Disclaimer: Again, I own nothing except Ava, Melody, Sinaaq, and the Guardians.

Songs for this chapter: Love Death Birth by Carter Burwell, Eyes on Fire by Blue Foundation, The Kings and Queens of Old by Harry-Gregson Williams


Chapter 8: Alive

Everything was murky at first, though it did not take long to figure out why. Ava was covered by a thin veil. Her eyes darted from side to side, but the sheer fabric made it difficult to see properly. She twitched her fingers, making sure she could move them, before reaching a hand up and brushing the shroud away from her face.

She sat up slowly, taking in every detail of her surroundings as she did so; she was amazed to find that her vision was sharper than she remembered. Now, as she surveyed the Great Hall, she could see every miniscule swirl in the marble and nearly every engraving in the golden ceiling.

Ava looked down at herself only to find that she had been clothed in a black, empire-waistline gown with silver trimming and laid on a pedestal that had been placed on the dais where the throne usually was. Her hair, rather than being in its usual braid or bun, had been left down to cascade around down her shoulders to her waist, with honeysuckle flowers strewn through it. What really surprised her was that her long locks were no longer mahogany in color, but a pale, silver-white instead. The shroud that had covered her face had also covered her entire body.

She climbed off of the pedestal and nearly fell on her face. Were it not for her fast reflexes—that she did not remember having—she most certainly would have, for her legs had not been used for what was likely quite some time. She managed to stand up straight and carefully ventured away from the pedestal, looking around more. Every pillar in the room had black fabric wrapped around them from the ceiling to the base and the windows had been covered in black fabric as well, save for the large, stained glass window behind the dais.

Someone had prepared her body, and the Great Hall, for a funeral. Ava began to feel panic rising in her body, starting in the pit of her stomach. How long had she been dead?

All of sudden, one of the large doors to the entrance of the Great Hall opened. She froze where she stood as her handmaiden entered the room with the elvish physician, who was carrying a tray of what appeared to be oils and herbs; they could only have been coming there to tend to her body. The moment the two looked up and saw her, alive and standing before them, they too froze in their places. The physician, in her shock, dropped the tray, scattering its contents on the floor. The only noise in the room in that moment was the shattering of glass bottles and the clatter of the tray. For the longest time, the room was silent as the dead—no pun intended.

"It can't be!" Melody exclaimed, her voice barely above a whisper, at last breaking the silence. Ava managed a small smile and nodded.

"It is. I'm here. It's me," she answered softly.

The physician came forward tentatively, stepping around the tray, shattered glass, and spilled oils and herbs. Ava reached out her hand, allowing the elf to touch her. When she did, she immediately launched into a full-scale inspection of the young advisor.

"This is impossible! I looked you over myself! You were dead! How is it that you are alive and seemingly healed now?" she asked incredulously. Ava smiled.

"Aslan," she replied softly. Melody and the physician both gasped.

"You saw Aslan!?" the handmaiden asked. "What did he say? What was it like?" Ava put her hand up, stopping the inevitable onslaught of further questions.

"I promise I shall tell you later, but right now I need to know: how many days have passed since I…uh…died?" she asked, biting her lip anxiously. The elf and the younger woman glanced at each other, and then turned back to her. She stared at them intensely, waiting for a response.

"How long?" she repeated.

"A few days," Melody answered quietly, her voice cracking. Ava's eyes widened.

"A few…days? Oh dear. … How many know of my death? What has happened while I've been…gone?" she asked, her panic rising.

"The king has not told the rest of Narnia yet," the physician answered. "He wanted to keep the funeral private; he remembered you never did like large crowds. The only one who knows anything, besides us and him of course, is Sinaaq."

This news was a relief to Ava, but now her curiosity had been piqued. What had happened to the prisoner after she'd lost consciousness?

"I see…" the advisor trailed off, searching for the right words. "And what has become of Sinaaq?" she asked with feigned disinterest. In truth, she worried that she may have scared the poor man to death right along with her, though she did not know why it mattered in the least.

