Disclaimer: I do not own The Chronicles of Narnia or The Lord of the Rings.

Chapter 3

After the war council concluded, Molly returned to her tent to prepare herself for battle. A dryad entered the tent and helped her dress properly. The dryad helped Molly into her maroon loose fitting dress, chain metal, leather armor, and metal wrist protectors. As this dressing went on Molly couldn't help but run the scene rom Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, where Théoden, King of Rohan prepared himself for the siege of Helms Deep. The scene played so strongly in her head, that Molly couldn't help but whisper it to herself.

To whatever end…

Where is the horse and the rider?

Where is the horn that was blowing?

They have passed like rain on the mountains.

Like wind in the meadow.

The days have gone down in the west.

Behind the hills, into shadow.

How did it come to this?

The dryad looked at Molly as if she was crazy, but dismissed it as nervousness. She handed Molly her sword, and watched as Molly strapped the sword to her waist and picked up the helmet a faun had made for her.

Molly left her tent and met up with Peter and Edmund who also stood in full armor. Peter looked at Edmund before looking at Molly.

"Molly, keep Edmund safe." He said. Molly nodded in acknowledgement. She knew that meant she'd be away from the action the majority of the battle, but Edmund was more important than she was. Edmund looked like Peter had just stolen his favorite teddy bear from him.

"Come on Edmund," Molly said pulling Edmund toward the area where the archers were gathering. Edmund struggled for a few minutes.

"I don't want to be with the archers, I want to fight with Peter," he said. Molly rolled her eyes, and lightly hit Edmund's uncovered head.

"Suck it up Edmund. Peter and you are going to be kings. What will Narnia do if you both are dead?" Molly said annoyed with his antics. They were the same age for crying aloud and the boy acted as though he was younger. When the pair reached the archers Edmund sighed and discussed what audible cues he would be giving during the battle. Molly made sure that there were a few visual clues as well since audible would be hard to hear at the back of the group.

Finally, with the entire army on its toes as the sun reached its mid-morning position. The army began its march to Beruna ahead of schedule. Molly was pleased, leaving early meant time to perfect the defensive line and practice the commands Edmund and Peter had agreed upon

The field of battle was something Molly had never truly seen before. There she was standing in what would normally be described as idyllic. Beruna was literally the greenest field she had ever seen. Looking down, from the archer's point atop the rocks, Molly couldn't help but equate the field below to the fields she had seen the summer her father had dragged her on a Civil War road trip all over the eastern U.S..

As the sun neared its midday position, the troops stopped all preparations for one final meal together. It was simple, just some fruit and bread, even Peter and Edmund shared, refusing the special meal that had been made for them. While the group ate, Molly realized that this meal might be the last many of these Narnians would share with one another.

It was high noon when a lone griffin could be seen gliding across the sky. Molly's hand tightened around the hilt of her sword. It stopped for only a minute and said something to Peter before gliding over the archers towards the waiting Griffins on the other side of the rocks. Molly watched as Peter stiffened as the white witches army came into view. She knew he was nervous, probably more than she was, but it wouldn't matter if the plan worked.

Molly found herself in awe at the sight of the witch's army. It seemed enormous compared to the small group that made up Aslan's army. As the Witch's chariot came into view, Molly felt bile rise in her throat at the distant sight of gold fur around the witch's neck. How dare the witch defile someone in that manner! Molly shook her head forcing herself to refocus on the commands that she would soon be giving, well Edmund would be giving with her help.

Edmund looked over at Molly, "are you alright?" he asked softly not wanting to hurt the moral of the archers around them. Molly simply nodded and focused her gaze back on Peter, whose sword was drawn. She in turn drew her blade, Edmund followed suit. The pair watched carefully as Peter raised his blade so that it reflected the sun in their direction. They then lifted their swords and let the sun hit the blades sending beams of light to the griffins as the command to fly.

Minutes later the hundred or so griffins flew over the rock outcropping toward the witch's army, rocks held in their enormous talons. Molly watched the scene unfold before her. As the griffins drew closer to the front line of the witch's army, the faster creatures pulled in front of the chariot. The griffins let the rocks fall creating small craters on the far end of the battlefield. After the griffins made their drops, they hung in the air for a few seconds to admire their handiwork. Unfortunately, this allowed the witch's archers to let loose a volley of arrows. Molly grimaced as the she watched the injured griffins fall. The battle had officially begun.

