Awaiting Redemption

"Dame, if you'd please..."

I furrowed my eyebrows and tried to ignore the voice that was so obviously trying to wake me up. It was to no avail considering the curtains were pulled back at that very moment, thwarting my efforts. I rubbed my eyes of sleep and sat up in bed. Swinging my legs out the side of the bed, I stood up and made my way towards the bath.

After a long, warm bath, I wrapped a towel around myself and walked back into the room. Checking to make sure there were no maid servants around, I changed into a light blue gown and braided my hair loosely.

I grabbed Rhindon and rummaged through the box that held my stuff, looking for the present that Father Christmas had given me the first time I was in Narnia. Unable to find it, I frowned and exited the room. Walking past the dining hall, I witnessed a few straggling diners finishing up what appeared to be lunch. Exactly what time was it, I wondered, not noticing where I was going.

"Andrea!"

I turned around, looking for the voice that had called me. Caspian was walking towards me from the other side of the courtyard. He appeared to be geared up and ready to go somewhere.

"Finally, you're awake. I thought it'd be smart for you to see Aslan's How so I've gathered a few," Caspian started, but I zoned out from him again. Because in the direction he came from, I saw the beautiful stallion I was admiring earlier rear up and kick one of the men who was controlling her.

Leaving Caspian where he was, I rushed over to the stallion and whistled. The men let go of the reins and the horse frantically skipped around. Seeing no escape route, she reared up again. After a few moments, she had calmed down enough to the point where she was simply pacing back and forth.

I kneeled down in front of the horse and stared it in the eyes, willing it to make a move. It angrily blew air out of its nose and stomped the ground. I raised an eyebrow and stood back up. Next, I turned away from the horse, feigning ignoring it. After a few minutes, the horse began to grow restless and started to beg for attention much like an ignored child does after moments of the silent treatment.

After prodding me with its nose and coming closer to me, I turned around. Once again, the horse blew air out of its nose and tossed its head back in a fit. I shrugged and raised both of my hands above my head, signifying that I did not mean the stallion any harm.

"Andrea?" I heard Caspian say with a specific tone in his voice which led me to think he thought I was crazy.

"Shh," I whispered to Caspian to quickly shut him up. I continued making the soothing noise when I noticed it had a calming effect on the rearing horse. Finally, the horse came over to me lowering its nose, offering to be petted.

I turned back to Caspian. "So... where are we going?"

***

"I can't believe you've actually saddled the stallion," Caspian said with disbelief as we trotted along on horseback towards Aslan's How. Behind us were a few centaurs and fauns, Trumpkin, Trufflehunter, Reepicheep and his mice, and five human knights.

"It wasn't that hard," I began, "I just can't believe you were going to have this horse killed because it wasn't obedient."

"Not killed, exiled."

"Whatever," I said, the disgust hidden in my nonchalant tone.

"So what about you and King Peter?"

I raised my eyebrow and took in a deep breath. Well, I guess it was my turn to hold up my side of the bargain. After telling our companions to fall back, I began my tale...

"Well, I came into Narnia at a different time then the Pevensies' did. Luckily, I ran into no harm. Rather the opposite actually, I ran into Father Christmas. He saw me as a human, a daughter of Eve, and offered me a ride on his sleigh to the Stone Table where Aslan had begun to assemble troops to fight against the White Witch. I was with him for maybe, half an hour before we met up with the Pevensies' and the Beavers."

"From there, Santa left me in their care, only after giving us all presents. As you know, Rhindon and the Shield were Peter's gifts, Susan had her bow and arrow and the Horn, Lucy had the dagger and the juice of the fireflower, and Edmund didn't get a present because he was on the naughty list. My present was a sleeve of armor invincible to arrows... but I couldn't find it in my box so I'm assuming it's lost forever now."

"Maybe not, my teacher saved many artifacts from Old Narnia, he may know where it is," Caspian offered. I contemplated what he said and nodded, before continuing on with my story.

