Yay! Another chapter! Don't worry, I'm not dead (yet).
"We should move." I said. We had gotten back to the camp at three in the morning, and a few hours of sleep had helped me recover slightly from the previous night. We had been in one place too long, it wasn't safe.
"Time to go." Peter announced to the camp when almost everyone was awake.
"Aslan's How is waiting for us." Caspian declared. After the raid, he was warming up to the Pevensies, mainly Peter, to whom he was much less hostile towards. 'Less hostile' didn't equal 'friendly' however.
We packed up our few supplies and followed them into the woods.
"So," Trufflehunter asked Trumpkin from behind me, "What are they like?"
"Complainers." Trumpkin said, "Stubborn as mules in the morning."
"So you like 'em?" Nikabrik asked.
"Well enough." Trumpkin answered. I couldn't help but crack a smile and give a slight laugh at the whole exchange.
"What was that about?" Edmund asked. In the few days I had known them, Edmund and I had gotten quite close.
I just laughed again, a real laugh this time.
As it turned out, Aslan's How was not as far as I had thought it was. Around midday, after a few hours walk, we spotted it in the distance.
Edmund, who had gotten a few paces ahead of me, stopped suddenly. I nearly walked into his back. "What is it?" I asked.
"We've been away for so long." He answered. I understood what he meant. Aslan's How was a humongous fortress that appeared ancient, though the construction for it had not even been imagined when he was ruling Narnia a thousand years ago.
I grasped his hand and gave it a quick squeeze, reminding him that I was there for him. We had fallen a bit behind the rest of our group, which seemed to be becoming a habit.
When we caught up, Lucy spun around. Lucy grinned at us and gave a knowing look. I looked down and saw that I still held Edmund's hand. I quickly let go. I'm pretty sure I was blushing. I sped up to talk with Lucy. "What was that?" I asked.
"Nothing." Lucy said. "I was just wondering if I'm going to get an invitation to your wedding."
I coughed loudly, surprise. "Excuse me?" I checked behind me to make sure that Edmund wasn't within earshot. "What?"
"Funny how you knew exactly who I was talking about." Lucy said.
Even though she was a queen once, she was still a child at heart. "Because of that," I said, going along with her, "You won't get an invitation." Lucy just smiled at me.
There was a stone walkway going down into the How. On either side of stone path were centaurs, all along the way. Each of them had his sword pointed up above our heads. Lucy and I couldn't help but smile at a young centaur that had his sword tilted too low, prompting his father, or at least the centaur next to him, to correct the angle.
"It may not be what you are used to," Caspian said as we entered the fortress, "But it is defendable."
"Peter," Susan said, getting her older brother's attention. "You may want to see this." That got the attention of all of us. I felt like an outsider. We all stood by Susan, but I stayed a little behind the Pevensie children. This place was for them to see; I didn't belong there.
On the wall were carvings of kings and queens, the kings and queens that stood before me, just thirteen hundred years prior. I turned to leave, but a hand slipped in mine, urging me to stay. Edmund gave me a small smile, one that I returned.
"It's us." Susan said, a bit unnecessarily.
"What is this place?" Peter asked, turning to Caspian, who, like I had planned, stood just outside the Pevensie's circle.
"You don't know?" Caspian asked, grabbing a nearby torch mounted on the wall.
With Caspian in the lead, we walked down a dark tunnel, barely illuminated from the light of the torch. At the end of the tunnel, he tilted the torch down, lighting up fires that revealed a giant room. On the walls to either side were more carvings of the set of siblings. But in front of us, was a majestic carving of a lion, Aslan himself.
In the center of the room was a huge block of stone, cracked in half. The Stone Table of old, thought to be a myth.
Lucy wandered over to the table. Edmund detached his hand from mine to join her. "He must have known what he was doing." Lucy said.
"I guess it's up to us now." Susan agreed. We all looked to the great lion carving.
A fawn standing on the outside of the fortress stood guard. A flash of movement caught his eye. He squinted, trying to get a good look through the fog. He saw a man in Telmarine armor on horseback riding away into the forest.
"It's only a matter of time. Miraz and his war machines are already on their way. That means that those same men won't be defending the castle." Peter said. It had been a few hours since they had discovered that the How was built around the Stone Table.
"What do you propose we do, Sire?" Reepicheep asked.
"We-" Caspian said at the same time Peter said, "Our-" Peter gave Caspian a sharp look, and he conceded.
"Our only hope is to strike them before they strike us." Peter said.
"That's crazy!" Caspian interjected. "No one has ever taken the castle before."
"There's always a first time." Peter said calmly.
"We'll have the element of surprise." Trumpkin added.
"We have the advantage here." Caspian argued.
"If we dig in," Susan said, "We could hold them off indefinitely."
Edmund and I had a moment of being on complete sync. At the same time, we both shouted, "Enough!" We shared a look, and Edmund continued speaking. "This isn't going to help." He told the assembly. "If we start arguing about this, we'll be divided. Then the Telmarines won't have to fight us, we'll destroy each other." He may have been taking it to the extreme, but if we allowed this to continue, that's what would eventually happen.
"Can you get your troops in?" Peter asked a centaur, who appeared to be the centaur's leader. The goodwill that Caspian and Peter had built up disappeared, but Caspian had to defer to the High King.
The centaur nodded, "Or die trying, my liege."
"That's what I'm worried about." Lucy said, adding her input for the first time during the meeting.
"Sorry?" Peter asked.
"You are all talking like there are only two options: die here, or die there."
Peter frowned, "I'm not sure you've been listening, Lu."
"No," Lucy responded, "You're not listening. Or have you forgotten who really defeated the White Witch?"
"I think we've waited for Aslan long enough."
The plans were set, now we were playing the waiting game. We had to wait until nightfall for the plan to work. I was sitting near the Stone Table when someone sat down beside me.
"You okay?" Edmund asked.
"I don't know." I sighed. "This seems so real now. We're – well, you're – expected to lead an army. They look to you for help and instructions. We're about to take part in a war, but in the end, we're just kids." I paused to think about my words, "I know that you weren't always a kid, but you are now. I've just been shoved into this world. I didn't ask for this!"
As I went on, I realized that this wasn't meant for Edmund. These were my thoughts that I had held back all my life, finally coming to the surface. It wasn't fair to drop them all on Edmund, "Sorry." I said, "I didn't mean to just put this on you."
Instead of answering straightaway, he pulled me into his chest, providing me with the support I had lacked my whole life. Even Caspian didn't fully support me, not in the way I needed him to. "I'm here for you." He said. "I understand." That was it. That was what I had been searching for, someone who understood me.
"Thanks Edmund." I said, "I really needed that."
"I'm here for you." He repeated. I had finally found a family, somewhere I belonged, with people that wanted me.
Lucy's part was fun to write. Kind of OOC, but I think it was pretty funny.
What Hogwarts house do you guys think Courtney would be in? As her creator, I know which one I would put her in, but, as the reader, where would you sort her? Tell me in the reviews!
I would put Edmund, Peter, and Caspian in Gryffindor, Lucy I would put in Hufflepuff, and Susan I don't know.
I think this story will have between 10-15 chapters. The canon story is around halfway finished, but I'm going to have an epilogue or two.