The Youngest Pevensie

Chapter 9: Aslan's Camp

I was on a cliff looking down at the river that I had almost drowned in. This time I wasn't with my siblings, I was looking down at Edmund, the White Witch, and the dwarf. They were all looking at the "frozen" river, which now flowed with water. "It's so warm out." The dwarf said and started to take off his coat. The Witch shot him a look and he shrugged his coat back on. "I'll go and check the sleigh." The dwarf said, just to get away from her stare. Edmund had a small smile on his face as he looked towards the ground. "Your majesty." A voice said and the Witch, and Edmund turned around. I looked over as well. It was the wolves from earlier, and they had Fox in one of their mouths. "We found the traitor. He was rallying your enemies near the Shuddering Woods." The lead wolf told the Witch, and the wolf with Fox in his mouth threw him on the ground in front of the Witch. Fox yelped as he hit the ground. Fox! Oh no! "Ah. Nice of you to drop in. You were so helpful to my wolves last night. Perhaps you can help me now." The Witch said. Fox was now on his feet, and he bowed his head. "Forgive me, Your Majesty." "Oh, don't waste my time with flattery." The Witch said, annoyed. "Not to seem rude, but I wasn't actually talking to you." Fox told her and looked at Edmund. The Witch's nose flared with anger as she looked at Edmund, who looked back at her and then shielded himself from her gaze by looking somewhere else. The Witch walked forward, keeping her eyes on Edmund, before turning to face Fox who was right in front of her, now. She pointed her staff at him. "Where are the humans headed?" Fox would not answer. Edmund looked from the Witch to Fox, panicked and scared for him. Fox stepped back, getting ready for the impact. The Witch raised her staff. "Wait! No! Don't." Edmund interrupted and stood between her and Fox. "The beaver said something about the Stone Table, and that Aslan had an army there." Peter told her. The Witch stood up straighter. "An army?" She repeated, looking over Edmund's shoulders to Fox. Edmund stepped back, away from the Witch to see Fox's face. Fox just sighed and hung his head in disappointment. "Thank you, Edmund. I'm glad this creature got to see some honesty..before he dies." The Witch touched him with her staff and Fox yelped before he was turned to stone. No! "No!" Edmund yelled. The Witch pulled back her staff and swung around to face Edmund, who was now at her side. She back-handed him across the face. Edmund! He put his hand on the side of his face, as it contorted in pain. He took his hand off of his cheek, as the Witch put her hand on his shoulder. His face was red, from the slap. I wanted to punch her, I wanted kill her, for touching my brother! But I couldn't, as I wasn't really there. "Think about whose side you're on, Edmund. Mine..." She grabbed his face in her hand and forced him to look at the statue-Fox. "...or theirs." Tears welled up in his eyes as he looked at the Fox, from sadness and pain. The Witch turned to her wolves. "Go on ahead. Gather the faithful. If it's a war Aslan wants..." She turned her staff into the air, turning a butterfly that was flying by into stone, making it fall to the ground. "...it's a war he shall get."

I woke up, gasping, as tears ran down my cheeks. I would've assumed it was just a dream, but my hand was on my necklace, and I was thinking of Edmund as I fell asleep. "Are you okay? Did you have a bad dream?" Peter immediately asked, seeing my frightened face, and the tears streaming down my cheeks. "It wasn't a dream." I said, and I motioned for him to put me down. "What do you mean?" Lucy asked as Peter put me down. I opened my mouth to answer, but all that came out was a sob. Lucy grabbed my hand, for comfort, and thankfully didn't pry anymore, knowing I couldn't talk about it now. I had calmed down before we reached sight of Aslan's camp, half an hour later. I still wasn't perfectly okay, but at least the tears had stopped, and I wasn't tired anymore. I actually couldn't help but smile once I caught sight of it. Happiness radiated off of the camp. I squeezed my sister's hand and smiled up at her, and she grinned back down at me. As we neared the camp, a horn blew, signalling that we had arrived. Lucy and I stopped walking and looked to our left. A person made out of flowers in the wind waved at us. With the hand that wasn't holding the other person, we waved back at it. Then we caught up to our older siblings. Though Edmund was still in my mind, I grinned as we passed through the camp. Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at us, and they started following us. There were centaurs, horses, cheetahs, lions, fauns and more following us. "Why are they staring at us?" Susan asked. "Maybe they think you look weird." Lucy said, and I giggled at that. Even Peter cracked a smile. Mrs. Beaver was messing with her fur. "Oi, stop your fussing. You look lovely." Mr. Beaver told his wife, and I smiled at that. A few seconds later, we came to the head tent of the camp. Across from it stood a centaur. Peter unsheathed his sword and held it in the air. "We have come to see Aslan." He announced, and the crowd murmured. The centaur didn't say anything, just simply looked at the tent. Behind us, every creature bowed down. My siblings and I looked back at the tent. From it, came a lion, bigger than any of the other lions there, and power radiated off of him, as a feeling of safety. I hadn't even spoken with him, but I already trusted him. I smiled at the lion, and then my siblings and I crouched down, bowing. "Welcome, Peter, Son of Adam. Welcome, Susan, Lucy, and Katerina, Daughters of Eve. And welcome to you, Beavers. You have my thanks. But where is the fifth?" Aslan asked, his voice deep and gentle. I immediately frowned as memories of Edmund with the Witch popped up in my head. Peter, Susan, Lucy, and I raised from our bows. "That's why we're here, Sir. We need your help." Peter sheathed his sword. "We had a little trouble along the way." Susan told him. "Our brother's been captured by the White Witch." Peter said. "Captured? How could this happen?" Aslan asked, concerned. "He betrayed them, Your Majesty." Mr. Beaver told him, hesitantly. The word "betrayed" made me feel sick to my stomach. The crowd immediately started murmuring. "Then he has betrayed us all!" The centaur at the front said. My vision flicked to him, my eyes blazing with anger. "Peace, Oreius." Aslan told him, before he looked at me. "Calm, Katerina." I took a deep breath to calm down as Aslan looked at my siblings and said. "I'm sure there's an explanation." There was a second pause, before Peter spoke up. "It's my fault, really. I was too hard on him." Susan, Lucy, and I looked at him. "We all were." Susan placed a hand on Peter's shoulder. "But, Sir, he's our brother." I reminded him. "I know, dear one. But that only makes the betrayal all the worse." Even with Aslan's gentle voice, I still flinched at the word "betrayal". "This may be harder than you think."