THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA
THE LION THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE BBC
PART 26: THE GOLDEN AGE BEGINS
PREVIOUSLY: Peter and Edmund prepared their troops for the final battle against the Witch. Just before the war starts, Snowstorm appears and offers the Narnian rebels his Queen's mercy in exchange of Peter's and Edmund's surrender. They refuse and, with the Witch breaking the invisibility spell consealing her troops, the battle begins. Peter's army fares well at first until the Witch's army takes the Fords of Beruna from them, trapping them to the Valley while their casualties begin to rise, and the Witch begins to turn Narnians into stone, while losing her Minotaur General in the process, while Peter's side loses Pegasus, bull, both Aslan's Satyrs and one of the leopards, One-horned tiger and Flamestorm. Edmund comes up with the plan to destroy the Witch's wand and succeedes in the task, but is gravely wounded. In fury, Peter attacks the Witch but is overpowered and nearly killed, until Aslan, Susan, Lucy, Chirp and all Narnians liberated from the Witch's House arrive and turn the tide of the battle in Narnians' favor, with Susan killing Snowstorm with her christmas bow and arrows. The Witch, seeing that the defeat is inevitable, tries to flee by climbing a dangerously steep rocky hill, but Aslan's ground-shaking roar causes her to lose her footing and fall to her death.
The battle was all over a ten minutes after the return of Aslan and the reinforcements. Their attack had left most of the enemies killed in the first charge and scattered the rest, and disorganized and broken they were easy to pick off one by one from both the air and ground.
And when those who were still alive saw that the Witch was dead, slayed by Aslan himself, they either dropped their weapons and gave themselves up or took to flight, while still being pursued by the reinforcements.
"Victory!" Peter cheered in relief and joy, waving Rhindon in the air. "Victory is ours!"
"HOORAY, SIR PETER THE WOLFSBANE! HOORAY, ASLAN! HOORAY, NARNIA!" the surviving soldiers of Peter's cheered, waving their own weapons, along with Aslan's leopard waving Aslan's banner in the air.
And as the last ones of the Witch's army were vanquished or driven off, everybody was cheering, leaping clapping or hugging each other in joy for the long-awaited victory over the Witch and the end of her reign.
Elsewhere, Mrs. Beaver was leading all the refugees from across the river back to the valley to join in the celebrations of victory, and there were numerous happy reunions between the surviving soldiers and their overjoyed friends and families.
Mrs. Beaver ran up to Mr. Beaver to hug her mate tightly, overjoyed and relieved at seeing that he was alright. The beavers were soon joined by Chirp, who upon changing into his anthropomorphic form chirped happily upon seeing his dear old friends all, leading the beaver couple and the robin to hug each other.
There was also a surprising but also happy reunions both within the ranks of those liberated from the Witch's House, as well as between them and Peter's army's soldiers and refugees, because among both parties there were those who recognized each other and who had not seen each other for a long time.
Aslan stood tall in front of the Narnians, watching them celebrating their victory with a proud smile on his muzzle. The Great Lion turned to one of his army's eagles that landed next to him, turning into his anthropomorphic form and then bowed deep down to the Lion, to which Aslan returned with the smile and the bow of his head.
Aslan then looked up at the Giant Rumblebuffin, who laughed heartily at the victory before turning to Aslan and tipped his head at the Great Lion.
Soon, the battlefield fell silent from all the noise of fighting and cheering.
And when it did, the gravity of the aftermath killed all the good mood all over the valley.
In all, about a third of the Witch's army had fallen while most than half of the survivors had fled the battlefield and the rest were rounded up as prisoners.
However, the victory came at a very high cost to Peter's army, as about one hundred and eighty soldiers had been either killed or wounded, and about seventy had been turned to stone by the Witch. The rest less than fifty survivors were still on their feet, but they weren't in the best shape either. They were exhausted, injured, battered, but still alive.
Many families of those who had fallen, or turned into stone in battle gathered around the bodies or statues of their loved ones to mourn their loss, while others began to search around the battlefield for the survivors and help the wounded ones back to the camp, which had survived intact from the battle.
Peter, having cleaned up his sword and put it back to its sheath, while hanging his shield in his back, walked alone on the battlefield, drenched in sweat and completely worn out, but the adrenaline coursing through his system was driving him onward as he was frantically searching for his brother, Edmund, among the fallen.
"Peter!/Peter!" called the voices behind him.
Peter turned around to the voices, and was overjoyed to see it was Susan and Lucy, who rushed downhill towards him, followed closely behind by the Faun whom Peter didn't initially recognize, but could only guess who he was.
Both Susan and Lucy immediately rushed into Peter's arms, who hugged both of his sisters very tightly, relieved and glad that they were okay.
The Faun then stopped a few steps away from the three children and looked at them with the happy smile on his lips.
Peter then looked up at the Faun, before he broke off the hug with his sisters and walked up to the Faun to meet him personally.
"Let me guess... you're Mr. Tumnus Lucy met when she first came here?" Peter asked from the Faun, his voice breathless. "Lucy has told us a lot about you, sir."
"Yes. Yes, that's me, your Highness." Mr. Tumnus nodded in confirmation and bowed humbly at Peter. "Mr. Tumnus the Faun, a friend of your sister Lucy, at your service."
Peter smiled at Mr. Tumnus, remembering how Mr. Tumnus had risked his freedom and life to save Lucy from being kidnapped by the White Witch, and judging by his battered appearance had paid dearly for it.
Ever grateful for his deed, Peter held out his hand towards the Faun to shake their hands, both as a proper greeting and as for his thanks.
"Thank you for saving my sister's life, Mr. Tumnus." Peter said, gratefully smiling.
Mr. Tumnus smiled back at him and accepted Peter's offered hand, which they both shaked, as they were joined by the beavers and Chirp.
But while this was happening, Susan looked around and saw that Edmund was absent, which gave her a very dreadful thought in her mind.
"Peter, where's Edmund?" Susan asked frantically.
Quickly being snapped back to the thought of their missing brother and the fact that he was in the desperate need of help, Peter began to look around again, but saw no sight of Edmund anywhere nearby.
