The High Queen of Narnia

Chapter 6

They were to leave as soon as night fell, Elodie's plan in place as the last of the preparations were made, but rather than be with them, Elodie found herself in the cavern tunnel, running her hand along the drawings of their first adventure in Narnia. She was kneeling on the ground as she looked over the images of their battle against the White Witch.

"I never thought I'd be embodied in legendary carvings in a stone temple," she admitted, sensing the prince before she saw him. "Then again, I never thought I'd be queen of a magical kingdom."

"How did you know I was here?" Caspian asked, a hand on the hilt of his sword as his face seemed gold in the firelight.

"I know you're here the same way I know Peter is still sitting against the stone table," she answered, her fingers still tracing over Jadis. "All of nature used to be alive in Narnia long ago. The trees, the flowers, the wind, the water. The trees used to talk to me. They'd be able to tell me what kind of creature was standing and how far away they were so long as their feet were on the ground. Now I can only sense humans a short distance away from me."

Caspian then came to kneel by her side, Elodie able to feel the warmth of his body as he watched her fingers deftly move. "I promise you, we will free Narnia, one way or the other."

Her smile was small but disbelieving. "I hope that is true, but you Telmarines are notoriously difficult to defeat."

He chuckled at her words. "You defeated the White Witch. What difference is a few Telmarines?"

Her hand fell from the wall as she turned to him. "You're different from any Telmarine I've met."

"And you're different from any Narnian I've met."

She huffed a laugh at that. "I've always been different," she revealed as she stared back at the image on the wall. "I never belonged in the world I was born in. Books were the only way I could escape."

"I felt as if I never belonged in Telmar," Caspian admitted, drawing her blue eyes back to him. "Everything was always about war and fighting. My professor was my only escape. He was the one that told me of your legend."

The way her face looked when she smiled at him could only be described as ethereal. "I'm used to reading about other people in books. I never thought I'd be the one other people read about."

"You doubt yourself?"

"No," she answered, breaking their eye contact as she looked for the right words. "I think it's more that I can't believe it's real. The world I come from has no magic, no minotaurs, or centaurs. All I ever wanted was to live in a world like Narnia and sometimes I can't believe I'm actually here."

She could feel Caspian's eyes on her and it had been a while since she'd felt this vulnerable in front of someone. The last time she'd felt like this was in front of her twin on the first day of school. She'd had a meltdown in his arms because she wanted to go back to Narnia. She didn't want to stay in England. Everything felt wrong. Everything felt forced. She didn't like it. She didn't want it. She wanted Narnia. She wanted Aslan and Solomon and Mr Tumnus and everyone else. Her brother hadn't been able to do much other than hold her as she cried and assure her that he wanted to return too. And that they would find their way back when the time was right.

Now it felt like that all over again.

"Are you going to leave again, once this is over?" Caspian dared ask and her sigh was heavy.

"I don't want to," she answered instantly. "I don't think I can handle leaving again." She didn't give Caspian a chance to answer as she took a deep breath before looking back up at him. "But that's my problem to deal with later. Right now we have bigger things to worry about. Like how to break into your uncle's castle," she said as she stood, brushing the sand from her pants and boots before she looked down at the prince who was now kneeling before her. "Care to join us?"

He didn't hesitate to take the hand she offered, taking a second to hold it as he said, "I wouldn't miss it."

And he allowed her to pull him to his feet, but once he was up, he didn't let go of her hand and his eyes didn't leave her as she looked down to where her hand rested on his as if she'd never been touched like that before, so gently and tenderly. And to be quite honest, she hadn't. She'd never even thought about boys or love beyond what she read about in books. Except maybe until now.

"Queen Elodie!" called a voice and the pair were quick to pull apart as Solomon came bounding down the tunnel.

"Uh, what is it, Solomon?" Elodie asked.

"The sun has set, my lady. It is time to leave for Telmar," he informed the two before he lowered himself to the ground and Elodie took that as her sign to climb on.

"See you on the battlefield, Prince Caspian," she said with a smirk, hiding her fears away.

"I look forward to it, Queen Elodie," he returned before Solomon turned and went running through the tunnels and Elodie's laugh echoed in her wake, something she couldn't help because riding Solomon always had the ability to make her smile.

And it made the prince smile as well.