Merry Christmas! Here's the last chapter I have ready. Hope to have at least one more finished by the New Year.
Possible trigger warning for this chapter. It's hinted and alluded to but nothing is directly stated. Just a warning in case you guys pick up on it.
Chapter 16: The Witch's Return and Deep Conversations
As we drew closer, the halls grew cold and I could tell something evil lurked near. Everyone was on edge. Something wasn't right and we found out why as soon as we turned the corner. As soon as the Stone Table room was in view, Peter drew his sword and shouted "stop!" Edmund and Trumpkin weren't far behind.
Lucy and I, on the other hand, stopped at the entrance to survey the scene. There were too many people in a small space for everyone to go in fighting. There was a hag and a werewolf and each went after one of the brothers as they charged into the room. Nikabrik, as expected, was also there and began to duel with Trumpkin. Keeping an eye on the three pairs, I focused my attention on what was happening in the center of the room. It was the most horrifying sight and what drew my attention the most.
The Prince stood in front of the Stone Table, facing what should've been the carving of Aslan behind the archway. However, instead there was what appeared to be a block of ice with the White Witch's encased inside. I thought she was dead but she was moving and talking. Although it appeared she needed something from Caspian in order to be completely free. The Prince, on the other hand, seemed to be in a trance as he ignored all of the fighting and drew closer to the witch, hand outstretched.
"Ah!" Lucy screamed, in pain, drawing my attention back to the fighting that had been happening.
My eyes went to the source of the scream immediately and found Lucy on the ground. She must've charged in while I was watching Caspian in disbelief. Nikabrik held her dagger and began to approach with the intention of killing her. I had just enough time to pull my bow from the quiver when he collapsed on the ground. Trumpkin had stabbed him in the back to protect the Queen.
"Lucy!" I shouted and rushed to her side.
The werewolf howled again and I turned just in time to see Edmund kill it. After confirming Lucy was alright—she had cried out after all—I immediately sought out Peter. Two royals were safe, one was in a trance, and I had to find the other. After being unceremoniously tossed by the hag, Peter was left briefly unarmed. The hag tried to attack but he kicked her hard enough to throw her into pillar. As he went to retrieve his sword, I nocked an arrow and aimed. The hag tried to rush Peter again, but it ended up screeching as it fell, a well-aimed arrow lodged between its ribs.
Peter retrieved his sword and confirmed the hag was dead. He sent me a grateful look—the first time he looked at me with something besides anger—and quickly ran towards the Prince. "Stay away from him!" he shouted to the White Witch, pushing Caspian to the ground.
From my new angle I could tell there was a circle for the person to stand in. The Witch's broken staff was embedded in the steps between the circle and herself. A trail of ice lead from the from the block the Witch was trapped in to the ring where Peter stood. I could faintly see Peter's breath, indicating that the area was significantly colder than the rest.
When Peter pushed Caspian aside, he fell to the ground in a bit of a dazed. The Witch moved a little further into the ice, seemingly surprised. She quickly regained her composure though. She leaned forward and in her sickly sweet voice, she tried to entice Peter to free her.
"Peter, dear. I've missed you. Come on. Just one drop. You know you can't do this alone," she said, outstretching her hand from the tomb of ice.
Peter's next action surprised me. I thought for sure he would try and kill her. After all we had been through, he had to know this wasn't the solution. However, he began to slowly lower his sword while I flicked my gaze from him to Lucy, both equally surprised by her brother's actions. I wasn't sure it would work, but I grabbed another arrow and aimed at the Witch.
Trumpkin held Lucy back, signaling her not to get involved. It was possible the circle entranced the person standing inside—as both Caspian and Peter seemed to be—and neither one of us wanted her running in to stop him. Not only was it dangerous, but I was worried she wouldn't be able to withstand the temptation either.
I wanted to release the arrow, but doing so without being ordered would get me into more trouble. Lucy could've given it, but she seemed to shocked by her brother's actions to notice me. So I looked around for Edmund instead. He was no longer in my view and a quick glance around confirmed he wasn't near, causing me to frown as I tried to figure where he went. Footsteps came from behind and I glanced back to see Susan entering the room.
I returned my attention to the Witch. Just as I was about to throw caution into the wind, I saw a blade go through the Witch's from behind. The ice encasing her began to crack and she let out what I believed to be a groan of pain. Then, with a loud noise, the ice shattered like glass, sending large shards everywhere. The Prince—who was just making his way to his feet—and Peter covered their faces with their arms while the rest of us turned away. When I looked back, Edmund with his sword drawn, his face turned away from the group. He had stabbed the Witch, preventing her return.
