Lucy's eyes sprang open, and her heart sank when she realized that seeing Aslan and talking with him again had only been a beautiful dream. She slowly sat up and saw that everyone else was still asleep. "Susan, wake up," she whispered.
Susan groaned drowsily and mumbled, "Certainly, Lu, whatever you like," before rolling over and returning to sleep.
Lucy sighed as she stood up and wandered a little further into the forest to see if she could make the dream a reality. She gently pressed her hand to one of the trees and said softly, "Wake up."
But life in the forest remained still and none of the trees showed any signs of revealing the dryad spirits who lived within.
She continued on another few feet when she heard soft growling. "Aslan?"
A hand abruptly clamped over her mouth and pulled her behind some of the brush. Lucy turned to see Peter behind her. They both peered around the brush and found the source of the growls to be a minotaur. Neither of them had fond memories of minotaurs, and Lucy feared what might've happened if it had seen her.
Peter put a finger to his lips and walked out from behind the brush as he unsheathed his sword.
Suddenly, a young man around Peter's age came out of nowhere and began fighting Peter with his own sword. Their weapons clanged together until Peter struck his opponent across the face and knocked his sword out of his hand. When he went in for the attack again, the man dodged and caused Peter to lodge his sword into a tree. The man kicked Peter in the chest and tried to yank the sword out of the tree.
Just as Peter was about to bash the man's head with a rock, Lucy cried out, "No, stop!"
Having heard the commotion, Elaine ran up behind Lucy and took two seconds to assess the situation. Then she quickly aimed her staff at the man who had a sword pointed at her husband's chest close enough for her to whip out the blade and slice him in a mere second should she need to. "Who are you?" she asked firmly.
The young man looked at the staff and his eyes widened with realization. "High Queen Elaine?" He looked down at the sword in his hand and then back up at Peter. "High King Peter."
Elaine sighed and lowered her staff. "You must be Prince Caspian."
Susan, Edmund, Eva, and Trumpkin finally caught up with the rest of the group.
"Whoa," Eva said when she saw the fauns, centaurs, and talking animals who had all arrived at the sound of fighting.
Elaine went up to Peter and gently looked him over. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," Peter answered as he slightly pushed her away. He gave Caspian a small smile. "I believe you called."
"Well, yes," Caspian admitted, "but…I thought you'd be older."
"That's a bit complicated," Elaine told him.
Peter's expression hardened. "Well, if you like, we could come back in a few years."
"No!" Caspian said quickly. "No, that's all right. You're just…you're not exactly what I expected."
His eyes scanned the rest of the children, and Elaine smirked when she noticed his gaze linger on Susan just a little bit longer.
"Neither are you," Edmund remarked.
"A common enemy unites even the oldest of foes," a badger said to them, who they presumed to be Trumpkin's friend, Trufflehunter.
A large mouse scampered up to Peter and Elaine's feet. "We have anxiously awaited your return, my lieges," he said with a small bow. "Our hearts and swords are at your service."
"Oh my gosh, he is so cute," Lucy whispered to Susan.
"Who said that?" the mouse demanded angrily as he drew his sword.
Lucy smiled, embarrassed he had heard her. "Sorry."
When the mouse realized it was the Queen who had spoken, he became embarrassed himself. "Oh, uh, Your Majesty, with the greatest respect, I do believe 'courageous', 'courteous', or 'chivalrous' might more befit a knight of Narnia."
"And what is the name of such a noble knight?" Elaine asked him with a small grin.
The mouse bowed again. "Reepicheep, my queen."
"Well, at least we know some of you can handle a blade," Peter smiled.
"Yes, indeed. And I have recently put it to good use, securing weapons for your army, sire."
"Good. Because we're going to need every sword we can get."
"Well, then, you will probably be wanting yours back," Caspian said.
Peter took his sword from him and put it back in his sheath with a glare.
Caspian and the other creatures began leading the humans to where the rest of their comrades had started preparing for the inevitable battle ahead.
Peter and Elaine walked alongside Caspian and tried to fill in some of the gaps in his history and learn what plan the Narnians had in the works.
"Well, it's good you have troops, but we need some fortifications," Peter said. "Somewhere to train."
"Don't worry about that," Caspian told him. "We found the perfect place."
"What is a Telmarine prince doing here in the Shuddering Woods rallying Narnians?" Elaine asked.
