Cassia turned when the door to the Professor's study opened and the man himself walked inside. "Good afternoon, Professor," she said with a genuine smile.

"Princess," the Professor greeted with a small bow.

While the Professor was a firm believer in the old Narnian tales and therefore he and Cassia disagreed on many things, Cassia had no reason to dislike him. He had always been a source of kindness for both her and Caspian while they grew up, and no matter how frustrated Cassia grew during their arguments, he always remained perfectly civil with her. She appreciated that he respected her as a woman and not just because she was a princess.

But when the two soldiers responsible for taking one of Caspian's kidnappers out onto the lake returned with news of six other strange humans, Cassia and her uncle both decided to pay a visit to the old man.

"You have quite a library, doctor," Miraz drawled as he thumbed through one of the man's books.

"Is there anything particular you seek, my lord?" the Professor asked.

"I think I've already found what I'm looking for." Miraz picked up a red-feathered arrow and slammed it directly in the middle of one of the Professor's open and weathered books. "In one of my soldiers!"

The Professor looked down at the picture the arrow had penetrated. It was an old drawing of the five Kings and Queens of the Golden Age, and the arrow had torn a hole right in between King Peter and Queen Susan's heads.

Miraz fell back into a chair and propped his feet onto the table.

Cassia gently knocked his feet down again. "Uncle, it is unbecoming to put one's feet on the furniture, particularly furniture that is not yours."

Miraz clenched his jaw as he looked away from her.

The Professor's heart beat fiercely in his chest as he looked up at Cassia. He knew more than anyone that the princess was not a bad person, her heart had just been terribly misguided. Though she adored Miraz, she had never told him about the Professor disobeying a direct order from him when it came to his telling Cassia and Caspian the Old Narnian tales. He desperately hoped it was because she wanted to know more about them even if she claimed she didn't. As much as he had always tried to steer her back into the right direction, she was the only one who could make the choice to follow Aslan rather than turn away from him.

"What do you know of Queen Susan's horn?" Miraz asked the Professor.

"It was said to be magic," the Professor admitted.

"Magic?"

"The Narnians believed it could summon their Kings and Queens of Old. At least, such was the superstition."

Miraz stood and walked up to the older man, towering over him menacingly. "And what does Caspian know of this superstition?"

"My lord, you forbade me from mentioning the old tales."

"So I did."

Cassia frowned as General Glozelle and two of his solders stepped into the room.

The Professor looked at Miraz defiantly. "I will say this. If Caspian does know of the Deep Magic, my lord would have good reason to be nervous."

The soldiers roughly took the Professor by the arms and escorted him out of the room.

"Uncle, was that necessary?" Cassia asked. "The Professor has always been kind and dutiful to our kingdom. He taught me and my brother everything we will need to know to rule someday."

Miraz gently cupped his niece's face in his hands. "Do you trust me, dear?"

Cassia sighed. "Of course I do. With my life."

"Do you know why I forbade the old Narnian tales?"

"I thought it was just because they were childish fairy tales, but…after this morning…"

"I would not have led this kingdom as well as I have after my brother's death if I did not properly study Narnian history, true or not. I tried to keep the castle's staff from telling you and your brother such tales in order to keep your head from filling with the notion that those creatures of all kinds simply got along with one another and that peace was attainable. I feared that you might seek out Narnian creatures or the kings and queens yourselves and get hurt or killed in the process. And now, you see that my fears have been justified with your brother's disappearance at the hands of the Narnians."

"Do you think it's true? That the Kings and Queens of Old Narnia have been called back after all this time?"

Miraz handed her the red-feathered arrow. "Only one person uses this kind of arrow. The one known as Queen Susan."

Cassia's head spun as she quickly reevaluated everything she'd ever believed. "Could they have helped capture my brother?"

"It is possible. Or the Narnians may be holding him for the Kings and Queens to do with him as they wish."

"But…you'll find him, won't you?"