"Well, his majesty was in no state to deal with a trial after…" Melody trailed off, fidgeting awkwardly.

"So what happened?" Ava pressed gently.

"It was a very complicated matter, milady," the handmaiden began , sounding rather nervous to be speaking of affairs that were, typically, above her station. "Despite his story, and the fact that he attempted to save your life, the man has still killed several of Narnia's talking wolves. However, his majesty still feels indebted to him."

"Melody, dear, you're rambling. Just tell me what fate has befallen the man," Ava said gently, trying to hurry her handmaiden along.

"Well…he is essentially still a prisoner, milady. The king declared that he would be allowed to roam around the palace, but he is to be escorted by guards at all times," Melody replied sheepishly. Ava raised an eyebrow quizzically.

"And why would Caspian declare such a thing?" she asked.

"For two reasons, milady," the physician piped up. "First reason being that he did attempt to save your life. Second, his majesty figures that it would be better to use the prisoner to defeat Amarok before sentencing him. The way he sees it, Sinaaq is under house arrest until his trial, which has been postponed until further notice. He hopes that this will keep the wolf packs appeased until then. The prisoner is not to be left alone; even guards are posted around his bedroom. He is to do anything the king asks of him and if he makes one wrong move he will either be killed by the guards or thrown back into his cell."

Ava nodded slowly, taking in the new information. She had to admit, Caspian's way of dealing with the situation seemed to be the best option for the time being, though she wondered how the wolves felt about letting the prisoner live in a luxurious palace. Another conversation for another time, I suppose, she thought. She turned her attention back to the two women in front of her.

"So where is Sinaaq now?" she asked.

"He spends most of his time in the gardens, when his majesty has no use for him," Melody answered softly.

"Yes, and taking much of the alcohol I use for treating wounds with him," the physician grumbled.

Without saying another word, Ava pushed by the two and ran out the door; she kept running, unaware of the fact that she was running faster than she ever had and she wasn't tripping over herself or running out of breath. She ran to the gardens and began to search for the man in question. A small part of her felt terrible for not immediately searching for Caspian, he was her closest friend after all, but the rest of her could not stand to let the man who had tried to save her—who had watched her die, possibly by his blood—go on not knowing the truth. She owed him that much didn't she?

She decided to look for him by the climbing ice apples—the last place she had seen him before she died.

Sure enough, Sinaaq was sitting on the same bench they had sat on days before, letting the leaves on the trellis brush his ears as he leaned his head back, with a bottle of rum in one hand, mostly drained of its contents. Upon further inspection, she was able to see that there were still bloodstains on the marble.

Ava took a moment to take in the disheveled appearance of the man. Slowly, she approached him, coming at him from an angle that he might see her from his peripherals, so as not to startle the drunken warrior. When she was standing right next to him, having received no response, she spoke.

"Sinaaq?" she asked softly, hoping he would hear her.

The man looked up at her, his eyes glassy from the effects of the booze. He snorted, chuckling bitterly. Ava's brow furrowed as she tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"Not quite the reaction I was expecting," she mumbled.

"So now my mind has taken to torturing me with realistic images of her. How splendid," Sinaaq muttered bitterly, apparently talking to himself. He seemed not to notice her new, silvery hair.

"Am I to understand that you think me to be a hallucination?" Ava asked, pursing her lips in mild annoyance. She wasn't entirely surprised, merely disappointed—for reasons unknown to her—at his reaction to her liveliness.

"She even sounds like her," Sinaaq mused, staggering to his feet and staring at the small woman, scrutinizing her.

Ava stared up at him, willing him to sober up and realize she was alive. Sinaaq reached out and pushed a strand of hair out of her face.

"Funny, I don't remember my imagination being able to take on solid form," he mused, his voice surprisingly clear for a drunken man.

He's imagined me? Ava wondered. She shook away her thoughts and grabbed the man's shoulders, forgetting for the time being how muscular they really were.

