With the knowledge that the ruins were originally part of the castle they'd lived in for fifteen years, the Pevensies and Elaine looked at the area with solemn eyes and recalled where each room stood and how it had looked.
Edmund walked along the ridge of the hill and knelt down in front of one of the rocks left behind.
"Catapults," he concluded.
"What?" Peter asked.
"This didn't just happen. Cair Paravel was attacked."
The news didn't surprise Elaine as there had been more than one attack on the castle while they'd lived there from surrounding kingdoms who wanted to overthrow them as rulers. They'd always failed. Except this time…
"We weren't there to stop it," she said softly.
Peter walked over to one of the marbled walls that had managed to stay standing, and he and Edmund pushed the front part of the wall away to reveal a secret wooden door hidden behind it.
Elaine smiled somberly. "The door to the royal treasury."
Peter cut away the wood around the cobwebbed doorknob which allowed the door to open up, slightly falling off its hinges as it did. He then cut off a strip of his shirt at the bottom and wrapped it around a stick. "Don't suppose you have any matches, do you?"
Edmund reached into his bag. "No…but would this help?" He smirked as he pulled out a torch.
Peter rolled his eyes and smiled. "You might have mentioned that a bit sooner!"
All of the children laughed as Peter sighed and tossed away the now useless stick. Edmund turned on the torch and walked down the set of stairs inside the door. Peter held out his arm for Susan, Lucy, and Eva to go ahead of him. Elaine smiled at him as she took his hand and walked inside with him. At the bottom of the steps, Peter pushed open an iron gate, and they all eagerly stepped inside. The sun lit up the underground area through the multiple holes and cracks in the ceiling to reveal five golden chests along with various pieces of treasure strewn about.
"I can't believe it," Peter smiled. "It's all still here."
Eva picked up one of the gold items. "Do you think I could take this back to London with me? Mum, Dad, and I would never have to worry about money again."
Elaine smiled a little. "I don't think Aslan allows you to take anything out of Narnia unless it's of great importance."
"But gold is important."
"But it doesn't last."
"It lasted all this time in here."
"You know that isn't what I meant."
She, Edmund, Susan, and Lucy opened their respective trunks and started sifting through their old items inside which included weapons, clothing, and pieces of jewelry that had since rusted or dulled.
Elaine found her old leather satchel and reached inside to pull out her long staff. Unlike everything else in the chest, the wood looked just as strong and new as the day she had received it. Goosebumps rose up on her skin as the familiar material touched her fingers for the first time in far too long.
"How did that fit in there?" Eva asked.
Elaine's eyes glimmered. "Magic."
Lucy pulled one of her old dresses out of her trunk. "I was so tall," she remarked as she held the dress up to her body wishfully.
"Well, you were older then," Susan said.
Edmund looked at them, having put on a helmet that was now far too big for his head. "As opposed to hundreds of years later, when you're younger."
Eva looked at the marble statue of Elaine behind her trunk. "Did you really used to look like that?"
"I think the marble makes me look a lot more regal than I really was," Elaine answered.
Susan's brow furrowed a little.
"What is it?" Lucy asked.
"My horn. I must've left it on my saddle the day we went back."
Eva walked over to Susan's trunk. "Your horn?"
"On our second day in Narnia, Father Christmas gave us all gifts to help ensure our survival. I was—"
"Wait, you were given presents by Father Christmas?"
"Yes, if you can believe it."
"I knew he was real!"
Susan laughed. "Well, he gave me this quiver and a bow and some arrows along with a horn that guaranteed help to whoever blew it."
Lucy held up a leather belt with a small cordial and a red sheath. "He gave me a dagger and a cordial with a healing potion."
Elaine twirled her staff around her wrist. "At the time, I thought I wasn't even supposed to be in Narnia, so imagine my surprise when he gifted me with a staff and a magic mirror."
Peter looked at the marble statue of himself that didn't really feel like an accurate representation of who he was anymore. "And he gave me a sword and a shield," he said quietly, his mind far away.
Eva looked over at Edmund. "What did he give you?"
Edmund embarrassedly looked away from her. "Unfortunately, I was off doing…other things at the time."
