CHAPTER THREE
WINTER
Time came to pass faster than any of the people at the court of the Kings and Queens could believe, making the days grow shorter, and the first leaves of the non-sentient trees fall solely to the deep yellowing grass, dancing with colder winds that brought a distant worry to the rest of the Narnian world; yet, still, even through their worries, the work at court refused to come to an end, for soldiers and knights remained busy in as much the cases of political alliances with near countries and the continuous finding of Jadis' allies, as with the first given ball to celebrate the first year of reign from the people who had saved the world from the White Witch. It was a ball as elegant as their coronation day, with food, dancing, golden chandeliers and the laughter of those in attendance, making almost all worry from those in the palace dissipate the moment the Queens stepped into the hall dressed in gold and the Kings in silver, their crowns contrasting beautifully with the fabrics of their gowns and capes – yet even in their beauty one of the Kings appeared to be smiling less brightly than the rest, for the colder winds outside had brought nightmares in their wake, memories of his treacherous time, and whispers that refused to leave him alone; yet they were all emotions so well hidden than not many more than his siblings and the Lady of the youngest could claim to recognise; for everyone else, all signs of sorrow or fear hid well under the smiling mask across his lips.
In all, it was beautiful event enjoyed by all, and one that became the first—since her appointment as Lady to The Valiant Queen—which young Juliet Capulet could truly enjoy, for the weight of her failure in the other world and Narnia itself upon the coronation had passed through kind words from her Queen and time; it was a festivity that lasted hours upon hours, with no more than the smiles of happiness from all present even when the food ran out, from the dancing between creatures, to the eventful waltz of which young Juliet and the High King had been the main focus of after he'd made a show to ask her to the centre of the hall; everyone clapped, Lucy most of all, cheering her brother and Lady as they passed, and some even joined them after, couples of fauns, dwarves, elves, other animals, making the hall into a colourful picture of happiness that made all feel as if nothing could break such joy apart.
Yet, it was the very next day when things took a turn for the dark in most creature's minds—but above all, for those residing in the Kings and Queen's home—when the morning rose cold, the sky turned grey, and the first snow flake fell from the sky, dancing slowly with the unexpected winds that had blown all remaining leaves away from the trees refusing to abandon Narnia's lands; the little flake was silent in its fall, yet it caused a havoc of worry and tension within Cair Paravel that made its halls run dry with the silence that there fell, for the first time since their majesties' coronation,. The cold attempted to be banished by the flames of the fire places in all the rooms, yet even through the warmth, the tension was tangible, for many more snowflakes fell to follow their brother to the ground, melting at first, yet eventually sticking to the yellow of the grass in the gardens, topping the tall trees with frosting and leaving most creatures surviving of the Great War wary as they looked outside their windows.
All save a few brave members of the guard, who stood tall upon their different duties alike the one standing within the room where three of the Kings and Queens had decided to huddle together in comfort of each other and the worry of the words either of them refused to speak; that is... all but one. "Where's Edmund?" Lucy wondered as she and her Lady walked away from the big window in Peter's room in direction of his great bed, where Lucy swiftly sat whilst Lady Juliet remained standing near her; for, yes, she was friends with the Kings and Queens—to such extent that by that point they even joked together more often than not—but that did not mean that she could act equal to them in any way and do as their majesties did to sit on the great golden bed.
"He's refused to leave his room." Queen Susan responded, meeting the gazes of her siblings, and even Juliet, before Peter fell almost entirely across the sheets atop his bed.
"I tried talking to him, but he wouldn't open the door." The High King informed, noting the slouch to accompany his youngest sister's worry, yet equally thankful for young Juliet for the comfort her hand attempted to bring the girl as it rested on her shoulder; still, Peter's own hand moved to rest on the young Queen's soft hand. "Don't worry, Lucy." He attempted. "I told the guards outside his room to inform me as soon as he left it, he'll be alright; he's safe."
