Eva excitedly ran out of Aslan's How as the army returned from the raid. She had spent the better part of the night with Talus learning the ways of the sword and even though she was exhausted and her muscles ached terribly, she was eager to show Edmund everything she'd learned and celebrate their victory over the Telmarines.
But when she saw the army approaching under a bleary and overcast sky, her heart clenched as she noticed that the number of creatures returning was less than a third of the number who had left, and the ones still alive were covered in injuries of various severity.
She met eyes with Edmund and she had never seen him look so solemn and devastated.
Her mouth went dry.
This was what war looked like.
Eva knew what a war was and she knew that they were in the middle of one back home, but both of her parents had never gone into detail about the specifics of any of it. With the morbid sight before her, she understood why. But at the same time, she felt angry and frustrated and embarrassed that they had downplayed the atrocity of it just to protect her. All this time, she had believed that battles and fights weren't nearly as serious as they actually were. And she felt that by having that kind of attitude, she had effectively disrespected all of the soldiers who were putting their very lives on the line every day to defend their country.
Lucy raced out and took in the sight before her. "What happened?"
"Ask him," Peter bit out as he glared at Caspian.
"Peter," Elaine said as she held a hand against her side. "Don't."
"Me?" Caspian demanded as he stopped walking. "You could've called it off. There was still time."
"No, there wasn't, thanks to you. If you kept to the plan, those soldiers might be alive right now."
"And if you'd just stayed here like I suggested, they definitely would be! And now my sister is trapped there with my uncle and might even be dead after what she did to try to help us!"
"You called us, remember?"
"My first mistake."
"Caspian…" Elaine started. She'd lost a lot of blood over the course of their journey here due to her injury, and she felt light-headed and ill.
"No," Peter continued. "Your first mistake was thinking you could lead these people."
"Hey!" Caspian yelled.
Peter furiously turned around.
"I am not the one who abandoned Narnia."
"You invaded Narnia! You have no more right to lead it than Miraz does!"
Caspian pushed past him and tried to go inside the How.
"You, him, your sister, your father…Narnia's better off without the lot of you!"
Caspian screamed as he drew his sword and pointed it at Peter who quickly did the same.
"ENOUGH!" Elaine screamed stepping between them. She glared at Caspian then at Peter. "Enough."
Peter and Caspian slowly let down their swords.
"Both of you messed up. You weren't where you were supposed to be, and you didn't call off the raid when it was clear it wasn't going to work. But now…is not the time to be fighting with each other…because that's exactly what they want."
Peter's brow furrowed when he noticed dark red spots falling onto the ground near Elaine's feet.
"Now…more than ever…we…we need to…"
She couldn't finish speaking as her legs gave out and she started to fall.
"Elaine!" Peter cried. He quickly caught her and sank down to the ground with her in his arms. "Elaine? Elaine!"
Their argument suddenly forgotten for the moment, Caspian's eyes widened in alarm and he fell to his knees beside them as Edmund and Susan rushed over. Eva could only stay frozen in place, horrified at the events taking place before her.
Peter felt something wet on his hands and realized that the entire left side of Elaine's lower body was covered in blood. Upon closer inspection, he could see a tear in her dress that revealed a very deep gash on her stomach.
His heart was in his throat. How was it possible that he had not known the extent of her injuries long before now?
With growing panic, he already knew exactly why he hadn't noticed.
When they'd lived in Narnia previously, Peter and Elaine had quickly made it a habit to check each other for injuries after each and every fight or battle they were in and then care for any injury either of them had acquired.
After they'd gone back to England, Elaine had continued to do that for him every time he got frustrated and started a fight with someone, just like she had at the train station before they'd been pulled back here. Even after his fight with Caspian, she'd attempted to look him over just in case. She was always there for him, fighting by his side and taking care of him afterward.
…But when was the last time he had done the same for her? When was the last time he'd put aside his own feelings of anger and frustration to think about her? When was the last time he was the first to notice when she was hurt?
He couldn't even remember, and now his beloved wife was paying the price for it.
All because he'd been so desperate to prove himself.
"Lucy!" he called out in a strangled voice as he stroked the side of her deathly pale face. "Lucy!"
Elaine trembled inside Peter's arms as her breathing shallowed. The world around her had blurred, and everyone's voices were slow and far away. She had never felt so weak and tired in her entire life. All she wanted to do was close her eyes and rest.
With tears pricking her eyes, Lucy knelt down next to Elaine and carefully tipped a single drop of her healing potion into her mouth. After several tense seconds, Elaine felt the grievous wound slowly heal itself. Then her vision began to clear up, the voices sounded nearby again, the chill faded, and her strength returned to her limbs.
