Chapter Thirty: A Look into The Past V

Brielle gasped loudly once her head broke the surface of the raging river. She was barely able to breathe before another wave slapped her across the face. Her arms and legs flailed along the swirling, bubbling, swath that pushed her against the chunks of ice floating with her downstream.

She could hear frantic barking, light yips of the wolves that raced along the riverbank. Brielle struggled to grasp a chunk of ice that floated by her. It cracked apart in her hands, floated downstream. She tried to bring in another breath of air, the iciness of the water stabbing her in every which way. Sputtering, Brielle's head fell under the water once more. She could hear a sharp cry, a scream that she thought was Susan's, but she couldn't be sure.

Her ears were as waterlogged as her clothes were. Every time her head came above the water, which lasted only a few seconds, she could barely see any of the Pevensies. Could barely see anything, even the trees, as they raced by. The melting ice in the river not only made the banks become waterlogged, but also increased the depth of the river, increased the speed, almost as if it were alive.

From what she'd seen of Narnia, Brielle wouldn't have been surprised if that was true as well. That everything in Narnia was alive, had its own voice, could speak in its own way. But, if that were the case, then why wouldn't the water let her go?

Finally, Brielle felt something bump against her stomach, seconds before the movement shifted to behind her. She felt warm breath over her face, something snagging at the neck of her clothes. A powerful force that pulled her out of the water and onto the riverbank. Coughing, sputtering, Brielle laid on the riverbank, spitting out as much water as she could.

It kept coming and coming. She continued to cough and sputter.

"You can take it away," Maugrim's voice came to her ear. He stood back and lowered his head, shaking his body from tip to tail to rid of the water that dripped off him. Otherwise, he didn't look worse for the wear. "Just like you made the river break."

Still coughing, sputtering, Brielle turned to look at Maugrim. Her hair fell in stringy waves around her face. "I…what?" she managed to ask in between coughs. Maugrim simply looked back at her. Finally, her coughing subsided and she sat up, brushing her hair back from her face. Her eyes darted around the forest, her thudding heart slowly starting to subside.

"Susan?" She called, mind immediately going towards her companions. "Peter? Lucy?" She waited for any response, got nothing. Sitting up, Brielle started to get to her feet but stopped, crying out in pain. Brielle's gaze drifted down to her leg, where she'd been cut up, scratched by the ice. "Oh…those were such cute stockings, too…" Her frown was short lived with Maugrim moving around her, brushing his fur against her before tucking himself under her chin and laying across her lap. "Hey…"

"You need to get warm," Maugrim replied. In a tone of voice that was partially annoyed and partially calm. Almost as if he had done it a thousand times before. "And it doesn't seem like you're very aware of your power yet."

"My power…" Brielle repeated.

"You don't see that you were the one that caused the river to break?" Maugrim's eyes shifted towards her. His golden gaze landed on her and burned through her, stirred through her stomach. "Winter is already being warmed up, Jadis's reign is already starting to be relinquished, but you made that river melt. Did you not feel the wind pick up with your emotions?"

Brielle stared back at him. "From my…?"

"Your brooch."

"My brooch?"

Brielle's eyes widened. She looked down at her empty hands. Her brooch! Where was it? She looked back and forth, patted the ground around her. It had been in her hand. She'd been holding it when the river finally broke away and the ice shot aside, cascading water over herself and the Pevensies. Her eyebrows came together, remembering how quickly Peter had moved to protect his sisters, how Maugrim had leapt over them and knocked Brielle aside, wrapping himself around her so that she was protected.

He was chasing them…

He protected her…

The barking she heard before; the high-pitched yelps of other wolves caught her attention. The rest of the secret police! Brielle's head turned, looking to find the other wolves that went along with Maugrim's orders had come close to them, but stopped a few yards away. As if giving them privacy. Maugrim lifted his head and nodded. One of the wolves walked forward and spit something on the ground, near Brielle's hand.

Her brooch.

She quickly picked it up and cradled it in her palms. Santa had given it to her, she'd barely been holding onto it along with the book he'd given her, the waterlogged book that sat on the ground next to her, held fast by the leather strap it came attached with. Brielle held her brooch in her palms, carefully held it to her chest. All at once, the wind picked up around her again. This time, she realized, it was simply around her. The wind whipped and pulled in a cyclone around her and Maugrim, pushing and pulling them all the same.

Gasping, Brielle dropped the brooch from her hands, where it landed on Maugrim's back. The wind stopped. Maugrim lifted his head and looked deadpan at her. "Most witches have a sense of pride when they come into their power. Not afraid."

Witch.

Intuitively, she knew that's what Maugrim had been telling her before. What, deep down, she already knew. That there was some connection with her being brought into Narnia and the wolves chasing after her and the Pevensies. How else would he have been able to enter her dreams the way he had. How else would he have followed them so closely. They were connected in a way that simply made sense.

"But…if I'm a witch…" Brielle said slowly. Something in her agreeing with the words once they came from her mouth. "Why was I brought here? Why would Santa give me this?" She lifted her head. "Jadis is a witch, the beavers referred to her as the White Witch."

"Yes, she has the power to control winter," Maugrim agreed. "Amongst many other things."

"…What about me? What can I control? If I'm really a…"

"…If you're really a witch," Maugrim interrupted. Guessing her question. Seemed to read her mind. Maugrim, now dry, stood and shook himself out once more, that time to fluff up his fur. "You really are a witch," he said seriously. "You're a part of Narnia."

Brielle shook her head once more. Her eyebrows came together, eyes closed. No. She was a girl. A human girl. She was the daughter of parents who wanted nothing more than a good life for her. But that was before, she reminded herself. Before the war…before daddy came back…like that… since then, what was she?

Nothing, at home.

Everything at school.

