?' Edmund asked, getting irritated.

"I'm from 2018." Aura said bluntly, looking at the dark haired boy. "From my perspective, the Second World War ended over 60 years ago. And before you ask, all I can tell you is that the German's don't win the war."

Aura purposefully kept the date vague, knowing she was already treading on thin ice just telling them that the German's don't win the war.

"The Germans don't win?" Edmund repeated, hope spreading across his face.

Caspian and Drinian exchanged looks, completely confused, but deciding not to ask since it was clearly a sensitive topic.

"No, they don't." Aura replied, smiling gently at the younger boy.

Her gaze was caught by a beautifully crafted bow and quiver filled with red-feathered arrows holding a pride of place on a chest at the far right wall.

"These are beautiful." Aura breathed, going over to the chest and looking at the bow and arrows.

"Susan's bow and arrows." Lucy said, walking around the cabin and joining the blonde by the chest.

"Your older sister, right?" Aura asked Lucy, remembering the overview the teenager had given her.

"Yeah." Lucy replied with a nod.

"Lucy." Caspian said, drawing both women's attention to him. He removed a small chest from a cabinet and showed its contents to the Valiant Queen.

"My healing cordial!" Lucy cried, stepping towards the eldest King. "And dagger." She reached out to take the items before pausing and looking up at the King, "May I?"

"Of course." Caspian replied with a smile. "They're yours."

Lucy reached out once again and took the cordial and dagger, strapping the belt around her waist.

"Peter's sword." Edmund said, seeing the magnificent sword hanging on the wall.

"Yes. I looked after it as promised." Caspian said, going to the sword and picking it up. He held the sword carefully out to Edmund. "Here, hold it if you wish."

"No, no. It's yours." Edmund said in monotone, taking a step back. "Peter gave it to you."

Aura cocked her head to the side, hearing the hint of jealousy in Edmund's voice – the dark-haired teen wanted to take the sword, hold it at least once, but felt the need to decline the offer as the right thing to do.

"I did save this for you though." Caspian said, noticing the uneasiness that filled the air between the two of them. He went back to the cabinet and withdrew a steel torch, tossing it to Edmund with a cheeky grin of his face.

"Thanks." Edmund said with a smile, sarcasm dripping from his voice as he fiddled with the switch and flicked it on, shinning it in his face.

"That's the torch you used to send Morse code signals to the Narnian army, yeah?" Aura asked, pointing to the torch as Edmund switched the bright beam off.

"Yeah." Edmund replied dully, nodding.

"Impressive." Aura said with a grin. "Making use of something seemingly so insignificant and turning it into a means of communication or survival."

"Yeah, I guess." Edmund muttered thoughtfully, looking at the torch again, seeing what Aura had seen when she saw it.

"Your Majesty, perhaps we should update their Majesties and Dr. Aura on our quest and what has occurred since their previous visit." Drinian said in his calm voice, bringing the three monarchs and the doctor back on track.

"Yes, of course." Caspian said, nodding. He went to the table that was in the middle of the room and pointed to the map. "Since you left, the Giants of the North have surrendered unconditionally, then we defeated the Calormen armies at the Great Desert." He looked at the two teenaged monarchs. "There's peace across all of Narnia."

"Peace?" Edmund repeated, standing on the other side of the table from the older King, Lucy and Aura on either side of him.

"In just three years." Caspian confirmed, pride evident in his voice.

"That's impressive." Aura said, looking at the map intently.

Focused on the map in front of her and taking in the detailed art, she missed the faint blush on Caspian's cheeks at the praise he received from the stunning blonde. Drinian, Edmund and Lucy noticed however and exchanged looks, successfully managing to hold back their amused smirks – the Narnian King was smitten, completely smitten.

"And have you found yourself a queen in those three years?" Lucy asked, tucking a curled lock of her hair behind her ears and smirking up at the older man.

Aura looked up at Caspian, hearing the question and curious to know the answer as well.

"No." Caspian replied, looking at the Valiant Queen. "Not one to compare with your sister." His gaze drifted to Aura, who had turned her attention back to the map. "Or so I thought."

Lucy smirked at the King's words, seeing his gaze on an oblivious Aura.

"Hang on. If there are no wars to fight, and no one's in trouble, then why are we here?" Edmund asked, focused on what they had been told about the current state of Narnia.

"What do you mean?" Aura asked, looking at the Just King.

"Normally, we are brought to Narnia when there is trouble or when we are called." Edmund explained. "The first time we had come, there was the war against the White Witch and the second time, Caspian had called for us."

"Indeed." Caspian said with a sigh, a troubled look on his face. "I've been asking myself the same thing."

"Well, whatever the reason, I'm just glad to not be dealing with Bridezilla." Aura said cheerfully. At the raised eyebrows she received, she elaborated, "Don't get me wrong. I love my sister, I really do. But if I had to listen to her rant about the wrong kind of flowers or the wrong song being played by the musicians, I was going to shoot her."

"I see how that could drive you crazy." Edmund said sarcastically.

"6 months." Aura said to him. "I have been listening to her rant about various details she thought were going wrong for 6 months. While raising my daughter and working full time."

"Ouch." Lucy winced sympathetically.

"Tell me about it." Aura groaned.

"So, where are we sailing to?" Edmund asked, changing the subject and looking at the map.

"Before I took back the throne from my uncle, he tried to kill my father's closest friends and supporters." Caspian said, turning to the board behind him that had hand-drawn face images of different men pinned to it. "The Seven Lords of Telmar."

Aura and Edmund walked around the table and stepped towards the board for a closer look at the images, each sheet of parchment containing a picture of a single Lord.

"They fled to the Lone Islands." Caspian continued after a moment's pause. He turned and pointed to the Islands drawn on the map before looking back at the board. "No one's heard from them since."

Aura looked at the King, hearing the note of concern in his voice.

"You believe something's happened to them?" She asked, turning and looking at him.

"Well, if it has, it's my duty to find out." Caspian said determinedly.

They fell silent for several moments, each pondering what lay ahead on their journey.

"Well, what's east of the Lone Islands?" Lucy asked curiously, looking at the map and noticing that nothing had been marked in the mentioned area.

"Uncharted waters." Drinian replied. "Things you can barely imagine. Tales of sea serpents and worse."

Lucy's eyes widened in minute alarm at the answer to her question, looking at her brother.

"Sea serpents?" Edmund repeated disbelievingly, looking at the Captain.

"Awesome." Aura breathed, her eyes bright with amazement.

"All right Captain, enough of your tall tales." Caspian said with a grin, taking a bite of his apple.

"This place gets cooler by the minute." Aura said, barely holding back the desire to squeal.

Caspian chuckled at the expression on Aura's face, the wonder and amazement that shone without abandon on the porcelain features and in the silver grey eyes.

"I'm going to go find Zahra, and check on Eustace." Aura said to them, walking towards the door.

"Oh, yeah." Edmund muttered, as though he had forgotten his cousin had even been on board.

Aura shook her head, laughing lightly and left the room.

Links:

*Zahra dress and hair after changing (white dress with off-white dots and red trim, red ribbons in her hair), with white leggings instead of tights - .ca/pin/474566879470228659/

*Aura lehenga after changing (red skirt, white blouse with silver mirror worked red straps and white dupatta with red border) - .ca/pin/474566879478174109/

Aura's shoes, jewelry, anklets, bangles, hairstyle and bindi links are in Chapter 1.