Part 3

It's never goodbye, only so long.

Edmund

I was a general, and a king. My people needed me.

But I needed her. Her eyes made her the waves, and I was the shore. She searched for me through the crowds of people, but I just as much wanted to kiss her. I couldn't. But I wanted nothing else. What if the distance only severed what we had?

I wouldn't see Eleanor Astley again for a long time.

"Edmund, we have to do it."

Peter's words ran through me like ice. "I know," I answered, rubbing my hands down my face and over my neck. "How shall we proceed?"

"The Narnians have every right to know. They are all in this war. Twenty Narnians have died today because of this. We will announce it to the soldiers once we get them all sorted together. And then we will head to camp and propose our idea for everyone else," he said, standing beside me at the debris that now lead up to the entrance of Cair Paravel. His face was ash-stricken, just like the castle's pillars.

The fire had been tamed, but not before it had eaten the roof of the castle and the entire right side that shone towards the ocean. That is where Caspian stood with the other soldiers. Even at the gates, I could see him. The castle was an open ashtray, faint smoke flying from its edges and insides and out into the open sky.

"Men!" I called, planting the soldier's attention on me and motioning them over. They followed my voice and soon stood, on edge, waiting for either Peter or myself to speak. Sun shone through the open castle, as it was setting on the ocean, making it hard to look at everyone clearly as spoke.

"Solomon attacked because he believes Archenland is in danger of the White Witch, Jadis," I began, making sure my voice was loud enough over their urgent whispers. "He believes Narnian is working alongside with someone who can bring her back."

"Well is it true?" someone from the crowd called.

A pause was held for a moment before Caspian took the stand. "Yes," he said, and even over the soldier's hubbub he continued, "But this is not Narnia's intentions. Nobody means any danger and nobody is planning to bring back the Witch."

Caspian turned to me and Peter for a moment, a long gash of red shining along his chin, "I've seen what Solomon's capable of. What he's willing to do," he added, now speaking to Peter and I as well as everything else. His voice was not hesitant. "He will not stop until he has this source, and I'm assuming that he set these fires in hopes to kill it."

He turned to me for a moment, his eyes sad, "It is lucky that they were not successful in that plan. Solomon and his men have now retreated, but they will come again soon," his voice got louder now, "We must be ready to defeat them, and only then can we try to reason with him."

The hushed whispers that had previously occupied those in the crowd of warriors had now risen to angry shouts. "Who is this source?" most of them said.

I exhaled heavily, turning away from them for a moment. Peter's head nodded at me slightly, as if encouraging me on.

I pictured her smile for a moment, far away from me, but that memory was soon long gone.

"Men! Settle down!" I yelled, and soon the rumble of their voices died.

"You have the right to know who Solomon wants," I said, my voice starting to shake. "It is the girl: Eleanor Astley. Like my siblings and I, she came from the other world. Her mother worked for Jadis a long time ago, but got a second chance at life so Aslan sent her away."

Voices rose again. Peter stepped forward. "Quiet down!" he shouted. "You are soldiers. It is your duty to serve Narnia, and as you know in this country, we do not stand to see the innocent killed. We must protect Eleanor and her family. That is what we ask you to do. Aslan does not send anyone to Narnia simply to die."

For the first time, the men's voices were gone after he had spoken.

"We will lead to camp, where our full plan will be proposed so all the Narnians know what to do," Peter explained, examining the crowd as if they were a pack of wild animals nearing their release. His eyebrows scrunched in forms that made his face look much older than he was, but I suppose that was due to the anxiety this day had brought on all of us.

The crowd had dispersed, most heading directly towards the forest, as I approached Peter, "Should we tell some of them to keep an eye on Eleanor?"

Peter's eyes searched mine for something and then looked away, as if what he was looking for was not there. "Ed…" he trailed off. "Eleanor's probably already gone."

At camp, Mr. Astley was just inside, perched on the edge of the log, one leg shaking.

When he saw us, he immediately stood up. "Did you find them?" he rushed, though I assumed her already knew the answer to that. He had agreed to stay, but was driven out by some of Solomon's men so he retreated after a couple hours. Peter cast his eyes towards me before leading the soldiers away from us.

"I'm afraid not," I shook my head solemnly. His eyes washed over in fear. "Is there nothing more we can do? Has anybody reported seeing them?"

"Do not lose hope," I tried to console, placing a hand on his shoulder. "They may just have gotten lost in the chaos. We will send out a party to find them. If they had not survived, we would have seen them."

Mr. Astley's hand ran over his face and covered his eyes. I tried to imagine myself in his shoes because I was not one of natural empathy, but I could not. How must it feel to lose your wife? Your child? When a war is all you're surrounded by, how must it feel to be locked away by those who oppose you? And not have the experience to change the sitaution? What do you call a man who is not only loosing his family, but everything he has risked his life for?

After a moment, Mr. Astley's hand separated from his face. "Okay," he said, releasing a shaky breath that sounded like it was on the verge of shattering.

Tents were set up at the clearing, and I could see in the center of the chaos that James watching us from afar. Peter was right.

"When did Eleanor and Sophia leave?" I inquired, my voice much softer than before as I looked around the camp.

