- Chapter 28 -
The three queens stood in shock, their eyes wide and mouths open. None of them could seem to collect their thoughts quickly enough.
Peter, Susan, and Edmund... missing? How did this happen?
"Twinklewing," Analiese said, her voice shaking. "Where are they?"
The bird shook his head sadly. "No one seems to know, your majesty."
They can't have just vanished. It's impossible!" said Avaline.
"Yes, someone must know," Analiese agreed.
"I know," Lucy murmured quietly. Up until this moment, the other two had forgotten she was there.
"Pardon?"
"I said, I know where they went," Lucy said in a louder tone. She locked eyes with each person in the room. "They went home."
"Home?" Avaline questioned. She threw her hands in the air. "Home? Lucy, this is home!"
"Not for us, Ava. Or have you forgotten our trip back just two years ago?"
The room fell silent. Everyone now recalled the stories of the kings and queens of old. They weren't Narnian-born.
"So you're telling me that my husband went to another world?" Analiese asked.
"Yes," Lucy answered.
"But why would they leave without you, Queen?" Twinklewing spoke up.
"They wouldn't. It isn't their decision. When we come and go is in Aslan's hands."
A tear slipped down Analiese's cheek. "So there is no way of knowing why they left or when they're coming back?"
"Right," Lucy confirmed.
Analiese looked down at her stomach, wondering what would become of her two children that were soon to be born. How would she raise two fatherless rulers?
"Look, this seems crazy now. I know that you are all worried about this. But if there is one thing I have learned, it is that Aslan always has a reason for what he does. If he wanted my siblings to leave Narnia, it was for their own safety or for the good of Narnia."
Loud trumpeting noises drifted up to the room from outside, and Twinklewing flew to the window.
"My Queens," he said, "King Caspian is back."
The three young women exchanged worried glances and hurriedly rushed downstairs to meet him. When they reached the front palace entrance, they saw three abnormal things.
The first was the thick coating of snow on the ground. This wasn't so strange, except it wasn't white like snow usually is. It was an icy blue, unlike anything they had seen before. The second thing was Caspian's appearance. He had grown out a small beard and his hair had grown longer. The last thing was the expression on his face. It was the saddest look any of them had ever seen on the Telmarine king's face.
Avaline handed Adela over to Lucy. "Caspian!" she cried, running to meet her cousin.
He wordlessly embraced her. She buried her face in his shoulder. The scent of his cloak reminded her of when they were growing up in the ruins of Cair Paravel without their parents, during the Dark Ages of Narnia.
Avaline felt something wet dripping onto her shoulder and looked up to see her cousin crying.
"They just disappeared. It was right after dinner. I had just gone into the cabin I was sharing with Edmund and I expected him to be right behind me. Ten minutes went by, and I figured he had decided to visit with his siblings before coming back to the room. But after twenty minutes, I went onto the deck to look for him. There was chaos on the ship.
"Thankfully, Twinklewing flew over to tell me what was going on. 'What in the Lion's name is going on?' I asked. I was having to shout over the loud wind. It was snowing, and I also had to cross my arms to keep warm.
"'They've vanished, your Highness!' he said.
"'What do you mean? Who has vanished?' I asked him.
"'The kings and queen. No one knows where they went!'
"I realized that they had gone back to where they came from and I was on the ship alone now. I was terrified."
Avaline hugged him tighter. "Oh, Caspian! I'm so sorry!"
"And the worst thing was," he began, his voice cracking. "I was going to tell Queen Susan that I loved her!"
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A month and a half went by quickly and without any negative occurrences. Caspian, Lucy, Avaline, and Analiese continued to wonder when the others would be returning to Narnia, or if they ever would.
Over this time, Calormen was quiet. It was almost frightening, actually. Just a short time before, the Narnians had been receiving terror threats and death threats from this country, and now they hadn't heard so much as a peep from them.
Adela was now five and a half months old, and Analiese was a month and a half from having the twins. Lucy was to turn sixteen in a month.
Time was flying, and the four Narnian rulers were just beginning to let down their guard.