At home she had to stay quiet and come and go when she wasn't going to trigger her father. The only person that didn't seem to trigger him was her mother. His love for her always managed to break through the darkness that swirled around them. So... why wasn't her own love enough? Why did she have to tip-toe and pretend and whisper and be quiet and…and not be herself? And cut herself down? And do everything for him when he was supposed to be doing things to protect her?

Why did he have to go out into the war at all?

Why did she have to hide all of that when, at school, she had everything. She was a popular girl, she had her friends, she had her admirers, her schoolwork. As much as she was good at the social game at school, it was frustrating how surprised people were to know she was in her sciences and maths classes. It was just as well, the more time she spent away from home, away from her father, the better it was for her to get some work done. Because the less she let people around the house, the more mysterious she was to everyone, it worked out in her favor. More time to herself and more time away from home…

Who would've thought the time from home would've sent her to an entire other world?

Still…what would've happened had he not gone off and put himself into that useless battle? Is that what she was doing? Brielle's eyes widened at the thought. Was she doing the same thing? Putting herself into a useless battle that, truly, had nothing to do with her. The Pevensies were the 'Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve' as she could tell from the Prophecy the Beavers told them about. So, what was needed from her?

"Not believing it isn't going to make it any less true, girl," Maugrim said. He dropped to the ground in a similar stance a dog would, back legs splayed to the side, his body following the curve of his front paws. "You were brought into Narnia for a reason. You're destined to be here because it's your birth home. You're a witch." He slowly blinked at her. "And I'm sure you've figured out what I mean to you at this point."

"You said you weren't going to let anything happen to me," Brielle remarked. She clutched her brooch once more, gently fastening it to the front of the clothes she'd been leant. Maybe I conjured them up, Brielle thought with a light roll of her eyes. How else could she have been dressed in a magical land she'd shown up naked in. That jacket was only going to do so much. "And you didn't."

"I take my job very seriously." If it were possible for a wolf to smile, Maugrim did so. It did appear the sides of his mouth turned up, making Brielle smile lightly. She dropped her hands back to her lap, worked to wipe away the blood from her injuries. "My job is to always help and protect you."

"I thought your job was to be Jadis' spy."

At that, Maugrim's smile faded. A sort of sadness crept into his eyes that Brielle had never seen from the wolf. "There's only so much that can be done… when you're born into a life you hardly know. You do as you're told."

Brielle frowned. She reached out, stretched her fingers towards Maugrim. Part of her expected his hackles to rise, for him to bare his teeth, for him to leap at her and tear into her neck. But a large part of her was pleased as punch when he turned is head and allowed her hand to rub over his forehead and just under his neck, much like she would when petting a dog.

In a way, he reminded her of his dad. Remembered how he and his mother had spoken to each other before he had been forced to enlist in the war. Remembered the low rumblings of how much he hadn't wanted to leave her and her mom. The low rumblings of how he hadn't wanted the war at all and how worried he was for the future of their lives if the war was to happen. How she reassured him, that everything would be okay, that she and Brielle would be alright. That he was simply doing his duty for his country.

Nevertheless, she heard the fear in both of their voices. Moreso the anguish in his, so much so that she thought she was going crazy when, the next morning, he had greeted her cheerfully and strongly, as if nothing had happened the night before.

He was simply doing what he had to, to protect us… Brielle rolled her mother's words through her head. She tilted her head to the side. But what if he truly, didn't want to do it? And only did because he had to? What if he never wanted to fight? She rubbed Maugrim under the neck once more, a low grumbling sound came from deep in his chest. Brielle giggled.

He was simply nothing but a big dog.

"Maugrim," one of the other wolves said. "We don't have time for this." Maugrim ignored him. "Jadis is going to ask where we are. If we don't get to the Stone Table—" Maugrim's demeanor immediately changed. He surged to his feet, the movement nearly knocking Brielle over. In a flash, he was by her side, nudging her to her feet before her curled around her, staring at the other wolf that had spoken. "You know what will happen!"

"I know better than you do, Vardan," Maugrim replied. "We all know what the consequences are, but we both know what will happen if we continue to let Jadis rule the way she's running." He stepped towards the other wolves. "When has she cared about anything other than herself? The only thing that's keeping us alive is knowing it's only a matter of time until she turns on us herself."

"So, you're willing to turn your back on her before she can turn your back on you?" Vardan snarled; teeth barred. "You saw what happened to the fox! Are you really willing to allow Aslan to come back into rule once more?"

"Aslan is the least of our worries," Maugrim replied. "The winter can come back once the Queen comes into rule." He gestured with a flick of his head. "You see how things are warming up… but how long do you think you'll be able to survive while the winter continues to roost?" Maugrim motioned towards Brielle. "Balance is always needed. Where there is light there is darkness and where there is darkness there is light. Her power…once she figures out what it is, once she harnesses it…Narnia will come back into balance." Maugrim turned his head and licked Brielle's palm.

She had the urge to throw her arms around his neck and hug him tightly. But stood still, waiting for Vardan's response.

Vardan continued to snarl. The other wolf continued to stay silent. "What do you propose we do with her then?"

"Bring her with us."

Maugrim's word was final. He glared at Vardan and the other wolf, then moved behind Brielle, nudging her forward. Brielle took a few steps forward.

She looked down at her legs, astonished to see that her legs were healed.

She smiled.

A/N: Hey y'all, I'm back! So, I needed a chapter that was, legitimately, all about Brielle and Maugrim. Not just because I wanted to be sure that I could really work out their relationship, but because I wanted things to be explicitly clear for everyone as to Brielle's confusion and her place in Narnia in the present (during Prince Caspian) and the past (LWW).

I hope you enjoy this as a returning chapter!

Cheers,

-Riles