✲⋅*♚ ,∴°

𝕭𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐈: 𝖂𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝖂𝐀𝐑

𝕮𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝕹𝐢𝐧𝐞: across white lands

THE LANDSCAPE STRETCHING OUT BEFORE THEM was breathtaking. The watery morning sun shone its golden rays upon the Western Woods as they stretched out from the bottom of the hill like a blanket draped the ground. At the edge of the woods shimmered the Frozen Lake beneath the sunlight, or Azure Cove as it was called before the long winter. At the other side of the lake the Shuddering Woods began with the snowy peaks of the Golden Hills casting shadows against the horizon. The Great River meandered through the hills, a silver line in the white and grey view. And, if she squinted against the bleak sunlight, she could vaguely distinguish the coastline.

Somewhere between the hills and the beach Aslan's camp awaited them. If they kept a strong pace, they might reach the camp within five days. But one look at Lucy made Ashara realise that was probably much too ambitious thinking. She couldn't bear the thought of taking a week to reach safety, but they didn't have another option available right now.

"Now," Mr. Beaver said as he scanned the view, shielding his eyes from the sun. "Aslan's camp is near the Stone Table just across the frozen river."

"River?" Peter questioned, unable to hide his worry.

"Oh, the river's been frozen solid for a hundred years!" Mrs. Beaver waved his worries away.

Peter looked back ahead and she could see his resolve crumbling as he stared at the journey awaiting them. "It's so far."

"It's the world dear," Mrs. Beaver told him. "Did you expect it to be small?"

"Smaller," Susan said with a glare at her older brother.

"Let's start with making our way downhill first," Ashara offered, offering Lucy a reassuring smile.

Slowly their company made their way down, careful not to lose their grip in the snow. For a moment Ashara thought the snow almost seemed softer than the day before, as if it was slightly melting. But the sun hadn't been shining bright enough for that to be possible and so she shook the thought from her mind and focused on helping Lucy down the hill instead. She'd noticed her brother's eyes were usually never far away from the little girl and, strangely enough, she wanted to take some of the responsibility from his shoulders. He had so much to worry about, as he had admitted to her the night before and she was determined to at least take some of the weight from his shoulders.

And so she found herself walking next to the youngest Pevensie, occasionally holding out her hand to steady the girl as she stumbled through the snow.

"Are there any more Fauns in Narnia?" Lucy questioned. There seemed to be a never ending stream of questions coming from the girl. But Ashara didn't mind answering them. She loved her country and would gladly talk of its wonders to the human girl.

"Yes there are," she smiled at the girl. "There are several families living in the Shuddering Woods and a few in the Owl Woods as well."

She frowned, as if she was considering whether or not she should ask her next question. But eventually her curiosity seemed too great to contain. "So why did Mr. Tumnus live all alone?"

"Oh, he wasn't alone," Ashara reassured her. "The Beavers often visited him, as did the Badgers. He had a family who looked out for him."

Lucy considered the thought for a moment and it seemed to make her happy to know there were people who worried when the White Witch took him. For even though she hadn't said those thoughts out loud, Ashara had guessed it was the reason the girl had asked the question in the first place.

"We all take care of each other," Ashara went on, hoping to distract her from the tragic fate of her friend. "After my father and mother died the Narnians made a pact to never leave me alone in the castle. There was always someone to look after me. We are all family."

Lucy's eyes were wide. "Your parents died?"

Ashara nodded, eyes focused on the path before them, suddenly unable to look at the girl. "A long time ago," she muttered softly. Then she took a deep breath and pushed her grief away. "What I mean to say is, you're not alone in this fight Lucy. None of us are."

The girl smiled and despite her fear and worries, her smile could have replaced the sun with its warmth and light. It wasn't hard to see why Mr. Tumnus had befriended her so easily. If the Pevensies chose to stay and take their crowns, she would make a wonderful Queen. Even if she was still very young...

"Have you met Aslan before?" Lucy asked, pulling Ashara from her musings.

"I have," she said. "When I was younger. He came to Narnia for the crowning of each new King or Queen. Often he would spend a lot of time talking with my father." She could still picture it perfectly in her mind. How the sun shone on the palace gardens of Cair Paravel. She had been seated in the window still of her room, looking out over the many trees, flowers and hidden paths. And between the greenery she'd spotted her father and the Lion walking together. She hadn't been able to hear what they were saying, but she could still remember the serious expressions on both their faces. "I never got to ask what they talked about," she murmured, letting the memory sink to the depths of her past again.