"I don't know." Peter said, shaking his head. "He was terribly wounded. We must find him before it's too late!"
Peter then instantly turned to Chirp. "Chirp! Find Edmund! Quickly" he ordered.
"Chirp, chirp! Yessir! Chirp, chirp!" Chirp said, before he changed back into a regular robin and took off to search for Edmund, with Peter, the girls, Mr. Tumnus and the beavers following closely behind.
Not too far from them, back at the same spot where Edmund had fought the Witch and destroyed her wand, he was still lying flat on his back on the ground while fighting for his life.
He was covered in blood that poured out of a stab wound in his stomach. His eyes were closed tight and his face was a nasty pale green and twisted into a painful grimace. He was breathing laboredly and he was convulsing in agony.
He was at the verge of death.
Two shadows then fell over Edmund as he was approached by two figures, but unfortunately to Edmund, neither of them were from the friendly side.
One of the two was the Witch's dwarf, Ginarrbrik. He was still alive, though his beard, his clothes, and his armor were torn to shreds, and the Dwarf himself was left battered, severely wounded with his right leg limp and drenched in blood, all courtesy to the Griffin's claws.
The other one was the Pignoid jailer from the Witch's House, who also had survived from the battle, and was holding the halberd in its hands.
Ginarrbrik had seen with his very own eyes his mistress death by Aslan and the Narnians emerging victorious. And with the defeat inevitable, the wisest course of action from the Witch's former personal servant and assistant such as himself was to flee while he still got a chance.
However, that thought was immediately tossed aside when the wicked Dwarf found Edmund lying helpless and dying not too far away from him.
Limping ahead of the Pignoid jailer, whom he had found and enlisted to help him, Ginarrbrik intended to kill Edmund in a last-ditch effort to prevent the prophecy from coming true.
Ginarrbrik and the Pignoid jailer then stood over Edmund, with the former kneeling down beside him, drawing out his knife.
Feeling someone's presence, Edmund weakly opened his eyes to look up to see who it was, until his eyes widened just a little as he recognized Ginarrbrik and the Pignoid jailer.
"Four thrones in Cair Paravel. If only three were filled, the prophecy will not be fulfilled." the Dwarf chanted, quoting the Witch from the night Edmund was rescued. "That was my mistress' dying wish, and so it shall be!"
Ginarrbrik them raised his dagger up with both hands, while the Pignoid jailer raised its halberd up for the killing blow.
"EDMUND!" Susan's voice called.
Both Ginarrbrik and Pignoid jailer halted their attempts on Edmund's life and turned around to see Peter, Susan, Lucy, Mr. Tumnus, beavers and Chirp standing behind them.
Drawing Rhindon out, Peter charged at the Pignoid jailor, who turned around and swung its halberd at Peter in self-defense. Peter met the Pignoid's weapon with his sword before pressing the halberd down and then slashed across the Pignoid jailer's chest before running him through. The Pignoid jailer shrieked in pain and fell on its knees, blood pouring out of the wounds in its chest as Peter pulled his sword out and then decapitated the monster.
Dropping his knife, Ginarrbrik attempted to run away, but he was too late when Susan raised her bow, loaded with arrow and aimed it at Ginarrbrik. She then released her arrow, which hit Ginarrbrik in the chest, killing the wicked Dwarf.
When they were dealt with, everybody rushed to Edmund and knelt around him: Peter and Lucy to his right, Mr. and Mrs. Beaver to his left and Mr. Tumnus and Chirp by his feet while Susan, removing Edmund's helmet from his head, rested Edmund's head on her lap.
Everyone was filled with dread when they realized that Edmund was dying.
"Edmund." Lucy said softly, her voice trembling with worry for her brother.
Aslan then appeared to the scene out of nowhere, concerned over Edmund as well though he kept his calm.
"Quick, Lucy." Aslan told her.
Lucy looked up at Aslan, confused and distressed. "But what can I do?" she asked, shaking her head.
"Don't you remember what the Father Christmas gave you, Lucy?" Susan said, reminding Lucy of her Christmas present.
Lucy gasped when she remembered for the first time her precious Cordial and chided herself for having forgotten all about it. She quickly grabbed to her Cordial hanging around her neck, though her hands were trembling so much that she could hardly undo the stopper, but she eventually managed it in the end and hurriedly held the Cordial over Edmund's face. Carefully tilting it, she poured a drop into her brother's mouth.
The seconds the drop entered in his mouth, Edmund's face relaxed and became calmer, and at the same time his body stopped convulsing in pain and went limp... but he also stopped breathing completely.
He now lay in the middle of them motionless as if he was sleeping... or worse.
Nothing else happened.
Peter, Susan and Lucy's eyes welled with fresh tears as they looked down at Edmund still body, fearing that they had came too late to his aid.
They couldn't believe that after eveything they have gone through together to this point, it was all going to end here to Edmund's death.
Peter's mouth fell open as he breathed in distress, shaking his head in disbelief that he had just lost his brother... and failed to protect him.
Lucy sobbed uncontrollably for her seemingly dead brother, while unable to understand why the juice of her cordial wasn't working.
Pursing her lips and closing her eyes, allowing the drops of tears to fall from her eyes onto Edmund's still face, Susan mourned while gently caressing Edmund's cheeks.
Mrs. Beaver lowered her head down in grief, with Mr. Beaver pulling his mate into a comforting hug.
Chirp and Mr. Tumnus... yeah. Even Mr. Tumnus... lowered their own heads down and closed their eyes, mourning the loss of the Son of Adam.
Aslan stood still there where he was, his golden eyes on Edmund as he looked at the boy expectantly.
Suddenly, Edmund let out a loud gasp for breath, coughing and breathing raggedly, until it slowly became more stable.
Surprised by this, his siblings huddled closely around of him to check him, as Edmund's eyes blinked open and he looked up at all of them weakly.
Peter, Susan, Lucy, the beavers Chirp and Mr. Tumnus all gasped and laughed with great deal of relieved to find that Edmund was still alive. Weak, but alive.
"Oh, Edmund!" Lucy said with joy, tears of joy flowing from her eyes.
