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The wolf snarled and jumped toward me. I thought about the shield I made some days earlier and wished I could do it again. Nothing happened and the wolf's jaw closed around my hand. I screamed in pain and punched him. He let go of my bleeding hand and I clenched it to my chest. I was trembling.

CH. 12 Answers and Questions

My heart pounded faster, and I got the feeling that I had to tell Aslan that it wasn't my fault. I didn't do anything to make Edmund run to the White Witch.

Inside the tent there was a carped on the ground, a sofa, a table with a map on it, and a bed.

"Please, sit", said Aslan and nodded toward the sofa. I swallowed and did as I was told.

"Aslan, sir-" He interrupted me with a look and I got silence.

"Now, can you please tell me what happened after you and your friends came into Narnia?"

I took a deep breath before I began. I told him everything I remembered. How we found Mr. Tumnus's house empty, how Mr. Beaver found us and took us home, how I and Peter argued, when Edmund disappeared, our run through the tunnel, our meeting with the fox, our meeting with Father Christmas, how I nearly drowned, and how Peter saved me.

He didn't interrupt me, and when I finished my story, we were silence.

"Is there anything more you want to tell me?" Aslan asked and I met his brown eyes. I started to say no, but then I stopped. There was one thing I had to share with someone, and who else than the Great Lion?

"When Peter saved me", I whispered. "I'm not sure, but I think he... kissed me."

A smile appeared on the lion's face. "Love is a powerful thing, and you shall be careful with who you share it with." I stared at him before he continued. "But I think the young king is a man worth your love. There's no need to be afraid of sharing moments with him. Enjoy the life while you can, 'cause you don't know when it will be taken away."

I tilted my head. "Are you giving me a hint that I'm going to die in the war I know have to come?"

"Many things can happen in a few days, and I'm sorry to say that I can't control all of them." In some seconds I saw sorrow in his brown eyes, but then it was gone. "Anyway. You have to learn how to use your gift, and I think I'm the only here to teach you."

My eyes widened in shock. "You want to be my... teacher?"

His eyes twinkled. "Well, yes."

I began to laugh. "Of course! Thank you so much!" The last sounded a bit muffled, because I buried my face in his long, soft mane while I hugged him. He chuckled lightly.

"You should go and get some food and rest. Sane will show you to the tent which you share with the young queens."

I nodded and rose with a big smile. "Again, thank you so much." Then I went out of the tent, still with the staff in my hand.

Outside a young dryad was waiting. She had light green skin and dark green hair and eyes. She was dressed in a brown dress decorated with small leaves.

"Lady Catharina", she said and curtsied.

"Please", I replied quick. "Just call me Catharina or Catty."

The dryad saw confused at me. "But... I've learned that I shall call every person with a title."

I smiled at her. "Doesn't matter. I don't want you to use any title when you talk to me. Now, I guess you're Sane?" She nodded. "Can you show me to the tent?"

A smile appeared on her face, and as we went through the camp she talked about so many different things that I had to laugh. She was as easy to converse with as Susan or Lucy, and she was kind and often joked.

At the end of the camp, close to the forest, not the on the side we came from, but on the other, we stopped.

"There's the King's tent, and there's the Queens' and your tent", Sane said, but before I could take any step toward the tent I shared with Susan and Lucy, the other tent opened and Peter appeared. He stared at me in some seconds, and then I smile of relief appeared on his face.

"Peter!" I shouted happily and ran toward him. He caught me in a warm embrace, but a second later we were attacked by Susan and Lucy, and we fell to the ground, laughing.

Both the girls had changed to dresses. Lucy to a blue dress, and Susan a green. Both had long sleeves. Lucy sat over me, while Susan and Peter sat on each side of me.

"Peter said Aslan wanted to talk to you", the small girl squealed. "He said Aslan sounded as if you had done something wrong!" I laughed up at her.

"No, he just wanted me to tell him everything about our journey, and then he said he wanted to teach me how to use my power."

"That's awesome!" Susan exclaimed, and then she exchanged look with Peter. I saw at them.

"Is there anything I should know?" I inquired. They both smiled.

"Nothing", Susan teased while she took Lucy off me. Suddenly Peter started to tickle me. I laughed and laughed.

"Please!" I laughed. "Stop!"

"Not yet", he replied, he too laughing.

I tried to roll away, but then he only dragged me closer, just to continue tickling me.