"You mean you didn't get anything?"
"I got something. And it was more important than anything I could've received from Father Christmas."
"What could be more important than a gift from Father Christmas himself?"
Edmund didn't answer, and Eva pursed her lips. She didn't understand why he couldn't just tell her the reason. It couldn't be that big of a deal.
Peter finally opened his own chest and pulled his sword out of its sheath. Elaine came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist as she rested her head on his shoulder.
"'When Aslan bares his teeth, winter meets its death'," he said, reading the inscription.
"'When he shakes his mane…we shall have spring again'," Lucy finished quietly. "Everyone we knew…Mr. Tumnus and the Beavers…they're all gone."
Elaine felt tears sting her eyes. One of the things she had been looking forward to the most upon her return to Narnia was seeing her trainer, Killian, and resuming their lessons together. She wanted to see her naiad and dryad friends, Alaesa, Vaella, and Rayne, who had been the first ones to truly make her feel welcome in Narnia. And her personal attendant, Mara. And her favorite general, Orieus. And her precious horse, Meera…
But they were now long gone and she would never see them again.
Eva couldn't understand how they felt because she'd only been in Narnia for two hours as opposed to their fifteen years. It was a little frustrating to not be able to relate to them, but at least now she knew why she'd always felt like the odd one out when she spent time with them. They must all think of her as just a mere child even though she was technically the same age as Edmund. She certainly felt like one around them.
"I think it's time we found out what's going on," Peter said.
Everyone decided to change out of their school clothes and into Narnian attire. Fortunately, they still had some clothing in their trunks from when they had first been crowned.
Susan held a green dress up against Eva's body. "I think this should fit you well enough. It might be a little loose, but it's the best we've got. Lucy's dress would be too small on you."
Eva felt the soft material. "It's beautiful."
The four girls changed in the treasury while Peter and Edmund went back above ground and changed outside.
When Elaine stepped out of the door in her light blue dress, Peter smiled and kissed her. "You look as lovely as you did back then."
Elaine smirked. "Does that mean I wasn't lovely before?"
"Of course you were, but this clothing suits you much better than a school uniform."
The girl smiled and rubbed her hands on his shoulders. "You look lovelier like this too."
Peter gently kissed her again.
Eva twirled around in her new green dress. She loved the way it flared out around her. Wearing this made her feel so important, and if she could, she would never take it off.
Edmund smiled a little as he watched Eva spin around. There was something very charming about watching someone enjoy Narnia for the very first time. He could still remember how exciting it was to begin training to use a sword and ride a horse and how thrilling of an experience it was to be crowned and given an official title.
Well, after he'd been rescued from the White Witch.
Edmund didn't understand why he couldn't just tell Eva what had happened to him when he'd first arrived in Narnia with his siblings. It was something that had happened a long time ago, and he had long since made up for his actions. There was no reason for it to be difficult to talk about.
But when she'd asked, his throat had closed and he hadn't been able to bring himself to admit the biggest mistake of his life.
When all of the children had finished changing and had retrieved their chosen weapons, they left the abandoned remains of Cair Paravel and walked back down to the beach. Then they began making their way down it to try to find anyone who could explain to them what had happened in all the years they'd been gone.
After they'd been walking for a couple hours, Susan suddenly stopped and pulled an arrow from her quiver. Then she rushed forward, planted her feet apart, loaded her bow, and shot an arrow directly into a passing boat on the river ahead.
Her siblings, Elaine, and Eva ran to catch up with her. Peter and Edmund quickly drew their swords.
Two men stood in the boat holding a bound dwarf in their hands.
"Drop him!" Susan ordered.
The soldiers looked at one another in disbelief and did as they were told.
They dropped the dwarf…into the water.
Peter and Edmund ran forward into the river to rescue him before he drowned. One of the soldiers picked up a crossbow and prepared to fire, but Susan shot him in the chest and he fell into the water. The other soldier either wanted to help his comrade or preferred not to take his chances against the girl with perfect aim and dove in after the other.
