Chapter 11 – After the End

"How long has Cair Paravel looked like this?" Caleb asked.

"Since the Telmarines invaded, your highness," answered the centaur.

"Caleb, come look at this!" Jake called. We ran over to where Jake stood.

"Look," he said, showing us a gold chess piece shaped like a centaur. "Edmund's chess piece!"

We had set up a tent with a table where I was pouring over some drawings of Cair Paravel in the Pevensies time. We had found them in Lucy's trunk in the Treasure room. Lucy really was quite an artist. At one time the castle had been surrounded by lush gardens and beautiful apple trees which still survived though a few had been damaged by Telmarine catapults. After the Pevensies departure, Caleb, Jake, Kelly and I had decided to rebuild Cair Paravel. Construction had just started since the dwarves had finally finished building the equipment needed for such task.

"Race you to the water, Caleb!" I laughed.

"Not again!" Kelly grumbled.

"They're always racing." Jake complained. The four of us were taking an evening walk along the shores of the ocean right below Cair Paravel. It had been four years since the restoration of Cair Paravel had been completed. During that time we had grown up quickly. Caleb was blond, a good fighter and tall, although I was still half an inch taller than him. Jake was tall but not quite as tall as Caleb. Jake enjoyed spending time wandering through the woods, many times followed by Trinian who loved chatting with Jake. Kelly loved drawing. She especially enjoyed drawing the mountains of Archenland, the royal chickens and shells she collected along the beach. Kelly's hair was long and a beautiful shade of light brown. As for me, I loved spending time either in the stables or in the library. I was often accompanied by Caleb on my visits to the library since he also enjoyed reading many of the great books the library boasted. I was 18, Caleb had just turned 17, Kelly was 16 and Jake was 14. We were all young but had learned many lessons in our short reign. Caspian, Pete and his sisters, Ilaria and Naomi, Lauren and Trinian were frequent visitors at the castle. On this particular warm night we decided to throw off our shoes and stockings and plunge into the inviting water.

"Oh, it feels so good!" I gasped.

"If only Trinian could see us now," laughed Caleb. "He would be chattering his head off about royal protocol and such."

"Trinian can be such a bother sometimes." Kelly agreed.

"He has good intentions though," I reminded.

"I suppose but sometimes he could just relax and have fun." Caleb shook his head.

"How many years have been here now?" Jake asked.

"I don't know, maybe four?" Kelly answered.

"It doesn't really matter." Caleb said. "We're here now. Let's enjoy it. Come on! Last one in is a grumpy dwarf!"

"Don't let Trumpkin hear you saying that!" I laughed. We all plunged into the water. I swam farther out and ducked my head under the waves. I felt something pulling on my feet.

"Kelly, stop it!" I sputtered, thinking she was trying to tickle my toes. I pulled my head out of the water. There was an inner tube floating next to me and I grabbed on. Caleb, Kelly and Jake popped up after me. We all looked around. This wasn't the beach at Cair Paravel. This was somewhere familiar yet it wasn't.

"This kind of reminds me of somewhere." Jake said.

"As if from a dream," I answered.

"Or a dream of a dream," Kelly said dazed.

"By the Lion's mane!" Caleb exclaimed using one of his favorite Narnian expressions. "We're home! We're in Illinois!" The rest of us looked around.

"Are you okay?" my mom called out to us.

"Yep, we're fine!" I answered. All four of us exchanged secret smiles. We knew that we would never forget our adventures in Narnia. We knew we would wait patiently and keep hoping to return someday. Over time our story would become muddled and forgotten but the three most important elements would remain unchanging. There was a Lion, there was a Lady and it all started…with a lake.

The End

Author's note: I'm glad you've read my story! There is a sequel like I mentioned in the 1st chapter. In case you forgot, the sequel is 'Someone Worth Dying For' I recomend you read it!