Rowyn sat beside Edmund in front of Peter, who was rowing the boat, and leaned over the side, dragging her fingers through the warm clear water.
"They're so still . . ." Lucy broke the silence and everyone glanced at her as she stared up at the trees.
"They're trees . . . what did you expect?" The dwarf, who's name they learned was Trumpkin, spoke.
Lucy met his gaze. "They use to dance."
Trumpkin's face grew grim as he spoke up again. "It wasn't long after you all left that the Telmarines invaded . . . those who survived retreated to the woods and the rest were-" He didn't finish his sentence. He didn't have to.
"How could Aslan have let this happen?" Lucy questioned mainly to herself.
The dwarf scoffed. "Aslan? I thought he abandoned us when you lot did."
Rowyn's heart ached at his words. She had failed her people—her mother. She promised them protection and freedom, not to perish in blood.
"We didn't mean to leave, you know?" Peter chimed in when he noticed his wife grow increasingly more upset. He knew her—sometimes he even swore that he could feel her emotions when they were intense enough, probably a result of their blood oath.
"It makes no difference now." Trumpkin told the family. Rowyn picked at her thumb nail and pulled her bottom lip with her teeth.
Peter watched her for a few more moments. "Get us to the Narnian's and it will."
"This isn't the kind of problem that you can just melt away with fire like you did in Calormene." This caught Rowyn's attention. Her thumb absentmindedly traced the burn mark that remained imprinted on her skin even on Earth. She guessed that the wound was to deep for even reality to remove.
"Did they take slaves when they invaded?" Rowyn finally spoke.
Trumpkin shrugged. "That's a very likely possibility, but those that they didn't were butchered in the streets and painted Cair Paravel red with their blood."
Rowyn clenched her fists as Peter rowed the boat to shore. "Then it is a problem that can be solved with fire." And she exited the boat without another word.
Susan followed after her, along with Lucy who took a look around, and gently touched her arm. "Are you alright, Ro?"
Rowyn looked into Susan's big blue eyes and took a deep breath. "I will be."
"Why hello there!" Lucy's voice echoed from where she stood a few feet away from them. Everyone turned to see Lucy walking up to a bear. Before, Rowyn would've smiled, but given the fact that Narnia was practically a whole new world now she had her hand on her sword ready for anything. "It's alright! We're friends!"
"Don't move, your Majesty!" Trumpkin's panicked voice told Rowyn and her family enough and the bear that began to charge for Lucy made everyone sprint towards the now screaming girl.
"Shoot, Susan, shoot!" Edmund shouted at his older sister as he, Peter, and Rowyn ran towards Lucy.
Suddenly, an arrow that didn't belong to Susan embedded itself in the bear's heart as Rowyn pulled Lucy up from the ground and into her chest. "Are you alright, Lu?" She questioned the girl who held her tightly.
Her head nodded against her chest as a response. Rowyn turned to Peter and shared a panicked look. "Why wouldn't be stop?" Susan questioned, rushing forward to her family. Peter came and wrapped his arms around both Rowyn and Lucy, pulling them into his chest gently.
"I suspect he was hungry." Trumpkin told them. Rowyn grimaced and leaned more into Peter's hold resulting in him kissing her forehead softly.
"Thanks . . ." Lucy said quietly as she stared in horror at the bear.
Edmund shifted his stance beside Rowyn. "He was wild." His statement seemed almost like a question as Trumpkin made sure the bear was dead.
"He couldn't talk at all . . ." Peter said.
"You get treated like a dumb animal long enough-"
"That's what you become." Rowyn finished for him and pulled away from Lucy and Peter. Her skin tingled at the thought of what her world had become. Her hands itched for the blood of however had done this—she had avenged her mother once before but now she and her family would have to avenge their people that were slaughtered in cold blood.
Rowyn turned to Susan who stood a few feet away from the rest of them. Judging by her features, Susan felt guilty about not shooting the bear before Trumpkin—for not protecting her little sister. Rowyn pulled Susan into a hug and lovingly rubbed her back. The pair didn't need to say anything to each other.
"You may find Narnia a more savage place then you remember."
....
I'm alright, Pete. Rowyn silently told Peter when he kept giving her worried glanced while they all navigated through rocks in order to get to Aslan's How. When her silent statement didn't seem to be enough, she grabbed his hand and allowed him to pull her into the side of his chest as they walked.
