The Quest for Narnia: The Hidden Queen (Under Construction)

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

The other three laughed at me as the beaver crossed his arms. I pulled my hand back and hung it by my side.

"Sorry." I said to the beaver. He looked at Lucy.

"Lucy Pevensie?" he asked. Lucy stopped giggling and looked at him.

"Yes?" she asked. He held a piece of green cloth and handed it to her.

"It's all we found left of Madeline. The wolves were too strong, and took her away to the witch. The poor girl, she was a great friend of mine when she was younger." he said. My heart stopped. The witch?

"What do you mean they took her?" Susan asked in shock.

"Come on, I'll give you the details later. We have to be quiet out in the open." he said and started to walk away. I started to follow him, when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Peter, how do we know we can trust him?" Susan asked me. I just shrugged.

"He says he knows Madi." I replied.

"He's a beaver, he shouldn't be saying anything!" she said.

"Is everything alright?" the beaver asked. I spun around to face him.

"Yes, everything is fine." I said.

"Then let's go. We should hurry before it gets dark out." he said and nervously looked around.

"Come on, Peter." Lucy said with a smile on her face. She grabbed my hand and dragged me after the beaver. My feet were getting cold as the snow melted and seeped through the fabric of my shoes. I hoped that we would get to where ever we were going soon. After a few mintues of walking through the forest, we came to a clearing. Resting near a frozen lake a few yards away was a little beaver dome.

"Hurry, we don't want to be out 'ere when night arrives." the beaver said. We all quickly walked to his house. We entered and looked around. It was all very homey. There was a warm fire going in the kitchen and I could smell something delicious cooking.

"Beaver! Is that you?" I heard a woman ask. I looked into the kitchen and saw another beaver, obviously his wife. She was stirring something in a pot. It smelled like soup. I took a deep breath, inhaling the amazing scent as it drafted through the air.

"Yes, dear. And I've brought a few friends with me." he said and closed the small front door behind him. Mrs. Beaver turned around from her cooking and gasped when she saw us. She was about to say something, when Mr. Beaver stopped her.

"They know Madeline." he said quickly. A look of understanding appeared on Mrs. Beaver's face, and she gestured for us to sit down on the small stools next to the dinner table. Lucy, Ed, Susan, and I took a seat as Mr. Beaver helped Mrs. Beaver with dinner.

"So, how do you children know our friend Madeline?" she asked us as she passsed around bowls of what looked like carrot and celery soup.

"Well, we were sent to live with Professor Kirke because of the war. When we first arrived, Mrs. Mcready told us that Madi was her niece, but she really treats her like her maid instead." Lucy said. Mrs. Beaver looked almost shocked, but Mr. Beaver put his hand on her shoulder to ease her.

"Oh my, I never thought Jane would treat Madeline like a maid. Doesn't she know who Madeline is?" she asked. We all just sat there silent.

"Do you know who Madeline truly is?" Mr. Beaver asked.

"Honsetly, we're not sure." Edmund answered truthfully. Mr. Beaver smiled.

"Well, then I might as well tell you her story." he said with a grin.

"The first time we met Madeline, her mother had taken her to Narnia for the first time. Madeline's mother, Sarafina, and Madeline's father, Domanic, were king and queen of Narnia at that point in history. Madeline was and is still a princess of Narnia, next in line for the throne. One night, Sarafina and Domanic had decided to take Madeline for a midnight moonlight birthday picnic. She was turning six years old. They had a great time. Sarafina and Domanic had invited all her frineds. Thomas, Mrs. Beaver and I-" he said.

"Even Aslan showed up." Mrs. Beaver said happily. Mr. Beaver continued.

"But almost immediately after she blew the birthday candles out on her birthday cake....the wolves came." he said sadly, closing his eyes as if reliving that memory.

"They attacked Aslan first, making it impossible for him to escape or help any of us. I remember that there were over fifty wolves in all. While they kept Aslan occupied, the witch went for Sarafina. Domanic faught bravely as he tried to protect his wife, but was killed. She eliminated Sarafina next. And Madeline had to watch it all happen. The witch would've killed Madeline as well if we didn't help her escape. Affter that, Madi lived with us for a few months. She was like the daughter we had always wanted."

"She still is like the daughter we always wanted." Mr. Beaver corrected. Mrs. Beaver gave us a small smile.

"She even started to call us her mother and father. We were honored to be taking care of her."  she said and then sighed.

"Before Madi left to live with the professor, Aslan talked to her and told her about the prophacy. The prophacy that all four of you are in." Mr. Beaver said.

"Madi said something to Mr. Thomas about a prophacy while we were at his house." Lucy said as she ate some of her soup. The three were almost done with their first bowl, but I hadn't even taken one sip. I was too busy listening to Madeline's story.

"The prophacy states that four children, two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve, shall save Narnia from this horrible witch and this horrible winter. Since there are four of you, Madeline now has no chance of being queen like her parents wanted. Like all of Narnia wanted. No offense, but all of Narnia loves Madeline because she would sacrafice herself to save anyone. From the eldest faun to the youngest rabbit, she cares enough to save a life even if it meant losing her own. She would've been a magnificent queen." Mrs. Beaver said. We all looked at the floor, guilt coming over us like a wave.

"I'm sorry, we didn't mean to ruin her chances of becoming queen. But it's not like we'll be staying very long." Susan said. Mr. Beaver laughed.

"You can't leave. You have to stay and fulfill the prophacy." he said with a chuckle.

"No we don't." Susan spat.

"Yes, you do. If you don't fulfill the prophacy, then the witch wins. She'll kill Madeline in her sleep by making her nightmares  worse. You're lucky she survived this morning, she easily could've died. It's a miracle sent from Aslan that she didn't stop breathing. And once Madi's gone, you're next on her list." Mr. Beaver stated.

Then the howling started.