Third-Person POV
The four Pevensie siblings, Tilly and Caspian, stand in a line approaching the magnificent place. Lucy and Edmund are at the end, with Susan and Peter and Tilly and Caspian in the middle. The entrance to the How sloped downwards, giving it more protection above and underground. The centaurs lined the way as the group reached the entrance, drawing their swords and holding them steady before the royals. The centaurs shift their sword together to make an archway for the Kings and Queens of Old. Even with the tension between the five, they seem to fall back into old habits, moving into a V shape with Tilly in the centre, the youngest on the outer and the eldest two beside the High Queen. Three of the four siblings wait for Tilly to move as she quickly looks back at Caspian with a sad smile knowing this will annoy the Prince, but Peter begins to walk, making the other move as well, luckily Tilly catches this and takes her place in front of Peter, trying to make it clear to the boy he's on thin ice but something tells the girl it's going to take a lot more than stepping in front of him to get through his thick skull.
Once inside the depth of the How they find the rest of the Narnians all preparing for war. Making everything from swords and cannon balls to shields and chainmail. Whatever you would need for war, they were readying it.
"It may not be what you are used to, but it is defendable," Caspian says defensively to Peter, letting Tilly know, while the other three walk ahead with the rest of the group.
"Peter, Tilly. You may want to see this." Susan calls out to the two making them frown at each other but move over to his siblings. As they slowly make their way down the stone tunnel, they start to see pictures carved into the wall of their lives. Running her hand over the image of her and Edmund in the garden when he proposed. Beside that was an etching of the two of them with their baby.
"Darling," Ed rests his hand on her shoulder. "Were you pregnant when we left?" He asks, praying for both answers honestly. He wished for nothing more than to be the father of her kids, but at the same time, he couldn't bare the thought she went through the pain of losing their child alone.
"Yes," Tilly mumbled, her lip quivering as the others listened. "I was pregnant with our child when in Narnia, but when we ended up back in London, I wasn't anymore." Tilly sniffles turning around to face her family. "I planned to tell you the night we left, and we could tell the other after the wedding, but once I realised I'd lost it, I couldn't bare telling you something I knew would break you." She glances up into Edmund's chestnut eyes, she loves dearly.
"My Darling, all I care about is that you're okay. It pains me you were alone,"
"I wasn't. I told Lu and Susan after a while of being home." She shakes her head, looking at the two boys wondering why she didn't tell them. "Being back in my 14-year-old body and not my 29-year-old body, it felt weird to tell my boyfriend's brother I wasn't pregnant with his brother's child anymore." She says, clearly rambling, but Peter steps forward, resting his hands on his shoulder brings her into his chest for a hug.
"You're right. I really don't need or want to know about my brother's sex life, but you're more than his girlfriend, you're family, and we care for each other."
"Thanks, Pete," Tilly says, whipping her tears and turning back to Edmund, who takes her into his arms, pressing soft kisses to the base of her neck as the other conversation continues.
"The carvings...it's us," Susan mutters as everyone studies to drawings carefully, seeing their lives since coming to Narnia until they left before them.
"What is this place?" Lucy question the Prince, who looks confusedly between the five.
"You don't know?" He asks but gets looks of confusion, so he grabs a flame torch leading the way down the dark depths of the How.
The five confused royals follow the Prince into a dark room that echoes with each step they take, letting them know the room is large. Caspian leans over to the side, dipping his torch into a stone drum, lighting up the room slowly. The flame licked around the room, illuminating the carvings on the walls until the whole room was warm and bright with the fire, finally revealing its origins. Before the five royals, the cracked Stone Table from when Aslan woke from his death-like sleep, Tilly plunged him into for Edmund. Lucy steps forward, reaching out and placing her hand on the rough stone before turning back to her family.
"He must know what he's doing." She justifies, to which Tilly nods.
"Of course he does, Lu." She takes her head, moving next to the girl, sighing at the contact of the table. "I killed him on this table because he asked me to. No one who's that selfless would leave his people alone in a dark time." Tilly mumbles to herself, but Lucy hears her and the sorrow in her voice. It's clear to the youngest that their time back in London hit Tilly the hardest.
"I think it's up to us now." Peter chimes in, taking Tilly off guard. She whips her head to face the eldest of them, frowning at him.
"Peter-"
"I don't want to hear it, okay. He's not here, but I am."
"We're here. All of us." Tilly snaps, her jaw tightening. "This is about more than an ego boost; this is about saving our people. And with Caspian's knowledge of the Telmarines and the Narnian's knowledge of the land, we have a fighting chance, but if you try to make this about yourself, countless people are going to die." She shakes her head, "and that's not who we are." Tilly says sadly, walking out of the stone room toward the rooms where the six royals would be staying.
The early morning fog lays low to the ground in the early morning, making the tree line nearly invisible for the scout to watch. The faun on watch glances over the foggy land waiting for something to catch his eye, but nothing so far. As his eyes scan past a fallen tree branch, he moves past it but doubles back, squinting to see clearer. Hiding behind the branch, on the edge of the tree line, a Telmarine soldier sat on his horse watching the How for reconnaissance on the Narnians. The faun watches as the guard turns tail and gallops back into the trees before dashing back into the depths of the How, where the others were gathering for a meeting regarding their next move.