Everyone gathered around her helped her stand up again.
Elaine lightly touched Lucy's arm. "Thank you."
Peter tightly hugged her and kissed her forehead. Elaine allowed him to hold her for a few moments, but then she pushed him away and looked at him sadly before walking through the stone entranceway and inside the How.
Now that he knew Elaine was going to be okay, Caspian glared at Peter and went inside himself.
Peter ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He'd really messed up this time.
Trembling and horrified, Eva quickly turned and escaped to the How. She couldn't bear to see anymore. If this was what life was like in Narnia, she no longer wanted any part of this. She just wanted to go back home where the horror of battles and war were far away. She wanted to go back to when she and Edmund were close friends with only a few months separating them rather than several years and a kingly title, and he only ever smiled and cracked jokes. She didn't want to see this side of him any more than she wanted to see Elaine nearly bleed out on the pavement in front of her.
Caspian stood in front of the drawing of the four Pevensies at their coronation, and Eva slowly came up next to him. Both of them took a moment to wonder what that day was like for both the Narnians and the Pevensies themselves. Why couldn't they have just shown up and saved the day like they had last time?
"Are you so glad of that magic horn now, boy?" Nikabrik taunted. "Your kings and queens have failed us. Your army's half dead. And those that aren't will be soon enough."
"Is there a point to this optimistic outlook?" Eva asked sharply.
Caspian glared at the dwarf. "What do you want? Congratulations?"
"You want your uncle's blood," Nikabrik told him. "So do we. You want his throne? We can get it for you."
"Who's 'we'?" Eva asked.
Nikabrik motioned from them to follow him. Caspian and Eva shared a nervous glance and then followed Nikabrik into the room that housed the broken Stone Table.
"You tried one ancient power. It failed. But there is a power greater still. One that kept even Aslan at bay for near a hundred years."
"Would it put an end to all this?" Eva asked. "Make everything go back to normal?"
The sooner the war with the Telmarines ended, the sooner she could go back home and try to forget that any of this ever happened. She wasn't sure she fully trusted the dwarf, but she was now so desperate to leave that she was willing to try anything.
Eva and Caspian looked out at the room when they heard low growls and quiet rustling. After unsheathing his sword, Caspian moved down the steps. "Who's there?"
Eva cautiously stepped closer to him as two hooded figures slinked out of the shadows and slowly inched towards them.
"I am hunger," a deep voice growled menacingly. "I am thirst. I can fast a hundred years and not die. I can lie a hundred nights on the ice and not freeze. I can drink a river of blood and not burst. Show me…your enemies!"
The figure quickly removed his hood to reveal that he was a werewolf. Caspian quickly held his sword up and put an arm protectively in front of Eva who gasped in alarm.
The other figure, an old hag with birdlike facial qualities, also removed her hood. "What you hate, so will we," she rasped. "No one hates better than us."
"And you can…guarantee Miraz's death?" Caspian asked.
The hag bowed. "And more."
Caspian slowly sheathed his sword and looked at Eva. She nervously met his eyes. Something felt off about this whole thing, but if these creatures truly could put Caspian onto the throne and allow her to go back home, then she would go along with whatever their plan was.
"Let the circle be drawn," the hag hissed.
The werewolf knelt down and used his claw to draw a circle in the dirt around Caspian and Eva's feet while the hag chanted in some sort of foreign language. As her chanting became louder and louder, she produced a crystal staff from her cloak and slammed it into the steps. Ice blasted out of the staff, and the temperature in the room suddenly dropped several degrees so that Eva and Caspian could see their breaths in small clouds. The drawn circle around them glowed white, and the ice inched its way higher and higher to form a whole wall in between the two stone pillars.
Then a beautiful woman with platinum blonde hair and a pure white dress floated forward inside the ice.
Eva's stomach flipped and her insides turned cold. Every single terrible emotion she'd ever felt came directly to the surface and made her feel ugly and insignificant.
She'd never seen the woman before, but she knew immediately that she was the White Witch who had cursed the land with a hundred-year-long winter the last time the Pevensies had been here and had slaughtered many Narnians in her pursuit of ultimate power.
She'd made a dreadful mistake.
"Wait," Caspian said quickly, clearly coming to the same conclusion. "This isn't what I wanted."
He tried to back away, but the werewolf quickly grabbed him and forced him to hold his left hand up while the hag did the same to Eva.
"One drop of Adam and Eve's blood and you free me," the Witch crooned. "Then I am yours, my king."
The hag reached into her cloak and pulled out a knife which she used to cut Eva's right hand as she screamed while Caspian cried out in pain when the werewolf used his claw to cut open his left hand.
The Witch lightly kissed her fingertips then slowly pushed her hand through the ice wall.
