- Chapter 32 -

The day they all had waited for had finally come. It was time to win revenge on the country that hurt three of Narnia's best leaders.

When the girls woke that morning, they were not at all surprised to find that the men had already left to their in-between war front.

After breakfast, Henrietta, Lucy, Avaline, and Analiese sat in the sitting room, watching the fire and playing with the kids. They made polite conversation with one another, mostly to fill the anxious silence. They were all worried about something happening to their loved ones.

Suddenly, a loud clap of thunder sounded. The portraits hanging on the walls shook. The four women all wondered where the thunder had come from. Just a few minutes before, it had been sunny outside.

"Oh dear, I do hope they're alright," Lucy said.

Cathalina woke from her nap and began crying. Analiese rocked her slowly, whispering to the baby to calm her down. To Avaline's surprise, Adela crawled from her mother's lap to see her cousin.

"Where is she going now?" Avaline asked. She sounded stressed.

When she reached her destination, Adela put her hands on the floor in front of her legs and boosted herself up. Then, she leaned forward and touched Cathalina's forehead. The baby immediately stopped crying.

Analiese was dismayed by the feeling of peace that swept the room when Adela hushed Cathalina.

Adela removed her hand from the baby's forehead; the crying returned within seconds. Instead of touching her again, Adela began speaking. Yes, speaking!

Avaline gasped. "By Aslan, please tell me-"

"Shh!" Analiese hushed everyone, leaning in close to listen.

"Hush," Adela said. She patted Cathalina's head. "Hush."

Avaline's hand flew over her mouth. "She's talking," she said in disbelief. She appeared to gather her thoughts, because Adela was suddenly in her arms. "Oh, baby, you said your first word!"

Adela gave her mother a blank stare. She reached up and began hitting her nose with the palm of her hand. "Bop," she said as she continued hitting her nose.

Avaline blinked. She was more than astonished.

"Bop you," Adela said in a humorous tone as hit Avaline's nose. Then she looked down at her hand in distracted fascination.

"Since when can she talk?" Lucy exclaimed.

"I've never seen a child learn to speak at such a young age," Henrietta remarked. "And without being taught!"

There sure was something special about that child.

00000000

The clicking of horses' heels against gravel painted a rather drowsy picture for the Archenlander army. The sun was partially obscured by dark clouds.

Caspian eyed the clouds wearily. They were awfully dark to just be a short shower, which was what Twinklewing had predicted before they left Narnia. He thought far enough ahead to give them his weather prediction for two weeks in advance.

"Those appear to be storm clouds, my King," Reepicheep commented, following Caspian's line of sight. The mouse was riding on the same horse as Caspian, but he sat on the top of the horse's head.

"Yes, they do," Caspian agreed. "I hope they pass over quickly."

"I don't think that will be happening, your Majesty," said a griffin that had been flying overhead. (During the time of the Telmarine's reign, griffins and many other historical Narnian creatures had gone in hiding. For years, took refuge in Archenland and the surrounding lands. Now, they were helping in the current battle to restore Narnia's peace and freedom from Calormen.)

"Why not?" Camden asked. His own horse was riding several feet ahead, so he slowed down to meet Caspian's pace.

"The clouds are too low and dark. Clouds that low always contain a large amount of precipitation. Those clouds are not going to pass until the storm is over, and even so, the storm will last for a while," the griffin explained.

Caspian shook his head. "We'll just have to battle through it."

But four hours later, they were only halfway to their battlefield. The clouds hasn't budged. They hadn't felt so much as a drop of rain. Worse yet, they were just an hour away from meeting the Calormene army head-on. Alfred had predicted that the rain would be gone when it came time for the battle. Obviously, he was wrong.

Thirty minutes passed. Still no rain. And another thing that they all noticed was that they had not heard a single word from Narnia. Caspian's mind began to wander; were the Narnians even keen on this idea? Were they going to help fight?

"Shouldn't we have heard from Narnia by now?" Camden asked, speaking the question on everyone's mind.

"Give it time, my liege," Reepicheep answered. "Perhaps they have been delayed by the oncoming storm."

Camden stopped in his tracks and hopped down from his horse. Everyone around them paused.

"Alright, we need to stop smothering things in frosting and look at the real picture," Camden said. "Chances are, the Narnians aren't backing us up in this war."

Everyone - the soldiers, the royals, everyone - gasped.

"What would make you say that?" someone shouted from the middle of the pack of soldiers.

"Last night, I got word of some rather unfortunate news," Camden began. "Narnia has been taken over and is soon to be conquered-"

More gasps.

"- By none other than the Dark Magic itself."

"You speak slander!" Trumpkin shouted, pulling his miniature sword from his belt and pointing it at Camden. "No such things exist any longer."

"I beg to differ," Camden said. He reached in his pocket, pulled out a folded piece of paper, and handed it to him.

The dwarf cautiously unfolded the paper and began reading it aloud.

To whom it may concern,

Your worries with the country of Narnia may be ceased. The land has been overtaken by savage, dark creatures that even the old Narnians had forgotten. The main city has been set on fire, and your beloved royals are being held captive.

We understand you have an alliance with Narnia, and we wish you to discontinue it. It would be best for your own country.

Remember, we are watching.

Trumpkin looked up at Camden suspiciously. "It's not signed."

"I know," Camden replied, taking the paper and folding it back in his pocket.

"Son," King Alfred said quietly. "Why was this not shared with me?"

Camden shook his head.

"It's a trap," Reepicheep said. "It must be. The Dark Magic has lied dormant for thousands of years. The White Witch died, and with her, the Dark Magic."

"No," Caspian spoke up quietly. He had been looking down at his lap in silence, but now he raised his head and met each and every person and creature's eyes. "It has not been dormant. The Dark Magic still exists, and it is hidden among us everyday. I should know - I was nearly captured by it."

"King Caspian," Reepicheep whispered. He looked deeply into Caspian's eyes. "When did this happen?"

"Several years ago, during the preparation for the Telmarine War. I was being tempted by her to join the White Witch's side. She promised me the Telmarine throne as a reward for sacrificing my blood to bring her back. King Peter tried to save me, but he was tempted as well. He almost gave in, but King Edmund saved the both of us. He - the one who was first tempted by her - is the reason we are all here today. He is the reason Narnia is safe. But now, someone has restored that deadly magic."

"So, the White Witch is alive?" Alfred asked in disbelief.

"No, quite the contrary," Caspian answered. "If my suspicions are correct, the White Witch is not alive at all. But the only person more powerful than her, the only person that could even touch her power, still is, and hasn't ever left us."

Caspian met each person's frightened eyes, one by one.

"Aslan."

A/N: Oh my plot twist! THAT WASN'T EVEN PART OF MY PLAN! Here are a few questions to ponder in your free time and to review about:

Are the Pevensies really dead?

What's your theory about what happened to them? We've seen that maybe they really didn't go back to England... but maybe they did.

Lucy and Camden: friends or more?

What do you think Camden's motives were in this chapter? We saw that he's risking his country to save Narnia.

Who do you think is behind all the mayhem in Narnia? And who are their allies?

Write me a nice, long review. I've certainly given you a ton of things to write/think about! Thank you so much to those of you who send reviews every week, you're the reason I'm still writing!