"After Santa left, Peter realized that winter was almost over so we had to hurry along to the river. There wasn't much time for introductions. When we got there, the ice was already melting away and the wolves that were in pursuit of us weren't far behind. We hadn't even gotten very far when the wolves surrounded us in the middle of the breaking ice. I remember Peter pointing his sword at the main wolf and I remember thinking that I was probably better with the sword than he was," I chuckled.

"Nevertheless, the ice dam broke and Peter stuck the sword in the ice as we all held onto him. The beavers swam out of that mess on their own but as we were underwater I opened my eyes and saw Lucy slip out of the huge fur coat she had been wearing."

"I let go of Peter to help push Lucy towards the shore. It was a struggle because of the sheer force of water and the coldness of it, but we finally got there. I helped Lucy onto the banks but I couldn't quite find the strength to pull myself up. After they had their little reunion, Peter noticed I was about to let go of the bank and he helped me up. It was actually surprisingly easy for him to lift me up. After he had, he gave me this huge monster hug for saving Lucy, Susan and him thought they had lost her for good. I pretty much melted into that hug," I said, turning to Caspian and smiling.

"Umm," I said, elongating the 'm' sound and trying to decide which events were significant enough to tell. "The Stone Table was actually not very far from the river. Peter and I got to know each other a bit better, I got to discover that Susan wasn't a very outgoing person and more reserved than others, and Lucy was such a pure little girl. Out of all of us, Peter and I did the most talking."

"I think that's kind of where we started, you know? It could have been because I had just saved his little sister, but I like to think it was because my personality was just so captivating once he got a chance to get to know me," I sarcastically stated.

"You are captivating," Caspian assured me. My eyes widened and my heart began to beat faster.

"Anywaaaaaay," I said, holding back an inevitable smile, "All during that walk, he mainly talked about himself. The war back home, his mother, Edmund... he basically confided all his problems in me without knowing me. He trusted me and I loved that. And when he looked at me to make sure I was paying attention, he'd always smile ‘cause I was actually paying attention. It was like he couldn't believe someone was so considerate towards him. Which sounds really horrid when I say it now, but he really wasn't that bad or disagreeable. It was actually kind of cute."

"Well, we finally got to where Aslan's army was being assembled and the Pevensies' led the way. I decided to just hang back because I wasn't really one of the prophesied leaders so I felt no real sense of belonging there just yet. Everyone was staring at us as we walked passed, and I do mean everyone. It was so much staring that even Susan asked aloud why we were being gawked at. It was remarkable, as if they had never seen a human being before," I remembered, before realizing that this was probably true.

"Well, Aslan greeted us all and informed me that he would speak to me separately, so I was led away by some fauns. When Aslan came to where I was he told me that 'the battle I was fighting was not a part of the war that needs to be won' and to this day, I have no idea what he meant."

"Anyway, he continued on to explain to me that I was in Narnia to help fight against the White Witch and that I was to help Oreius think up battle strategies. It was easy enough for me, of course, but it was strange at first. After Oreius let me in and explained the number of troops we had and the different characteristics of the different allied animals, I excused myself. I mean, it was all happening so fast, you know? And I didn't know what was going on or when I would be going home and I was just scared, a little."

"As soon as I stepped outside of the tent we were in, I see Peter running towards the call of a horn. Susan's horn. Her and Lucy had been ambushed by the wolves. Aslan handled a few of the wolves but left one of them for Peter to defeat, which he did. That's how he earned the title 'Sir Peter Wolf's-bane'. Oreius and others chased down the rest of the wolves and after that, the girls went to lie down and rest. Peter and I stayed by the riverbank and this time, it was my turn to tell him about me,"

From behind us, we heard someone clear their throat.

"Your Majesty," Trumpkin said, "The men do not wish to stay at the How until tomorrow. We will have to be back at the castle by sundown. We should pick up the pace a lot."

Caspian looked at me, silently asking if I was ok with it. All I did was smile at him and kick the stallion with my heels, causing it to gallop off into the distance with Caspian and his horse following closely behind.

Ten minutes later, the stallion slowed to a trot around a huge gaping hole in the ground. I raised my eyebrow and turned my head back to Caspian, yelling, "Care to explain?"