"Sinaaq, listen to me. You are not hallucinating. This is not your mind playing tricks on you. It's me! I'm real!" she said, trying to be firm with him. Sinaaq chuckled.

"I've never seen Ava with her hair down," he mused. The woman hit her forehead in frustration.

"Ugh! What will it take to make you believe I'm alive, damn it!?" she exclaimed.

Ava stopped, mid-rant, when another idea came to her. I'm sorry about this, she thought. Without warning, she brought her knee up into his groin, though not as hard as she had before. Sinaaq made an oof noise and doubled over in pain. She stood there, looking down at him, with her arms crossed. When the man looked back up at her he seemed to have sobered up a bit. He straightened up and looked at her carefully, his eyes boring into hers.

"But how is it possible?" he asked softly. Ava smiled, relieved that she didn't have to further convince him.

"Aslan did it. I'm not sure why," she answered.

They stood for a moment, silently staring at each other, until Sinaaq realized what he was doing and stepped back, looking at anything but her. Ava frowned.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Everyone will want to see you, especially his majesty. You should go back," he answered, his face unreadable.

"What will you do?" she asked, feeling much too disappointed for her liking.

"I think I'll stay here for a while. I like to avoid sappy reunions," he said, only half jesting. His answer seemed more callous than she expected, though not unlike something he would say.

"Oh," Ava responded softly, "Alright then. I suppose I shall see you later. Maybe you could stay for supper as I'm sure Caspian will want to celebrate?" she said.

"I doubt I shall have a choice in the matter," Sinaaq responded, referring to his terms of imprisonment.

Ava turned away and left to search for Caspian, trying to understand why she felt so glum all of sudden, leaving Sinaaq to process everything alone.


As predicted, Caspian was overjoyed to have Ava back and demanded that she tell him everything over a lavish dinner. He had immediately sent the servants to work in the kitchen and asked that they break out the best tableware they owned (save for the wedding china).

Ava thought it was all a bit much, especially when the only people who attended dinner in the palace regularly were Caspian, Reepicheep, Trufflehunter, Melody, and herself. Occasionally, the physician would join them as she most likely would tonight.

She never did like it when people made a big deal of things. Yes, coming back from the dead was a big deal, but it was something that she felt would be better served to be rejoiced over and then forgotten about. It was one thing to be the center of attention for coronations and birthdays, but it was another thing to be the center of attention for coming back from the dead. It seemed so awkward and uncomfortable to her. How could they congratulate her on something she had no control over and did not fully understand? At the very least, she thought, we shall most certainly be eating my favorite foods this evening.

Ava had decided to relax with a hot bath beforehand.

She had been sitting in the water for so long that her skin was starting to wrinkle, but she still did not feel relaxed. She sighed and looked down at the water, which had grown tepid about an hour ago. She continued to stare at it, wishing it was hot again. To her surprise, she felt the water begin to warm around her until it was too hot to sit in it. She clambered out of the tub quickly, staring at it in disbelief. Surely she was imagining things! However, when she dipped her foot back in the water to test it, she found it to be scalding hot. Ava ran a shaking hand through her wet hair. I must be losing what is left of my sanity. Must be the after-effects of being dead.

She squeezed the excess water from her hair and padded into her bedroom. She needed to dress for dinner, but right now, she was too busy trying not to panic. She did not realize how much time had passed, until there was a knock on the door, startling her out of her reverie. She made sure her robe was closed all the way and opened the door a bit. To her surprise, Sinaaq was standing there, with two centaurs behind him. She felt heat rise to her cheeks under his gaze and subconsciously pulled her robe tighter.

"Sinaaq, what a surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit to my suite?" she asked, trying to keep the embarrassment out of her voice.

"Dinner has started and everyone was wondering where you were. I volunteered to retrieve you," he answered, smirking slightly. Ava felt confused by Sinaaq's sudden change in attitude, but chose to keep her confusion to herself.

"Oh dear, my apologies. I was…reading and I…uh…dozed off," she replied, trying to sound convincing. Sinaaq raised an eyebrow at her, suggesting he didn't buy her excuse, but he did not push the subject.

