FIFTEEN YEARS LATER

THE sound of laughter and horses' hooves galloping against the ground as four figure rode through the silent forest. In front of them was a white stag which was trying to escape. The two men rode in front of the two women before they passed the dark-haired male, Edmund, as his horse began to slow down. As the horse still and was breathing heavily, his rider reached down to place a hand on his neck. "Are you alright, Philip?" Edmund asked, concerned for his horse.

"Not as young as I once was," the horse replied between breaths.

The sound of neighs and approaching hooves caused him to look up and see that the others were re-joining him. "Come on, Ed," the darker haired female, Susan, called out as she rode into the clearing.

"Just catching my breath," Edmund said to his older sister who teased back; "Well that's all we'll catch at this rate."

"What did he say again, Susan?" the lighter haired female, Lucy, asked her sister as she stopped beside her.

"'You girls wait in the castle; I'll get the stag myself!'" Susan impersonated Edmund making the others but he laughed.

The blonde-haired male, Peter, looked up at something and asked; "What's this?"

He was the first to dismount from his stead before the others followed him. They looked up at an old lamppost covered in ivy. "This seems familiar," he said as he subconsciously began twirling the finger of his left ring finger around while looking up at the lamppost with frowning brows.

"As if from a dream," Susan remarked as she also looked up at the lamppost.

"Or a dream of a dream..." Lucy trailed off before her eyes widened slightly in realisation; "Spare Oom."

She picked her dress off the ground before running off. "Lucy!" Peter shouted as he ran after his sister.

"Not again!" Susan whined as she and Edmund also followed after Lucy.

"Lu?" Peter asked once he had caught up with Lucy.

"Come on!" she cried out in excitement as they continued moving through the trees before the path began to narrow and the branches turned into fur coats. "These aren't branches," Peter exclaimed as he pushed his way through the coats.

"They're coats," Susan said as she stopped to look around at the coats.

"Susan, you're on my foot," Edmund exclaimed suddenly which caused the others to begin to cry out as well and shove each other.

Their voices began to change and became higher pitched. A door flew open and they fall out of the wardrobe, now 15 years younger. They looked down at each other in shock as they noticed they were back to the age they were when they first entered Narnia. The door to the room opened and the Professor walked in with the cricket ball that Edmund had hit and that broke a window.

"Oh. There you are. What were you all doing in the wardrobe?" the Professor asked with a knowing smile on his face.

The Pevensies looked at each other before looking back at the Professor. "You wouldn't believe us if we told you, sir," Peter replied making the Professor throw the cricket ball to Peter who caught it.

"Try me," the Professor exclaimed with a large grin on his face.

Those in the room hadn't realised that there was one person missing because they were still in Narnia.

ANNABELL

I was sat in the window seat by the window in my room, looking down at the beach below. My husband and his siblings had ventured off to capture the white stag while I agreed to stay at Cair Paravel to look after the affairs for the day. Tumnus has advised me that I needed a break after spending several hours in the throne room, hearing the people.

The window was open slightly, allowing the cool, ocean breeze to blow through my hair which wasn't pinned back in braids. My shoulders and collarbone area were also exposed to the cool breeze as my dress laid off my shoulders. My fingers fiddled with one of the pearls sewed into the long sleeves of the bodice. The bodice had a sweetheart neckline with laces in the middle and was black with gold details shaping the black into scales. The skirt was made of black taffeta and fell to the floor when I was standing, hiding my plain black flats.

Out of habit, I twirled the rings on my left ring finger around; watching the jewel on the top ring shine rainbows as the sunlight hits it. The gold of my rings matched the gold of my crown that was currently sitting on the vanity as I didn't feel comfortable wearing it all the time unless I had to which was normally in court or at Susan's parties.

I was focused on staring at the world outside my window that I didn't notice another presence in the room with me until their spoke; "Annabell."

I turned around to see Aslan standing by the door and my eyes widened because he hadn't been seen since we were coronated. "Aslan," I cried out as I jumped off the window seat to give the Great Lion a hug.

I had a large smile on my face which faded when I pulled away from the hug and saw Aslan's sad eyes. "What's wrong?" I asked him as I stood up straight.

"The Pevensies have returned home," he answered and his answered caused shock to run through my body.

I felt myself fall to the floor as I placed a hand over my heart, feeling it almost beating out of my chest. My eyes remained looking down at the rings on my left hand, but my vision was becoming cloudy as tears began forming in my eyes. "Narnia still has need of you, Annabell," was all Aslan said before I felt him breathe on me, ruffling my hair slightly.

A tingling sensation ran through my body and once the sensation had stopped, I looked down at myself and gasped in shock when I noticed that my dress was now hanging off my body. I jumped onto my feet and looked into the mirror to see I was the age I was when I first entered Narnia. "I'm afraid you'll have to remain in Narnia until the Pevensies return," Aslan informed me as I looked over at my face.

"But Aslan…" I stopped myself when I turned around to look at Aslan and noticed that he had disappeared.

"I am saddened to inform you all that King Peter, King Edmund, Queen Susan and Queen Lucy have returned home. I am uncertain when they will return to Narnia," I stood in front of the thrones, looking over the Narnians standing in front of me.

I was now out of my now loose gold and black dress and was now dressed in a deep red dress that had a square neckline, long sleeves, a thick gold belt and a full skirt. My hair was pulled up into a braided updo with my crown pinned into it.

My eyes looked over the Narnians whose faces had saddened as they looked down at the floor. "We must have hope. There is always hope in the world. You've just gotta believe in it," I told them as a small smile appeared on my face.

"Long live Queen Annabell! Long live the Hope Queen" they cried out and they repeated as I smiled down at them.

I will always be a Queen of Narnia…long may I reign.