Once Upon Another Time
The Narnians camped on the Plain of Beruna, resting beneath the stars, the night skies shining with light.
It seemed that Narnia rejoiced that its true ruler was restored, and the woods sang with joy, the wind crooning as it swept gently across the plains.
The next morning, they entered the old Castle of the Telmarines, Caspian already bearing the Crown of his ancestors, the five monarchs of Old riding in behind him, arrayed in silk and satins.
Elednor smiled and laughed gaily at the coronation, as Caspian was crowned King by Aslan, but inside she was filled with dread.
Somehow she knew that her time in Narnia was at an end.
That night, she sat in a chair beside the central dais on which Caspian's stood, her family dancing and happily talking with the mingling Narnians and Telmarines while fireworks showered the sky outside with light. They all looked happy, relieved but Elednor sensed a sadness in Peter and Susan, a resignation.
It seemed she was not alone in her dread.
Tearing her gaze away from her beloved Edmund, resplendent in olive green and swapping war stories with some Centaurs, she looked towards Aslan, proud and golden in the candlelight, watching the celebrations with a peaceful expression on his solemn face. She looked at him as he turned his deep eyes on her, and she froze, understanding everything in his sad, wise mind.
Her time was up.
As was the Pevensies. They could not stay, they would return to the world and the lives from whence they came and she…she was a Queen of the Golden Age, and that age was long over. Caspian would not need her, Narnia was safe once more and she was tired, weary in soul. She loved Edmund dearly, she loved Peter, Susan and Lucy but what was the point in lingering on? She could only hope she would one day see them again, in Aslan's Country but her time was over, as was theirs.
It was time for the Five Kings and Queens to depart Narnia, and leave her to the guardianship of Caspian.
And she would see Elyan and Laramine again. A fierce yearning sprang up in Elednor's breast, and a tear dropped from her unguarded eyes. Maybe even her mother, father and brother, and all those she had lost over the years.
Raven, Aisla, Tumnus, Lune, Cor, Aravis, Orieus, Tregarth, the Beavers, Eldred and so many more. She had lost so much, and that lack still remained in her soul. No, she would go and she knew where to go.
With Edmund. He alone would she take to find her final resting place.
She nodded once to Aslan, who bowed his head gravely before looking to Edmund. As if feeling the Great Lion's gaze on him, the Just King looked up and saw him, and then looked to Elednor and silently went to her side.
"Love, what is it?" he asked solemnly, concerned by the look in her eye. She sat ensconced in her chair, as queenly as she had been the day he had met her, in Tashbaan, covered in dirt and shabby rags, bound and shackled. Now she was sheathed in cream and white silk, high necked, the long sleeves falling from her elbows to the ground, bound with gold thread, her hair unfettered.
"Tell your brother and sisters that we must leave soon. We have far to go," she murmured, standing gracefully. Edmund frowned.
"Why? Where?" he asked.
"Lantern Waste. We must return to where it all began," she replied quietly. Edmund took her hand, squeezing it tightly, already shaking his head in denial. Neither saw Lucy watching them intently, worry on her young face. "Its time."
Concern only grew in Edmund, as he stared at his wife, and then back at Aslan who nodded his great head.
"I lost you once," he began. "And I have found you again. I'll go where you lead, my love."
"Thank you," Elednor smiled sadly, before stepping down from the dais, and leaving the hall. Just as silently, Edmund left the hall and the celebrations to saddle the horses, even as three sets of feet followed him.
He quickly tacked up the horses, stroking them soothingly as they stamped and neighed at this sudden excursion, before going to the kitchens and taking some bread, dried fruit and a waterskin for the journey. Lantern Waste was some miles away, but it would take them only a day to get there, so he needn't take more.
As he returned with his supplies, he wasn't surprised when Peter, Susan and Lucy stepped from the shadows of the stables. Edmund noted that his older brother had fetched his sword and cloak from his rooms.
"Ed, what are you doing?" Peter asked gravely. "Where are you going in the middle of the night?"
"Lantern Waste. Elednor and I are going. Alone," he added, as Lucy opened her mouth.
"Something's wrong. I can feel it," the little girl said fearfully. Susan hushed her and hugged her to her side.
"I'll be back in a day or two," Edmund assured them. "We're both armed, and the roads are safer now."
