serendipity - narnia

chapter 9

Chapter 9
The Sacrifice

As soon as Dahlia stepped into the tent, she knew her bad feeling had been right. Aslan paced around the tent, hanging his head and refusing to meet her eyes. The mage sank into the same chair she'd sat in the first time they spoke, bracing herself for whatever the lion was about to tell her.

"Not everything is alright, is it Aslan?" Dahlia asked quietly; Aslan finally stopped pacing and looked at her. His huge eyes showed only sadness and a touch of guilt that made Dahlia's heart sink.

"No child. I'm afraid I had to make a difficult choice." Dahlia leaned forward and propped her elbows on the table, locking her hands together; the strong and comforting tone had left his voice and it was hard to hear what he was saying. "To appease Jadis and get her to spare Edmund's life...I had to offer her my own." Dahlia audibly gasped. She hadn't known what he was going to say but it certainly wasn't that. "I'm sorry child, but this must come to pass." Panic set in, turning to sadness once she realized the weight of his decision.

Then all of a sudden it was rage. One of the corners of the map in front of her burst into flames and she snapped her fingers to put it out.

"No," Dahlia said far more loudly than she'd intended. Aslan tilted his head in confusion.

"No?" Dahlia clenched her hands into fists. She could still hear the Narnians celebrating outside, blissfully unaware of their leader's fate. She stared Aslan dead in the eyes.

"No, there has to be another way." Aslan shook his head sadly.

"There isn't, now listen well-"

"What about me?" Aslan was shocked. He stared at her, trying to make sense of her angry desperation. But she was serious.

"Dahlia-"

"What about my life for Ed's? That's my job, to protect the kings and queens," she said, her voice rising as she stood up.

"Dahlia please-"

"I'll do it, she'd love that," Dahlia cut him off again, gesturing wildly as she spoke. "The little mage on the other side of the war-"

"DAHLIA!" Aslan's voice boomed. Dahlia dropped back into her seat; he'd only spoken calmly to her since she arrived. He seemed to realize he'd frightened her and his gaze softened. "The Pevensies need you alive. This is how it must be." Dahlia leaned back in her chair, reaching up to wipe her face with her sleeve.

She hadn't even realized she'd been crying.

***

Dahlia didn't speak to anyone for the rest of the day. When she finally left Aslan's tent, the Pevensies were waiting for her just as they had on their first day at the camp. They saw she was upset and ran to her, but Dahlia flew away from them and to the top of the tallest tree she could find, or rather the tallest one that could hold her; she stayed there until nightfall. When she eventually returned to the girls' tent Susan and Lucy knew to leave her alone, despite Peter and Edmund having begged them to ask Dahlia what was wrong.

Dahlia lay on her back with one arm propped under her head, the other hand holding her lion pendant. Aslan would be going to the Stone Table soon, and she couldn't bear to sleep with that awful thought in mind. A shadow suddenly passed by the tent. Aslan.

Dahlia quickly sat upright, and across from her Lucy did the same. The girls locked eyes and Dahlia nodded at Susan, already reaching for her cloak. Lucy shook her older sister awake and the three of them crept out of their tent to follow the lion. Dahlia couldn't push herself to tell them what was going on.