After a while he stopped and I could breath out. I heard the others still giggling.

"Catharina?" Sane's polite question reached me and I sat up.

"Oh, yes. Susan, Lucy, Peter, this is Sane. She's a really nice dryad", I told the Pevensies. Sane blushed and curtsied.

"Your Majesties, it's a great honour." Then she turned to me. "Catharina, I'm sorry to say it, but you need to change to something more... fitting."

I smiled and got to my feet. "See you later!" I said to the Pevensies before I followed Sane to the tent Susan and Lucy came from.

Inside there were three beds, three chests, a chair and a table. Names were written in gold on each chest.

Sane opened the chest with my name on.

Catharina the Guardian, I read. The dream or vision or whatever it was, came back to me. High Queen Catharina the Guardian.

I took the last steps over to the bed and fell down on it. My hands were shivering and I was breathing fast. It couldn't be possible. It couldn't be my future. Well, that with High King Peter was okay, but that feeling of never seeing him again... it couldn't be possible.

"Catharina?" Sane saw worriedly at me. "Are you okay?" I swallowed and put on a smile.

"Yes, everything is fine", I said in a terrible false tone. Then I rose from the bed, opened the chest and stared down at the dresses it was filled with. "Are all those mine?" I asked, and my concern for the future moved back in my brain.

"Yes", Sane replied with a smile. "Just choose which one you want."

After looking at each one, I finally found one I thought I would like. It was a white cotton-dress with long sleeves and a brown vest lined with gold.

I took on the underskirt and Sane helped me with the corset. Then she helped me getting on the white dress and the shoes.

I made a pirouette for Sane to see. She stared at me in awe.

"I must look terrible", I said.

"No!" she exclaimed while she started to brush my hair. "You look beautiful... just like every young girl want to."

For a while the silence filled the tent, but then I asked her a question that had bothered me a bit. "How old are you? You look young, but when you talk it's like... old."

"Oh, I just turned 100", she replied as if it was nothing to talk about. "I'm fairly young between dryads, 'cause we grow old with our trees, and if a tree die, then the dryad who live in that tree die too."

When she told me this, I began to wonder if we had dryads back in England, and if so was, how many had died just to become fire for the humans?

"There you go", she said with a smile and stepped back. I rose from the chair. Sane had put my hair together in a long braid which fell down to my waist. I took up the vest and put it on.

"Catty? Are you in there?" Peter's voice came in through the small opening in the tent.

"Yes, just come in", I told him and he pushed away the fabric hanging in front of the opening. "Could you leave us?" I asked Sane. "I guess the King know the way."

Sane curtsied, and again she blushed before she hurried outside.

"What was that?" Peter asked with a confused look after the dryad. I smiled at the young man.

"I guess she fancy you", I joked, but he took it very serious.

"But... we don't know each other, and besides... there's another girl I think I like." His eyes met mine and I blushed. I had a feeling that I knew which girl he meant.

"Why did you come?" I asked while I tried to tight the bonds in the vest.

"I came to see if you were ready to go and eat some dinner", he answered. We stood in silence for a while, and I continued with the bonds. "Do you need help?"

I glanced up at him, still trying to tight the bonds which crossed each other from my waist and a bit over my breasts. I blushed and quick looked away.

"If you don't mind..." I muttered, still without looking at him. My breath went faster as I felt his hands gently tight the bonds. His hands came further up, until he carefully made a knot. His hands didn't leave me yet, and against my will, my eyes moved up to meet his blue. I nearly stopped breathing.

Without thinking I slowly lifted my arms to his neck. He laid his strong arms around my waist and lowered his head. I closed my eyes and felt his warm breath closing to my face.

"Catty, Peter, are you-" We jumped away from each others. We both blushed, nearly worse than tomatoes. Susan stood in the opening and stared at us. Her jaw had dropped and her eyes were wide. "Sorry!" she exclaimed and hurried out the way she came.

I couldn't look at Peter. It was impossible. We had nearly kissed. In one way I was relieved because Susan came and interrupted, but the other way I felt angry and maybe a bit sad. Maybe I had really wanted to feel his lips against mine, to taste them and feel the warmth he gave me, just like in the river.

"Maybe... we should go", Peter said sheepishly and I nodded. In silence we went out. Non of us said anything, and Sane gave me a questioning glance. I only shook my head, and then she disappeared.

"You-" Susan began to say, but she didn't finish.