"Look, dearies!" Mrs. Beaver said as she revealed to the children Edmund's stab wound in his stomach, which had now completely healed, leaving only a round scar in it.
Aslan too smiled proudly at this, with a single tear falling from his golden eye and down his golden cheek while no one was looking.
Overcome with joy and relief, with the tears flowing uncontrollably from his eyes, Peter hurriedly scooped Edmund up from the ground and pulled his brother into a tight hug, which Edmund returned in kind. Neither of them wanted to let go of one another for a long time.
"Don't you ever scare me like that again. I don't know what I would've done if I had lost you." Peter sobbed.
Edmund didn't say a word, but he nodded in his older brother's shoulder.
After a moment, both Susan and Lucy joined in, wrapping their arms around of both Peter and Edmund and hugged their brothers happily.
Their family bond, which had been broken by the war of their own world, was now completely healed and strengthened during of their time in this world.
"Let your brother rest and recover, Lucy. You still have a lot of work to do." Aslan then said, making the siblings to break away from their family hug and look up at him.
When they weren't looking, Edmund's eyes went wide and his mouth fell open in utter astonishment to see that Aslan was still alive despite him having giving his life for him.
"There are many others wounded." Aslan said.
"Yes, I know. Just a minute." said Lucy crossly, wanting to be with Edmund just a little longer.
Aslan let out a low growl.
"Daughter of Eve." he said with graver voice. "Daughter of Eve. Others also are at the point of death. Must more people die for Edmund?"
Lucy was taken aback by such of ultimate question, and immediately remembered that Aslan died for Edmund before he was ressurected, while many others might not get the same chance if she didn't save them. Lucy of course did not want their deaths and the grief of their loved ones to her conscience.
"I'm sorry, Aslan." Lucy said regretfully.
"Good." Aslan said satisfied. "Let's get started."
The Great Lion then turned to the statue of the Naiad standing next to him and breathed in her stony faces. The following streak of flame ran immediately from the Naiad's face all over her lifeless stone-gray form, restoring her living aquatic colors. The Naiad gasped like stirring awake out of some horrible nightmare, opening her eyes and looking around in confusion.
Lucy nodded and stood up from the others' side to fulfill her task, but not before looking down at her brother one more time.
"I'll be right back." she said, until she immediately ran towards the limping female Centaur that was being escorted towards the camp to check out her wounds.
For the next hour, Lucy was pretty occupied in the healer's tent where the wounded had been taken to. While several others assisted her by tending only lightly wounded soldiers' injuries, like Mrs. Beaver, who was tending the wound in the Satyr's temple, and the salukis were both tending on the bear's injuries he had suffered from his fight with the Manticore, Lucy used her cordial to heal all those who were more severely wounded or in peril to die, such as the Wood God, who had been stabbed in the chest by one of the Witch's soldiers and left to die.
Lucy also healed the wound in one of Aslan's Satyr's back, as well as the stab wounds in the Pearl the Unicorn's right side from the Minotaur General's horns, the black bull's legs, for the People of the Toadstool had managed to severe the tendon from each of them, and the bite wound the Great Dane had suffered in his right arm from the wolf's bite, the Winged Panther's still wounded and sore wing, the Pelican's wounds he had suffered from his brutal fight with the Coaktrice and the Dwarf archer's left arm, which had been broken in battle and put into the sling.
And while Lucy was tending the wounded, Aslan meanwhile busied himself by walking around of the Battlefield and breathing the life into those who had been turned to stone, starting from one of his Satyrs. After restoring him back to normal, the Satyr looked around with confusion until he spotted Aslan standing right behind him, and bowed to him respectfully. And as more statues came back to life, there was even more happy reunions between those restored and their loved ones. Aslan also restored the stone statues of Flamestorm, Single-horned Tiger, Pegasus, one of the eagles and one of Aslan's leopards back to life.
Aslan also visited on the top of the southern ridge, where he restored the Centaur, sparrow and the Satyr sentries, as well as Lich, Troll, wolf, evil Dryad and Black Dwarf whom all the Witch had turned into stone prior the battle, back to life.
Once all the statues had been restored, Peter and Aslan turned their attention to those of the White Witch's troops who have either surrounded or had been rounded up and captured.
Many of them were afraid when confronted by the resurrected Great Lion, fearing that he might take his revenge on them by having them all executed for their loyalty to the White Witch and for them participating in humiliating, torturing and disgracing him back at the Stone Table before the Witch had killed him.
Instead of a death sentence, however, Aslan genuinely offered mercy and even forgiveness to all those who had previously followed the Witch, telling them that he knew some of them followed the Witch more out of fear then loyalty, respect, and love, and that the Witch did not value their lives as he did.
The Witch's former followers were left surprised that the Great Lion offered them mercy and forgiveness instead of executing them after all of this.
Aslan then offered them a two choices, one of which they were all free to choose themselves: They could either let go of their loyalty to the Witch and join them to live in peace and harmony, and have everything forgiven and forgotten, or they could walk away, with his promise than none shall be harmed, though on the condition that they leave Narnia and never come back.
The choices were made for various reasons.
Most of them turned away from the Great Lion - either out of fear and hatred, for they had already lost faith in Aslan during his absence and the Witch's reign, or then they chose to remain loyal to the Witch even after her death - and walked away towards the wild lands beyond the northern border hence they came from. Aslan kept his promise that they won't be harmed, but sent the eagles to oversee that they did leave Narnia for good.
However, some of them secretly headed back to the Witch's empty Castle to reclaim it as their headquarters, instead of going back to the Northern Wilderness
All the few ones who stayed, were moved enough by Aslan's graciousness and forgiveness, that they forsook their allegiance to the Witch and walked to Aslan pledged their allegiance to him and Sir Peter. With Aslan's blessing and forgiveness for all of their past crimes they'd committed under the Witch's rule, they helped their former enemies to tend their wounded, including their own.
Later, after Lucy was done, she had managed to heal or save at least eighty Narnians from certain death, while the rest were sadly beyond of her help. All the fallen were then buried in Valley of Beruna in honor of their sacrifice for Narnia.
