Fairdawn 23, 839
I looked around the beach cautiously. There was a forest behind me, and what looked to be a castle very far away, to my left. The seagulls were walking near the surf, squawking at each other, but I swear I heard some singing. Not knowing what else to do, I headed in the direction of the castle, wondering what could possibly be there. When I started walking, a few of the seagulls flew towards me. From the corner of my eye, I could tell they were larger than the others. Strange. How’d they get that big? And why are they following me? I got my answer once they caught up to me.
One flew up so it was a few inches from my ear and said in a male voice, “Excuse me, but who are you? You look like you could be from Narnia, but Narnia hardly has any humans.”
When the gull spoke, I jumped and stopped walking. The group of seagulls stopped as well, landing right in front of me, waiting for an answer. How the heck can they talk??? That is not normal at all.
I struggled to speak, still trying to get over the shock that the bird just spoke to me. Finally I recovered my voice and courage. “I am Annabelle Beverley. Why did you want to know?”
Birds were fluttering their wings in excitement. “We’ve been awaiting your arrival, My Lady.”
I couldn’t help but gape. “You’ve been waiting for me? How… how can that be?”
“Please, My Lady, just follow us and we will let the King and Queen explain.” the gull said, and they all took off for the castle.
I followed the gulls, but then realized I was hungry. I tried to ignore it, but after we were about halfway there, I had to stop. One of the birds noticed I was not with them, and doubled back to check on me.
“Are you alright, My Lady?” asked a girl gull.
“I am hungry. I haven’t had anything since dinner last night,” I explained.
“Oh! We should have thought of that! I’ll go tell Francis, the one you talked to before, and have some food sent for you.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re most welcome, My Lady,” she said, and flew off.
Within ten minutes, I was brought food and water, and the gulls were eager to see if I’d give them any scraps. When I finished, I felt better, and gave the gulls the scraps. We started again, and arrived at the castle about a quarter of an hour later. When we got to the gates, the guards were skeptical about letting me in – which was understandable because I was still in my English clothes and this was clearly a place of medieval times. My hesitance towards the guards probably didn’t help either. They were large animals and mythical creatures that I read about in school; to see them up close is a frightening experience. Francis convinced the guards at the gates, which happened to be a centaur and a large tiger, that I was the child that the King and Queen were waiting for.
Francis passed me on to a different guard to show me to the King and Queen. The guard was a golden husky. I guess that I was given her because we could keep pace easier.
The husky bowed her head to me and said, “If you will follow me, My Lady, I will show you to the King and Queen. They have been anxiously awaiting your arrival for the past year.”
“Really?” I asked as we started walking.
“Yes, but I will let them explain why.”
“Alright.” When we entered the castle, I shivered because it was so cold. “So this is why everyone wore long clothes during medieval times. This castle is freezing!”
The she-husky must have sensed my shivers, for she turned to look at me. She gave me a concerned look and said, “Don’t worry, My Lady, you will be given the proper clothes so you do not continue to shiver.”
“Thank you,” I replied and then asked, “Umm, might I know your name, please? It seems like I’m going to be spending a lot of time here, and I’d like to try to learn everyone’s name.”
The husky smiled. “My name is Deanna. It is a pleasure to know you, My Lady.”
I shifted uncomfortably at the use of “My Lady”. I wasn’t anyone special, just a normal girl. Why was I being treated like royalty?
Deanna must’ve sensed my thoughts, for she said, “Your questions will be answered soon. Just relax, you’re loved.” She turned to continue down the hall, and I followed.
-x-x-x-x-x-
I waited outside the Royal Library as Deanna announced to the King and Queen that I was there. There was a Faun guard outside the door when we arrived, but he was now inside the library so he could let Deanna out when she was done.
When she came out, the she-husky gave me a nod, and I entered the room. There were many aisles with shelves that held huge tomes. Across the way from the entrance, the King and Queen sat near a fireplace facing my direction. I crossed the way and curtsied to them the best I could. When I came back up, I met the Queen’s eyes and saw love in them. I shifted my gaze to the King, and his eyes, too, were full of adoration.
“Do sit down, Annabelle,” the King said.
