Lucy rushed out, Mama Squirrel not to far behind. As expected, the whole party was gathering around the Centaur, who had a strained expression on his face. They were firing questions his way; left, right and center. But being a Centaur, he knew how to keep his temper in check. As he saw Edmund and Lucy approaching, he coughed. The rest of the group fell silent.
"What news, Fordunus?" Lucy asked, making her way to the front of the circle.
"Hogwood…it was very difficult to enter. A…a minotaur was at the gate. He was taking names and ages."
"Taking names?" Edmund wondered. "What did you tell him?"
"I lied of course, my king. I told him I went by the name Glonstern and that I was travelling alone. I said that I was in need of some supplies, so I needed to pay a visit to a merchant."
Edmund smirked. "I would usually say, fools only lie, Fordunus. But you have done well, thank you."
"Thank you," he replied simply, with a bow of his head.
"Keep going," Lucy smiled. "I want to hear everything! What was it like there?"
"It was like any other village. Everyone was going about their own business, yet there…" he trailed off. Catching the eye of one of his comrades, he continued. "It seemed as if everyone was on edge. As if they were waiting for something bad to happen. Little ones, if they were out on the street, stayed close to their parents. I wanted to help, to do something, but I couldn't do so without being noticed."
"Completely understandable," Edmund said.
"And so I went to an old chap-a Faun, specifically, who was selling his house. He had two children, but he didn't present them to me, I saw them discreetly. Figures he was probably trying to leave town, I suppos. And so I purchased it, your Majesties, it's nothing like Cair Paravel."
"Doesn't matter," Lucy said. "Before Narnia we didn't live in a castle."
"So I've heard," he continued. "And here,"
Very gently, he reached over into the pack he carried on his back. Pulling out two sets of human clothes, he leaned down and handed them to the two Pevensies. "Hopefully they'll fit," he stated, jokingly.
Lucy cracked a smile, unravelling her parcel. Inside, lay a light blue peasant dress with a bow for her hair. Her smile widened as she understood his choosing of the dress-it represented innocence, as if she didn't have the license to kill. It was perfect.
"Perfect," she exclaimed. "Thank you!"
Acting on instinct, she did as any child who'd received a present would do, she ran right for a hug. The Centaur chuckled, leaning down to quickly embrace his young queen.
"My pleasure, Queen Lucy."
Edmund's gift was no different. Inside his parcel was a matching set of clothing, with a hat. But realisation soon dawned on him.
Asking no one in particular, he asked==more or less, stated the obvious.
"You don't suppose I'll be able to carry my sword with me, do you?"
Lucy let go of Fordunus and stepped cautiously towards her brother. "I don't know, Ed. It may seem suspicious of a schoolboy to be so talented in swordsmanship…"
"We could say our father was a Captain in Lune's army, couldn't we? And that he taught me?"
Ï suppose, but if people start talking…"
"We'll cross that bridge when we get there, Lu. Right now, I think it's time to pack up." He nodded to the rest of the party to get back to work. Turning back to his sister, he continued. "I think it's best if you and I get changed now, we can get directions from Fordunus on where to go. But we're going to have to ride into the village unaccompanied."
"Except Daleen," Lucy added, referring the Hound the had appointed as their own personal "pet-guard."
"I wish Phillip was here too," Edmund whispered.
"Oh, Ed!" Lucy cried, enveloping her brother in a hug. "He'll get better, I promise." Phillip had been confined to the comfort of his own stall due to a cold he had received. Thus, he didn't ride with them into the Western Wood.
"I know," he said, squeezing his sister tightly. "C'mon, time to get ready."
She nodded, solemnly following him back to her tent.
Once dressed and readied, the two Monarchs saddled and mounted their horses. Lucy looked down at Mama Squirrel from her perch on Farah, her mare.
"We'll find him, I swear." she said.
"I know you will," Mama Squirrel replied. "Good, Queen Lucy! Goodbye, King Edmund! I wish you the best of luck."
"You too, Lady Squirrel." Edmund replied. "Take care of yourself. Twittertwig and Moonstick shall be here shortly."
The Squirrel nodded, curtsying clumsily as tears threatened to fall from her already dried-up eyes. "Thank you."
"And you too. We will meet again." Lucy smiled down at the small figure.
"Daleen!" Edmund summoned. "Are you ready?""Ready as I'll ever be, Your Majesty." the Hound replied, bound up between the mounts.
