"Aslan is dead."
I mumble it, like a swear.
"What?" Beetee asks me, as Loyalists begin to form a crowd. My rushed sprint down the hill attracted quite a lot of attention.
I sniffle, exhaling in an attempt to compose myself.
I look around. I find a chair, stepping forward and standing on it. I look around at my people. People wishing to follow me, no matter what I do. Simply because I'm the heiress to the Narnian throne.
"Aslan is dead." I repeat, gasps coming up from the crowd. "I'll not sugar coat it. He sacrificed himself so that...so that we might live. He gave himself to the White Witch, and he was slain atop the Stone Table last night."
Mumbles erupt, and I look around for what to say. I don't quickly find it. How do I move on from that?
"Silence!" Beetee commands. His voice bellows to the furthest reaches of our camp. Afterwards, you could hear a pin drop on the grass. "Your Queen is speaking to you!" He tells them.
I clear my throat. "Thank you, Beetee." I nod. "That's not all. The Witch desires to move her troops today. Perhaps even at dawn. We are going to fight today. For Narnia, for the throne. For what's right. We are going to fight to avenge Aslan." I tell them.
"We will fight and die for you, my Queen." Beetee raises his sword. My soldiers follow suit, all raising their weapons into the air as a sign of respect for me.
"You will fight and die with me." I tell him. "Even if we achieve victory, not all of you standing before me will get to see that victory. We are going to war. People are going to die. I might die." I tell them.
"We are with you." Xavier tells me, from his place in a chair across from me. "Always will be, Princess." He smiles.
I nod.
"We are to fight as one with King Peter's army. I know your loyalties lie with me, and I cannot change that. But fight alongside his army as if you are one. Help them, aid them, and they will help you in return. We can win back our Narnia. But we can only win it back together." I raise my sword, the golden exterior shimmering by torchlight. "You must choose for yourself. Each and every one of you. Are you willing to die for what's right? Are you willing to die for Narnia?" I ask them.
Beetee is the first to step forward. He raises his sword once more, nodding to me.
"I'm with you, Rose." He tells me.
"I'm with you." Xavier's shrill voice calls to me.
"I am with you, my Queen. For Narnia!" A centaur steps forwards.
"For Narnia, and for Aslan!"
"I'm with you!" The crowd bellows, over and over again. Their cries resounding in my ears like a symphony.
They're no longer loyalists to a throne from some several hundred years ago. Loyalists to a ghost King and Queen long dead. No, tonight...tonight they are loyalists to their country. Loyalists to Aslan. Loyalists to the rightful Kings and Queens of this land.
"Good." My voice sounds, their cries ceasing. "Because we've much work to do before the battle. I hope you've got your good rest, boys and girls. Because we're all going to need it."
-
"This is all you've brought?" Oreius asks me. He glances behind me, looking at Beetee, who holds Xavier.
"They're the brains and the brawn of this operation." I smile up at him.
"Can you guess who is who!?" Xavier calls.
YOU ARE READING
Fearless • P. Pevensie
FanfictionOrphaned at a young age, Rosemary Wilson was left under the supervision of her legal Godmother. An old friend of her Mother's, one Mrs. Doris Macready. After spending so much time with the woman, Rosemary fails to understand why her mother was frie...
