Bells

"And so the bells are silent,
They'll ne'er ring again.
But if they do I know,
They'll ne'er sound the same."

Bells were used to herald the arrival of glad tidings and sorrowful news.

Small, round bells also hung from Topaz' golden collar, which the noble unicorn wore to show his fealty to the Four Thrones. Since he was a creature and not some human-like being, the unicorn couldn't accept a medal to show his knighthood or wear a helm to display his loyalty to the Narnian crest. So Peter, as friend first and king second, ordered the golden collar fashioned, and hung with bells; for the unicorn seemed to fancy the ornaments for a reason unbeknownst to the High King.

The sound of bells as the last of the daylight died was what the tall blond king of Narnia yearned to hear now, as he stood beside a fire roaring on the rocky slopes of the Northlands where Giants roamed. The greater part of Narnia's army was with him, come to defeat the rebellious Giants and then hope for peace to follow.

He stood on the cliffs of uneven stone and waited, hoping to hear the bells on his friend's collar.

He yearned to catch sight of the pale unicorn, but the ring of small bells echoing up canyon walls did not come, and the sun slipped down below the horizon, casting all in deep shadow.

Topaz did not come.

And the High King's heart grew heavy with knowing.

Golden gilt collars and small golden bells would have different meaning in his eyes from this day hence.

Topaz would not come again.

A/N: Just a little piece I'd originally written for the Narnian Holiday Prompt Contest but discarded because it was vague and a little too tragic; not to mention it had no mention of Christmas. I have no idea what the true name of Peter's unicorn in the LWW film was, so I called him Topaz (since C.S. Lewis calls the only unicorn he mentions 'Jewel'.)

WH