"Good, now once we reach the gates, you must stay silent, understand?"
Daleen barked and howled like a Dumb Beast in response.
"Fordunus, lead the rest of the group into Hogwood in the morn. If necessary, you may send one or two into the village at a time starting at nightfall."
Fordunus saluted.
"Then we are off," Lucy declared. "Goodbye, my friends. Aslan be with you. We shall see you tomorrow."
Nodding gravely, the two humans and there companions cantered out of the clearing.
No more than an hour later, the party reached the gates of Hogwood. Trying to appear less queen-like, and more like a little girl, Lucy steered her horse behind beside her brother, keeping her head low in fake fright. Daleen had hushed once they'd reached earshot. Edmund had stopped speaking to him once he'd seen the Minotaur and his unnecessary amount of weapons.
They reached him quietly. Edmund saluted in the Archenland fashion.
"Hello there," he then called out.
The Minotaur grunted, looking the boy in the eye.
"Name." he snapped.
"Uh…" he hadn't thought of this. "Edgar."
The Minotaur nodded, looking towards Lucy.
"Luna." she said simply. But she had…
Grunting once more, the Minotaur continued.
"Reason for entrance."
Edmund bit his lip, his mind blaring with furious exclamations. They were in his territory, not he in theirs! He should be the one asking the questions here! Huffing, he consumed in his own anger into his inner soul and replied flatly.
"We've just received acceptance into Narnia, with our parents. Our forefathers' are originally from here and they wan-"
The Minotaur cut him off. "Where's your folk then?""They're…they'll be coming in a week's time, sir." she stammered, in a childish manner.
"So, you're here alone then?"
"For the moment, yes, sir. But we have our dog from Archenland here s well, Da-Dalin. Yes, Dalin."
Daleen yelped, acting as a Dumb Beast.
"He's mute?" The Minotaur questioned.
"Completely." Lucy replied.
A small smile form at the corners' of the Minotaur's lips. "You may enter, children."
Again, Edmund contained his anger at being called a child by his own subject. Instead, he looked over at Lucy and said. "Let us go, sister."
She nodded. Turning to the Minotaur, she beamed a joyous smiled. "Thank you, sir."
The Minotaur would've blushed if he could. Instead, he huffed and turned away. "Carry on."
The party continued on through the arched gates of a unknown threat.
The village wasn't very large. There were small huts and houses lining the dirt roads, and small merchant stands dotted the area here and there. As they entered the village, Edmund straightened up, looking more like himself in the peasant clothes. Lucy lifted her head, observing the expressions of their people.
As they walked through, faces turned their way. People with terrified expressions looked up at them with wide eyes. Sudden flashes of hope would flutter through those eyes, then quickly change back to the dull-fear that had overtaken them. As Fordunus had said, children were being dragged around with their parents arms wrapped around them, as they looked to and fro for a unseen threat. Daleen sniffed at the ground, his tail starting to droop.
"What do you smell, Dale?" Lucy whispered, leaning down in the saddle. "Wait, don't answer that until we get to the house."
Sitting back up, she looked around once more and frowned. "I think we were right to come here, Ed. Look at them, they seem terrified for their lives."
He nodded. "But maybe we shouldn't have come so unprotected."
Daleen barked loudly, startling a young Fox and his mother near by.
"He wants us to wait," Lucy whispered. "We'll talk at the house."
They turned down one more street, until they reached a hut at the end of the road. Just leaving the hut, was an elderly Faun, two smaller ones following behind.
"Here we are," Edmund said. "Should we wait for them to leave?"
"Yeah," she responded. They continued on walking as the trio of Fauns packed some sacks. The pace of the Monarchs' was slow, so they were able to hear their whispered conversation.
"Grandpapa!" one of the children whispered. "Where are we going?"
"We cannot stay here any longer, my child." his Grandfather answered. "It is too dangerous.""But where will we go?" the other whispered.
"Away from here, my love." he said taking the other Faun, who was sobbing into his arms.
"Just…just like Giala went away?"
The elder shook his head. "No, dearest. Giala didn't have a chance to escape. Your friend was taken last night."
The young Faun burst into tears. "Why is this happening, Grandpapa? We didn't do anything! Why are all my friends disappearing? It's not fair! It's scary!"
