25

FORGIVENESS

⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

Reuniting with her people under the moonlight was almost as peculiar to the Narnians as it was for Alexandra. For her, the Narnians had been her sanctuary since the very beginning of the retched winter that cursed their land. But for them, Alex was a ray of hope amongst the storm clouds brewing above them.

All their faith and confidence had disappeared as hatred started to rise through their ranks at the pure sight of a Telmarine, Caspian to be exact. If only they knew that his intentions were much more pure and selfless than they initially thought. Though they both could understand the hatred leaving the Narnian's lips in the forms of shouts and threats. They called him a liar and a murderer, but even Alex could make out much more vulgar words.

"All this horn proves is they've stolen yet another thing from us!" Nikabrik thrust his finger to Caspian and many glances were thrown to Alex who leaned against a tree and inspected the horn in her hands with memories flooding her senses.

"I didn't steal anything," Caspian retaliated defeatedly, only for a Minotaur to interrupt.

"Didn't steal anything? Shall we list the things the Telmarine's have stole?"

Alexandra's ears perked up as the Narnians started to list things together, their shouts coming out as battle cries due to their anger and built up hatred.

"Our homes!"

"Our land!"

"Our freedom!"

"Our lives!"

"You stole Narnia!"

Caspian had tears welling up in his hazel eyes as their shouts almost frightened him; he tried to hide it, to act tough, but it failed miserably. Alex was trained to see fear and to sense it in battle, and Caspian was a huge give away. With each shout he would take a troubled step back or let his fist curl inwards.

"You would hold me accountable for all the crimes of my people?" he asked to no one in particular, perhaps to everyone.

"Accountable... And punishable," Nikabrik snarled as he jumped from a rock to approach the young prince with a threatening glare.

In such a short amount of time, Alex had learned two prominent things about the Narnians around her. One of them being that they wouldn't stop until they had their revenge for all of the hundreds of years of banishment and torment they received from the Telmarines. And the other was that they had forgotten the truth of what it meant to be a Narnian.

To be a Narnian was much more than to be of Narnia. It was to love and accept the differences between species but more importantly the bond that had been forged. It was to be respectful and caring of the land that they loved to much, to treat the very dirt beneath their feet or air flowing around them with as much respect as they would hope to receive. But more importantly it was to put aside any hatred to defeat the common goal, because Narnians were proud and courageous beings and they refuse to stop fighting for what they believe in- even if they become immune to the truth every once in a while.

Alexandra broke from her thoughts once more upon hearing Reepicheep draw his pointed and shimmering, yet small and threatening, blade from around his body, "Ha! That is rich coming from you, dwarf! Have you forgotten that it was your people who fought alongside the White Witch?"

"And I'd gladly do it again," Nikabrik flicked the blade away with his finger, "If it would rid us of these barbarians."

This seemed to catch Trufflehunter's attention as, in his wounded state, he neared the quarrelling group, "Then it's lucky that it is not in your power to bring her back. Or are you suggesting that we ask this boy to go against Aslan now?"

"I've had it!" Alexandra shouted to split through the shouting and crossfire of the fight taking place right in front of her, quite frankly she was disappointed to say the least, "You speak so highly of yourselves as if your heart is not filled with all this hate and rage. I understand your pain and I wish I could take it away, I really do. But what is the point of all this bickering? As you argue we give the enemy time to rally their defences and to stake their claim on our land. Is that what you want? Maybe it's a good thing that the Kings and Queens of old and Aslan aren't here to see this; to see what we have become. I know they would be as disappointed in this as I am."

No one agreed with her at all, no one except Caspian and Trufflehunter. They simply needed a little more encouragement to sway to the side that made sense more than the other - Alex's side.

"Some of you may have forgotten," a small voice came from beside the Crimson Knight to gain everyone's attention, "But we badger's remember well. That Narnia was never right unless a son of Adam was king."

"Or daughter of Eve was Queen," the knight added.

Still nothing. There wasn't even a glint of hope in any of the peeing eyes around them. Whether it was a centaur or a faun, a mouse or a horse or even a dwarf, they all shared the same disbelief and shame.

Alexandra had even more words to spread to the small army, each of which would wipe the expressions from their faces.

"I think that you are all forgetting who was really there. Only one person here was a witness to all these events that you preach so highly of. Me. I was there when the White Witch was killed, I remember it so vividly because it was I that ended her reign. But that wasn't all. I watched as Queen Lucy went around and healed each and every wounded and dying figure on that battle field; not caring who's side they were on only minutes ago. Not only did she heal them, but the Kings and Queens took them under their wings and forgave what they did to Narnia. We gave them homes, worked beside them and ate at their table. We forgave them when they couldn't even do so for themselves."

"So, to answer your question, yes. This is not my apology to take, but I was also a victim to this all. My body taken from the safety of Cair Paravel and hidden beneath the foundation of Castle of Caspian and forgotten about. My story manipulated to make me look like a ruthless murderer and tyrant - don't think I didn't hear the mumbles of them as I walked through the camp. I am not saying that each Telmarine deserves an exoneration, but the thought should be there."

