༄ 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘦 (𝘗𝘊) ༄

Chapter 7: Return of The Kings and Queens

As the fight progressed, the Narnians began to come out of hiding. I had been too focused on watching the Prince's back that I hadn't been paying attention to their actions. Those that were armed had their weapons drawn and ready to defend the Prince against the attacker. But at the girl's cry, everyone froze—the boy included—and I sought out who shouted.

Relief flooded through me when I finally put a face to that voice. A small smile made its way onto my face as I saw Lucy. But upon seeing her face, recognition and horror flooded me. If this was Lucy, then the boy had to be Peter. And I had just fired an arrow at him.

Panic rushed through me as I searched for the boy. I found him immediately, given he wasn't too far from Lucy herself, and I relaxed a little. Caspian had dislodged Peter's sword and was holding it at his neck. There was an arrow right below Peter's raised arm, lodged in the tree. But it didn't hit him. It was the first time I had missed a shot in a long time and I couldn't have been more relieved.

Peter looked from his sister to me and then examined his surroundings. He slowly lowered his arm and let the rock fall from his hand as he took in the Narnians. A look that I couldn't quite read appeared on his face as he turned to face the Prince. The Narnians and Caspian still had their weapons drawn, unsure of the people present. None of them recognized them and still consider him a threat—Lucy was likely given the benefit of the doubt but they wouldn't underestimate her. They shouldn't. The Valiant Queen could be just a dangerous as her brothers. But I lowered my bow, knowing they were safe.

"Prince Caspian?" Peter asked Caspian, breaking the tense silence that had descended.
"Yes. And who are?" he retorted, sword still raised.
"Peter!" another feminine voice, stronger than the first, rang through the clearing.

The voice was followed by hurried footsteps. Susan, Edmund, and Trumpkin—the Red Dwarf from when we meet in the Shuddering Woods—joined Lucy. Trumpkin had his sword drawn ready to fight and Susan's bow was in her hand. Edmund had his hand on the hilt of his sword, but it wasn't drawn. They all came to a halt when they saw the Narnians. Caspian looked at them and then down at the sword in his hand. A sword that could only belong to the High King.

"High King Peter," Caspian realized, answering his own question.
"I believe you called," Peter replied. There was a bit of bitterness in his tone.
"Well, yes, but... I thought you'd be older." Peter looked offended and I had to hold in a laugh.
"Wow. That's a great way to greet the High King, your highness," I commented sarcastically and slightly annoyed.

I tried to be quiet about it, so as not to offend him in front of the others. However, a few of the Narnians seemed to hear it as they started to laugh. Susan, Edmund, and Lucy smiled or let out a chuckle at my comment as well and I felt slightly embarrassed that I had been heard. The other two humans looked at me in both shock and confusion. But Peter's look also held something else. Something that I had seen before and several times in the last few days by Nikabrik himself. There was hatred in his eyes, one I had never seen directed at me from him before. I suddenly wanted to disappear.

Peter looked back at Caspian without a word to me. "If you like we can come back in a few years," he told him and made like he was going to walk away.
"No! No, it's alright," Caspian said, halting him. "You're just not exactly what I expected," he said looking over at the other Pevensies.

I didn't miss the double-take he did to Susan. I watched her carefully, wanting to know how she would react to this potential suitor. In the past, the Gentle Queen was cordial and polite, but very rarely did she show interest without getting to know the man behind the title. This time, however, she was blushing slightly and even glanced at the ground as if embarrassed. It was a different reaction from the Susan I knew, but then again I was different. Who could blame her?

"Neither are you," Edmund said hesitantly and I noticed his eyes scanned the Narnians carefully. I realized they thought minotaurs and the like were still fallen beasts.
"A common enemy unites even the oldest of foes," Trufflehunter explained and I walked closer to where the Pevensies were standing.
"We have anxiously awaited your return, my liege," Reepicheep announced, dropping from a small hill. "Our hearts and swords are at your service." He bowed in respect to Peter.
Lucy leaned over to Susan and whispered: "Oh my gosh. He's so cute."
I held back a laugh as a furious Reepicheep drew his blade and spun around to face the Queens. "Who said that?!" he demanded, waving the blade in our direction.
Lucy, both alarmed and embarrassed, paused a moment. "Sorry," she said and I could tell she was.
Reepicheep was taken aback. "Oh... Uh, Your Majesty, with the greatest respect." He bowed. "Though I do believe 'courageous', 'courteous', or 'chivalrous' might more befit a Knight of Narnia." He put his rapier away.
"Well at least we know some of you can handle a blade," Peter spoke again, drawing the conversation back to him.
"Yes, indeed. And I have recently put it to good use acquiring weapons for your army, sire." I saw a look cross Caspian's face and I frowned slightly. It wasn't Peter's army when the Prince had done all the planning to steal the Telmarines' weapons.
"Good. Because we're going to need every sword we can get." Peter turned back to Caspian.
"Well, then," the Prince said, "you'll probably be wanting yours back."

Peter's face was emotionless as he took his sword from Caspian and returned to its scabbard. Without another word to the person responsible for gathering troops, weapons, and armor, he walked past. He made eye contact with me again and I saw both hatred and annoyance in them. My brows furrowed as I tried to figure out what exactly put him in his sour mood. But he provided me no answers. He never said a word to me in the short time we'd been in the clearing. In fact, he seemed to be trying to ignore me.

Caspian turned to follow Peter, picking up his discarded sword along the way. I approached the tree and carefully removed my arrow. If the head was still attached, I could reuse the arrow—not that I needed to, but best not to leave trace as to where we had been. Then I followed them the rest of the Pevensies. The Narnians fell in line behind us.

The Kings and Queens were back but there was one problem. Peter wasn't the High King that I used to know. His eyes used to have been hardened by what he had seen in battles, yet still held compassion and kindness. They were soft. But now they were cold and angry whenever he looked at me, a gaze that he only gave his worst enemies. To see it directed at me made me feel more like a child than I ever felt before. Something changed and he seemed to be angry at me no matter what I said. I could only guess what it was and I couldn't blame him for it either. I hated myself for failing Narnia, for not protecting them as I should've. The High King had good reason to see me as his enemy.

𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍

Sorry that this chapter is so much shorter than the others. After rewrites, I added over 300 words but it's still significantly shorter than the last six.