"I know," Edmund said, voice emotionless. "You had it sorted." He then walked away with barely a passing glance to his brother.
The two at the center exchanged a glance with each other before turning towards us. Their faces held different expressions and the only one I could make out was disappointment from each of them. Susan glanced at Lucy, a mixture of anger and dismay on her face, before sending the look Peter's way. Then she stormed out of the room without so much as a word to either of them. She might not have seen the whole thing, but she had seen enough. All of us were very surprised and frustrated by what had happened.
No one knew what to say and the silence stretched through the room. An apology wouldn't cut it. Not after that. Both had let me down more than I thought they could. Peter might've been angry with me, but at least he was trying to do good by the Narnians. But this? It would've made things so much worse.
"How could you?" I stated because someone had to. "Both of you were willing to set her free? She would rather kill you than help you! You both know that she's done nothing to help the Narnians. Why...?" I couldn't finish, too dismayed by what they had done. I felt Lucy's hand on my arm, trying to comfort me. She knew I was upset.
"I didn't—" Caspian started, but his voice was hesitant. "I didn't know that was what they had planned. I just wanted... I wanted Miraz dead."
"And he used that..." Lucy surmised.
Both seemed ashamed and neither offered up any excuses. They knew it was wrong. They knew nothing they could say would make the situation better. Edmund stood quietly in the background and the others were silent as well. I could only imagine what they were thinking, how they were feeling. It had been too close a call for my comfort.
~Prince Caspian~
Without another word, we all began to disperse. I took one step and all my injuries started to catch up to me. Adrenaline and anger are really good at hiding just how much pain you're in. My headache came back with a roaring passion, my muscles were sore, my arm ached, and my ears were ringing. Someone noticed as I faintly heard them saying my name but I couldn't tell who. They sounded as though they were underwater.
While I didn't remember actually fainting, I also don't remember how I ended up sitting on the ground. I blinked my eyes a couple of times to try and refocus. When everything settled, I found Lucy's and Trumpkin's worried faces staring back at me. I was aware of the others' presence but they were just out of my line of sight. They were keeping their distance and trying not to crowd me.
"Are you alright?" Lucy asked.
"I will be," I stated. "Once the room stops spinning and my head doesn't feel like it's about to crack open."
Lucy frowned. "Did you hit your head?"
"I must've at some point," I told her, trying to be as honest as possible. I didn't want to hide my injuries and make them worse before a battle. "But I don't recall how or when." The memories from the battle at the castle were a little hazy and I barely remembered traveling in the back of a cart.
"You should have let me look earlier," she said.
Lucy found the bump before I even had time to process she was searching for it. I was good at hiding how much pain I was in, but with her in front of me she could make out my slight cringe at her touch. It was enough for her to know that was it. Though I imagine it was probably caked with dried blood as well and no one noticed because we had a prior problem to solve.
"Head injuries aren't usually as bad as they seem," I pointed out and Lucy nodded.
Her eyes quickly scanned for more injuries and landed on my arm briefly. After confirming I had nothing fatal, she stood up. Once she was up, Trumpkin rose as well and allowed me to see Peter and Caspian hovering in the background. Realizing I had drawn attention to myself, I felt slightly embarrassed and tried to look away. But there wasn't any place I could look from my angle where someone wasn't standing. Edmund was to my right and Trumpkin my left. I didn't have the energy to get up and leave the room to avoid the stares.
"You all can go," Lucy said with the confidence of the Queen she was. "I'm sure Ana doesn't want nor need an audience. I'll make sure she's alright." Bless Lucy for always being able to tell what I needed. Three sets of footsteps slowly left the room. One set stayed behind and I realized Edmund was the one that hadn't moved. I glanced up to see him watching me with something akin to worry in his eyes.
"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked, seeming hesitant to leave.
"I will be. I planned to get treated before anything happened but this whole thing..." I gestured to the archway where the Witch had been not long ago. "...delayed it. I just need to rest and get cleaned up. Lucy will make sure I don't make myself worse. You know how she gets. Just please don't tell Susan."
My attempt to lighten the mood worked as Edmund smiled and Lucy let out a light laugh. Then he nodded to his sister and he too left the room. Lucy was by my side, helping me to my feet, the moment he was gone. As soon as I stood up, I felt dizzy and had to rely on her for support. But it cleared after a moment and the two of us walked someplace we would be undisturbed.
"How's your arm?" I asked as we walked.
"What?" She seemed surprised.
