Epilogue: The White Stag

Narnian Year 1015

A handsome white stag galloped swiftly past the trees and was swiftly followed by four other stallions. Four siblings with silver and gold adorned on their heads exchange grins and laughter as they finally managed to catch up with the mythical stag.

But yet, one of the black stallions slowed down, panting tiredly even as its owner patted him lovingly.

"What's wrong, Phillippe?" A nineteen year old King King Edmund asked gently.

The stallion looked backed and breathed heavily. "I'm not as young as I once was."

King Edmund patted his beloved stallion lovingly and loosened the reins, giving the aged but loyal horse a moment to catch his breath.

"Come on, Ed," King Edmund looked up to see his elder siblings and younger siblings retracing their steps. He held his eldest brother's gaze, noting the unspoken concern in his brother's brilliant blue eyes, but he looked away and replied to his sister.

"Just catching my breath," King Edmund answered, still stroking his stallion absent-mindedly.

"Well that's all we'll catch at this rate," Queen Susan protested.

"What did he say again, Susan?" his younger sister, Queen Lucy, teased.

"You girls wait at the castle, I'll get the stag myself," Queen Susan lowered her voice and repeated his words, in an uncharacteristic comical imitation of her younger brother.

Queen Lucy laughed heartily, and it wasn't long before the rest of her siblings joined her. Even King Edmund himself couldn't resist a chuckle.

High King Peter caught sight of a strange infrastructure from the corner of his eyes and dismounted his horse. He looked intently at the strangely familiar metal tree giving off a steady light at the top of his head. "What's this?"

"It seems familiar."

"As if from a dream," Queen Susan muttered.

"Or a dream of a dream." Queen Lucy finished. A name struck her and she blurted. "Spare Oom!"

Following a vague memory, Queen Lucy picked up the trains of her gown and headed north of the metal tree.

"Lucy!" High King Peter called.

Queen Susan was swift in chasing after her sister, who, after fifteen eventful years as the Valiant Queen of Narnia, never seemed to stop the habit of wandering around alone. "Not again."

Queen Lucy headed into a thick bush when she heard her brother's voice behind her. "Lu?"

"Come on," she hurried her siblings excitedly.

High King Peter hurried up to her, following her trail before he ran into something soft, warm and furry. The space around them grew tighter as he struggled to move forward. "These aren't branches."

Queen Susan pulled at what seemed like a sleeve. "They're coats." She breathed in disbelief.

From behind her, Edmund nudged her. "Susan, you're on my foot!"

"Peter, move off!"

"Stop shoving!"

"I'm not on your toe!"

None of them noticed their voices changed as they tried to move to the end of this furry trail. In the dim light of this trail, Peter's hand found a handle and out of pure instinct, he pressed down hard, opening a door and he tumbled out of a wardrobe and landed on a wooden floor (painfully) with his knees.

He looked down on his hands, noting with surprise and denial as his hands were smaller, smoother, but the one scar that spanned across his left palm still remained, the only testament of his adult life.

The rest of the Pevensies soon followed, landing on their palms and knees in unseemly fashion, and each of them mimicked Peter's movements of looking at their hands and then down at their bodies.

Ahead of them, the door to the spare room opened, and an aged professor walked in. To his surprise, he found four children on the floor, with looks of disbelief coloring their young, childish faces.

"Now… what are you all doing in the wardrobe?" the professor asked, his eyes gleaming mischievously.

Peter spoke up, his unbroken voice seemed strange to his ears. "You wouldn't believe it if we told you, sir."

The professor's smile widened as he threw a cricket ball back at him. Peter caught it deftly, instinctively, and exchanged looks with the aged man.

"Try me."

Author's Note:

It's finished, it's finished, it's finished! I'm uploading both the concluding chapter and the epilogue back to back as a celebration to the ending of this 10-months long project.

Wow, has it really been that long? I must be getting really lazy. *grimace*

Thanks to all reviewers who reviewed. I read every single one of them more than a dozen times and I never get sick of them. Thanks to all the comments, critics, feedback and just notes of enjoyment. They brighten up all my depressing days and give me the additional energy boost to continue this story and the subsequent sequel.

As a special treat, here's an excerpt of the opening chapter from the sequel, Golden Age of Narnia: Coming of Age

She wasn't entirely sure if the water streaming down her face was from the rain, or from the tears from her eyes. The pain in her heart was so intense, it took all of her attention and focus to keep running; running away from the scene that cut into her heart, leaving it bleeding.

The trees were asleep, as they always were, in the rainy season. She was thankful for that. The last thing she needed now was to have the others alerted.

The red-haired Narnian burst out of the Shuddering Woods, feeling as though her lungs were about to explode from the long sprint. She stopped by the river, panting heavily as she slowly dropped onto her knees.

She started crying.

She couldn't remember the last time she cried this hard. Was it when she mourned for her kinsmen?

Around her, the rain continued...

Thanks to all who read this story, placed it on alert, reviewed, or simply just passed by curiously.

THANK YOU!

*hugs and kisses*

With love
Rainremember