Freedom's Queen

As she ran through the grasses of the plain, the skirts of her dress fanned out behind her; and brushed against the front of her thighs with every stride. Feet bare, the green earth tickled her skin and had gifted her with callouses that her sister often said were 'not fitting for a Queen of Narnia'. Even so, Lucy Pevensie couldn't find it in her heart to put on the silk slippers that had been sewn for her and with the grass so lush, she didn't see a time in the near future where she would adorn them ever again.

The youngest royal at Cair Paravel, Lucy Pevensie was twenty years of age and yet, she still remained young at heart. When she had no royal business to attend to, she scouted the castle to find a playmate or companion to keep her company. Mr. and Mrs. Beaver were often game, although in their old age, they didn't travel to the castle much anymore. As for Mr. Tumnus, he had found a wife in the glen of the Shuddering Wood and was often occupied with things that married creatures do. Therefore, Lucy was left to find a guard to keep her company and would ride out of the castle almost every day in search of new adventures. Her horse, Figment, was a brilliant young mare that was like-spirited to her mistress and could gallop around for hours through the lands of Narnia.

Today's journey had taken the pair to the plains of the Battle Field, where Lucy's eldest brother Peter had fought and defeated the White Witch with Aslan's aid. Since it had been twelve years, the meadow bore no resemblance to the blood and death that had happened to so many on that fateful day. Instead, it showcased patches of purple flowers with sweet scents, long grasses soft to the touch and even the small beginnings of a river that started as a trickle from the rocky crag above. Lucy's blue eyes followed the trail of water from the point where it absorbed into the grass near her feet up to the top of the cliffs where she and Susan had stood to watch the Battle unfold. She had to shield her eyes from the midday sun and raised her left hand to her forehead to shield her gaze.

"Your Majesty, what do you see?" her guard, a centaur named Aegeus asked as he cantered to her side. Figment snorted softly at his intrusion and turned her dappled back to him. Lucy had to fight a small laugh.

"Nothing but memories, Aegeus," she assured him as she spotted one of his hands clasped around the hilt of his sword. "We needn't fear. No one dares to venture out here anyway. It's almost a two hour ride from the castle."

Aegeus fixed her with his questioning gaze; two brown eyes the colour of teakwood stared upon her form and she set her lips in a slight frown. Aegeus looked more man than horse in his face but his ears were pricked at the upper most corner, pointed, receiving vessels for sound that worked far better than a human's. He bore armour, crafted by the people of Etinsmoor and made to the highest degree of finesse and protection. He looked quite formidable.

"Your Majesty, if I may be so bold to say, that's precisely why we should start heading back to the castle. A queen is much more safe behind stone walls than she is on open grasses." The Valiant Queen huffed in annoyance and stepped up in the stirrups to get onto Figment's saddle. Now that she was taller than Aegeus by a few inches, she felt that she needn't be as wary of him as she was on the ground. Her thighs rested on either side of her mare and she felt her breathing sync with her beast; the same rhythm connected them as it connected them to all of the other living beings of Narnia.

Aegeus chuckled when Lucy said nothing. "I reckon you might listen to me now?" he teased.

This broke Lucy's annoyance and she let out a small laugh. She looked to Aegeus and gave him something that was shy of a smile. "Give me one more minute out here to breathe in the fresh air and then I will return to my chambers at Cair Paravel and sew my life away one tapestry at a time." She reached down to her leather belt that housed her dagger from Father Christmas and untied a leather thong from around the dagger's hilt, a safe storage place where she kept it to tie her hair up. She fashioned her long chestnut hair into a high ponytail that made her stresses reach the middle of her shoulder blades instead of the middle of her back. Much better. The Valiant Queen gave the Battle Field one last glance and turned Figment round to start back the way they'd come, Aegeus at the front. They would follow the Ford of Beruna back to Cair Paravel so that they'd have plenty of shade by the trees and much water to quench their thirst. Lucy hated to leave nature when it made her so free. Little did she know that nature hated to see her leave as well and wanted their queen to return.