When at last Lucy was free to come back to see Edmund, she joined Susan's side to find her brother standing on his own feet again, not only fully healed of his wounds but looking even better than she had ever seen him looking.
"Edmund." she gasped happily.
"Why isn't he coming to his old self again." Susan said with the laugh.
Edmund, flanked by Peter, Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, Chirp and Mr. Tumnus, was facing Aslan, who in turn was flanked by Flamestorm, and his leopards and Satyrs.
Lucy saw Peter talking to Aslan and found it strange that in her eyes Peter looked years older, with his face royally stern, almost matching to Aslan's.
"You arrived just in time, Aslan. We'd have been beaten if it had been any longer than that." Peter was saying. "But it was all Edmund's doing. The Witch was turning our troops into stone right and left, but Edmund fought his way to where she was and nothing seemed to stop him. He had the sense to go for her wand instead of trying to go for her directly and simply end up made a statue for his pains. That was the mistake all os us kept making. Once he broke her wand, we had some chance, if we hadn't lost so many soldiers already."
Aslan nodded his head, before he turned to Edmund. "Son of Adam... kneel." he instructed.
Edmund did as he was told and stuck the tip of his sword, which had been recovered back for him, to the ground and knelt on one knee before Aslan. The Great Lion then gently touched his left and then his right shoulder with his great muzzle before he stood back.
"Now rise, Sir Edmund, Hero of the Battle of Beruna. Knight of Narnia." Aslan announced proudly.
Edmund struggled up with the smile, feeling honored of being knighted by Aslan himself.
All the Narnians witnessing this raised a hand or paw up in greeting. "HAIL, SIR EDMUND, HERO OF THE BATTLE OF BERUNA. KNIGHT OF NARNIA!" they chanted in unision.
Susan and Lucy could help but smile proudly at their brother.
Peter couldn't be more prouder of his brother and patted him congratulatory on the shoulder. "Well done, Ed." he said with the laughter.
"Congratulations, lad." Mr. Beaver said with the chuckle.
Mr. Tumnus too put his hand on Edmund's shoulder and patted him congratulatory, making Edmund and Peter turn to face him. Edmund and Mr. Tumnus shared a smiles with each other, the former being glad that the latter had forgiven him already since their last meeting at the Witch's dungeons.
Speaking of which, Edmund looked around and saw no sight of the White Witch, not even taken as a prisoner.
"But where's the White Witch? Did she managed to escape?" Edmund asked worriedly.
"Peace, Son of Adam." Aslan said assuredly to him. "The Witch is gone. She will trouble us no more."
Edmund couldn't help but feel greatly relieved to know that the White Witch was gone for good, though the impact she left on him both mentally and physically would remain there for a long time before he'd fully recovered from it.
This also brought one thought into Lucy's mind, as she turned to Susan. "Does he know what Aslan did for him? Does he know what the arrangement with the Witch really was?" she whispered curiously.
"Hush!" Susan sushed. "Of course not. Me and Chirp haven't told him anything."
"But... oughtn't he to be told?" Lucy asked, feeling that Edmund, as well as Peter, should know that Aslan had sacrificed himself in Edmund's place to save him.
"No, Lucy! Certainly not!" Susan dismissed the idea down sharply. "It would be too awful for him. Think how you'd feel if you were he."
However, neither of the girls knew, and they never knew from this day forward, that both Peter and Edmund were already aware of what Aslan had done to save Edmund's life, with Edmund having figured it out by himself already, and Peter being told about it by the Witch herself.
Later in the afternoon, the Narnians, both Aslan's army, all those liberated from the Witch's House and even the former followers of the White Witch, had been gathered around the pavilion, in front of which Aslan was standing along with the Pevensies, ready to address the people.
"Friends, the brave heroes of the Battle of Beruna." Aslan began, which voice booming in the valley. "We shall sleep here tonight, and tomorrow we shall march to CAIR PARAVEL where the Sons of Adam and the Daughters of Eve shall be crowned and the prophecy will be fulfilled."
The Narnians let out the loud cheer of joy.
With the Witch gone, her army defeated, and Narnia liberated from her evil and tyranny at long last, and when the Four Thrones of Cair Paravel shall be filled with two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve, tomorrow shall be the beginning of the new age. The age of joy and peace. The Golden Age of Narnia, from which incredible stories could be told for the next centuries to come.
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At dawn the next day the camp was broken up and the victorious army began their march Eastward down the side of the river, with Aslan in the lead, along with the Pevensies walking alongside him, followed closely by Flamestorm and Aslan's Satyrs and leopards, then the beavers and Mr. Tumnus, and the rest of the Narnians, while the airborn creatures flew above them as a huge united flock, with Chirp being amongst them. The Giant Rumblebuffin, due to his vast size, had to walk at the slower pace next to the Narnians in order not to accidentally trample them under his feet.
Multicolored flags and banners were held above of the army during the march, all of them bearing the image of the posing red lion in them, The athmosphere of the march was filled with the happy chattering, hearty laughter and even singing songs between the animals and creatures or playing the music with their instruments for an entertainment, with no trace of the fear and strife like back during the Witch's reign.
The march lasted two days until they finally arrived to its mouth at the eastern shores of the Eastern Sea, where they could see before them the sand beaches, with rocks and little pools of salt water, and sea weed, and the smell of the sea, and long miles of bluish-green waves breaking forever and ever on the beach.
And they were greeted by the cries of the countless of the sea gulls.
And there, there was awaiting for them a very glorious and very impressive sight the children had ever seen since Aslan's camp at the Stone Table.
The great ivory white and golden castle build on the top of the hilly peninsula at the sea border, with its great walls and towers bathing and glittering brightly in the sunlight, while the banners of Aslan flowing in the seawind on top of its blue-roofed towers.
The Castle of Cair Paravel.
Flying ahead, Chirp, eagles, hawk, pelican, swan, eagle owl, phoenix, Winged Felines, Griffin, Peryton, Pegasuses, the Dragon and all the birds of the army flew towards the Cair Paravel and landed on its towers and ramparts, waiting for the rest of the army to come.