"I don't doubt that, Ed," Peter stepped forward, clapping his shoulder. "I just… have this bad feeling. Like every thing is coming to an end, for me at least."
"I've felt it too," Susan added gently, looking away, to the castle and Caspian.
"Well, I haven't," Lucy muttered determinedly. "It isn't over yet."
"No, maybe not for us," Edmund replied, as a figure cloaked in white appeared in the archway of the stables. "But for others, it may be so."
Without another word, he took his sword from Peter and strapped it to his waist, slinging the dark cloak around his shoulders. Wordlessly, he and Peter led the horses out to the courtyard, where Elednor waited, pensive and silent.
Lucy could not hold back her tears as she hugged Elednor tightly, and the other girl hugged back, before embracing Susan.
"We'll miss you," the Gentle Queen whispered, as she looked into her sister-in-law's youthful face. Elednor smiled.
"And I you. But its time," she breathed, and Susan nodded. "Narnia does not need us anymore, and I am free now."
"Free to do what?" Lucy asked fearfully, before hugging her again. Elednor did not answer.
At last they stepped back, to allow Peter to wordlessly embrace her, as she kissed his cheek. "Take care, Elednor," he whispered. "And I am sorry for everything."
"You have long since repaid any debt to Narnia, Peter," she replied, for his ears alone. "I wish you joy in all your endeavours, until we meet again."
"Yes, until we meet again," Peter vowed, smiling cockily as she stepped away to where Edmund waited with their mounts. She pulled herself up, took up the reins and then looked out at her family from her hood.
"We will meet again," she told them, fiercely. "I promise. I love you all."
Silent sobs wracked Lucy's chest as she watched Elednor and Edmund gallop away, across the drawbridge, through the town and out into the countryside, Susan's arm replaced by Peter's, as they stood in courtyard.
"It'll be alright Lu," Peter told her softly. "Everything has its time, and Elednor has had hers. She deserves a rest, and one day, we will see her again."
Without warning, Caspian's voice interrupted their private grief, as he came to Susan's side. "She will be remembered," he told them, "I vow it. The tale of Elednor the Courageous will be told, and passed down, to all, as will yours."
"Thank you," Susan smiled weakly, taking his hand and squeezing it. The four monarchs looked out, towards where Edmund and Elednor had gone, Lucy fancying she could see a speck of white from Elednor's cloak in the moonlight, before they returned to the light and warmth of the hall, and the celebrations of a new age.
Edmund and Elednor travelled without stopping, without rest through the night, alert for any wandering groups of Telmarine soldiers still loyal to Sospesian or Miraz, or brigands and wild animals.
But Narnia was serene, at peace and as Edmund glanced at his travelling companion, he noted she was the same.
At last they entered the woods of Lantern Waste, their duchy of old, and he felt his spirits rise, feeling the tang of old magic in the air, as the sun rose over the horizon, and the leaves were painted gold. The forest was dense, and soon they were obliged to leave the horses beside a little stream and go on foot, Elednor leading the way.
Soon, they came to a small glen, and there, tall and unbending, stood the Lamp post. Edmund almost fancied he spotted the sleeve of a fur coat in the dense fir trees beyond it.
Where it had all begun, their adventures in Narnia, and now for, Elednor, it was where it would end.
But he didn't want it to.
He turned to her, youthful, weary, hood back and hair streaming freely in the warm breeze, and he took her hands.
"Elednor, please," he breathed. "Don't make me lose you again."
"Edmund," she sighed. "What can be done? I cannot come to your world, you cannot stay here and I…cannot linger on anymore. Our time is over, and a new age has begun. Let me go, let me rest."
He felt the hot prickle of tears in his eyes, and he closed them tightly, refusing to cry as the forest awoke around them, life filling the air. Elednor kissed him then, heart breaking even as it rose in hope of seeing her lost loved ones again, of seeing him again when his time came.
But not yet. He still had more to do, to accomplish in this world and his own.
His time had not ended.
He kissed her hard, hands sliding into her long hair, tightly holding her to him. When she began to grow dizzy, she broke away, opening her eyes. She gasped.
Edmund had grown older in that one short moment, restored to the full flower of his manhood, as he had been before he had left Narnia thirteen hundred years before. She touched his face wonderingly, and stroked it, not sure if she was dreaming. He opened his eyes, and shock too filled his eyes, and she guessed she too had been restored to her youth, as she was when they had been parted, and smiled.
