The King and the Girl

Chapter 9

You rode most of the day listening to Reep tell you stories of his marvelous adventures while sitting atop Arthur's head. Reep had just finished telling you one of his greatly exaggerated stories, when Caspian interrupted before he started another.

"____, I should tell you something. Let's walk for a bit?" You nodded and patted the back of Arthur's neck while Caspian climbed off of his saddle. He handed the reigns to someone and helped you down again. He led you to the front of the group, your arms looped together as you walked.

"Is everything alright, Caspian?" You looked up at him.

"Yes, yes, of course. I just wanted to get you away from Reep so that I could tell you my own story while we walk." He smiled at you and you played with the side of your dress flowing it back and forth as you walked together. He let out a small chuckle before beginning his story.

"One day, I was out exploring. Looking for the lost Narnians to try and bring them the news that the war was over and that Narnia was at peace once again, when I came upon a small clearing on the edge of a cliff. I hadn't even seen the clearing until I stepped onto it." You leaned in, listening intently to every syllable. "Aslan appeared to already be there, I hadn't seen him either. I asked him what the place was, and he told me of an old friend from long ago who had been taken, and that one day they would hopefully return someday now that the war is over. He refused to give me much more than that, but when I heard what he said to you in the library, I knew that I was meant to find this clearing, to bring you to it." He smiled at you before Reep appeared on his shoulder.

"We've got the rest of the way, Reep, tell everyone to start setting up camp again and to keep an eye open. ____ and I will continue to the clearing and hopefully get some answers before we return."

"Yes, my king!" Reep gave a small salute before jumping from Caspian's shoulder and running back to the others to give them the instructions. You and Caspian continued to walk into the woods, until you saw a very high wall that appeared to be made of bushes. Caspian let your arm drop and began to swipe at the bush with his sword in different spots until he stopped.

"Here." he stated. You walked over to him and only saw the wall. He smiled and walked through the bush in front of you with ease. "Magic," he called back. "just walk right through, I'm right here." He called. You looked at the bush a little nervously before reaching out to touch it.

Just before your fingers touched the leaves, the branches began to separate before you, creating an archyway in the wall for you to walk through. You looked in front of you to find Caspian in awe of the bush moving for you. You stepped into the clearing and began to look around. It was a small, circular clearing. Just like Caspian had said, the clearing seemed to be almost floating beside the cliff. You noticed that the bush/wall had surrounded the entire clearing, and part of the cliff too. In the middle of the clearing, there was a small bed with ice blue colors decorating the fancy wood carvings on the wooden posts. Beside the bed, you could see what appeared to be a mail box and a bench, with the same icy blue carvings to match the bed.

"Aslan says only the one with the spirit of the girl he once knew could open the box." As you walked closer you realized that the box had been frozen shut, but this didn't look like any ordinary ice, it seemed to be glowing, waiting for you to touch it. You felt as though you were in a trance as you reached forward to do just that. As soon as your skin made contact with the ice, it quickly melted away and the box opened to you. Caspian watched as you pulled a letter out of the box and sat on the bench. You read your name on the outside of the unopened envelope.

You broke the seal and opened the envelope to begin reading it aloud as Caspian moved to sit with you on the bench.

"My Dear ____,
    I understand if you do not wish to read anything I have written to you. I was always so overprotective of you, thinking Aslan as your tutor might help you to unlock the magic deep within your heart. I felt betrayed on the night that you told me you wished to live with him instead of me. I now know that what I have done is wrong, but that does not mean I will have the chance to make this up to you. I know I do not deserve it, but I beg for your forgiveness as I ride off to the last of my battles. I shall not be here when you return to Narnia. I shall not be able to tell you how much I truly do love you sweetheart. I only ever wished to see you with everything you had ever wanted. I now know that may not include a kingdom of your own to rule. So with this, my final letter and my final words to you, my daughter: Believe in yourself and take pride in who you are, for no matter how shameful I may be, I am part of you. You are part of me. And I am so proud of you, my dear, whomever you may be now. You can do anything you set your mind to.
                       All my love,
                       Your mother"

You looked to the edge of the clearing at the view from the cliff and felt a tear roll down your face. Caspian softly wiped it away, making you smile and blush.

"I guess I really didn't know my mother after all..." you sighed as Caspian pulled you in for a hug.

Aslan suddenly appeared walking through the entrance to the clearing. You didn't see him at first, until he had made it in front of you and placed a rather large paw on your knee. 

"You were my tutor?" He gave a small nod. "And I told Mother that I wished to live with you instead of her?" He gave another small nod. You looked down at his paw and sighed. "When the Great Kings and Queens came to fight my mother..." You trailed off, not able to finish your thoughts.

"Yes, ____, the war that had begun before the Great Ones arrived, was because of what your mother had done to you. She was angry with the both of us for caring about each other in the way she should have cared for you. I had tried to warn her of the darkness of this jealousy in her heart, but it only turned to hatred. When the Pevinsy's arrived, I knew that the prophecy was being fulfilled and that one day, you would return to your home." Aslan pulled his paw away from your knee and began to walk nearby to a flower bed you hadn't noticed before. You stood to follow him as Caspian remained on the bench.

"____, you have a great many talents, some that not even I know of, but you will find these with time. The first lesson that we had was right here." He stopped beside the flower bed and nodded as you moved closer to it. You closed your eyes and took a deep breath, feeling yourself be called to touch the soil in front of you. You reached forward, and when you looked back up you saw that there was a green light flowing down your arms and into the soil. The more the light flowed into the ground, the more flowers grew in the bed before you.

You smiled as you admired the beauty of the clearing now with a ring of colorful flowers inside of the barrier. "You are a Witch like your mother, ____, but your powers are very different. While your mother could only control the wind and snow and ice, you, Dear One, will find that you have to power to change much more than that."

The flower nymph that you had spoken to before appeared again behind Aslan, you smiled to her as you stood. "My queen." She spoke in a respectful whisper while curtsying to you.