"Forget it", snapped Peter and she raised her eyebrows at him.

"Fine, but it isn't my fault that you two can't find a more private place." Then she hurried away without looking at us, muttering something I didn't catch.

I knew how Peter felt and why he reached how he did, but still. Susan was right. It wasn't her fault that we stood in the middle of the tent while we... anyway.

Beside me Peter let out a heavy sigh, and then he saw at me. I met his eyes and we quick looked away.

Peter began to walk and I followed after him through the camp until we came to the place where a bunch of fauns were making dinner for the whole army.

A dozen or more, long tables with benches on each side were sat out under the blue. Susan and Lucy were sitting by the end of one of the long tables, talking about the strange, but beautiful land we were in.

I sat down beside Susan, and Peter at the opposite side of me, beside Lucy. A faun came and placed a bowl in front of us, filled with soup.

After a meal and a refreshing sleep...

I stared down at the camp. It was really huge. With a sigh I lay back and stared up at the sky. In west the sun was going down, and the sky got coloured in all grades of red, yellow and blue. It was beautiful, and my thoughts began to wander.

Where was Edmund now? Was he okay? How was it back in England? Had Mrs. Macready and the Professor searched for us? All those, and a lot more, questions appeared in my head as I stared up at the sky.

"Catharina?" I sat up. Aslan came toward me. "What are you doing here all alone?"

My eyes swiped over the camp and the forest once more before I replied. "I'm just thinking... wondering. Right now I have a lot of questions up here", I knocked on my head, "but no answers."

Aslan sat down beside me and joined me staring at the sunset. "Maybe I can give you some answers?"

Without even noticing it, I nodded. Of course. Aslan was the Great Lion. He could answer my questions.

"Why am I here?" I asked. "I mean, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy have a prophecy, but I feel like some luggage they have to deal with."

Aslan laid down beside me. "There are a lot of things which only happen, without a purpose", he began. "But there is an old prophecy which tells about a young woman who will come to Narnia at least three times, for then to travel to the Land Beyond the Sea." In some seconds we were silence before he continued. "You're no luggage. You're the one who is meant to go with the Pevensies and protect them from the darkness in both worlds."

This answer gave me a new question.

"Why me? Why not someone like Oreius? He is far better than me to fight. He can protect the royals much better than I can, and besides, so far it was always they who saved me somehow."

"Catharina, do you have faith in yourself?" Aslan replied. In some seconds a glared confused at him, but then I thought about it. It wasn't hard to find the answer.

"I don't think I have faith in myself. That faith I eventually had, I lost at school." Aslan nodded, as if that was the answer he had expected.

"Listen carefully to what I'm saying now, 'cause it's important for your future." He went silence in some seconds to be sure he had my attention. "I chose you because I trust you and your powers. I know you can protect the kings and queens when I'm not there. Your powers are also far beyond Oreius, and that's thanks to your father. You know, he is a great man, and his powers are also great."

"You talk as if you knew him, and as if he is still alive", I remarked.

"He have never told you about your family, right?" I only nodded in reply. "That's because his family would look... weird to your world. You see, he is my brother. He is one of two Stars, or elves, if you want, so right now..." Aslan turned to look at the sky in east. I followed his eyes. As we watched, a star light up. "Yeah. Right now he's doing his job. Lighting up the sky for the Narnians."

I stared at the star in shock, and then at Aslan. "Are you telling me that Dad is something close to a God?"

Aslan chuckled. "No, not a God. He's as much God as I am, and I'm only the... ambassador, the Lord of Narnia. I am the one travelling between Narnia and the Land Beyond the Sea. I'm watching over all of you, and if I find something wrong, I also find a new prophecy about someone who are going to change it and rebuild the peace and beauty of Narnia."

Slowly I nodded. I had just got some new questions, and I had also got an answer.

"What about Dad? Who is he?"

"Your father, the Great Star. What do you want to know about him?"

I shrugged. "Everything. Who he really is, why he was in England, how he met Mum, and also who she was, or is she another of your family?"

Aslan's brown eyes were fixed at me. "You forget that it's not only my family, but also yours, and no, your mother was an ordinary human from England."

I bit my lip. Yes. I had forgotten that his family was also mine.

