After the End (Narnia)

Chapter IV - Reflections and Revelations

The sun was setting, and the celebrations were well underway. The lights in the trees glowed alongside the fireflies and the fairies, and a bonfire was being lit in the clearing. Edmund sat on a pile of cushions with Jill, making faces at the Turkish Delight on the table. "Looks like you fancy some Turkish Delight, Eddie," Jill teased, watching Edmund's face contort even more. Edmund shook his head, too repulsed to say much more.

"You know that stuff has bad memories associated with it, Jilly. Please, don't put it anywhere near me," he responded. With a wicked smile, Jill marched up to the tables, which were now groaning from the weight of mountains of food. Seizing the Turkish Delight container, she ran towards Edmund, cackling madly.

Edmund jumped up with a start, dashing through the trees with Jill in hot pursuit. "I won't let it near me! I refuse to let it near me. I am a king! You must listen to my orders!" he screeched, Jill laughing even harder at his childish remarks. She moved the lid of the container up and down as if it were a mouth.

"Chomp chomp Eddie! Time to eat some yummy Turkish Delight!" Edmund emitted a high-pitched scream and bolted towards the castle.

Caspian watched from his balcony with a grin on his face. Ever since coming to True Narnia, the two had been inseparable, bonding over their sarcastic humour and hate for Turkish Delight. With a small pain he remembered his own friendship with Lilliandil. She had always teased him about his dislike for oranges, and a similar scene had taken place when she had chased him around an orchard with a basket of the nasty, foul-scented fruit. He laughed despite himself. Lilliandil had been lost to him the day she went wild.

His memory snapped back to the day it had happened. Lilliandil had initially been overjoyed to see her husband and son again in Aslan's Country, but had become strange in the weeks that followed. She walked around the castle longingly in the day, going out at night and staring vacantly into the dark. Caspian had first thought she was simply missing her son, who had chosen to live on his own, a little further out from the castle. Although Caspian made several attempts to reunite his son and his wife, Lilliandil remained cold and distant. Caspian had spoken to Aslan, but the lion had been cryptic and had insisted that he should be patient for a while longer.

The former Telmarine prince had tortured himself with the knowledge that Lilliandil was unhappy, and as a result had started sleeping badly, becoming snappy and irritable during the day. It all came to a head when Caspian woke up one night with Lilliandil's hands around his neck. She was screaming in a strange language, the jabbering intermixed with threats towards her own husband. From what he could derive, Caspian was being blamed for his wife's death and the years she had spent without him. She had stood back and grasped a sword hanging on the wall. If Caspian hadn't acted quickly, he might not have lived to see the next morning. Lilliandil had been removed from True Narnia, having broken the peace. Caspian had not seen her since, and had not been able to forgive her until years later. Last year, he had arranged with Aslan to officially divorce her.

Caspian glanced at his ring finger with a resigned sadness. A faint remnant of the tan from his wedding band still remained. Deciding to live in the present, Caspian made his way downstairs and out to the forest where he was needed at the party. His life was here now, with these people. It would be downright rude to reject them for selfish reasons.

Eustace sat in close proximity to the food, a stack of playing cards in his hand. "Who here actually knows some card games? Food does get boring after a while, surely," he whined, looking around for someone to answer his childish plea. Reepicheep jumped down from the trees, a rodent-like guardian angel to someone like Eustace.

"Forget the playing cards boy! We need to catch up!" Eustace smiled at the mouse, placing his fistful of playing cards on the ground.

"I agree. How have you been?" Eustace began. Reepicheep sat down. This would be a conversation worth waiting for.

The True Narnians fell silent as a lion entered the gathering. Aslan lifted his head as his subjects greeted him, before padding over to talk to Lucy. Diggory looked over with a burning curiosity. Sometimes Aslan's visits were casual. For goodness sake, the lion could be talking about the weather. But sometimes Aslan had something important to say, and Diggory felt that tonight was one of those nights. But why to Lucy? In Diggory's eyes she was still the little girl who had been afraid of the shadows during the war. The old professor decided he was over-analysing it all. Lucy would be fine.

Lucy looked up in surprise as Aslan approached her. The few times he had appeared in recent months had been to speak to either Diggory or Caspian. The lion laughed as if he had read her thoughts. "Don't worry, this message is for you, and it is for a reason, dear one. Although you mustn't tell anyone what is happening until it happens tomorrow," Aslan spoke softly into Lucy's ear. She nodded and listened. No one would be expecting tomorrow's events.

As the stars grew brighter in the sky, the call was made to pack up the gathering. Several hours of merriment had now passed, and the True Narnians were tired but fulfilled. Aslan watched as they walked back to the castle, laughing sleepily, nearly dropping their various bundles and platters. They would love tomorrow's surprise. The stars faded from the sky. It was nearly morning