Chapter Text
Narnia, 898. THALLIA
Thallia spun in circles around the tree, laughing as the leaves fell over her. It was getting further into autumn and the trees were getting close to finishing changing colour and dropping their leaves. She could hear Lianna’s laughter coming from behind as she watched her dance and spin.
“Thallia,” Lianna called eventually. “Ma is calling us.”
Thallia paused in a half-spin and faced her sister. Lianna’s blonde hair was pulled up into a braid on the top of her head with pearls entwined throughout it. It was a contrast to Thallia’s own hair, a mane of wild blonde locks covered in the flowers and leaves of mid-autumn. “I didn’t hear her,” Thallia replied.
“You were distracted,” Lianna said, running a finger over her blue crystal necklace. “Meg is already there. We need to go.” She gestured towards the opening in the woods behind her. Thallia pouted but followed her sister without verbal complaint out into the waning autumn sun.
Lianna had been telling true. Their mother was standing on the edge of a creek, her hair bent down towards the ground and her arms raised as if in prayer. Megnia was also there, though she was sitting against a rock and didn’t seem interested in whatever their mother was doing. She smiled when she saw them, “Lia and Thal are here, Ma.”
Ma did not react for a moment, her head still down and body stiff. Then her head raised, her eyes blown wide and the silver crystal necklace around her throat glowing. “She is here,” she whispered, her voice tight but reverberating with power.
“She?” Thallia asked.
“No…” Lianna breathed. “She cannot be… the tree.” Thallia’s eyes widened when her brain finally caught up with what her mother had said. There was only one being who had been kept away by a tree.
“Is dead,” Ma said. “I saw it die… I thought… we should have time… and the Queen…”
“Is too old,” Megnia spoke up. “She is old and without an heir… it is the perfect time for her to attack.”
“What do we do?” Thallia asked. She could feel the panic rising in her chest and saw the plants that crept along the river bank behind the shift and shiver. “We… cannot fight her. We are not ready. Narnia is not ready.”
“No, we are not.” Ma agreed. “But I have seen a way. Aslan has shown me a way.”
“What did he show you?” Megnia asked. “What must we do?”
“Wait,” Ma said.
“What?” The three sisters spoke at the same time. Thallia felt her panic rise even higher. “Wait?”
“There will come a day,” Ma continued, raising her hand to silence them. “I saw it. Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight; At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more; When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death; And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again. ” Ma’s voice took a deep tone to it when she spoke, echoing the ancient power she contained. “When Adam's flesh and Adam's bone; Sits at Cair Paravel in throne; The evil time will be over and done.”
Adam’s flesh and Adam’s bone . The words seemed to echo through the woods around them as silence fell and with it, snow.
England, 1940. LUCY
Lucy felt her breathing speed up as she raced up the stairs of the house. Peter was getting close to finishing his counting and Edmund had stolen her great hiding spot. Lucy huffed as she reached the top of the stairs and paused for a moment to take in where she had ended up.
It was a long hallway with doors on either side. She rushed for the closest door and jiggled the handle. Locked. She raced down the hall, attempting to twist handles until one finally clicked open. Lucy stepped into the room.
It was almost empty with a single sheet covered object on the other side of the room to the door. Lucy took slow steps forward, eyes darting around the room. She should keep going, find a room with easier things to hide in, but something about the sheet covered object at the end of the room made Lucy continue to step forward.
Once she was within reach of the sheet, Lucy gripped the white fabric and pulled it. The sheet fell softly around her, landing at her feet with a flutter. Lucy gaped at what it was covering. The large wooden wardrobe, covered in intricate engravings was gorgeous. And a perfect hiding spot.
Lucy clicked open the wardrobe door. It was full of mostly long fur coats, and Lucy loved the smell of fur, so she stepped into the wardrobe. She remembered to leave the door slightly cracked open because it was foolish to lock yourself in a wardrobe when no one knew where you were. Peter’s distant counting barely reached Lucy’s ears. She spun and began to push deeper into the wardrobe, stepping back and back and back.
The young girl furrowed her brows as she continued to move back, this was a very large wardrobe. Then her hand hit something and Lucy flinched back. She turned very slowly to face whatever her hand had brushed against.
Lucy felt her mouth open slightly and her eyes widen as she stared at the snow covered tree that her fingers had brushed against. Lucy glanced back at the door of the wardrobe, she could still hear Peter counting. Surely it wouldn’t do any harm if she just explored the forest a little right? After all, it wasn’t everyday you found a wood in a wardrobe.
Lucy pushed past the branches of snow covered pine trees that stretched into the wardrobe and looked around at the massive snow filled wood. She grinned, holding out her hands to touch the snow and feeling it land and stick to her eyelashes. Lucy walked slowly through the woods, attempting to catch snowflakes and looking up the sky.
Once she was a few meters away she turned back to face the wardrobe. She could still see the light shining from the wardrobe and smiled as she continued to walk through the woods. There was a warm light in the distance, cutting through the cold blue of the air. Lucy slowed as she reached it.
It was a lamppost, right here in the middle of the woods. Lucy walked up to it and placed her hand gently on the cold metal. How odd…
*rustle* Lucy froze, whipping her head around, attempting to stop where the sound of movement was coming from. Hoofbeats sounded, perhaps a deer? Then whatever it was came into view. When it locked eyes with Lucy both let out shrieks and jumped back. Lucy taking shelter behind the lamppost.
She took a peak out from behind the lamppost. Whoever it was that had come across her was hidden behind a tree. They had dropped their packages, Lucy noted, and those were scattered across the ground. Lucy considered this for a moment, then slowly came out from behind the post.
As she slowly walked towards the tree, behind which this person was hidden. She bent very slowly to pick up one of the packages. The person pointed his snow covered umbrella at her as she came out from behind the tree very slowly as Lucy kept gathering the packages. “Uh- uh-” Lucy held out the packages to the stammering person.
He had horns! She noticed, and legs like a goats, with fur and hooves. “Were you hiding from me?” Lucy asked gently.
“No,” the goat-man refused. He bent down to gather the remainder of his packages. “Well… I just… I… I didn’t want to scare you.” He said. Lucy smiled and chucked at the lie.
“If you don’t mind my asking,” Lucy said into the silence that followed. “What are you?”
“What am I?” the creature seemed confused. “Well… I’m a faun. And what about you? You must be some kind of beardless dwarf?”
Lucy, who had noticed there was still a package on the ground and lent to pick it up, huffed. “I’m not a dwarf! I’m a girl! And actually I’m tallest in my class.” She said as she handed over the package.
The faun blinked in shock. “You mean to say that you’re a Daughter of Eve.”
“Well, my mum’s name is Helen,” Lucy said slowly, trying to work out what he meant.
“Yes but you are in fact human?”
“Yes, of course,” Lucy stared confused.
“What are you doing here?”
“Well, I was hiding in the wardrobe in the spare room-” Lucy was cut off mid-explanation by the faun.
“Spare Oom? Is that in Narnia?” the faun asked.
“Narnia? What’s that?” Lucy cocked her head slightly.
“Well… my dear girl you’re in it,” the faun said. “All the way from the lamppost-” he pointed up at it- “all the way to castle Cair Paravel on the Eastern Ocean-” he then led her slightly forward to point towards the distance. “Every stick and stone you see, every icicle is Narnia.”
Lucy stared into the great unknown of this land, Narnia, and for some reason felt like she was home.