Eden's eyes open groggily, the morning sun illuminating the sky. She watched her surroundings. Susan and Edmund were still sleeping soundly. Trumpkin was also sleeping, but… not so soundly. It was then that she realized that Peter and Lucy were missing. She sat upright and struggled to stand.
"Bloody hell…" she cursed. Didn't they know that they should not go off into the woods? Okay, so she did, but that was completely different. She had to leave in order to find Caspian.
She put on her boots and kept her sword in hand as she raced inside the trees in search of the two missing Pevensie's.
She was walking only five minutes when she heard the clanging of swords. Running to the spot, she saw Peter fighting a young man with black hair. Caspian!
She wanted to race forward, but something caught her eye. It was the young girl again. Anya. She was standing beside Peter, with a worried look on her face.
You have to choose. Eden heard the girl's voice, except it was in her head.
What are you talking about? Eden asked the girl mentally, not taking her eyes away from her.
You must choose between… The girl started, but did not finish, for Peter's sword swung in the air where the girl was, and she just disappeared.
Eden had to shake her head hard before she realized what was happening. Peter's sword was stuck in a tree, desperately trying to get it free and Caspian grabbed a rock, in an attempt to hit the distracted boy over the head.
"Caspian!" Eden yelled, at the same time as Lucy emerged from a bush and yelled, "Stop!"
Both boys stopped where they were and stared at the two voices. Caspian's eyes grew wide as he saw his best friend.
"Eden?" he whispered at first, and Eden gave her signature smirk. "Eden!"
He raced towards his best friend and hugged her so tightly that Eden had to struggle for breath, but she also wrapped her arms around his waist.
'Prince Caspian?" Eden and Caspian came out of their hug, but Caspian still kept his arm around her waist protectively. Peter looked at this gesture and felt jealousy, but quickly pushed it away.
"Yes?" Caspian answered cautiously causing Eden to chuckle.
"Caspian, relax." She said, coming out of his protective hold. He reluctantly let her go, but resorted to holding her hand. "He is the one you have been waiting for. I mean, I am guessing that you know about Narnians now?"
Caspian merely shook his head, and then looked down to the stolen sword in his hand, realization lighting up in his eyes. "King Peter?"
Peter nodded slowly, looking to Eden. She stared back at him with a small smile before turning to Lucy.
"And let me guess, you were the one who ran away?" she asked with a teasing smile. She meant to sound cross and it seemed to have worked because Lucy hung her head and put her hands behind her back. "I am just teasing, Lucy." She looked up at me and gave me a wide smile.
It was then that Edmund, Susan and Trumpkin rushed to the scene. Edmund took in Eden holding hands with Caspian and grimaced. It seemed that he was always going to be just the trustworthy friend and nothing more. He seemed to miss the look that occurred between his eldest sister and the Prince.
"Is something wrong?" Edmund asked, sending angry glares to the prince.
"What? No! I just… I thought you would be older." Eden smiled at this…. She had the exact same thought when she met the Kings and Queens of Old for the first time.
"Well, if you'd like, we can come back in a couple of years…" Peter started to walk away, but Caspian let out a "No!"
Eden rolled her eyes at Peter's dry sense of humor when she heard a small voice.
"We have been anxiously awaiting your return, my liege." Eden looked down at a small mouse and smiled.
"Oh my goodness he is so cute." She heard Lucy whisper and chuckled.
"Who said that?" The mouse yelled, outraged, unsheathing his small sword.
'Sorry." Lucy said, a blush creeping up into her cheeks.
'Oh." The mouse, whom I heard was named Reepicheep, immediately put his sword down. "It is quite alright, your majesty, but I prefer chivalrous or courageous is more proper for a knight of Narnia."
Peter grinned at the young mouse. "Good. At least we know some of us can handle a blade."
"Yes, indeed. I have put it to good use to secure weapons for your army, sire." Peter smiled gratefully, before turning back to Caspian. "Good. Because we are going to need every sword we can get."
"Well, then I guess you will be wanting yours back?" Caspian said, and Eden chuckled slightly. Peter rolled his eyes and grabbed the sword.
They walked until they reached the How, and a group of Centaurs were positioned along either side. Caspian stayed at Eden's side, still grasping her hand. It felt nice to have someone so familiar beside him. It has always just been him and the Narnians; he had felt like an outsider. Eden squeezed his hand reassuringly as the four Pevensie's were greeted. They walked towards the entrance, with the centaurs raising their swords high in the air. Eden saw Caspian's sad expression from the corner of her eye and could only guess what he was feeling.
They entered the How quietly and observed everyone inside. Eden's eyes grew wide as she observed all of the creatures from the fairytales that her Professor had told her. It felt weird watching all of the talking animals, centaurs, dwarfs, etcetera everywhere. It was like she was in one of her storybooks.
Caspian chuckled at his friend's expression which only got him a punch in the arm from Eden.
"Ah, still as tough as ever, I see." Caspian murmured, and Eden laughed. He rubbed his arm quickly, but grabbed Eden's hand in his once more. He really did not want to let go of her and feel alone again. He needed her touch in order to feel safe.
Everyone followed Caspian through a large tunnel.
"It is us." Susan murmured, staring at the paintings on the walls. Eden walked beside her new friend and put her hand on the wall. Sure enough, it was them. Only older.
"Wow, you grew up to be even more beautiful then you already are, Susan." Eden said, grinning. Susan accepted the compliment with a shy smile and a blush to her cheeks.
"What is this place?" Lucy asked suddenly, taking her eyes away from a painting of a faun; Mr. Tumnus. She could not believe that he was no longer with them, along with all of their other friends so many years ago.
"You don't know?" Caspian asked and grabbed a torch on the side of the wall. He lowered the torch, which ignited all the way around the room. At the end of the room on the wall, was a carving of Aslan. The stone carving looked exactly like the same lion that appeared in her dream. She walked forward, letting go of Caspian's hand, and made her way towards the cracked stone table. She placed her hand on it cautiously, and Lucy came up beside her and did the same.
"He must know what he's doing." Lucy said quietly.
Peter stepped forward and stood beside Eden. "I think it's up to us now."
Everyone nodded in agreement, but no one said a word.