Sword in the Stone

After a meal, which was taken in the open air on the hill-top, they were busy for a while taking the pavilion down and packing things up. Before two o'clock, they were on the march and set off in a northeasterly direction, walking at an easy pace for they had not far to go.

During the first part of the journey, Ella took it upon herself to explain to Peter her plan of campaign.

"As soon as she's finished her business in these parts," she said, "the Witch and her crew will almost certainly fall back to her House and prepare for a siege. You may or may not be able to cut her off and prevent her from reaching it."

She then went on to outline two plans of battle— one for fighting the Witch and her people in the wood and another for assaulting her castle. And all the time she was advising Peter how to conduct the operations, saying things like, "You must put your Centaurs in such and such a place" or "You must post scouts to see that she doesn't do so-and-so."

It went on so until, at last, Peter said, "But you and Aslan will be there yourselves."

The usual undecipherable glint appeared in her gaze as she remained silent for a long agonizing moment.

At last, she answered, "I can give you no promise of that."

One single glint flashed through her eyes, so fast Peter barely caught it, though he noticed how it seemed as though it pained her that there was one promise she could not keep. Her expression, however, remained impassive as she continued giving him her instructions.

For the last part of the journey, it was Susan and Lucy who saw most of her as Aslan had left her side and went to lead the rest of the way. Then, just when they thought Ella could not get any more mysterious than she already was, she went and handed them two of her most prized possessions; a silver ring with the sign of infinity, which she gave to Susan, and her golden lion bracelet, which she handed to the youngest Pevensie. She seemed to them to be sad, Lucy noted, but no question was answered after she gave them the items. She did not say why she had chosen to give it to them, nor did she talk very much afterward.

It was still afternoon when they came down to a place where the river valley had widened out, and the river was broad and shallow. This was the Fords of Beruna, and Aslan gave orders to halt on this side of the water.

But Peter said, "Wouldn't it be better to camp on the far side— for fear she should try a night attack or anything?"

Aslan, who seemed to have been thinking about something else, roused himself with a shake of his magnificent mane and said, "Eh? What's that?"

Peter said it all over again.

"No," said Aslan in a dull voice, as if it didn't matter. "No. She will not make an attack tonight." And then he sighed deeply, but presently he added, "All the same it was well thought of. That is how a soldier ought to think. But it doesn't really matter." So they proceeded to pitch their camp.

The mood echoing between the great lion and the princess affected everyone that evening. Peter was feeling uncomfortable too at the idea of fighting the battle on his own; the news that Aslan and Ella might not be there had come as a great shock to him. Supper that evening was a quiet meal. Everyone felt how different it had been last night or even that morning. It was as if the good times, having just begun, were already drawing to their end.

It was then that Ella surprised the Pevensies anew. She had quietly come up to them at the precise moment the General of Aslan's army, Oreius, had been conversing with the eldest Pevensie. When she called out to them, for the first time she did not call out the nickname she had given to them ever since before they met.

"Pevensies."

They quieted down and turned to look at her, frowning slightly as they took her in. She stood before them wearing a brown dress and a pair of brown worn-out riding boots, both seeming to belong to someone of lower class than herself. The only things demonstrating her high value were the black sating cloak she hung over her shoulder, along with the gold pendant she always seemed to be wearing, and her sword and shield.

Braid falling over her right shoulder to rest above her covered breast as she bowed before them, she spoke in a voice that was far from cold, and yet far from optimistic or any of the sort. Her voice was full of power and determination Oreius had only ever heard when was dead set on doing something others believed her incapable of doing.

"If I may be so bold your majesties."

Had the serious and somber look not been on her face, Edmund would've laughed; if there was one thing he learned about her, as he got to know her, is that there never really is a time where she isn't bold.

The Pevensies became confused when she knelt before them on one knee and took her sword out of its sheath, laying it before them. Why would she be kneeling before them? She was of higher importance then they were, even being the future kings and queens of Narnia.

"I, Erella, by the will and word of the Great Lion King, Aslan, have been given the name as the First Warrior of Narnia. I pray you kings and queens will allow me to stand by your side when there are battles to fight, protect you when enemies mean you harm, kill those that would destroy you, and, if it comes to the end, that I should die in the place of your life. Please accept what I have to offer, for I can give nothing more."

Again, Ella rendered Peter speechless as she had many times before. He had no ounce of a clue of what to say. She was asking to protect them, give her life to them— why? She'd been doing that from the start.

They didn't know, however, that she was simply asking them to let her fulfill her oath. One thing was promising the Great King, but another was promising the future Kings and Queens of Narnia. By promising both, Ella knew there was no chance in the world she would think of backing down at the last minute— she was a girl who was raised to keep promises.

