The fifth Pevensie (The Chronicles of Narnia fanfic) [Editing]

Chapter 12: The Coronation

It's been three days since the battle. I feel sick every time I think about it, every time I think about how close it really was. How close we actually were to dying. I haven't spoken very much to anyone after that. I think they're a bit worried about me.

We arrived to Cair Paravel yesterday evening. It was wonderful to sleep. But today is the coronation day.

"Emily, are you ready?" Susan asked. She looked beautiful in her dress. The dress looked like it was made out of silver. Lucy came into the room after her. Her dress was light blue. I looked down at myself to see if I looked good or not.

"You look fine, Emily," Lucy said. "Let's go!"

"I'll be right down," I said. When they left the room, I stood up in front of a mirror. I looked at myself. I was quite pretty in the light green dress I was wearing, but I just couldn't feel happy. I just kept thinking about the prophecies and that I really didn't need to be here.

Then suddenly the picture of me in the mirror changed. It wasn't me I saw anymore, I saw a girl that was older than me. She looked a bit like Susan, but it wasn't her. She was wearing a tunic and a pair of trousers, and had a quiver with arrows on her back. She carried a bow that was nearly as tall as she was. She smiled at me and then disappeared. I saw myself again.

Who was she? I thought as I hurried out of the room. Was it Susan? No, I didn't think so. Susan would never wear trousers. And she had something not... Susan-like over her.

"Emily, hurry! It's about to begin!" Peter hissed as I ran up to them.

"Sorry," I whispered and took my place beside Lucy. We walked in to the room with the five thrones. Of course, if it wasn't because of me, there would just be four thrones. I faked a smile and continued to walk up to the thrones.

I couldn't help but feeling a little happy as I walked forward, to the fifth throne. I didn't sit down, I stood in front of it. Just like my siblings.

"To the glistening Eastern Sea, I give you Queen Lucy, the Valiant," Aslan said. His voice echoed through the hall like in a church. It looked a bit like a church too.

Mr and Mrs Beaver and Mr Tumnus came walking up to us. The Beavers held two pillows with our crowns on. Lucy curtsied as Mr Tumnus put on a silver crown on her head.

"To the calming moon and stars of the night, I give you Queen Emily, the Faithful," Aslan said and now it was my turn to curtsey. Mr Tumnus placed an identical crown as Lucy's on my head, and I smiled at him.

"To the great Western Wood, King Edmund, the Just," Aslan went on and Mr Tumnus hurried over to Edmund to place his crown on his head.

"To the radiant Southern Sun, Queen Susan, the Gentle," Aslan continued. " And to the clear Northern Sky, I give you Peter, the Magnificent." We all sat down in our thrones. Aslan turned around to us.

"Once a King or Queen in Narnia, always a King or Queen," he said. "May your wisdom grace until the stars rain down from the heavens." He turned around again.

"Long live King Peter! Long live King Edmund! Long live Queen Susan! Long live Queen Emily! Long live Queen Lucy!" everyone said together.

That was followed by dancing and eating and I didn't really remember everything. I walked away after some time, I needed some space for myself. I sat down in a small garden just outside the hall with the thrones.

"Emily," Aslan said. He had joined me there. I turned around and looked him in the eyes.

"I will be gone for a while, but I will return in six years. On your 16th birthday," he said. Then he left. I didn't see where he went, but I found Lucy. She ran out on a balcony and I followed her, just to see that Aslan was walking on the beach down there. I ran in again and tried to find a way down to him. I got lost and ended up being at a balcony just above the sea. Or, it was just a platform, it didn't have any handrails.

I sat down and took off my shoes. I stared out over the sea and sighed. I wonder if I ever will stop thinking about the prophecies.

"You seem troubled," someone said. I blinked. A girl was in the water in front of me.

"Eh..." was all I could say. She laughed a bit.

"I know what you're thinking," she said. "Why is she in the water? It's because I'm a mermaid." She laughed again. She didn't seem to be older than me.

"Wow," I said. She looked very happy.

"No, it's nothing special. Back to my question. Why are you troubled? My name's Saphire, by the way," she said. This girl can talk really much. And fast.

"Well, a couple of days ago I read something that I probably shouldn't have read, and now I can't stop thinking about it," I said. I decided to trust her. Maybe because she was in the same age as me, or because she just wanted to talk to me.

"Don't think of that! Just accept whatever you read and don't think about it anymore! It's easy, I do it all the time. When someone tells me to do something, I tell them that I will and then I don't! It's just so easy to trick adults. Just say something and they'll believe you," she continued. "Just like the other day, when..."

I didn't get to hear what she did the other day, because two other mermaids came up beside Saphire. One man and one woman.

"Saphire! What did we tell you about disappearing like that!" the man said.

"We're getting worried, you know," the woman said. I assumed that they were the girl's parents.

"I hope she didn't bother you," the man said to me. I smiled.

"No, she..." I begun, but stopped when I saw that the woman was staring at me. She whispered something to the man and he suddenly bowed down.

"Your highness," he said. "I apologize, but we have to leave." They dived under the surface, but Saphire waved to me before she disappeared. I waved back. That was weird.

I went back inside and enjoyed the party for the rest of the evening.