Part Three of

Narnia: When Children Cry.

Disclaimer: I do not own Lucy or Tumnus or Narnia. I do own (sort of) Chrystmay the Dryad, who may or may not appear in Part Three.

I may add a Part IV, but only if I get enough reviews... hint, hint.

This is a short chapter, but with some good LucyTumnus bonding time, which I feel this story sorely needed. Enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-Three

Worse Fates

Lucy had escaped the castle again, taking with her a fine gown on her very back. She needed to think about things, and couldn't do so with the plans of the upcoming battle buzzing through the tense air.

As Lucy lay there, she paid no notice to her dress, being soiled terrifically by the dirt and torn by twigs. It seemed that time had been lost within itself, for the bright colours of fall foliage had faded into winter, and the sky had become a blanket of intense grey-blue. The tension was tight and thin as a string, as the air often is before a storm. Yet the sunlight was emanating brightly from somewhere she could not locate.

Lucy reached to the back of her head and undid the tight braids circling round and round her head. Sighing in relief, she shook her golden mane down and massaged the sides of her head where the plaits had pulled tightest.

Now you are a lioness, Aslan would say someday. And in her wildness, she looked it.

The lioness threw herself backwards onto the uneven earth, tangling her mane most handsomely into the spindly twigs and fallen leaves. Her lion's cheeks were flushed from running, and she was now scented with the perfume of dulcet dirt.

I do believe she would have stayed there for a long while, had not someone been coming round the corner. It was seemingly unfortunate that she didn't hear the footsteps, because she was totally unprepared when a most familiar faun came into view. She gasped and stood, trying her best to look like the regal queen she was.

It didn't fool him. 'Lucy, whyever do you have leaves in your hair?'

'Oh, I was just – I was just... erm...' She was trying to find a logical explanation, and it didn't come. But she needn't answer.

'You were on the ground, just there. You needed something solid that would always be there and never change: you needed the earth, and it came. I know.'

Lucy sighed and sat down again. The sun's rays were bright in the west, and the dark clouds smothering the sky were darker than ever. 'How did you know?'

Tumnus walked over and sat in the rugged earth beside her. 'I do it all the time.'

'Do you?'

'Always.'

'Why?'

'Why did you?'

Lucy frowned. 'Tumnus, are you to go to battle?'

'Yes.'

'And are... are you frightened?' Lucy asked, and perched her head upon her knees. 'Are you scared?'

'Of what?'

'To die.' Lucy uttered the word softly, with so many emotions swimming through her voice.

'A little,' said Tumnus, and he lay back in the ground. 'But there are worse fates than death.'

Lucy was about to ask, but then found that she knew exactly what he was talking about.