Back at the castle the old professor wandered back towards his room. However he paused a moment, noticing that his door was already opened. Taking a deep breath he walked in to find Lord Miraz standing in the middle of the room, looking at a book.
"You have quite a collection professor." Miraz mused. The old man fought away his nerves.
"Is there anything in particular that you are looking for my lord?" he kindly asked and set down the scrolls he was carrying.
"I already found what I need. In one of my soldiers!" he angrily spat out and threw down a red feathered arrow onto a page. On the page was a picture of the kings and queens of old. The professor hid a smirk and glanced up at the fuming lord. Miraz sat down at the desk and propped his feet up.
"What do you know of Queen Susan's horn?" Miraz asked the man.
"It was said to be magic." The professor carefully answered. Lord Miraz raised a brow.
"Magic?" he asked.
"The Narnians believed it could summon their kings and queens of old." The professor elaborated. Miraz looked hard at the man, but still couldn't hid the hint of worry in his eyes.
"Well at least, such was the superstition." The professor added with a knowing look. Miraz jerked himself upright before making his way over to stand next to the old man.
"And what does Caspian know of this 'superstition'?" he practically growled.
"My lord you forbade me from mentioning the old tales." The professor countered, not looking up at the man. Lord Miraz 'hmmphed' with a smile before it quickly dropped.
"So I did." He murmured. The two of them turned to see General Glozelle making his way into the room. A few soldiers followed. Knowing what was to happen the professor swiftly turning to face Miraz.
"I will say this. If Caspian does know of the deep magic, my lord would have good reason to be nervous." The old man confidently informed the lord. From there the old man was led away to the dungeons by the soldiers.
...
The Pevensies, Aleisa, and Trumpkin the dwarf, were in the Telmarine boat floating down the river. Peter was in the middle rowing while the rest of them were spaced out along the seats of the boat. Aleisa sat in front of Peter, beside Edmund. She watched with a small smile as they continued down the crystal blue water through a beautiful canyon. Even after being gone for apparently hundreds of years she never could get over how beautiful everything was. However the siblings didn't see it quite like she did. They all kept looking around sadly at how quiet and different everything was. Peter would glance over at Aleisa every so often and let a small smile show on his face. At least someone saw the bright side in this situation.
"They're so still." Lucy noted as they went past a cluster of trees. Trumpkin looked at the girl across from him before looking up at the trees.
"They're trees, what did you expect?" he blandly asked.
"They used to dance." Lucy informed him. The siblings glanced around at each other knowing what Lucy was talking about. Trumpkin sighed.
"It wasn't long after you left that the Telmarines invaded." He began. Peter stopped his rowing so he could listen too along with the rest of them.
"Those who survived retreated to the woods. The trees, they retreated so deep into themselves that they haven't been heard from since." He told the royals.
"I don't understand. How could Aslan have let this happen?" Lucy mused sadly.
"Aslan? I thought he abandoned us when you lot did." Trumpkin muttered bitterly. All five of them turned to look at him with sad expressions. Trumpkin simply looked away, the betrayal evident on his face.
"We didn't mean to leave you know." Aleisa spoke up, her voice wavering a little.
"It makes no difference now does it?" the dwarf countered. She directed her eyes to the bottom of the boat. That was true.
"Get us to the Narnians, and it will." Peter told him and continued rowing. Something in his tone alerted Aleisa. She scrutinized him while he wasn't looking. She couldn't put her finger on it but something was different. It was almost as if he was trying to prove something. The rest of the trip continued in silence, each of the humans lost in their own memories of the old Narnia.
Eventually they made it to the river band that Trumpkin directed them too. He hopped out to tie down the boat somewhere while the rest of them piled out to make the boat lighter. The older teens all helped to pull the boat onto the shore while Lucy wandered a little ways away. As she walked she came across a bear scavenging along the water.
"Hello there." She chimed with a smile and continued towards the animal. Her voice caught the attention of the others. The bear looked up and grunted before standing up on its hind legs. However its actions didn't faze Lucy.
"It's alright we're friends." She assured the beast. Aleisa could tell that something was off and began walking towards the two cautiously. The bear became a little more agitated. Trumpkin came walking back and looked over to where the youngest queen was. He immediately went on high alert.
"Don't move your majesty!" he called out in alarm. Lucy turned to look at him in confusion. When she did the bear started charging towards her.
"Lucy!" Aleisa called out in alarm and bolted towards the younger girl. Lucy whipped around and now saw the danger. Lucy started running back towards the rest of them. All the rest of them had left their weapons in the boat except for Susan.
"Stay away from her!" she warned and raised her bow while the boys lunged for their weapons. Aleisa kept racing towards Lucy. She had absolutely no plan but she was hoping she could figure out something on the fly. She was still sometimes the act first think later kinda girl. However Susan's threat didn't stop the bear. Suddenly Lucy tripped and started scrambling backwards.
"Shoot Susann!" Aleisa ordered as she ran even harder towards Lucy. Susan froze. As the bear closed in on Lucy, Aleisa slid down and covered the younger girl protectively. The two of them screamed as the bear raised up on its hind legs to attack. Before the bear could strike an arrow pierced its chest, making the beast collapse. The two girls looked back to see that Susan hadn't released her bow. It was Trumpkin that had made the shot. The dwarf looked at the girl beside him and trudged over towards the bear.
"Why didn't he stop?" Susan asked, still staring at the scene.
"I suspect he was hungry." Trumpkin deadpanned as he continued walking. Peter and Edmund raced towards the two girls who were still in shock on the ground. Susan however hung back in shame. If Trumpkin hadn't of been there, Aleisa and Lucy would be dead. The boys raced over and helped the two of them up, swords raised towards the still bear just in case. Aleisa clung onto Peter while Edmund had a hold of Lucy. Trumpkin walked around prodding the bear to make sure it was dead.
"Thanks." Aleisa murmured. Trumpkin turned to look at her but said nothing.
"He was wild." Edmund pointed out in confusion.
"I don't think he could talk at all." Peter added while rubbing Aleisa's arm comfortingly. The five of them stared down at the limp body.
"You get treated like a dumb animal long enough, that's what you become." Trumpkin informed them. He knelt down and pulled out his knife.
"You may find Narnia a more savage place than you remember." He added and slit the bear's throat. Aleisa sighed and looked up at her husband in sadness. This was worse than they thought.