The Golden Witch || Peter Pevensie x OC

9. Peter and Valera

Her hair, her crown of small white flowers, her face, and her soft smile.

Which was odd considering the circumstances.

"It is nice to see you again, Lucy. And you, Mr Beaver", she spoke in such a warming voice that Peter practically felt his fear melt away in her presence.

The beaver bowed to her, and Lucy copied his actions to show the respect she knew Valera deserved.

Peter and Susan, however, stood still, staring at her in a mixture of awe and confusion.

"What are you doing here, Miss?" the beaver asked.

"There's no time for explanations", Valera said quickly before her earth-coloured eyes landed on Susan and Peter, "... or introductions."

Peter also recognised her eyes as he stared into them, the darkness shielding them from their true range of colour.

But he didn't need the light to know of them.

He had seen them before.

It was the girl in the portrait.

Valera.

One of the Daughters of the Sun and the Moon.

"We need to get you to safety. This way", Valera instructed in a calming tone, snapping Peter out of his trance.

The girl immediately took off in the direction they were heading.

They were able to run much faster now as with every step Valera took, the snow would melt away instantly under her feet, leaving a flat path in its place.

Silence was what accompanied them during the rest of their hurried journey back to the beaver's house.

Peter could only see the golden curls of Valera wildly flowing behind her in the wind as they ran, and before he knew it, they had made it back to the home made of wood.

Mr Beaver immediately burst through the door, yelling at his wife, trying to fill her in on everything that was going on in the seconds they had before the rest of the wolves caught up to them.

"After you", Valera said softly as she held the door open for the three Pevensies to get inside.

There was no time for gentleman pleasantries, and so Peter simply tried to smile at her as he ran into the house after his sisters.

Behind him, Valera closed the door, kneeling down beside it as she listened out for the approaching wolves.

"What's she doing?" Peter asked as he caught sight of Mrs Beaver pacing around the house.

"Oh, you'll be thanking me later. It's a long journey and Beaver gets pretty cranky when he's hungry", Mrs Beaver replied as she started collecting a variety of food from their cupboards.

"I'm cranky now!" Mr Beaver yelled back.

"Do you think we'll need jam?" Susan asked as she helped Mrs Beaver wrap up the food in a small blanket.

"Only if the witch serves toast", Peter replied in a panicked state of sarcasm.

"She doesn't", Valera added as she turned around from her place by the door.

"Oh, my lady! What an honour to see you again!" Mrs Beaver exclaimed as she took notice of Valera's presence.

"Likewise", Valera managed to say before the sounds of barking came from outside the house.

Lucy let out an involuntary shriek of fear as the wolves started tearing the house apart, the logs making up the walls and the roof crumbling down.

"I won't be able to hold them all off, these are her grounds", Valera said to the two beavers as she stood up and made her way into the centre of the room to stand beside Peter.