Man, I haven't had writer's block in a while, but lately I've been socked in the gut with it...Here's hoping this chapter didn't suffer too horribly for it. :/ The good news is that I've finished the first 'arc' of this story and I do know where it's going now, so there's no more trial-and-error writing to be done. I just axed over ten thousand words on this story's rough draft a month ago...
And as always, I send out massive thank you's to my reviewers! It really does keep me more motivated when I hear from you guys :) Sarahwood, it was fantastic hearing from you last chapter, and extra props to you for reviewing Moonrose as well!
Chapter 12
Miranda didn't expect it to feel almost peaceful, galloping frantically through the trees. But she finds that it feels just that – peaceful and quiet and easy. If only she could get away from all her problems like this.
There isn't any talking among the three of them either. Why would there be? What on earth would they talk about? Miranda briefly wonders if she shouldn't be paying a bit more attention to the ride at hand, but it feels so freeing to tear along through the forest with no one telling her to stop or slow down.
Just then, when she's enjoying no one else being around, she hears the yell.
'Really guys? You just had to butt in,' she sighs internally at the half-dozen or so Telmarines who've gone and done the courtesy of following them. And that would also be the return of her sass. Maybe it only comes up when the Telmarines are doing something annoying like trying to kill everyone.
'That's not annoying, it's just straight-up awful,' Miranda chides herself. She's so lost in her thoughts she almost doesn't see Destrier slowing.
Confused, Miranda immediately slows Alvar too, until both horses have stopped. Susan jumps off.
"Take the reins," she tells Lucy.
What?
"What're you doing?" Lucy cries.
Miranda can only sit on Alvar and watch, stunned.
"I'm sorry, Lucy," Susan says. "Miranda, look after her."
"Susan, there's too many," Miranda tries to protest, but then she understands. It's this or let them follow and kill them all. "Be careful," is all she says after that.
Susan doesn't say anything else, just smacks Destrier on the rump and sends Lucy off at a trot. Miranda hesitates, but after a firm look from Susan she urges Alvar on after Lucy.
Lucy stops at the top of the hill and stares back at her sister for a long moment.
"We should go," Miranda says gently.
Lucy hesitates another moment, but she pushes Destrier back into a gallop after. She looks over at Miranda as they both race deeper into the forest.
Miranda doesn't say anything; she just returns the gaze and hopes that Susan will be okay.
The ride after that is long and not so pleasant. Miranda and Lucy push their horses as fast as they can go. It feels like hours slide by in this fashion, with snorting horses and snatches of trees and breathless checks over their shoulders to see if anyone else is following them.
Miranda finds that her mind wants to wander, to make use of the wordless ride and sort out some of the more pressing things bothering her. But Miranda forces the focus, because right now nothing is more important than finding Aslan so the Narnians have a chance. And she really, really should have been thinking of that the whole time.
A glance over at Lucy shows her that the young queen is both worried and a little scared, though she doesn't look back nearly as often as Miranda does. Miranda wants to reassure her that they'll find Aslan, but Lucy looks just strong enough that she doesn't. Who wouldn't be worried and scared in this scenario? Miranda is only surviving so well because she's refusing to think about anything but riding ahead and onward. It's easier than thinking about what – rather, who – they left behind.
Suddenly, they both hear a horse's neigh followed by a yell. It wasn't Destrier and it wasn't Alvar, and it wasn't either of them.
Lucy and Miranda both look back only to see a Telmarine on his horse with a crossbow racing after them, and unfortunately gaining on them. And at once, Miranda knows what she has to do.
She lets go of the reins with one hand, pulls out her bow and an arrow from the quiver on her back, and slows down Alvar so she can take aim properly.
If ever there was a time not to miss, this is certainly it.
Miranda slows Alvar even more so she can twist in the saddle without falling outright. Holding on with her legs for dear life, she takes aim and almost doesn't notice Lucy slowing down too.
She almost yells at her to keep going, but then she sees a flash of gold in the corner of her eye. Heart suddenly racing, Miranda whips back around to see a lion much bigger than any ordinary lion standing right in front of Lucy and Destrier. Alvar screeches to a halt and Miranda just wonders at the lion for half a moment. And then an almighty roar is practically splitting her ears in two.
Lucy screams and Destrier rears, unceremoniously dumping her onto the leaf-covered ground. Alvar does a strange little-half rear, throwing Miranda off-balance but not off completely, though her bow and arrow don't stay intact.
