"So, what story are you going to be telling, Kayla?"
"You mean what story are we going to be telling. You're gonna tell it with me. You'll see when the time starts. And I think tonight, I'll have the Dancing Trees help tell it. I still remember the call to wake them."
"The children are in for a real treat, I guess."
"They certainly are."
Kayla had the idea to tell the children the story of how the Golden Age started, a story that the Telmarine children were told was fictional, and a story the Narnian children had longed to relive.
Kayla and Ivar had found that their horses were descendants of their horses during the Golden Age, Erdudvyl and Dagvid. The new horses' names were Annaig and Elouan.
"Are you heading to Dancing Lawn now?"
"Yes. I want to get everything set up. Get used to the place after being gone from it for so long."
"We'll meet you there hereafter."
"Fine and dandy."
Luckily for her, the ride from the Telmarine citadel to Dancing Lawn was shorter than from Cair Paravel to Dancing Lawn. That she was thankful for.
She arrived at Dancing Lawn, and thousands of memories flooded her heart and mind, such as the first story she ever told there, which was Pinocchio. And she also remembered the last story she told there, which was Alice in Wonderland. And there she was, about to start he favourite pastime again.
"Dancing Trees, dance for me! Show me the breath of life that Aslan gave you!"
After she spoke those words, the trees woke up and began to move. Their trunks and branches creaked like bones that have not moved in forever. Their leaves began to sway with and against the wind, happy that they had been woken up for the time in a long time. Dryads came out from the trees, also ready for the stories that Kayla had graced their ears with.
"Trees and Dryads, tonight I will begin storytelling again. The story I will be telling is about how we came to Narnia and defeated the White Witch. Some of the children have never heard this story before, while others have longed to relive it. Now is the chance for both. Their gracious majesties King Peter, Queen Susan, King Edmund, and Queen Lucy will be joining me in telling it, along with the new King Caspian and of course Lord Ivar. We will bring Dancing Lawn to life again!"
She of course had brought her chest of storytelling utensils, such as puppets and masks.
The first family to arrive was that of a Telmarine lord, Lord Aniol, with his two children Carla and Feliu.
"Lady Kayla, is it?"
"Yes. And you are?"
"Lord Aniol. These two lovely beings are my children, Carla and Feliu. Once they heard you would be telling all of the children, they begged me to bring them along."
"I'm glad you brought them."
"Their mother used to tell them stories, but she has passed on."
"Well, they will certainly love tonight's story."
The rest of the family came riding up, along with more and more other families.
"Well, everyone did take my advice and brought a pillow and tea."
"Are you going tell us what story you'll be telling or not?"
"Not until everyone sits down. This story is special. Alright, everyone! Please take a seat somewhere, and the storytelling will begin! Now, this story is very special. And every bit of it is true. It is the story of how we came back to Narnia and the end of the Long Winter. I will start off, and the rest of my family will pick up after me."
Caspian had decided to sit with the crowd and listen. He barely knew of anything that happened before the Golden Age.
"Once, in another world, there was a war. And this war was called World War Two. Momma, Daddy, is it still going on?"
"As a matter of fact, it is."
"The year was 1940 in the other world, while in Narnia, the year was 1000. The children of the city of London had to be evacuated to the countryside for their safety. Ivar, your turn."
"Six children specifically were sent to the manor house of Professor Digory Kirke, a kind old man who was always absolutely delighted to be interrupted. Those six children were myself, Lady Kayla, Kings Peter and Edmund, and Queens Susan and Lucy. We had all known each other before that, for we were all close friends. Peter."
"Our parents worked together, so we were often at each other's houses. At first glance, the only good thing about being away in the countryside was that we were away from the damage being done to our home city of London, but we feared for our parents. Susan, will you continue on?"
"Of course. One rainy day, I had come up with a word game that no one else but me was interested in, and looking back, I don't blame them."
"That's the first logical thing you've said that we agree with."
"Oh hush, Edmund."
Susan's comment to her brother had Caspian, the children, and everyone else in a giggling fit.
"Anyways, we had planned to do some exploring outside that day, but with the rain, we had to stay inside. Kayla was piecing a puzzle together with Ivar, Peter and I were sitting on the sofas, Edmund was doing something underneath a table, and Lucy was looking out a window watching the rain fall. Edmund, would you please?"
"Would I please what?"
"Take over the story."
"You mean I get to tell the entire rest of the story?"
"No, just the next little bit."
"Ugh. Fine."
Unknown to the others, Aslan had come walking into Dancing Lawn, and just sat down, listening to the family tell the story.
"Little Lucy-."
"I'm not so little anymore, Ed."