Eva struggled against the hag restraining her, but as she met the Witch's eyes, her thoughts tangled together. She knew that all of this was wrong, but…she couldn't remember why. The only thing that made sense was stepping forward and allowed her bleeding hand to touch the woman's.
The hag and the werewolf released Caspian and Eva now that they were both under the Witch's spell. Unfortunately for the two creatures, they couldn't force the humans to touch the Witch. They had to do it of their own free will. That didn't mean that the Witch couldn't help…persuade them.
"Stop!" someone yelled behind them.
Eva thought she recognized the voice, but she couldn't remember who it belonged to or why the owner of it wanted this to stop. The distant sounds of commotion rang out all around her. But her only concern was the woman in front of her who needed to be freed. Something told her that it was imperative that she be freed as soon as possible. She took a small step forward with her hand still outstretched.
Peter, Edmund, and Trumpkin raced into the room to try to stop Caspian and Eva from unintentionally freeing the White Witch and creating a new reign of chaos.
Peter began fighting the hag, Edmund took on the werewolf, and Trumpkin clashed with Nikabrik.
Just when Nikabrik nearly killed Trumpkin much to his old friend's horror, Lucy came up behind him and put her dagger to his neck. Nikabrik maneuvered out of her grasp and twisted her arm painfully behind her back. Lucy screamed while Nikabrik stole her dagger and threw her to the ground. The dwarf advanced towards her, but Trumpkin quickly stabbed him in the back before he could hurt her.
Peter threw the hag into one of the stone walls while Edmund successfully cut down the attacking werewolf.
"Come on! Come," the Witch beckoned to an enraptured Caspian and Eva.
Peter quickly pushed the both of them out of the enchanted circle. "Get away from them!" he cried as he aimed his sword at the Witch.
Eva crashed onto the ground to Peter's right. Freed from the Witch's enchantment, she cried out as she cradled her hand to her chest, now able to feel the deep pain from the knife slicing her skin open.
The Witch smiled. "Peter, dear," she said sweetly. "I've missed you."
Eva looked up and watched as the Witch held out her hand for Peter.
"Come. Just one drop of yours and Eve's blood. You know you can't do this alone."
Peter looked at the Witch and then at Eva and her bleeding hand. Eva knew that ordinarily, Peter would never even consider helping the White Witch in any way, but something about that circle messed with one's thoughts and emotions. She didn't doubt that the Witch could easily coerce Peter into forcing Eva to give up a drop of her blood, and with the stark difference in their abilities, Peter would be able to overtake her in five seconds should he so choose.
Peter lowered his sword.
Suddenly, a sword pierced through the ice right in the Witch's abdomen. Peter's brow furrowed in confusion as the ice splintered and cracked. Eva covered her face when the ice wall shattered and revealed Edmund on the other side with his sword over his head.
Peter, Caspian, and Eva all looked at him in shock.
"I know," Edmund said coldly to Peter. "You had it sorted."
Now that the ice was gone, Peter and Caspian could clearly see the carving of Aslan on the wall and both felt extremely ashamed at all of their actions leading up to them nearly freeing the White Witch.
Edmund walked around the stone pillars towards Eva and gently helped her into a sitting position. "Here, let me see."
Eva winced and tears pricked the corner of her eyes as she let him examine her bleeding and trembling hand.
"Come on, let's get that taken care of."
He put his arm around her shoulders and helped her to stand then led her out of the room.
Eva briefly met eyes with Caspian. He looked at her guiltily, like he was the one responsible for causing her pain, but Eva knew that she was just as much to blame. She tore herself away from his gaze and passed by Susan and Elaine on the way out.
That was when Peter realized that wife had witnessed the whole thing.
There were few things that felt worse than Elaine's cold and disappointed glare. He could not recall her ever looking at him like that the entire time they had been married, but he could not fault her for it. It seemed like all he could do lately was continue to let her down.
Elaine whipped around and left the Stone Table.
"Elaine, wait!" Peter called as he ran after her.
Susan glared at Caspian one final time and then followed her sibling out, leaving him alone with the guilt and shame.
Peter caught up with Elaine and touched her shoulder. "Elaine!"
Elaine furiously turned around. "You want to explain to me what just happened in there?"
"I…"
"Eva, I can understand because she's never been here before and she doesn't know what the Witch is capable of. Caspian, I admit, I expected better, but you…you were there. You saw everything that she did. Have you forgotten what she did to your brother? Our brother?! She captured him and then nearly killed him both then and out on the battlefield. And I know you haven't forgotten about that because I have been there to comfort you when you woke up screaming from the nightmares about that moment. Did you think that if you released her, she would actually listen to you?"