Alvar dances sideways under her and she tries to keep her seat, but Miranda doesn't know how to make him stop. And then she's distracted altogether as Aslan launches himself over her and Lucy's heads at the Telmarine who was unfortunate enough to follow them.
His horse neighs and he yells. Miranda jumps off of Alvar on a crazy impulse and grabs Destrier's reins before he can take off. She doesn't look back to see the Telmarine's fate.
Lucy, eyes wide, scurries to her feet and stands up facing Aslan. Miranda slowly follows her gaze. To her surprise, she sees the Telmarine running away. He's clearly scared senseless, but Aslan only growls once and then turns to Lucy.
"Aslan!" she cries, racing forward and wrapping her arms around the lion as best she can. Miranda isn't sure what to make of this scene – a young queen rolling around in the fallen leaves with a lion several times larger than her like he's a great big and cuddly cat. And they're both laughing like it's nothing at all.
"I knew it was you, the whole time, I knew it!" Lucy exclaims as she plops down in front of Aslan. "But the others didn't believe me."
"And why would that stop you from coming to me?" Aslan sounds incredibly gentle, even though it's a reprimand. He seems to be a very nice sort of lion.
Lucy hesitates.
"I'm sorry," she finally says. "I was too scared to come alone."
Aslan, however, doesn't seem angry with her.
"Why wouldn't you show yourself?" she continues. "Why couldn't you come roaring in and save us, like last time?"
Aslan smiles at the young queen before him, so clearly very devoted.
"Things never happen the same way twice, dear one," the lion says.
Lucy doesn't answer at first, but when she does, she sounds sad. "If I had come earlier, could everyone who died, could I have stopped that?"
"We can never know what would have happened, Lucy."
Miranda instantly thinks of Suncloud's brother, Rainstone, and the raid.
"I see you've brought a friend," Aslan says.
"Yes, this is Miranda." Lucy waves her over, but Miranda hesitates. She doesn't want to intrude.
"Come, Miranda."
At the Lion's invitation, Miranda walks over, barely noticing that she drops the horses' reins. Lucy scoots over to make room for her, so Miranda sits next to the queen and folds her knees under herself.
"Welcome to Narnia," Aslan continues. "I've been looking forward to meeting you."
"Th-thanks," Miranda stutters. She isn't sure what to say to a lion, particularly this Lion.
"You needn't be nervous," Lucy reassures her.
"Can I ask why I'm here? I've heard you might be the person to ask." Miranda doesn't stumble over her words quite so badly this time, but she still can't quite meet the great Lion's eyes.
"You may. But first, I think our help is needed in battle."
Lucy grins and gazes happily up at Aslan.
"You'll help?"
"Of course," is the warm reply. "As will you."
Miranda doesn't miss that he looks at them both when he says that. Luckily for her, Lucy says exactly what she's thinking.
"Oh, I wish I was braver."
When Aslan speaks, it's with a laugh in his voice. "If you were any braver, you'd be a lioness." At this, Aslan stands up and Miranda scrambles to her feet in response. Lucy, on the other hand, remains where she is.
"Now, I think your friends have slept long enough, don't you?" Aslan throws his head back and roars. It shakes the trees down to their roots, and both Miranda and Lucy can only watch open-mouthed with wonder when the trees actually start moving.
"Lucy, lead them on," Aslan tells the young queen as she gets to her feet, still staring at the trees as they literally uproot and start moving as one.
Lucy obeys, walking among the trees like they're old friends. In fact, Miranda wouldn't be at all surprised if they were.
"Walk with me, Daughter of Eve."
Now it's Miranda's turn to obey Aslan. They walk a little ways behind Lucy, clearly out of earshot.
"Why are we walking back here?" Miranda asks him as he pads along beside her, paws practically silent on the ground.
"No one is told any story but their own. Now, I believe you are wondering why you have been brought to Narnia."
Miranda nods. "I was hoping you'd have some insight. I'm at a loss myself."
Strange, she would have given anything to not talk about this not so long ago. But now that Aslan is here, it only seems right to ask if he knows, or even if he was the one to bring her here in the first place.
"You doubt your place here."
She looks over and meets Aslan's knowing gaze.
"Of course I do; I'm essentially useless. I haven't exactly contributed much." If she's honest, Miranda thinks she has contributed a grand total of nothing. Absolutely, completely, and inarguably nothing.
"You do not have to prove your worth, Miranda. Nor do you need to earn your time here. It was given to you as a gift," Aslan tells her warmly. And yet he seems a little disappointed at the same time.
But doesn't she though? Isn't that how the world works?
