The Lost Queen

by the Lady of the Mists

Chapter Four: Escaping Capture

Anna gazed at the wonders around her as they were led further and further into Narnia and away from the world that all of them knew. As the day started turning into night, the temperature continued to drop and soon, all four of them were shivering with cold. She really hoped that they would reach their destination soon, because her feet were almost dead with cold.

"There we are!" Mr. Beaver announced, pointing up ahead to a dam that was about half-built. Still, it had a nice, homey look and Anna could tell from the smoke rising from the chimney that it was nice and warm inside. "Ah, blimey! Looks like the old girl's got the kettle on, nice up of Rosy Lee!" Lucy gasped at the sight of it.

"It's lovely!"

"Merely a trifle," Beaver said, but Anna could tell that Lucy's comment had pleased him. "Still got plenty to do, not quite finished yet. It'll look the business when it is, though."

Peter helped her climb down the slippery slope as they headed down the Beavers' dwelling, keeping his hand wrapped around hers to make sure she didn't slip and fall. Anna was sure that her face was flushed as he did this, though he probably thought it was from the cold.

As they neared the dam, a female voice drifted towards them. "Beaver? Is that you? I've been worried sick! If I found that you've been out with Badger again, I'll—" Mrs. Beaver stopped talking when the five humans came into view and she gasped in surprise. "Oh! Well, those aren't badgers," she whispered, coming closer to them. "Oh, I never thought I'd see this day." Mrs. Beaver turned to her husband accusingly. "Look at my fur! You couldn't give me ten minutes warning?"

"I'd have given you a week if I thought it would've helped," Beaver replied smoothly and Lucy giggled.

Mrs. Beaver gave her husband a dark look as she turned to the five humans, noticing their shivering and cold appearances. "Come inside, let's get you warmed up and we'll see if we can't find you some food and some . . . civilised company." She gave Beaver a pointed look and he chuckled weakly.

"Careful, watch your step," he warned them as they climbed into the dam. Warmth spread across Anna the moment that she entered and she warmed her hands near the fire with the other children before they joined the Beavers at the dinner table, where Mrs. Beaver provided them with some provisions. Lunch seemed hours ago and they hadn't had dinner before they'd been swept up into Narnia.

"Isn't there anything that we can do to help Tumnus?" Peter asked when they were all sitting down at the table.

"Well, they'll have taken him to the Witch's castle and you know what they say," Beaver said solemnly, "there's few who go through those gates who come out again."

"Fish and chips?" Mrs. Beaver asked brightly, setting a tray in front of them. She placed a paw on Lucy's shoulder when she saw the little girl's fallen expression. "But there's hope, dear, lot's of hope."

Anna noticed the look that she gave her husband and Beaver spat out some of his drink back into the cup as he choked. "Oh, yeah!" he said once he'd recovered. "There's a right bit more than hope!" He glanced around, as though expecting people to be leaning against the windows, listening. "Aslan is on the move."

Silence met his words and Anna, Peter, Susan, and Lucy all stared at him, expecting him to elaborate, but when he didn't, Edmund moved closer to the table and echoed all of their thoughts, "Who's Aslan?"

Beaver burst out laughing at the question, as though he were thinking this were a joke until his wife nudged him and pointed towards their bewildered expressions and he stopped laughing. "You don't know, do you?"

"We haven't exactly been here very long," Peter said with a hint of impatience in his voice. Anna placed a hand on his to pacify him.

"Well, he's only the King of the whole wood," Beaver explained. Anna though she saw something head towards the door out of the corner of her eye, but was too absorbed in the explanation. For some reason, the name Aslan filled her with a good, warm feeling. "The top geezer, the real King of Narnia."

"He's been away for a long while," Mrs. Beaver explained.

"But he's just got back," Beaver said excitedly. "And he's waiting for you near the Stone Table!"

"He's waiting for us?" Lucy echoed.