"Most of my people think that Narnians are nothing more than a child's fairy tale. But my father believed differently, or so I heard. I learned of all the stories of the Golden Age from my Professor. He's the one who helped me escape from the castle. My uncle…was given a son last night. And with an heir, he needs me out of the way so he and later his child can become king."
"So you want to fight to regain your right to the crown?"
"At the very least, I want to ensure that it does not go to my uncle. It is my hope that I can then give the Narnians back the land and livelihood that was stolen from them."
Behind them, Lucy and Eva walked behind Trumpkin and his two friends, Trufflehunter the badger and Nikabrik a fellow dwarf.
"So, what are they like?" Trufflehunter asked eagerly, ecstatic that the beloved Kings and Queens of Old had indeed returned just like the legend had promised.
"Malcontents, complainers, stubborn as mules in the morning," Trumpkin complained.
Eva bit her lip in embarrassment, knowing that she had been the most difficult to awaken a few hours ago.
"Oh, so you like 'em then," Nikabrik said.
After a short pause, Trumpkin begrudgingly admitted, "Well enough."
This made Lucy and Eva share an amused smile.
Finally, the group made it to the place Caspian had mentioned. Across a large, grassy field sat a giant rocky infrastructure that served as a perfect place for both training and hiding out from enemies.
As the humans crossed the field and approached the stone entranceway, several centaurs lined up on both sides and took out their swords before holding them up to make a path in honor of their rulers.
Peter, Elaine, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy regally walked forward through the line of centaurs which bittersweetly reminded them of their coronation. Elaine smiled as one of the child centaurs held his sword too low and his father had to quickly pick his arms up before the sword hit anyone's head. She winked at the small child, and he smiled broadly at her and tried to make himself look even more professional.
Because neither Eva nor Caspian were kings and queens like the others, they stayed back several feet. As the space between them grew bigger with each step the Pevensies took, Eva could feel the gap between herself and the Pevensies widen even more as well. Seeing the Pevensies in this light as the rulers they truly were made them seem so far away from her fourteen-year-old self.
She gave an awkward smile to Caspian, and he politely held out an arm as a gesture for her to go first.
The inside of the space was completely lit with torches as no natural light was capable of finding its way in. Many more Narnians had gathered inside in order to forge weapons and practice their techniques.
Being completely shut off from the outside world made Eva feel a little suffocated, but she was sure that the others were probably used to these kinds of conditions and forced herself to get over it so as not to single herself out even more.
"It may not be what you are used to, but it is defensible," Caspian said.
"Peter," Susan called from the top of a short set of stairs. "You may want to see this."
Peter took one of the torches off the wall, and they all followed Susan up the steps and around the corner. There, they saw drawings on the walls that depicted their previous adventure in Narnia. There was a drawing of Susan and Lucy riding on Aslan's back to get reinforcements for the battle, a drawing of Peter fighting the White Witch, a drawing of the Pevensies' coronation, and even a drawing of Elaine's marriage to Peter and subsequent coronation.
Elaine lightly ran her fingers over the drawing of her elaborate wedding dress and smiled as she recalled what a beautiful occasion that had been. She would give almost anything to go back to that day.
"It's us," Susan said.
"What is this place?" Lucy asked Caspian.
"You don't know?" Caspian said surprised.
He took up another torch and led them further into the underground training camp. When he reached a dark open space, he gently placed his torch onto some powder which quickly ignited and began to circle around the room. As the fire continued to light up the space, carvings on the wall revealed friends they had known from the last time they had been in Narnia. The centermost carving that stared at them between two stone pillars was a carving of Aslan.
And right in the center of the space was the cracked Stone Table.
Elaine could remember the last time she'd been here like it was yesterday. She, Susan, and Lucy had all witnessed Aslan's death at the hands of the White Witch. Never before had any of them felt such a profound sense of loss and confusion. But only hours later, his decision to give himself up had been made clear. While Elaine was helping Peter and Edmund in the battle against the Witch, Susan and Lucy stayed behind with Aslan and were able to witness the moment that he returned in all his glory. Elaine didn't regret leaving to fight, but she had always wished that she could've been there to see him reveal himself with her own eyes. At the same time, she would never forget standing on that battlefield just when all hope seemed lost and suddenly hearing Aslan's deep and powerful roar reach all the way across it.
That was the moment she realized that even if they didn't understand Aslan's decisions or why he said or did certain things, he always had a plan.
Lucy went up to the Table and gently ran her hand over the stone, no doubt reliving those same moments herself. "He must know what he's doing."