"Of course, dear." He looked towards the doorway. "Lord Sopespian!" he called.

Lord Sopespian finished his conversation with Lord Glozelle outside the study and then they both entered the room. "Princess," he greeted with a bow.

Cassia nodded to him.

"How long until the bridge is finished?" Miraz asked hardly.

"Construction continues on schedule."

"That's not good enough. I need my army across that river now."

"May I suggest you contribute some of your own men? I've only so many at my disposal."

"A fact you'd be wise to remember." Miraz looked at General Glozelle standing towards the entrance. "Go to Beruna. Take as many troops as you need. We must get to Caspian before they do."

Glozelle nodded and exited the study to fulfill his orders.

"'They', my lord?" Sopespian asked.

"It's time you learned your history."

Cassia admired how her uncle could so firmly take control of any situation, no matter how dire it may be. He was so devoted to his family's well-being and always knew just what to say to calm her down when she grew worried or restless.

She didn't understand why no one else seemed to see him the way she did.

The six children and the dwarf slowly made their way down the river in the small boat that the Telmarine soldiers had abandoned. It was a very tight fit, but they had managed in worse conditions.

Peter and Edmund rowed the boat along the water while Trumpkin sat towards the front with Susan and Lucy, and Elaine and Eva remained in the very back. Eva lightly ran her hand through the cool water beneath her. She had never seen water so clear and blue in her life and she wished that they could take the time to swim in it.

Lucy looked up at the trees lining the top of the crevasse. "They're so still," she said softly.

"They're trees," Trumpkin said. "What'd you expect?"

"They used to dance."

Trumpkin sighed. "Wasn't long after you left that the Telmarines invaded. Those who survived retreated to the woods. And the trees, they retreated so deep into themselves that they haven't been heard from since."

Elaine sighed, wondering what that meant for her old naiad and dryad friends.

"I don't understand. How could Aslan have let this happen?"

"Aslan? Thought he abandoned us when you lot did," Trumpkin added bitterly.

The former kings and queens looked at each other guiltily. They had always just assumed that when they returned to Narnia, only a year would've passed for the Narnians as well. Then they could explain why they had disappeared, apologize, make amends, and things would go back to how they were before.

But that wasn't the case at all. As far as all the Narnians knew, their Kings and Queens had just up and left them to fend for themselves. And now it was far too late to convince any of the friends they had made that that wasn't the case at all. Elaine desperately hoped that Meera and Philip, her and Edmund's Talking Horses, had witnessed their departure from Narnia and understood to some degree that they hadn't just left because they wanted to.

"We didn't mean to leave, you know," Peter told Trumpkin.

"Makes no difference now, does it?"

"Get us to the Narnians…and it will."

Elaine met Peter's eyes and was slightly stunned at how hardened they had become in the last few hours. He had struggled the most out of all of them the last year, and hearing about how much time had passed and how his beloved country had fallen so far was tearing him apart in a much different way than the loss of Elaine's closest friends was affecting her. She worried that he was going to let those feelings consume him and do something he would later regret.

Soon enough, the river flowed out of the crevasse, and Peter and Edmund rowed the boat up onto a rocky shore.

Peter, Elaine, Susan, and Edmund all pulled the boat up onto land while Trumpkin anchored it down. Eva awkwardly watched. She felt like she should help, but she didn't know what else she could do, so she thought it best to just not get in their way.

Lucy wandered down the shore and noticed a bear a few feet away. "Hello, there," she smiled as she began to walk toward the animal.

Everyone else turned when they heard her speak. Peter couldn't help but smile when he saw his little sister so quickly go to make new friends in their new surroundings. She had always been the one to eagerly extend a hand for friendship, no matter the barrier.

The bear stood up on its hind legs, but Lucy just continued calmly, "It's all right. We're friends."

The bear came back down on all fours and growled.

When Trumpkin realized what the queen was talking to, he froze and held out his hands. "Don't move, Your Majesty."