"What…? How?" he gasped, stroking her honey gold hair back from her face, as she glanced around. The air hung thick around them, silence filling it, the very leaves seemingly tinged with gold.
Old Narnia.
It was almost as if they had been transported back in time, in a tiny bubble, outside of which life still went on, the rivers ran, the birds sang and the sun rose and fell in the sky. But there, they were suspended, in their true world, restored to who they really were.
"Aslan," Elednor breathed. "I think this is his last gift to us."
Edmund looked at her then, before he reached for her, and the body which came against hers was hard and mature, his hair longer and straighter, his face and burning eyes older.
Her husband.
With tears in her eyes, she kissed him joyfully, lost in his arms, his body as he made love to her there, for the first time in millenia, and for the last time.
It seemed mere moments to Edmund when Elednor stirred in his arms, face radiant, weariness and pain gone, the shadows departed from her. He had wrapped their cloaks around them, more for modesty's sake than for warmth in this mild grove where Time stood still.
He did not want to let her go, as he gazed down at the mother of his children, his wife and queen. He remembered his proposal to her, his words in that meadow.
"I want to sit beside you in the Great Hall of Cair Paravel. I want to wake up beside you every morning, to ride into battle with you when Narnia is threatened from without, to hold you when you're with my child, to kiss you without restraint or fear. I want you to be mine, my Queen, my consort, the mother of our children, my helpmate and my lover for the rest of my days."
They had fulfilled all those things, until he had been taken from Narnia, and looking back on their life together, the only thing he would have changed was the decision to go hunting with his siblings that ill-fated day. If he had stayed, if he had been with his pregnant wife instead with of riding through the very woods they were now lying in…
A gentle hand on his cheek broke Edmund from his reverie, as he looked down into Elednor's perceptive silver eyes.
"There's no point dwelling on the past," she whispered. "I would not change a single moment of it."
"Even that part where I left you, and our children, alone?" he asked quietly.
"Nay, for if you had not…if we had lived out our days together until we died, then we would not have been able to aid Caspian, and Narnia would still be under the thrall of tyranny once more. It was meant to be," she replied simply. "Don't let all that has happened make you lose faith in Aslan."
"I know, I just…don't want to let you go," he finished, burying his head in her hair, as she held him to her.
"It will not be for long. We will be reunited, in Aslan's Country, I am sure of it," she breathed. "Your family need you, Edmund; Narnia will need you again one day, and you mustn't let that go."
"But I need you," he raised his head, agony ingrained in every strong line, every chiselled feature. Elednor stroked them, perhaps for the last time, even as he pressed a kiss to her palm.
"And I love you, but I'm tired, Edmund," she whispered, closing her eyes and resting her head against his chest. "So tired, so weary. I have lost too much, and Narnia needs the last Queen of the Golden Age no more. I have lived longer than any, and now it's my time. I have accomplished all I was meant to, and I have found you again, and loved you again. My only regrets are that we did not have more time, and that Laramine perhaps learned the wrong lesson from our story, that love can destroy as well as conquer. If I could change that, I would."
Edmund stroked her hair gravely, tears drying as he watched her. "I'm loath to do it, but I will let you go, if I must," he finally spoke, stiltedly, and were it not for the solemnity of the moment, Elednor would have laughed.
"You sound like a King again," she murmured, leaning up to kiss his jaw, and then his lips once more, before standing gracefully. "Come, we should dress. Our time is running out."
They stood and dressed in silence, both savouring the other's presence, Elednor committing his image to memory once more, knowing it might be long before she saw him again. She had forgotten how handsome he was, in the full power and strength of his manhood, a mighty King of Old, wise, subtle, cunning, and almost ageless as he stood before her.
Edmund stole glances at Elednor, as she dressed quickly, at her long supple figure and the honey-gold tresses that hung down her back. In her, he glimpsed once more the glory of the Golden Age, and when she turned to him, cloak fastened once more around her shoulders, it was Queen Elednor the Courageous, sword maiden of Daria, Fire Lily of Narnia, his wife and Queen, co-ruler of the Golden Age, figure of Legend.
