10

THE TRUTH

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"I demand to know what the Witch meant," Alex directed bravely and strongly, she needed to know what the words meant and why, "What did she mean when she said that I wouldn't be the first Dawson to die on the Stone Table?"

Aslan took a long stride around the circular table before taking a hopeless seat on the floor as he overlooked the map of Narnia that had wooden figures to represent certain battalions within both armies so they could plan out an attack, or try to at least.

"Aslan?" her voice softened once she realised the expression that washed over his face. It was one that she had seen many times in others and even in her self. He had no hope.

"In return of the Witch renouncing her claim to Edmund, I will take his place. There is to be no discussion with the Pevensie children and you are the only one who is allowed to know because I trust you," he responded quietly as he continued to look over what he and General Oreius had planned out, "I trust you to make the right decision with what you already know as your incentive, do you understand?"

Although Alex had no idea what the lion was on about, she simply nodded her head so that he could continue with his words and she was shocked that he actually answered her question, "You are not the first of your line to step through those wardrobe doors, in fact, your uncle and your mother became legends within Narnia. Digory Kirke was unable to return to Narnia but your mother, she had unfinished business to attend to within these lands so she was allowed back through. But she wasn't the same fighter that these lands knew her as; she was different. This was only when you were a baby so you wouldn't remember her leaving you so frequently as she did, but almost like clockwork she would return here every year on October 7th."

The girl's eyes widened, "They both died on October 7th."

"Only one of your parents died in that house fire in October and that was your father. Florence Dawson, on the other hand, walked through the forests of Narnia one last time. Only this time with the weight of the world on her shoulders and despair in her heart. You see, your father was never the same when he returned from the front lines before everyone else; people would ignore him and say hateful things but they didn't know that he had his own battle going on," Aslan watched as the girl's face continued to change with each expression, some of them he could recognise as she remembered back to some of her earliest memories, "No one here blames your mother, that is important for you to know, what she did does not reflect onto you either. Florence came to Narnia in search of a cure to what was going on with Robert, sadly Jadis was the only person to comply with her cries. In return of your mother taking back the Witch's wand, Jadis would create a cure."

"All traitors belong to Jadis," Alex wondered out loud and only earned a nod from the lion whose eyes teared up ever so lightly, "So she manipulated my mother only to kill her?"

Silence fell upon them as they were both lost in thought. A loud sob soon ripped through the stiffness in the air.

"I should have told you sooner but I know that if I did then-"

"Then I wouldn't stop until I had my revenge which would just create a bigger issue because then I would be trapped with this curse and there would be no way to reverse it if she died before we managed to figure this out," Alex wiped her eyes and stood up to leave the room, only she hadn't finished what she was going to say, "There isn't a way for this to all get dealt with, is there? I'm going to be stuck like this forever."

Aslan's paws made light thumps as he rounded the table and stopped in front of her, even on his four legs he was almost as tall as Alexandra, "Tomorrow morning I want you to read page 250 of the book that I have left out for you. Hopefully, everything will be explained and all your questions will be answered."

The lion's head slowly dipped down in defeat as he finally came to terms with what he was going to have to face within a few hours. But deep down, Aslan knew that he needed to be the sacrifice for not only the five children who he had come to trust and build relations with, but for the whole of Narnia.

Just as she pulled the silk of the curtains open and was ready to step out of the tent, Alexandra turned to face the lion once more, "I'll walk with you to the Stone Table, it's the least I could do. No one deserves to walk alone to their death, no one."

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The moon was quick to glow in the night sky as dusk set upon Narnia. Each of the four Pevensie children had eaten dinner with the Dawson girl who had stayed silent the whole time, even when it came to returning to her shared tent with Lucy and Susan. Alex had waited until both girls had fallen into their deep slumber before attaching her axe at her hip and walking out into the night breeze.

She waited.

Alex waited for what felt like half an hour at best; keeping her eyes trained on the grand tent that soon Aslan sauntered out of with his head held low and his tail tucked between his hind legs. He didn't need to say anything to the girl for her to know how he was feeling. Out of respect, the girl stayed silent and quietly joined their side as they both took off through the forest and toward his end. Both oblivious to the Pevensie girls that railed behind them without a word.

It felt as if the whole journey was doomed, not only were they walking to his death but Alex swore that someone was following them. Yet every time she turned her head to look, there was nothing. Nothing but trees, leaves and the dark shades of blue that stretched over them. It was daunting to be alone in the middle of a forest filled with trees, on Earth it would be calming but in Narnia it was a completely different tale. It was impossible to tell who the trees had an alliance with. They could be the biggest asset or the biggest enemy, only time would tell.

