The Wish

The Reunion

When I got to the castle, I threw the reins into the stableman's hands and sprinted inside with Ares following closely behind. I knew Caspian would be in the throne room for his daily meetings so that was where I rushed to, I stormed in and Caspian looked at me as if he had seen a ghost.

"Something is seriously wrong" I panted. Caspian came sprinting over to me and held my face in his hands while he thoroughly inspected me. I kissed his hands "I'm okay, just a few small cuts but nothing serious." "What happened, why is your hair full of leaves and twigs." he said already pointing at the half forest that was in my hair "Oh, I don't know, I wanted to audition as a tree for the next royal stage." I said rolling my eyes, I continued "As I said, something is deeply wrong" "What happened then your Majesty?" asked the professor "Well, I was training in the forest as usual when I noticed something strange, it was as if the atmosphere shifted. Suddenly it became cold and kill, it felt very unnatural. So I went out hoping to find the cause of this, I suddenly came across a piece of forest that was completely black, there was a pond in the middle and it was pitch black as well." I took out my water bottle and poured the water into a glass that was on the conference table. Everyone seemed shocked by these events, Caspian looked at me with concern "But that doesn't explain why you're hurt Maria" "Right, so when I was getting the water out of the pond I was suddenly attacked by a centaur. He tried to kill me." "But didn't he know who you were?" asked Trumpkin confused "I tried to convince him several times that there was no harm in it and that I was his king but he didn't seem to register it. It seemed like he wasn't able to talk at all, he just kept charging at me. I'm sorry but I took him out." I said with a saddened voice, Cas pulled me into a hug "It wasn't your fault, you did what you had to do. I'm glad you're alright."

I smiled at him and turned to the professor "Professor, do you have any idea what could've caused this?" He seemed deeply absorbed in thoughts "Hmmm, you could describe the centaur for me?" "sure" I sat down on one of the chairs and began to tell "The centaur was freezing as if he no longer contained one living cell. His eyes were black continuously, something that you heard as a child from horror stories. He seemed full of hatred and as if he no longer chose his own actions. It seemed as though all life had been sucked out of him and that he was now controlled by someone or something. Do you have any idea Professor?" The Professor looked at us anxiously as if he already knew the answer to this puzzle "Do tell us please", Caspian "If it is what I think it is then we need serious help and we currently have by far not enough men to defeat it." the Professor explained anxiously. I sighed "Great, and where are we going to get those much-needed men to defeat this mysterious thing?" Caspian saw that I was getting fed up with all the mystery and came to stand behind me and put his hand on my shoulder to reassure me. "So we need help, but we just have no idea where to get it?" I said frustrated. I heard the doors opening "So it's a good thing I'm here" from the moment I heard this voice I turned abruptly but it was simply not possible "Peter?" I said with eyes full of tears, he came to me running and embraced me as if his life depended on it. Because of the excitement I fell through my knees and sat down on the ground, Peter didn't stop the hug for a second. I looked at him with swollen eyes and laughed "I missed you so much" "I missed you too sis, more than anything." "What are you doing here, I thought you would never return again." "I don't know, I was working and went to the Toilet and then I suddenly stood here. So what is going on?" "To be honest, we don't know for ourselves, but we can use all the help!" I said while standing up. "Then it is good that we are here too?" a now female voice said, I looked in the direction from where the sound came and my eyes filled with tears once again.

The voice belonged to my youngest sister, she was in the presence of Edmund, Susan and Aslan. I rushed to them and caught them in a tight embrace, at this moment tears of joy were streaming down my cheeks. Susan cupped my face and wiped my tears away "We missed you so much Maria, you have no idea." "I missed you so much too, we have so much to tell you," I said looking at the rest of my family. I now turned to Aslan and hugged him "I missed you too" he smiled and nodded "You don't hear me complaining, but there must be a serious reason for bringing all my siblings back." "You are right dear one, let's sit down and I will explain everything." As suggested by the mighty lion, we went back into the meeting room and took our seats. Caspian too was pleased to see my family, for him it was a happy reunion too. I started the conversation "I don't know if you are aware Aslan, but there have been some serious and worrying facts." "Yes my dear one, I am aware and your concerns are justified. The story goes back centuries to my birth, I was born with a twin brother only I contained light and life and he contained death and darkness. His name is Morus, a lion-like me but he has the ability to change shape. He draws his energy and strength from all living beings and therefore he also has the power to change into a human being, unlike me. A long time ago I fought against Morus together with the ancient forces, the founders of Narnia. That battle was won and he fled away to an island far away." I spoke again "But why now, why does he strike now?" Caspian and my family nodded in agreement with my comment "When you along with your brother, sister and husband defeated the green mist and destroyed the island I felt a shift in the deep magic that rules in Narnia. It turned out that Morus had fled to the island that you destroyed during the battle against the mist. Morus saw this as an opportunity to make an attempt to take over Narnia and have everyone subject to him."