Before either Peter or Susan had a chance to say anything stupid, Edmund stepped forward and took Ella's sword.

"I, Edmund, King of Narnia, by the will of Aslan, accept your gift, and charge you with my life."

Peter stepped forward and put his hand on the sword Edmund held.

"I Peter, High King of Narnia by the will of Aslan, accept your gift, and charge you with my life as well."

Then Susan and Lucy came, putting their hands over their brothers, charging her with their life as well. Then, Oreius suddenly stepped forward and raised his own sword in a salute.

"And I, Oreius, General of Aslan's army, promise fealty to you."

Ella stood, sheathed her sword then bowed. "I promise to fulfill the oath I have made to you to the best of my abilities." Then she threw her cloak on and soared away from them.

"What do you think that was about?" Susan asked, eyeing Ella's retreating form with concern.

Peter shrugged. "Probably just wants to make sure we allow her to keep us safe as best she can, though I don't really know why she would ask..."

Edmund and Lucy, however, knew better than those simple guesses, and the centaur who'd known her since her earlier years knew better too.

The edging mood hadn't changed, and that feeling affected Susan so much that she couldn't get to sleep when she went to bed. And after she had lain counting sheep and turning over and over, she heard Lucy give a long sigh and turn over just beside her in the darkness.

"Can't you get to sleep either?" said Susan.

"No," said Lucy. "I thought you were asleep. I say, Susan!"

"What?"

"I've a most horrible feeling— as if something were hanging over us."

"Have you? Because, as a matter of fact, so have I."

"Something about Aslan and Ella," said Lucy. "Either some dreadful thing is going to happen to them, or something dreadful that they're going to do."

"There's been something wrong with them all afternoon," said Susan. "Aslan's been in his tent since we've arrived, and remember that promise Ella made? God, Lucy! What was that they said about not being with us at the battle? You don't think they could be stealing away and leaving us tonight, do you?"

"Where is he now?" said Lucy. "Is he here in the pavilion?"

"I don't think so."

"Susan! Let's go outside and have a look round. We might see him."

"All right. Let's," said Susan; "we might just as well be doing that as lying awake here."

Very quietly the two girls groped their way among the other sleepers and crept out of the tent. The moonlight was bright, and everything was quite still except for the noise of the river chattering over the stones.

Then Susan suddenly caught Lucy's arm and said, "Look!"

On the far side of the camping ground, just where the trees began, they saw the Lion and the Princess slowly walking away from them into the wood. Without a word, they both followed them.

The King and Princess led them up the steep slope out of the river valley and then slightly to the right— apparently by the very same route which they had used that afternoon in coming from the Hill of the Stone Table. On and on they were led, into dark shadows and out into the pale moonlight, getting their feet wet with the heavy dew. The lion looked somehow different from the Aslan they knew; his tail and his head hung low, and he walked slowly as if he were very, very tired. Ella looked almost as she had when the news of her brother's death had reached her; face dark, expression broken; her movements weren't graceful at all anymore, they were more stiff and automatic, almost like a machine. Then, when they were crossing a wide-open place where there were no shadows for them to hide in, the lion and the girl stopped and looked around. It was no good trying to run away, so the Pevensie girls came towards them.

When they were closer Aslan said, "Oh, children, children, why are you following us?"

"We couldn't sleep," said Lucy— and then felt sure that she need say no more and that Aslan knew all they had been thinking.

"Please, may we come with you— wherever you're going?" asked Susan.

"Well..." said Aslan, and seemed to be thinking.

Then Ella spoke softly, "I should be glad of company tonight."

Nodding softly in agreement, Aslan said, "Yes, you may come, if you will promise to stop when I tell you, and after that leave me to go on alone."

"Oh, thank you, thank you. And we will," said the two girls.

Forward they went again, and one of the girls walked on each side of the Lion. But how slowly he walked! And his great, royal head drooped so that his nose nearly touched the grass. Presently he stumbled and gave a low moan.

"Grandpapa," Ella mumbled. She stepped toward him, and suddenly stumbled slightly, beginning to feel faint.

"Aslan! Ella!" said Lucy, "what's wrong? Can't you tell us?"

"Are you ill?" asked Susan.

"No," said Aslan. "I am sad and lonely. Lay your hands on my mane so that I can feel you are there and let us walk like that."

