Rowyn smiled widely once she completed the final piece of schoolwork that Sam had assigned her for that day. "Done!" She smiled at her father. Since the family lived on multiple acres of land out in the country-side of a small town in Oregon, her parents felt it was best to home school her—to let her focus on her creativity and the things that interested her most.
He adjusted his glasses and came around his desk to review the worksheet. "Nice job." She smiled proudly. "I think that's the quickest you've ever done your schoolwork, kid. You have somewhere to be or something?" He glanced at the clock that read it was only noon.
Rowyn stifled a smile. "No," She told him. "Can I look at the stuff in the Great Room?" She asked. Sam was a collector of sorts who loved history—back before he adopted Rowyn, he had purchased an old, beautiful wooden wardrobe from England that Rowyn was obsessed with.
Sam told Rowyn about the legends of the world it held, but Charlie reassured her that they weren't true.
Charlie then walked in the room and Rowyn hoped out of her chair to hug her other adoptive father. "Hey, Ro-Ro." He chuckled while he lifted her off the ground for a moment and held her tightly.
Sam smiled at his husband and went to place a small kiss on his mouth once Rowyn was back on the ground. Rowyn watched the pair with admiration. She craved to have a love like theirs one day—pure, undying, real love.
"Why are you home so early?" Sam asked and pressed a kiss to the hazelnut colored skin of Charlie's cheek.
Charlie smiled at his husband. "Well, Mr. Peterson decided to let everyone off early today because-"
A sudden tug drew Rowyn's attention away from her fathers.
The same similar tug she's felt her entire life.
Like someone pulling on the end of a string that was attached to her chest. Urging her to follow it.
Without looking back at her parents, she followed it as her curiosity took hold of her mind. She followed it and soon found herself in the Great Room of their house—in front of the wardrobe. Rowyn couldn't ignore how the pull got stronger and more intense as she neared it. Her mouth threatened to form a smile when she thought of the possibility of finding that world she wished for.
With sweaty, nervous hands, she reached for the latch. Rowyn could've sworn she felt a cold, icy breeze blow threw her hair once the door was open. Biting her lip, she stepped inside. She maneuvered through the many coats that rested within it until she hit a pine tree.
A pine tree.
The excitement that fluttered into her chest made her smile brightly when her yellow converse stepped onto snow.
But it was the sound of a loud child's scream that made her excitement die down to a small ember in her chest. She couldn't explain what caused it, but she ran towards it.
Her eyes widened when she saw a small young girl attempting to hide behind a lamp-post. "Are you alright?" The girl whipped around to Rowyn's direction.
Rowyn hardly noticed the confused look when the girl looked over Ro's attire—blue jeans and a tie-dye sweatshirt—before she pointed towards a tree where someone was visibly hiding.
"Hello?" Rowyn said, carefully walking towards the packages that rested in the snow. A man came into view and tried to speak but failed as he came out from behind the tree with shaky legs. "Hooves . . ." She muttered quietly, observing the man's lower figure that represented a fawn.
"Were you hiding from me?" The girl behind Rowyn asked while they both handed him his packages.
The man took the packages and went to grab the rest out of the snow. "No—well, I-I just, uh," The man stuttered greatly as he spoke. "I didn't want to scare you—either of you." He told them.
The girl chuckled softly and then spoke, "If you don't mind me asking . . . what are you?"
Rowyn knew that he was a fawn from her studies with her father but she knew that the girl was young so she didn't say anything.
"Well . . . I'm a fawn." He said quickly. "And what about you two? What are you both? Some kinds of beard-less dwarfs?"
Rowyn smiled softly. "I'm not a dwarf, I'm a girl—and actually I'm tallest in my class." The girl said, her British accent was thick. Rowyn wondered where the girl was from exactly since she loved geography.
The fawn suddenly got nervous. "Y-You mean to say that you're a daughter of Eve?" Rowyn knew what he meant. Her family wasn't super religious but she still believed in things such as Heaven. It brought her comfort to think about one day meeting her mother in some form of an afterlife.
"Well . . . my mum's name is Helen . . ." The young girl said.
Rowyn spoke up finally. "We are daughters of Eve—humans if that's what you mean." The fawn looked at her and she noticed his expression become flooded with panic.
He looked nervously around at the trees. "What are you doing here?"
