โข chapter three
Sarina styled her hair into loose waves, weaving in mini braids on either side and leaving a few strands to frame her face. In contrast, Susan secured her hair into a half-up style, twisting sections on each side before pinning them at the back. As she adjusted her bow and arrows, Sarina contemplated whether she should find a temporary weapon. She does have her wand but revealing it means revealing her identity as a witch. So she chose to choose a temporary weapon to use instead.
Noticing Sarina's distracted expression, Susan offered, "Would you like a dagger? Just to make sure you're not unarmed if you find yourself in danger. We can't know what lies ahead after all this time in Narnia." She handed Sarina one of the daggers she'd found in a chest. Sarina accepted it with a nod.
"I suppose it's better to be safe than sorry."
Once ready, they decided to explore outside Cair Paravel. As they descended from the ruins, a boat caught their eye, a short distance from the shore.
Sarina and Susan exchanged glances before racing towards the water. Susan loosed an arrow, catching the attention ofโ
"Are those... humans? Wait... is that a goblin?"
Edmund sighed. "No, that was a dwarf."
"Oh."
"Drop him!" Susan commanded.
"I don't think that was the best choice of wordsโ" Sarina said but before she could finish, the dwarf was hurled into the water. "โnever mind."
Peter and Edmund dashed toward the water, while Susan shot another arrow, hitting one of the soldiers and jumped from their small boat. Peter pulled the dwarf back to shore, and Edmund dragged the boat to the land. Lucy on the other hand knelt to cut the dwarf's bindings.
"Drop him? That's the best you can come up with?" The dwarf muttered, earning a huff from Susan.
"A simple 'thank you' would suffice," she replied.
"Well, I did say the choice of words wasn't the bestโokay, I'll shut up." Sarina refrained from continuing as Susan shot her a glare.
"They were doing just fine drowning me without your help," the dwarf retorted.
"Maybe we should have let them," Peter said, drawing an eye-roll from Sarina.
As her cousins debated, she took a moment to survey her surroundings.
"Why were they trying to kill you, anyway?"
"They're Telmarines. That's what they do."
"Telmarines? In Narnia?"
"Where have you been for the last few hundred years?"
"It's a long story."
Sarina discreetly pulled her wand from the makeshift pocket in her dress. Her magic was still accessible here, which is a good thing. She hoped her near-death experiences at Hogwarts wouldn't follow her in this unfamiliar world.
Before she could gather her thoughts, she noticed Edmund sparring with the dwarf, who she still didn't know. Edmund won easily.
"Alright, now how about we find a way to leave this place? It's beautiful and all, but I'm sure we weren't meant to stay here," Sarina suggested, drawing the attention of her cousins and the dwarf.
"Who is she? I thought the Kings and Queens of Old were two Kings and two Queens?" the dwarf asked, eyeing her with suspicion.
"I'm Sarina, their cousin. Pleasure to meet you, Mr...?" She extended her hand, but the dwarf only regarded it warily.
"Trumpkin."
After introductions, the group set off in the small boat they had taken from the TelmarinesโPeter insisted they were merely borrowing it. Sarina kept her thoughts to herself, knowing that they technically stole it.
Peter took the oars, with Susan, Lucy, and Trumpkin seated behind him while Sarina and Edmund sat at the front. Silence enveloped them until Lucy broke it.
"They're so still." Sarina followed Lucy's gaze, noting the trees.
"They're trees. What do you expect?" Trumpkin remarked.
Sarina winced at the memory of a certain Whomping Willow.
"They used to dance," Lucy countered.
Then that tree must be always drunk.
Sarina thought about talking about the Whomping Willow Tree back in Hogwarts. She chuckled from that thought earning a confused look from Edmund.
Trumpkin shrugged. "Wasn't long after you left that the Telmarines invaded. Those who survived retreated deep into the woods. The trees have kept to themselves since."
"I don't understand. How could Aslan let this happen?" Lucy asked.
"Aslan? I thought he abandoned us when you lot did," Trumpkin replied, bitterness in his voice.
The Pevensie siblings exchanged guilty looks, their hearts heavy.
"We didn't mean to leave, you know," Peter said quietly, but Trumpkin dismissed him.
"Makes no difference now, does it?"
Sarina began to grasp the weight of the situationโhundreds of years had passed since her cousins last walked in Narnia. The Telmarines had invaded during their absence, forcing the original inhabitants into hiding. Being kings and queens meant protecting their subjects, and the Narnians felt abandoned in the times they needed them.
"Get us to the Narnians... and it will," Peter said resolutely, his High King persona emerging.
Sarina observed her eldest cousin, concerned that his drive might cloud his judgment. But she remained silent and let them do the talking for now.
They reached land, and Trumpkin anchored the boat as the four of them, minus Lucy, pulled it ashore.
"Hello there!"
Sarina watched as Lucy approached a bear. While her cousins were cautious, Sarina felt an urge to observe.
Suddenly, Trumpkin warned, "Don't move, Your Majesty." Just as Lucy turned, the bear noticed her and charged. Sarina reacted instinctively, throwing the dagger she had received from Susan and struck the bear in the eye, causing it to howl in pain.
"Stay away from her!" Susan shouted with her bow drawn, though Sarina noticed her hesitation.
Without thinking, Sarina snatched another arrow from Susan's quiver and fired, hitting the bear in the heart and one in the eye.
Susan turned to see Sarina and Trumpkin behind her, the dwarf nodding in approval of Sarina's swift action, unlike Susan, who remained frozen.
