"Down the mountains, beyond the shore
the child shall journey till she finds the door.
Lion and -ess will join once more
and win the trials that arise in war
though the boy will be weakened, the girl will fall
and to the furtherest east she will be called," the melody was beautiful, alluring to a point.
I rose from my place of rest and slowly followed my ears to the source of the delightful tune. Before my very eyes the trunks of the trees and their limbs bent and bowed forming a clear path through an archway. At the end I could almost make out the outlines of a figure in the moonlight.
"Singing a song so sweet and mild
The woman will be blessed with naught bar a child.
The stars in the havens shall shine so bright
The new Queen will return in the morning light…" the voice continued.
My feet carried me as though I was transfixed by some lullaby, filling my body with ease and joy.
"Play the horn's tune from the Queen's chest
Out of the ruins Adam and Eve rise from rest.
The shadow of darkness doth not hauntingly cast
Upon the noble land, once free and vast.
When the light of the Era Golden burns,
hope to Narnia, shall forever return…" the being stopped singing as I reached it.
"That was beautiful," I commented.
The figure turned to face me. I gasped in shock… My mother was alive? "Mother?" I uttered.
She smiled, her eyes sparkling with happiness, "Yes my child, I have been watching over you always… but I bring warning. You are going to be tested in ways that even I do not know of. You are going to discover who you are, my child, what your purpose is."
"But mother, where are you going?" I questioned reaching for her, only to find my hands had only grasped the air.
"Why did you send us away?" I demanded an answer.
She shook her head, "That is not for me to tell. That is for you to figure out, Atara." Her head rose, her eyes glanced to the lightening sky, "The East is calling. Farewell daughter…"
A loud roar resounded, making my ears ring and I awoke with a start… the morning light filtered down through the tree canopy above. To my right Lucy mumbled something in her sleep, while not far away Ebony nickered uneasily pawing at the ground with her right hoof. I lay still, listening for something out of the ordinary…
Then I heard it, the slight ring of a sword being slowly drawn from its scabbard. Careful not to draw attention to myself I moved my hand steadily towards my quiver, grabbing an arrow out of it.
"We should take her now, while they still sleep," a voice whispered.
"Sir, you grab Lucy, I'll take care of the other one," another voice said.
"Okay, though I want her alive," the other voice replied.
They wanted to kidnap my friend and take me as a hostage! Correction, they wanted both of us as hostages… I gulped slightly wrapping my fingers around the arrow shaft. I had one shot before I could attempt to grab my quiver and string my bow… who am I kidding the bow will take way too long.
"Now," a voice commanded.
Footfalls filled the air and Ivory let out a neigh of terror. I quickly leapt to my feet throwing the arrow at one of the approaching beings… a faun. It struck him in the shoulder and he fell to the ground with a cry. I thought the only fauns were in Narnia… and they were loyal to the Kings and Queens!
"Wait!" Lucy's voice piercing the air was the last thing I heard before my world fell into darkness…
Slowly I felt my senses come back to me as I returned from the darkness… I groaned slightly, opening my eyes a little trying to gather my surrounds.
"So, what you're trying to tell me, is that you go missing for three, almost four days, we find you with this woman who has kept you as a hostage and now you're angry with us for rescuing you?" a voice questioned.
"Oh please Edmund, you know that's not the case at all. She's my friend, she was the one who rescued me from the cold and treated my cuts. She was merely accompanying me back to Cair Paravel to ensure I return home safely!" Lucy's voice retaliated.
Somewhere a door opened and someone cleared their throat, "Her majesty Queen Susan."
The light footfalls alerted me to another person entering the room, "Oh Lucy, you're safe. Who's that?"
"A woman we believed was holding Luc…" the masculine voice began.
Lucy interrupted Edmund, "My friend Rennée."
"So you left the poor girl on the floor, Edmund, I thought you'd been taught better!" the woman, Susan reprimanded.
"We only just got back," he replied, in a pitiful rebuttal.
"General, please take the girl…" she began.
I sat up slowly holding my head, "I'm not going anywhere. Ouch, where on Earth am I?" I took in my surrounding trying to stop the room from swirling around before me.
"You're at Cair Paravel," Lucy beamed, offering me her hand. I took it and allowed her to pull me up.
"You told me you lived at Cair, not that you were a Queen and lived in Cair Para- oh my goodness! So that's why you were always so, hesitant and ending your sentences the way you were, it's all making sense now. Oh Aslan," I began, glancing at the King and Queen their crowns resting proudly on their heads. I turned to Lucy, "Why didn't you tell me!"
She glanced at the floor guiltily, "Because I didn't want you to treat me like everyone else does, I wanted you to be my friend."
I smiled at her and quickly embraced her, "You know that frown doesn't suit you at all."
Lucy laughed and hugged me back, "Come I have to show you the garden, you'll love it." She grabbed my hand and pulled me away in a rush. I dropped her hand turned to her two siblings, curtsied quickly and dashed after Lucy.
"Careful Lucy, running inside usually only lands one running into peop…" I turned the corner Lucy had just disappeared down and crashed into someone knocking us to the floor.
I glanced down at the face of the person I had run into, only to fall into the depths of the darkest purest cerulean pools.
Lucy giggled, appearing at my side, "Sorry Peter, she's new at the whole catching me thing." Lucy grabbed my arm and pulled me off her brother and down the corridor. I turned to look back at the young man, "I'm most sorry, your majesty!" I apologised.
"Don't worry, he'll get over it," Lucy assured, as we exited the castle, "Something to laugh about later."
"How much later are we talking? I believe I broke almost ten laws in less than 5 minutes!" My eyes finally realised our surroundings. I sucked in a breath, "Wow."
Before us a glorious, lush oasis blooming with an array of colourful and exotic flowers rested in the shade of a giant oak.
The branches of the oak meandered around each other, fanning out into a fortress… one branch stretched so low that it touched the soft, green grass that covered the garden floor.
For a moment I could almost see Tarva and I swinging from branch to branch playing as children.
"Come on Ren, this isn't even the best part!" Lucy shouted from the trunk of the oak.
She gathered up her dress's skirt and gracefully made her way up into the tree, taking a seat on one of the higher branches. I scurried up the tree following the same path she had taken. As I sat down on the branch beside her I came to understand a lot of things about Lucy…
That was how we spent the rest of the afternoon, side by side, talking, laughing and watching the light fade over the western ranges, its glow making the Eastern Sea sparkle and shine.