But, just like Aslan, Alexandra heard the twig snap clearly this time, cracking through the silence of the night as if it was a knife. "Shouldn't you both be in bed?" Aslan asked defeatedly, not even turning to know it who it was.

The Dawson girl turned her head to watch as Lucy revealed herself from where she and Susan hid behind a tree, "we couldn't sleep."

"Please, Aslan. Couldn't we come with you?" Susan asked as the two sisters continued to near both the lion and the white-haired girl

"More company wouldn't hurt," he shared a quick glance with his teary yet brave eyes with Alex who softly smiled as the new group of four continued in the journey towards the Stone Table, "Thank you."

It continued in the same old silence as before, none of them daring to interrupt the dangerous thoughts that not only swarmed within Aslan's mind but within Alex's too. She had to come to terms with what Aslan had told her several hours ago, that of what fate her mother had met all those years ago.

"It is time," the lion merely whispered and stopped abruptly in the dried leaves that covered the grass, "From here on, I must go alone."

"But, Aslan..." the two older girls interrupted only to be met with the golden eyes of Aslan himself.

"You have to trust me. For this must be done. Thank you, Susan. Thank you, Lucy. But Alexandra, I hope you know what you must do; Peter can't lead them into battle alone, he needs you more than he thinks he does. And farewell."

The three girls could only watch and comply with his demands of leaving alone. The lion left without a word more to spill, not even a final strand of wisdom that Alex craved deep down to hear. The grey-eyes girl turned to the two siblings and even pressed her gloved palm to Lucy's should gently.

"It's time for us to go back, we don't need to see what happens next."

Susan just defiantly shook her head and head off through the trees with the two girls chasing after her, Alex's eyes widened at the sight of what could only be half of the Witch's followers surrounding the Stone Table. With a grunt, Alexandra tugged on both girls to drag them down so that they were hidden from view.

Within the soft, orange glow of the flame torches being held by many of the members that chanted and roared with glee, they could just make out the outline of Aslan as he defeatedly stalked up the cracked steps to the table. Above them all, White Witch held her knife proudly in her hands.

All three girls let out an audible gasp as the great lion was knocked onto his back by Otmin the Minotaur, one of Jadis' most loyal subjects. "Why doesn't he fight back?" Lucy cried out weakly at the sight of what went on before them.

"There is a price to pay for everything here in Narnia," Alex mumbled and continued to stare as the Witch made demands for her subjects to tie Aslan, only to start shaving his golden mane instead, "Aslan has decided that he will be the one to face the price for us all."

Alexandra was almost thankful that the girls were at such a distance from the events that they couldn't hear the vile words that spilt from the Witch's mouth vindictively. All the jeering and mocking was stopped at the wave of their leader's hand before she lowered down to Aslan's level with the blade dancing between her fingers tauntingly; a constant reminder of what was soon to happen.

With a few threatening words into his ear, the Witch stood up and began to shout over the noise to all her followers; including the three girls waiting anxiously in the treeline just out of her sight.

"Tonight, the Deep Magic will be appeased! But tomorrow, we will take Narnia forever!" with each of the daring words leaving her mouth in the form of a cry, the chanting and laughter only got louder and louder, "In that knowledge, despair and die!"

Jadis raised the dagger high into the sky before plunging it deep into Aslan's chest with a battle cry leaving her lips that were set in stone as a relieved grin. Just in time, Alex managed to cover Lucy's eyes with her hand before she could even think of turning the other way.

But it was too late. Her grey eyes still managed to meet the golden ones that belonged to Aslan from all the way across the crowd, she was forced to watch as the life left his body with a silent groan. But staring at the Stone Table brought too much pain, not only had the lion been killed on the surface but so had her mother. Death plagued the area.

Alex stood to her feet with the tears dripping past her cheeks painfully, "Alex?" Susan asked before she noticed that the girl's axe was now in her hand and she was ready to fight, "How many do you think you could take down before you die along with Aslan? Ten, fifteen, twenty? Just wait until the battle, you can have your way and none of us will stop you. Please."

She was right. As much as the fighter wanted to jump out of the shadows and spring into action to revenge the recent loss of her friend, Peter needed her tomorrow. Narnia needed her tomorrow.

"I-I can't be here, I just can't," the girl set off running back through the trees and towards the camp, leaving the two sisters to tightly embrace with tears soaking their lashes.

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feel free to vote and follow for future stories! if you like this one, you will like my other narnia one soon to come! titled 'a deeper shade of blue' and features our favourite Caspian