Fearless • P. Pevensie

New Friends

"They were helping Tumnus. The Witch got here before I did." The fox begins to explain, I assume what happened to the creatures here. "Ow!" He calls at once, wincing with a slight yelp.

"Are you alright?" Lucy asks him.

"Well, I wish I could say their bark was worse than their bite." Mrs. Beaver tries to touch the wound again, causing the fox to whimper once more. "Ow!" He protests.

"Stop squirming!" Mrs. Beaver instructs. "You're worse than Beaver of bath day!"

"Worst day of the year." He tells us.

What I'd give for a bath right now. A warm, freshly-drawn bath to cure my aches. Scented soaps, maybe a record playing somewhere. My muscles ache from trudging through the snow all day, sometimes running. I'm chilled to the bone from exposure. A bath, a bath sounds lovely.

"Thank you for your kindness." The fox says. He weakly stands, looking around at the six of us. "But that's all the cure I have time for."

"You're leaving?" Lucy asks him, questioning him as I was about to. He's hurt. Incredibly hurt, he's in no position to be heading anywhere.

"It's been a pleasure, my Queen, and an honour. But time is short and Aslan himself has asked me to gather more troops." The fox tells us.

Mrs. Beaver gasps, looking over to her husband. "You've seen Aslan?" Mr. Beaver asks, a pleasantly shocked expression on his face.

"What's he like?" Mrs. Beaver asks, equally as delighted by this news.

"Like everything we've ever heard." The fox tells her. "You'll be glad to have him by your side in the battle against the Witch." He looks up, specifically at Peter and I.

"But- we're not planning on fighting any witch." Susan tells him, though I wish she wouldn't.

"But surely, King Peter- High Queen Rosemary- the prophecy!" The fox looks expectantly at the two of us.

"We can't go to war without you." Mr. Beaver looks at us. "All of you." He reiterates.

Peter tosses a bit of wood into the fire that I hadn't noticed he'd been fiddling with. "We just want our brother back." He confirms, as I sit up slightly.

"You know as well as I do that getting Edmund from her is a fool's errand without Aslan." I tell him, looking over at him expectantly. "We can't just ask a favour from him without giving something back! These are his people- my people! Are you just going to turn your back on them the moment you get Edmund back?" I ask him, leaning away from him.

"As you might recall, we came to you to escape a war." Peter tells me, his tone different. I don't miss the look he gives back to Susan. Almost like he's asking for her approval. "Now- now if you wish to fight, then that is your choice. But my family- my sisters and my little brother, they've got no place in a war." He tells me.

"That's it, then?" I ask.

He sets his jawline, staring me down.

"That's it." He tells me.

I nod to myself, standing up and crossing over to the Beavers. I sit next to them, accepting my own coat from the fox as I do so.

"The fox will leave at once. He's got his own important matters to attend to." I look at him expectantly.

He bows his head. "Of course, your majesty." He tells me. "Good luck." He offers, scampering off into the forest without another word.

I look back at the Pevensies.