The gates had been opened and the drawbridge had been lowered ready for the army to march into the castle, which had been empty for the last hundred years.
"Hoo-hoo! Easy for you the little people to enter the castle." the Giant Rumblebuffin said, laughing at the irony that just like with the Witch's House, he was just too large to fit in through of the Cair Paravel's gates. "I guess that I just have to wait outside, unless you want me to climb over this wall as well." he laughed.
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The rest of the day and the next day were quite busy as the Narnians started the various preparations for tomorrow afternoon's big event what each and every Narnian had dreamed of for the century, the coronation of the Pevensies as the new Kings and Queens of Narnia.
Until then, the children were finally allowed to have their own free time to rest, especially after spending at least two weeks of non-stop running away from the Witch's agents in the snowy forest and the hard work they had to do to win the war against the Witch, while at the same time mentally preparing themselves for the big day of their coronation and the future to come.
To sleep their first night in the castle, the children were each given their very own royal chambers, which were both comfortable, cozy and decorated with the colors that suited to them. Peter's color was a royal blue, while Susan's was rose-red. Edmund's color was silver-white, and Lucy's color was lila.
Each royal chamber had at least a fireplace, a regal russet wood bed with a high headboard, a canopy, curtains and ready-made matress, coverlet and cushions covered with the bedspread, elaborately woven carpets the with golden animal and plant patterns on the floor, a round table on the corner on which stood a candlestick, seats by the fireplace and around the table, a large gilded wardrobe and a huge gilded chest decorated with carved animals and a the faces of the lion in its doors/lid, a mirror and curtained windowed access to the balcony.
Their servants helped the children to carry their belongings (mostly their Christmas presents and the armours in the boys' case), to each of their chambers, where they also provided them with food and drink, as well as the bowl of water for washing themselves up.
And for the next two days, each of the children used their free time to rest and prepare for their coronation in their own way.
Since Aslan had gone somewhere for the night to do some business, though promising that he'd be back tomorrow before the coronations, Lucy had decided to make up the lost time she had craved to spend with Mr. Tumnus ever since discovering his home trashed.
And right at the moment, Lucy was walking and talking with Mr. Tumnus in the Cair Paravel's garden, which was full of neatly trimmed trees and bushes and grass floor, all kinds of beautiful flowers planted by the Dryads, a beautiful fountain and pretty round pools, and flagstone paths.
And there Lucy brought up what she remembered Mr. Tumnus telling her the day they first met, about his longing thoughts of the Fauns and Satyrs having a midnight dances in the forest with the Nymphs and Dryads, all the merry laughter, feasting, music, dancing and a treasure-hunting with the Red Dwarfs, with an old Silenus riding there on donkey and Bacchus making the streams run with wine, and the whole forest giving itself up to jollification for weeks on end.
Lucy told Mr. Tumnus how she would very much like to see what it was like in those days with her own eyes, that she made a promise to her dear old friend that when she became Queen of Narnia, she would be happy to organize more than just one such events on midnights during the summer time, to help the Narnians to make up the lost time during of the Hundred Year Winter.
Mr. Tumnus was, of course, so delighted about this.
Edmund, meanwhile, was exploring the castle's interior with Mr. Beaver and Chirp, walking down the hallways with long red carpets on the floor, with the rows of pillars and armor decorations standing in each side of the hallway, and the hallways deep within the castle were illuminated with the lit chandeliers hanging from the ceilings or torches on the wall, while the light flew into the other hallways through of the open windows of the outer walls.
Edmund also paid a quick visits in the several rooms all around of the castle, especially the kitchen, where the Narnian cooks were preparing the meal for the celebration following the Pevensies' coronations. Peeking inside, Edmund happened to spot on the table the plate full of what looked like the Turkish Delights.
At the sight of such of sweets, and remembering their taste on his tongue, Edmund almost gave in to the greedy side of him to sneak into quietly the kitchen and snatch the plate from the table before making a quick getaway to a secret spot where to enjoy his spoils in his own peace, much to Mr. Beaver and Chirp's disapproval.
However, at the very last second of reaching to the plate to snatch it off the table, Edmund quickly remembered all the trouble he had gotten himself into the last time he had given in to his greedy desire for the Turkish Delights, and the enchanted ones even. And having already learned his lesson through the hard way, Edmund decided to just let go and save the sweets for the celebration later today, before he continued on his way down the hallway.
In her chamber, Susan was spending her own free time by searching through her wardrobe, going through of several different gowns she discovered before trying on each of them one by one before checking herself in the mirror.
She was accompanied there by Mrs. Beaver, the salukis and Dryad and Naiad servants, each of whom either helped her find the perfect gown to try on or recommending some another gown instead of the previous one.
Naiad had recommended her to try on the river blue and silvery tinted gown with bell sleeves, which silk was soft and flowing like the flow of a river and glittered in the sunlight.
Dryad had then recomended her to try on the dark emerald green gown with the glittering pearl-white leaf and vine patterns all over it, .
One of the salukis then recommended her to try on the golden-yellow gown that had a orange marigold decorations all over while the other saluki recommended her to try on the yellow one which had the golden vine patterns.
Mrs. Beaver then recommended Susan to try on the ruby-red glittering gown with the gold-edged neckline, sleeves and skirt.
And last but not least, Peter was standing all by himself atop the tallest tower of Cair Paravel, where the eldest Pevensie was looking over the vast landscape of Narnia that reached far out to the west.
And while being up there overlooking Narnia, Peter was completely lost in his own thoughts regarding the next big step in his life and his new big role as the High King of Narnia, and that this land and all in it was what he was supposed to rule and protect as its king.
Peter would be lying to himself if he told that he didn't still feel a pretty nervous about stepping up as the king of this land. Stepping up as a commander of the army during the fight against the Witch was one thing but the kingship was completely another thing.
And as he kept thinking about it over and over again, the conversation he recalled having with Aslan when they met for the first time back at the Stone Stable while overlooking the Cair Paravel kept ringing in his head over and over again, with Aslan's voice in his head reminding him about the importances of both of him being the human and Son of Adam, the firstborn of the four children and the owner of the king's sword.