Miranda decides, against her better judgment, to voice that last question. Aslan's reply is to shake his great maned head.
"You are here to heal, if you allow it."
Here to heal? What?
"Are you sure?" Miranda fully realizes after she's already spoken that she probably should not be questioning Aslan so blatantly, but what he's saying almost doesn't make sense; she can't help but question it.
"So I'm supposed to just enjoy this gift and get myself better?" It sounds so absurd when she says it aloud.
"You may take all the time you need. Your healing will be of help not just to you." Aslan, somehow, seems saddened at her.
What a strange concept, this. Where are the strings? Where is the other shoe?
"Aslan, I don't mean to be disrespectful, but what are the…conditions, I guess is the best way to say it?"
"A gift has no conditions," Aslan says, his gaze piercing her when she finally meets it. As absurd at the thought is, Miranda would swear that Aslan knows exactly everything there is to know about her just by looking at her.
"No strings attached? Nothing like that?" Miranda asks. She has to make absolutely sure that this isn't going to up and turn on her the minute she decides to trust it.
"No. No strings."
And it's exactly then that Miranda remembers her most pressing concern at the moment.
"But what about when I…when…you know, when…" she can't say it. She wants to ask, she so much wants to tell Aslan about the hospital and what the doctor said, but she can't speak the actual words. She can think them, but saying them aloud is another matter entirely.
But she has to. She has to know what happens more than she needs to keep it from feeling even more real than it already does.
"When I don't make it. Back in the hospital, they told me I'm dying. Or is all that a dream?" Miranda almost sags in relief at finally getting the words out. And the next moment it feels real and pressing and impossibly frightening and she regrets saying anything at all.
"When you wake there, it is as real as when you wake in Narnia. But you will die there, I cannot stop that." Aslan speaking of her death to her is an odd experience, but it doesn't sound so horrible when the Great Lion talks about it.
"And here? What happens to me here?"
Aslan looks over at her with wise, sad eyes. "That, you will have to discover yourself."
That should strip her of all hope. But it doesn't.
Miranda feels a strange bubbling sort of sensation in her chest that she only knows to call hope, but it feels like more than that, though she can't put her finger on what exactly. But somehow it's more, just like Narnia itself is more. How is this change possible, when only moments ago her joints were freezing in terror?
"I think I can handle that," Miranda finds herself saying.
Maybe she can. Maybe that's just enough to start with.
After all, Narnia is safe, even though it's at war. No one has hurt her like her blond demon did, and the Narnians she's met here so far all seem the type to skewer him if she ever were to tell them what happened.
"Thank you," Miranda finally says with a smile. Things, for this precious, single moment, feel like they could actually work out, that she has something to look forward too after all, though she has no idea what it is.
Hope is a powerful thing.
Aslan sends the trees to the How, where the battle still rages; they can hear it as they hurry on their way to Beruna.
"You want us to do what, exactly?" Miranda did technically hear Aslan the first time he told her and Lucy to stand on the bridge and face the Telmarine army that would be on the other side, but she really hopes that she somehow misheard. Newfound hope or not, facing an entire army makes her knees knock.
"It'll be alright, Miranda," Lucy reassures her. A ten-year old is surer of this than she is.
Miranda does her best to pull it together. Was she not just pondering hope and those sorts of things not half an hour ago?
"Sorry. I'm just…a little nervous." Miranda almost feels ashamed, but stops herself. She's still learning; Aslan pointed that out to her. And he, after all, was so patient with her.
And just as soon as she's working up her courage, they arrive at the bridge. They do happen to be on the wrong side of the river, but at Aslan's word Lucy and Miranda climb on his back and he gets them across with one unbelievable leap.
Yet another thing for Miranda to wonder over. She does exactly that as she climbs off the Lion's back and adds riding a lion to that list of things to remember for a long, long time. Well, as long as she has, however long that may be.
"Now we wait?" Miranda guesses.
Aslan and Lucy both nod. Lucy decides to use the time talking with Aslan about the year she and her siblings were back in their world after their first adventure and Narnia and asking him why he didn't help during the Telmarine invasion.
Miranda listens, intrigued. Aslan is at once elusive and wise and apologetic and unchangeable. He's so many things at once that she could never possibly name them all, but all she is sure of is that Aslan makes her feel at peace, no matter what words he actually says. It's a feeling she's missed since…well, she isn't sure how long.
At length, Aslan rises and tells them that it's time.
"Be bold, Daughters of Eve."
And with that, the thunder of thousands of feet sounds across the river. Lucy takes Miranda's hand and they go out onto the bridge together, standing at the edge as they face the oncoming Telmarine army.