"So will you be joining us?" he asked, his eyes focused very firmly on her face as if he were trying to ignore the rest of her.

Ava was all too aware that she had chosen to wear her blue satin robe, which clung to her still-damp body too much to be appropriate. She blushed more.

"Uh…yes, of course. Just give me a moment to change into something more appropriate," she answered.

"Alright, shall I let them know you will be joining us in a month?" Sinaaq asked with a chuckle.

Ava, without a better comeback, stuck her tongue out at him, choosing to ignore the immaturity of it, and closed the door. She rushed to her armoire to look for something appropriate to wear and settled on a simple, lavender gown, with an empire waistline, that tied around her neck and had no sleeves. It had been a birthday gift from the ruler of Calormene, and as such had a different style than those of Narnian clothing; it had also come with a silver, lion-head brooch to pin between her breasts and two, silver armbands to match. She everything on and quickly tied the ribbons around her neck; she then ran a brush through her hair and braided it. She slid on simple shoes and opened the door, surprised to see Sinaaq still waiting for her.

"I'm impressed, princess, that was much quicker than I expected," he said with a smirk. Ava raised an eyebrow at him.

"Why do you call me princess? That is incorrect," she said, only mildly annoyed. Sinaaq's smirk grew.

"Because I can," he answered.

The advisor rolled her eyes. She closed the door to her suite and locked it behind her, then stashed the key in her dress. She turned to Sinaaq, who was waiting patiently.

"You did not have to wait for me. Surely, you must be hungry," Ava said. Sinaaq smiled.

"It's the polite thing to do. I also thought you might like company as you make the painstakingly long walk to the Great Hall," he replied.

Ava found it hard to meet his eyes. She looked up as Sinaaq held his elbow out to her.

"May I escort you, milady?" he asked with a smile. Ava nodded and put her slender hand in the crook of his arm and let him lead her to the Great Hall, followed of course, by the two guards.


Dinner was a much more silent affair than Ava had expected. After Caspian had toasted to her health and welcomed her back, they had settled down to the most lavish meal they'd had outside of a ball. Every time Caspian opened his mouth to ask her what had happened he found himself distracted by questions and comments from Sinaaq.

Ava was confused, for she had not yet seen Sinaaq be that vocal around most people. He kept asking random questions about things she knew he could care less about. Whatever the reason, she was grateful for the distraction. She ate her food hastily and announced that she was retiring for the night; she tried to exit the room swiftly without appearing to be in a hurry.

Once she was out of the room, she sighed in relief and decided to head to the library for a bit of reading before bed. There was no rain tonight, so she decided to take the book she had chosen and read out on the balcony.

As she was reading she heard a bloodcurdling howl pierce the night. All the hairs on the back of her neck rose and her blood ran cold. She stood up and ventured to the railing, looking out into the night. The terror coursing through her veins distracted her from noticing that her night vision was much better than it had been before. She looked towards the Eastern Sea and that's when she saw it. On the beach, silhouetted against the silvery light of the moon, was a large animal on all fours. Two glittering, silver eyes stared straight at her, even though she was much too far away for any normal creature to know she was there.

Ava was frozen in place and could not look away no matter how hard she tried. As she stood there, fearing for her life despite the safety of the palace, it began to sleet. Though she was freezing, she couldn't move away from those eyes.

All of a sudden, a large hand rested on her shoulder. The lady screamed bloody murder and whirled around to face her opponent only to see Sinaaq standing there, one hand up in surrender and the other clenched in a fist and placed conveniently in front of his crotch. The advisor clutched her chest as if somehow that would slow her racing heart. She had not noticed that there were no guards following the prisoner this time.

"Don't do that!" she exclaimed. "Next time you enter a room, ring a bell or stomp your feet or something!"

"My apologies, I just came to look for something to read," Sinaaq said, trying to refrain from smirking. He turned serious when he saw the fear in Ava's grey eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked. The advisor's eyes flickered to the spot she had been fixated on before. Sinaaq followed her glance and saw nothing. He looked back down at her.