"It's only a matter of time," Peter speaks to the crowd. "Miraz's men and war machines are on their way." Peter and Caspian are in the centre of the room, with Tilly behind both boys leaning against the Stone Table and Lucy sitting on it. Edmund and Susan were in front of them to the side of the walls. While the rest of the room listens to the High King, Caspian shakes his head, knowing where he's going. Even though there were nearly a thousand of them, the Telmarines outnumbered them eight to one. "That means those same men aren't protecting his castle."
"What is it you propose we do, your majesty?" Reepicheep asks Peter, but Caspian also goes to answer. Both boys glare at each other until Caspian bows out, knowing Peter has authority.
"Our only hope is to strike them before they strike us."
"But that's crazy. No one has ever taken that castle." Caspian tries to reason with the High King.
"I think-" Tilly tries to join in, but Peter keeps going waving his hand in her direction to make her shut up.
"There's always a first."
"We'll have an element of surprise." Trumpkin adds, standing on Peter's side.
"But we have the advantage here!" Caspian snaps, knowing it's a suicide mission to attack the castle. Tilly carefully watches how panicked the Prince is and knows he's not just saying this to piss off Peter. He honestly thinks they'll die if they go.
"If we dig in, we could probably hold them off indefinitely. "Susan comes to Caspian's aid but receives a harsh glare from Peter. Lucy watches her family take shots at one another, Edmund taking his bothers side and Susan taking Caspian's, but she waits for Tilly to intervene as she usually does. Still, the High Queen doesn't even move a muscle.
"I, for one, feel safer underground," Trufflehunter says with a small smile, agreeing with Caspian.
"Look," Peter says directly to Caspian. "I appreciate what you've done here, but this isn't a fortress. It's a tomb." Peter says honestly, but it's clear he hasn't thought through his plan.
"Yes," Edmund jumps in, siding with his brother, making his girlfriend sigh sadly. "And if they're smart, the Telmarines will just wait and starve us out." The squirrel comes up with storing nuts, but Reepicheep shuts him down quickly.
"I think you know where I stand, sire," Reepicheep says. Glenstorm, the leader of the centaurs and Narnians before the others arrived, looked expectedly at Peter.
"If I get your troops in, can you handle the guards?" He asks. Glenstorm glances at Caspian, who awaits the centaur's answer, as does the rest of the room.
"Or die trying, my liege." He bows his head, making Peter do the same, but the Prince huff in annoyance.
The youngest of the royals sighs heavily, upset at how his brother is acting and the danger he is putting others in.
"That's what I'm worried about," Lucy says softly.
"Sorry?" Peter questions her as if she's stupid.
"You're all acting like theirs only two options," Lu says, looking around the room. "Dying here or dying there."
"I'm not sure you've been listening, Lu." Peter once again says in a belittling tone.
"No, you're not listening." Tilly snaps at the older boy, having enough of the way he's speaking to Lucy. "Don't speak to Lu as if she's nothing. She's your sister and ruled by your side for 15 years. As did the rest of us." Tilly sighs heavily, turning back to Lucy and giving her a nod to continue.
"Thanks, Tilly, but I know what I'm doing without your help." He says harshly.
"Really?" Lucy questions, "Or have you forgotten who really defeated the White Which, Peter?" The room goes silent as many begin to stare at the High Queen, who keeps her head held high.
"I think we've waited for Aslan long enough." He says softly, but both girls feel the sting of his words.
Peter shakes his head, realising that it's two against two on who plan they go for, and even though he's on an ego boost, he still wants people to have a voice, even if it's drowned up by his yelling. "Between the royals, we've hit a wall, Edmund and I say we attack, while Sue and Caspian think we should stay." He rolls his eyes at the thought of waiting for the Telmarines to come here. "We need you two to vote on which plan to take." Peter gives the girls an impossible task, which Lucy can't agree to, so she shakes her head vigorously.
"I'm not voting. I have to stay here either way." She justifies. "Only those risking their lives should have a say."
"That's fair, Lu," Tilly says, patting the girl's hand in a comforting way.
"Then what's your vote, Tilly?" Peter asks. "Him...." Pete gestures to Caspian. "Or Us?" He says, meaning Ed and himself. Tilly sees straight through the Kings manipulation of using Edmund to make her side with him. Swallowing thickly and glancing around the room, seeing everyone's eyes on her, she addresses the room.
"Everyone out." Once the words pass her lips, the room is clear in seconds, the respect they have for their High Queen crystal clear. "This isn't about who I pick; it's who plans as a better chance of the least amount of death." She says softly, glancing at Edmund quickly. "For that reason, I side with Caspian," the Prince smile growls, rushing over to the Queen, hugging her tightly and spinning her around, catching her and everyone off guard. "But," she says sharply, making him put her down, "I'm open to trying Peter's idea. The plan must be clear and stayed to exactly. If anything goes wrong, we pull the plug." The young girl snaps at both boys. "I will not sacrifice my people for an agenda or power play." Leaning back against the rock, she looks down at the ground. "Decide between the warriors fighting which plans to go with. I stand beside either of you, but Peter, we've fought side by side many times, and I never second-guessed your choices; it says something that I am now." She nods to both boys before walking over to the doors. Swinging them open, she finds the soldiers waiting on the other side, clearly eavesdropping.
"The High Queen has spoken, and based on Glenstorm and Reepicheep, it's clear our warriors are willing to risk my plan." Peter bellows to the crowd. "We ride at dawn!" The room breaks out in cheers for the King, who smiles, having her plan chosen, but the girl who's stood beside him for years shakes her head sadly, heading back to her room to prepare for the bloodbath ahead.