After the End (Narnia)

Chapter XVII - On the Other Side

Edmund had been drifting for days. He wasn't sure if he was awake and delirious or dreaming realistic dreams, but everything he saw seemed to be blurry around the edges. Every aspect of time appeared to be upside-down and non-functional, with only one safe haven - the angel.

The young king could never determine the person's identity in the haze of his own mind, but her voice and her touch cut through the fog swirling in his head like sunlight cutting through clouds. Sometimes he thought he could see her, a graceful shape wearing white, always singing and humming, holding his hand and occasionally kissing his forehead. Yes, she was definitely an angel.

As a child, Edmund had been fascinated by the idea of supernatural beings. Angels had always come to the forefront in his research, which he had always kept secret in fear of his mother's prying eyes. He had been obsessed with these heavenly beings who wore white and sang for the coming of a new king. Even now in his foggy mind Edmund knew the being wasn't a real angel - there was something distinctly human about their manner - but the angel, whoever they were, brought him comfort from the confusion of the in-between state he was floating in.

Sometimes the angel would sing songs he knew, hymns and songs from his time in England. Other times she would sing foreign, strange songs, with pretty melodies he had never heard of. There was one she sang often that he loved to hear, the French words rolling off her tongue effortlessly and sweetly. He thought he had heard it a few times in his later years in England, but he was sure the song had never sounded sweeter than when sung by his angel.

He remembered one night quite well. He had started coughing somewhere within the haze, coughs that wracked his body and pulled tears from his sleeping eyes. The angel had appeared suddenly, her warm hand holding his, singing a lullaby as he fought for breath. He had let the fog consume him afterwards, the only feeling remaining - her hand holding his for the rest of the night.

Harriet had been visiting Edmund almost every day since the incident, taking almost complete control over the man's care, save for the changing of his pyjamas every now and then. She often sat in his company for hours at a time, singing to him occasionally. He had been mostly unresponsive since the event, but sometimes he muttered and cried softly to himself. It was almost as if he was sleeptalking, thought Harriet. If only that was the case.

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Diggory had been working tirelessly since Edmund's accident to comprehend the dark magic that had caused it. The library had become his personal room, and he hadn't been seen at a community meal in days. Numerous Narnians had been interviewed, and Diggory found himself collating a collection similar in size to that the Friends of Narnia had kept in England.

There are still so many people to interview! Diggory thought with a grimace. We need to get to the bottom of this, and quickly. Something is in the air, I can feel it! He returned to his work with a sigh. It almost felt like he was back at Oxford, swamped in endless stacks of paper and books. At least this time, it was for a far nobler cause.

Polly swept into the room with a mug of tea, steaming and fragrant in the musty space. "I thought it might be time again for a cup of tea," she said kindly. Diggory accepted the mug with a grateful smile.

"Stay with me for a while, won't you Polly? This work is becoming quite menial." He sipped on the tea with an expectant eyebrow raise. Polly laughed and cleared the seat next to the professor from a stack of old tomes with a sigh.

"How long has it been since you've had nothing but books for company?" Polly teased with a cheeky smile.

"A little too long than I'd care to mention, dear Polly," Diggory sighed. "Nobody ever told me how lonely it would be to be a don."

"I bet no one expected you would have a good friend like me up your sleeve either." Her voice grew softer in the quiet room. "I'm always here if you need someone to talk to, Diggory. I think I've known you longer than anyone else," she laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. Diggory smiled at her with a boyish ease he hadn't felt in a long time. The two sat talking in the library until the light of dawn lit up the stained glass windows.

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Lucy sat at the castle gates, making daisy chains out of the wild daisies that grew there. The appearance of the mountains in the distance soothed her as she went through the repetitive motion of fitting the daisies together. She hummed a little tune as she watched the clouds drift above her. The day seemed to have cool tones in it that soothed her.

Tumnus approached her as she had her back to him. She jumped as he spoke. "Hallo Lucy!"

"Tumnus!" she scolded. "You scared me! You know I don't like to be scared."

"I'm sorry," Tumnus said sincerely. "I never think of myself as having a loud voice."

Lucy laughed. "I wasn't mad at you, really. I just got a fright, that's all. Come and make a daisy chain with me!"

"What's a daisy chain?" the faun questioned.

"You've never made a daisy chain? You haven't lived! Here - I'll show you how to make one." Lucy cut the daisy stems and wove them around each other, handing them to the smiling faun. "See? It's easy!"

The sun grew higher in the sky as the two retreated back inside the castle for lunch. "You know Lucy, I think daisy chains are one of my new favourite things," Tumnus resolved.