The Lost Queen
by the Lady of the Mists
Chapter Eight: Edmund's Return
The sun was shining brightly when Anna woke the next morning and she shifted, aware of how comfortable and peaceful she felt as she felt strong arms around her. Slowly, she opened her eyes to find Peter right next to her, his head only inches from hers and his arms wrapped protectively around her. Anna swallowed, her face slowly becoming heated as she slowly disentangled herself from her best friend.
"Peter," she whispered once she was free. "Peter, wake up, it's morning." He groaned slightly before blinking up at her, noticing the daylight.
"Have we been here all night?" he questioned and she nodded, giving him a wry smile before she got to her feet, straightening her gown as much as she could before she was going to even attempt to go and see his sisters. She had no doubt Susan would notice it—and guess the reason why her dress was so rumpled. Susan did have a knack for noticing such things.
"I'm going to go wash up," she said, praying he didn't notice how red her face was. "You should go and see if Edmund's gotten here yet." She hurried away before he could object and went to the river to do something about her gown and to get her thoughts in order before facing the Pevensies.
Peter, how is it that you can have this simple of an affect on me? she thought as she stared down at her reflection, at her red face. Just a touch, a smile, a glance was enough to send shivers down her spine.
With a sigh, Anna stood up, smoothing out her gown once again before she turned around and came face to face with Aslan. "Oh!" she said, stumbling back in surprise. He smiled at her, chuckling as she straightened. "I'm sorry, Aslan, I didn't see you."
"No need to apologise, Anna. I wished to speak with you." He paused for a moment before turning, indicating she should follow him. Anna hesitated, but followed the lion away from the river, heading towards a cliff that overlooked the camp. Almost lying upon the horizon, she saw a beautiful castle that took her breath away. "That is Cair Paravel, the castle of the Four Thrones," he said, seeing where she was looking.
"Where Peter and the others are going to rule when this is over?" she asked and he nodded. She looked towards the castle. "Aslan, why was I brought here with the others?"
"I brought you here with them." Anna turned to look at him in surprise; he was looking at her, but rather at the camp. "For reasons that I cannot share with you at this time. All that you need to know is that you are needed here. Both for the battle . . . and for the times that will lie ahead of us. There will be a time, in the coming years, when you will be needed to protect this country."
"Why would I protect it?" Anna was bewildered. "I'm not part of the prophecy, I'm not supposed to rule here when this is over."
"No," Aslan agreed, "but prophecies don't know everything." He looked sad for a moment. "But it was not part of a prophecy that I chose you."
"Then why did you?"
"You choose a leader for their heart," Aslan answered. She froze is surprise, turning to the lion questioningly, the shock evident on her face. Leader? "Anna, you have proven over the course of the last few days to be a loyal and true friend. Simply by your friendship to the siblings, you ventured into a strange land and pursued by an evil witch simply to help them and keep them safe. And you would have willingly accepted death in order to save the sisters."
"Why did you name me a falcon?"
"The falcon is the winged lord of the skies. And you, Lady Anna, will one day find the courage to take up that name to protect Narnia. But the coming battle will be enough of a challenge for now, I think." He sighed. "You intend to fight alongside Peter, don't you?"
Anna blinked; she hadn't thought about it, but yes, she wasn't about to let her best friend go charging off to battle without her. "I need to be there, Aslan. If anything can be done to protect Peter . . ." Her voice shook slightly as she spoke and she didn't complete her thought. "I just need him to be safe. I need him to live."
"Love is often the most powerful tool in battle," Aslan mused. "Only that will give you the courage to fight when it is most needed. You are a very noble girl, Anna." He looked at her curiously. "Why do you not tell Peter how you feel about him?"
Feeling her face turn bright red, Anna looked down, clasping her hands together. "I . . . I don't know. He's my best friend and I don't want that to change. And . . . I'm only twelve years old. Aren't I a little young?"
Aslan smiled. "And how old, little one, do you have to be in order for your love to be true?" Anna had no answer for that. "Do not wait long to tell him. The battle will take all of your strength."
Anna frowned slightly at the way that he said that, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Aslan . . . you're speaking as though you're not going to be there," she said slowly, staring at the great lion, who met her gaze once before looking away from her. "You are going to be there, aren't you?"
"I can give you no promise of that." Aslan looked up at her. "Tell no one of this for now. Circumstances might prove that I will be unable to join you, but I can tell you this: be there for Peter and support him. You and your friends will be able to save this country from the Witch. You must have faith."
Anna looked towards where the Pevensies tents' were. "What will happen if we fail?"
"You already know the answer to that."
Looking towards the lion, Anna slowly nodded in understanding, shivering slightly. The Witch would cast her reign of terror even more dangerously than before. Anna wrapped her arms tightly around her before she looked at Aslan.
"Now, I would suggest going down to the tents and seeing Edmund. He'll be waking up soon. And I'm sure that you could use some practice with your sword before heading off to battle." Anna wasn't about to argue; she'd be lucky yesterday against that wolf. She didn't want to go riding off into battle only using her sword once.
Climbing down from the cliff, Anna headed towards the tents, where Susan and Lucy were already sitting down to breakfast and Peter was walking towards his sisters with . . . Edmund!
Edmund's eyes trained on her and a smile broke out across his face as he ran to her, hugging her tightly.
With a smile, Anna hugged him back, noting at once that he had multiple bruises across his face and several cuts. She felt tears spring into her eyes as she surveyed him up and down. "You look horrible," she observed and he managed a weak smile at her observance. "Come on, let's get some breakfast. I'm sure you haven't had a decent meal for awhile."