She was right. Narnia needed her no longer, for there were new legends to be written, new tales to be told. Her time was at an end, and he would only be prolonging the pain she hid in the very centre of her being if he kept her here, where she did not belong.
Suddenly, the golden light in the grove strengthened, almost becoming too strong, and Edmund squinted as Elednor spun and stared towards the trees beyond the Lamp Post, and into the depths of the forest.
"It is time," she whispered, and her eyes must have seen something he could not because they lit up with a joy that was almost painful to see. "I can hear them. Edmund?"
"I'm here, my princess," he replied, using his old name for her, before their marriage, when the darkness had haunted her and he had brought her to Narnia. He took her hand, and he too could hear voices calling her name. He knew them with ease, despite never hearing them before, or not for a long time.
Elyan. Laramine. Aisla. Daryl. Orieus. Tumnus. Her mother. Her father. Her brother.
Aslan.
He made to step towards the trees, where the golden light was strongest, where they had disappeared back into the wardrobe in old Professor Kirk's mansion, but she stopped him.
"It's not your time yet, Edmund," she told him quietly, before reaching up and kissing his forehead tenderly. "I love you."
"As I love you," he whispered, taking her hand and kissing it softly, memorising the taste of her skin and the feel of her fingers beneath his lips.
"We will meet again," she vowed, before she stepped away, towards the golden light. Edmund moved behind her, trying to keep her in sight for as long as possible, his heart pounding with every step she took away from him, his heart breaking once more.
She paused one last time, turning around and meeting his eyes, a rapturous smile on her lovely face, the light enshrouding her, making her look like an angel.
"This is not the end," she said. "We will meet again."
And with that, she turned and was lost to him, and even as he started forward with a cry, he glimpsed a rolling green country within the golden light before it faded, and he was left behind, the world returning to normal, and he knew himself with it. He felt his body shrink, his hair recede slightly, his clothes hang slightly looser on his body, and knew he was a boy once more.
And Elednor was gone.
No trace of her remained, except for the scent of her hair in his nostrils, and he inhaled deeply, wanting to fix it into his memory. Fighting back tears, he turned and silently went back to their horses, leaving the Lamp Post behind, leaving Lantern Waste behind, and returned to Caspian's castle.
It was a lonely journey, and the extra horse only reminded him of Elednor, of her loss, but he would not weep. She was at peace, at last, and he would see her again, one day.
His family were waiting for him when he rode back into the courtyard, and a groom took the horses from him as he dismounted. Without a word, Peter embraced him, Susan and Lucy joining in, tears in their eyes, before Edmund straightened.
"She's at peace," was all he said, before he met the eyes of Caspian and Aslan as they stood on the steps of the castle. "We will see her again."
"Queen Elednor and her deeds will not be forgotten," Caspian said, stepping forward and clasping his shoulder. "I promise."
"Thank you," Edmund murmured, before looking to Aslan who merely stared at him. Understanding shot through him, and he inclined his head to the Great Lion, who stared at him with fierce pride, sadness and love. Without reserve or embarrassment, he went to him and buried his face in Aslan's mane.
"You have done well, my Son," was all that he said, as Edmund straightened. The sun came from behind a cloud, and a warm breeze blew from the sea, far away, and ruffled his dark hair. Edmund closed his eyes, feeling as if a phantom hand stroked his cheek.
I will be with you. We will be together again…
He opened his eyes at the whisper, Elednor's whisper, and smiled.
In the days after the Pevensies left Narnia, Caspian was true to his word. He commissioned great scrolls, decorated with intricate artworks and calligraphy, telling the story of the Five Monarchs of Legend, and the true story of the Last Queen of the Golden Age of Narnia. He had the forest around Lantern Waste cleared so the grove where the Lamp Post stood was accessible again, and a golden statue of the legendary Queen was set there, beside the Lamp Post, marking the place where she disappeared from all eyes, and into Legend.
When Edmund and Lucy left Narnia for the last time, Caspian commissioned more statues upon his return from the voyage of the Dawn Treader, one of Peter, Susan and Lucy, set at Cair Paravel in the throne room, and one of Edmund and set it next to Elednor's in Lantern Waste. Every year, until the breaking of Narnia, each monarch made sure the grove was kept cleared and the statues cleaned, to preserve the last memories of the Golden Age.