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It was the seventeenth night of spring. The snow had melted, the clouds had left, and with those changes came blooming flowers, green leaves, and warm breezes. Spring was everyone's favorite time of year. It was time for new beginnings, a time for happiness.
Narnia was being prepared for the Spring Festival. The people and creatures were in good spirits, and the loss of the kings and queen had blown over, though it still posed a problem.
But that night, the calm was eerie. Lucy couldn't sleep, so she lay in bed awake for hours, staring at the ceiling. She wondered about her siblings. What did they tell their mother when they returned home without her? She wondered about home. What was going on there? Was everything okay. Most of all, she wondered if they missed her.
Lucy's last thought before finally drifting off into a deep sleep was, What if they never come back?
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"Get up," a deep, scratchy voice growled. "We have to go."
Caspian jerked awake, jolting upright in bed. He snatched his sword out of its sheath - which he slept with at all times - and pointed it around the room. Where was that voice coming from?
"Who's there?" he asked, his eyes searching the room for anything out of the ordinary. "You are messing with the King of Narnia. Answer me!"
"Caspian?" came a female's voice. His eyes flew to his bedroom door, which he realized had been opened. A golden light glowed in the doorway, and he saw Lucy standing in it. She was just a shadow, outlined by the light in the hallway.
He sighed. "Queen Lucy."
She walked over to him, coming to sit on the end of the bed across from him.
"I heard you talking in your sleep, is everything okay?"
"Yes, it was just a bad dream, I suppose." Along with this realization, he put his sword back in its place.
"You know, I've been having the nightmares, too," she said. "I think we all have."
He nodded.
"It's been a rough road, Caspian. None of us can totally wrap our heads around what happened. Especially me. I'm here alone now. My siblings, the only people I have ever been able to count on, have left. They're in a completely different world, and there is no way for me to reach them."
"You have me, Queen Lucy."
"And the same goes for you. But imagine losing Avaline. I am grateful for you and the girls, but it's not the same as having my real family here."
"I know, my Queen. But they will be back soon."
"That's what you think," she muttered.
"No, that is what I know." He gave her a small smile and placed his hand on hers. "Aslan will not put you in a situation that you are not ready for. He is not a bad lion."
"Thank you, Caspian," she managed to smile back, though it was a little smile. She stood up and began walking toward the door. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Queen Lucy," he said as she shut the bedroom door.
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The following morning went by as usual. The four royals had continued on with their lives the same as if the Pevensies had never left. It wasn't until the end of breakfast that morning that everything changed.
Biff had burst through the dining hall doors, eyes wildly searching the room. "Your Majesties," he said, "they're coming."
"Who?" Caspian asked, rising from his chair.
"The Calormenes. A whole army. I've been asked to get all of you out of here immediately."
"Wait!" Avaline stood as well, 6-month-old Adela on her hip. "How are we going to battle them if we're not here?"
"That is the point," Biff answered. "The Narnian army will handle the battle, if it comes to that. We need to keep Narnia's five remaining rulers safe. This is not a joking matter."
"How is this an intelligent decision?" Analiese asked. "Don't you need at least one of us here to make plans?"
"Exactly," Caspian agreed. "I'm staying here."
"No, my King, I don't think you get what I said."
Caspian's fist slammed against the table with a noise that echoed across the room. "No, I don't think you understand what I said," he shouted. "You will let me stay here, or you will be executed."
Biff shook his head. "Your Majesty, if the decision was up to me, I would allow you. But I was told by the High King that if he were ever to leave Narnia again, I was to keep all the current rulers safe, whatever the cost. If you wish to disobey the High King, then you wish to disobey the Lion."
Caspian sat back down in defeat. After a few moments of careful thought, he spoke again. "Okay. Where are you taking us?"
"To Durham. It's a day's journey on horseback, but you can make it before they arrive in Narnia if you hurry. Duke Camden has agreed to house you until it is safe for you to return."
And so without delay, the four of them began packing. Just an hour later, they were mounting their horses and saying their goodbyes.
