And now we move on to Prince Caspian!
In the very late hours of the night, the city was quiet.
But in one of the high towers of the Castle of Caspian, maids and servants rushed around the room while a soon-to-be mother lay screaming in bed.
A young woman of twenty-three years with long curly black locks clutched onto the screaming woman's hand and gently wiped away the sweat on her face.
"It's all right," she said softly as the woman groaned in agony. "It's all right, it's almost over. You're doing beautifully."
The elderly midwife stood at the foot of the bed. "Towels," she ordered.
One of the female servants quickly handed her two pieces of cloth.
The woman on the bed clenched her jaw with exertion as she squeezed the hands of the two women on either side of her.
Then, soft cries filled the room, and all of the women in the room smiled.
The midwife handed the woman her new baby. The new mother laughed as she carefully hugged her newborn son close to her chest and collapsed from the exhaustion of the last several hours.
The young black-haired woman smiled fondly at the baby and gently stroked his tiny arm.
A hand firmly clasped over the young prince Caspian's mouth which caused him to jerk awake in alarm. He relaxed when he saw who it was that had awoken him and removed the hand from his mouth. "Five more minutes," he mumbled as he turned over to return to sleep.
"We won't be watching the stars tonight, my prince," Caspian's professor whispered urgently. "Come. We must hurry."
Caspian felt himself yanked out of bed, and his half-asleep brain tried to process what was happening. "Professor, what's going on?"
"Your aunt has given birth…to a son."
Caspian's head completely cleared and his eyes widened.
For as long as he'd been alive, the eighteen-year-old Telmarine heir to the throne had known that his existence was a threat to his uncle, Miraz, who wanted control of the kingdom himself. However, without his own heir, the throne was to go to Caspian when he turned twenty-one. As long as Prunaprismia, Miraz's wife, never bore him a son, Caspian was in the clear.
Now things had changed, and Caspian's life was in more danger than ever before.
The Professor went inside Caspian's armoire and revealed the secret door in the back they could use to escape. "Come."
Caspian followed the Professor into the armoire and left the doors open just a crack so he could see into his room.
Several Telmarine soldiers led by General Glozelle stormed inside. To Caspian's horror, the soldiers fired their crossbows directly at his bed, reloading several times to fire even more arrows. Miraz had certainly spared no time in ensuring his heir's future reign. If the Professor had been delayed only a few minutes, Caspian would probably be dead now.
The young prince quickly exited through the back of the armoire and began following the Professor down to the stables.
"Wait," he stopped. "What about Cassia? I can't leave without her."
The Professor looked at him grimly. "Your sister has made her choice, my prince."
The knowledge that Cassia wasn't coming with him didn't surprise him, but it still hurt nonetheless. For as long as he could remember, Cassia had chosen to ignore all of the warning signs, however obvious they were, in favor of supporting their uncle. He loved his sister dearly, but he never understood how she was able to disregard everything their father had believed in and choose to trust someone who so clearly wanted him out of the way.
Down below, Caspian strapped on a piece of armor, some hunting boots and gloves, and a sword. The Professor tied a cloak around his shoulders and helped him mount onto his horse, Destrier.
"You must make for the woods," the elderly man said urgently.
"The woods?"
"They won't follow you there." He handed him an object wrapped up in brown cloth. "It has taken me many years to find this. Do not use it except at your greatest need."
Caspian quickly shoved the object into his satchel. "Will I ever see you again?"
"I dearly hope so, my prince. There is so much more I meant to tell you. Everything you know is about to change."
"Close the drawbridge!" a guard outside announced.
"Now go!"
Caspian galloped out of the stable and into the courtyard. Several guards and soldiers tried to stop his advance, but he maneuvered away from their weapons, ran out of the gate, and crossed the bridge into the city.
Fireworks popped behind him which made him stop.
"A son!" someone announced to the Telmarine citizens. "A son! Lady Prunaprismia has this night given Lord Miraz a son!"
Caspian looked up at the dark and imposing castle that had been his home since his birth. It killed him to know that Cassia was still inside with an uncle he couldn't trust to not harm her, but he could not stay if he wanted to survive.
"Aslan," he said quietly. "I don't know if you can hear me, or if you would listen to the cries of an exiled Telmarine prince, but please…protect my sister."