"What can we do?" now asked my brother Peter. "At the moment we must wait and be alert, he will reappear and when he does we must be ready so that we are not surprised." "We will train everyone harder, enlist more men, commit to better guarding in the castle but also in the city. There must be no unnecessary casualties." Aslan nodded and Caspian placed his hand on mine in agreement. "We will do everything we can to help you in this battle," Peter said, smiling at me. When I looked at the rest of my family they were also smiling and all smiled at me, I didn't understand what they were referring to but I will ask them about it later. Aslan then addressed me again "Enjoy the reunion and be ready for battle at any time." "Thank you, Aslan." After discussing some details, we said goodbye to the council and Aslan who separated with the Professor to discuss further plans, and we all went to the living room in the castle where we could catch up undisturbed.

I ordered Caspian to make some tea so we could catch up. "It looks like you're the boss around here," Susan chuckled about my letting Caspian make tea. "As long as you know that" I laughed. Lucy smirked at me "So how are things between you and your husband." "Husband?" exclaimed Peter and Susan in chorus. I couldn't stop laughing "Didn't you know, Caspian and I got married shortly after you left. Didn't Lucy and Ed tell you?" "No they didn't!" said Susan as she smacked Edmund on the back of his head. "Ouch!" Ed exclaimed, Caspian came in with the tea and sat down next to me, Peter smirked at me and turned to Caspian. What was Peter up to now, I thought to myself. "So Caspian" he began "how is my sister as a wife". I gave Peter a look and looked at Caspian who was turning as red as a tomato "I have nothing to say, she's as stubborn as a mule and a pain in the ass."

I gave him a playful look and hit him on the back of the head with a pillow lying next to me. He burst into laughter and shook his head "No really she is stubborn and a pain in the ass giving she almost died several times" I pretended to slap him again "BUT, she is the best and sweetest woman I have ever seen. I couldn't imagine anyone else I would want to share my adventures with and live the rest of my life with. Besides, she is a great queen, everyone loves her and she always makes the right choices for the benefit of the people. She is incredibly brave and she literally gives her life for her loved ones. In short, she is a great queen and wife." I gave him a kiss on the cheek and whispered "I love you" in his ear. Peter and Susan were satisfied with the updates and they were now talking about their life in America living with Mum and Dad. I was happy that they were doing so well and that they have built a life in their world.

Ares suddenly walked in, Lucy and Susan were startled by his appearance and jumped a meter in the air. I had to laugh at their reaction to Ares "Don't worry, he's just a big puppy" "Maria, it's a pitch-black wolf who looks like he's going to eat me!" said Susan in surprise "Oh please, he's super cute and sweet" I said as Ares put his head in my lap "See?" I said pointing at Ares who was looking at me with his puppy eyes. Susan and Lucy seemed to relax and smiled at Ares who was also getting used to their presence.

"So what's the plan now?" asked Ed "Well like Aslan said there's not much to do at the moment so we'll just have to wait and see but in the meantime, we need to be prepared in case he strikes," I said, everyone, nodded in agreement "Maria is right, Susan and Lucy you will train with Maria and Peter and Edmund with me. For now, I will have someone show you to your rooms so you can freshen up." Everyone agreed to the plan "So, what's for dinner tonight?" asked Peter smiling, I laughed "So you haven't changed a bit" I said patting him on the back. Everyone went to their rooms to freshen up and then to the dining room for a festive meal. That evening, there was still a lot of laughter and catching up, and not much serious talk. After dinner, we said goodbye and all went back to our rooms for a night's sleep. Caspian and I got into bed together, I snuggled up to him. He kissed me on the forehead "It makes me so happy to see you so happy now that your family is here." "I'm very happy too, everyone I love very much is here in this castle, what more could I want?" I smiled at him. "I love that smile," Caspian said softly "And I love you, sleep well my king" "Sleep well, my queen". And so we both fell asleep, we would need all the rest we could get if we were to defeat this evil.