"The four thrones, in one of which you will sit as King." Aslan's voice said.
"Me?" Peter's own voice questioned.
"Yes. You are the first-born and you will be High King over all the rest. You doubt the prophecy?" Aslan's voice said.
"No. That's just it. Aslan, I do understand what you are trying to say, but I'm not who you all think I am." Peter's voice said.
"Are you the one to decide that?" Aslan's voice asked.
"But... I am not the king, and I'm certainly not a hero. I'm just a boy who..." Peter's voice protested.
"A human boy... who did claim the ownership of the king's sword. It has been dictated from the beginning of time that only a Son of Adam, only a human, will sit as High King of Narnia. And since you're a human and a Son of Adam, that is and always has been your destiny." Aslan's voice said.
Peter knew that at this point it was too late to turn back from what has been already set into motion, but he pondered with difficulty if he really could bear the weight of such a burden?
Would he be capable of becoming just the kind of good High King that the Narnians were hoping for or not?
He knew that the people of Narnia had a great faith in him, all of their friends had a great faith in him, his siblings had a great faith in him, even Aslan had a great faith in him. So the big question was that did he himself had a faith in himself or his own abilities to rule and lead all of this?
The last thing he really wanted was to let these people, their friends, Aslan or his family down by being some kind of crappy High King.
So this was going to be a biggest the biggest life test for him, and whether he succeeded in it or not, it was up to him.
However, it brought him some relief and even confidence to know that he wasn't going to do this alone, but together with his family, who would always be there for him as much as he would be there for them in return.
###
When the next day turned to the afternoon, the Pevensies had withdrew into their respective chambers to prepare themselves for the coronation, while the rest of the Narnians had gathered into the Great Hall to wait for them.
The Great Hall of Cair Paravel was a very high hall and very wonderful and very majestic sight.
It had an ivory roof and floor. Its western wall was decorated with the peacock feathers. The open eastern doorway led to the balcony overlooking the sea. The rows of ivory columns decorated with gold at the top and bottom were wrapped up with leaves and flowers. It had a royal red pavement floor with the yellowish-white patterns on it in the middle, which went across the hall from one end to another. The red, yellow and blue tapestries, each bearing the pattern of the posing lion, hung from the ceiling, along with the huge, golden and majestic chandelier.
And in the other end of the Great Hall, a golden sunlight poured through of a huge stained-glass window and fell upon of a Four Thrones on top of the several steps, each of which had an emblem etched into the back, which represented one of the Pevensies.
The emblem of the first throne on the left was a replica of Rhindon, thus it belonged to Peter.
The emblem of the first throne on the right clearly showed a sword breaking what looked like the Witch's wand, thus it belonged to Edmund.
The emblem of the second throne on the far left showed the horn, thus it belonged to Susan.
And the emblem of the second throne on the far right showed the Fire-Flower Cordial, thuis it belonged to Lucy.
Aslan, who had returned just in time, waited patiently at the thrones, standing between Peter's and Edmund's thrones, and as the sunlight hit him, he glowed even brighter than ever.
There was a huge mumbling amongst the Narnians gathered to the Great Hall, many of them expressing their disbelief that they'd live to see this day ever coming, while some of them wondered what kind of rulers they would become, while others assured them in positive light that they would be great rulers, and the rest, who had never even seen them yet, wondered what they might look like and were so anxious to see them.
Eagles, swan, pelican, hawk and eagle-owl, who along with the many Talking Animals had changed into their anthropomorphic forms and were now standing amongst of the crow.
While the Winged Felines, Phoenix, Peryton, Griffin, Pegasuses and the Dragon, along with the Single-horned Tiger, Pearl the Unicorn and Philip the Horse had taken one spot for themselves to follow the coronation.
Flamestorn and almost all the Centaurs had lined to both sides of the red pavement floor.
Aslan's Satyrs and Leopards, wearing their sky blue collars and checkered blue and white capes, and carried the banners of the lion in their hands, stood on either side of the thrones.
In front of the crowd near the thrones stood Mr. Tumnus, beavers, Chirp, along with the black bull, Great Dane, salukis and the Dwarf archer, while in the other side of the hall stood the creatures liberated from the Witch's House such as the lion, kangaroo, English Sheepdog, the Irish Wolfhound and the elephant family.
Many Narnians were holding flowers in their hands in honor of the coronation ceremony.
Out of all the Narnians, Giant Rumblebuffin was just too big to fit in the Great Hall, so he was forced to watch the coronation through of the window.
The ceremony began when the four Centaurs and Four Red Dwarfs lifted the trumpets over their lips and blew into them, playing a triumphal fanfare, signaling the Pevensies arrival.
"Atten-hut!" Flamestorm belowed.
At his lead, all the Centaurs simultaneously drew their long two-handed swords and held them upright in front of their faces before extending them forward, forming an archway over the pavement floor.
The entire crowd went all silent and turned to the doorway of the Great Hall.
A softer tuned music then began to play as the Pevensies, each of them wearing a golden royal robes, stepped into the Great Hall, first Peter, then Susan, then Edmund and finally Lucy. The children, holding their chests forward and heads high, looking very dignified and royal, walked along the pavement floor and under of the archway of the Centaur's swords, as the Dryads and Naiads and the birds threw the petals of flowers in the air, letting them fall gently over the Pevensies.
And as they went on, each of the children paid a look at their friends.
Peter's eyes met Flamestorm's as he reached to the end of the archway of the Centaurs' swords. Both he and the Centaur bowed their heads to each other in deep amount of respect. Peter also smiled at his steed, Pearl the Unicorn, who bowed his horned head to him respectfully.
Lucy smiled as she looked at Mr. Tumnus, beavers and Chirp. Mr. Tumnus was so happy for his friend that he even shed a tear from his eye, which he quickly wiped away, while the beavers grinned widely and hopped in their places in joy, with Mrs. Beaver holding a flowers in her paws, and Chirp was chirping overjoyed while flapping his wings. Lucy also didn't forget to smile to the Giant Rumblebuffin who smiled back at them through of the window.