A soft released breath left the older Queen's lips whilst her hands moved to tighten the held blanket around her frame. "It's the fact that he's alone that worries me." She said, looking in the High King's direction with the gentle urgency to blame for her title. "He shouldn't be alone, not right now; not when..." But she wouldn't say it; she couldn't, no matter how much everyone thought it, no matter how the words seemed printed in everyone's gaze, the Queen's worried speech died with a silent sigh, leaving the cracking from the fire to become the only sound within the room.
But it was that sorrow crossing of their faces that made young Juliet's forehead taint with a frown, regardless of how her feet were well planted on the floor, thus she was mindful of her position at court; their evident sorrow made the bottom of her stomach hurt and her head feel heavy with the many things she wished she could do to fix it all. Though she knew it was not her responsibility, the truth was that she felt she could let go of her need to help them as easily as it would be to stop breathing then and there, until it made her faint and then she'd have to explain why she'd fallen to the ground unconscious for a while. Dramatic metaphors aside, their majesties' silence was a heavy one that moved Juliet alike what she thought to be a sort of maternal instinct she'd been stolen of; yet one that, due to her position, she could not much act upon, for it was not as if she could simply hold the Kings and Queens in her arms to assure them all would be alright.
And yet… had Lucy Pevensie not told her it was her words and her opinions that made her love her the most? Hell, forget about the position she held, or even about the fact that, physically, she looked younger than the oldest two monarchs; her words, if not her actions could help them realise the truth of which none had wanted to acknowledge; and thus, with a single though and a breath, Juliet cleared her throat. "Your majesties, if I may..." She began; breaking the crackling silence and making the three on the bed look in her direction, with their worried faces as evident as before.
She wasn't surprised when it was Queen Susan that spoke first. "You don't have to ask permission to speak to us, Juliet, you know that." And so she did; but the girl's manners—or what little of them she still had—made some habits hard to break.
Still, she allowed a small smile. "Well, I only mean to put an end to that which be evident in thy faces, your majesty." She admitted, her hands holding of her skirts so tightly that one who did not know her might think her scared; yet those who did know her knew she ever had to be holding something in her hands, lest they begin to fidget as they seemed to always do. "Thy fear, as most else's, that perhaps the witch Aslan put an end to might have returned." They were words that mirrored the worry in the King and Queen's faces as they met each other's gaze, making of the tension they had not spoken of wrap around them as tightly as their blankets. "'Tis impossible." Juliet continued, making all of them look in her direction again. "I know to thee it might feel alike such a winter, but I can vow for my own place here as thy friend: it is not. As any old faun might swear to it alike, this winter be not alike the one before, for such cold came suddenly, from one day to the next, whilst the one befalling of this world now has come with time, alike many a winter in London or Verona. Thus, I beg, my King and Queens, fret not, 'tis but a normal winter, and not one brought through the evil of witchcraft, I swear."
She had even moved slightly closer to the bed, kneeling upon the platform upon which it stood when Susan asked, "You're sure?" Glancing towards her siblings before meeting Juliet's amber gaze once again, "She's gone for good?"
Relief befell all of them when Juliet's head bobbed in a nod. "By the life gifted to me in this world's birth, I swear it." She said, resting a hand upon the sheets in the Queen's direction, yet daring to meet the other's gazes too. "Ask any creature living before the witch's reign, this winter be kind; the witch is dead, and her winter alongside her."
"She's right." Came then a voice from behind them, making the three on the bed turn about to face a door they had failed to notice opening moments prior. "Jadis… is not coming back."
Yet it was also a voice that made Queen Lucy's entire frame jump from the bed, dropping of her blanket as she sprinted in the direction the boy's voice had come. "Edmund!" She exclaimed, moving to hug his brother with the love she held for him; now not at all surprised when his arms wrapped around her smaller frame alike, his eyes looking in the direction of his siblings with the smallest hints of a smile lifting his lips.
Both Peter and Susan seemed to relax the moment the realisation that it was their brother calling from the door befell them, but only the older of the two dared speak. "Are you alright?" He wondered, the respite evident in the lift across his lips.
