Tales of the Narnian Monarchs: The True

Talking to Dead Friends

Lilith felt an unbelievable happiness at the fact that she was back in Narnia, yet then suddenly, not so much.

She'd been so caught up in her happiness when she'd seen Sanya, that after a moment, when the plank rose and she saw Edmund and Lucy also, all she could see in her head were the worn, carved names on the graves.

They were dead, ultimately. To her, anyway. She'd spent the past 2 years mourning them.

She felt arms wrap around her, in which she realised belonged to Lucy, an older Lucy to what she remembered. She guessed it must've been 2 years for them, too.

She pushed down the nausea she felt at the sight of them, forcing herself to smile, attempting to show the absolute joy she knew she also felt as she embraced Lucy back.

"You've grown." She told the younger Queen with a small laugh. Lucy seemed pleased by the observation.

Next, she turned to Edmund as she remembered their fairly awkward goodbye- but grief beats awkwardness, and so she hugged him tightly, too.

He tensed slightly, but she didn't care.

Quite proud at herself for managing to control the ever-growing nausea and keep up a smile, she then turned to Caspian- he really had changed.

He seemed more confident, more sure of himself, she noticed, and so embraced him also, before pulling away. "I reckon you need new royal advisors if they haven't advised you against this." She teased slightly, poking his beard.

He laughed, but she didn't hear his reply as his embrace had dragged her mind elsewhere.

He'd been taller than her other Narnian friends, their embrace reminding her of the last hug she'd had with- with someone else. Someone with whom she noticed clearly wasn't here, and clearly wasn't going to be here. And also, clearly wasn't in her world because he was already-

She turned, forgetting her fight with nausea, and threw up over the edge of the ship.

Sanya pressed a hand to her mouth, trying to swallow down the bile which had risen up. She had absolutely forgotten she had sea sickness sometimes.

"Oh dear." Lucy said, realising.

"Bucket, bucket!" Someone yelled and a bucket was thrust to the True Queen as she retched into it.

"This isn't going to be an easy journey." Edmund stated the obvious as he gingerly took the vomit-filled bucket from Sanya's hands and threw it into the sea.

"You're polluting." She said weakly, wiping her mouth. "Are you alright, Lil?"

"Yeah." Lilith replied, heaving a deep breath and everyone stepped back instinctively. "Sorry. Sea sickness I guess." She decided was the best excuse as she gratefully accepted a cup of water from a crewmate. She didn't quite feel like telling them of their deaths in but a couple of years within the first few minutes of being here.

"So, what's going on? Why're we here?" She queried, looking to the others for answers.

"I'd like to know that too, actually." Sanya said and then explained to Lilith, "I didn't come with them, I showed up a little later."

"Well, no one called us this time." Lucy said "So we don't know how we're here. But Caspian, here, is on a quest to find the Seven lost Lords of Telmar."

"Don't you guys have GPS?" Lilith said at once, having forgotten it was a medieval land. Caspian looked bemused, "I- not on this ship, I'm afraid."

"Basically, we're in Narnia- we don't know how or why, but we're here." Edmund explained it all articulately and quickly as he had something to win. "Caspian, the sword duel?"