Susan smiled happily when she noticed the several Narnians amongst the crowd whom they had met and befriended along the way from the Beavers' to Stone Table: The elder Mr. Fox, those two young squirrels along with the two adult squirrels, who were likely the two's parents, the Mama Bear with her two cubs along with the Papa Bear, the Dwarf with the green cap with the pretty female dwarf in green dress, his wife, along with the Dwarf with the red cap, and a Satyr with another Satyr who bore the similarities with the one they met, meaning that this Satyr was his brother, and that they were actually twins. And amongst them was also a Blossom the Hamadryad, whose hair and gown were made of beautiful pink and white blossom flowers.
Edmund gasped upon recognizing the animals as the same ones at that Christmas Party, and Blossom as one of the Hamadryads of their blockade he had ran into back when he was still a prisoner of the Witch. He also saw that there were also that couple of anthropomorphic swallows, those anthropomorphic frogs, those couple squirrels and that eldery otter couple and the family of two adult and four little otters, all of whom the Witch had in her furious outburst turned into stone at the river when the spring broke.
Edmund was delighted that none of them harbored an ill feelings against him for being with the Witch when they had met.
However, Edmund cringed upon laying his eyes on the lion with the glasses and mustache he'd drawn on his stone face when he first arrived to the Witch's House, and chuckled awkwardly at the sight of several dogs and foxes barking in laughter at him.
"HOW-HOW-HOW-HOW-HOW! HOW-HOW-HOW-HOW-HOW!" they laughed.
"What?" the lion asked, still confused that what they were laughing at.
Soon, the children were standing before Aslan and the thrones, Peter and Susan on the left and Edmund and Lucy on the right. They bowed before the Great Lion before Peter and Susan took each other's hands and so did Edmund and Lucy before the children climbed the stairs and stood before their respective thrones before turning to face their people.
"To the glistering Eastern Sea, I give you Queen Lucy the Valiant." Aslan announced with the soft voice, turning to Lucy, who gasped with utter delight of the given title.
"To the Western Wilderness, I give you King Edmund the Just." Aslan announced, his voice a little louder when he turned to Edmund, who couldn't help but smile at this title, for all of this was far more better than what the Witch had falsely promised to him a long time ago.
"To the Radiant Southern Sun, Queen Susan the Gentle." Aslan announced, the tone of his voice staying the same yet much gentler as he turned to Susan, who lightly lowered her head, smiling shyly.
"And to the clear Northern Sky, I give you King Peter the Magnificent!" Aslan announced, this time his voice booming like a thunder as he turned to Peter, who solemnly held his head high.
"Once a King or Queen of Narnia, always a King or Queen of Narnia." Aslan continued, looking the children with pride for them in his deep golden eyes. "Bear it well, Sons of Adam. Bear it well, Daughters of Eve. May your wisdom grace us until the stars rain down from the heavens."
Aslan then raised his huge golden head high, before a white transparent spherical light appeared above his head and shot the four beams of light over each of the child's head.
And then, using his magic, Aslan conjured out of the thin air a four golden crowns and four golden scepters, each of which then slowly descended along the beam of light into the four children's heads and hands, afterwards the light vanished.
Lucy's crown had the golden laurel leaves and flowers.
Edmund's crown had the silver birch leaves.
Susan's crown had the golden daffodils.
And Peter's crown featured a bright star and it had the golden apple leaves, oak leaves and acorns.
With the crowns on their heads and scepters in their hands, each of them solemnly sat on their respective thrones, as Aslan chanted the Golden Age prophecy one last time.
"When Adam's flesh and Adam's bone,"
"Sits at Cair Paravel in throne,"
"The evil time will be over and done."
The Narnians then bursted out into a deafening cheering for their newly crowned monarchs, shouting, roaring, braying, yelping, barking, squealing, cooing, neighing, screeching and laughing from the top of their lungs, waving their hands, paws or wings in the air, or hopping in joy.
And through the open Eastern door came the voices of the Mermen and the Mermaids that swam close to the castle steps and sung in honour of their new Kings and Queens.
"LONG LIVE KING PETER! LONG LIVE QUEEN SUSAN! LONG LIVE KING EDMUND! LONG LIVE QUEEN LUCY!" the Narnians shouted, which made all four children smile happily to themselves and each other.
###
The coronation was then followed by a great feast in the Great Hall, where the long feasting tables set to the edges of the hall were filled with a lot of all kinds of delicious-looking festive dishes and the drink, that everyone could both eat and drink to their heart's content throughout the afternoon, the following night, and the entire following day as well.
And in the middle of the Great Hall, the Fauns, including Mr. Tumnus with his flute, Nymphs and Dwarves brought a joyous music with all kinds of different instruments, joined by the Merpeople who played their own stranger, sweeter, and more piercing music, while all kinds of creatures and anthropomorphic animals were dancing together in the long dancing lines, while all those who did not join the dance clapped their hands encouragingly at the dancers, rejoicing and laughing.
Queen Susan had joined to one of the dancing lines between of Fauns, Satyrs, Wood Gods, Dryads and Naiads, where she made a turn with the gentlemanly Faun.
King Peter was dancing in the other dancing line with the Blossom the Hamadryad. He couldn't help but blush nervously as the beautiful Hamadryad smiled at him after he twirled her around while holding hands.
Mr. and Mrs. Beaver were waltzing with each other in the middle of the hall, along with the green-capped Dwarf and his wife, the lion and the lioness, the squirrel couple, the bear couple, the otter couple, even the elephant couple and various other animal couples, while the children were holting each others hands and hopping along the music, laughing and squealing happily.
Outside and over the castle, the eagles, swan, pelican, hawk, eagle-owl, Phoenix, Winged Felines, Peryton, Griffin, Pegasuses and the Dragon were making their own aerial dance, flying, gliding, plunging and moving to the rhythm of the combined music from inside the castle and from the beach.
Chirp, the swallow couple from the river, kingfisher from Aslan's camp, the white doves liberated from the Witch's House and a gigantic flock of the other birds joined them in the flight dance, while chirping, chuckling and chattering their own kind of combined birdsong.