"Nikabrik... He twisted your arm."
"Oh... It's a little sore but I'll be fine. I'm just more embarrassed he was able to get the upper hand like that."
"Well," I pointed out. "You rarely engaged in duels with just a dagger in your hands. Normally you had a sword or a bow—depending on what was needed at the time—and the daggers were for throwing."
"That's true, I suppose. But I am a bit out of practice. They won't let me fight."
"I know the feeling... Believe me..."
"I'm so sorry, Ana," Lucy stated. The change in her tone indicated the conversation had changed and I no longer knew what we were talking about.
"What?"
"It's my fault we left... If I hadn't run off looking for the wardrobe, the others wouldn't have followed. We would've been. We didn't mean to leave and I've blamed myself for it. I knew Narnia would be alright with you leading them. But I worried about you. It seems I had good reason to. I'm so sorry for whatever has happened to you."
"It's not your fault," I said, halting and turning so that I could look her in the eyes. "Nothing that happened here is your fault. Yes, your disappearance caused a strain on the Narnians, but we did well those first few years. Archenland helped us. But the doubt and lack of faith in Aslan sealed our fate. They didn't want Him around, didn't want to believe He was real and that costs us greatly. Aslan doesn't force himself on anyone and if he's not wanted, He will leave. And that's exactly what happened. He left and Narnia fell into ruin. Some still believe, some still have hope, but a majority kicked him out of their lives and therefore our land. I blamed myself for letting Cair Paravel fall, but not anymore. The Narnians wouldn't have survived if I hadn't. So, I'm not allowed to blame myself and neither are you."
She smiled and nodded. "Are you sure you're alright?"
"I'll be fine. It's a minor injury." We entered the designated infirmary area and Lucy guided me to an empty spot. centaur and a faun were tending to those injured from the attack. Luckily, there seemed to be very few of them.
"No... I mean," she paused, hesitant to speak. "I can't imagine the pain our disappearance caused you. Sure, the Narnians were greatly affected, but you? You're more than just a friend to us, you're family. And I know you felt the same way about us, so I can't imagine what you went through."
"It was hard," I admitted, "but I managed."
She didn't seem convinced and I sent her a frown. "I saw them, Ana," Lucy said, causing my frown to deepen more. "Did you think I wouldn't? The others may not have noticed, but I've gotten a closer look at you than most. I've seen the scars." I blinked at her, unsure what to say. She grabbed my wrist, gesturing to some of the fading scars that were still visible. "These are scars from wearing cuffs for long periods of time. You were restrained... For years. And these... Some look self inflicted, but the most were clearly caused by others' hands—you can tell by the angle. These are just your arms. I can only imagine what other old injuries you're hiding."
Her comments had me pulling my arm away and trying to hide them. "Things happen. But I survived. That's all the matters."
Her eyes flooded with realization and I tried to figure out what I had said. "I'm so sorry. You were..." she paused again, this time seemingly unable to say the words.
"No," I stated, shutting it down immediately. I couldn't bear to hear the words anymore than she could say them. I assumed she had come to the right conclusion, but I didn't want to find out. I lied instead, hoping she would believe me. "Most of these are injuries from fights I had over the last 1300 years. I did cause some of them myself, I regret to say, but I felt so alone. That's my fault, for pushing everyone away. But I'm fine now. The rest just sort of happened over time..."
She didn't look convinced and I couldn't figure out a way to explain away the marks the cuffs had left. Lucy had been right on that assumption—and likely the others—and I didn't know what to say. I didn't want her to worry about me. It was in the past and nothing that happened to me was her fault. I couldn't have her thinking that it was. It was neither her nor her siblings' fault that I ended up where I did. That was all on me, the choices I made.
Lucy looked ready to argue when the faun approach. Instead, she directed her attention to healing what she could. "Ana's got a head injury and probably a concussion," she told the faun. "Please see to it that she gets rest and I'll make sure my siblings do not disturb her."
"Lucy..." I protested.
"You know as well as I that head injuries can be very serious. You need to rest if you want to be of any help in our next battle." I sighed, knowing she was right. But I hated resting when there were things to do.
"We'll keep an eye on her, your Majesty," the faun stated.
I did as Lucy ordered, for a bit. Laying still helped my head to stop pounding and the pain dissipated a little. But I couldn't lay around for long. So when they two disappeared, I made my escape. I would rest, as Lucy suggested, but not there. It brought up too many had memories. So I made my out onto the How's ledge. Where I could have some peace and quiet along with fresh air. Nothing cleared one's head better than that.