Grandpapa took both his grandchildren into his arms and cradled them. Looking up from the huddle, he spotted the approaching humans and their friends. Eyes going wide, he whispered something the Monarchs' couldn't hear in the still street, but they believed it was an order to hide. Their thoughts were confirmed when the two young Fauns scurried under an empty bin.
Their Grandfather stood up, ready to greet the travellers. Lucy beat him to it.
"Hello there, sir."
:"Good day," the Faun called back.
Edmund leaned towards his sister. "Don't get him asking questions, I think he may be on to us.""Why do you think that?" she asked.
"I think…I think I saw his face at Beruna."
There was a pause. "What side was he on?"
"Ours."
"Well that complicates things, and makes it better."
Edmund rolled his eyes.
"Just don't raise any suspicions, okay?"
"Mhmm," she replied. She dismounted as they pulled up to the house.
"My name is Luna, sir. We're new in town."
The Faun smiled warmly. He didn't see the harm in them…yet. But he also saw some familiar features about them, he just didn't know what.
"And I am Edgar, sir." Edmund said, jumping off his horse. "We're from Archenland."
"Are you travelling alone then?" he asked.
"For now, yes." Edmund started. "Our parents will be joining us by week's end."
The Faun staggered back, his mouth dropping open.
"Oh, no, no, no, no, no.." he breathed. "You must leave! You must! It's too dangerous here for children!"
"And how so?" asked Edmund.
"Dark things," the Faun whispered. "Dark creatures lurk here in the moonlight. They take from us what we hold dearest, and try to use them for their own benefits. You must flee! Flee!"
"Just as you are doing, sir?" Lucy inquired.
The Faun stepped closer to her. "But I must find a way. No one has dared to try and leave. If they have, they've perished in the process."
"Then you must not go," she whispered. "You must stay here and protect you grandchildren. By smuggling them out of here, you may as well be putting them into more danger!"
"How can you be so wise at such a young age, child?" the Faun snapped. "If you are so wise, you know, you shouldn't be here alone!"
At that moment, Edmund stepped in. "And this is why, Fluntisk, you must stay with us."
"How…how do you know my name?" Fluntisk responded, astonished. He stepped back, calling for his grandchildren.
"We must leave now," Fluntisk muttered to them. "That lot knows to much as it is."
"You know that Centaur who purchased that house from you today, Fluntisk? He was of our party. Didn't you recognize him?" Edmund hissed down the Faun's neck, when he'd stepped up towards him, nose-to-nose.
The Faun stared at the two humans for a moment and then spotted the black puff a dog behind them. Daleen trotted up to the Faun, nodded his head, and rolled over.
"Daleen…" Fluntisk breathed, recognizing the Dog as his own companion during the Battle of Beruna. Immediately, his head shot up to face the humans. "By Aslan…It can't be."
Lucy nodded, placing a finger to her lips, silencing him.
"We'll speak inside." Edmund stated. "Luc-I mean, Luna, can you please take the children inside."
Having an unusual connection with all things living, Lucy was capable of taking the smaller children by their shaky hands and dragging them inside the hut. Once inside, the family of Fauns found themselves plopped down onto a chesterfield. Daleen stood off to the side, watching the door. He sniffed around quickly, then croaked out.
"All clear."
Instantaneously, Edmund drew his sword, pointing it towards the Fauns.
"Speak of this to no one, Fauns, and you shall be rewarded. Now, tell us all you know."
Okay, longer than usual and second of the night. So, I just want to say THANK YOU. I feel like the Grinch because I don't think I've said that lately. I appreciate anyone who's actually reading this, and thanks to my few reviewers! You guys rock! This FF thing is different than what I usually do (as I've previously mentioned.) And by the way, to FlapJack, I'm sorry you had to fail your exam L that's not fair that they immediately did that. But it was irritating when it did happen in the movie, I think I might have actually hid my face when Caspian said it…
Anyways, on a note about writing, I'm actually nine chapters into outlining a novel of my own. I've had the idea in my head for a few years now. It has changed many times through those years, so I decided to write it all down. I made a promise to myself once my writing improves, I'll start working on the actual manuscript. I've written chapter books before, and they've been self-published for my community to purchase. J
And yes, I did use the Canadian word for couch. Y'all just gotta deal with the fact that I'm reppin' the North. J (You can tell, I need sleep…) Goodnight.