"Why wouldn't he stop?" Susan asked.
"I suspect he was hungry," Trumpkin replied, as the boys rushed to Lucy's side. Susan lingered back, struggling with her emotions. Sarina stepped beside her, offering a supportive tap on the shoulder. Susan managed a small smile and whispered thanks before joining her siblings.
"Thanks," Lucy said to Trumpkin, who merely glanced back, uncertain of how to respond.
"You too, Sari. Thank you," Lucy added, and Sarina smiled back.
"Are you alright?" Sarina asked.
"He was wild," Lucy replied.
"I don't think he could talk at all," Peter said.
"Get treated like a dumb animal long enough, that's what you become," Trumpkin noted, his tone grim.
"You may find Narnia a more savage place than you remember. The moment you hesitateโ" he glanced at Susan, "โthen you'll die."
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"When did you learn to throw daggers like that, Sari?" Lucy's question drew everyone's attention.
"Yeah, what you did back there wasn't beginner's work," Edmund added.
Sarina hesitated, considering how to explain her skills without revealing too much.
"Back in London, my friends and I liked to spar in our free time. We experimented with different kinds of dummy weapons. I suppose I'm not rusty since I surprised you all," she said playfully, grateful her antics with the Weasley twins had come in handy.
"Remind me to visit you in London sometime," Edmund said, and Sarina chuckled.
"Very well, if we come back. I'll wait for you in London."
The weight of her words settled over the group. It was obvious that they avoided the topic of returning home, but Sarina understood the unspoken truth. After their purpose here, returning to their world was inevitable.
"I don't remember this way," Susan admitted as they cautiously navigated a sloping hill.
"That's the problem with girls," Peter quipped, glancing back with a grin. "You can't carry a map in your head."
Sarina rolled her eyes.
"That's because our heads have something on them," Lucy countered, prompting Sarina to smirk in agreement.
"Yeah, we call it brain," Sarina chimed in, sharing a smile with Lucy.
"I wish he'd just listen to the DLF in the first place," Susan added.
"DLF?" Edmund inquired.
"Dear Little Friend," Lucy replied, grinning mischievously.
"Oh, that's not patronizing at all, is it?" Trumpkin remarked, making the girls giggle.
Their laughter faded as they approached a dead end. Sarina shot Peter a look.
"I'm not lost," he insisted.
"I didn't say anything." Sarina said to him.
"No," Trumpkin said, "You're just going the wrong way."
"You last saw Caspian at the Shuddering Woods, and the quickest way there is to cross at the River Rush."
"But unless I'm mistaken, there's no crossing in these parts."
"That explains it, then. You're mistaken."
Sarina groaned, she is starting to get really annoyed by Peter's stubbornness.
"Terrain changes over time, Pete. This might have been the right way before, but nature likely blocked it." She interrupted but Peter ignored her, and continued on trudging on his chosen path, Sarina sighed loudly because of his immaturity.
Susan patted her back as Trumpkin observed. He found Sarina a blank slate amidst the familiar royalty of the Kings and Queens of Old. But there was something different about her, a warmth he couldn't quite place.
After hours of walking, Peter finally stopped and they stood overlooking a gorge below.
"You see, over time, water erodes the earth's soil, carvingโ"
"Oh, shut up."
Sarina shook her head at Peter's flippant response to Susan.
"Is there a way down?" Edmund asked the dwarf.
"Yeah, falling," Trumpkin replied.
Sarina chuckled, "That's a good one." When they all turned to her, she cleared her throat. "Sorry, not the best time for jokes, huh?"
Peter dismissed her with a wave. "Well, we weren't lost."
"There's a ford near Beruna. How do you feel about swimming?" Trumpkin suggested.
"The truth?" Sarina replied. "I don't really like cold streams."
"I'd prefer that over walking," Susan added. As they turned to head back, Lucy and Sarina remained still. The young witch squinted at something across the way.
"Aslan?" Lucy called out. Aslan? The Great Lion from their stories? Sarina thought, straining to see. The figure was hazy.
"It's Aslan! He's right..." Lucy's excitement faded as she continued, "... there..."
Sarina couldn't explain it, but the form vanished, though the trace of magic lingered in the air.
"Do you see him now?" Trumpkin asked Lucy.
"I'm not crazy!" Lucy protested, her eyes flashing with determination.
"Yeah, she isn't," Sarina chimed in, feeling the weight of their gazes. "I think I saw him too."
"You saw Aslan?" Susan asked, her brows raised.
Sarina shrugged. "Sort of? It was hazy, but I'm pretty sure there was a lion twice as big as Lucy."
"See? Sari saw it too! He wanted us to follow him!" Lucy insisted.
"I'm sure there are plenty of lions in these woods, just like that bearโ"
"I know Aslan when I see him," Lucy interrupted firmly. Despite her confidence, Susan, Peter, and Trumpkin turned to continue their path, leaving Edmund and Sarina behind.
Lucy looked back toward the spot where she had seen Aslan, and Sarina followed her gaze.
"You're not just saying you saw him to agree with me, right, Sari?" Lucy asked, hope shining in her eyes.
Sarina smiled and nodded. "I may not be a Narnian expert, but I believe what I see, Lucy. If I say I saw a majestic lion, then I really did."
Lucy's face lit up with joy, and she turned to Edmund, nudging him to move. Sarina opened her arms, and Lucy nestled against her side as they followed Edmund.
Sarina glanced back on the spot where she spotted the Great Lion. If it was really him or just a pigment of her imagination, Sarina could say that Narnia is intriguing her even more.
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