As we walked through the archway of swords that the centaurs made for us I noticed how young they all seemed. One, in fact, was so young he was struggling to hold his sword up.
We make our way into the fort and am immediately met with the sound of clanging metal and heat from fire.
"Come follow me," Caspian says, taking charge. I look around and see many Narnians working on forging weapons and armor.
"It might not be what you are used to, but it is defensible," He says with a proud glint of the work he has done in his eyes. Peter just glares at him.
"This is some operation you have here Caspian." Edmund comments, giving the prince a reassuring nod. Lucy and Susan wander away to explore more.
"You would be amazed by the work effort of people who have a grudge to hold." Caspian quips, looking at the Narnias work. Peter stayed quiet, brooding at the scene in front of him. I shake my head and walk away, observing my people at work. I notice again how young they all seem to be. Many of the creatures were families working together to forge. I walk towards one particular family of fauns to see what they were crafting when the youngest girl in the family notices me. She startles and drops the dagger she was holding.
"Your, majesty." She squeaks at me hiding behind the cast iron forge. I let out a slight chuckle.
"It's all right, I didn't mean to frighten you." I try to comfort the girl. She, however, stays in her hiding place watching me. I bend down and pick up the fallen object and examine it. I then look at the young faun.
"What's your name?" I ask her kindly. She peaks her head out at me.
"L-lana" She stutters out, eyeing me.
"Nice to meet you, Lana. I'm Queen Margret." The girl nods at me. "Did you make this?" I ask her, holding out the knife. She nods again and takes it. "Well it's made quite well. If you keep up the great work we will defeat Miraz in no time." I say giving her a kind smile. She immediately loses all of her shyness.
"Do you really think so?" She says excitedly.
"I do!" I reassure her.
"Lana? What's taking so long?" Her mother called from around the corner.
"I have to go!" She says turning to me. "You will come to visit me again won't you?" She asks me with big round eyes.
"I will," I tell her, my smile getting wider.
"You promise?" She asks me in a very serious tone.
"I promise," I tell her, chuckling. She smiles brightly and then runs towards her mother. I strengthen myself up and turn around to see Edmund looking at me. He had this loving look in his eyes that he only gives me when he thinks I'm not looking. "May I help you with something?" I ask, walking up to him with a smirk. He reaches forward and tucks a loose piece of hair behind my ear.
"You are one of a kind, Margret Rose." He tells me, cupping my cheek. I lean into it and kiss the side of his hand. We are broken from our spell by the sound of a sword being taken out. We turn and see Peter thoroughly examining the sword and Caspian waiting with bated breath behind him.
"Peter hasn't said a word since we've been here," Edmund informs me as he observes his brother. "Poor Caspian looks strung out. He wants Peter's approval." He adds, turning back to look at me to see if I agree.
"That won't happen. Peter makes these snap judgment analyses of situations and sticks to them. It's infuriating." I seith, thinking about the events from earlier.
"Did something happen between you two?" the dark-haired boy asks concerned.
"He just reminded me that I am not a member of this family and that at any misstep I can be left behind," I tell him grimily, not bothering to turn and face him.
"That can't be right!" he exclaims, astonished. "Peter is always the one saying he won't let anyone take you from us." He reminds me.
"Well, he acted as though he never knew me and my character. He treated me like I'm a threat." I say, Peter's completely false accusations running through my head.
"You must have misunderstood him." Edmund tries to ration.
"But I didn't." I retorted.
"Maggie what did he say to you?" He asks, worried.
"Guys?" Susan's voice cuts us out of the intense conversation. "You better come quickly." She says before turning back down the passageway she came from. The four of us exchanged looks and headed the way she disappeared. Peter grabs a torch and lights it in a nearby forge.
We walk down the passage and see that it was decorated in what almost seemed like hieroglyphics. However, upon examination, the people and senses depicted seemed familiar. One particular image was of three young girls and two young boys standing in front of five thrones.
"It's us." Susan informs us as we look around the tunnel.
"What is this place?" Lucy asks Caspian. He looks at us confused.
"You don't know?" He asks us, raising an eyebrow. We all shake our heads. He then grabs a torch from the wall and gestures to us to follow him. We all do so with Ed and I walking behind, Edmund having also grabbed a torch from the wall.
We keep going down the dark path until we are led into a large room. Caspian walks over and lights a pit that ignites a line of fire along the border of the room. The fire illuminates the room and reveals a cracked altar with a regal carving of Aslan above it.
Suddenly I feel a huge gust of wind and the scene from Aslan's death on the stone table comes flashing before my eyes. I feel hot tears streaming down my face then suddenly the wind stops.
"Maggie are you alright?" Susan whispers to me. She seemingly was not affected by the large gust.
"When a willing victim who has committed no treachery, is killed in a traitor's stead, the stone table will crack, and even death will turn itself backward." The quote comes spilling out of my mouth. My lips move almost as if they are not my own. I feel Edmund shift uncomfortably next to me. When I finally feel I have control of my body again and reach for his hand. He squeezes it lightly.
"He must know what he is doing," Lucy tells all of us, turning back from the carving to look at us.
"It's up to us now," Peter speaks for the first time since we have been here, his eyes never leaving the carving. There was a heavy silence in the air now.
"Caspian? What is this place!" Edmund asks, his voice barely above a whisper.
"They call it Aslan's Howe," Caspian informs all of us. "It was preserved under the pretense of ancient lore." He says with a slight chuckle.
"Well now it's our safe haven," I inform him with a serious nod. Just then Susan stifles back a yawn.
"I think before we talk about any strategy we need to get some rest." The oldest girl suggested. The dark-haired prince smiled at her affectionately.
"Of course your Majesty you have had a long journey." He says looking deep into her eyes.
"Show us quarters then," Peter says, obviously interrupting their moment.
"Right." Caspian chokes out, clearing his throat. "This way." He says before leading the way back down the corridor we came. Susan and Peter follow closely behind. Edmund moves to follow and I turn to Lucy who has not moved, still looking at the carving of the great Lion.
"You coming, Lu?" I call out to her. She turns around slowly.
"Maggie?" She asks when she is facing me fully. "How did you know Aslan said that? You had already left when he had risen." She gives me a confused look. How did I know?
"I don't know," I tell her honestly. "I just knew." She nods in understanding but I knew she still had more questions. We made our way to Edmund who was waiting by the passage door and headed down the path the other had disappeared down.