Disclaimer: I own nothing of Narnia, none of the characters, none of the ideas, none of the places, none of the anything. The only thing I own is my OC. Everything else is the property of the estate of CS Lewis.

Imagination, Reality, and the Space Between

Chapter Nine: Meeting Aslan

The camp was splendidly colourful, but that wasn't what surprised them the most. The most surprising thing was the assortment of people, though by definition they weren't actually termed people, standing outside the tents, watching and whispering amongst themselves as the four passed by.

"Why are they all staring at us?" Susan murmured lowly as they walked.

"Maybe they think you look funny." Lucy replied with a giggle.

"… Or it could be that whole prophecy thing…" Marilyn said shrugging lightly.

At the end of the rows of tents, was situated one large tent made of crimson and gold panels. It was a great deal bigger than the others, and it had a small awning over the opening on the tent. The group stopped not fifteen feet from it in a neat little line, as the soldiers in the camp crowded in behind them and to their sides.

Following their arrival, there was a moment of silence between them, though there was a great deal of hushed muttering going on behind them. It was as if a wind had blown through them, carrying upon it a sort of awed fear. And yet, they hadn't seen Aslan.

After that moment, Peter drew his sword with a shaking hand, pointing it ahead of him.

"We have come to see Aslan." Peter addressed the centaur that stood to the side of the tent in a tone that attempted to be brave, but still sounded quite nervous.

This was immediately followed by a moment of expectant silence. A gentle wind blew by, causing the armoured centaur that to look at the entrance of it expectantly before bowing, an action that caused all the other soldiers to follow suit. As a single golden paw emerged from the tent, and with it seemed to carry an inexplicable sense of peace. The feeling had surprised Marilyn, since everything she knew of armies and soldiers came from the wireless back home and it hardly seemed that anyone planning to go to war could possibly have that sort of pure calm about them, and yet, here it was.

The Lion stood before them with a benevolent smile on his face. At the sight of him, in addition to the unexplained sweeping calm feeling, was a rolling and growing perception of what could only be described as true majesty. The combination made it more than apparent that the Beavers had been correct. Though the lion hardly seemed safe or tame (there was a wildness to him that seemed to lurk beneath the exuded qualities, as though it was simply waiting for the right moment to lash out) it was more than obvious he was good in a nearly impossibly pure and perfect form. The feeling that they should bow seemed to affect more than just Marilyn, as within a mere moment of seeing the Lion, all four were bowing before him. As they did so, he began to speak.

"Welcome Peter, Son of Adam. Welcome, Susan, Lucy, Marilyn, Daughters of Eve. And welcome, Beavers. You have my thanks. But where is the other?" Aslan asked the last question with a touch of sadness to his voice as if he knew the answer already.

"That's why we're here sir. We need your help." Peter said, sheathing his sword.

"We had a little trouble along the way." Susan said honestly.

"Edmund was captured by the White Witch." Marilyn added on the heels of Susan's statement.

"Captured? How could this happen?"

"He – betrayed them your majesty." Mr. Beaver said

"Then he has betrayed us all!"

"Peace, Orieus. I'm sure there's an explanation."

Peter looked down, feeling guilty. "It's my fault really. I was too hard on him"

"We all were." Susan said.

"Please sir, he's our brother." Lucy said sadly.

"I know, dear one, but that makes only the betrayal all the worse." Aslan said. "This may be more difficult than you think."

After that, Aslan had had the Naiads and Dryads (women made of water and what appeared to be petals from blooming trees as well as trees themselves) take the three girls away from others. They had gone a decent distance from the main camp to a tent near a small stream bed. The three had followed in relative silence, curious as to where they were going but quite tired still. As they approached, it was clear that within the pavilion stood a large wooden tub.

Marilyn caught sight of them and perked up considerably. "Baths?" She questioned the Dryad nearest her. "For us?" The Tree-woman simply nodded in reply. Marilyn couldn't hold back a genuine smile, one of the first since they had been in Narnia. A bath would be absolutely lovely.

The three cycled through the small tent, each getting a bath and new clothes. The naiads and dryads had apparently expected them to be older, as though they were able to find dresses for Susan and Marilyn fairly easily; they had to look for a dress small enough for Lucy. Since they were having such a difficult time procuring clothing for Lucy, she had to go last.

Marilyn was given a dress that was the colour of chocolate, with white embroidery that resembled flowers about the neckline. Susan was given a green dress, which in all honesty, Marilyn thought was much prettier, but she wasn't really complaining. After all, they didn't have to give them new clothes at all, so it seemed rude to complain about something so trivial. Though, Marilyn supposed, her dress wasn't really all that bad, in fact, it was much more comfortable than most of her dressed back home in London. Those were always pressed and starched and awful to wear, but at least she was only made to wear them for church services at Christmas and Easter and for parties her parents had when she was home for the holidays. Ever since she had started to school, she had only had one of those dresses a year; her mother had always said that it was wasteful to have more than one nice dress that you would grow out of in a year, especially if you only wore them at the most five times. And not only was it more comfortable, she actually felt pretty in this dress, unlike in any of the others.

"What do you think he'll do?" Susan asked suddenly as the two girls were waiting on Lucy.

"Who and about what?" Marilyn asked, leaning against a tree.

"What Aslan will do about Edmund."

"Oh. Well…" Marilyn paused momentarily, placing her arms around her knees. "I don't know. I suppose I just assumed he'd rescue him and that would be all there was to it."

Susan closed her eyes for a moment. "I hadn't thought much about it at all, but when he said that it would be harder than we thought, it made me wonder about it."

Marilyn stood and placed an arm around Susan's shoulders. "I'm sure Aslan will keep Edmund safe."

The truth was she wasn't sure at all, but that wasn't what Susan needed to hear, and Marilyn knew it. So instead of saying anything else, she held her tongue and did her best to be comforting.

Author's Note: This chapter didn't seem to want to be written. But I finally finished it. At any rate, as I've been writing this chapter for going on a week and a half, I'm still not totally happy with it. I realize that this is really just filler, but as I've spent more than a week writing it, I'm posting it anyway. Next chapter will have some plot moving content. Anyway, if you've read this far, I'd love hear what you think, and the only way that'll happen is if you review. Thanks for reading,

ESG