"The Battle of Aslan's How called for some improvisation. That doorway over there, the one that is not supposed to be blocked by rocks anymore," Caspian paused, slightly narrowing his eyes in wonder as to why the doorway was still blocked. After a few moments, he continued on with his explanation. "Well, it led into an underground structure. During the battle, a regiment ran through and destroyed the support pillars, causing the Telmarin soldiers to fall through."

I nodded and pulled the reins a little to the left, leading the horse in that direction. Caspian did the same, but towards the right. Slowly, we trotted around the gaping hole in the ground and met on the opposite side of the hole. Finally, I dismounted the stallion and tied its reins to a support column that was on the opposite side of the hole. Caspian followed suit. I then asked, "So, how are we getting in?"

Caspian shrugged and began to walk back around the hole. Slightly before he was opposite of where I stood, he slid down into the hole via a slab of smooth rock.

"There's a lot of rubbish down here and there's going to be a bit of climbing. It'll have to do," he said, looking back up at me. I let out a breath and walked around to the slab, sliding down it carefully. Trumpkin, Trufflehunter, and a few of the men followed, while the others stayed above to keep watch on the horses.

"Ladies first," Caspian insisted, pointing out the direction which I should take. I climbed up and down an obstacle course of broken rocks. We were able to work our way back towards the building underground because not all of the pillars had been destroyed. We stuck together in a single file line with me in front and I chose to stay near the pillars that still stood strong.

"I think we may have a slight problem," I whispered back at the line, as we were blocked by a wall of rock. We stood still for a minute before anyone found a solution.

"There's a little hole over there we can crawl through," Trufflehunter suggested, pointing out a spot that was against the wall. "I'll even go first to test it out."

"That would be great, thanks," I said. Trufflehunter went through the hole and what seemed like two minutes later, we heard a muffled grunt.

"I'm ok! I got through just fine. Send over Trumpkin, there's some rock he can move to make the tunnel bigger."

Trumpkin crawled through the tiny space next and what seemed like a little more than two minutes later, we heard Trufflehunter scream. My eyes widened and my heart started to race.

"We're safe, all of the rock obstacles in the tunnel have been moved, so you can come all at once now," Trumpkin reported. "Just be sure to stay in one line."

As I let out a sigh of relief, I heard one of the knights whisper, "Ladies first," to another. I rolled my eyes.

"I'm going last. You," I said, nodding my head at the pervert as a sort of gesture. "Go ahead."

He narrowed his eyes slightly before smiling and ducking into the hole. Before long, all the knights had gone through the hole and Caspian and I were left.

"I really do wish you will go first, I promise not to look up your skirt," Caspian pleaded with me.

"I should go first since it's the lady-like thing to do, right?" I challenged him with a smile on my face.

He smiled nervously and looked down at his feet.

"Well, I'm not going first, so..." I trailed off, "go."

Caspian got down on his belly and pulled himself up through the tunnel. Caspian hadn't been gone long when I heard something move behind me. Footsteps? No, they sound more like paws. Paws. Reepicheep? We brought nothing with paws this heavy.

Scenes from my first time in Narnia came in front of my eyes, and being chased by the White Witch's wolves was the last thing I saw. In a frenzy, I got down and started crawling through the hole as fast as I could. Caspian hadn't gotten as far as I thought and before long, I was right behind him.

"Andrea?" He asked, with a hint of worry in his voice. He turned around so his back was down on the floor and he was propped up on his elbows. He froze at the sight of me in a rush to get ahead.

"Shh!" I said, lunging forward and knocking him to the ground. I cupped my right hand over his mouth and pointed to my ear, indicating he should listen carefully. My eyes momentarily stopped focusing as my ears worked double time in the silence.

Sure enough, we heard shuffling of paws against the dusty floor we had left behind. I narrowed my eyes as Caspian's dark brown orbs widened in astonishment. Slowly, I reached for my sword sheath and began to pull Rhindon out. However, the metal of my sword made a scraping noise as it unsheathed and above that noise, growling was heard. I stopped moving and eventually heard the paws running the opposite direction. As my breathing steadied, I pushed Rhindon back into the sheath. A howl was heard in the far distance.

