Awaiting Redemption

“Every human being is accounted for tonight, Your Majesty,” a soldier reported to Caspian as we sat together in the dining hall. Caspian merely nodded in acknowledgement and the soldier removed himself from our presence.

I shook my head. “What about the minotaurs and the black dwarves living within the castle? They cannot be trusted.”

“That may be so, but I will not force out entire populations without solid proof of treason. They are Narnians, and I plan on treating them better than my father ever did.”

I tilted my head and examined Caspian from where I was sitting across the table from him. I took in a deep breath, mentally ran through every other option, and nodded.

“Alright.”

“Alright?”

I raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Yes. I may not like it personally, it puts every person in this castle at risk. A kidnapping from someone on the inside could easily provide their forces with a drop of Adam's blood. But I trust in our forces and the increased security we'll implement starting tonight,” I said, emphasizing the last bit. “And you're right, as an honorable and just king, you shouldn't force them out without an indication of dishonesty.”

Caspian looked at me with a skeptical look on his face, as if he couldn't believe I was actually supportive of something he had suggested. I simply shrugged and smiled back. Suddenly, we were both grinning.

“What?!” I laughed aloud.

“Nothing, I just assumed you would be a challenger to every claim I made.”

“I'm sorry that is the impression you have of me, but I assure you, I'm on your side.”

Caspian nodded and smiled slightly, as if apologizing for his categorization of me as a pain-in-the-ass dame commander. Moments later, we heard the padding of paws out in the hallway. The smiles that seemed plastered on our faces quickly melted away and both of us, frozen in our seats, glanced at the doorway.

As the creature inched closer to us, my hand gripped the handle of Rhindon tighter. I breathed a sigh of relief when a cheetah walked past the doorway and continued down the hall. In the midst of all the chaos, I had forgotten that wolves weren't the only creatures with paws roaming the land of Narnia.

“Andrea?”

My head whipped around at the sound of my name. Aslan was standing directly behind us at the far end of the dining hall. I looked over at Caspian and noticed that he looked just as astonished as I felt; neither one of us had heard Aslan come in.

“If I could borrow you for the remainder of the evening, we have some things to discuss.”

I nodded in Aslan's general direction. I turned back towards Caspian.

“We do need to make sure that every available non-human soldier is patrolling the halls tonight.”

He smiled. “I'll give the orders as soon as you leave, Andrea.”

Not wanting the orders to be delayed by my presence, I quickly walked away from the table. I didn't even remind Caspian to call me Andy, because truth be told, my full name sounded better coming from him. Something about the way it rolled off his tongue...

“You're making progress, I see.”

Aslan's reference towards the reasoning behind why I had been brought back to Narnia pulled me out of my thoughts.

“The White Witch will never quit, will she?” I asked Aslan aloud.

It was phrased as a rhetorical question but deep down I really wondered if this war over the magical world of Narnia would ever cease. We continued walking until we reached the courtyard where I had originally entered into Narnia this time around. Aslan sat and eventually laid out on the floor; I rested before him.

“For as long as there have been good forces, there have been bad forces trying to bring them down. The White Witch and her followers will never quit, for neither will we.”

I offered up a slight smile before shifting my gaze to the hem of my dress, which I began to play with.

“Andy,” Aslan started. I looked up at the majestic lion, noticing instantly how large he seemed from where I was sitting on the floor in front of him. “I have brought you here because I need to talk to you about what occurred 300 years ago.”

All of a sudden, I found it hard to breathe. A lump began to form in the back of my throat and no matter how many times I tried to dislodge it by swallowing, it remained steady. My eyes also began to water. I felt as if I were a kid who had disappointed their favorite parent, and I was about to receive the world's worst scolding.

“Even the fiercest warriors have their weaknesses, Andrea. And though your strengths far outnumber them, your weaknesses are still there.”

I blinked away the tears and forced myself to stare straight into Aslan's golden eyes. They were caring yet stern.