And in the castle's garden, the Giant Rumblebuffin was sitting carefully on the rampart while enjoying the music by tapping his knees and nodding his head along the tune. The other Narnians hadn't of course left him out from all the fun, as they brought ot him a gigantic-sized mug full of beer, which the Giant happily accepted.
The red-capped Dwarf and Mr. Fox had entered into the conversation with the Satyr brothers, the black bull, the Dwarf archer and the kangaroo while they enjoyed the food of the banquet table, and laughed merrily when they found something during of their conversation amusing.
King Edmund, who hadn't joined the dance, was in the hurry to fill his plate the food of the banquet table, eager to taste all kinds of the delights and eat as much as he wished.
Then Edmund froze when his eye caught the sight of the same plate full of Turkish Delights he had earlier seen in the kitchen and his mouth went watery.
Since he was now the King of Narnia, who had every right to eat whatever he wanted, and because these weren't enchanted and wouldn't cause an unhealthy addiction like the Witch's delights did, thus there was no longer any fear that a craving for these delights would either lead him or cause trouble for others, Edmund couldn't resist the temptation and reached out to grab a handful of delights in his hand.
However, the plate was suddenly snatched off the table before Edmund could scoop the sweets into his hand, much to his surprise and confusion.
He looked up and saw Queen Lucy holding the plate in her hands. Smirking at Edmund, she waved her finger at her brother, teasingly scolding him for him giving in to his temptations for the sweets, again, before she put one of the delights into her own mouth.
Edmund scoffed with the amused chuckle at his sister.
###
A little later, as the setting sun was touching the skyline and turning the sky into the rich colors of gold and orange, Peter, Edmund, Susan and Lucy left the castle headed for the beach, accompanied by Mr. Tumnus, beavers and Chirp.
Once they reached to the beach, they instantly took off their royal robes and tossed them to the sand and took off their shoes, now walking on barefoot while only wearing their royal tunics on and the crowns still on their heads.
The children smiled widely and closed their eyes at the feeling of the salty sea wind blowing against their faces while feeling the soft and warn sand on their feet.
Lucy then heard a low growl behind them and turned around, and her lips curved up into the wide grin as she saw what it was.
"Look!" Lucy called the others.
They all turned around to look, and saw Aslan standing on top of the grassy hill not too far away from them, watching them with the proud smile over his muzzle.
Thinking that Aslan was there to watch over them, the children, now free from all the stress and worry and most of all, the royal formality, laughed joyfully as they raced down to the shallows together, squealing with delight when they felt the cold sea water in their feet, before they began to playfully splash the water over each other, screaming in surprise of being hit by the water before quickly retaliating to it.
Aslan smiled at the children one more more and knowing that Narnia would be fine in their good hands, the Great Lion turned his head away from the children, who were too distracted in their games to notice him slipping away.
Mr. Tumnus, the beavers and Chirp were holding the children's robes in their hands, shaking the sand off them as the Pevensies, after having had enough of their games, returned to fetch their robes and shoes from them.
Mr. Tumnus handed Lucy her own robe, while Mr and Mrs. Beaver handed Peter and Susan theirs, and Chirp handed Edmund his.
Lucy then looked up to the grassy hill, until her smile dropped off her face and she frowned upon seeing that Aslan had gone.
"Hey, where's Aslan?" she said aloud.
Peter, Susan and Edmund looked up to the grassy hill and were all surprised and confused to see him gone.
The children then then looked around, but none of them saw no sign of Aslan anywhere.
It was quite a large beach, so that it was quite impossible for anyone to just disappear into thin air like that without being noticed, and yet Aslan had done so without even leaving a trail of paw prints in the sand.
"Where he'd gone?" Peter asked, but none of them couldn't answer to that.
"I don't see him anywhere?" Edmund said confusedly.
"He was right there, right on top of the grass hill, and now he is gone?" Lucy said.
Seeing the confusion and worry over the children's face, Mr. Tumnus, the beavers and Chirp turned to the children with the reassuring smiles on their lips.
"Don't worry. We will see him again." Mr. Tumnus assured them.
"When?" Lucy asked worriedly as she and her siblings turned to their friends.
"In time." Mr. Tumnus said. "One day he'll be here and the next he won't."
"That's right." Beaver agreed with the Faun. "He'll be coming and going. He needs to be free." he added firmly.
"Chirp, chirp! And of course he has other countries to attend to. So he doesn't like being tied down just to one. Chirp, chirp!" Chirp explained.
The children looked at each other, still confused by these news and also a worried.
"But... how do we manage without him?" Lucy asked again.
"It's alright, Lucy Pevensie. He'll often drop in." Mr. Tumnus said.
"But you mustn't press him." Mr. Beaver said, to which Mrs. Beaver and Chirp nodded their heads in agreement. "Remember what we told you back at the dam? He's not the tame Lion. He's wild. And he'll always be."
"Yes." Lucy sighed, solemnly accepting that they won't see Aslan very often anymore. "But he's good."
One by one, Edmund, Susan and Peter nodded their heads, accepting this.
Still, Lucy only barely managed to choke her urge to cry, because she had grown so fond of Aslan that his absence and not knowing that when he'll next time drop in gave her a rather hollow feeling.
"I'm just going to miss him, much." she admitted, to which Susan, Peter and Lucy put each their hands over Lucy's shoulders, both to comfort her and to share her feeling.
Seeing that Lucy's eyes were threatening to well up with tears, Mr. Tumnus held up a finger to singal Lucy to "wait" before he pulled out of his coat's pocket handkerchief and held it out for Lucy.
"Here. You need it more than I do." he said, quoting her words from the day they first met.
Smiling gratefully, Lucy accepted Mr. Tumnus' handkerchief and wiped the tears away from her eyes.
Lucy then turned to the golden sunset in the horizon, and soon after did Peter follow the suit, and so did Susan and Edmund one by one. Mr. Tumnus, the beavers and Chirp followed the suit and looked all together solemnly at the sunset.
All of them wondered what kind of future as the rulers of Narnia they would have ahead of them.
TO BE CONTINUED...