The Tragedy of Being

A Life of a Friend

marjorie by Taylor Swift 

Cass was feeling rather unwell the next morning. She had a headache after not sleeping so well the night before. But they had things to do.

She sat at the table with the Pevensies for breakfast. Susan was chewing silently on her eggs, clearly still fast asleep. Lucy was in a rather pleasant mood. Edmund was shoveling food into his mouth. It occurred to Cass that the Witch probably didn't feed Edmund while he was her prisoner. The thought made her skin crawl. 

Peter was unreadable, leaning against a rock at the base of the hill.

"Narnia's going to run out of toast, Ed." Lucy joked. Edmund sheepishly put the toast down back on his plate. Cass frowned at the comment. She didn't think it was necessary. Telling someone what they should and shouldn't be eating was never necessary.

"I'm sure they'll pack you something for the way back." Peter spoke. He was staring intently at the bottom of his cup as if he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Cass frowned. Why did he decide that?

"We're going back?" Lucy asked. She had a deep frown on her face. She sounded so sad and disappointed, it made Cass glance back over at Peter to see if he would change his mind.

"You are." Peter stated. He pushed himself off of the wall, walking over to the table.

"We're not staying to help?" Susan asked.

"Edmund almost died and Lucy almost drowned. It's too dangerous for you to stay here. So you will be going home."

Cass frowned deeper.

"And what about you?" Susan asked.

The look on Peter's face showed that he was planning on staying. Peter at the age of 13 seemed to have decided that he should be allowed to make the decision on if he should die or not. Cass didn't like the finality and dejection on his face.

"They need us. All of us." Cass reasoned. She willed all of her emotions into her eyes, trying to convey that Peter wasn't alone, that he didn't have to die, contrary to what he seemed to believe. 

There was a beat of silence. Peter was beginning to waver.

"I agree. I've seen what the White Witch can do. And I've helped her do it." Edmund spoke. Cass' eyes snapped over to Edmund. He had a gentleness in his voice, but it carried the heavy weight of authority. "And we can't leave these people behind to suffer for it."

There was another moment of silence. Edmund's words hung thick in the air.

Susan got to her feet with a grin. "Well, it's settled then."

Peter frowned. "Where are you going?"

Susan picked up her bow. "To go get in some practice."

Susan glanced at Cass. "You coming?"

Cass snorted. "I've got a few other things I need to do first. Last night at dinner, Orius said to find him after breakfast. He wants to show me something."

Susan nodded and Peter frowned in confusion.

Cass didn't bother to clarify and got to her feet, heading towards the stables where Orius told her to meet him.

Orius was waiting, and opened the stable door when he saw her.

"Cassiopeia, good timing. I took the liberty to find you a steed for the battle." Orius said, leading the way into the stable.

At first, Cass couldn't decide on the color of the horse. It seemed to be blue, grey, black and white at the exact same time. The horse was magnificent and muscular, as any good horse should be. It had a long black tail and a black mane. The horse was strikingly beautiful.