Ariana's POV
It had been at least a whole month since Anna's capture and everyone was still on edge. Zoran had thrown himself into training, Ray had taken to making sure everyone was ok, basically a lending ear, Justin and Patrick were mad at each other but had cooled down enough to be civil, and Jackson was my rock. He was there whenever I needed him.
We were beginning to think that letting Anna stay at the castle was a terrible idea and something needed to be done. So, Duralgias and I had begun to form a rescue plan. But we hadn't told anyone else yet in fear of them acting irrationally and recklessly. Duralgias came into my tent where I was writing in my journal. "Your highness," he said as he bowed
"Good morning General. How can I help you?"
"Well, I was hoping we could go over the plan one more time before we gather everyone to tell them. I just want to be 100% sure that we have everything covered and know what's going on,"
"That's an excellent idea. Why don't we head to the conference tent? It's a little tight in my tent and all the plans are in there anyway,"
He nodded and we left my tent together. We walked for a little bit before Duralgias spoke, "Your grace, I was wondering if I could ask you a question?"
"Isn't that a question?" I laugh then nodded at him to proceed
"I was wondering if you still think your decision to not go after Anna, was the right call?"
I sighed and walked with my hands folded in front of me, "I'm not sure anymore. When I made the decision I figured that Anna would have gotten out by now, but she hasn't and now I'm worried. I stand by my choice but I regret it as well. It's funny, Jackson and I had a very similar conversation yesterday. And I'll tell you what I told him, being a princess and leading your people is a hard job and I'm going to make mistakes along the way. And if this is a mistake then, I'm going to do everything in my power to fix it"
"I see. So Jackson knows then?"
I nodded and we had reached the tent. Once inside I began to look over then map and plan one more time before turning to Duralgias, "Duralgias, could you go grab the others? It's time"
By the time Duralgias had gotten back, everyone was in the tent seated around the table. "Well now that you're all here, I have an announcement" I paused and subconsciously looked at Jackson for reassurance, he in turn gave me a thumbs up, "For the past few weeks, Duralgias and I have been coming up with a plan to rescue Anna. We finished the plan and would like to share it with you,"
Zoran angrily stood up and said, "You've been planning for weeks and didn't tell anyone?!?!"
"Zoran, calm down and let Princess Ariana explain herself"
He huffed but sat back down. "Now, as I was saying, we have a plan to get her--" a soldier from the front gate came running into the tent
"Pardon the intrusion your majesty, but there's commotion and some visitors at the front gate"
"Visitors? What visitors?"
"Umm we aren't exactly sure. They said that we wouldn't know them but you would. They also brought a lion?"
"They did what? Nevermind," I turned to the group, "Excuse me. I must deal with this first. Duralgias please come with me"
We hurried out of the tent toward the gates, "My lady, what is it? Why are you prioritising this?"
"Well, if it's who I think it is then we desperately need their help. But it's also almost impossible. We'll just have to go see for ourselves then,"
When we arrived at the front gate, the guards had already begun to lift the gate and open the doors. A lion, two girls, and four boys walked in. It then hit me that these were the Kings and Queens of Old plus Aslan. I bowed and so did all that were around me, "welcome back to Narnia," Aslan smiled back.
I led the group to the tent where everyone was waiting. I stopped once I got to the door, "They have no idea you all are here so it might cause some commotion but it should be alright,"
"Well most of us have met our respective person anyway so this shouldn't be too awkward. At least I hope not" said Lucy
I nodded and then stepped back into the tent. Immediately people jumped to their feet, some bowed, others just stood there bewildered. Aslan walked to the front of the room, "Hello everyone. For those of you don't know me, I am Aslan and these are Narnia's Kings and Queens of Old, Queens Susan and Lucy, and Kings Caspian, Edmund, Peter, and their cousin Eustace"
"That's for the fantastic title Aslan, couldn't have given me dragon or something better than just cousin"
Lucy laughed and said, "Oh Eustace, just be glad you got to come at all"
Aslan chuckled slightly. "Now we are here to help you win this war. For it has gone far longer than I anticipated. But for starters, we need to think about Anna. Now--"
"What do you mean by 'think' about Anna? Come to think of it, where even is she? Shouldn't she be here?" interrupted Edmund as he took a step toward Aslan
"I told you we should've told him before we got here. But you all said 'nooo it'll be fine' why didn't you listen"
"Well, Susan it wouldn't have made it any easier than it is now. Here I'll tell him," said Lucy
"Why are you all talking like I'm not right here? And tell me what exactly?"
"So you didn't tell him that Anna got kidnapped over a month ago I take it" I said to the Aslan a little too loudly
"SHE WHAT?!?!?!?"
"Ed calm down! This is exactly why we didn't tell you!" said Peter as he grabbed both of Edmund's arms as he tried lunging for God knows what
"Should we maybe leave and come back?"
"No, everyone stays, we need to talk," I said while backing away from the chaos of our visitors.
"TELL ME THIS IS SOME KIND OF SICK JOKE?!?! GET OFF ME PETE!"
"EDMUND! Look at me! Just calm down and look at me. Take a deep breath. It's alright, Aslan is going to explain everything but you need to calm down" As Lucy asked, Edmund took a few deep breaths before calming down. Everyone then turned to Aslan who was patiently sitting and waiting
"Now, what I'm about to tell you, you have to remain calm and let me explain first. Is that understood by everyone?" He paused as we all nodded in agreement. He took a breath, "No one is going after or recusing Anna"
At that, everyone started making noises. Zoran, Edmund, and Patrick jumped to their feet shouting angrily at Aslan, Ray tried grabbing Zoran who was also trying to get to Aslan, Justin and Jackson looked like deer in headlights, Susan and Lucy collapsed into chairs looking defeated, Peter once again grabbed Edmund, Capsian and Eustace back away from everyone, and the rest of the people in the tent just looked dumbfounded. Why on Earth would we not go after her?
Aslan roared very loudly which got everyone to freeze and shut up instantly. "I said for you all to wait for me to explain. Now that I have your attention again, let me explain. I have already put in a plan to get Anna out and it should have happened by now or it will very soon. But it is vital that we don't interfere or else the whole thing could fail and Adam then executes Anna. So no one is doing anything. Is that clear?"
"So you just expect us to stay back and wait for my sister to just show up one day?"
"That's correct. I know it's something that none of you wanted to hear but it is what it is. Now, I understand this meeting was about recusing Anna but since that is no longer happening I'm going to dismiss everyone except for Ariana and my group. I have somethings that need to be discussed further before everyone hears them"
We all sat down around the table. Aslan got up and started to pace around the tent. "I know it must be difficult but Anna has to get out on her own. I know she can and I know she will. But for now, we need to discuss strategies. I want everyone to get to know their chosen person well. The stronger we are the more chance we have to defeat Adam,"
"What do we do if Anna doesn't make it back?" I asked I received a glare from Edmund
"Well, we would have to reassess everything then. But I have high hopes for her. I'm expecting her to show up in a couple of weeks. It all depends on her thought,"
We all nodded and went back to discussing what steps we were going to take to move forward. But on everyone's mind was if Anna was alright, still alive, and how was she going to get back here safely.