Soldiers on horseback crossed the bridge to come after him and ensure his death for Miraz. Caspian had no other choice but to gallop forward through the city and far across the land towards the Shuddering Woods.
Unbeknownst to him, a black-haired young woman sadly watched him depart from the high tower in the castle.
Caspian rode across familiar land surrounding the city and into the old lands until the early hours of the dawn. To his dismay, the soldiers never stopped their pursuit of him, not even when he entered the woods which all Telmarine citizens feared due to superstitions of wild creatures living within.
After he crossed one of the rivers, it slowed the soldiers down enough so that he gained a considerable distance ahead of them.
Unfortunately, his small victory was short-lived when he faced forward again and immediately smacked his head on a low branch with enough force to knock him backwards off his horse. His right foot caught in the stirrup which resulted in Destrier dragging him along the forest floor. He quickly unhooked his foot out of the stirrup, and his horse plowed ahead without his rider.
Caspian lay on the ground for a few seconds and tried to catch his breath. After confirming that he hadn't broken anything in the fall, he slowly forced himself to a sitting position.
Something cracked to his right, and two small men (dwarves, he quickly realized) came out of the base of the large tree next to him.
"He's seen us," one of them said.
The other pulled out his sword and charged. Caspian frantically backed away from him before he had the chance to grab his own sword.
However, the dwarf abruptly stopped when he saw one of Caspian's fallen items. It was the object the Professor had given him which had fallen loose of its protective wrappings.
Caspian realized that it was a white horn he had only heard about in stories.
The dwarf looked at his friend in shock.
Then the sound of hoofbeats and metal clangs filled the early morning air, and Caspian saw the soldiers catching up to him.
"Take care of him," the dwarf nearest to him ordered before charging towards the soldiers.
The other dwarf started towards him.
The Professor had said that Caspian should only use the object in his greatest need. Currently, his horse had fled, Telmarine soldiers who wanted to kill him were upon them, and two dwarfs had decided to 'take care of him'. Now seemed like a time of great need.
He quickly reached for the horn.
"No!" the dwarf exclaimed.
Caspian grabbed the horn and blew into it for the help that was promised to whoever made the sound.
The dwarf hit him on the back of the head and everything went black.
Eva wandered around the train station bored. She, Elaine, and the other Pevensies were all waiting to get onto a train that would take them to boarding school for the next year. Even though a war was going on, all of them were still expected to get a good education, which was really too bad because Eva would much rather have stayed at the old Professor's mansion with the other Pevensies. It was so much more exciting there.
Around a year ago, Eva had moved into a cottage about half a mile from the Professor's house so she could be safely away from the city. The kind married couple living there told her that five children who had also left the city now stayed in the mansion and that she was more than welcome to meet them if she wished.
It hadn't taken long for Eva to become attached to the other children and spend almost all of her time with them (much to the disdain of the housekeeper). They seemed to enjoy her company as well, but at the same time, she sometimes couldn't help feeling like an outsider amongst them. It was as if there was some big secret between them that no one wanted to let her in on.
Though she was fourteen years old, Eva had not matured as much as many other girls her age. In the middle of a war, there are some parents who inform their children of its resulting devastation while other parents will do absolutely anything to shield their children from it. Seeing as Eva's parents were of the latter and turned almost everything war-related into a sort of game to protect their daughter's innocence, she could somewhat be forgiven for not taking things as seriously as she should've.
This, however, also made her stand out even more when up next to the Pevensies and Elaine because they acted as if they were already adults most of the time.
Meanwhile down towards the end of the platform, Peter and Elaine walked hand-in-hand, solemnly waiting for their train to arrive. While they both still considered themselves to be husband and wife, they could only be boyfriend and girlfriend to the rest of the world. All of the Pevensies knew that it would be next to impossible to explain to others, particularly their families, how two (then) 15-year-olds got married especially when there was no solid written evidence. All they had to remind them of the most important day of their lives were their Narnian wedding rings. That would hardly be enough evidence for London in 1941.
Now a year after their return, tensions had grown increasingly high between them. A good portion of their memories of Narnia became fuzzier and fuzzier with each passing day as they anxiously waited for the day when Aslan would call them back again. Their return was taking a lot longer than they had anticipated which made everyone a little on edge.
