Beyond the Horn

EPILOGUE: THE PERSPECTIVE OF LUCY PEVENSIE

"You don't think there's any way we could get back?" Edmund asked as the Pevensies boarded the train. All stopped and stared at him. He looked up and gave them a cheeky smile. "I left my new torch in Narnia!"

The excruciating sadness was relieved with a good dose of laughter. But Lucy felt the pain in her heart again when they put away their luggage and took their seats. She was used to it, and had long ago realized that this particular pain was the absence of Narnia, an awful hole that grew every time she had to leave.

She took comfort in the fact that she would be back. Aslan had said that she and Edmund still had things to learn. But Peter... and Susan...

Peter radiated peace. He had grown so much in wisdom and strength, and understood that this was what was best. Lucy was proud of her brother, for he had learned to trust in Aslan above all else.

Susan sat with a solemn look on her face now that the merriment had died. She was gazing out the window. Lucy knew that her sister was smart, but also realistic; she was a bit worried that Susan would cope with the loss of Narnia by throwing herself back into life here... which wouldn't be a problem, so long as Susan didn't forget what she had learned from Aslan.

Lucy leaned her head on Peter's shoulder and looked across at Edmund, who had one leg up on the seat, his back pressed against the wall. He stared at the ceiling, his expression detached and blank as the train jostled them back and forth.

Lucy wanted to say something, to offer him some form of comfort, but she didn't know what he needed to hear. She didn't know how to help him, because she knew that he'd left more than his torch in Narnia. He'd left his heart in Narnia.

With Kara.

Lucy gazed at her brother until he saw her watching him.

"What is it, Lu?" He asked in a thick voice.

"You'll see her again, Ed," she said softly.

Edmund stared at her, and her heart broke again as a few tears trickled down the side of his face. Susan reached out and took his hand, and Edmund held on like it was a lifeline. "I'm in love with her," he said. He covered his mouth and his shoulders shook. "I... I'm in love with Kara. And I didn't tell her." He closed his eyes. "I didn't tell her."

"You'll have your chance, Ed," Peter said, in the gentlest voice Lucy had ever heard him use.

Edmund nodded, but still squeezed Susan's hand.

"Seek Aslan," Lucy said into the quiet.

"Trust in him and his leading," Peter answered.

"Remember that his peace is a guard for your mind," Susan repeated what she had told Annaliese.

"And for your heart," Edmund finished, the words seeming to tremble from his lips. But then he smiled, and whispered, "Wrong will be made right, when Aslan comes in sight."

"At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more," Susan added.

"When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death," Peter continued.

Lucy's lip trembled. "And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again."

"We will see Aslan again," Peter said. His arm tightened around Lucy, and he kissed her head. "We will."

Lucy watched the fields passing by outside the window.

You will return. Trust me.

She felt Aslan whisper into her heart.

"Listen," Edmund whispered.

And in the distance, they heard the sound of a horn, and the roar of a lion.