Those words seemed to work, her speech breaking through the rough edges that they had been forced to put up as a barrier. All but one seemed convinced into doing the right thing. The only one who didn't look hopeful was Nikabrik.

"He's a Telmarine! Why would we want him as our king?"

Caspian parted his lips pridefully to answer, "Because I can help you. Beyond these woods, I am a prince. The Telmarine throne is rightfully mine! Help me claim it, and I can bring peace between us."

"It is true," Glenstorm, a centaur, breached the defensive circle around the group and started to pace around, "The time is ripe. I watch the skies for it is mine to watch as it is yours to remember, badger. Tarva, the lord of victory, and Alambil, the lady of peace, have come together in the high heavens to be reunited with the life of Narnia, Aurora. And now here, a son of Adam has come forth to offer us back our freedom with the Crimson Knight beside him."

Alex shared an equally as determined glare as Caspian before they both glanced to the side to hear the chirp from a squirrel taking safety in the heights of a tree, "Is this possible? Do you really think there could be peace? Do you? I mean, really?"

Caspian had no idea how to answer the young Narnian and looked for the aid of the white-haired girl behind him. But she knew that if the Narnians were to finally see him as a leader then he needed to act like it.

"Two days ago I didn't believe in the existence of talking animals. Or dwarves. Or centaurs. Or the hope that would radiate from the knight with white hair. Yet here you are in strength and numbers that we Telmarines could never have imagined. Whether this horn is magic or not, it brought us together. And together, we have a chance to take what is ours."

Glenstorm nodded his head, "If you will both lead us, then my sons and I offer you our swords."

Every centaur in the clearing pointed their blades to the skies with respect, soon followed by all the other species that carried them. Even Reepicheep offered his own to his new leaders. Those who didn't carry weapons respectfully bowed their heads.

"And we offer you our lives, unreservedly," the mouse chimed with a charming bow.

"Miraz's army will not be far behind us," Trufflehunter urged.

"If we are to be ready for them, we need to hurry to find soldiers and weapons," Caspian looked to Alexandra with a warm smile radiating from his face, "I'm sure they will be here soon."

Alex bowed her head to him, "Then we must all rest for the night before leaving on our search at dawn. Keep fires to a minimum and share whatever rations of food and water we have. This might be our last night of freedom before our long journey and we must be careful regardless, rest well."

Upon her words the Narnians started to disperse into groups to chatter amongst them or to get a good nights sleep in. Even Alex retreated a safe distance from the clearing and only stopped once she had climbed up a pile of rocks so that she could watch over the whole camp to ensure their safety for the night so they could rest.

The last thing she expected was to hear Caspian grunting as he attempted to climb up the rocks in her pursuit, inaudible muttering leaving his lips in destress. Alex had to hold in her laughter at the sight of his flustered face and he too shared a sheepish smile with the knight.

"Glenstorm sent up a loaf of bread and a canteen of..." the prince sniffed the drink and scrunched up his nose, "Is that wine?"

"By-" Alex stopped herself from saying Aslan's name. Even if she had said it not too long ago, it felt wrong to name the lion when she hadn't seen him since the night of the coronation when he had left her with all the questions filling her head and driving her practically insane, "I hope it is."

Alex gulped a few heavy sips of the Narnian wine before a smile filled her face, "Who knew that I would miss the bitterness of the Narnian berries so much."

Caspian just laughed, "Glenstorm also told me to tell you to get a good nights sleep, well both of us actually. Something about us needing to be alert for the sake of the army, but honestly its hard to take orders from him when everything is so new to me."

The girl just nodded her head, "He is right, you should get to sleep so you are ready for whatever trouble we may face tomorrow. We could be met with silence or a full blown battle which means that you, Cas, should lay your pretty little head down and go to sleep."

"You think my head is-" he started with a smile before a grunt left his lips as the bread crust hit his head forcefully, snickers emitting from the pair, "Fine, fine. I'll sleep on one condition."

"Yes?"

"That you answer one question for me," he searched her face for an answer, "Why do you deter all conversation you can from the topic of Aslan and the Kings and Queens of Old?"

The white curls and braids bounced with the nod of her head, all she wanted was to watch over the army to ensure their safety but it would be much easier if she was the only one awake.

"During my thousand years of sleep, I witnessed something. Something so painful and what can only be described as lonely. I watched it all happen before my hands, felt the red drip through my fingers and yet, I had no control," she took a second to compose herself. "My whole life, even before Narnia, I have had absolutely no control. With the White Witch's ice in my chest it was only worse. But after her death, it continued. I thought that by smelling the Drowsy Pudina that I would finally be at rest, that I would finally have a moment of peace. But it was worse that anything anyone could ever imagine."

Caspian didn't say anything else that night. He lay with his hands behind his head and his body facing the stars, yet his eyes never left her solemn expression that had collected on her face.

Under the moon's rays he thought she was absolutely gorgeous.

⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

Just remember to keep voting on stories to help the author's! Leave follows, votes and comments to help them out when you can!