"You're blooming joking!" Beaver slammed his hands down on the table and turned to his wife in exasperation. "They don't even know about the prophecy!"

"Well, then . . ." Mrs. Beaver gestured towards the children, who were still confused about the happenings that were going on around them. Anna wished that she knew was going on; she hated it when things were happening that directly involved her and she didn't have a clue what was going on. The last time it had happened was when her father had gone off to war and her mum and dad had been arguing downstairs for a long time before they finally told her.

"Look . . ." Beaver sighed as he looked around at the group before ticking off the events. "Aslan's return . . . Tumnus' arrest . . . the secret police . . . it's all happening because of you!"

"You're blaming us?!" Susan demanded, incredulous.

"No!" Mrs. Beaver exclaimed, shaking her head in denial. "Not blaming. Thanking you."

"There's a prophecy," Beaver explained and began to recite, "When Adam's flesh and Adam's bone sits at Cair Paravel in throne, the evil time will be over and done."

"What's Cair Paravel?" Anna asked at the same time that Susan told Beaver that the prophecy didn't really rhyme.

"I know it don't," Beaver admitted, "but you're kind of missing the point." He turned to Anna. "And Cair Paravel is a castle on the eastern sea border. It's also known as the Castle of the Four Thrones, where four siblings are to sit as the new rulers of Narnia."

"It has long been foretold that two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve will defeat the White Witch and restore peace to Narnia," Mrs. Beaver explained.

"But there's five of us! How do you know that we're the ones?"

"Because four of you are related," Beaver explained. "And you'd better be the ones because Aslan has already fitted out your army!" Astonishment ripped through the humans in the room as they gawked at Beaver, unable to believe what they had just heard.

"Our army?" Lucy exclaimed as Susan turned to Peter, who hadn't overcome his shock.

"Mum sent us away so we wouldn't get caught up in a war," she said firmly and Peter hesitated, looking towards Anna to help, but she didn't know what to do. On the one hand, they weren't heroes, they couldn't even handle weapons. But then . . . if the Pevensies were the ones, then they could be the only ones to free this country from the Witch's tyranny.

"I think you've made a mistake," Peter said after a long minute. "We're not heroes! We're from Finchley."

"Thank you for your hospitality," Susan said as she stood up. Anna looked around the room, suddenly aware of the absence of Edmund and dread filled through her as she saw the empty room.

"Peter!" she said quickly, scrambling to her feet as she looked around the room, checking to make sure she hadn't overlooked him. "Peter, where's Edmund?"

The eldest Pevensie looked around at Anna, then searched the room, along with Susan. His blue eyes darkened as he turned to his best friend and eldest sister. "I'm going to kill him," he growled.

"You may not have to," Beaver replied and everyone looked at him. "Has Edmund ever been to Narnia before?"

Anna looked to Peter and Susan, horror rising through her as she realised what had happened during Edmund's first trip. He had somehow met with the Witch and she'd convinced him to join her side. Peter grabbed their coats, thrusting them towards their owners, and Anna grabbed Lucy's hand as she followed Peter and Susan out the door, following Edmund's footprints that were rapidly getting covered by the falling snow.

"Hurry!" Peter yelled over his shoulder as Anna helped Lucy run through the forest with Beaver right behind them. His wife had remained at the dam for their return.

Peter suddenly came to a stop that nearly made Anna crash into him and she stared up at the crystallised castle that was standing before them, the tall doors opening for a lone figure that was walking inside of it. A figure that all of them knew, despite the distance.

"Edmund!" Lucy screamed, her voice echoing in the vast icy wasteland.

"Shh!" Beaver hissed at her as Anna grabbed Lucy, holding her tightly, fear for Edmund overriding her senses. Peter moved forward to head inside the castle to find his brother, but Beaver grabbed him, preventing him from going any further. "You're playing into her hands!"

"We can't just let him go!" Susan retorted, her blue eyes that were identical to her older brother's flashing.