As the witch's army drew closer, Peter gave the signal for the archers to begin firing. "Archers at the ready," Molly called as Edmund lifted his sword to a 45-degree angle with his body and held it. The archers all around them knocked their arrows and waited. Molly looked up and down the rows of archers to make sure they all had arrows ready. "Take aim!" she called, and Edmund shifted the position of his blade so that the sharp edges of the blade ran perpendicular to his arm. The archers raised their bows and pulled back ready to fire.

Below Peter readied the foot troops for the initial assault. "For Aslan, For Narnia!" he yelled, and Edmund and Molly watched at the bulk of their army charged. "Steady!" Molly called back to archers. The timing on this first volley was crucial. They needed to wait until the witch's army was nearly upon their ground forces. At that moment time seemed to slow down. Everyone around Molly seemed to be moving in slow motion. Even the leopards running in front of Peter seemed to move slowly. Molly watched as the distance between the leopards and snow leopards grew smaller. "Fire!" she called as the two cat forces collided, Edmund slashed his sword downward and the archers let their arrows fly. The group of archers watched anxiously as their arrows made contact with the witch's army. Molly paused for a minute before yelling back to the archers "Fire at will!" As the archers began firing Molly could feel the gusts each individual arrow made as it flew past her head.

As the main contingent of Aslan's force made contact with the Witch's forces a brilliant red bird arched across the sky. The bird hit the field of battle and burst into flame. Molly was helpless as good fighters were cut off from the main pack to be slaughtered. As the screams of those burned by the flames waned, the witch's chariot burst forth from the wall of flame creating a hole for her troops to pour through. Once the witch crossed the flame wall, arrows flew over the wall and into both the ground forces and the archers. Molly watched as Edmund ordered the archers to keep firing. The witch's forces continued their assaults and archers. One of the archers near Molly collapsed, an arrow protruding from their abdomen. Molly bent down to the creature, a faun, and whispered words of kindness before taking the bow and arrows from it. Edmund looked over and gave Molly a look that resembled "really?" Molly rolled her eyes and the boy and shouted over the chaos, "I can hit the broad side of a barn ya know!"

The battle continued long into the afternoon. Peter called for a retreat and the foot troops retreated into the rocks. This was when Molly realized the fatal flaw in her brilliant defense. While the rocks provided cover from arrows, it made the soldiers inside sitting ducks. Peter and Oreius were among the last to retreat. Molly was so absorbed in shooting that she lost track of him for only a handful of minutes. The next thing she saw Peter was flying from his stead and hitting the ground. Molly looked over at Edmund, whose face held a look of worry.

"Edmund Go, I'll follow you," she called dropping the bow and pulling out her blade following Edmund down the rocks. Once the pair reached the flat planes of rocks, Edmund noticed the witch was fighting her way to Peter. Molly focused on following Edmund and keeping him safe, being a good soldier following Peter's orders. It took minutes for the pair to fight their way to the area where both Peter and the witch were fighting. Edmund looked down and saw that wand, that unmalting stick of ice that was turning good fighters into stone. Molly looked at Edmund and knew instinctively that he was about to do something either heroic or something stupid. She watched in horror as Edmund jumped off the rock and broke the witch's wand. Molly took a deep breath and jumped down. She landed hard and felt pain shoot through one of her ankles. Molly ignored the pain when a scream rang out. Her head whipped around trying to find the source. As the scream faded, Molly watched Edmund fall to the field. The witch's bloody wand discarded and Peter charging the women with fury in his eyes.

Molly felt the adrenalin course through her veins, as she picked herself up and sprinted to where Edmund lay unprotected. She focused not on the pain that grew in her ankle or the yells of those around her, but on the dwarves and other creatures that tried to finish off Edmund. Molly was so focused she didn't even hear Aslan's roar or the white witch's scream as Aslan pounced and killed her. She only came out of her trance when Peter was the face behind the sword stopping her swing.

