14

CRIMSON KNIGHT

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Where the white had cursed her hair, it started to fade into the fiery red that it had been before her arrival in Narnia. The red that would belong in the flames of a fire or the rays of the sun, it was bright and vibrant.

It was life.

Peter gasped out and brushed stray strands of red hair from her face to see the blush of pink returning to her cheeks and lips. He was even startled when she opened her eyes to reveal not the grey ones that he had grown to love but the green that the legends would tell him. The green that he knew that he would begin to love even more.

A fit of coughs escaped her bloodied lips as she struggled to breathe, the sudden feeling of something in her lungs taking over from what she had seen on the other side.

"I love him," she whispered, once her breathing got under control, to finish the sentence that she had started moments before only to stare up at Peter himself who had tears spilling from his eyes to match the same expression as the others around them.

Peter simply smirked as her hand came up to wipe the tears from his cheeks before she brought her lips on his in a moment of passion and warm embrace. It was only a small touch of the lips but that's all they needed. The warmth that he could feel from her touch was enough to confirm that she was indeed alive.

His grin finally took over his face as the tears still filled his eyes, "I love you too."

A pained gasp left her lips as not only Lucy pulled her in for a tight hug, but Edmund and Susan as well. Peter was not far behind them as he joined his favourite people for a tight embrace, a much-needed one at that.

"Is she dead?" Alex asked as three of the Pevensie children pulled back but Peter still kept an arm on her shoulder to help her sit up.

"All thanks to your sacrifice," Aslan's voice joined the others before blowing gently over a stone statue and they all watched it transform back into the Narnian it was before Jadis struck.

Alex took Peter's outstretched hand as he pulled her up to her feet and still keeping his arm under her just in case she fell, which she almost did, "I was simply following the prophecy. 'When Adam's flesh and Adam's bone sits at Cair Paravel in throne, the evil time will be over and done. But when the Crimson Knight departs alone, a new era will have begun'."

"Crimson Knight?" Susan whispered but a smile only grew brighter on her face as she noticed the red locks that now draped down Alexandra's shoulders in tight but messy curls and braids.

Lucy grasped her cordial tightly in her hands as she started to run off and heal any wounded Narnian, on their side or even the ones that followed the Witch. Edmund and Susan shared a cheeky grin as they slowly backed up from Peter and Alex who stared intently at one another.

"I watched you double over in pain- I watched Edmund break the wand-" all the thoughts came exploding out of his brain at once, "How is it even possible? We checked your pulse - twice - and there was nothing there. You-you were dead!"

Alex pulled the troubled boy over to nearby rock so that they could both sit down, hand in hand. "When you control someone for 98 years, it has a pretty big toll on the body. I don't think that the bond between us would have broken in a matter of seconds. And when I saw her standing over you- I just- acted out. But on the topic of me coming back to life... I honestly have no idea, that's a question for Aslan."

"I thought I lost you and Edmund. I don't know what I would have done if I lost you both."

"But you didn't, Peter," she took his cheek in her hand and rubbed her thumb over his tears ever so gently, "I'm not going anywhere, Peter. Not now, not ever."

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The horns blared around Cair Paravel as the four Pevensie children walked underneath the outstretched swords and to their thrones with Aslan in the middle. Lucy, in particular, looked around in awe at all the golden and marble designs. Alex, on the other hand, looked around at all the Narnians that had gathered in the great hall to witness their coronation until a certain blue-eyed boy gained the attention of her wondering emerald eyes.

His smirk instantly grew as he looked at her dress that Susan had forced her to wear. And she was right, Alexandra looked absolutely gorgeous in the white dress that complimented the vibrant colours in her eyes and hair, really making them pop out amongst all the gold and red in the hall. She caught his glance and sent him a wink before motioning her head to the grand throne that he was soon to sit on with a crown drooping over his blonde hair. Alex even sent him a small thumbs up and almost made him smile.

Alexandra watched in awe as the four soon to be monarchs turned to face their subjects and Aslan started to talk, "To the glistening Eastern Sea, I give you Queen Lucy, the Valiant," Mr Tumnus politely lay the silver crown, that looked like a halo of vines and flowers, on her head of brown curls that wrapped around her cheeks.

"To the great Western Wood, I give you King Edmund, the Just," this time a silver crown was rested upon Edmund's head by the fawn as he smiled down at the boy.

A gold crown was placed upon Susan's head as she bowed down to Tumnus so he could do it with ease, "To the radiant Southern Sun, I give you Queen Susan, the Gentle."

