I'm so sorry this has taken so long, everyone! I've been caught up with finals and studying for them that this story fell onto the back burner, so to speak. I'll update as fast as I can, promise! In response to Huge Potter Fan, yes this is set during the Golden Age. Anyway, as a disclaimer, I'm just a fan and am in no way affiliated with C.S. Lewis. Enjoy!
A long groan came from one of the large golden thrones at the front of the hall in Cair Paravel where the royals were conducting a meeting. Since Narnia was in a time of peace, and had been for the past seven years, this was not a meeting of war, but instead this meeting was meant to discuss the party the two queens were planning in honor of the High King's twenty-first birthday. The groan had come from said king while his sisters discussed whom they should invite.
"Oh, do grow up, Peter," Susan said, turning her attention toward her brother. Lucy giggled beside her.
"It's just another birthday!" Peter insisted, reclining in his thrown. He heard Edmund chuckled beside him, thus he turned his head sharply toward his brother to offer him a glower.
"Actually, it's your twenty-first birthday, Peter. This is a big deal," Lucy said. "Besides, we haven't hosted as grand of a party as we're planning in ages!"
Peter crossed his arms. "Perhaps the one from last month," he mumbled darkly.
"Just concede defeat, Pete," Edmund suggested with another chuckle.
Peter knew there was no getting through to his sisters once they had set their minds to something; however, he wished they had decided to plant a nice garden, not plan his birthday party. Honestly, they were going to too much trouble. He knew there would have to be some sort of affair to celebrate with the people of Narnia and perhaps the royals of Archenland and Calormen, but his sisters were discussing hosting a ball of all things!
"Why can't we just hold a festival for the people of Narnia and have a family feast with King Lune and his family like last year?" Peter asked, growing desperate for some sort of control over the situation.
"As we said before, this is your twenty-first birthday," Susan said, annoyance showing in her voice. "We're not asking your permission, merely informing you of our ideas."
The queens grinned widely at Peter, who threw his hands into the air, finally admitting his defeat since he didn't have any more suggestions as alternatives to the situation. Also, they obviously were not going to budge from their plans.
The sound of a throat being cleared came from the end of the hall and the four royalties stood in unison and straightened their clothing as Peter called for the person to enter. The centaur named Oreius walked through the doors and bowed to the four as they each took a seat once more.
"Your Majesties," Oreius said, bowing once more, "I have grave news."
The four siblings exchanged glances before turning their attentions back on the centaur in front of them. 'Grave news' was never a term they wanted to hear, especially since there hadn't been any signs of disturbance in Narnia since Battle of Beruna seven years ago.
"What is it, Oreius?" Peter asked, his concern showing in his voice.
"I have been watching the stars, your Majesty, reading them," Oreius answered. "There is a prophecy that has been foretold."
The four royalties shifted nervously in their thrones. Again, a prophecy was almost never good news. In fact, prophecies almost always had at least one bad element to them, a fact that the four kings and queens were well aware of.
"Yes?" Susan pressed, becoming anxious.
Oreius took a deep breath before beginning.
"Son of Adam and Daughter Eve,
To the Crown, one shall deceive.
The old evil shall return once more,
And Narnia shall once again be at war.
Both have to relinquish something held dear,
And gone shall be times of fear."
The four siblings were silent after Oreius finished speaking, unsure about what to say. They were each contemplating the meaning of his words, trying to draw their own conclusion about what was going to happen to Narnia.
"How long do we have?" Edmund asked, ever the tactical mind.
The centaur frowned, bowing his head. "It has already begun, your Majesty."
The kings and queens exchanged glances once more before Peter turned toward the uncomfortable Oreius. He knew the centaur did not wish to be telling them this horrible news, but he was grateful for it, nevertheless.
"Thank you, Oreius," the High King said with a reassuring smile. "Go enjoy your evening, dear friend."
Oreius smiled in thanks, and then bowed again before exiting the room. Susan and Edmund began speaking immediately, not wasting a moment to share their thoughts on what the prophecy could mean. Lucy was the only one who appeared to be dumbfounded, unsure of what exactly to make of the words. To her, it was indeed grave news, but they had dealt with a war before, right? How different could two wars be from each other?
"Another war!" Edmund exclaimed. "All because some man and woman are coming here!"
"We can't draw that conclusion," Susan insisted. "We had a prophecy on us too, remember?"
"Yes, and we made something happen in Narnia. Granted, it was for the good."
"Therefore, we can't say that this man and woman are out to harm us until we have more information!"
"Really? 'To the crown, one shall deceive'? That doesn't sound threatening at all."
"How about 'both shall have to relinquish something held dear and gone shall be the times of fear'? That means they are going to save us in my book."
"Enough, you two!" Peter yelled. "Let's just calmly assess this, line by line then. No yelling, no interrupting." Peter looked pointedly at Edmund, who put up in hands in mock surrender.
"Son of Adam and Daughter of Eve, to the crown one shall deceive," Susan recited.
"Two people are going to come to Narnia, and one of them is going to lie to us," Edmund stated. Peter nodded in agreement; there wasn't really much arguing that fact. He looked to Susan and Lucy, but they offered no differing opinions.
"The old evil shall return once more, and Narnia shall once again be at war."
"The two people are going to cause a war in Narnia because it's going to stir up some 'old evil'," Edmund answered again.
"Actually, I think it means they are going to help us fight off this 'old evil'," Susan said, shaking her head in disagreement.
"We should be more concerned about the identity of this 'old evil'," Peter said.
"Isn't it obvious?" Edmund asked, crossing his arms. "It's Her, obviously."
"We don't know that, Ed," Peter disagreed. "It could be someone from before our time. Let's remember to go through some Narnian history books."
The other three nodded in agreement before Susan recited the final line of the prophecy. "Both have to relinquish something held dear, and gone shall be times of fear."
Despite his other opinions, Edmund had no advice on the meaning of this line. Instead, it was Lucy who offered her thoughts to the group. "This has less to do with us, and more to do with them," she said in a small voice.
Lucy's kind heart forced her to fear any sort of harm that should befall others. In fact, many times she would do her best to take said harm onto herself so others would not need to suffer. Perhaps that was what truly made her so valiant; she wasn't afraid of misfortune, instead she was afraid of others feeling the effects of it.
The four rulers fell silent again before Susan spoke. "So what are we going to do about this?" she asked.
"What do you mean? There's nothing to do but prepare for war," Peter said, confused.
Susan groaned. "Are you forgetting what else Oreius said? It's already begun. They're already here, Peter."
"Of course!" Edmund exclaimed, jumping up from his throne, making for the door. "Let's go find them!"
Peter rolled his eyes at his younger brother. "No, Ed. Susan and I will go, and you and Lucy will stay here. There isn't any reason to alarm the people of Narnia when all four of us go out riding into the night suddenly."
Edmund huffed, and crossed his arms, knowing that Peter was right. He strode back over to his throne and sat down as Peter and Susan stood to leave. Peter offered his arm to his sister as they exited the room to go prepare their horses.
"Be careful!" Lucy called after them. She turned to Edmund, who was still sulking in his throne. "Well, this is certainly a turn of events, isn't it, Ed?"
Edmund laughed and nodded. It certainly was.
bSo, there you go! The first chapter with the Pevensies! Let me know what you think with that pretty review button! Thanks for reading!/b