Whisked Away

14. Reunited

Caspian's POV
It had been five years now since General Shifra escaped the castle. I had missed her a lot. I used to slip her food and water until one day when I tried to she was gone. I have not seen her since. It was now getting to high summer when one night, after a time when the Queen seemed to be ill, Doctor Cornelius, my Tutor, woke me when I had been in bed for only a few hours.

As he told me about my cousin who had just been born, he said, "Now that he has a son of his own, he will want him to be king. You are in the way. He'll clear you out of the way."

I was surprised by that and asked, "Is he really as bad as that? Would he really murder me?"

Doctor Cornelius replied after only slight hesitation, "He murdered your father." I felt odd, but could not think of what to say. "I can tell you the whole story, but not now. There is no time. You must fly at once."

"You'll come with me?" I asked, feeling frightened. He shook his head sadly.
.......................................
Shifra's POV Several Months Later
I had been hiding in the woods for the last five years. Glenstorm and I (we had the same birthday) had just celebrated our 500th and 2,435th birthdays when we had a nice visit. Glenstorm and I were racing across the valley with his three sons when we heard the voice of Trufflehunter the Badger, calling out, "Glenstorm! Glenstorm!"

With their hooves pounding and my wings making a great, loud noise as I flew, we broke through the thicket and were met with the sight of a much older Caspian that I remembered and the red dwarf Trumpkin, the black dwarf Nikabrik, and of course Trufflehunter. Caspian looked in awe as the five of us appeared and I landed roughly on the ground. My ankles had become much stronger over the years and I could deal with the hard landings that would have broken my ankles 2,000 years ago.

Glenstorm called out, "Long live the King. I and my sons are ready for war. When is the battle to be joined?" It was clear that none of them had been thinking of war, but it had been all Glenstorm and I had spoken of these past five years. I held a hard expression as I glazed at the people in from of me. My hard stare hardened even more as my gaze landed on Nikabrik.

Breaking the silence, Caspian asked, "General Shifra?" I looked up at him with curiosity. I had not expected him to remember me. The other three with him looked at me in shock. Word of my capture five years ago had spread and all Narnians thought I was gone, apart from Glenstorm of course.

"Caspian," I replied. Glenstorm broke the now slightly awkward silence by telling of the position of the stars and how the time was now right for war. They all stayed with us for lunch in order to revive themselves, but soon were making to set off. I had noticed with pride that Caspian had traded out his own sword for a beautiful dwarf made one and his old Telmarine armor was also replaced.

When they set off, I went with them. We had to go on a bit of a roundabout to avoid an area where men lived, for it look too much energy to make that many people invisible. Caspian was very interested in my abilities, so during the four hour walk we carried quite a delightful conversation.

"So you're from the same world as the Kings and Queens of old?" Caspian asked. The others I could tell were also listening in, but they made no contributions to the conversation.

"Yes," I replied, "but I can never seem to remember it. It was many many years ago. If I remember correctly I came here when I was fifteen and I only aged for the two years after that so I came here oh..." I paused as I did the math, "It has been 2,420 years since then."

Caspian looked shocked before asking, "So you have been alive for as long as Narnia has?" I nodded. No one was ever so interested in my life as Caspian was. He asked me many questions about the old Narnia and he reminded me in a lot of ways of Edmund when I taught him the history of Narnia. "Oh tell me about the creation of Narnia!" Caspian begged. He had an almost childish fascination and curiosity with the old stories and his eyes lit up whenever I told him something he didn't already know.

"Well," I started with a smile, I then told him all that I remembered apart from flying the witch to the garden. I had never told anyone that part. After I had told him all that I knew, I told him stories of Peter and Susan and Edmund and Lucy. I didn't just tell him about the battles and wars, but also of the little things. I told him of Edmund's love of history, Peter's teasing and slightly arrogant behavior. I told him of Susan's skill with a bow and arrow, I told him of Lucy and how she never seemed to shed her childish spirit.

Caspian and I were soon laughing as I told him some of the stories from when they all started learning to fight. Caspian had learned much of sword fighting and he understood most of the jokes and tales I told him. Then he told me of his childhood. I knew some, but not all of it, for the books had only ever told of his dear nurse and how she had been sent away for telling Caspian about Narnia in the old times.

He told me about his hobbies and his friends back at the palace. We had been talking and laughing most of the way there, but our fun was cut short when we came upon a level field. Here we spoke with Reepicheep. We moved on to countless others, with Caspian and I becoming quick friends during the journeys. We all soon rested by a well in a valley. We began to speak wistfully about waking the trees, but Trumpkin put in his own firm disbelief in such things.

"Trumpkin, if you don't believe in spirits or gods and goddesses then why do you believe in me?" I asked, referring to the fact that I was a goddess myself.

"Eh, what's that?" Nikabrik asked, suddenly taking interest in the conversation.

"When I met Aslan he made me a goddess of the sky and light. That is where my abilities come from," I replied. I had not used my abilities much aside from keeping myself hidden, for they were not things I took lightly. I still treasured them after all this time. Holding my palms in front of me I conducted a ball of light in my hands.

It was as if I was holding a little sun in my palms. All four stared in wonder at the little ball of golden light. I moved the little ball into my left hand and held my right aloft. I conjured up a small tornado in my hand. Just when it started to seem to be out of control I slammed my hands together, putting out the light and calming the storm.
There we rested for the night.