The High Queen II

Prologue

Lucy Pevensie sat by the window of their small house in Finchley, staring out at the rain-soaked streets of England. It had been months since they had returned from Narnia, and yet every day, it felt like they had been torn from a dream they could never return to. But the strangest part was not the world around her—it was her siblings. They had changed, all of them, in ways Lucy couldn't fully understand.

Peter, once her proud and protective older brother, now carried a weight in his eyes that never seemed to lift. He was still kind, still took care of them all, but there was a hardness to him now—a sharp edge that hadn't been there before. He was High King Peter the Magnificent, but here, in England, he was just Peter Pevensie, a teenager with no army to lead and no battles to fight. Lucy could see how it pained him, though he tried to hide it.

Susan had changed, too. Lucy had always admired her beauty and grace, and Susan still carried herself like a queen, but there was a coldness now, an aloofness. She was trying to fit in, to forget, throwing herself into school and society with a kind of desperate focus. She smiled and spoke politely, but it felt like she had buried Queen Susan the Gentle deep inside herself, locking her away with the memories of Narnia.

Edmund, in his own way, had grown quieter. He wasn't the same boy who had betrayed them all once before. He was now King Edmund the Just, the one who always had a clever remark, a sharp observation. But he seemed restless, like he didn't know where he fit anymore, as if England was too small to contain all that he had become. He would tease Lucy and smile, but she saw how his eyes wandered, always searching for something that wasn't there.

But the most changed of all was Eleanor.

Eleanor had always been strong, always Peter's equal in everything. She was the High Queen, Peter's twin, the one who carried the weight of Narnia's heart within her. Now, back in England, it was as if Eleanor had become two people. To everyone else, she was just Eleanor—composed, dignified, perfect in every way. But in the quiet moments, when they were alone, Lucy saw the cracks. She saw the way Eleanor's smile never reached her eyes, how the weight of their return pressed down on her more than anyone else.

There was a time when Eleanor could escape into books, Lucy remembered, but now even that had faded. Books were no longer an escape—they were a reminder of everything she had lost. Eleanor had the mind of an adult, the heart of a queen, but she was trapped in a world that treated her like a child. Lucy felt helpless watching her sister struggle to fit into a life that no longer felt like hers.

Their mother had welcomed them back with open arms, of course. She was relieved to have them home, safe and sound, none the wiser to the years they had spent ruling a magical land. But for Lucy, their return felt like anything but safe. They were back in school, back to being ordinary, and it felt all wrong. Narnia had changed them—moulded them into kings and queens. How were they supposed to live in a world where none of that mattered?

The rain tapped softly against the windowpane, but Lucy's thoughts were far away. She longed for Narnia, for the adventure and purpose that had once filled their lives. She missed Aslan most of all, the warmth of his voice, the way he made everything feel right.

"We don't belong here," Lucy whispered to herself, her heart aching with the truth of it.

She glanced over her shoulder at her siblings each lost in their own thoughts, each trying, and failing, to slip back into the life they had once known.

They had all changed, and Lucy wondered if any of them would ever truly feel at home in England again.