king's temptation | narnia

chapter 10: the stones

***trigger warning: sexual assault***

Lucy and I climbed down the rough rock wall the best we could. The sharp rocks scratched our hands and bare feet and the sun beat down on us, causing beads of sweat to form on my face. As I looked up, I saw Maxwell's worried face looking down at us. Lucy was below me because she was a faster climber. She always has been. Even before Narnia, we would climb trees and the lamp posts at the park, her always beating me to the top.

When I had finally reached the little flat platform she had stopped at, Lucy was sitting, admiring the bright green, soft moss that was growing on the rock.

"I think here's good, Lu," I said in a confident voice. In actuality, I was nervous, but the new me doesn't show it. I want to be confident and daring and desired.

"Okay, should we jump?" whispered Lucy. I glanced over the edge. We were around twenty meters up from the rushing river below. Thankfully, we chose a spot where the river was less fierce and there were no rocks.

"Let's do it!" I said as I grabbed her hand. "Okay, one... two... three!" I ended up jumped first, so I practically yanked Lucy down with me. I screamed as I felt the cool air around me, whipping my hair around and tickling my feet. Lucy was screaming with terror as we were free-falling. It felt like we were falling forever, but finally, we plummeted into the light blue water.

I had let go of Lucy's hand at some point during the jump, so I didn't know where she was. Sinking deeper, I feel the rushing water against my sink. The force of it turns me around and around. It's actually quite fun...I guess it's like being a naiad. I opened my mouth to taste the water, and found it tasted sweet, just like the waterfall. There were the most beautiful colored stones sitting at the bottom of the river. Red, pink, green, purple, blue, any color you could think of.

Kicking to the top, I came up with the idea to make everyone necklaces from the stones. As I reached the surface, I looked around, quickly finding Lucy a few meters away from me. She swam towards me and wrapped her arms around my neck.

"Oh, Kate! You scared the living daylights out of me!" she kissed my cheek. "Why in Aslan's name did you stay under for so long?" she yelled as we kicked to the edge of the river.

"I'm okay, I promise!" I smiled as we sat down on the soft moss. "I was just thinking about what it'd be like to live underwater and- oh! I was admiring those stones!" I said while pointing to the bottom. Lucy stuck her head underwater to look.

"Wow, those are really beautiful!" she exclaimed. I grinned back.

"You know, I was thinking that I could make necklaces for everyone! Red for Peter, green for Edmund, blue for Susan, pink for you, and lilac for me!" I said. Lucy's eyes lit up.

"Oh, Kate, those would be beautiful! I'm sure everyone will love them!" Lucy exclaimed. I nodded.

I love making jewelry in my free time, but only with inspiring materials. That's why I only end up making items every once in a while. I'm sure the men would love them, as well as Susan!

I jumped back into the river and picked out my stones. I got a specific color for everyone, plus some extras...hopefully, they like them.

As we laid out in the sun, I thought about how I would make them. Then, I realized that I should make one for Prince Rabadash. It'd be awfully rude not to, and it would be the mature thing to do!

I looked over to my right and see that Lucy had fallen asleep, her head pressed into the bright green moss. My eyes opened and closed as the clouds moved to cover up the sun. I found myself drifting into a peaceful sleep by the sound of the wind whistling through the grass and the water lapping up on the bank.