Whisked Away

18. Departure of the Telmarines

Caspian's POV
The night of the Coronation was...interesting. The doubts had been building inside of me since it started, but I had held them all in. When at last I could no longer take it I wandered outside. There, in the moonlight, I saw a sight that I never forgot. Shifra was walking through the courtyard out to the glade. The moonlight seemed to dance over her long black hair. It seemed to fall from her head like a dark waterfall and ended at her knees.

I saw her black and white wings dragging behind her and saw the moonlight dance on them. Her pale skin made her look ghost-like in the pale moonlight, but her eyes. Those fierce golden eyes that could hold such warmth and love in one minute and furious anger the next. I was mesmerized by the sight of her, but when she spoke I was pulled from my wonder. I had intended to ask her what was wrong, but soon found myself telling her my fears.

No one had even comforted me so well, but she managed to. Something about her made me feel like I was whole. When I wasn't with her I wanted to be and when I was I just wanted to become lost in her eyes. I suspected that she felt the same. I had seen her blushes after we danced and at other times, but I needed to get Narnia settled before doing anything about it.

The Telmarines who did not want to stay in this new Narnia (really the old Narnia) were set to leave this morning. A day had been between the coronation and their departure day, but that day was full of work and settling up Narnia and figuring out which laws to cast out and which ones to keep and even writing new laws. There was much still to do. I was very glad that Edmund, Peter, and Shifra were here for they were an irreplaceable help to me.

They all knew by heart the old laws and how Narnia should run, so they thought of things my mind would never have gotten to. Soon however, it was time to send off the men who did not want to share the country they claimed as their own. We all approached the doorway Shifra had made three days ago, a crowd of Telmarines in front of us.
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Shifra's POV
I stood with the others as we waited for Aslan to speak. Then came the hardest part: Goodbye. When Aslan had explained everything Peter said that they would go. "What!" I exclaimed. I had heard another voice with mine, just as desperate. It was Caspian. "Peter," I did not know why I was begging, but I knew that I would never see him or Susan again, "Peter, Susan please." I shed no tears, but the desperation in my voice said more than tears ever could.

Peter looked into my eyes and they told me that he was sorry, but I knew that it must be. With a very faint smile, Peter held out his arm. We gave each other the warrior's farewell for one last time. Still gripping my wrist, Peter praised, "You have been an honorable general all the days you served Narnia. I could not have asked for a greater or wiser one." He turned to Caspian and said, "You shall lose few battles when you listen to her."

When we let go, Peter surprised me by pulling me into a tight embrace. Susan came up to me next and embraced me. "You were a good friend," she told me, but I could see in her eyes that she did not completely mean it. All I saw was longing for England.

Ed was next and I said farewell to him similarly to how I did to Peter. We grasped wrists and bowed heads. "I hope to see you again soon, old friend," Edmund said.

"You shall," I replied, "Keep your head on your shoulders and look out for Lucy." He nodded and moved on to the others.

Lucy embraced me and said, "Oh Shifra, I shall miss you." I smiled and whispered to her comfortingly. All four changed and left through the door with the Telmarines and we only ever saw two of that entire group in Narnia again.