As she said that, Edmund's stomach rumbled, causing both of them to laugh and Anna pushed him towards the table as Peter walked over to him. "Are you okay?" he asked her and she nodded, looking towards his siblings. "You were gone awhile."
"Aslan wanted to talk," she explained, shrugging. At Peter's questioning look, she shook her head. "Don't worry about it; it's nothing. Com on, let's eat." She tugged on Peter's arm towards the table and reluctantly, he followed her, though he seemed to be deep in thought about something.
Anna noticed Peter wasn't eating much and was leaning against a rock, still perturbed about something. She didn't have to wait long to know what was going on when Lucy commented on Edmund's speedy eating. "I'm sure they'll pack something up for the journey back."
Susan looked up, her expression surprised, but hopeful. "We're going home?" she inquired.
"You are," Peter replied. Anna stared at him, angry. How dare he try and make decisions for her! She wasn't going anywhere, not if he was staying behind to face war and possibly death! "I promised Mum I'd keep you four safe. But that doesn't mean I can't stay behind and help."
"Over my dead body," Anna snapped, her anger showing. Everyone turned surprised eyes towards her; rarely had they ever heard the redhead show any anger. "I'm not going anywhere. Narnia has been more home than England ever was and . . . and I'm not going without you." She folded her arms defiantly when he opened his mouth to protest. "Don't even try and argue with me, Peter. You should know by now that it doesn't do any good."
He gave a small weak smile at her and nodded in submission. Peter knew her well enough to know that when she put her mind to something, there was no stopping her. "I know," he said softly.
"But you two can't do this on your own!" Lucy cried. "They need us! All five of us!"
"Lucy, it's too dangerous," Peter protested, still trying to keep his siblings safe. "You and Anna almost drowned, Edmund was almost killed!"
Edmund had been silent thus far since Peter had made his announcement, but now he spoke. "Which is why we have to stay." Peter stared at him and Anna looked at the younger brother curiously. "I've seen what the White Witch can do . . . and I've helped her do it." The obvious shame was evident on his face. "And we can't leave this people behind to suffer for it!"
Pride filled through Anna as she looked at the boy she considered a brother, wrapping an arm around him gently. "They'll be calling you Edmund the Just in a few years," she commented. Edmund looked slightly embarrassed, but pleased.
"Thanks," he said as Susan stood up.
"Well, I suppose that's it, then," she said as she walked away from the table, picking up her quiver and arrows.
"Where are you going?"
"To get in some practice."
Anna smiled as Lucy hurried to catch up with her sister eagerly. "That doesn't sound like a bad idea," she said as she finished her last piece of toast. "Come on, Ed, let's go find you a sword and then I think the three of us should go and learn how to use them properly."
Peter sighed as he followed her through the camp, where Orieus was already waiting for them, with a sword and shield already ready for Edmund, though they were less extravagant than Peter's were. Edmund, however, made no complaints about them as he took them eagerly. Privately, Anna thought he was just glad to be there and away from the Witch's clutches.
Orieus partnered them up with some fauns and centaurs, teaching them how to use the sword effectively. After they'd gotten the hang of using the swords, they started learning how to fight on horseback. Peter rode on a beautiful white unicorn and Edmund was partnered with a brown horse that was named Philip.
Anna was shocked the first time that she'd heard the horses speak, though she thought that she'd be over the astonishment by this time. Her mount was a beautiful, chestnut mare named Bridget.
"Are you sure this is all right?" Anna asked as she climbed up onto the saddle awkwardly. She had never ridden like this before; she had only ridden side-saddle.
A small chuckle emerged from the mare's mouth. "It is my honour to be ridden by a human, my lady," she said. "Shall we practice?" Anna noticed that she had an eagerness in her voice; she was ready to go to battle.
"Yes," Anna said as she raised her sword to fight blows with Orieus while the brothers trained with each other. "Let's."
They hadn't been training very long when Mr. Beaver suddenly came racing towards them and Philip reared up in surprise, causing Edmund to grab the saddle to stay on. "The Witch has demanded a meeting with Aslan!" he shouted, causing everyone in the vicinity to look at each other in horror. "She's on her way here!"
Anna looked to Peter, whose expression was unreadable and he urged the unicorn forward. "Come on, let's get back to camp," he instructed as the girls came running up at the commotion. Susan climbed on with Peter while Lucy climbed up with Edmund as they raced back to camp, worry and alarm racing through their systems. What could the false queen possibly want?
When they reached the camp, Anna slid off of Bridget and hurried off with Peter and the others as they hurried to the front of the camp. Anna shivered at the chilly and foreboding atmosphere, even though the Witch hadn't arrived yet. It was only a matter of minutes, though. And sure enough, it didn't take long for the Witch to be carried into the camp by some Minatours, led by a dwarf, who announced her arrival.
"Jadis, the Queen of Narnia, Empress of the Lone Islands—" The dwarf's voice is drowned out as the camp threw insults at the Witch, all of which she ignored, her eyes focused on the lion and the five humans that had thrown her tyranny into turmoil.
"You have a traitor in your midst, Aslan," she said softly. Anna's hands instantly placed on Edmund's shoulders as he looked down in shame, wondering what she wanted with Edmund.
But it didn't matter, because the Witch wasn't going to get her best friend's brother. Anna didn't care what happened to her; she could have her, if that meant that Edmund would go free.