"I don't remember this way." Susan spoke up from behind the couple.
Peter's chest vibrated with a laugh underneath Rowyn's hand that rested on his back. "That's the problem with girls—can't carry a map in your heads."
Rowyn scoffed from beside him. "That's because girl actually have something in their heads—it's called a brain, Peter." The pair shared a playfully glare before huffing in amusement.
"I wish he would just listen to the D.L.F in the first place." Susan whispered from behind them.
"D.L.F?" Edmund questioned as he walked beside Trumpkin.
Lucy turned to him and smiled. "Dear little friend." She and Susan laughed quietly and Trumpkin stopped walking for a minute.
"That's not patronizing at all, is it?" He spoke and Rowyn stifled a small chuckle. Peter reluctantly released his hold on Rowyn when he stood up on a small rock and looked around.
"I'm not lost . . ." He muttered.
Rowyn looked around as well. "No, you're just going the wrong way." Trumpkin replied and Peter turned around with an annoyed look on his face.
"You last saw Caspian at the Shuddering Woods and the quickest way there is to cross at the River Rush." Peter replied. His hold on the butt of his sword tightened as his anger increased.
"Well unless I'm mistaken, there's no crossing in these parts." Trumpkin told Peter with a small glare.
Peter glared back and tilted his head. "That explains it then . . . you're mistaken." His cold tone even surprised Rowyn. She'd seen him anger and upset but his tone now held about as much anger as it did when she nearly died in one of the many battles they had during the Golden Age. Her shuddered at the thought of how angry he had been when he nearly witnessed his wife get taken from him—just like how he had to watch Prince Rabadash whip her back in front of him. Peter took his time with the man who almost took Rowyn's head from her body. She would never forget the amount of blood she cleaned off of his naked body that night.
Rowyn didn't try to catch up with him as he marched forward, instead she stayed back with Susan and Lucy as they got out of the rocks and followed the sound of rushing water. Rowyn did however stand by Peter when they found the river and stared down at the small amount of water that rushed by.
"See over time the water erode the Earth's soil probably-" Susan began.
"Oh shut up." Peter cut her off as his frustration took over. Rowyn quickly glanced at Peter and silently told him to calm down with her eyes.
"Is there a way down?" Edmund questioned the dwarf.
Everyone turned to the pair. "Yeah, falling." He replied.
Rowyn nudged Peter's side gently. "Well, at least you did know where you were going." She smiled slightly and earned a forced smile from Peter.
"There's a fort near Beruna. How do you all feel about swimming?" Trumpkin questioned the Kings and Queens.
They all agreed and began to walk forward before Lucy suddenly spoke up. "Aslan? Aslan! It's Aslan over there, don't you see! He's right . . . there." She exclaimed but her tone died down when everyone turned around and failed to see the lion.
"Do you see him now?" Trumpkin asked and Rowyn placed a hand on Lucy's shoulder.
"I'm not crazy, he was there and he wanted us to follow him." Lucy looked up at Rowyn and Peter.
Peter glanced between the two girl. "I'm sure there are any number of lions in these woods."
"I think Lucy would know Aslan when she saw him, Peter." Rowyn defended Lucy who squeezed her hand in thanks.
"I'm not about to jump off a cliff for someone who doesn't exist." Trumpkin told them.
Edmund finally spoke up. "The last time I didn't believe Lucy . . . I ended up looking pretty stupid." Rowyn smiled at him and the man he had morphed into over their time in Narnia. He had come far. From a traitor to a King. A coward to a leader. A stranger to her brother. She was proud of Edmund.
Peter looked down for a moment and then turned back to Lucy and Rowyn. "Why wouldn't I have seen him? Or Rowyn?"
Lucy's shoulders slumped slightly. "Maybe you weren't looking." Rowyn knew Peter's next response just by reading his facial expression.
"I'm sorry, Lu." He told her and then began to walk away along with Susan and Trumpkin. Rowyn pulled Lucy into her side and kissed the top of her head.
"If it really was him . . ." Rowyn began after sharing a look with Edmund. "He'll show up again and make Peter look like a fool for not believing you." Lucy huffed in amusement and sniffled.
That was enough for Rowyn to tighten her hold on the girl and begin following after the rest of them with Edmund behind them.