It's decidedly smaller than it looked from atop the How, a fact Miranda is happy for. Well, relieved for.
The Telmarines start to clamor onto the bridge, but at the sight of the two girls, they stop up short and stare, blinking in confusion and unsure what to do. Miranda notes that Miraz doesn't seem to be here.
The Narnians are lined up behind the Telmarines, weapons ready should they turn back around and try to run to the How.
Lucy draws her dagger and Miranda draws hers, the two of them staring down the frozen troops. One of the soldiers, the one of the few that Miranda can see still mounted, looks back and forth between the Narnian army and Lucy and Miranda.
Aslan pads silently to stand between the two of them, trades a glance with each. The mounted soldier's shock at the appearance of the Great Lion is a sight that makes Miranda want to smile. Together, the three of them stand against the Telmarine army.
Well, until the unsure mounted soldier at the front lets out a war cry and spurs the army on and toward Aslan and the two Daughters of Eve. Aslan lets them come until they reach the half-point of the bridge.
Miranda hears the beginnings of his growl, and she turns to watch as it explodes into a deafening roar, the sheer force of it sending ripples across the river and halting the Telmarines in their tracks once more.
Everything is still; everything is waiting. The river water begins to drop away until it barely comes to the Telmarines' knees, and a great swell of frothy water builds and rushes toward the wooden bridge. Miranda can only stare as it explodes into the shape of a man with a great foamy beard and hair that extends down his back. Two great hands rush up from the water and the water-man looks to Aslan.
Aslan places a paw on the bridge, nods his furry head, and smiles. Out of the corner of her eye, Miranda sees the Telmarines start to flee, their screams and shouts sounding rather small in the wake of Aslan's roar. A great many splashes join the cacophony as the soldiers jump from the bridge. If they're trying to get away, why on earth would they hurl themselves into the river, for heaven's sake?
The river god bends down to the bridge, water spilling everywhere and dousing the unfortunate soldiers. With one great motion, he rips the bridge from the river and stares at the soldier who started the charge for a single, breathless moment before destroying it all.
The only thing left of the bridge is a collection of splinters and the occasional scrap of wood. Miranda takes a half-step back as the water soars well above her head, almost worried it'll collapse backward and drench her completely through. But no such thing happens, and Miranda watches the river wash away the last remnants of the bridge with Aslan and Lucy at her side.
Wonders indeed. She'd never have seen anything like this back in her world.
With the bridge now gone, the Telmarines seem to have accepted their defeat. Some of them even look, underneath the freshly awakened fear, a little relieved. Miranda and Lucy put away their daggers as the former enemy throws down their weapons in surrender. Some of the Narnians wade across the river and begin organizing the surrender, and the Telmarines throw down their weapons into piles.
Edmund, Caspian, Peter, and Susan wade across too, heading straight for Aslan and their little sister. No one says anything, but when they all reach the Great Lion, the four of them drop to their knees with their heads bowed respectfully.
"Rise, Kings and Queens of Narnia," rumbles Aslan.
Lucy's siblings all rise, but Prince Caspian stays on his knee.
"All of you," Aslan prompts with a smile in his voice.
Miranda, for her part, can't tear her eyes away from the humility Prince Caspian is displaying. After fighting for his throne, now he hesitates at the title king. It warms her.
Caspian looks up hesitantly at the Lion before him. "I do not think I am ready," he says, looking down at the pebble-ridden ground as he does.
"It's for that very reason," Aslan replies, still smiling, "I know you are."
At the Lion's acceptance, Caspian – perhaps King Caspian now – gets to his feet as well, smiling a quiet and peaceful and bashful sort of smile at the Kings and Queens greetings as he does. To Miranda's surprise, he looks over at her for a long moment. She smiles too and tries to tell him that he's wonderful without saying anything out loud.
The moment is broken by mournful bagpipes and the Kings and Queen part ways to allow a tiny, tiny stretcher through bearing a familiar mouse.
"Reepicheep?" Miranda whispers. She remembers the mouse most prominently from his expert tackling of Prince Caspian when they first arrived at the Narnians' hiding place deep in the forest.
The mouse is too ill to speak; the bagpipe mourns on, and Lucy rushes forward with her cordial in hand and ready. With great care, Lucy leans down and administers the fireflower juice to a gasping Reepicheep.
After a few anxious seconds, Reepicheep stands and thanks Lucy, stumbling a bit as he gets off the stretcher.