And so the girls did what they would never have dared to do without his permission, but what they had longed to do ever since they first saw him buried their cold hands in the beautiful sea of fur and stroked it and, so doing while walking. After a moment, Lucy, noticing Ella almost falling behind, dared herself to reach out and grab her hand. As if being snapped out of a reverie, Ella blinked and looked down at the little girl who looked back up at her with her innocent gaze; she gave Lucy a fond look filled with gratefulness.

Soon, Susan and Lucy saw that they were going with them up the slope of the hill on which the Stone Table stood. They went up at the side where the trees came furthest up, and when they got to the last tree Aslan stopped and said,

"Oh, children, children. Here you must stop. And whatever happens, do not let yourselves be seen. Farewell."

And, though they hardly knew why, both the girls cried bitterly and clung to the Lion and kissed his mane and his nose and his paws and his great, sad eyes. Then they turned to the Princess and flung themselves onto her, hugging her tightly, practically hanging on for dear life. After a long moment, Ella pulled away and regarded them with sad eyes that mirrored those of her grandfather. She then placed a soft kiss on Susan's forehead, then one on Lucy's before turning her back to them, looking over at Aslan who gave her a nod.

With the farewells done and over with, the lion and the girl turned from them and walked out on to the top of the hill. And Lucy and Susan, crouching in the bushes, looked after them, and watched with terror-filled eyes as a nightmare came before them.

A great crowd of people was standing all around the Stone Table and though the moon was shining many of them carried torches which burned with evil-looking red flames and black smoke. But such people! Ogres with monstrous teeth, and wolves, and bull-headed men; spirits of evil trees and poisonous plants; Cruels and Hags and Incubuses, Wraiths, Horrors, Efreets, Sprites, Orknies, Wooses, and Ettins. In fact, there were all those who were on the Witch's side and whom the Wolf had summoned at her command. And right in the middle, standing by the Table, was the Witch herself.

A howl and a gibber of dismay went up from the creatures when they first saw the great Lion and the prophesied High Queen pacing towards them, and for a moment even the Witch seemed to be struck with fear. Then she recovered herself and gave a wild, fierce laugh.

Ella swallowed hard; she was not afraid of the Witch, but more of what was about to happen to her and Aslan. That made her laugh bitterly inside as she realized she never had really been afraid of death until now. Perhaps it was because it was at the hand of someone she had spent such a long time hating.

"The fools!" she cried. "The fools have come."

Lucy and Susan finally understood Ella's oath. Finally, they understood why she had knelt before them and asked for them to accept her gift. Susan's heart clenched as the realization came to her of what was about to happen to the great Lion and the girl who had shown herself to be the most loyal person she'd ever known. The girls held their breaths waiting for Aslan's roar and his spring upon his enemies. For the clang of Ella's sword as she'd bring it out of her scabbard and swing it forward. But neither ever came. That is, until Ella stepped forward and unsheathed her blade. However, what Lucy and Susan expected never happened.

The Princess walked forward till she stood where the Witch was. She stepped toward the head of the Stone Table and looked up at the Witch, glaring at her for a moment before raising her sword with her two hands and stabbing it into the stone. A lightning bolt seemed to have emitted from the blade as she embedded it into the rock, and so again when she did the same with her shield, striking it right beside her sword. They shone for a moment, glinting underneath the moonlight and the fire blazing around before morphing till both almost look rusted, practically stone.

The weapons looked like statuettes now; almost like ancient artifacts from a museum. Ella looked just as worn, her beautiful hazelnut, green-specked eyes that once shone with hope and life had once more become nothing but a dull shade of dark brown and were simply... empty. Her face had become pale anew, and her cheekbones were looking more angular as her cheek-fat almost sunk into the bone.

Glaring up at the Witch once more, Ella stepped back, almost stumbling as she made her way back to Aslan's side. She instantly buried a hand into his soft mane, hugging her cloak closer around herself.

Gazing at the girl with suspicion, the Witch stepped toward the weapons stabbed into the stone. She looked at it for merely a few seconds before reaching a hand forward toward the sword. Wrapping a white hand around its hilt, she pulled, but nothing happened— the sword did not budge. The same happened with the shield, and that enraged her; she glanced furiously at Ella and bellowed,

"Bind them fast."

Four Hags, grinning and leering, yet also hanging back and half afraid of what they had to do, had approached the Lion and the Princess.

"Bind them, I say!" repeated the White Witch.

The Hags made a dart at them and shrieked with triumph when they found that neither made any resistance at all. Then others— evil dwarfs and apes— rushed in to help them, and between them, they rolled the huge Lion over on his back and tied all his four paws together. Ella, they grabbed her roughly and tied each of her limbs separately. They mocked them through shouts and cheers as if they had done something brave, though, had the Lion chose, one of those paws could have been the death of them all. Ella, with just one hit in the neck, could've killed one of them, and done so for the rest as well.

