Before Jade could reply however, a muffled growl came and she quickly switched her attention back to the still-bound Trumpkin, before turning to spy the dagger on Lucy's belt. "Care to help, little girl?" she asked, grinning as she reverted back to the pet name she had used for the youngest Pevensie back in the days.
Wasting no time, the Valiant Queen fell and quickly sliced the ropes bounding his hands together, as Jade herself stood up and dusted the sandy, black and practical skirt she had been wearing, now sodden and wet. "Are you alright?" came the question, immediately queried by a voice she hadn't heard for the last few centuries.
"Fi-"
"Drop him?" came Trumpkin's exagerrated remark, cutting off Jade's reply as five pair of eyes turned to stare widely at the dwarf, whom was glaring at them. "Is that the best you could come up with?"
"A simple thank you, would suffice." Susan replied sarcastically, drawing a grin from Jade. Just as sarcastic as she remembered the Gentle Queen, thats for sure.
"They were doing fine, drowning me without your help."
"Maybe we should have let them."
"Trumpkin, shush. They just wanted to help."
"He- What are you doing here anyway, maiden?"
"Caspian asked me to come and get you. We weren't going to let you be taken away." Jade replied with a grin.
"Why were they trying to kill you anyway?" came Lucy's curious question, something they had been expecting anyway. Jade paused, unsure of what to reply them. The dwarf however, wasn't one to mince his words. "Their Telmarines. Thats what they do."
"Telmarines? In Narnia?"
"Where have you been the last few hundred years?"
"Its a long story." Lucy replied sheepishly, as Susan passed the sword back to Peter, whom had dropped it to start diving after the dropped dwarf.
"Well?"
"Trumpkin. Look at them." Jade finally spoke up, shaking out her damp hair before moving to stand by the dwarf. Bending down slightly, her gaze moved slightly to meet Peter's for the briefest of seconds, before she spoke. "Look."
There was a seconds pause, as the red-haired midget surveyed the four siblings standing in a row, looking more then ever like what they used to be when they reigned, rather then school children of England. "You've... got to be kidding me. You're it? The Kings and Queens of Old?"
The four Pevensies were stunned. Back when they had first rescued their beloved land from the clutches of Winter, and in the Golden Age, no one had ever referred to them with such disdain. Not to be deterred though, Peter stepped forward with an outstretched palm. "High King Peter... the Magnificient."
Trumpkin gave a raised brow, and Jade giggled. "Might have wanted to leave out the last part, Peter."
Trumpkin chortled, even as the rest of them hid their own laughter. "Probably."
And as always, Peter though kind-hearted and gentle as he was, had his ego. Jade gave a rueful grin as he unsheathed his blade, and then proceeded to challenge the dwarf to a duel. Not with him, but with Edmund. Moving to stand aside with the two girls.
"Jade! You look exactly the same! We've missed you." Lucy greeted softly, as the males exchanged words. Giving each of them a gentle hug due to her sodden clothing, Jade grinned at the youngest. "Immortal Maiden, remember?" she teased, before turning to watch them slowly beginning.
"Oh do they have to do this, I do so hate them." Susan complained, worry etching her face. Jade however, shrugged. "I think Trumpkin might need it. He's been having some misgivings lately, and he needs to learn not to judge a book by its cover."
"Trumpkin?"
"That would be the name of our darling little dwarf there."
There was no chance of words after that though, for the fight quickly started. Peter whom had moved to stand by a side, quickly yanked Jade out of the way when Trumpkin made a sudden move that almost sliced her head in half, before the clanging of swords truly began.
"You sure Edmund would be fine?" Jade couldn't help but question in worry, as Trumpkin seem to have gotten a hit in. Peter let his gaze flicker over to the girl, before shrugging. "He'll be fine. He is King Edmund afterall." Pause, the silent minute between the two poignant, before he asked. "What happened?"
"Hu-" Jade started, but stoppped when a whole myriad of clashes seem to happen all at once. By the time her eyes had slid back to the duel at hand, Edmund had his sword tip pointed at the fallen Trumpkin, who looked both beaten, and very surprised.