Elaine worried what would happen to her and Peter once they started boarding school (which was perfectly useless after all the training they'd been through in Narnia, but she didn't have a say in the matter). Since Peter would be attending the all-boys school and Elaine would be attending the all-girls school, they were going to be separated more often than not. The only bright side was that the two schools were right across the road from each other.
They had been separated plenty of times before due to battles or voyages, and Elaine didn't think their marriage would greatly suffer because of it, but it also wouldn't help the strain that had already been put on it either.
Three teenage boys passed the couple, and one of them purposefully bumped into Peter rather roughly.
"Why don't you watch where you're going?" the boy demanded.
"Excuse me?" Peter said angrily.
One of the other boys crossed his arms. "I believe you owe him an apology now."
"I owe you a what?"
"Peter, just forget it," Elaine said, lightly tugging on his hand. "He's not worth it."
The first boy smirked at Elaine with a rather disturbing glint in his eye. "Is this your girlfriend? She's out of your league, mate."
"Oh, and I suppose I'm in yours?" Elaine asked shortly. "If I'm not in Peter's league, then you aren't even playing the same game."
"Ooh, feisty, aren't you? I like that in a girl. Why don't you come with us, sweetheart? We'll show you a good time."
Peter let go of Elaine's hand and punched the boy in the face.
"Peter, stop!" Elaine cried.
One thing she knew all too well about Peter was that his anger tended to override his rational thinking. More recently, she was pretty certain that he enjoyed looking for any possible reason to fight in order to preserve his battle reflexes and remind himself of who he used to be, but fighting in London as a 16-year-old boy and fighting in Narnia as a man were two very different things.
When the other two boys with the first one realized that their friend was losing against Peter, they joined in the fight as well. By now, a large crowd of other young boys and girls waiting for the train gathered around them, eagerly watching the rough skirmish and shouting instructions for both sides.
"Oh, that's it," Elaine muttered as she whipped her uniform jacket off.
Peter may have started getting into fights at the drop of a hat recently, but Elaine really didn't have any room to talk. The only difference between their fights was that Peter always started it and Elaine always ended up joining in because she could never just stand back and watch him fight without her.
Elaine joining the current fight stunned everyone in the station with the exception of Peter, who always counted on her to have his back. The other boys weren't prepared to fight a girl which gave her an advantage. Since boys in this day and age didn't want to fight a girl or lose to a girl, their hesitation gave Elaine ample time to attack first.
What she wouldn't have given to have her beloved staff back in her hands. She could fight well enough without it, but her attacks and defenses were much better when she was holding the weapon.
Lucy and Susan appeared in the crowd and watched the fight with fear and annoyance respectively. Eva joined the two of them not long after, her eyes sparkling as if the whole thing was just some kind of game. Elaine liked the girl and had come to see her as a close friend, but she wished that she would take things just a little more seriously. While she would never want to force a child to grow up too fast, especially now when it seemed that no one was allowed to enjoy their childhood, there eventually came a time when one simply had to start maturing. As unfortunate as it was, no one could stay a child forever, not even the people who grew up and then found themselves to be children again.
When it looked like Peter and Elaine were about to be overwhelmed, Edmund shoved his way through the crowd and started to fight the other boys in an effort to help his brother and sister-in-law.
"Edmund!" Lucy cried.
Two boys held Peter's head over the track and one of them kicked him repeatedly in the gut. Elaine kicked that boy's knee and socked him in the face while Edmund tackled the second one.
Loud whistles screeched down the platform, and two soldiers ran over to the skirmish. They roughly yanked all of the boys and Elaine off one another.
"Act your age!" the soldier barked at Peter.
Elaine quietly scoffed. If only he knew the truth.
The soldier looked at Elaine. "And I expected better from you!"
She didn't answer as she put her uniform jacket back on. She couldn't exactly explain that it hadn't been even close to her first fight and that she wasn't about to allow her husband to be outnumbered by some immature boys who couldn't throw a decent punch to save their lives.
The crowd quickly dispersed now that their entertainment was gone.
Elaine approached Peter and looked him over. "Any injuries I need to worry about?"
Peter shoved her hands off his shoulders. "I'm fine."