But they made no noise, even when the enemies, straining and tugging, pulled the cords so tight that they cut into their flesh. Then they began to drag them towards the Stone Table.

"Stop!" said the Witch. "Let him first be shaved."

Another roar of mean laughter went up from her followers as an ogre with a pair of shears came forward and squatted down by Aslan's head. Snip-snip-snip went the shears and masses of curling gold began to fall to the ground. Then the ogre stood back and the children, watching from their hiding-place, could see the face of Aslan looking all small and different without its mane. The enemies also saw the difference.

"Why, he's only a great cat after all!" cried one.

"Is that what we were afraid of?" said another.

And they surged round Aslan, jeering at him, saying things like "Puss, Puss! Poor Pussy," and "How many mice have you caught today, Cat?" and "Would you like a saucer of milk, Pussums?"

"Oh, how can they?" said Lucy, tears streaming down her cheeks. "The brutes, the brutes!" for now that the first shock was over the shorn face of Aslan looked to her braver, and more beautiful, and more patient than ever.

Ella wanted to cry. Never had she seen Aslan in such a vulnerable state. Unfortunately, she was in no better situation. She couldn't remember much of what was done to her, but she remembered how quickly she felt cold. Her cloak and boots were gone, and her tight black trousers and brown dress felt suddenly breezy in different areas— they'd been cut. Her hair no longer felt as heavy as it had grown, nor in the long braid she had made earlier, but for her hair, she did not care one bit. What were they doing to her? And Aslan? She couldn't see him anymore as her vision had begun to blur and she began to feel lightheaded.

"Muzzle them!" said the Witch.

And even now, as they worked about Aslan's face putting on the muzzle, one bite from his jaws would have cost two or three of them their hands. But he never moved. Ella's eyes were closed when they brought the object meant for animals and placed it over her mouth. And this seemed to enrage all that rabble. Everyone was at them now. Those who had been afraid to come near them even after they were bound began to find their courage, and for a few minutes the two girls could not even see Aslan or Ella— so thickly were they surrounded by the whole crowd of creatures kicking them, hitting them, spitting on them, jeering at them.

At last, the rabble had had enough of this. They began to drag the bound and muzzled Lion and Princess to the Stone Table, some pulling and some pushing. The Lion was so huge that even when they got him there, it took all their efforts to hoist him on to the surface of it. Ella was so thin they practically threw her onto it like a rag-doll. Then there was more tying and tightening of cords.

"The cowards! The cowards!" sobbed Susan. "Are they still afraid of him, even now?"

When once the Lion and his scion had been tied on the flat stone, a hush fell on the crowd. Four Hags, holding four torches, stood at the corners of the Table. The Witch bared her arms as she had bared them the previous night when it had been Edmund instead of Aslan and Ella. Then she began to whet her two knives— one for the King and one for the Princess. It looked to the children when the gleam of the torchlight fell on them as if the knives were made of stone, not of steel, and it was of a strange and evil shape.

At last, she drew near. She stood by their heads. Her face was working and twitching with passion, but Aslan's looked up at the sky, still quiet, neither angry nor afraid, but a little sad, while Ella's stared blankly at nothing, a mere tear escaping her right eye. Then, just before the Witch gave the blows, she stooped down and said in a quivering voice,

"And now, who has won? Fools, did you think that by all this you would save the human traitor? Now I will kill you both instead of him as our pact was and so the Deep Magic will be more than appeased. But when you are dead, what will prevent me from killing him as well? And who will take him out of my hand then? Understand that you have given me Narnia forever, you have lost your own lives and you have not saved his. In that knowledge, despair and die."

The children did not see the actual moment of the killing. They couldn't bear to look and had covered their eyes.

While the two girls still crouched in the bushes with their hands over their faces, they heard the voice of the Witch calling out,

"Now! Follow me all and we will set about what remains of this war! It will not take us long to crush the human vermin and the traitors now that the great Fools, the great Cat and little Princess, lie dead."

At this moment the children were for a few seconds in very great danger. For the whole of that vile rabble came sweeping off the hill-top and down the slope right past their hiding-place. They felt the Spectres go by them like a cold wind and they felt the ground shake beneath them under the galloping feet of the Minotaurs; and overhead there went a flurry of foul wings and a blackness of vultures and giant bats. At any other time they would have trembled with fear; but now the sadness and shame and horror of Aslan and Ella's death so filled their minds that they hardly thought of it.