"Maybe that horn worked afterall."
"What horn?"
"Prince Caspian has apparently gotten your horn, Susan. You couldn't find it in your treasure chamber, couldn't you?" Jade explained, walking out to help Trumpkin up, before the six of them started the trek back to the ruins of Cair Paravel.
"Whats happening here?" Peter couldn't help but echoing the question he had asked earlier. But it wasn't till they were gathered in one of the ruined chambers, did the two explain. And explain they did, though it was mostly Trumpkin who did the talking, from where Caspian was stolen away from Miraz's fort all to the time where Jade was requested to go after Trumpkin.
"So now... we have to get back to ... Aslan's How, was it? What's the fastest way to get there?" Edmund asked, automatically turning towards Peter. "If I'm guessing correctly, it'll be through Glasswater, towards the Fords of Beruna."
"Fords of Beruna?"
"Beruna Bridge, Trumpkin dear." Jade explained, as she shuffled closer to the fire they had built in an effort to warm up the last of her clothing. "We're going to have to get to Glasswater Creek first though, and that's going to require a couple of days rowing up this new inlet that had grown to separate Cair Paravel from the mainland."
"More apples?" Edmund asked, more in resignation then anything. After they had discovered the apple orchard growing, the children had been eating nothing but. And though they were thoroughly sick of the food by now, there was nothing else left to offer.
"Lets go gather them then, before we start our journey first thing tomorrow morning." Susan replied, as they quickly got up, before dispersing.
And Peter couldn't help but to follow after the figure of the slight girl, as she walked. How could he not? Perhaps the hardest thing to him since his return from Narnia to England, was the fact that he couldn't see, nor hear her presence in his life. Jade had been integral in his life, and was part of the reason why he had taken their leaving Narnia the hardest of all.
But now that he had known that it had been hundreds of years in Narnia, Peter was now unsure of how his placing stood with her. Or had she even remembered him at all.
"Of course I did, silly boy." her voice jolted him out of his reverie, not even realizing her had voiced the last part of his thoughts out loud.
"Its been hundreds of years."
"I can watch many winters turn in to spring, but I'll always remember you." she replied softly, not meeting his gaze throughout her words. The silence fell between them, both unable to find the words to appropriately describe what they feel.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Tell you what?"
"You knew, didn't you?" he accused, and watched as her shoulder's drooped, eyes downcasted. "Why?" he insisted.
"I couldn't. I promised." she murmured finally, before turning to him. "I couldn't give you hope and then watch you leave, thats why."
"It was bad enough as it is."
"I would've made it worst!" she retorted quickly. And then as if realizing what she had done, Jade squeeze her eyes shut, before forcing a smile. "Lets just get the apples and get back, alright?"
He didn't know how to react. Defensive? As she was reaching upwards though, a glint that caught the sun sparked in his eye, his attention brought to the medallion nestled on her neck. She still kept it? he wondered in shocked surprise, before Peter just decided to let the subject dropped, and laughed as he watched her struggling to get the fruit perched on the highest branch. Reaching up to pluck it easily off its branch, he smirked at her. "You're exactly as I remembered you."
"Immortal, remember? Though you look like the first day i saw you, literally." she teased with a grin.
"Where's Mecha?"
Silence fell again, as they walked back. "Its been decades, Peter. What do you think?"
'Stupid boy, Peter Pevensie. How could you?' the boy King berated himself, before quickly recovering. "What about the rest of the gryphons?"
"Its dangerous times for them, I don't usually like watching them out and about."
"Oi! Why are you guys taking so long?" the voice belonged to Edmund, loudly beckoning at them from the courtyard, much to the amusement of Jade, and the annoyment of Peter. Having no choice but to quicken their steps, Peter had been just about to ask her how had her life been, when Lucy ran up.
"Let me help you with that, Jade!" Lucy grinned as she took half the load off the immortal Maiden, and by then Peter was gritting his teeth. He loved his siblings, honestly he does. But times like this makes him feel like strangling them.