“And your weaknesses are the reason why the Telmarines defeated the Narnians so many years ago.”

My tears fell in streams faster than I could stop them, so I sat there quietly and let them fall. I held my head straight and tried to keep focused on Aslan and what he was telling me, because even though I was disappointed in myself and my last visit to Narnia, Aslan would never be ashamed of who I was. And I knew that.

“In particular, Andrea, you dwell too much on what's past and for this reason, you do not trust others. When the Telmarines invaded Narnia, you kept the battle strategy to yourself and led the Narnians into an indefensible territory with no idea of how to succeed. Your untimely departure ensured their inevitable slaughter.”

“I didn't mean to leave! It just happened! I never meant to leave the Narnians defenseless.”

“I know,” Aslan said, lowering his head so it rested on his front paws. I scooted forward so I could hug Aslan around the neck. I nestled my body further into his glowing mane and willed myself to stop crying.

“You may not realize it, but you have people here who will risk it all for Narnia, just as you will. Last time you were here by yourself, in a Narnia that you did not recognize. Now, you have Narnians and Telmarines alike at your side whom you can trust and the Narnia you are fighting for now is the one you have always fought for. I believe, Andy, that you can redeem yourself in the eyes of the Narnians when you are successful in destroying the White Witch's chance of returning.”

“I know that's what you are waiting for. Your redemption. This is it, Andrea. Let yourself trust in those around you now, and you will succeed not only for yourself, but also for Narnia.”

I nodded. We remained in that position for some time before Aslan nudged me as I started to doze off. We quietly made our way back to the castle halls leading to my room.

“Andy, I will leave you here. Do not be alarmed in the morning to find I have gone. I will return in time for the battle, but there are things in my country that I must attend to.”

“Goodbye,” I quietly whispered before running my hand one last time through his mane and walking into my room, closing the door. I undressed and climbed into bed, falling asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

***

Morning found Caspian and I sitting across each other during breakfast, munching on biscuits and scones while drinking tea. Minutes earlier Caspian had dispatched a soldier to account for every human being, so we sat in a comfortable silence until he returned.

Caspian looked as though he hadn't slept. His hair was disheveled and his eyes were gloomy and droopy, a stark contrast from the shininess of the armored suit he wore. Before I could ask what had bothered him so much as to keep him awake, we heard footsteps running toward us out in the hall. Assuming the worst, we both stood up in a ready position.

“Your Highness,” a soldier gasped, struggling to catch his breath.

“Commander,” Caspian greeted him.

“Aslan is gone. Soldiers reported him leaving shortly before 3 in the morning, running out of the castle and bounding toward the Western Woods.”

Caspian's eyes widened and he turned towards me, waiting for an explanation. I nodded.

“He had some things he needed to take care of, but he will be back in time for battle. That's what he told me and he would never go back on his word.”

Caspian's eyes searched mine. In all honesty, I was still upset from the conversation I had with Aslan last night and I think Caspian was able to tell, but he let it slide. He turned back to the soldier and asked about the attendance of the humans.

“Every human being is accounted for, Your Highness, but-”

“Very well. Make sure the guards are alerted to Aslan's absence. We need to be extra vigilant now that he is gone,” Caspian ordered, sitting back down at his spot at the table. I followed suit.

The soldier nodded but did not dismiss himself.

“Sir?”

Caspian looked back towards the soldier and quirked his eyebrow, indicating he was listening.

“Aslan is not the only one who left last night.”

The hand that was lifting my teacup to my lips paused just inches away from my face. I turned slowly toward the soldier and noticed a look in his eyes that hadn't registered with me before.

“According to the roll call sheet, the entire minotaur population and members of the dwarf population left last night as well.”

My gaze quickly shifted to Caspian's face and I watched him accept this news easily, acting as though he weren't surprised by it.

Treason, in its most basic form, had happened right under his nose. And, by the way he appeared at breakfast this morning, King Caspian the Tenth had watched it happen.