As soon as the wood was silent again, Susan and Lucy crept out onto the open hill-top. The moon was getting low and thin clouds were passing across her, but still, they could see the shape of the Lion and his scion lying dead in their bonds. And down they both knelt in the wet grass, and Susan kissed his cold face and stroked his beautiful fur— what was left of it— and cried till they could cry no more, while Lucy sobbed as much, grabbing hold of one of Ella's limp, cold hands, holding it preciously in her own. And then they looked at each other and held each other's hands for mere loneliness and cried again; and then again were silent.

At last Lucy said, "I can't bear to look at those horrible muzzles. I wonder could we take them off?"

So they tried. And after a lot of working at it as their fingers were cold and it was now the darkest part of the night, they succeeded. And when they saw Aslan and Ella's faces without them, they burst out crying again and kissed them and fondled them and wiped away the blood and the foam as well as they could.

And it was all more lonely and hopeless and horrid.

"I wonder could we untie them as well?" mumbled Susan. But the enemies, out of pure spitefulness, had drawn the cords so tight that the girls could make nothing of the knots.

Everyone knows that there comes in the end a sort of quietness. A sort that makes one feel as if nothing was ever going to happen again. At any rate that was how it felt to these two Pevensie girls. Hours and hours seemed to go by in this dead calm, and they hardly noticed that they were getting colder and colder.

But at last Lucy noticed two other things.

One was that the sky on the east side of the hill was a little less dark than it had been an hour ago. The other was some tiny movement going on in the grass at her feet. At first, she took no interest in this. What did it matter? Nothing mattered now! But at last, she saw that whatever-it-was had begun to move up the upright stones of the Stone Table. And now whatever-they-were were moving about on two dead bodies. She peered closer. They were little gray things.

"Ugh!" said Susan from the other side of the Table. "How beastly! Get away! Get away, all of you!" And she raised her hand to frighten them away.

"Wait!" said Lucy, who had been looking at them more closely still. "Look!"

Both girls bent down and stared.

Susan's eyes widened in realization. "Are they nibbling away at the cords?"

"That's what I thought," said Lucy. "I think they're friendly mice. Poor little things— they don't realize they're dead. They think it'll do some good untying them."

It was quite definitely lighter by now. Each of the girls noticed for the first time the white face of the other. They could see the mice nibbling away; dozens and dozens, even hundreds, of little field mice. And at last, one by one, the ropes were all gnawed through.

The sky in the east was whitish by now and the stars were getting fainter— all except one very big one low down on the eastern horizon. They felt colder than they had been all night. The mice crept away again.

The girls cleared away the remains of the gnawed ropes. The royals looked more like themselves without them. Every moment their dead faces looked nobler, as the light grew and they could see it better.

In the wood behind them, a bird gave a chuckling sound. It had been so still for hours and hours that it startled them. Then another bird answered it. Soon there were birds singing all over the place.

It was quite definitely early morning now, not late night.

"I'm so cold," said Lucy.

"So am I," said Susan with a small frown. She glanced around and bent down when she noticed the familiar black silk cloak laying about. She snatched it from the ground and gently placed it over the dead Princess' body. Why she did it, she did not know, but she didn't recoil either way.

Stepping away from Ella and Aslan, she made her way toward Lucy and opened her arms. "Let's walk about a bit."

Peter writhed, asleep, bound up in his sheets. Suddenly, he awoke with a start, being shaken awake by Edmund.

"Peter, get up!"

Peter's eyes opened just as a warning bell rang frantically outside.

The sleepy boy furrowed his brows. "What?"

"The Witch's army's coming!"

Peter shot up more awake and reached shakily for his sword. "Get Susan and Lucy, and meet me in Aslan's tent."

Lucy and Susan walked to the eastern edge of the hill and looked down. The one big star had almost disappeared. The country all looked dark gray, but beyond, at the very end of the world, the sea showed pale. The sky began to turn red. They walked to ends for more times than they could count between the dead royals and the eastern ridge, trying to keep warm; and oh, how tired their legs felt.

Then at last, as they stood for a moment looking out towards they sea and Cair Paravel the red turned to gold along the line where the sea and the sky met and very slowly up came the edge of the sun. At that moment they heard from behind them a loud noise— a great cracking, deafening noise as if a giant had broken a giant's plate.

"What's that?" said Lucy, clutching Susan's arm.

"I— I feel afraid to turn round," said Susan; "something awful is happening."

"They're doing something worse to them," said Lucy. "Come on!" And she turned, pulling Susan round with her.

Peter rushed to Aslan's tent, but found the flap hanging open. Cautiously, he walked inside.

Soon, Edmund came rushing in, a little breathless. "The girls are gone."