"As I said", continued Aslan and turned to the sun which now nearly had disappeared in west. "Your father was my younger brother. While I got the job as the ambassador, he got the job to watch over the stars, and together with him one of my sisters. That was when Narnia was made. Your father and his sister watched over the stars, but then your father got tired of this. He begged our father, your grandfather – or the 'God' if you want – about being send to another world to see something else than just the old Narnia." Aslan sighed heavily. "Your grandfather then sent him to the land where you was born, England, but only for twenty years. There your father quick learned all he needed to know about the world, and he met a young woman. Three years after he met this woman, they got you. I remember how lucky he was when he told me about it. Then the accident came. Your mother died and he was left with you. It broke his heart, but for your sake he stayed in Finchley. When the war came to your world, he went to the war, 'cause I think he had started to miss Narnia, but he didn't want to leave or take you with back. The war became something dear to him, because it in some ways reminded him of his home, and when he died there, he came back here." Again he sighed. "From there you know the rest."

I thought about what I just had learned about my family. "You said he didn't want to take me with him back here. Why?"

"If he took you with before you turned fifteen, your grandfather would make you immortal, and then give you some kind of job. Your father didn't want this for you. He wanted you to have a normal life back in England. However, he can't change the fate, and your fate was to come here."

I nodded. Slowly I began to understand more about my family.

"Okay, so I'm half human, half star."

This time Aslan laughed. "No, you're half human, half elf. You're the opposite of the White Witch. She represents the darkness, while you represent the light. She is the evil, you're the good. You see?"

I nodded. A smile had appeared on my lips. "So then we're back to the beginning. I'm the prefect guardian for the Pevensies because I'm the good." I thought about what I just said. "That's why I can feel when something bad is about to happen!"

Aslan smiled at me. "I see you begin to understand."

"Well", I replied. "There are still things I don't understand, like, why do you tell me this? Why can't Dad come down here just to tell it to me?"

Aslan's smile disappeared. "First, two so powerful like I and your father can't be at the same place down here, and second, he have a job to do right now, so he can't come."

"Why can't two like you gather here?" I inquired.

"If we do so, the ground in a radius of at least one mile will break", the lion replied.

"How far away from each other do you have to be?"

He gave me a quick look. "At least two kilometres."

I nodded before my eyes turned to the staff which lay on the ground close to me.

"Father Christmas told me I have to wish if I want to learn how to use it", I said in a low voice.

"And he was right. How many times have you used your powers so far?" My violet eyes met Aslan's brown.

"Twice. First in the tunnel when we were running from the wolves, and second under the waterfall." Aslan nodded.

"Didn't you wish then? First time, didn't you wish to protect Peter? And didn't you wish to scare the wolves away?"

I stared at him. "I haven't thought about it that way", I finally managed to say. Aslan smiled when I lifted the staff. "How do I find my powers?"

"Love, dear, love." I frowned at Aslan, but then I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and searched inside myself. I thought about what I loved.

They stood in a circle around me, all the persons I cared for and loved.

Right in front of me Peter stood. To his left he had the rest of the Pevensies, and to his right Dad stood, but they weren't the only. Others were there too. Aslan, Mr. and Mrs. Pevensie, and then there were also two dogs and a cat.

I smiled sad. I remembered when Dad first came home with two puppies, and a few years later a cat.

I opened my eyes and gasped. I strong light shone from me.

Like far away I heard footsteps and someone shouting, then Aslan saying something and all got silence.

As the last sunbeams shone over the horizon, I caught them in the staff. The light was pure and I felt the power flow through me.

I wish, I thought. I wish my staff became a magical bow.

As if it had heard what I thought, the staff changed to a white bow with caverns. Slowly the light disappeared. First then I saw up and realized a crowd had gathered around me. I swallowed. What would they think? That I was a witch?

Suddenly I felt so exhausted and tired. What was wrong with me? My knees buckled and I fell.

"Catty!" The voice sounded far away, but known. Peter. He caught me and carefully laid me on the ground, still holding me in his arms. "What happened to her?" is voice was filled with concern, just like his eyes.

"She nearly used too much power", I heard Aslan explain. "Or, I should rather say 'controlled'. She just need to rest."

I closed my eyes with a sigh and felt Peter kiss my forehead before my mind drifted away to the Lands of Dreams.

Soooo... do I see any reviews? What do you think? Please tell me. I'm really excited that I made it, and now I'm very happy.

Just for your information, I've made a picture to this story. I had plans about posting it, but it would be a spoiler, so you'll have to wait *evil laugh*