"He's our brother!" Lucy cried as she clung to Anna, buried her face into her chest out of fear for Edmund.

"He's the bait!" Beaver cried, desperation in his voice. "The Witch wants all four of you, to stop the prophecy from coming true!" Anna gulped, afraid of what he meant by that and Beaver confirmed her suspicions a second later when he said, "To kill you!"

Peter stood frozen as he stared up at the castle and Susan marched up to him, eyes blazing. "This is all your fault!" she cried, placing her hands on her hips. "None of this would have happened if you had just listened to me in the first place!"

"Susan, Peter, stop it!" Anna protested, trying to prevent the impending fight that was almost constant these days.

"Oh, so you knew what would happen?" Peter demanded, for once ignoring his best friend.

"I didn't know what would happen!" Susan retorted as Lucy pulled away from Anna, glaring at her two eldest siblings. "Which is why we should have left while we still could!"

"STOP IT!" Lucy shrieked. Her shout made Peter and Susan look at her. "This isn't helping Edmund," she said in a much softer tone, looking at them imploringly.

"She's right," Beaver told them. Anna looked down at their guide, who had a sympathetic look on his face. "Only Aslan can help your brother now."

Peter hesitated, reluctant to leave his younger brother here, but Anna placed a hand on his arm, forcing him to look at her. "There's nothing more we can do here, Peter," she told him softly. "I don't like it either, but this is the only option we've got."

His shoulders sagged as he realised the truth of her words. Like it or not, Edmund was beyond their help. Going in after him was only going to get all of them killed.

"Then take us to him," he told Beaver before glancing back at the castle one last time before they heard the distant howl of wolves.

"The secret police," Beaver hissed. With panicked looks towards each other, they raced back to the dam. Mrs. Beaver looked up the moment that they entered. "Hurry, Mother," Beaver said quickly as he locked the door behind them. "They're after us!"

"Oh, right then," Mrs. Beaver said and scurried around the kitchen to grab some necessities for the journey.

Susan hurried forward to help her as Beaver led them over to a secret tunnel hidden behind a cupboard. Peter jumped down and Anna passed him a light before she climbed down herself. They could all hear scratches and whinnies nearby as Lucy climbed down, followed by Susan and the Beavers, who closed the hidden door behind them.

Racing through the tunnel with Peter holding her hand and the sisters right behind her, Anna couldn't help but think that they were heading for an adventure that she could never, not even in her wildest imagination, could have dreamed of.

When they came to a dead end, Anna could hear the wolves in the tunnel as Mrs. Beaver scolded her husband before he climbed up, pushing open the exit and scurrying up it, followed by his wife. Peter climbed out next, helping the girls up before they blocked it with a barrel.

Anna turned around and covered her mouth to stiffen her gasp as she found a bunch of statuary around them. Animals of different shapes and sizes were all around them, frozen in stone, their faces filled with torment and anguish. Beaver walked up to a statue of a badger, his face filled with grief.

"What happened here?" Peter asked as he looked around in shock at the sight in front of them.

Whoever he had been expecting to answer him, it wasn't the one who did. A fox appeared in the clearing and said, "This is what becomes of those who cross the Witch." He leaped down into sight and Beaver growled at him, taking a dangerous step towards him.

"You take one more step, traitor, and I'll chew you to splinters," he threatened. The fox laughed.

"Relax," he reassured the Beavers, who were far from convinced. "I'm one of the good guys."

"Oh, yeah?" Beaver snapped as his wife tried to stop him from saying anything else, her expression fearful as she looked towards the fox. "Well, you look an awful lot like one of the bad ones."

"An unfortunate family resemblance," the fox replied dryly. "But we can argue breeding later. Right now, we've got to move." Anna turned around when she heard the sounds of the wolves coming every so closer; they were almost through the tunnel. She threw a panicked look at Peter, who turned towards the fox.

"What did you have in mind?"