Peter nodded absentmindedly, and motioned around the empty tent. "Maybe they're with Aslan."

"And Ella?"

Peter frowned, but nodded again. "She stayed with him last night."

Suddenly, outside, armor clanked loudly as the army girded for war. Peter sighed in defeat. He had paid his full attention to Ella's words as much as he had her beautiful, sad face, but now it was as though everything just slipped from his mind. He remembered what he was meant to do, but his thoughts were regressing on him, and he just felt hopeless, and Aslan and Ella were not there to lecture him otherwise with their wise words.

"What are we supposed to do now?"

Edmund's brows furrowed in confusion as he looked at his brother. "What do you mean we?" Peter looked at him, worried. "Aslan and Ella wanted you to take over."

Peter swallowed hard and shook his head. "You're all crazy."

Edmund sighed. "Susan and Lucy thought you could do it. And Ella, though we know she won't just outright blurt out a compliment at anyone, she gave every precise instruction to you. That means she trusts you could do it— she believes in you. And you're sure a better choice than me anyway."

Peter cracked a smile. "Well, you're right, there."

Edmund gave a small smile back before standing, straightening his sword. "There's an army out there ready to follow you." He fixed his big brother with a look. "And so am I."

Peter stared at Edmund for a moment, then moved. "The girls—"

"Wherever they are, we can't help them if we lose this battle."

Peter knew not what to reply then, though before he could even start thinking of what, he found himself walking out of the tent. He hesitated once more once he stood out in the open. Ella nor Aslan were there to guide him now, but Edmund was there to fight by his side, and so were the rest of the Narnians.
He looked at Oreius, expression undecipherable. "Gather your troops and strike camp. We march within the hour!"

Oreius looked past Peter into the tent. "Sir?"

Peter's face hardened. "We're better off meeting them in the open," he commanded.

"Yes, sir." Oreius nodded respectfully. Peter nodded back, kingly, before the centaur wheeled away.

Then Edmund nudged his brother, whispering lowly. "You're missing something." Peter looked down to see...

He was wearing just one shoe.

The rising of the sun had made everything look so different— all colors and shadows were changed that for a moment they didn't see the important thing. Then they did. The Stone Table was broken into two pieces by a great crack that ran down it from end to end; and there was no Aslan nor Ella.

"Oh, oh, oh!" cried the two girls, rushing back to the Table.

"Oh, it's too bad," sobbed Lucy. "They might have left the bodies alone."

"Who's done it?" cried Susan. "What does it mean? Is it magic?"

"Yes!" said a great voice behind their backs. "It is more magic." They looked round. There, shining in the sunrise, larger than they had seen him before, shaking his mane (for it had apparently grown again) stood Aslan himself.

"Oh, Aslan!" cried both the children, staring up at him, almost as much frightened as they were glad.

"Aren't you dead then, dear Aslan?" said Lucy.

"Not now," said Aslan.

"You're not— not a—" asked Susan in a shaky voice. She couldn't bring herself to say the word ghost.

Aslan stooped his golden head and licked her forehead. The warmth of his breath and a rich sort of smell that seemed to hang about his hair came all over her.

"Do I look it?" he said.

"Oh, you're real, you're real! Oh, Aslan!" cried Lucy, and both girls flung themselves upon him and covered him with kisses.

"But what does it all mean?" asked Susan when they were somewhat calmer.

"It means," said Aslan, "that though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know: Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards. And now—"

"Oh yes. Now?" said Lucy, jumping up and clapping her hands.

"Oh, children," said the Lion, "I feel my strength coming back to me. Oh, children, catch me if you can!"

He stood for a second, his eyes very bright, his limbs quivering, lashing himself with his tail. Then he made a leap high over their heads and landed on the other side of the Table. Laughing, though she didn't know why, Lucy scrambled over it to reach him. Aslan leaped again. A mad chase began. Round and round the hill-top he led them, now hopelessly out of their reach, now letting them almost catch his tail, now diving between them, now tossing them in the air with his huge and beautifully velveted paws and catching them again, and now stopping unexpectedly so that all three of them rolled over together in a happy laughing heap of fur and arms and legs. It was such a romp as no one has ever had except in Narnia; and whether it was more like playing with a thunderstorm or playing with a kitten, Lucy could never make up her mind. And the funny thing was that when all three finally lay together panting in the sun, the girls no longer felt in the least tired or hungry or thirsty.

"Well, that was quite a show," a familiar voice echoed throughout the clearing, making everyone stop. "Didn't know you had it in you, Grandpapa."