Without a word, simply because they were not the only ones in the room—Juliet had silently made her presence known by raising from her place beside the bed and giving a small curtsy for the coming King—and he only truly trusted his emotions to his siblings, the boy only nodded in affirmation to his brother's query, looking down at the youngest girl when she finally let go of him. "I was reading up on Narnian history and the seasons, to make—"
"You were reading?" Susan interrupted, her lips lifting in a teasing smile as she let her tight grip on her blanket loosen slightly.
To no one's surprise, the boy only replied with a smiling "Shut up," before looking at Lucy once again, who was smiling as widely as Peter and Susan in their amused means of teasing him, "Anyway, the bad winter is over. I was reading up on the few history books written on Narnia—I was only trying to find out if winter was normal here." He justified, his arms lifting to cross on his chest regardless of the tiny smile remaining across his lips. "And it is." He informed. "It's a lot like in London, actually. It means Christmas is near, too."
To this, the younger of the two Queens gasped. "You'll get to meet Father Christmas!" She exclaimed, the excitement evident in as much her smile as the brightness in her eyes, and even more so with the tug on her brother's shirt.
"I guess so." He said, yet looking in the others' direction, and even allowing his gaze to rest shortly on the Lady by the bed before forcing it to rest on his siblings again; after all, he had not come to forget the means with which she had stood up to him and scolded him as if she were a teacher in one of his dreadful schools. It'd annoyed him, angered him, not to mention, the look she'd sent his way when he'd looked back that day months prior, as if he weren't a King and she a Lady, as if the roles were reversed; still, the remaining thoughts of Aslan's many words upon his rescue what felt like a lifetime prior continued to rein across his mind, keeping him quiet, forcing him to acknowledge Lucy's Lady when he needed to—alike that moment—yet making him mostly ignore her as much as he could for as long as he could. More so after the days began to grow colder and colder, and with them, the thoughts, the guilt, the nightmares, the jumpiness: and suddenly Juliet Capulet and her arrogance became the least of his problems; suddenly, there was nothing in the world he wanted to do more than to prove to his terrified mind that the reign of terror of Jadis of Charn was over, and thanks to his now slowly growing library, he had.
And apparently having told his siblings his findings meant everyone had to jump into action; as it seemed when all his thoughts popped like bubbles the moment Lucy's excited voice brought him back to the present with a loud "Come on!" Not to mention the way she softly tugged on his shirt just before, with a smile that could light up a whole room, she moved away from him in order to run out the door in the direction he had come, with none other than her very Lady running out behind her after a short curtsy for those who remained in the room.
In truth, at first, his sister's quick flight confused him for a second long enough to frown, but when he noted Susan jumping off the bed with a smile, and Peter swiftly pulling out a pair of gloves from one of his drawers, Edmund understood: Lucy's call had meant they were going outside. "What?" He said, feeling his arms fall in their disbelief and slow reluctance to leave the warm insides of the palace.
Yet, as Susan moved past him after a soft touch of his arm, Peter spoke. "It'll be fun." He said, throwing a second pair of gloves in his direction—though they would prove to be much too big for Edmund since he didn't have any of his own, for the two pairs of gloves Peter owned had been a coronation gift from one of the polar bears. "Besides, if we can have fun in the snow, it might make some of the other Narnians stop worrying, don't you think?"
Well, Edmund couldn't argue with that.
And so the five of them went outside, led by Lucy's smile and laughter, to play in the snow, ignoring the cold most of them felt over their lack of winter clothes, yet making of the world around them a warm bubble with the love, fun, and friendship that echoed from their snowball fights and snow-fort building. It was laughter that called all servants out of their rooms, even some of the Narnians living nearby out of their homes, for, exactly like Peter had said, the common thought was thus: If the Kings and Queens, who had brought spring back to them, could have no worry and play in the snow, then all sense of danger was gone.
A peaceful winter had finally come.