well, new chapter; there might not be a new one for a while so make this last!

sas x, and thanks for reading!


Sunday, bloody Sunday

Sunday, bloody Sunday


And, there was no snow. And flowers were blooming rapidly on trees, and flowers grew in the ground.

I needed to speak with Aslan.

As we began to make our way to Aslan's camp; I had some time to think. And to check my wound that the wolf had given to me. My cardigan didn't have any blood on it, mainly because my sleeves were rolled up, but my arm was in need of a bandage. We trudged through the grass; until eventually we were by a calm river. The sun was shining down on us too, and everything was so… calm. Nothing like what had happened at the river with the wolves.

As we walked on, Lucy stayed and watched petals form in the breeze a young girl who waved at Lucy. Lucy was shocked, but she smiled and waved back. She joined us soon after.

We entered the camp; with red tents covering most of a hilly and slightly flat grassy area. As we made our way through the camp, a horn was blown; I was guessing to alert everyone we were here. Fauns, centaurs, satyrs, cheetahs, and other creatures stared at us as we walked through the camp; and I for one felt extremely uncomfortable with all of the eyes upon me.

"Why are they all staring at us?" Susan whispered.

"Perhaps they're not used to humans. Either that or they want to kill us." I whispered back.

Peter and Lucy smiled at this. I felt better when both of them did so; otherwise, I don't think I would be able to smile at all.

Mrs. Beaver was paying so much attention to her appearance; she was using her paws to brush through her fur. Mr. Beaver who was walking beside her looked at her when she did so, "Stop your fussing. You look lovely." Mr. Beaver told her and put his arm around her. Mrs. Beaver blushed and smiled.

We were approaching Aslan's tent, which was the biggest tent of them all and lavishly decorated. A stern faced looking centaur stood by Aslan's tent and looked at us. We stopped just outside the tent, and by then, I had turned to see so many creatures had followed us. They all were looking at us, and there were vague whispers coming from them. Peter drew his sword and lifted it in salute to Aslan's tent.

"We have come to see Aslan." Peter said; nerves were in his voice.

The centaur looked over at Aslan's tent, and he bowed; followed by the creatures behind us. We then followed their example and we all bowed facing the tent.

I looked up as we bowed; and there was a Lion. This Lion; was beautiful, golden fur and his mane like a halo. His face was surprisingly kind for such a violent animal, and he smiled at us. He walked from the entrance to our tent to where we stood; and rose, feeling we must have bowed long enough to show our respect towards him.

"Welcome Peter, Son of Adam," he began; his voice was so gentle and kind. "Welcome Susan, Clara and Lucy, Daughters of Eve. Welcome Beavers, you have my thanks." He nodded towards the beavers and the smiled back at Aslan, "But, where is the fifth?" he asked us.

Peter sighed, and he looked at Aslan, "That's why we are here. We need your help."

"We had a little trouble along the way." Susan added; her voice was grim.

Peter looked at his sister, then to Aslan once again, "Our brother's been captured by the White Witch."

Aslan's face from pure happiness had turned into a face only a grieving person should make. He really did look disheartened, "Captured? How could this happen?" he asked us.

Mr. Beaver looked solemnly at Aslan; "He betrayed them, Your Majesty." He said quietly.

"Then he has betrayed us all!" The centaur that was by Aslan's tent shouted.

Talk among the soldiers behind us got louder.

Aslan was calm; "Peace, Oreius. I'm sure there's an explanation."

Peter and Susan looked at one another as I looked at Aslan. Poor Lucy just looked at the floor; probably hoping that the soldiers wouldn't kill her brother when we rescued him; if we rescued him. "It is my fault really. I was too hard on him." Peter admitted; His face was full of guilt.

Susan walked to her brother and put her hand on his shoulder, "We all were." She admitted.

Lucy was looking worried too; which was surprising to why she began to talk. "Sir? He's our brother."

Aslan smiled weakly at Lucy, "I know, dear one. But that only makes the betrayal all the worse … This may be harder than you think." He paused, and then he looked at me, "Clara; I wish to speak to you in my tent."

I blinked a few times, and Aslan began to move back to his tent. I shot a worried look to Susan who gestured for me to go into the tent. I walked after Aslan; feeling the eyes of every soldier on me.

But as I entered, I was taken aback by the style and grace of the tent. It looked as if it had come from India, or Persia. There were cushions lining the floor and a larger cushion towards the back of the tent which I assumed was Aslan's sleeping quarters. Rugs and several trunks also lined the tent. Aslan was standing near one, his face was neutral; but somehow, there was still happiness coming from him.