"Molly calm down," he said, "its over." Molly stopped, dropped her sword, and fell to Edmund's side. Peter followed suit. "Edmund!" a third voice called. Molly and Peter looked back to see Susan and Lucy running forward. Lucy pulled out her cordial and fed Edmund a drop. He groaned and tried to sit up. Molly held his shoulders down. "Let the liquid work Ed," she said. Peter smiled and almost laughed, "When are you ever going to do as you're told." The small group hugged before Lucy ran off to help heal other wounded. After a few minutes, Peter and Susan wandered off to try and help others who were injured. Once they were a decent distance away Molly let Edmund up.

"Thanks for letting me fight," he said. Molly simply smiled and went to stand up. Her ankle buckled the second significant weight was put on it.

"You're hurt. Stay here while I go find Lucy," Edmund said. Molly shook her head.

"I'm not going to waste her gift. I'm not dying Edmund, just sprained my ankle," she said looking down at her ankle which by this time had swollen to an unusual size and was turning a grotesque shade of purple. Edmund looked at her as if he didn't believe her.

"Edmund don't look at me like that. I'll be fine, it'll hurt and I won't be able to walk for a while," Molly said trying to reassure him. Regardless Edmund helped her stand and gave Molly someone to lean against to get the weight off her ankle. 'Edmund," Molly whispered to him, "thank you."

A Few Days Later

Molly stood out on a balcony at Cair Paravel. The Pevensies' coronation was about to start, but she needed time to think. Her ankle had begun to heal, one of the healers had wrapped it up and put an ointment on it to numb the area and decrease the swelling. The others had spent time planning their coronation and restoring order to Narnia. There was still a lot of work to be done, but it would only be done if they were crowned first. So there she stood in a gorgeous red gown with gold accents. Susan had insisted she wear red, as to differentiate her form the siblings, who were wearing various forms of blue. Aslan appeared beside her and broke her trance.

"Dear one, we are about to start," he said. Molly followed him into the throne room and took a seat in the chair designated for her. The Pevensies entered in grand fashion with horns heralding their arrival. Aslan conducted the ceremony

"Bring forth the crowns!" Aslan said. Tumus walked forward with the beavers with cushions that held four crowns.

"To the glistening eastern sea, I give you Queen Lucy the Valiant. To the great western woods, King Edmund the Just. To the radiant southern sun, Queen Susan the Gentle. And to the clear northern skies, King Peter the Magnificent. Once a king or Queen of Narnia, always a king or queen." Aslan proclaimed.

"Long live King Peter! Long live Queen Susan! Long live King Edmund! And long live Queen Lucy!" the crowd called. Once the cheers died down Peter motioned for Molly to step forward. He pulled out his sword and tapped her shoulders.

"I knight thee, Lady…" he started before being interrupted by a cough from Molly, "Sir Molly of the Table." The crowd clapped, as did the new Kings and Queens. The feast and dance afterward were dull. The dinner talk comprised of everything the new royals needed to do to get Narnia back up and running. Molly kept quite most of the meal. It wasn't the place or time for her to say anything, most of the country was still a mystery. The dance was boring, being unable to walk a long period made it unlikely that dancing was possible. Instead, Molly sat in her special chair on the edge of the celebration. Edmund came over for a few minutes to escape the attention he was receiving.

"Is little Ed scared of all the girls?" Molly teased. Ed looked at her sternly for a moment, "I'm not afraid of them. They're just a little overzealous." Molly laughed, "That's a big word coming from you,"

Shortly after Molly watched Edmund being dragged back to the dance floor by yet another girl demanding a dance, she bid good night to the Peter and Lucy. Her room was on the same hall as the Pevensies, but her's was at end of the hall. Once inside she shed her dress, found a tunic and pants, and climbed into her bed. Sleep took a while to come to Molly, as her mind raced with thoughts of all the adventures she'd have in the years to come.

A/N: Wow, this was a long chapter to write, but it's done! Now I get to start making up plot lines to fill in the Golden Years, any ideas? Other than that, ya'll know the drill (Read, Review, Repeat) And happy holidays!