I let my head drop to rest on Caspian's chest as I tried to slow my crazy, beating heart. When I was reassured that I was safe, I removed my hand from Caspian's mouth and wiped it off on my sleeve. I tried to push myself up and off of Caspian when I realized that his body took the entire width of the tunnel, meaning there was no floor on either side of him I could push off of. I looked up at Caspian and noticed he was looking straight back at me. I gulped when I noticed exactly how close we were. Damn small tunnel...

"Um," I laughed, looking down and breaking our eye contact. I tried pushing the sides of the tunnel slightly and lifting myself up a little. As I did so, I expected Caspian to slide out from beneath me. Instead, he lay still. I looked up and saw him looking down the front of my dress.

I rolled my eyes and my cheeks started to burn as they turned from my pale skin tone to a light pink at the awkward situation I was in. "Caspian, please go."

***

To my delight, after emerging from the miniscule passageway we had to crawl through, there were no rocks whatsoever. From this point on, the pillars remained intact. We rushed through the pillars after Caspian informed the rest of our convoy that we may have been followed. Once we got into the How though, I slowed my pace considerably. Looking around, I saw that weapon making machinery was still fully intact and some lanterns were still lit upon the walls.

"Andrea, we have got to hurry if we want to make it back to the castle before sundown. This way," Caspian said, grabbing my hand and pulling me down a corridor.

I allowed him to lead me through the underground tunnels but my eyes continued to wander. I turned my head continuously trying to soak up everything I was seeing. To my left were a bunch of cave paintings. As we rushed past, I managed to make out a few more scenes from my first visit to Narnia.

There was Mr.Tumnus with his packages by a lamppost, Susan and Lucy on Aslan's back, Aslan perched on a rock roaring, the Kings and Queens of Old by their four thrones, Peter sitting by a river next to a black burn mark...

Wait a minute. I snatched my hand back from Caspian and invested the drawing more closely. Peter's hand was holding someone else's. Someone, who had been burned out of the memory by Old Narnians.

My eyes clouded over with hurt and I turned away from the drawing with every intention of running to catch up with Caspian. Unknowingly, I didn't have to run very far.

"I wouldn't worry too much; they used to hate me too."

I smiled a sad smile and asked quietly, "How'd you change that?"

"I gave them back their land."

I pursed my lips. I had nothing to give yet and I wouldn't until I found out why I was here. "Come on, we should go catch up with Trumpkin and the others."

We turned down the hall to be met by the Stone Table in its own enclosed room. It's cracks were far greater than I imagined, Lucy had only informed me that the table's dark magic was what brought Aslan back to life.

I walked around the table slowly, twice. First, I took in the severity of the cracks and how long ago this must have happened. I really had been gone a long time, haven't I? Second, I bent closer to the side of the table to try and interpret the dark magic. Nothing stood out to me. What was I supposed to be doing here?

"Alright, I suppose we can get going now. I've seen all I needed to see."

As we retraced our footsteps through the underground halls and passageways, back through the cramped tunnel, and up the slanted slab of rock (with the help of Caspian's outstretched hand halfway up), I couldn't help but wonder if Aslan was coming back at all or if I had to this on my own.

***

"King Caspian, there you are! We were wondering when you were going to return, had you forgotten the date? Come along now, we have to get you ready! Get off of that stinky horse," one particularly plump maidservant said, as a few others I recognized ran up to assist her with Caspian.

"You too, Dame! You need to hurry to your room to get some last minute alterations done, the dress came this morning," she said, leading Caspian away. I grabbed the reins of the riderless horse and called after Caspian.

"What is she talking about?"

"Well, she may be talking about the Coronation Ball, your majesty," Reepicheep said from around the corner. He was wearing a coat of purple velvet and his rapier was held by his tail. How did he get changed so fast? "It was pushed up to tonight in consideration of your arrival."

Wonderful.