A deep chuckle rumbled in the Lion's chest, while the girls simultaneously closed their eyes to savor the sound of the sweet voice. It had that usual softness to it, however, with an edge of authoritative strength in it. With an edge of pride, beauty, as well as an unintentional seductiveness, it soared through the air like a nightingale singing its nightly rose symphonies.

The girls opened their eyes and looked at each other, twin grins spreading across their faces.

"Ella!"

And they both shot to their feet, with a newfound energy, rushing toward the Princess, practically throwing themselves onto her. She laughed. Oh, that joyful musical sound! It was like listening to a chorus of bells.

"Oh, Ella! We saw you—"

"And we thought—"

"And you're not— are you—"

Ella gazed down at them with a fond smile and raised her hand to stop them from talking. "You heard Aslan. There is a magic deeper she did not know of; I was afraid of what awaited us at her hands, but I knew the odds would be in our favor."

Lucy and Susan looked at her for a moment, before letting out a synced cry of joy, embracing the older girl once more. After holding onto each other for a long moment, Ella finally pulled away and turned to the head of the Table where her she had struck her sword and shield hours before. Quietly, she soared over to them and stood before them, hesitating for a moment.

"B-but you're a princess, you have to! You have to be crowned a Queen..."

She ran her tongue over her slightly chapped lips, staring at the sword struck into the stone with hard eyes.

"I'm not a princess, but I know that, to be one, you don't have to always do your best and be perfect. To be a great royal, you must, first and foremost, be noble, selfless, trusting and faithful, humble, kind, respectable and admirable. And, Ella, you are all of the above and more. A princess is a princess regardless of her attire. Or her circumstances, and, you, Princess Ella, are a princess. A great one." And one day, at Cair Paravel of the five thrones, you will sit as Queen. High Queen, and you will be incredible."

She took a deep breath, slowly raising her hand to wrap it around the hilt of the stone sword.

"Sometimes it is difficult to see the better parts of ourselves because we inevitably are focused on the parts we want to change. Just try every once in a while to see what they see too and stop being so hard on yourself."

She closed her eyes, and stood there for a moment, hand on sword, mind and body relaxing, though she was trembling now, and her hands were beginning to glow gold― the strands of her hair, her legs, the nails on her fingers, her wrecked dress. Everything gold.

"You could have chosen so many others who are stronger than I. Quicker, smarter— you could have chosen anyone better than me." She paused. "Yet you chose me. Why? Is it simply because I am your granddaughter?"

Aslan was silent for a moment, but not because he was thinking about what to say. "When I choose someone, I never make a mistake; it has nothing to do with your relation to me. I chose you not for your strength or speed, but for your heart."

"I am a broken girl, Aslan. My heart and soul have been torn to pieces long ago," said Ella, finally willing herself to cry for the first time in a long time.

"Which is why you must let me mend it, Henig," (My child) said Aslan. "Your heart has so much good in it, but you are right, it is broken. And so it your soul. They are hurt. They are weak. But to be well again, you must let me mend them."

Suddenly, a strong whip of energy shot in through her hand, before flowing up her arm, then through her entire body. Everything seemed to radiate gold. The very air surrounding her seemed to get sucked in like a black hole.

Ella fell to her knees before her grandfather, the Great Lion.

"Then mend it. Mend it all," she whispered.

Her eyes then snapped open, and her naturally hazel nut, green-specked eyes shone a beautiful gold, brighter than it had done the previous night. It glowed gold like the rest of herself.

"Rise, Erella the Lionheart—" And she shed a tear; her father was called so. "— the First Warrior, and soon First High Queen of Narnia!"

With a loud battle cry, followed by a loud Crack!, she tore the sword and the shield out of the stone and the light engulfing her figure became flash blinding to the point where those who were watching had to look away. For a moment, it was hard to see until the glow finally began to diminish, leaving a tall feminine figure in its place. Lucy and Susan looked back and watched in awe as the glow vanished completely, revealing the Princess of Narnia standing there in all her glory, looking like the true warrior she was.

Tall and proud, like a Lion, Ella stood at the other end of the cracked Table. Her russet skin was slightly paler than what the Pevensies had gotten used to, but it was clearly healthy— the many nights spent without sleep appeared no more under her eyes— and her dark brown hair had regained its once lighter tint and shine and had somehow grown back quickly— magic, the Pevensie girls suspected— and was pulled back and intertwined in a large braid that fell to the side and rested on her right shoulder. Her eyes they had noticed to be more brown than hazel before Narnia now shone beautifully in their hazel nut hue flecked with green and gold specks and held a great weight of strength and wisdom beyond her years.