Mr. Astley shifted slightly. "Many hours ago. They didn't want to, but your sisters told them where we are headed. We will meet them there. They are just taking a different route than us for their safety."

My head jerked towards him in concern. "They didn't go alone, did they?"

"God, no," he answered quickly, hands in his pockets. "Queen Susan got a soldier and told them of the situation. He went with them."

"Do you know his name?"

He pressed his lips together. "Ordires, I believe."

I nodded, shaking my head slightly as I processed everything, "I'm so sorry about this all," I told him, eventually, filling a thick silence. "You got your family back, and now you're torn apart."

I tried not to act like it was killing me to know that she was away from me.

His head went to the ground, almost like he was ashamed. "It is my family's fault. We shouldn't have pretended this wasn't going to happen. A complete elephant in the room," he scoffed. "And now they're all gone."

The kind eyes of his crinkled as he tried to hold back tears, just the way she did.

"Don't lose hope," I said again. "We cannot worry until we have none of that left."

Nodding slightly, he clapped a hand on my back. The gesture was sad, like he was physically trying to comfort me, but deep down I could feel that he was trying to cover up how much he lacked the comfort himself. It is easy to give away things you do not have.

"The Narnians who aren't going to fight should go to Owlwood, as far away from the Archenland border as possible," Susan was saying. I had found my siblings and Caspian inside one of the larger, red-fabricated tents, leaning anxiously over a map of Narnian that was rolled out onto a table for their viewing. Once greeting them quickly with small smiles, I melted into their debate.

"And then we can all travel to the Stone Table," Peter added. "We know the areas better than Solomon. We could have the element of surprise if he follows us. He'll try to lead us away from the places we know. Let's lead him there first and end this."

"Well we have to," Lucy said defiantly. "That's where we told Sophia and Eleanor to go."

Caspian's tongue clicked as if contemplating the idea.

"Maybe that's just the reason to not go, then," he suggested carefully, eyes running over all of us. "Eleanor and Sophia would never have left if they had known we wouldn't have soon followed. If they're away from us, they're away from the war."

"So you're saying that we should just lie to them and go somewhere else?" Susan asked, as if the idea was ridiculous. "What happens if Solomon finds them? They can't be alone for two long, even with Ordires. They'll die." Her words stung my skull.

Peter's form leaned on the table, over the map, and shook his head. For a long time, he didn't say anything, and that got me thinking. Mr. Astley knew there was an elephant in the room. And still, nobody was talking of it.

"We have to be with them, as much as possible," I expounded suddenly, grazing my fingers lightly over the creased and corrugated map. "What if the Witch tries to tempt Eleanor in the way she tempted Peter all those years ago? The winged is the server of the Witch, and I don't know how strong her will is going to be if something like that does happen again."

Lucy nodded thoughtfully. "Do you think there's anything on that stuff? In the book? Could Eleanor really bring the Witch back on her own?"

I raised my hand slightly, almost in a shrug. "Only one way to find out."

As we exited the tent, Lucy came beside me.

"Did you find Margot and Jude?"

I shook my head. She bit her lip in unease.

Evangeline was the last one who was seen with the book, and we all soon found her just inside one of the healing tents, attending to many of those who had cuts and bruises marked across their bodies like tattoos.

She saw me peak into the tent, her face immediately turning to one of pity as approached all of us anxiously waiting outside.

"I don't have it," she said instantly, almost regretful. "Eleanor took it. She needs it more than you do."

With eyes widened. I asked curiously, "And why would that be, Evangeline?"

The dryad swallowed. Even over the background noise of Narnians walking about camp, I could sense her disquietude behavior seeping through her skin. "Edmund, she is it. She needs to understand."

"You're not answering the question," Caspian said, almost as a warning, at my side.

What did she mean Eleanor needs to understand? Did she not already know what she was?

"Oh, no," Susan breathed suddenly, filling Evangeline's silence with her realization. "Eleanor went to go find Aslan."

Author's Note: Wow. I really am a terrible person. Nearly three weeks has gone by and this chapter isn't even that long. I'm truly sorry. Life is getting crazy right now and I just want to let all my readers know that even if I do take breaks like this I would never abandon a story with so many loose ends to tie up. I'm still trying to work out the plot and figure out how many chapters this going to be exactly but I hope you all won't get bored of this anytime soon. Anyway, thanks to all these lovely peoples for their support in my story. I'm so grateful to have living, breathing people looking over my work. I just think that's the coolest thing ever and I cannot thank each and every one of you enough:

Shayran16, Beautiful-Bird-Avenger99, Masiko, Hadam, Alexa Indigo, SweetSunnyRose, Pinkbubblegum13, Honor Bridge, Dei-Chan13, WinterRose013, QueenofEpic, NinaVuelta93, jigokunoouju, anna-ballerina, ecatsue, sarahmichellegellarfan1, Padamoose, pluviophile, and S.G. Hix.

Also, if you couldn't have already guessed, I'm going for the mega story. I was leaning more towards this anyway because, personally, the only thing a sequel would do for me is move my story from one place to the other.

I also updated this last minute so if there are spelling/grammar errors (or, at least, more than usual) I apologize and please please pleasee let me know.

I hope to update ASAP. Thank you for being patient with me.

-JK