𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐀𝐍 || 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐚 [ I ]

Chapter 23

The streets were filled with decorations and everyone was out to celebrate, cheering on their new king who rode past, a golden crown on his head and a smile on his face. Muriel was sure that if someone had told him a few days ago that this would happen he would not have believed them. But here he was, behaving like a king, smiling at his people with such care and glee, but not realizing he had been their king ever since he had entered Aslan's How.

The Kings and Queens of Old and Muriel were riding behind him on their own horses, all dressed in new, fresh and wonderfully made clothes. The Pevensies had not yet stopped smiling, for them this was like coming home.

Muriel didn't know where to look. She'd only ever seen the castle and the town were the Telmarines lived from a distance before, standing at the edge of the forest. She remembered the fireworks that had lit up the sky then and wondered if there would be fireworks tonight. If so, she was sure it would be a magnificent sight to behold, but Muriel was already rather impressed by the streets and the people around her. 

Telmarines and Narnians alike were waving and cheering as the royals passed by and girls with the most beautiful flower crowns were walking alongside them, giggling amongst each other and laughing with glee. Petals of red flowers were showered down upon the royals as they rode through the gates of the castle, they smelled lovely and made Muriel smile as she was reminded of the red flowers in her own garden. She made a mental note to ask someone about the flowers later, she really wanted to know more about them. If she could she would even take some back to Archenland with her.

That thought, however, made her smile falter. She'd been so happy that Miraz had been defeated she had momentarily forgotten about the army the man had sent to Archenland before he had been killed. She wondered, no hoped that they had fallen back after hearing about their defeat in Narnia, she hoped that her father had gotten the warning in time.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Peter, who had steered his horse next to hers. He had noticed the small and almost unnoticeable change in her demeanor after Susan had pointed out to him how fascinated the princess looked with the scenery around her. The Magnificent King had laughed in agreement and remarked that it had reminded him of the first time they had set foot in Cair Paravel. But when he had seen how her smile had faltered he'd excused himself from his sister's company and seeked that of the princess'.

Muriel was glad with his company and the distraction which he provided. The two chatted happily, like two very old friends would, and Peter proceeded to tell her about the first time they'd seen Cair Paravel and how they'd lived there for many many years

"Peter," spoke Muriel after a moment of silence between them when a question suddenly seemed to burn on the tip of her tongue, "will Aslan send you all back to your world now that this is over?"

"I don't know..." The High King glanced at his siblings, who all looked very happy, probably already used to the life here again. "If it were up to Lucy we would be here forever," chuckled the blond as he watched his youngest sister giggling along with something Edmund had said. "But I think that if we were to stay here for another twenty years or so that there would be a time were Aslan would sent us back so suddenly again. Going through that again seems almost too hard to bear. It would be even more difficult to get used to our old lives again."

"I can't imagine how that must be," sighed Muriel. She had secretly hoped that the Pevensies would stay a little longer. She couldn't imagine a Narnia without them, but she also knew that they had their own lives in England. She could not expect them to stay here forever and even though they were the Kings and Queens of Narnia there was a new king and he would do just fine in taking care of this magical land. Thinking of that she sighed again, but smiled nonetheless. "But I do not doubt you'll be great at medicine."