"I…don't know what happened. The circle was enchanted, and…all I could think was that freeing her was the only answer."
"She can only influence you if you already have doubt and darkness inside your heart."
The words hit him like a punch to the gut.
"Knowing that she tried to kill our brother and very nearly succeeded, knowing that she killed Aslan, knowing that she brings death wherever she goes, you stood right in front of her and you lowered your sword. I don't know what has happened to you, but this…is not the man I married." She quickly swiped away a tear that had rolled down her right cheek. "Maybe trying to continue acting like we were husband and wife was a mistake."
"Elaine—"
Elaine held her hand up. "I need a few minutes."
Peter put his hand to his face as he watched her go, a sharp and agonizing pain stabbing his heart and rendering him unable to move or speak.
Elaine exited the How, leaned against the stone, and began to sob.
Sitting on the edge of a wooden table, Eva pressed her lips together to keep from crying out again as Edmund cleaned and bandaged her wound.
"I'm almost done," he assured.
Eva shook her head and avoided his eyes. "Up until this morning, it had all seemed more like a game," she softly confessed. "But it's not…is it?"
"No. It isn't."
"I've…I've never seen…I mean, I didn't know that this was what war was like. I've never had someone nearly die right in front of me."
"Narnia is a wonderful and beautiful place, but it isn't perfect."
"I'm so sorry. I…I thought I was helping."
Edmund sighed heavily as he tied off the bandage. "The White Witch and her followers know exactly what to say to get you to do what they want."
Eva finally looked up at him. It sounded as if he was speaking from personal experience.
"Remember how you asked why I didn't get a present from Father Christmas? And I said that what I ended up getting was better?"
She slowly nodded.
"Well…what I ended up getting…was my life."
He sighed again, and Eva stayed quiet to allow him to decide if he wanted to continue or not.
"When I first walked into Narnia, I wasn't with the others. I was alone, and the White Witch was the first person I ran into. She saw me, and she said all of the things she knew I wanted to hear. I could blame my attitude afterward on the food she gave me, and that did have a hand in everything that followed, but it wouldn't have affected me in the first place if I wasn't already so heartless and only cared about myself. She tricked me, and I ended up betraying all of Narnia for her. I told her things she was never supposed to find out, and because of me, my family was nearly killed."
Eva couldn't imagine living with that kind of guilt and shame, and now she understood why he'd had such a difficult time sharing it with her.
"Fortunately, I quickly came to my senses and some of the other Narnians rescued me. That was the first time I ever saw Aslan. I thought he'd be furious and to be honest, I thought that he might kill me himself. But he took one look at me…and it was like he could see me. He could see all of my thoughts, my emotions, my regrets, my shortcomings. I felt so ashamed of myself, but at the same time, I had never felt so loved."
Hearing all this revealed even more layers to the boy Eva thought she knew so well.
"And then the White Witch claimed that because I was a traitor to Narnia, I was to die at her hands. But…Aslan gave himself up to be killed in my place. There are so many times I have wondered why he would do such a thing. Because of the laws of the Deep Magic that rule over this land, Aslan returned to life because he was innocent, but since that day, I have done all that I can to make sure that I honor his sacrifice."
The more he talked about Aslan, the more Eva wanted to see this mysterious and powerful figure with her own eyes. He seemed to be everything the White Witch wasn't.
"The battle against the Witch was…terrifying, to say the least. I was only thirteen years old and I had to help my brother command an entire army to try to defeat the Witch and her followers. I faced her head-on and managed to break her magical staff which at least rid her of some of her leverage…but I wasn't quick enough and she stabbed me and left me there to die. If it wasn't for Lucy's healing cordial…"
Eva tried to process all of this information. She had known the White Witch was evil even before the events that had just taken place, but she hadn't truly understood the depth of her depravity until she learned of all the things Edmund had endured because of her. And to think that she had been so close to freeing her and beginning her reign of terror all over again…
Edmund gently put his hand on hers. "I know that your mum and dad tried desperately to shield you from the horrors of the war back home, so I can only imagine what this all must look like to you. And I know exactly how you feel about facing the White Witch. Do you know what Elaine said to me right after I'd been rescued?"
Eva shook her head.
"She told me that it's okay to be scared."
Eva's eyes filled with tears and she began to cry. She was distressed by the fact that so many creatures had been killed last night during the failed raid, she was horrified at nearly witnessing Elaine die and would never be able to forget her pale form lying in Peter's arms, but mostly she was horrified that the Witch and her followers had so easily manipulated her and nearly led her to release a woman who would only bring destruction and suffering with her.
Edmund gently took her into his arms, just as Elaine had done for him so long ago, and allowed her to cry in his embrace.