Queen Elizabeth the Courageous

Chapter Thirty Six - Questions

          "Something on your mind Nathan?" Elizabeth questioned her oddly silent son as she ate her food just outside her tent. She looked over at him then motioned for him to join her. He obeyed and walked over to his mother sitting besides her but didn't grab anything to eat. "So?" She questioned him.

"The horn" He said and she smirked slightly wondering if he remembered it from when he was just a couple of years old. "Is it truly Aunt Susan's?" He asked her and she looked at him.

"I hope so" She said. "It's why I've sent so many out to find it. If it truly is your Aunt Susan's horn then it would be the same horn that Father Christmas gave to her in a time of great magic. That same magic doesn't just go away because it's holder is in a different world" She told him wisely.

"You think it'll bring them back?" He asked not knowing how to feel about the answer he already knew.

"I do believe so. I have faith in Aslan" She admitted making him smile slightly.

"You still have faith in a lion who is basically ageless and hasn't shown his face in centuries" He said and she gave him a curt nod.

"There's a reason for him not being here. All these years I've thought of different scenarios of him coming back and different reason why he never did." Elizabeth told him.

"Why hasn't he come back mum?" He asked and she sighed thinking about it.

"I think he hasn't come back because he still has trust in us to get Narnia back. Yes it has been a long war, but look at us" She said looking out in to the camp. "We grow stronger everyday. Everyday more and more Narnians grow tired of the Telmarines and join our fight. Old foes join us in our common enemy" She said looking at some of the creatures, the same types she fought back in the Golden Age. "I think Aslan has stayed back because of us" She said looking at him.

"Of us?" He asked and she nodded.

"There is still 1 true Queen of Narnia. As long as I am breathing, as long as I have even one ounce of energy left in my body I will fight for Narnia, I will fight to get back our home" She said looking at him. "Aslan knows this, just as I have faith in him, he has faith in me. He has faith in the Kings and Queens of old. As long as there is a Queen or King alive to lead Narnia Aslan will trust in them to lead them in the right direction despite how long it takes. Now, because I have 2 very worthy successors that are growing more and more read to become and King or Queen of Narnia Aslan knows the rains of our people are in good hands"

"I wish I had the same faith in him as you do" He told her honestly and she nodded to him.

"You don't know him like I do, you've never fought besides him like I have, you've never carried on a conversation with him as I did. For years, centuries I worked side by side with Aslan. I know him better than anyone else in this camp, trust in me and all will be well" He smiled nodding and the pair of them settled in silence. After a moment Nathan reached out and started to take some food eating it quietly. They both listened to the sounds of the camp, the different conversations, the sounds of metal weapons sharpening on stone. To them, it was home.

Miles away from where the camp was settled Peter, Penny and the other roamed about the ruins. Each of them had split up looking at everything. There was one thing they all felt as they wondered around the ruins, familiarity. They all felt like they knew this place, like this was the place to be.

"I wonder who lived here" Lucy's soft voice said finally breaking the silence.

"I think we did" Susan said seeing something shinning in the sun. She bent down picking it up as Penny looked over her shoulder.

"Edmund" She called out catching his attention. He looked from Penny to what she was looking at in Susan's hand. "This looks familiar" She admitted to him.

"Hey, that's mine" He admitted walking over to him taking the solid gold piece out of Susan's hand. "From my chess set" He said as Peter approached them.

"Which Chess set?" He questioned his brother.

"Well I didn't exactly have a solid gold chess set in Finchley did I?" He asked and Penny smiled a little bit before looking at Lucy.

"It can't be" She whispered looking around making Penny look at her curiously.

"Lucy?" She questioned softly gaining everyone else's attention.

"Lucy!" Peter called out as she took off running.

"Don't you see?" Lucy asked not waiting on them to follow but knew they would. They other quickly followed her their curiosity in over drive.

"What?" Peter questioned.

"Imagine walls." She said positioning them all in their correct spots. "And columns there... and a glass roof" She said final taking her spot.

"Cair Paravel" Peter whispered the castle finally taking form in his mind. His gaze slowly turned away from the columns and to the spot empty right besides him. The spot where Elizabeth was supposed to be standing. Pain filled his heart, it was the worst feeling. From the looks of everything it had been years, perhaps centuries. Was Elizabeth even still alive? His children? He lived an entire year with these thoughts and fear over took him when he realized how long it had actually been here for them. Could they have died here when Cair Paravel was attacked? Is there anything of Narnia left?

Peter wasn't the only one looking at the spot. Penny gazed towards it as well tears filling her eyes at the thought of losing yet another family member. Her entire family has been ripped from her, she couldn't bare losing another one. The entire year in the other world she had been clinging onto hope that Elizabeth along with her nephew and the unborn child, which she knew had to have been born by now, were still alive.

Edmund knew exactly what was running through her mind. He knew her like the back of his hand and didn't waste any time to pull her to him holding her as tightly as he could. She knew she had t stay strong, she had to be positive. This past year the guilt of leaving their last few family members have been eating everyone up, especially Peter. He was never the same after that night they returned him. Over time he grew bitter and mean. She hoped that her positivity had helped him as much as it did her but she could see it in his eyes. Without Elizabeth and his children he was losing himself. He holds so much guilt for leaving her and his children, more than all of them combined. It hurt him to know that he never even met one of his children, that they both grew up without their father. How slow was their aging? Have they aged past and was it to late to be reunited with them?

"We should get moving" Peter said not wanting to waste another minute. Every minute they took here was another minute away from finding answers. He didn't want to prolong the reunion if there was anyone to have a reunion with. He walked away from everything and they all followed him wanting the same answers. The main thing on their mind was if they could finally bring the whole family together. Could they be a whole family again?