Peter's jaw tightened. "I think it's up to us now."
Elaine looked at him sadly. She wished she knew what she could say or do that would make Peter stop feeling like he had to handle everything on his own. She wished she knew how to help him stop feeling so angry.
That evening, the leaders of the Narnian army gathered together by the Stone Table in what they learned was called Aslan's How in order to decide on a plan for the battle with the Telmarines.
"It's only a matter of time," Peter insisted. "Miraz's men and war machines are on their way. That means those same men aren't protecting his castle."
"What do you propose we do, Your Majesty?" Reepicheep asked.
"We need to get ready for—"
"To start planning for—" Caspian started at the same time.
Peter glared at Caspian who quickly backed down. "Our only hope is to strike them before they strike us," he continued.
"Well, that's crazy. No one has ever taken that castle," Caspian said firmly.
"There's always a first time."
"We'll have the element of surprise," Trumpkin told Caspian.
"But we have the advantage here!" Caspian insisted.
Susan stood up next to Caspian. "If we dig in, we could probably hold them off indefinitely."
Peter looked at her like she was betraying him by not supporting him.
"I, for one, feel safer underground," Trufflehunter stated.
"Look," Peter said to Caspian. "I appreciate what you've done here, but this isn't a fortress. It's a tomb."
"Yes," Edmund added in retaliation to his brother's reasoning. "And if they're smart, the Telmarines will just wait and starve us out."
"We could collect nuts!" a squirrel announced.
"Yes! And throw them at the Telmarines!" Reepicheep said sarcastically. He glared at the squirrel. "Shut up!"
Eva put her hand to her mouth to stifle her giggles. It felt like a really bad time to laugh, but witty sarcasm was witty sarcasm. Edmund caught her eyes and smiled with her, obviously amused too, and it was something of a relief to know that even though there was a huge gap between them, King Edmund wasn't above laughing in the middle of a battle meeting either.
Reepicheep turned to Peter. "I think you know where I stand, sire."
Peter looked at the head centaur, Glenstorm, who greatly reminded Elaine of Oreius which made her heart pang with longing. "If I get your troops in, can you handle the guards?"
Glenstorm looked at the other leaders in the room as if trying to decide what was the best answer. Finally, he stated with a small nod of his head, "Or die trying, my liege."
"That's what I'm worried about," Lucy interjected from her position on the Table.
"Sorry?" Peter asked.
"Well, you're all acting like there's only two options: dying here, or dying there."
"I'm not sure you've really been listening, Lu."
"No, you're not listening. Or have you forgotten who really defeated the White Witch, Peter?"
Peter eyes hardened and his jaw clenched. "I think we've waited for Aslan long enough."
Elaine sighed as she realized just how much anger and bitterness Peter was truly harboring inside him. While they'd waited to return to Narnia, Peter had only grown more and more impatient until his impatience morphed into resentment towards Aslan for taking so long. And now that they had returned, his resentment had turned into rage that he hadn't brought them back before they'd lost everyone they had ever cared about. Now his rage was so intense that he didn't even want anything to do with Aslan anymore.
Peter exited the room in order to inform the rest of the troops of the plan.
"Peter!" Elaine called as she hurried after him. "Peter, we can't just go and raid the castle tonight. These kinds of things take a least a week to plan and even then, they're still not perfect. We don't have enough knowledge or intel about the castle grounds or who might still be there, like the patrols."
"We don't have a week. This isn't like last time. I know how to fight and I know how to lead an army. I don't need as much preparation time to do what needs to be done."
"Peter. If we go on this raid tonight with almost no time to prepare beforehand, hundreds of these Narnians could die."
"And we could also easily defeat Miraz and save everyone from having to battle at all. We're taking them by surprise. I doubt they even know that their true kings and queens have returned."
"Have they returned?"
Peter finally stopped walking and faced her. "What does that mean?"
"It means you're not acting like the king you used to be. You're lashing out, making rash decisions, not taking anyone else's opinions into account. Have you even considered for a moment that a sudden raid could do more harm than good?"
"I need your support, Elaine. If they see that my own wife is against me, no one is going to trust me to lead them. This plan will work. I know it will. And then we can prevent even more people from dying. We can take back Narnia from the Telmarines."
Elaine sighed again, seeing that she was going to be unable to talk him out of it. "Then…let's use every spare moment we have before tonight ironing out the details."