Turning, I found a chair next to the Queen, and I gratefully sank into it.
“I suppose you have a lot of questions for us, dear,” the Queen said. “But let us first introduce ourselves. I am Atarah, Queen of Narnia.”
“And I am Gabriel, King of Narnia,” the King followed. “I suppose you wonder why you are here, am I right?”
I nodded. “Yes, your Majesty.”
“Well, this may seem unusual to you, but my wife and I are in need of an heir to the throne. We have tried very hard and have failed to have a child that lived.” The King paused.
I felt sorry for them, not able to have any kids and all, but the idea that they might want me to rule someday got my heart racing with adrenaline.
The Atarah picked up where Gabriel had stopped. “We prayed to Aslan for many days, and finally He told us that He would send us a child. He told us that within a year, you would appear near the cave a mile away from Cair Paravel. We love you, Annabelle; please give us a chance to show you.”
I sat in shock. Someone had predicted that I would appear at that cave? I was to be heir to the Narnian throne? They love me? They actually said that? I haven’t heard Mother and Father say it to me in a long while. Realizing they were waiting for me to say something, I quickly gathered my composure and said, “Wow, it’s a lot to take in, that’s for sure. Who is this Aslan?”
“Aslan is the Creator of Narnia. He is the Great Lion. You shall learn of Him in your studies of Narnia,” Gabriel explained.
I nodded in understanding. Wanting to be alone, I said, “Might I be shown to my room? I would like to think about things.”
“Oh yes, Annabelle,” Atarah said. “Follow me, please.”
I followed the Queen down the halls to my room. It was huge – larger than my house in England. It had a canopy bed, a set of French doors leading out onto a balcony, a wardrobe, dresser, and a door to a washroom.
“Our room is right next to yours, Swa…Annabelle. If you wanted to, you could just go through the washroom to get to it, for we share one,” the Queen said.
“Thank you.” I noticed the trip-up in her saying my name, but decided to ignore it unless she did it again.
“Now your wardrobe and dresser are full of dresses, nightgowns, and underclothes. And if you need anything Swa…Annabelle, you can ask any of the servants, or you can ask me or Gabriel.”
“Thank you, Queen Atarah. Might I ask you a question, though?”
“Of course.”
“You keep starting to call me something else… but stop. What is the name?” I asked timidly.
Atarah smiled lovingly. “The name is Swanwhite. Aslan told us to name you that, but I decided to let you get used to Narnia and her ways before having you take on the name.”
“Swanwhite,” I said to myself, trying the name out. “It’s very pretty…. Would you mind, Queen Atarah, if I got changed and thought things over?”
“Of course not. I shall send a servant to get you when lunch is ready,” she replied, and exited the room – my room.
Thinking about what King Gabriel and Queen Atarah told me, I made my way to my wardrobe and dresser. I picked out some underclothes, and decided on a golden dress with red embroidery and sleeves that flared at the elbows. Could I handle being a queen? Could I run this country? Will I be able to believe that things that don’t exist in England, exist here? Can I accept the King and Queen as adoptive parents?
“I don’t know,” I said aloud. There were so many things about this world I didn’t understand. How did this world come to be? How can the animals talk? How did humans get here? Who is this Aslan? Why do the mythical creatures of earth live here?
-x-x-x-x-x-
I was escorted to the dining room by a young cherry blossom dryad. I was still trying to understand everything, so I didn’t talk to the dryad; instead, we walked in awkward silence. When we arrived, we curtsied to each other and the dryad departed. I entered the dining room and saw the King and Queen waiting for me. I saw a place for me set to the left of King Gabriel and went to sit there.
They looked at me expectantly, so I gave them the answer I had at the time. “I’m not very sure yet. I do not understand this world very well, and I’d like to try to figure it out before I promise anything.”
Queen Atarah looked disappointed, but nodded.
King Gabriel spoke to me. “Take all the time you need, Annabelle. We’ve waited a long time for a child, we can wait some more.”
His statement made me a bit uncomfortable. He really thinks I’m going to say ‘yes’ to this? Oh well. Time to eat; later I can try to figure this place out. While the King and Queen talked quietly about politics, I ate in silence and wondered why I was there.