"Will you be sending anyone with us?" Lucy asked Biff.
"Yes, actually," he replied. "Trumpkin! Reepicheep!"
And as if by some miracle, the brave and noble mouse and his short friend appeared from behind Biff.
"Reepicheep!" Lucy exclaimed, dropping to her knees to give the mouse a hug.
At that time, Avaline looked over at Lucy in the middle of her parting conversation with the Analiese and the nurses.
"By the Mane, it is my favorite mouse!" Avaline said. She kneeled beside the young queen to greet him.
"Yes, my Queens, it is I. I was most flattered when I was asked by this honorable dwarf to accompany you all."
Both queens laughed. "We've missed you!" they said in unison.
"And I have missed the both of you."
"Way to forget about me," Trumpkin muttered.
"Oh, you know I couldn't forget about you," Lucy joked as she embraced him.
"Are we done here?" Biff asked irritably. He had his arms crossed and was tapping his foot. "At this rate, the Calormenes be here before you're five minutes away."
And without further ado, each of the four climbed onto their horses, Adela sitting with Avaline, and Reepicheep and Trumpkin with Lucy, and Trumpkin. Then they left.
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The night came upon them quickly. Once the darkness took over, they were forced to make a camp for the night.
They had wandered a little off of their traveling path so as to confuse anyone who may be following them. Trumpkin built a fire in the middle of the wood, and they fell asleep around it soon after.
Lucy woke in the middle of the night to a quiet humming. Without making a noise, she removed her dagger from the belt around her dress.
"Who's there?" she whispered.
There was no answer for several moments. A movement to Lucy's right caught her eye. She gasped.
"The trees," she whispered.
The pink blossoms of the trees around her had joined to form a beautiful dryad. "Hush, my Queen," it said. "Follow me."
Lucy glanced around at her friends. They were all sleeping. She wouldn't be gone for long, and she'd be back before they woke. So she went after the dryad.
It weaved its form amongst the trees, touching their trunks with its flowery hand to wake them. The wind picked up, and they began to move. But they didn't dance.
The dryad stopped suddenly, then turned to look at Lucy. "It is here that I leave you, royal one. Aslan is waiting."
It pointed at something beside Lucy. No sooner had she turned to look than the dryad disappeared. She had pointed at a gap in between two trees, which grew together. It reminded Lucy of the tree Aslan had split apart in Telmar.
Before she could step forward to go through the opening, she woke.
"Queen Lucy, you have my apologies for waking you, but we have to keep moving."
She looked over to see Reepicheep staring at her expectantly.
Wait... was that just a dream? It felt so real.
"Oh, um, I'm sorry," Lucy said as she got up. She brushed off the skirt of her dress and looked around. The others were chatting a few yards away, standing by their horses.
"No, your majesty, it is fine," the mouse assured her.
About half an hour later, all of them mounted their horses to continue their journey to Durham. But Lucy couldn't seem to stop thinking about her dream from the night before.
It had seemed so real. She could hear the rustling of the leaves, she could feel the chilly morning air. How was it not real?
Aslan works in mysterious ways, she reminded herself. Maybe it was supposed to mean something.
She couldn't help but think that she may be missing the deeper meaning, but came up with nothing. What was Aslan trying to tell her?
A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I know it was a little short, but hopefully the next few will be longer. Please REVIEW and tell me your thoughts! What do you think is going to happen when they get to Durham? How will the war with the Calormenes go, and will it even come to that? What was the hidden meaning behind Lucy's dream? And most importantly, LOOK IN THE LAST TWO CHAPTERS (CHs. 26-27) AND HELP ME DECIDE WHICH BABY NAMES TO USE. PICK 2 BOY NAMES AND 2 GIRL NAMES FROM PETER AND ANALIESE'S LISTS THAT YOU LIKE, OR MAYBE ADD ONE THAT YOU'D LIKE TO SEE! Thanks for reading!
Oh, and The Royals aired yesterday! Did you watch? Watching William Moseley play someone other than Peter was super weird at first but I think the show was great! The idea of the show itself is pretty interesting.