"Oh!" the mouse says, having noticed the Great Lion sitting and watching the scene unfold. "Hail, Aslan! It is a great honor to be in-" The mouse starts to bow, but quickly looses his balance and stumbles forward, almost landing on his face.
He spins around, exclaiming various unintelligible syllables, and sees the stump where his tail should be. His little arms are too short to cover it, but he tries anyway.
"I-I am completely out of countenance," the poor mouse stutters to Aslan, who observes him with a slightly amused eye. "I must crave your indulgence for appearing in this unseemly fashion." Here he turns to Lucy, blinking pleadingly up at her. "Perhaps a drop more?"
"I don't think it does that," Lucy answers apologetically, looking down at her cordial with a scrunched face.
"You could have a go," Reepicheep suggests beseechingly.
Personally, Miranda thinks he looks just as cute without it, but she heard from Lucy that Reep is quite sensitive to being called things such as 'cute,' so she keeps the thought firmly to herself.
Aslan chuckles lowly, the sound rumbling pleasantly through the air.
"It becomes you well, small one," he tells the distraught mouse.
"All the same, great King," Reepicheep replies as he takes his tiny sword from its scabbard at his hip, "I regret that I must withdraw, for a tail is the honor and glory of a mouse."
Reepicheep now seems resigned to his fate as a tail-less mouse as he presents his sword on both paws to Aslan. Aslan, however, has other ideas.
"Perhaps you think too much of your honor, friend."
The mouse is clearly taken aback by this; he steps back and stumbles over his words again.
"Well it's, it's not just the honor," he tries to explain. "I-It's also good for balance. And climbing. A-and grabbing things."
Aslan looks on this fondly, Miranda can see the smile in his warm and golden eyes, but Reepicheep's fellow mice have their own speech to contribute.
"May it please Your High Majesty," the one most directly behind Reepicheep begins. "We will not bear the shame of wearing an honor denied to our chief."
As these words are being said, all the mice draw their swords and hold them to their tails. Reepicheep turns to look at them with surprise and gratitude, and Aslan smiles on the show of deep and abiding affection.
"Not for the sake of your dignity," he tells the tail-less mouse, "but for the love of your people."
Reepicheep turns back around to ask what the Lion means, and as he does something grows up behind him. He notices after it's finished.
And at the sight of his new tail, gift of Aslan, he gasps and exclaims happily as he clutches it in his tiny paw.
"Thank you, thank you My Liege!" Reepicheep gushes, bowing with a flourish of his sword to emphasize the point. "I will treasure it always! From this day forward it will serve as a great reminder of my huge humility!"
The Kings and Queens, Caspian included, chuckle at the display and Aslan joins in soon after. Levity is a relief after the tension of the battle, Miranda guesses. She knows it's relieving for her, and the worst thing she had to sort through was her reason for being here. And contend with her condition in the hospital, but that isn't quite so immediately pressing. So laughing with them is a nice change, and a welcome one.
"Now, where is this dear little friend you've told me so much about?" Aslan directs this to Lucy, who turns to look at Trumpkin, who's currently on this side of the river helping to organize the surrender.
He notices everyone staring at him, as well as the prominent Lion standing there with a warm and yet slightly stern look. The red dwarf approaches and kneels as is appropriate, and Aslan stands as he does so. At the dwarf's bow, Aslan looses another of his bone-shaking roars.
Trumpkin is clearly a bit frightened, but Lucy seems more amused than anything.
"Do you see him now?" she asks, clearly part of some inside joke between the two of them.
Shaken but smiling, Trumpkin laughs a little and nods repeatedly, remaining on one knee on the pebbly shore.
The lighthearted mood continues, with more chuckles and grins from everyone until Aslan turns to Caspian with a newly serious expression on his face.
"Come, Your Majesty. We have things to speak of."
Caspian nods and looks a bit intimidated, but in the end he goes with Aslan almost happily. Well, he is meeting yet another figure from the Old Narnian tales, so he must be awed. Miranda knows awed barely covers how she's felt ever since meeting the Lion.
At once, Lucy remembers the wounded the battle has inevitably left behind. "I've got to go help them," she says, immediately taking off to wade the river back to the battlefield in front of the How.
"Do you need any help?" Miranda calls after her.
"That would be lovely!" Lucy ends up having to shout this, because she's already knee-deep in the river. In fact, the currents are giving her a bit of a rough time, so Miranda rushes up to her and gives the young queen her arm to hold on to.
"It's not as easy without Aslan," she says ruefully, mildly annoyed at how the river drags and pulls and tugs at her skirts and practically ties them around her legs.