Her cuts and bruises had mended and practically disappeared, those that weren't on her face being completely hidden underneath the all black uniform she was now wearing, which composed of a pair of tight black leather trousers that ran down her long legs like a bark down a tree truck. The whole attire hugged every inch of her body perfectly and showed off all of her perfect feminine curves, the only skin showing apart from her face and a bit of her neck being thus of right little finger, which was revealed only due to her archer's glove. All was, though slightly, clearly visible from under her black silk cloak that hung loosely on her body.

The girl shone with an inexplicable brilliance that amazed herself, and though her only frowning thought was stuck on her golden pendant that was missing, she smiled at the new surge of power and confidence that soared through her veins. By the life that flowed lively and healthily throughout her entire body.

"I believe it's time to get down to business," said Ella in a slightly breathless tone as she sheathed her sword and strapped her shield to her back. "Don't you, Grandpapa?"

The Lion's eyes twinkled with amusement. "Indeed it is. You had better put your fingers in your ears."

And they did. And Aslan stood up and when he opened his mouth to roar his face became so terrible that they did not dare to look at it. And they saw all the trees in front of him bend before the blast of his roaring as grass bends in a meadow before the wind.

Not a long moment later, a faint sound of hooves was heard cantering their way. Ella sighed and smiled warmly at the familiar sound, her eyes twinkling brighter when she caught sight of the familiar black, uni-horned stallion trotting toward her. Above him was the tiny familiar vertebrate soaring through the air with many others that looked like him, carrying a black barbute that had for face protection a silver helm.

She let out a small laugh and shook her head as the bunch of nightingales dropped it in her outstretched hands while the one she recognized to be the one whom led her back to Narnia twirled around her before pecking her cheek.

"Why you little sneak," she mumbled fondly as the bird rested on her gloved finger. She gave his tiny head a gentle kiss before lifting her hand so he would join his friends. "Thank you," she said gratefully, bowing her head slightly in respect.

The birds all twirled around her, singing a beautiful little symphony before flying off. Then, Midnight stepped toward his rider, bumping his muzzle against her shoulder. She chuckled and turned to press a soft kiss upon it.

"I missed you too," she said softly. She walked to his side and chuckled again softly when she noticed her stallion had been prepared for the battle, her bow and arrows strapped to his saddle along with a bag where she knew her helmet would fit perfectly. She placed it in it, mounted the unicorn, then grabbed a firm hold of his reins, turning him slightly toward Aslan and the girls.

"Aslan?"

He nodded and said, "We have a long journey to go." He then turned his large head toward the Pevensie girls. "You must ride on me."

And he crouched down and the children climbed on to his warm, golden back, and Susan sat first, holding on tightly to his mane. Lucy stepped forward to climb on next, but recoiled for a moment when she noticed something shining faintly on the ground beside the cracked Table. She rushed over to it and smiled when she recognized it to be the pendant Ella always wore. It was now chain less and a bit wrecked, but it had survived all the same. Lucy snatched it quickly from the ground and put it in the small leather pouch attached to her belt, opposite to her cordial, before running back to Aslan and her sister. She quickly mounted the Lion, settling behind, holding on tightly to Susan.

And with a great heave, he rose underneath them and then shot off down hill and into the thick of the forest, Ella riding Midnight, just as fast, right by his side.

It was nearly midday when they found themselves looking down a steep hillside at a castle— a little toy castle it looked from where they stood— which seemed to be all pointed towers. But the Lion and the unicorn were rushing down at such a speed that it grew larger every moment and before they had time even to ask themselves what it was they were already on a level with it. And now it no longer looked like a toy castle but rose frowning in front of them. No face looked over the battlements and the gates were fast shut. And Aslan, not at all slacking his pace, rushed straight as a bullet towards it, Midnight practically soaring behind him.

"The Witch's home!" cried out Aslan.

Ella glared up at the castle, lips pursed. With a small huff, she turned to look at Aslan. "Shall we?"

A low growl came from deep within the Lion's throat as he too glared up at the castle. "Of course." He crouched slightly, his rear lifting up slightly as he positioned himself to pounce, Midnight reflecting his movements. "Now, children, hold tight."

The Lion then gathered himself together for a greater leap than any he had yet made and jumped right over the castle wall. The two girls, breathless but unhurt, found themselves tumbling off his back in the middle of a wide stone courtyard as Midnight landed a few feet behind them, Ella immediately sliding off his back once his hooves had touched the ground.

Eyes narrowed slightly, Ella glanced around the courtyard full of statues and clenched her jaw.

"Aslan? I believe it's time to pull the sword out of the Stone."

Indeed it was.