"Oh, no you don't," she said quickly as she forced him to stop and look at her again. "You don't just start a fight like that and not let your 'girlfriend' look you over afterward. Now, how's your stomach? That was a pretty bad kick." She brushed his hair away from his forehead. "There doesn't seem to be a bruise from hitting your head on the wall."
"I've had worse."
"Not anymore you haven't. You're not built up to this kind of thing like you were before."
Peter's eyes darkened as he was once again reminded that his previous life in Narnia was now truly far away.
Elaine gently took his hand. "Come on, let's go find the others."
She tried not to be too offended that he hadn't offered to look her over for any injuries as well.
They climbed the short set of stairs to the upper platform and approached a bench sitting against the wall that overlooked the track their train would come riding in on in just a few minutes.
Peter and Elaine crashed down onto the bench together. Lucy took a seat next to Peter while Susan sat next to Elaine. With no more room, Eva stood next to them just as Edmund walked up to join them.
"You're welcome," Edmund said shortly to his brother.
"We had it sorted," Peter insisted.
"We most certainly did not," Elaine told him. "Or did you forget about the part where you almost had your head run over?" She added under her breath, "I could've taken them if I'd had my staff."
Peter stood up from the bench, and Eva decided to take his empty seat next to Elaine and Lucy.
"What was it this time?" Susan asked.
"He bumped me," Peter stated as if that alone was a perfectly good reason.
"So you hit him?" Lucy asked in disbelief.
"No. After he bumped me, they tried to make me apologize. And then he started coming on to Elaine. That's when I hit him."
"I was doing perfectly fine discouraging him on my own without your fists flying," Elaine put in.
Even if none of them agreed with Peter's decision to suddenly start a fight in the middle of the train station, all of the Pevensies knew that it couldn't be easy for Peter to watch someone else flirt with his wife despite knowing full well Elaine would never even consider looking at another male like that.
Susan rolled her eyes. "Really? Is it that hard just to walk away?"
"We shouldn't have to. I mean, don't you ever get tired of being treated like a kid?"
"Um, we are kids," Edmund pointed out.
"Well, I wasn't always."
Even though Elaine knew none of this conversation would make much sense to Eva, they'd all come to realize that they could say pretty much whatever they wanted to and Eva would just try to fill in all the gaps on her own. For her, it was another way of looking at things like a game which was okay this one time because none of them had been able to tell her of Narnia yet. Even someone as open-minded as her probably wouldn't believe them.
"It's been a year," Peter continued. "How long does he expect us to wait?"
"We'll wait as long as he sees fit," Elaine told him. "I don't like it either, but we have to trust his timing."
"I think it's time to accept that we live here," Susan stated. "It's no use pretending any different." Her eyes widened as she looked over and saw a boy wearing glasses walking towards them. "Oh, no." She quickly turned back to the others. "Pretend you're talking to me."
"We are talking to you," Edmund said.
"Ow!" Lucy exclaimed as she bolted off the bench.
"Quiet, Lu!" Susan whispered, hoping she hadn't drawn the attention of the glasses-wearing boy.
"Something pinched me!"
"Ow! Elaine!" Eva shouted.
"I didn't do anything!" Elaine said. Then she too felt pressure on her backside and sprang off the bench.
"Look, would all of you just—" Susan started, but then something forced her to stand up as well. "What is that?"
A train zoomed by on the track in front of them.
Lucy smiled eagerly. "It feels like magic!"
"Quick, everyone hold hands!" Susan ordered.
"I'm not holding your hand!" Edmund yelled to Peter over the noise.
"Just—" Peter exclaimed as he snatched his brother's hand in addition to Elaine's.
"Wait, what's going on?" Eva cried.
Edmund quickly grabbed her hand so that all of the Pevensies, Elaine, and Eva were linked together. The whole station started to shake violently, and Eva tightly clutched onto Edmund's arm. The posters on the wall ripped away along with some of the bricks. Even the steel gate at the entrance of the tunnel broke off as the train continued to zoom by.
The other side of the platform changed from the color of the depressing gray and yellow of bricks to the color of the bluest ocean.
The train's final car passed by them and disappeared. The six children looked in the direction it had gone. Just ahead of them was crystal blue water on a beautiful beach that five of them recognized immediately.
They were back in Narnia.