Chapter Twenty. The Lion In The Woods

"You girls stay here and I'll hunt the stag myself," joked Edmund as he saddled Philip.

"Oh, please Ed!" scoffed Lucy, "We can hunt just as well as you and Peter can!"

"Maybe better," put in Susan.

"Well, you're not going to get anything if you don't leave now," Annelise said.

She would have gone with them, but she felt it would be better to stay with her children. Edmund bent down and said goodbye to each of them.

"Please Daddy! Can't I come with you?" begged Culrik.

"No, I need you to take care of things here while we're gone."

"It's not fair," the little prince said under his breath.

Edmund smiled as he stood up to hug Annelise. She seemed to hold him tighter than usual. He didn't understand why though.

"Come home soon," she whispered to him.

"I'll will. I love you," he said as he softly kissed her and then mounted his horse.

"Children, be good."

"Bye Daddy!"

"Goodbye Uncle Peter!"

"Goodbye Aunt Susan; goodbye Aunt Lucy!" they called out.

Edmund turned around briefly to wave goodbye to his family. Annelise waved to him. She took in his handsome face, his charming smile, everything about him that made her love him.

She would never see him again.

It was mid afternoon and they still hadn't return. Annelise was getting anxious. She kept on checking on the window in hopes that she would see them riding up to the palace.

The children didn't seem to mind; they played contentedly near their mother. Nobody else in the palace seemed bothered either.

The she saw it. The image coming up the road that she always dreaded, but never believed would happen. Four horses with no riders walking toward the palace.

Quickly she ran out of the room and out of the palace.

"Where are they?" she said as she came up to them, "Where's my husband and the others?"

"Your Majesty," said Philip, his eyes full of sadness, "They're gone."

"Gone?" said Annelise in confusion, "How can that be? Were they attacked or kidnapped?"

"No, they stopped at a lamppost and ran into a thick part of the woods. We waited for them, but they never came out.

We didn't hear any screams or struggles. As a matter of fact, we didn't hear anything. We went all around, looking and calling for them. They never came back."

Annelise tried to take it all in. How could they just have disappeared?

"Philip, will you take me to these woods?"

"Yes." She climbed onto his back and rode off.

"This is where we stopped," said Philip when he halted to the lamppost. Annelise dismounted and stared at it.

"How strange," she said to herself.

Although, she did remember Edmund mentioning something about a lamppost in the woods in the stories that he read to their children.

"And that's where they ran to," Philip said nodding his head to a part of the woods that was directly across from them. "They were talking about a place called spareoom. Does it mean anything to you?"

"It might. Stay here; I'll be back soon."

She walked where Philip had directed her. There was nothing different or unique about it. It just looked like a regular wood.

"If you are looking for your husband, I'm afraid you will not find him or his brother or sisters here."

Annelise turned around and there she saw Aslan standing there in the woods. Tears began to stream down her face and her heart trembled.

"Where is he?" she simply asked.

"Back in his own world."

"His own world? He belongs in this world! With me and our children!"

"Calm down," said Aslan.

"You expect me to calm down when my husband, my best friend, my lover, the father of my children, my king, is gone?" she shouted, "You did this, didn't you? You took him away from me!"

"Who gave him to you in the first place?" asked Aslan, "Who led him to you?

"Well...you did," she answered quietly.

"Yes, and do you not think that if I have the power to give that I do not also have the power to take away?"

"But why? Why is he gone? Why did he have to go back and leave me?"

"Because his time in Narnia was through; it was time for him to go back."

"I don't understand."

"On your wedding night, I told him that he would only have you for a short time. You would only have him for a short time. When he goes back to his own world only a second would have passed. He will be the same twelve year boy he was when he first came here."

"I still don't understand, but will he remember me or our children?"

"For a while or as long as he still believes in Narnia."

"What will happen to me and my children? Do I stay here or go back to Terebinthia?"

"Do not worry so. I have always taken care of and I will continue to. Now go back tell your children that their father is gone, but they may see him again."

"They may?" Annelise asked.

"You saw you parents again. Did you not?"

"Yes, I did."

"Then they will too."

Annelise walked up to Aslan, but she couldn't say anything. She felt lighter and somewhat happier. The lion looked deep into her eyes and she felt a strength surge within her that she had never felt before.

"Go in peace," was all the lion told her.

One Year Later

"Mother, how long will we be staying in Archanland?" asked Lura as her mother tied her dress.

"I'm not sure, but behave yourself; all of you. This wedding is very important."

"Who is getting married?" asked Martin.

"I've told you already, Prince Cor and Lady Aravis. They're very good friends of mine and want you all on your best behavior.

True enough, Cor and Aravis were getting married. To everybody's disbelief.

Annelise and her family were invited and Prince Corin was coming up to Narnia, to escort them there.

"He should be here soon. Are you all packed?"

"Yes Mother," they all said. Soon there was a knock on the door and Tumnus peered in.

"He's here," he said.