Lucy turned to look at Trumpkin in confusion, and when she turned back, the bear had started to charge at her. Horrified, Lucy started to run away from it as fast as she could.

"Stay away from her!" Susan shouted, readying her bow.

Peter and Edmund frantically grabbed their swords while Elaine retrieved her satchel and pulled her staff out of it.

"Shoot, Susan! Shoot!" Edmund cried.

Lucy tripped on the bottom of her dress and fell to the rocky ground. The bear loomed over her and roared viciously as she screamed.

"Lucy!" Elaine exclaimed.

Suddenly, an arrow pierced the bear's chest, and the creature fell over. Lucy spun around, but to her surprise, she saw that her sister's bow was still loaded with an arrow. The arrow had come not from her but from Trumpkin.

"Why wouldn't he stop?" Susan asked softly.

"I suspect he was hungry," Trumpkin answered.

Peter and Elaine ran up to Lucy and helped the girl who was frozen in shock off the ground. Peter wrapped his arm around her shoulder while keeping his sword pointed at the bear in case it made any other movement.

Trumpkin poked the bear with his bow, but it didn't move. The arrow had pierced its heart.

"Thanks," Lucy said quietly.

Trumpkin looked back at her but didn't reply.

"He was wild," Edmund realized.

"I don't think he could talk at all," Peter added.

"Get treated like a dumb animal long enough, that's what you become," Trumpkin told them. "You may find Narnia a more savage place than you remember."

He dug his knife into the bear, and Lucy buried her face into Peter's shoulder as she cried.

Elaine rubbed her back soothingly but she soon had to look away as well. She looked up at Peter, concern filling both of their eyes.

What had become of their beloved Narnia?

Peter began leading the others in the direction of the Shuddering Woods where they hoped to find Prince Caspian and get a few more answers about what had happened since they'd left and why they'd been called back now.

The problem was that nothing looked familiar.

"I don't remember this way," Susan said.

"That's the problem with girls," Peter joked. "You can't carry a map in your heads."

"That's because our heads have something in them," Lucy retorted.

"Please, darling, say those words again to my face," Elaine said. "And while you do, I urge you to recall all of the times I helped you navigate our soldiers in almost all of our battles."

"You're the exception," Peter told her. "You had a lot of prior experience reading and memorizing maps before you ever set foot in Narnia."

"I wish he'd just listen to the D.L.F. in the first place," Susan said.

"What does D.L.F. stand for?" Eva asked.

"Dear Little Friend," Lucy told her as she and Susan smiled at one another.

Trumpkin stopped walking and looked at the humans. "Oh, that's not at all patronizing, is it?"

Eva giggled, but she tried to keep her face straight when Trumpkin glared at her. But then she met Edmund's eyes and saw that he was also trying hard not to laugh.

The path ahead of them divided into two parts which made Peter stop. "I'm not lost," he said more to himself than to anyone else.

"No," Trumpkin said. "You're just going the wrong way."

Peter turned around and looked at the dwarf hardly. "You last saw Caspian at the Shuddering Woods, and the quickest way there is to cross at the river Rush."

"But unless I'm mistaken, there's no crossing in these parts."

"That explains it then. You're mistaken."

Peter picked one of the pathways and continued forward. The others had no choice but to follow.

"That was uncalled for," Elaine said to him. "A good king does not belittle the people trying to help him."

"I know Narnia better than anyone."

"You did, but it's quite clear that this is not the same Narnia we used to know. So we aren't going to have all the answers like we used to. I know how much it pains you to realize this, but Trumpkin knows the land better than we do. There is no shame in needing someone else to guide us until we learn the new land."

"I'm not lost."

"So you've said."

Peter clenched his jaw and continued on. Elaine sighed heavily. In the first few minutes when they'd arrived, Peter had been so much like his old and happy self from before they'd left. Elaine had longed to see him smile like that for over a year. But it had only lasted for a few hours. Now, he was angrier and tenser than ever.

