Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Narnia, except some postcards and the ideas for my stories. Please don't sue me.
Author's note: This chapter is finally going to have some good dialogue. The first two didn't have much, so . . . sorry. And don't worry! Chapter 4 will include the kings and queens, I just didn't want to rush Henry's and Helen's story. This is my favorite chapter so far (I enjoyed writing the ending and I hope you enjoy reading it) and I hope you understand why! Please read and review. Love, Ninja. :)
"Henry?"
"Helen?"
The two people stood staring at one other for another few seconds, than ran towards each other. Helen was sobbing hysterically, her voice apparently gone for the moment. Henry was also overcome with emotion, and couldn't stop his own tears from falling from his eyes. They held each other for what felt like felt like hours, but was only a minute. When they drew away, they took each other in, like someone taking a long drink of cool water. Helen regained control of her voice, as they sat down on the soft grass.
"Henry, how are you here?"
"I don't know. How are you here?" Henry replied.
"I don't know either. I was just walking into a shop and then suddenly I was here," Helen said. She was obviously just as bewildered as her husband.
"I was just walking into a tent, and then I found myself here," Henry said. They contemplated their predicament for a second, then brought themselves back to the present.
"How have you been?" asked Henry. "How are the children?"
"I'm okay and the children are alright. I sent them away to that professor that lives outside of the city."
"How long have they been there?" asked Henry.
"A couple weeks. I sent them there during the Blitz."
"How are they? How're Lucy and Susan? And the boys, Peter and Ed. I've missed you all so terribly," Henry said. You could see the sadness in his eyes, but there was happiness there also at finding his wife.
"They are all good. Lucy is the happiest child you could ever want and Peter is so protective of them. He takes such good care of all of them," Helen told Henry.
Over the next hour, Helen told her husband of everything. How the children were different and the same in certain ways. She tried glossing over how cruel Edmund could be but, since Henry was his father, she realized there was no point. She told him of Susan and how she was becoming a nice, young lady. How Lucy and Peter were close, and how he would take care of her all day and all night. Henry drank in every word, wishing he could have seen all the events she mentioned in person, not just in a letter or through words.
As Helen finished speaking, having caught Henry up on the recent events of her life, she saw something out of the corner of her eye. A small brown basket sat a few feet away. Helen stood up, walked over, and brought it back. It looked like a picnic basket, a red and white checked blanket stuck between the handle and the container. She opened the lid, and let out a gasp.
"Oh! How wonderful!" Helen exclaimed.
"What is it, love?" Henry asked.
"It's a picnic!" Helen quickly walked back over to her husband, sat back on the ground, and unloaded the basket. It was filled with everything the couple loved. Turkey and cheese sandwiches, egg salad, fresh strawberries and raspberries, chocolate cake, and a bottle of red wine. All foods they could've never afforded back home. Henry poured the wine in a couple of glasses that had sat atop of the food, while Helen pulled out all the food, laying it all on the pretty picnic blanket.
They ate in happy silence, exchanging glances regularly, and smiling at each other, sometimes leaning forward to peck one another on the cheek. After they had finished their meal, Henry was going to ask about Peter and how he was with Edmund. He wondered how the brothers, who had been so close when he had left, were now nearly enemies. Just then, however, a large blackbird flew in to the clearing where they sat.
"Good morning, m'lady. Good morning, m'lord." The blackbird was speaking. It's beak was opening and closing like a mouth. The couple sprang to their feet, staring in shock at this talking creature.
"My name is Featherlight and I have been sent by my Lord Aslan, to take you to the castle where the kings and queens await you." The bird looked expectantly at them, obviously not interpreting the looks on their face as confusion, bewilderment, and utter astonishment at the sight of seeing an animal speak. Henry recovered first.
"I - er - what are you? Erm, how are you speaking?" Henry asked.
"Oh, goodness me. My apologies, your lordship, your ladyship, I had temporarily forgotten that you are not of this world. You stand in the world of Narnia, a world under the rule of the greatest king, Aslan. I am taking you to the great castle of Cair Paravel where the four greatest kings and queens of this world reign under Aslan and rule this country fairly and justly. The fairest of all kings and queens." The bird, Featherlight, ended his speech with a short bow and looked expectantly at Henry and Helen.
"Uh, and who exactly are these kings and queens?" asked Helen, regaining the use of her voice.
"That, my lady, is something I have been asked not to repeat until you are able to see and behold them in person," replied Featherlight.
"Ah, I see," muttered Henry. He glanced at his wife and saw that she was just as confused, but also just as intrigued, as he was.
"What do you think, Helen?" he asked her, quietly.
"I . . . don't know. I mean, he does seem trustworthy and all, even if he is a - uh - bird," Helen replied. "What about you? What do you think?"
"I am inclined to trust him, but I think we should try and get a bit more information out of him about where we are and who this 'Aslan' fellow might be."
Featherlight heard them. "The great king Aslan," he began indignantly, "is the ruler of all and the King of Beasts. He is the Son of the Emperor over the Sea, and the King above all High Kings in Narnia." He spoke with such conviction and admiration that Henry and Helen began wondering if this Aslan was some sort of god. The two looked at each other again, and this time Helen asked a question.
"And what exactly is Narnia?"
"Why, m'lady, tis where your feet are right now. We are here in Narnia."
"Yes, but where?" Helen asked again. "Like, is this some sort of foreign country in Asia, somewhere unexplored?"
"Oh, m'lady, you intrigue me with your fancy wording and other-wordly names for things," Featherlight chuckled, not knowing that they were talking about their own world, not the world of Narnia.
Helen realized that it was no use. This bird obviously doesn't know much about geography, she thought. Henry spoke again.
"Please, sir, in order for us to trust you and come with you, at least tell us a bit about your kings and queens that you speak so dearly of."
"Very well. I was bidden not to tell you anything unless necessary, but they said, if it became necessary, I could speak to you their names." Featherlight looked straight at them and puffed out his chest feathers. "The names of my respected rulers are as follows; of the Glistening Eastern Sea, Queen Lucy the Valiant; of the Great Western Wood, King Edmund the Just; of the Radiant Southern Sun, Queen Susan the Gentle, and of the Clear Northern Sky, High King Peter the Magnificent."