Our Angel - E. Pevensie [1]

4 - Questioned Beliefs

I sat up and opened my eyes to see a forest. An initial feeling of alarm swept through me, but it was quickly replaced with an odd serenity. Where was I? I was surrounded by lush green trees and grass, and birds chirped in the distance.

"Welcome, child." A deep voice called from my left. I turned quickly to see the speaker, only to come face-to-face with a large golden lion. I lurched to my feet and backed away, the feeling of serenity quickly fleeting. The animal chuckled. "Daughter of Eve, do not fear me. I will bring you no harm." It spoke again. It spoke!

"Who...Who are you? Where am I?" I noticed only after I finished talking that I had stopped retreating, and the lion drew closer.

"I am Aslan, and the place you see before you is a place called Narnia. Yet this is not the state of living our land is in. Narnia has been cursed by-"

"One hundred years of winter. I've been briefed." I interrupted him. I'm assuming the lion was not used to being interrupted, but Aslan covered his initial shock and possibly offense with a gentle smile.

"Yes. Now, I did not bring you here for a history lesson. I must give you a warning, dear girl. There are many challenges in your future. You will be forced to overcome many obstacles, and your trust in your friends will be tested. Be aware of who you are. You can do phenomenal things, Macey. Trust in yourself, and trust in me." Aslan had made his way directly in front of me, but I no longer felt any fear. I reached out to him and put my hand in his soft mane, tangling my fingers in it.

"Why me?" I whispered. "I'm nothing special."

Aslan chuckled at this. "In due time, my dear, you will find out how truly wrong you are. You are much stronger and braver than you think. Remember that, and remember who your friends truly are," I opened my mouth to respond, but Aslan shook his head. "You must go now, child. Until we meet again."

My hand fell from Aslan's mane. "No, wait!" I called, but it was too late. My voice was drowned out by a great roar from the lion, and I felt myself falling.

I woke up with a start, shooting up from my bed just as Lucy barged into the room with a large grin on her face.

"It's real!" She cried.

"Lucy? What on earth are you talking about?" I rubbed my eyes as my head tried to wrap around my dream.

"Narnia! It's really real! C'mon Susan, c'mon!" The small girl pounced on Susan, then rushed back out of the room. A blue robe followed behind her, remarkably less enthusiastic.

"Bloody hell." I mumbled as I quickly pulled my robe on, helping a confused and exhausted Susan with hers before making our way to the boys' room. Lucy had bounded on Peter.

"Peter, Peter, wake up! Peter, wake up! It's there! It's really there!" Her voice carried throughout the hallways and I groaned quietly as Peter shushed her.

"Shh. Lucy, what are you talking about?" He sat up from his sheets, twisting in them to see the girl.

"Narnia! It's all in the wardrobe like I told you!"

"You've just been dreaming, Lucy." Susan argued as she tied her robe around her waist. I pursed my lips and hung back, my mind still reeling. Lucy had been quite excited for the past few days about her magical land, and to be honest I had no clue how to feel about it. My dream only added to the confusion.

"But I haven't!" Lucy shouted. "I saw Mr. Tumnus again! And this time, Edmund went too!" At this, everyone turned to Ed.

"You... You saw the faun?" Peter asked slowly. Lucy turned to Edmund as well.

"Well, he didn't actually go there with me. He... What were you doing, Edmund?" She squinted at him.

The raven-haired boy turned to Peter with a shrug. "I was just playing along. I'm sorry, Peter. I shouldn't have encouraged her, but you know what little children are like these days. They just don't know when to stop pretending." He sat down on his bed, shooting Lucy a smug look.

I scoffed and crossed my arms, drawing his attention. His smug look dropped and his shoulders slouched. Guess he didn't know I was a part of his audience. I narrowed my eyes at him and shook my head.

Lucy fled from the room with sobs escaping her lips. I chased after her, as well as Susan and Peter. I heard Edmund exclaim, "ow!" as Peter shoved him over. Serves him right. We turned the corner after Lucy to see her with her arms around an old man. That must be the Professor, I thought. Mrs. Macready stormed in, scolding us before she even turned the corner.

"You children are one shenanigan shy of sleepin' in the stables! Oh!" She stopped when she noticed the presence of the elderly man. "Professor. I'm sorry. I told them you were not to be disturbed." He chuckled a bit and peeled Lucy from him.

"It's alright, Mrs. Macready. I'm sure there's an explanation." The old man grinned down at Lucy. "But first of all, I think this one is in need of a little hot chocolate." He passed the little girl to Mrs. Macready, who took her into her arms and to the kitchen. I nodded at the Professor as I slid by to follow them. He smiled back and left to speak with the eldest Pevensies, and I sat across from Lucy as Mrs. Macready prepared her drink.

"Hey, Lu." I greeted her. She smiled softly at me. "So how was it? Mr. Tumnus is alright, I presume?" Lucy had told me in the days past that her adventure to Narnia raised risk for the faun. She worried for hours a day over it. Her smile widened as she answered.

"Yes, the White Witch hasn't found out that he helped me! We had tea again, and he told me all about how beautiful Narnia was in the spring. Oh, I do hope you can meet him, Mae. He's truly wonderful."

I bit my lip and nodded with her words. "I hope I can meet him too. Next time, yeah?" She nodded. "Oh, and before I forget to tell you, I had a dream about Aslan." Lucy shot straight up, almost spilling her drink.

Her eyes widened. "Really?" She said.

I nodded. "Yes. He was...magnificent. I can't even explain it. I don't remember exactly what he said to me, but I know I felt safe. He promised me everything was gonna be okay." I kept the warning Aslan had given me from Lucy. I had a feeling that he would want me to keep that for myself.

I kissed Lucy gently on the head before making my way back to bed. I nodded to Susan who was making her way towards the kitchen towards Lucy and passed Peter. He grabbed my arm gently as I walked by his room.

"Mae, do you really, honestly believe Lucy? I mean it's impossible! A whole world in a wardrobe?" He whispered. I looked between his eyes and frowned. I could tell that he wanted me to say that I didn't. To assure him that he was right, that Lucy was just being a child. But I spoke my truth.

"Yes, I do. Sometimes logic can't answer all of our problems and questions. Lucy believes that Narnia is real, and I believe her. She's your sister, Peter. You should too."

Peter nodded at my words before giving me a tight hug goodnight. He kissed my head and thanked me before shutting his door gently. I finished my walk to my room, heaving a sigh of relief as I flopped on my bed. I was out as soon as my head touched the pillow.