After another hour of walking, Peter did indeed find the river Rush. Unfortunately, much to his embarrassment, the river was now nearly a hundred feet below where they stood.

Susan smirked and looked over at Peter. "You see, over time, water erodes the earth's soil, carving deeper—"

"Oh, shut up," Peter mumbled.

"Does this prove my point?" Elaine asked. "If you'd just listened to Trumpkin earlier—"

"We weren't lost."

"Perhaps not, but he was right about us not being able to cross the river."

Edmund looked at Trumpkin. "Is there a way down?"

"Yeah, falling," Trumpkin answered bluntly. "There's a ford near Beruna. How do you feel about swimming?"

"I'd rather that than walking," Susan said.

"I'll agree with that," Eva added. "Do you always walk this much here?"

Elaine smiled a little. "You think this is bad? Imagine walking for hours in deep snow."

Everyone turned to follow Trumpkin to the ford.

Then Lucy said softly, "Aslan?"

The members of the group stopped moving and looked at the girl.

"It's Aslan! It's Aslan over there! Don't you see? He's right—" She turned to the others excitedly, but when she turned back to point him out on the other side of the gorge, Aslan was nowhere to be seen. "…there."

"Do you see him now?" Trumpkin asked condescendingly.

"I'm not crazy. He was there." She looked up at Peter desperately. "He wanted us to follow him."

Peter looked at her sadly, like he couldn't imagine that Aslan would only show himself to Lucy and not to him. "I'm sure there are any number of lions in this wood. Just like that bear."

"I think I know Aslan when I see him."

"Look, I'm not about to jump off a cliff after someone who doesn't exist," Trumpkin said.

"Before, you said that you believed Aslan abandoned you," Elaine pointed out. "Now you say he doesn't exist. Which is it?"

"If he exists, where's he been all this time?"

"I'm sure everyone was wondering the same thing during the Hundred Year Winter. Or do you not believe in that either?"

Trumpkin looked away from her, unable to come up with a firm answer.

Edmund smiled, once again reminded why Elaine had become a queen alongside them. "The last time I didn't believe Lucy, I ended up looking pretty stupid."

Elaine looked back at Peter. "We all did."

Peter stared at the cliff where Aslan had supposedly stood, and then looked at Lucy. "Why wouldn't I have seen him?" he asked quietly.

"Maybe you weren't looking," Lucy said.

"I'm sorry, Lu."

Elaine sighed as Peter took off in the opposite direction with Susan and Trumpkin.

Lucy looked at the opposite cliff crestfallen and then turned around to look at Elaine, Edmund, and Eva.

Elaine put a hand on her shoulder. "Did you truly see him?"

"Yes," she answered confidently.

The older girl looked at the empty cliff. She wished that she had seen the Great Lion too. She missed him and the beautiful feeling she experienced when she was around him. Why would he reveal himself to Lucy and Lucy alone? Why hadn't anyone else seen him?

"Let's just go," Lucy mumbled as she trudged ahead after her oldest brother.

Elaine sighed again and followed after her.

"Wait," Eva said to Edmund. "Why aren't we listening to Lucy? Isn't Aslan supposed to be the true King here? Shouldn't we follow him?"

"You believe her?" Edmund asked.

"I don't have any reason not to."

Edmund was a bit taken aback at how easily she accepted Lucy's word. It had been a long time since he'd seen someone have such a simple and childlike faith. He started walking ahead. "Peter's our High King. He gets the final say in what we do."

"That doesn't seem very fair."

"Trust me, he's proven plenty of times before that he's trustworthy and makes the best decisions for us."

"But we've already wasted a lot of time because he didn't listen to Trumpkin about the river."

"Careful, this is still my brother you're talking about."

Eva had enough sense to know that she was treading on rocky ground, so she tried to choose her words a bit more carefully. "I'm sorry. I just…don't understand why he doesn't want to believe that Aslan was trying to communicate with us."

Edmund sighed. "Yeah. Me neither."