"There's nothing there now," he said. Ava whipped around and scanned the beach, becoming more and more panicked when she didn't see anything.

"You don't understand! I saw him! He-he was there! I—" she stammered, pointing to the beach; she was beginning to hyperventilate in her distress. Sinaaq grabbed her shoulders firmly and looked her in the eyes. He had never seen her look so terrified.

"Tell me, calmly, what you saw," he said slowly. Ava looked in his eyes, her voice quivering as she spoke.

"Amarok," she whispered.

Sinaaq felt the blood drain from his face but he kept his visage impassive. He did not want to frighten her further. He looked out towards the beach, but saw nothing. His brow furrowed; he also noticed that the sleeting had stopped. He closed the balcony doors, locked them, and turned to Ava.

"Don't worry about it now," he said. "You should get some rest."

"I do not know if I can rest after seeing him. If he can take down a whole village of giants, the guards of Cair Paravel may be no match for him," Ava replied fearfully. Typically, she was not a helpless damsel, but against Amarok, she felt like a small child. That wolf had been responsible for her death.

"Yes, I know, but staying up all night worrying about it will not help the matter either," Sinaaq pointed out.

"I may head to the sparring room and practice archery for a while," Ava said, mostly to herself. At the mention of a sparring room, Sinaaq's interest piqued.

"Would you be opposed to me joining you?" he asked. Ava looked up at him with one eyebrow raised; she had just noticed the lack of homo-equine escorts.

"Aren't you supposed to have guards on you at all times?" she asked pointedly. Sinaaq chuckled.

"In truth, I'm surprised they did not burst in with spears at my throat when you screamed—they are waiting outside the doors," he answered. Ava snorted.

"The library was meant to keep distracting sounds out. If they had known I was in here, they would not have let you come in alone for that very reason," she explained.

"I see," Sinaaq responded. After a pause he asked, "So…about that sparring?"

"I shall notify the guards that you will be joining me, but then I'll need to change out of this gown," she answered. In all honesty, she was grateful that she did not have to be alone.

"Alright," Sinaaq conceded, following her out of the library.

As they headed toward the east wing, they conversed in trivial things to keep things light. Ava revealed that the palace was, in fact, not the original Cair Paravel; the original had been destroyed many years ago during the siege of Caspian I. When Caspian X had come into power, he'd insisted on rebuilding the palace to its former glory.

He had been lucky enough to find the old blueprints and had made it almost exactly like the original, save for the placement of the secret treasure room, which held many of the possessions of the kings and queens of old. This included the gifts from Father Christmas that were not being used.

"Sadly, no one has been able to find the treasure room. Not even Caspian or myself. 'Tis a shame; I heard that the gifts Father Christmas gave to Queen Elizabeth and King Tyler are down there. I've always wanted to try my hand at blade fighting. Or close combat fighting in general," Ava said.

"You've never fought in close combat before?" Sinaaq asked dubiously. The advisor shook her head.

"No, my specialty is archery. I've never been very good at anything else. Oh, I know enough hand-to-hand to keep me alive, but only until I can get to my arrows again," she answered.

"We shall fix that soon enough," Sinaaq said. Ava raised an eyebrow at him.

"You fight in close-quarter combat?" she asked. She remembered seeing his spear and shield, but she had assumed the spear was for throwing.

"Yes, always. Maybe you can teach me archery?" Sinaaq asked, smirking down at her. Ava still could not understand what he was always smirking about.

"It would be my pleasure," she replied. Sinaaq smiled down at her.

By now, they had arrived at the advisor's suite, which had previously belonged to Queen Lucy and then Queen Elizabeth; at least it had in the original castle. Any furniture that had been salvaged from the original had been put in the new castle where it had most likely been in the old.

Sinaaq waited outside while Ava changed. When she reemerged from the room, the lavender dress was gone and she was wearing a black, under-bust corset that laced up in the front. Under it, she wore a lilac peasant blouse with long, puffy sleeves and a drawstring neckline that fell off her shoulders. With this, she wore boots similar to her riding ones and black breeches. Sinaaq's breath caught in his throat and he coughed.

