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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐓𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 the Pevensies. A freezing wind howled through the air, biting in their bare skin and the bright light faded away until it wasn't much more than a dimmed one.

The soft green grass leaves under their shoes were replaced by a fluffy layer of snow reaching till their ankles, and June slowly opened her eyes again. Her breath hitched in her throat and she pushed some brown hairs behind her ear as she turned around.

Narnia looked almost exactly like the first time she and her siblings had entered the magical land. Snow laid atop of the trees and even some small icicles hung at the branches.

The sun far above them had trouble shining through the thick light grey clouds but every time some sun rays succeeded, the snow sparkled in a most beautiful manner.

'I can't believe it,' Peter said, standing close to June and a chuckle left his lips. 'We really are back.'

'I never thought we would see this place ever again,' June added and she felt some tears stinging in her eyes. She knew Aslan had been right when he told them it was time to live in their own world, but it was still hard not to feel homesick for a place where she had spent fifteen years of her life.

Peter laid a hand on his twin's shoulder and smiled lightly when their eyes crossed.

June sniffed while she wiped away a tear that left a hot trail over her cheek and she took a few shaky breaths to steady her emotions. 'Why are we here, though?' she wondered.

Peter placed his hands on his side and looked around with a slight frown.

'June, Peter,' Edmund's voice traveled through the air, muted by the thick layer of snow all around them. Edmund and Lucy stood a few feet away from the twins, staring at the tree in front of them.

The snow crunched under June's shoes as she sunk several inches in it and a shiver ran down her back since the snow crept up her bare legs, soaking her socks as well.

'Look,' Lucy said, pointing upwards and Peter and June followed her finger.

An apple hung at one of the branches but snow covered its top and white ice crystals were edged against the red skin, creating an ethereal contrast in colours.

'The winter must have set in without warning,' Edmund said and an awful pit formed in his stomach.

The siblings shared some knowing looks but neither of them dared to say her name out loud. The White Witch was dead, this couldn't be her doing.

'You know,' Peter started, pushing some frozen over twigs of the bushes away and walking up the hill with some effort since the snow seemed set on gliding away under his weight. 'These trees remind me of the orchard we planted outside the north gate of our castle.'

'Maybe we are near the ruins,' June said and she followed in his footsteps.

Edmund nodded at Lucy she should go first and in a line the Pevensies trudged between the apple trees.

'I could do with some warmer clothes,' June said between clattering teeth. She took Peter's outstretched hand and he helped her up a steep slope. She walked a bit farther to make place for Lucy and the apple trees around her stood more apart, allowing her to see between the branches.

In the distance at the edge of the orchard, a massive white castle wall rose up, with dozens of even taller towers behind it, reaching for the clouded sky.

June's jaw dropped. 'They rebuilt it.'

The castle in front of her was definitely Cair Paravel, it looked exactly the same with its highest tower pointing at the unmoving northern star.

Lucy appeared at her side and her eyes grew wide as well.

'What's going o─oh,' Edmund began, closely followed by Peter but he got his answer as he followed their gaze.

'Cair Paravel still laid in ruins last time Lucy and I were here,' he continued, but then he frowned. 'At least, I think. Caspian never mentioned anything about rebuilding it.'

Lucy bit on her bottom lip, quickly glancing at Edmund. 'How many years do you think have passed?' The youngest Pevensie wasn't sure if her heart could handle being sent forward into the Narnian timeline for another 1300 years. All the friends they had made. . . Gone, again.

Peter scanned the castle wall for the northern gate and set course towards it when he'd found it.

'I suppose we will find out soon enough,' he said over his shoulder, but quickly turned his gaze forward again when he almost lost his footing, placing his hand against the cold bark of a tree in order to keep his balance.

Edmund chuckled. 'That was very graceful, High King. I can really feel the magnificence radiating off you.'

'Zip it, Ed.'

June and Lucy laughed as well but June yelped when her foot glided away at exactly the same spot.

Walking through the orchard had already been a challenge on a warm summer's day, but with the slippery ice and moving snow it almost became impossible.

The Pevensies were frozen to the bone when they finally reached the gate and June stuck her hands under her armpits when Peter tried to swing open the oaken doors. To their relief it gave way, though Peter and Edmund had to throw in their body weight against the door to push away the snow that blocked the gate from opening further than a few inches.

'Do you think someone lives here?' Lucy wondered while they walked underneath the wall through the opening.

'If someone does, I hope they recognize us and give us some warm clothes,' Edmund shivered.

The siblings reached the small courtyard laying between the stables and the court's physician, and they lingered in their steps when they noticed a young man standing by a water trough. His back was turned towards them and with just their eyes, they followed his movements as he rose up the pickaxe in his hands to break the layer of ice in the trough.

A steady, picking sound echoed over the courtyard, occasionally accompanied with a grunt as the boy lifted his pickaxe over and over again. His blond hair stuck against his head, wet from the snow and sweat, and the Pevensies crossed eyes; wondering how long it would take for him to notice they were standing behind him.

Peter cleared his throat, and the boy whirled around, his sturdy boots having much more grip than the siblings' shoes on the snow. He almost dropped the pickaxe, though, as the realization dawned over his face.

'Hello,' Lucy said with a kind smile, and the boy lowered the pickaxe before it would clatter on the stones.

'You are─ you are,' he stuttered, 'the Kings and Queens of Old.'

'That's right,' June answered, relieved he knew who they were.

'And you are?' Lucy wondered.

'Caolán,' he answered. 'Your Highness,' he quickly added, his red cheeks from the cold turning an even deeper red, the heat spreading to his ears as well.

Lucy smiled but before she could tell Caolán he could just call her Lucy, Edmund spoke up.

'Could we talk to the King, or Queen?' he asked and Caolán's blush disappeared as sudden as it had come.

'The King!' he shouted, whirling halfway around again. 'I need to tell the King you're here! This way, Your Majesties,' he said before realizing they knew Cair Paravel better than he did.

'Right. . .' Caolán muttered, throwing the pickaxe in a heap of snow and glancing at the Pevensies over his shoulder.

'I shall inform the King of your arrival,' he said, searching for the most formal words he could find at the moment, and then he sprinted away over the courtyard ─ amazing the siblings since he didn't slip or glide in the process.

Peter raised an eyebrow. 'What an odd boy.'

June and Lucy both slapped his shoulders at the same time and he flinched.

'Don't say that,' June said, shoving his shoulder one more time, and they followed in Caolán's footsteps. They couldn't run over the slippery courtyard with their shoes but they still walked as fast as they could. They couldn't wait to get out of the freezing cold.

June looked up from the stones when the tapping and crunching sound of another pair of footsteps reached their ears. For a second time that day, her jaw dropped.

King Caspian slid to a halt in front of them, his dark eyes sparkling and his jagged breath creating small clouds in the air. He had aged since June had last seen him, but he still couldn't be much older than her and Peter. At least there hadn't passed another 1300 years. Caspian was flanked by Caolán, and a young man and woman June didn't recognize.

'You really are here,' Caspian said but the sparkle disappeared out of his eyes when he counted only four Pevensies.

'But where is Susan?'

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𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓:

𝑱𝒖𝒏𝒆 𝑷𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒆 𝒃𝒚 IRIS-123roosje
𝑪𝒂𝒐𝒍𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒚 zukkkas
𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒂𝒏 (𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚) 𝒃𝒚 @ 𝒎𝒆
𝒂𝒏𝒅
𝑵𝒐𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆 𝑶𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒅 (𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚) 𝒃𝒚 Detective_Pevensie

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