While Peter pulled the dwarf back onto the shore, Edmund retrieved the soldiers' empty boat for their use. Lucy ran up to the dwarf and quickly used her dagger to cut the ropes tying his hands together. The dwarf took the cloth off his mouth and spit out some water, gagging and coughing.
He slowly stood up and looked at the six humans. "'Drop him'?!" he said angrily as he slammed the cloth onto the sand. "That's the best you can come up with?"
Susan glared at the dwarf incredulously. "A simple 'thank you' would suffice."
"I mean…it was a poor choice of words," Eva muttered.
"They were doing fine drowning me without your help," the dwarf growled.
"Maybe we should have let them," Peter scoffed.
"Peter," Elaine scolded, putting her hand on his shoulder.
"Why were they trying to kill you anyway?" Lucy asked.
The dwarf looked at her as he clenched his jaw. "They're Telmarines. That's what they do."
"Telmarines?" Edmund said in disbelief. "In Narnia?"
"Where have you been for the last few hundred years?"
"It's a bit of a long story," Lucy told him as everyone smiled a little.
Susan handed Peter his sword, and a look of realization crossed the dwarf's face when he recognized the hilt.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," he moaned. "You're it? You're the Kings and Queens of Old?" His brow furrowed. "Wait a minute, there's six of you."
"I just got caught up in the journey here," Eva said as she raised her hand. "Not a queen or anything like that. Just…me."
Peter held his hand out for the dwarf to shake. "High King Peter, the Magnificent."
Elaine rolled her eyes. Peter's title of High King had never really gone to his head before, but that had changed in the more recent months and he seemed to really like reminding everyone his status as royalty.
"You probably could've left off the last bit," Susan said.
"Probably," the dwarf laughed.
"You might be surprised," Peter said as he pulled his sword out of its sheath.
"Oh, you don't want to do that, boy."
"Not me. Her."
Elaine looked at Peter and smiled. It felt good to know that despite the growing tension between them, he still had complete confidence in her and her abilities as a fighter. She pulled her staff out of her satchel. "Hold this for me, dear."
Peter took Elaine's satchel from her and handed the dwarf his sword. The dwarf swallowed and nervously took the sword from the High King's hand. It nearly dropped out of his grip when Peter let go, and Elaine smiled when she realized that he could barely lift it. She'd have to go easy on him.
Then the dwarf easily held up the sword and attacked.
Elaine quickly changed her attitude and held her staff up to block the blow. The others quickly backed away to give them space to spar.
Elaine was reminded of the first official spar she'd ever had with Peter back when she'd just begun training. But she was now much more experienced compared to then, and despite all of the dwarf's admittedly very impressive efforts, Elaine gripped her staff in her hands exactly where Killian had always instructed her and attacked and dodged as necessary. With one final twirl of her staff, she knocked Peter's sword out of the dwarf's grasp. Then she pointed the end of her staff at his neck and pressed just the right spot to extend a small blade a mere centimeter from his skin.
The dwarf looked at her in shock and fell to his knees.
Elaine smiled as she retracted the blade and pulled her staff away from him.
"Beards and bedsteads!" the dwarf exclaimed. "Maybe that horn worked after all."
"What horn?" Susan asked.
"You have Susan's horn?" Elaine asked the dwarf. "Were you the one who blew into it?"
"No, it-it was a Telmarine prince. Caspian. He's Miraz's nephew."
"Where did this happen?"
"In the Shuddering Woods last night."
"What was a Telmarine prince doing in the Shuddering Woods?"
"I'd be running away from that castle too if my uncle was as nasty a fellow as Miraz. The Telmarines believed us to be extinct, but when I was captured last night trying to fight off the soldiers who'd followed Caspian, Miraz saw that we still exist. And he made clear that he plans to take care of that."
Elaine looked at the others. Their reason for being called back after so much time had passed was now beginning to become clear.
"Can you take us to him?" Edmund said.
"I guess I can lead you where I saw him last, but I can't make any promises that you'll find what you're looking for."
Susan looked at Peter. "It's our best option right now."
Peter took a step forward. "Right then. What's your name?"
"Trumpkin," the dwarf answered.