"He makes everything easier."
Lucy's right, but Miranda doesn't feel the need to tell her so.
As soon as the two successfully ford the river, Lucy breaks out into a jog, bursting through the trees and onto the battlefield almost frantically.
"There!" Miranda points to the first moving body she sees on the ground, a Satyr with a large gash in his abdomen.
Lucy wastes no time in sprinting over and administering the fireflower juice. Within a few minutes, the Satyr is as good as new and thanking Lucy profusely. Of course, Lucy acknowledges this, but she's already looking for the next poor injured soul who needs her help.
As it turns out, the next that she sees is a Telmarine soldier. Miranda, for a moment, isn't sure what Lucy will do, but Lucy's already running over with the healing cordial by the time Miranda figures it out.
And so the second wounded soldier is healed at Lucy's hands. Miranda takes on the responsibility of running ahead of Lucy to help anyone she can't get to right away. When Miranda does find one of the wounded gasping their last breaths, she yells for Lucy as loud as she can. Sometimes Lucy makes it, and some times she doesn't. Those times, Miranda swallows her tears, tells Lucy to hurry on to the next person in need of her help, and does the job of closing the eyes and crossing the arms herself.
She's never been this close to death in all her life and she feels that it ought to be rattling her more than it is, but having spent time with Aslan is having a lingering effect. But only for so long; as the time goes on, Miranda starts to want to run from the carnage and cry on her own a little bit more. But Lucy's siblings are needed to organize the surrender and keep order; who else will help Lucy? Perhaps Lucy could do it on her own, but that would be a lonely job, and Miranda knows that she has saved more lives than she's seen slip away from under her fingers.
'Is this what my own death will be like?' she wonders at the body currently in her care. Lucy was too far away, Miranda knows there was no way for her to make it, and so she simply sat with the Telmarine until he breathed his last to spare Lucy the pain of seeing another life go beyond the reach of the healing cordial.
Oddly enough, death seems almost…peaceful, once the pain passes. Miranda can't help but hope her death isn't going to be quite as painful, with modern pain medications and sedatives and the like. Her death will probably – definitely – be more comfortable than this wretched death on a battlefield.
All these thoughts and sights and smells of death will take their toll later, she knows, but what else is there to be done? At least some of these dying soldiers don't have to go at the ordeal alone, even if it's just the last few seconds they have in someone's company.
Miranda wishes she could give them more than that, the ones who pass on. She tries to keep in mind that she and Lucy are helping so many, but the ones they can't help start to press to the forefront of her mind.
One faun gasps out his last words asking if Narnia is free again. Miranda can't help her tears at that; she is so happy to be able to tell him that yes it was and he could rest easy because Aslan even came to help.
That faun died with a smile on his bloodied lips.
After perhaps an hour, perhaps more and perhaps less, Miranda begins to get used to it – the deaths. She starts sprinting in between the wounded as fast as she can instead of just running, just in case those extra milliseconds will make a difference. Very often, they don't, but just often enough they do and Miranda feels glad for the ache in her legs and the stitch in her side.
"Thank you for helping me," Lucy tells her after the successful healing of a Minotaur.
"Helping you is helping them. I wouldn't dream of doing anything else," Miranda replies. At first, she thinks she's sugar-coating it, but the more she thinks on it as they continue on, the more she finds that it's actually quite true.
Before this, her closest acquaintance with death was wondering if it was her that shot the Telmarine spy, and now she's seen more of it than she would have ever dreamed she could handle before meeting Aslan.
Miranda is still helping Lucy heal the wounded when she notices Aslan and Caspian return from their walk, with Aslan walking beside the new king through the woods, both their lower halves wet from the river. She's relived to see that Caspian doesn't look quite so doubtful as before.
Whatever the case, he bows in respect to the Great Lion and, to her surprise, instantly starts toward her.
A sort-of cliffhanger, but it had to be cut here or we'd be looking at a ten thousand word chapter...We'll see what Caspian's gonna do next week. ;)
Sarahwood - First off, I have to give you a shout-out for reviewing not just one, but two of my stories. As always, it was a pleasure hearing from you.
Caspian and Miranda are definitely making some progress, and it was kind of relieving to be able to post a chapter that inches toward more and more familiarity. As far as Susan and Miranda, I really wanted to establish a good repore between those two because they're close in age and Susan strikes me as a friendly sort of grounded person. As soon as Miranda was an established character in my head, it just seemed to fit that her and Susan would be friends.
Review!