"What's he like?" The young girl wondered.

How could she describe the Great Lion? The king of the world? It was hard to find words to capture the amount of kindness and mercy that shone from his eyes, while at the same time they held a might so great that it was impossible to doubt his power. How could she find the words to tell of the way his fur seemed to glow golden beneath the sun and soft silver in the moonlight, as though it was made of light that changed with the falling of the night? How could she tell Lucy that whenever he was near, she felt safe. As though she had entered the strong walls of a castle, comforting for those inside and threatening to those who chose to remain outside.

It was impossible to think of the right words to describe Aslan and so, after taking a deep breath, she decided to try and describe what it felt like to be near him instead. "Whenever his name is mentioned, do you feel that glow inside of your chest? Like the first summer of spring finally crawling from behind the clouds?"

Lucy had a frown on her face that made her seem wise beyond her years and then she nodded. It was strange to put it into words but it seemed she had understood the feeling Ashara was trying to describe.

"That is what he is, only that feeling becomes infinitely stronger when you see him," Ashara went on.

"Then he must be kind," Lucy said, her voice serious as she thought about how she could best give words to the feeling of the sun shining in your heart.

Ashara nodded. "He is and at the same time he's stern and just but never cruel."

"I'm glad we're going to meet him," Lucy said happily.

"Me too," Ashara smiled. Her enthusiasm was contagious. It made the journey ahead seem less like a long and hard road and more like a fun adventure.

They continued down the hill. Through the thick layer of snow and passed the trees guarding the hillside. Several times Ashara thought she could hear the sound of water dripping but she never saw where exactly it came from and so she ignored the sounds, thinking she was probably only imagining things because she was so on guard.

Their journey, however, was halted when they came to the bottom of the hill. When it was still summer in Narnia, there used to run a river at the foot of the hill, but now it was covered in a thick layer of snow. Only that layer wasn't enough to level the ground and so a steep slope had formed over the years, hardened by ice and snow. The Beavers would be able to climb down with ease but she couldn't say the same for them.

"What now?" Susan questioned, staring with fearful eyes to the gap in the landscape.

Ashara was already looking around for a safe way down, her eyes landing on a couple of boulders forming a path across. She walked over to them, hearing the others follow her. She knelt down to inspect the bottom of the rocks. They seemed to be rooted deep into the earth and therefore seemed steady enough to climb.

"It looks secure," she said, turning to the others. "But the ice and snow have probably made it slippery. So be careful." She looked at the Beavers. "You can go first to look for the most dangerous spots."

Mr. Beaver nodded, determination shining in his eyes. Then he carefully started making the way across, with Mrs. Beaver right behind him. They walked hand in hand to keep each other balanced, while using their tails to feel out the most icy spots. It seemed like the boulders were less slippery than Ashara had initially thought and soon both Beavers were safely on the other side.

"Susan and Lucy, your turn," Ashara said.

The two sisters followed the example set by the Beavers, walking across hand in hand. Susan was in the front, carefully placing one foot in front of the other to feel out the slippery spots. She followed the trail the Beavers had left in the snow and that seemed to work, for soon both sisters had safely crossed.

Peter stepped forward, ready to make his way across but at the last moment he looked back, offering Ashara his hand. She went to stand beside him and took his hand, ready to join the others. Though, as soon as their skin touched, Ashara felt the Deep Magic surge within her, a sudden blow so powerful she couldn't possibly push it down. With wide eyes she looked down at their entangled fingers and to her surprise she noticed the golden lines appear on her skin, writing the language of magic that she was filled with. But, the lines didn't just appear on her own skin. Slowly, like an ivy growing around a tree, the golden lines curled around Peter's fingers, binding their hands in a golden glow.

When Peter noticed Ashara wasn't moving, he looked at her and watched as she stared down at the golden string wrapping itself around their tangled fingers. Slowly he followed her gaze down and with a startled gasp he released her hand. Immediately the golden string broke and the glow of magic swirling within her disappeared.