"Clara. I think I have some valuable information for you, and some for which you must guard these secrets with your life." He told me.

I nodded, "Can I tell The Pevensies?" I asked meekly, my voice coming out nothing more than a whisper.

He smiled at me, "Unfortunately not, and do not act so afraid of me brave one, I do not bite." He chuckled.

I smiled too.

"Now then, your necklace Father Christmas gave you; you must never take it off; always wear it for your life could depend on it just like it did at the river." He sighed; his face was now becoming serious as I listened intently. "The Witch had the same necklace around her neck until thirty years ago when she fell in the river. Her reign of terror made Nature itself turn against her and almost killed her. Even though she survived, she threw the necklace off into some bushes, and she swore to never see it again. But, I do not know what she would do to get your necklace…"

I looked at the necklace hanging from my neck; I was sharing the same thing with someone so evil… I shuddered, "I shall protect it with my life, sir."

"But there is something I have forgotten. The ring that belonged to your saviour…"

How did he know about the soldier; my life back home, anything about me and my journey here? It was impossible, but I had to give a reply to Aslan, "Y-yes?"

"If I am not mistaken, the ring bears Latin writing, does it not?" he asked me.

I looked at the inside of the ring, and I saw the words, "Dulce et decorum est pro partia mori." I breathed.

Aslan looked weakly at me, "It means 'it is sweet and proper to die for one's country'."

Oh. He was hinting at me. Hinting… hinting…

I gasped.

"I-I'm going to die?" I asked.

"Perhaps. For the Deep Magic will decide my fate, as well as your own. And, I have also paid close attention to your country for a long time; it seems in the process I have learned several poems of your vicious wars." Aslan informed me, his face now turned to a smile, "I believe you should get out of those clothes and change into something more of this time. The tent closest to mine is yours, Susan and Lucy's tent. We had dresses made for you."

"F-for us?" I asked, "Thank you sir."

"Now then, if you excuse me, you training is to begin soon with Oreius and Peter."

I tried to think who Oreius was, and then I realized he must have been the centaur outside Aslan's tent. With that panic over, I nodded and abruptly and left.

I really hoped that I wouldn't die in a foreign place, because then, perhaps I would be dead in two places.

--

"Aren't these dresses superb?" Susan asked.

We were all in our tent; and each of us had a trunk full of dresses, all beautiful and all looked like that the greatest care had been made in making them. We all were sitting down apart from Lucy who had to stand to see into the trunks. Susan was looking absolutely thrilled about her dresses, but I was more speechless than anything. I held up a dark blue dress with silver like thread embroided to the front of it.

I looked over at Susan holding up a green dress to her; green really looked lovely compared to her pale skin. And Lucy; Lucy was looking at a red dress, her hand almost stroking it.

"We should get changed," Susan said looking at us.

"We should. Aslan told me I have to train…" I trailed off again.

I don't know why, but I couldn't focus. It was as if something bad was going to happen, and Aslan's words on what the Latin on my ring said haunted me. Perhaps this would be my 'Last Battle', my 'Final Stand'. I didn't know then; but I was being a worry worm.

Susan looked at me with a kind smile, "What did Aslan talk to you about? Because you sound so… afraid…"

I stopped blinking for a second and I turned to face Susan; "Nothing, everything's fine… he just wanted to ask me a few things." I lied through my teeth. I didn't want to tell them anything, be good and don't tell them anything.

Susan's small smile faded as I replied; "Oh…" she just about managed. She got the hint that I could talk about it.

And as we changed, I felt awful.

When we finished getting changed, I fastened the sheath with the short sword around my waist. I was sitting on one of the beds there, looking at Susan who was helping Lucy tie her belt. The guilty feeling seeped through me, and in the end, I left the tent.

A fresh breeze floated in the air as I walked outside, and I looked around; attempting to find Oreius and Peter. Dotted around the camp were soldiers making weapons, talking, or currently doing nothing. I even spotted a few Narnians sleeping. The sunshine beat down upon me, and I finally had a few seconds to spare amongst this war which was about to begin.

As I looked around once more, I spotted Oreius; the centaur from earlier on the hill looking at Aslan talking with Peter. Wait, Aslan wanted to talk to Peter too?

I looked over there, and eventually Aslan left, striding down the hill with his head held high. He was certainly a proud lion. Oreius went up to him and began to speak to him too; so I started to walk over to where they were standing.

One thing was definite at this point in time; this battle must be very hard to win if Aslan wants me to train.