The Golden Witch || Peter Pevensie x OC

65. Helen

As per Peter's suggestion, the first thing the couple did after stepping off the train was find a local market that was selling flowers.

Valera wanted to have something to give to Helen Pevensie as a thank you for inviting her into her home.

Nothing else seemed more fitting than a gift of nature.

Something that connected her to her old family, to give to her new family.

Back in Narnia, the flowers were one of her personal favourite things to communicate with.

A while ago, Lucy had asked Valera to try and put such a phenomenon into words. The young girl was desperate to hear what nature was like as a conscious thing.

It was all rather complex, but the witch had wound up with quite a decent analogy.

All of nature, when it came to communication, was like a book.

The trees were akin to the story, and the information the words provided the reader with. They were always the things Valera turned to when she needed trusted and extensive knowledge.

The rain was like the hidden meaning to those words. Different interpretations and secrets within the text that Valera could only acquire when the water droplets fell from the sky to reveal them.

The wind was similar to the physical binding of the book. It kept the information intact, and could allow it to travel wherever Valera went.

As for the flowers, Valera described them as the words written on the final page.

Whatever they had to say would always be short, final, and could leave you feeling an excess of various emotions.

Each flower would be different, and what you could learn from them would always vary.

Now finding herself in a world where she couldn't choose the flowers that ended like a good story, she had to go off something different when assembling a quaint bouquet as a gift.

The only thing left was colour.

Valera picked out ones that had the autumnal shade of maple on their petals, and the spring colour of jade on their stems and leaves.

Along with a few sunflowers that weren't in full bloom just yet, and some night-blooming jasmine, she had assembled a collection that truly represented her family.

There had been some snowdrops that caught her eye, but Valera thought it best not to give a gift that included a reminder of Jadis to the mother of four children her sister had tried to kill.

Paying for the bouquet with the coins Diggory had given her, it was wrapped in a brown paper casing, tied together with some white string.

"I think it's perfect", Peter praised as the two started to walk away from the bustling market and towards his home.

"It certainly comes close", Valera muttered, fussing over the exact placement of the petals to make the overall arrangement look more vibrant.

Knowing of her tendency to fuss continuously over things, Peter took one of her hands in his as they strolled down the streets.

As they always did whenever she was let out of her usual countryside home, Valera's eyes never stayed put for more than five seconds.

They were rapidly flicking between everything in sight.

From the people she passed by to whom she always offered a bright smile, to the birds that flew overhead, to the various buildings of different colours and purposes.

She took everything in with a certain awe, just as the Pevensies did when they first walked through Narnia.

Given her scrutinous gaze, Valera was always able to spot something that was new to her.