"Yaaay! Can we go see him, Mother? Please?" they begged.

"Yes, go ahead," she said and they all ran out of the room, leaving only her and Tumnus.

"Thank you, Uncle. I'll try not to stay there to long ," she said as she went about the room picking up toys and putting them into her children's toy box. She was tired and this was probably the last thing she wanted to do.

"You know," began Tumnus, "That tomorrow is the first anniversary of their disappearance." Annelise stopped and looked at him for a moment and the away.

"Yes, I know," she replied in barely a whisper.

"Uncle," she said suddenly as she turned to face him, "do you think I'm ready?"

"Ready? For what?"

"To love. To love another man; like I did Edmund."

"I don't know," he said, "It's different with everybody."

"Sometimes, I think it would be wrong..."

"Annelise," Tumnus interrupted as he placed his hands on her arms, "Edmund would want you to love again. And if you do, let it be to someone that Edmund would smile upon wherever he is."

At that moment there was a knock and Corin came in.

"Oh, I'm...I'm sorry," he stumbled, "Your children are ready to go whenever you are," he said to Annelise.

"Thank you," she said, "I'll be down shortly." He nodded and then left. Annelise turned and looked back at her uncle.

"Corin."

"Yes, Corin. He has loved you all his life."

"But what about this thing with Susan?"

"That? That was all an act!" said Tumnus, "A simple boyhood fantasy. No, it is you that he always loved. He never said anything to Edmund though."

"Because he was his best friend," Annelise said.

"Yes. Edmund asked Corin to take care of you in case anything happened to him."

"He did?" Annelise asked as tears filled in her eyes.

"Yes, remember what Aslan said. That he would always take care of you."

"Oh Uncle, what would I do without you?" she cried as she threw her arms around him.

"It's not me, little one. But the power of someone greater," he kissed softly on her forehead and then said, "Go, and start a new life."

Annelise nodded. She hugged Tumnus one more time and then left. Corin was waiting for her outside the room.

"Thank you for doing this," she said as they walked down the stairs.

"Oh, it's not a problem," he answered.

She could hear her children's laughter downstairs. Her heart ached for a second remembering all the times she and Edmund walked down those stairs together and the children would be at the bottem asking them to play with them.

She looked over at Corin, he had grown so much. They were the same age, but he seemed so much older. Because she had been so in love with Edmund since she was fifteen, she had never noticed how handsome Corin was.

He had changed a lot in the last several years. He had grown up...and so had she.

With Edmund, her life was magical, a fairytale. It had been innocent and he protected that innocence.

Now that he was gone, so was her innocence. She had to grow up and it was painful and it was hard, but now she realized it was all part of living.

Back in his own world, Edmund was growing up and he would probably find someone else.

It was time to let go.

She hesitantly asked, "Would you like to come back to Narnia with us and stay here for a short while? My children enjoy your company and... I do too."

There were a few minutes of akward silence that made Annelise uncomfortable.

"Yes," said Corin, "I would like that very much."

One year later, Annelise and Corin were married. It was a happy event for both families. The children had a father again and Annelise had found someone to love. It was even happier marriage and together they had five children.

Although, Annelise never forgot Edmund and Corin didn't want her to forget nor her children.

Tumnus took over Narnia when she and her children moved to Archenland, a few months after the wedding.

On the day before they were to leave, Annelise was looking at the ocean. The same ocean that had led Edmund to her and her to him. She was in the same place where they had their first kiss.

So many memories. Maybe it was good that she leaving and starting a new life.

She looked down saw her new husband carrying Martin. At that moment he looked up and smiled at her. She smiled back - her heart swelled with so much love.

She placed her hand over her stomach and grinned. Their first child together. They would tell the children soon. Corin wanted a lot of children and she did too. In so many ways he was like Edmund, but still his own person.

She looked around. This had been her home for seven years. She was Narnian and always would be.

Her life was one of such mystery and wonder. So much had happened to her; so much she never could imagine.

Ever since the moment she met Edmund, her life had never been the same again.

Admist all the fears and dangers of her true identity and her lineage, the wonderful times with Edmund's family, the joy of seeing her Narnia family again, the few, short, happy years she had with Edmund and their children, and being a chosen one of Aslan.

All of that had taught her one thing. That she was not in control of her life. That there was a plan for her even though she did not know it at the time.

Through trials and triumphs, through laughter and tears that reflected the sad sweet memory of a man who came into her life and through his love gave her power to love others in return, even after he was gone.

Your life is never an assurance. In one moment it will change and nothing will ever be the same again.

The path you were once traveling on so assuredly will take a sudden turn and you must be strong enough to face the new challenges that it brings you.

Annelise looked up to the sun setting in the sky. The day was ending and a new one would soon begin.

Tomorrow she would leave her old life and start a new one in Archenland. No, she had never imagined this ever happening.

Then again, she had never imagined a lot of things that had happened in her life, and good or bad, she was glad that they did.