𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓 || peter pevensie [1]

chapter seven ~ different worlds

Nimueh awoke groggily after a few hours' sleep. She trudged through the campsite, now alive with chatter, to wash her face in the cool water of the stream. She let the droplets run down her cheeks and drip from her chin before catching them on a cloth, which she then used to dab her skin dry.

On her way back through the valley of tents, Nimueh collected a plate of toast from where the Dryads had set up camp, telling them that she would eat with them later, and walked over to where three of the Pevensies sat eating and placed the plate on the small table.

"Have you had lunch yet?" Lucy asked.

"I've just woken up. I'll eat something in a little while."

"Won't you sit with us?" Nimueh cocked her head at the little girl. "Mrs Beaver said you're a great warrior. I want to get to know you."

Nimueh managed a small smile, the innocence of the youngest of the Pevensies lifting a little of her drowsiness. "Very well." She sat down in the space between Susan, who smiled pleasantly, and Edmund. "What is that you want to know?"

"Well, you are human, aren't you?"

"No, I don't think so. I'm not a Daughter of Eve, if that's what you mean. See, I'm not from your world."

"But you speak English," said Edmund.

"English?" she frowned.

"The language you're speaking."

"And you call it English?"

"Well, what do you call it?" Susan tilted her head slightly.

"Obshi. It has a longer name but I can't remember what it is. It's the language spoken by the People, the majority back where I'm from."

"You speak more than one language?" Lucy's eyes widened.

Nimueh nodded. "Everyone learns Obshi and Rooskan, which is the language of the spoken by the Elites, as soon as they can form words."

"And here I am, barely surviving two hours of Latin a week," Edmund sniffed.

"So, you're not from our world and you're not from Narnia. Where are you from then?" asked Lucy.

"I'm from an island, in the middle of a vast ocean. I believe that the species from my world likely evolved from the same creatures as you Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve, but we were never educated on such things. The climate is far hotter and more humid than it is here. I imagine the climate in your world is similar to that of Narnia." The Pevensies nodded. "The colours are much brighter there too. It's actually a relief to the eyes to have a duller landscape," Nimueh mused. She pulled a piece of fabric from her pocket. "See, do you recognize this?"

"It's a patch of material." Susan seemed confused.

"No, I mean the colour."

"It's orange, of course."

"You see, we don't have this colour where I could from. Whenever I come here, I like to carry something orange with me wherever I go, like a charm of sorts." She smiled fondly. "It's such a beautiful colour."

"That's so cute," Lucy giggled.

"If it's so hot there," Susan frowned, "why are you so pale?"

"I suppose you have Suns in your world."

"Just the one," said Susan.

"Perhaps our Suns are different, but the People don't get as advanced an education as the Elites, so I can't be sure."