"Yes, you are. But as I was saying, little Lucy had the idea to play hide and seek. She had begged Peter to play, and at first, he was sarcastic about it. Then she gave him her little puppy dog face, and he gave in. I, of course, did not want to play, but I still went along with it. Lucy, this is most definitely your part."
"Well, while Peter was counting to one hundred, the rest of us ran off to find somewhere to hide. Edmund hid behind some curtains in the hallways, while I ran all the way into an empty room, where there was a wardrobe. I decided to hide in the wardrobe, thinking Peter could not find me in there. So, I kept walking to the back of the wardrobe, when I felt a cold wind, and my feet landed on snow. There were fur coats hanging in the wardrobe, and I grabbed one and put it on because of the cold. I walked through the forest and came across a lamppost. Out from around the corner came a faun in a green coat and a red scarf carrying packages. I frightened him a bit, and he dropped his packages. He was puzzled as to why a daughter of Eve was in Narnia, and he told me his name was Tumnus. He invited me for tea at his house, and I went with him. He told me the land I was in was called Narnia. I asked him what living in Narnia was like, and he said there were long joyous summers. The creatures of the land would gather for feasting and treasure hunting. He then pulled out a flute and played a tune that made me fall asleep. I dreamed of a Narnian summer, and when I woke up, Mr. Tumnus was crying. He told me he was in the pay of the White Witch, and if he ever saw a human child in the woods, he was to turn them over to her. But instead, he helped me get back to my world. I didn't know how much time had passed in my world until I realized the others were still playing the game."
"What exactly is the time difference, Queen Lucy?"
"I'm glad you asked, Caspian. Kayla, would you tell them what it is?"
"I certainly will. You see, the reason we were all able to get into Narnia through the wardrobe was because the Professor we were sent to stay with had been here before. He was here when Aslan created this world. Athair let him take an apple from this world to heal his sick mother, and it did heal her. He then buried the apple core, and it grew into a tree. The tree then blew over in a storm, and from what was left of it, he made the wardrobe we came back into this world through. While only forty years in our world had passed between Professor Kirke's visit here and our going to stay with him, 1,000 years had passed here. To keep telling the time difference, we'll have to get to the end of the story. Ivar, you can pick up now."
"Well at first, only Kayla believed Lucy when she said she had found a magical land. Now, keep in mind, yes we are from this world to begin with, but when we were sent away to the other world, we had no memory of here. So naturally, the rest of us didn't believe Lucy. Not until the next day. Edmund."
Edmund knew he was the only one who could tell this part of the story.
"Later that night, I had heard Lucy and Kayla get up out of bed, so I decided to follow them. They both went into the wardrobe, and I went in as well. I could not find the two of them anywhere. At some point, a sledge pulls up in front of me and there is a woman in it. At first, she thinks I'm an overgrown dwarf who had cut off his beard. I explained to her that I am a boy. She asked me how I got into Narnia, and I said I just opened a door, and found myself here. She asked me if there was anything I would like to drink, and I said yes. She poured a drop of a magic liquid on the ground, and a hot drink appeared. It tasted sweet, I will not lie. She the poured another drop of the magic liquid on the ground, and a tin full of Turkish Delight appeared. She asked me if I was the only human, and I mentioned that I had a brother, two sisters, and two friends back in my world. She also promised to make me a prince if I brought my family back, so I said I would."
Edmund tried as hard as he could to hide the regret in his voice, but it could be heard. Only the people closest to him noticed it.
"When we came back into our world, Kayla had left with a book that Mr. Tumnus gave her. In that book, it explained our family history, but mostly on the Terebinthian side. Edmund had said he had just been pretending with Kayla and myself, which made me cry. I ran into Professor Kirke, and he had his housekeeper make me some hot chocolate to calm me down. Kayla went with me for comfort."
"The Professor talked with me, Peter, and Susan about what was going on. At first, we all thought that Lucy and Kayla were just playing a game. Then we thought they both were mad, but then the Professor said she would most likely be telling the truth."
"So, for the next day, we had all decided to just lay low about the whole thing, to give everyone a chance to calm down. So we were outside playing a ball game, and I threw a ball at Edmund for him to hit, and it smashed into an upstairs window of the manor house. To hide from the housekeeper Mrs. Macready, we all went into the wardrobe. That was when myself, Susan, and Ivar discovered Narnia for ourselves."
"So, I took them all to see Mr. Tumnus, but when we had gotten to his cave, the door had been clawed into and the inside of his house had been trashed. There was a note left by the chief of the White Witch's secret police, saying that Mr. Tumnus had been arrested. Five of us had agreed to try and save him, while one was still a bit skeptical. Kayla, it's your turn."
"But then a little bit after that is when we met Mr. Beaver. Well, children, it is getting late. We will continue this story tomorrow. I promise you all."
Now, the Telmarines had a bit of insight as to who the family of old was.
