𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐄 || peter pevensie [2]

chapter thirteen ~ all good things...

As the Narnians gathered the Telmarines soldiers to one side of the river to collect all of their weapons, Nimueh unstrapped the sheathes from her back. She put away her weapons, left them on the shore, and splashed down into the water. She now had a better view of the crowd that had followed Aslan and Lucy down from the town of Beruna, and among them, she saw several familiar faces.

There was a large, aged man riding a donkey. She knew him to be Silenus, having met him on her second visit to Narnia. Just the same as he had been then, he was wreathed in vines and grapes, tossing bunches to anyone who could catch them. And where Silenus was, there had to be another old friend of hers.

Sure enough, as she drew nearer, the deepest part of the water only reaching her chest, she could hear the distinct cries of a young man she recognised. He had a pretty face, almost choked by a wild mane of hair, and surrounded by his usual following of Maenads.

"Nimueh!" Bacchus called, wading over to her. He bent down, closed his arms around her legs and lifted her up into the air.

She laughed, placing her hands on his shoulders to keep herself steady. "It's been quite a long time, hasn't it?"

"How have you been? Where have you been?" Bacchus said, placing her back down and walking her over to his friends.

"Oh, here and there," Nimueh smiled. "I wouldn't know where to start."

"I've missed you so much!"

"You've been asleep, haven't you?"

"But before then." Bacchus wrapped his arms around her again, kissing her cheeks several times.

A few of the Maenads had joined them now, dancing playfully around them. They plucked flowers from their own clothes and weaved them into a crown for Nimueh's head.

"You have grown so beautiful," said one of the Maenads touched the side of her face gently.

In all the excitement, Nimueh didn't realize she had been crying until the women began wiping tears from her cheeks. With the Firesongs all gone, these spirits were the closest thing to family she had left. She pulled Bacchus and the woman closest to her into an embrace, allowing her body to shake a little with sobs, both joyful and mournful.

"Nimueh!" Edmund called to her.

She looked up and over the shoulders of her friend to see the King beckoning her to follow him, his elder brother, his sister, and Caspian to the shore where Aslan waited with Lucy. Promising Bacchus and the Maenads that she would return to celebrate with them later, she waded up the bank, soaked to the skin and wiping the last of her tears from her cheeks.

"Who was that?" Peter asked as the four of them approached Aslan and Lucy. Nimueh knew he was holding something back from the way he looked at her. This made her smile.

"That's Bacchus. He's a very, very old friend of mine. He used to come into the forest and dance with the Dryads when I was younger."

"Right," Peter said firmly. Nimueh smiled even more, and they continued until they reached the pebbles at Aslan's feet.

Nimueh laid her weapons in front of her as they all knelt down before the Great Lion.

"Rise," He commanded, "Kings and Queens of Narnia." Peter, Susan, and Edmund stood, whilst Nimueh and Caspian stayed down on one knee. "All of you."

Nimueh looked up, then glanced over to Caspian. But Aslan had His eyes on her. "Your Majesty?"

"I understand that you have been graced with the title by the High King himself."