And lastly was Peter, a golden crown to match his golden hair, "And to the clear Nothern Sky, I give to you King Peter, the Magnificent."

"Once a King or Queen of Narnia, always a King or Queen. May your wisdom grace us until the stars rain down from the heavens," Aslan declared proudly to the Narnians as the four royals sat on their much-deserved thrones with pride.

"Long live King Peter! Long live King Edmund! Long live Queen Susan! Long live Queen Lucy!" the whole of Narnia chanted and cheered for the first time in unison in what felt like a hundred years. Winter was over and the Golden Era was just beginning.

Aslan shared a glance with Alex and smiled brightly with a small motion of his head as to beckon her into the middle of the room, which she did. The red-haired girl rested on one knee in the centre of the four thrones infront of Aslan who once again started to talk loudly, "And to the lands between the four corners of Narnia; above the grass and below the skies, I give you, Sir Alexandra, the Crimson Knight."

The knight's shoulder dipped as Aslan rested his paw on her before ushering her to stand and look over the Narnians that she swore to protect with her own life until her death; until the sun would no longer shine during the day or the moon would do so at night.

"Long live the Crimson Knight!"

Alex didn't know how to explain the look that washed over Aslan's face as the great hall started to empty into the ballroom for the festivities that would last until the next morning. The great lion looked scorned and alone.

"Aslan?" she approached him, "Can we talk?"

The lion simply looked upwards at the newly knight girl and bowed his head, "Of course, let's take a walk."

And so they did.

The two walked side by side down the long stretch of beach as they talked about something that had been troubling her deeply over the few days since the battle. A thought that kept her up at night in amidst all her nightmares and sleepless evenings.

"During the battle, when the witch pressed her wand against my armour, I feel something. I felt as if I had been plunged into an ocean of pure ice. But whatever it is, I can still feel it flowing through my veins."

Aslan listened to the girl as intently as he could. In reality, he had been missing from the planning of the coronation or the following party. Everyone had noticed how the lion had been missing up until the morning of the current day.

"I have spent a few days trying to get the answers that you are hoping for. But, my dear Knight, there are no reliable answers for something that has never occurred before in history. The toll that the Regal magic has on your body will be the first and I can already see the change," he looked down to her fiery red hair that she was in love with to notice a singular white strand amongst all the red, "This is why I must leave, to seek the answers that I can't find here. Not just for you, but for the sake of Narnia."

Aslan stopped walking as he noticed that the girl was no longer at his side, "Is this where we say goodbye?" she asked.

"You will see me again, Alexandra Dawson. When I am needed to most, you will find me," he whispered as her tears started to fill her eyes stubbornly, "Goodbye."

All she could do was watch as his figure receded down the rest of the beach and disappear abruptly, leaving nothing but half of a trail left in the sand. The Dawson girl wiped her watery eyes and turned, noticing how Lucy and Mr Tumnus watched from a balcony, and started her journey back to the party.

It was a quick one, or at least it felt like it. With everything swirling around in her mind, Alexandra hadn't even noticed the steps she had taken into the ballroom where the Kings and Queens of Narnia danced around to the soft music or addressed their new subjects. That was until Peter noticed her stiff stance in the doorway, how she looked off into nowhere with a distant glance in her green eyes.

"Go get your girl," Susan whispered over and pushed her brother gently towards her.

Peter nodded and approached the knight, even gently touched her elbow so that he didn't startle her. "What's wrong?" he asked her quietly, "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Alex just smiled at the irony of it all, "Nothing, I was just saying goodbye to Aslan before he left."

Peter smiled down at her as a humorous grin spread across her face, "What?" he asked her with a chuckle.

"I suppose that I should address you as my King from now on, King Peter," she mockingly took a bow in front of him and earned multiple chuckles from their friends such as the Beavers who slow danced in the corner of Mr Tumnus who stood by the tables filled with the most exquisite plates of foods from all corners of the land.

"Well, if I am your King, then I suppose that I should command you to dance with me," he offered his hand out to her.

She took it gracefully, "I must warn you, I have two left feet."

"So do I."

Both of them just chuckled as they started to move to the music and enjoy the presence of each other. Alex brought Peter into a hug as they swayed to the slowing music around them and looked over his shoulder. Her green eyes closed to enjoy the moment, but when she opened them up once more they flashed a bright blue before returning back to their previous colour in the blink of her eyes as if it never happened to begin with.

This might have been the end of one era but it was the beginning of a new one.

The Golden Era.

If only it was as enjoyable for some as it was for others.

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Nothing good stays good, right? I hope you enjoyed it!