"Are you alright, Sinaaq? Not getting ill I hope," Ava said idly as she began walking in the direction of the training room, expecting him and the guards to follow.

"No, no, I am quite alright," Sinaaq answered, sounding rather unconvincing.


They had been training for hours on end, and Sinaaq was realizing just how easy it was to frustrate the tiny woman. He had to hand it to her: she was determined to get things right. However, her determination turned into an obsession and she would not quit until she got something down. What he found most intriguing was the fact that she was stronger and faster than he remembered and did not seem to be wearing down at all.

They had started off the sparring with Ava teaching Sinaaq how to shoot a longbow. To her surprise, he picked it up almost immediately, turning out to be a natural at it. After less than an hour, they had moved to hand-to-hand combat. Sinaaq thought it would be safer to start off without daggers or short swords and he was thankful he had done so.

Currently, he was teaching her how to grapple. Although she had grown stronger, he was still making it difficult for her to knock him off his feet. Sinaaq knocked her to the ground again, cradling her head so it did not hit the floor.

"You still aren't getting it right," he said, emphasizing each word to annoy her further and smirking slightly. Ava growled and wriggled in his grasp, attempting to get a better hold on him, but it was no use.

"Let's try again," Sinaaq said, standing up and placing her in front of him; she was so easy to move, like a little doll. She stared him down, every muscle in her body tense as she clasped hands with him.

"Ready? … Go!" Sinaaq commanded.

Immediately, Ava tried to knock him off his feet. Sinaaq stood there, teasing her by pretending to look bored, while she struggled. At last, she stepped forward and hooked her leg around one of his then pulled on it while pushing him away. She did it so fast that she managed to catch him off guard and he soon fell to the ground.

However, when he realized he was falling, he grabbed her and took her down with him, causing her to yelp in surprise. When they landed, she was lying on top of him and he was smirking triumphantly. Ava glared at him and stuck her tongue out like a petulant child.

"Don't stick your tongue out, milady, unless you intend to use it," Sinaaq admonished jestingly.

The advisor rolled her eyes and pushed herself up. As she tried to stand up—without stepping on Sinaaq—she tripped and fell into a suit of armor that they had landed precariously close to. Ava flinched and put her arms over her head, expecting the suit of armor to come toppling down on her…but it did not budge.

The two of them stood there, waiting for something to happen, but the only thing out of place was one of the arms, which held a small battle axe. After deciding it was relatively safe, Ava stood up and pushed the arm back into place. As soon as she did, the wall that held all the archery targets (the wall parallel to the door) shifted; one piece of the wall with a target on it slid back, and then disappeared with the sound of stone grinding against stone, revealing a hidden passageway. Sinaaq and Ava stared at each other in disbelief then back at the passage.

"Do you think it's safe?" the lady mused. Sinaaq crossed the room to the passage and looked inside as much as he could without stepping through the door.

"There appears to be a staircase leading down," he said, not exactly answering the question. Ava grabbed a small candelabrum from a pedestal and joined him at the door.

"Should we investigate?" Sinaaq asked. Ava looked up at him with mischief dancing in her eyes.

"Most certainly," she said as she led them into the passage.

They only needed to walk three feet before they came to the stairs. They descended the spiral staircase carefully, for the candles only provided a small amount of light. Thankfully, the staircase was not very long and they reached the bottom quickly.

Ava moved the candles around, and found that, to her left, there was a large marble bowl of oil on a pedestal. Carefully, she removed a candle from the candelabrum and touched the flame to the liquid. Instantly, the oil ignited, causing her to jerk her hand away, leaving the candle behind.

As soon as the flames had grown, the light shone on a mirror, which sent a beam of light to another mirror, and so on, lighting up the entire room.

Sinaaq and Ava stood at the foot of the stairs, gaping in awe at the long lost treasure room of Cair Paravel.