Their eyes met and both of them were stunned into silence. She opened her mouth, wanting to reassure him that it hadn't been her doing, but no words came and so she closed her mouth again. She wasn't even sure if it hadn't been her doing. Of the two of them she was the one with magic after all. Peter couldn't possibly have made that golden string appear. But then why couldn't she remember calling upon her magic? She didn't even know she could do such a thing with her magic.

"Are you coming dear?" Mrs. Beaver called from the other side of the gap.

They had been too far away to see the golden thread that had bound itself around their hands and for some reason that thought managed to calm Ashara enough to break her from her state of confusion.

"You go first," she told Peter.

He nodded and walked up to the boulders once again. Though this time he didn't offer his hand and Ashara was glad of it. She needed a moment to gather her thoughts and she couldn't risk it happening again. She didn't want him to think she was trying to put a spell on him or anything. She couldn't even do that, but how could Peter know?

They managed to cross the boulders without any problems and Mrs. Beaver said it was time to eat some lunch. Ashara wanted to protest. They hadn't been moving as fast as she had hoped and hadn't made much progress. But one look at the Pevensies made her agree. They looked tired and hungry. After all, they weren't used to walking through the snow all day. Walking a great distance was hard enough but with the snow slowing every step, it only got harder. And so they sat beneath a tree and Mrs. Beaver shared some of the bread among them.

Ashara had no idea how much food Mrs. Beaver had brought. She'd been too occupied by the wolves trying to break into the dam to notice. And so she wondered if they even had enough for the journey. Maybe they could make a stop at Oreius house to replenish their supplies. She would ask Mrs. Beaver later, for she didn't want to worry the Pevensies. The only thing they had to think about was their brother. It was her job to make sure they wouldn't have to worry about anything else.

They ate their bread in silence and Ashara spent the short break staring at her hands. She refused to look at Peter, afraid the sudden surge of Magic would return. She had never lost control of her magic like that before. There had been moments the Deep Magic had overwhelmed her but it had always been because of a reason, like when Mr. Tumnus played on that song filled with Dark Magic on his flute. But this time there hadn't been any reason for her magic to appear and yet it had...

"I have been wondering," Susan spoke up suddenly and Ashara, glad for the distraction, turned to look at her. "You told us it has been winter for a hundred years. So how do you get any food? You cannot grow anything or make something yourself."

"It hasn't been easy," Ashara admitted. "As soon as the Witch came we stored as much food as we could but that food is all gone now. I used to cross the mountains to the east with a few others to find fresh food on the other side but the snow became too heavy to use the paths safely. Now the only food supplies we have comes from our neighbour country, Archenland to the south. They're afraid of the Witch and so we have to be very careful with our trading supplies. A few times a year we cross the Southern Mountains to trade as much as we can for food. But-" She stopped herself, not sure if she wanted to place this worry on the shoulders of the newly arrived Kings and Queens.

"But what?" Susan questioned, genuine worry in her voice.

Ashara shared a look with the Beavers who nodded encouragingly and so she took a deep breath and went on: "About a year ago the Witch discovered our trading route and the last few runs we went on her soldiers attacked us. We're running dangerously low on food."

She desperately wished she could add how much hope the arrival of the Pevensies had given them, but the look of horror on Susan's face made her swallow those words. She promised Peter she wouldn't force the crown on them and so she wouldn't, not even by saying that their arrival could change their seemingly hopeless situation.

"I'm sure Aslan will know how to help us," she said instead, offering Susan what she hoped was an encouraging smile. Then she got back on her feet. "We should get going. There are still a few hours of light left, we should use them."

And so they packed their stuff and continued their way across white lands.

✲⋅*♚ ,∴°

Hey guys!

Summer break has finally started and so I finally had the time to finish this chapter! I loved writing this because it's the first hint of...something...happening with Peter and Ashara. I really had a lot of fun thinking of this storyline and I hope you guys will enjoy it ;)

I also wanted to say that the idea of the Narnians smuggling food out of Archenland to survive the winter isn't my own idea. I found this information on the Narnia Wiki site while looking for how Narnians got their food during the winter, which means it's probably mentioned somewhere in the books but I can't really remember where since it's been a while since I read them. Anyway, it's not my own idea, just so you know.

Also, as you may have noticed I changed the layout a little bit. I'm very happy with how it turned out! I think it looks really pretty and aesthetic this way. Hope you guys like it too!

Please leave comment and vote. It means a lot to me! Thank you all so much for your endless support on this story.

xx Nelly