The girl spoke up. "Well, I was hiding in the wardrobe in the spare room-"
"Spare Oom?" The fawn questioned. "Is that in Narnia?"
Rowyn's eyebrows kissed in confusion. "Narnia? Is that where we are?"
The fawn turned around to point at the lamp with his umbrella. "Everything from the lamp-post all the way to castle Cair Paravel on the eastern sea is Narnia."
"It's an awfully big wardrobe . . ." The girl said.
Rowyn turned to her. "You came threw the wardrobe too?" The girl nodded. "The one with the tree design in the middle and the sun at the bottom and the-"
"Yes—how did you go through it too? Are you staying with the Professor to get away from the war too? Why didn't he tell us of you?"
"War? What war?" Rowyn asked the girl.
The girl gave her a saddened look. "We had to escape from the bombings in London-"
"Wait—World War II?" Rowyn finally took in the girl's appearance. Those weren't clothes that anyone in her time would wear. She turned to the fawn. "H-How is that possible?"
"Are you not siblings?" He questioned with a nervous tone. When the girls shook their heads, his eyes became fixated on Rowyn. "A-Are you—You're Adeline's-" He cut himself off by looking around at the trees once more. He took a deep breath and looked towards them again. "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Tumnus."
The young girl smiled at him while Rowyn remained weary. "Please to meet you, Mr. Tumnus. I'm Lucy Pevensie." She stuck her hand out to the fawn which resulted in some confusion from him before he shook it. "And you are?" Lucy turned to Rowyn.
Rowyn gave the girl and fawn a soft smile. "Rowyn, Rowyn Archeron." She shook both their hands in a friendly manner.
"Well then Lucy Pevensie and Rowyn Archeron—how would it be if you came and had tea with me?" He asked the girls. Rowyn smiled at him and his now worry-less expression, but she couldn't shake her curiosity as to why he was so worried before. "It's only just around the corner and there will be lovely fire and toast and tea and cakes and maybe I'll even break out the sardines . . . it's not everyday I get to make a new friend." He smiled warmly.
In any other circumstance, Rowyn would've said no since her parents had taught her the whole 'Stranger Danger' thing when she was young, but she knew what it was like to not have any friends. That was one of the worst things about home school—besides her horse, Belle, her cat, Shelby, and her dog, Cooper, she had no one. Somedays—when Casper decided to be nice—she had him too, but she didn't know if a ghost really counted as a friend.
"I'd love some tea." Rowyn smiled and went to grab Tumnus' arm. He gave her a lovely smile and Lucy soon grabbed his other arm.
Rowyn walked in awe as she took in their surrounding as they made their way to his home. The snow on the trees made them glimmer in the sunlight and look as though they were covered in crystals.
When they arrived at his home, she smiled. Nestled into a small rock was a large door that brought them into his warm, small home.
"It's beautiful." Rowyn told the fawn as she and Lucy observed it. Lucy smiled at the many books that rested on a small shelf near the fireplace. Lucy made a comment about Tumnus' father but the conversation was cut short once he came out with tea.
"We haven't had a Christmas in a hundred years." He told Lucy in response to something she had said.
Rowyn gladly took the cup of tea that Tumnus offered her. "No Christmas for a hundred years?"
"No presents?" Lucy said, her tone laced with shock.
Tumnus sat down after giving Lucy her own cup. "Always winter, never Christmas." Rowyn put some sugar into her tea.
"That sounds awful." She commented and took a sip of her tea. Tumnus began to tell them about the summers in Narnia. About how the fawns danced with dryads all night long.
"The music-" He began, admiration caressing his features. "Such music . . . would you like to hear some now?" He asked the girls.
Both nodded into their cups. "Please." They both said.
Tumnus pulled out a small instrument that Rowyn couldn't identify. "Are either of you familiar with any Narnia lullabies?"
Lucy smiled. "No, sorry." She told the fawn who smiled.
"Good because this will probably sound nothing like one." They all shared a quiet laugh before he began to play the music. Rowyn smiled at the tune.
It was familiar—very familiar.
And yet, not familiar at all.
She couldn't explain the feeling that flooded in her veins while she watched the fire that showed images of people dancing, centaurs running, a stag, and so many images that felt like-
Home.
And then the girls fell unconscious, but not before hearing a loud lion roar.