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When Peter Pevensie and his three siblings were sitting on the train platform, on the way to their respective schools, they had no idea what would happen. They didn’t know that, seconds after sitting down, they would be taken from their world and back into Narnia.
When they discovered they were back on the sands of Narnia, back in the vicinity of Cair Paravel, his heart started to hurt. His beloved castle, where they reigned for years, was destroyed. The trees, fauns, centaurs, and all the friends of Narnia were either gone, or sleeping.
When Peter and his siblings finally arrived at Aslan’s How, they began taking in the artwork on the walls and the stories from the past when they were Kings and Queens in Narnia. The memories that flooded the siblings as they looked at the rock walls, the paintings. The battles. The people they rescued. The conversations with neighboring kingdoms.
Peter’s blue eyes skimmed over all of them, stopping when he noticed a particular image on the wall. His eyes flickered with recognition, her memories flooding his senses.
“Peter?” Lucy’s voice came at his elbow. Peter turned to look at her.
“Elsabeth,” he murmured. His lips lifted, a ghost of a smile. “Princess Elsabeth of-”
“Archenland,” Lucy finished. She nodded along. “I remember her.”
Peter stared at her image a little while longer, the memories flooding his mind.
“I wonder whatever happened to her,” he whispered, more to himself than anyone else.
“You don’t know?” Caspian said, hearing the High King’s words.
Peter turned to the boy, his eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. “Know what?” he asked.
Caspian took a torch from the wall, ushering the others to follow him from the catacombs to a different area of the How, through a door, and into a small, cooler room.
A glass coffin rested there, and inside the coffin lay a young girl, not much older than Caspian.
Peter immediately recognized her. He walked over to the coffin wordlessly, laying a hand on the pane.
Almost immediately, he saw visions dance before his eyes.
A dance.
A late-night stroll.
A gentle kiss.
A goodbye.
“Elsabeth,” Edmund’s voice filled the chamber behind Peter. His hand gently touched Peter’s shoulder, a comforting touch.
“What happened to her?” Peter said quietly, his fingers gently tracing lines on the glass.
“They say she’s been enchanted,” Caspian said. “It happened a little before you left.”
Peter’s hand clenched into a fist. That blasted day. He remembered it like it happened yesterday. He remembered the day he discovered she went missing. He was supposed to have met her that evening for dinner, but word came that she had disappeared. He had wanted to go find her, oh so badly, but with neighboring kingdoms coming to Narnia to discuss treaties, borders, and the like, Peter hadn’t been able to spare a moment to try to find his beloved. And the day they went back…
“How do we break the enchantment?” Peter asked, determined to break it and wake her.
Caspian just shook his head. “The stories don’t agree. She may never wake.”
Peter’s eyes filled with tears at that. All this time, he had been looking for her. Waiting for her. Missing her. And she was here, enchanted into a deep sleep. No way to wake her up.
She must have been so scared, Peter thought. Those moments before she was enchanted. Waiting for someone to come find her, save her.
Waiting for me.
“Well, Caspian,” Peter said, turning to the young prince. “Looks like we have two objectives while we’re here. Get you on the throne-” he took a breath, then turned to the coffin “- and wake up Princess Elsabeth.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The raid on Miraz’s castle didn’t go well, leaving the Narnians battered, bruised, and beaten. Peter walked back into the How, distracted. How could something he planned so well turn out so poorly?
He was walking towards the chamber that held Elsabeth’s sleeping body when he felt a cold chill in the air, colder than the temperature in the hallways. It felt like… winter.
Immediately, he sensed the dark magic pulsing through the hallways, racing towards the sensation in the throne room. He met with Trumpkin, Edmund, and Lucy on the way there, bursting through the door and seeing two monsters, along with the dwarf Nikabrik.
Peter jumped into action, the Prince Caspian stuck in a trance, standing before an icy slab. Peter ran towards the first monster and started fighting it. His sword was knocked out of his hands, but he fought it and killed it. Then, he pushed up from the ground, raced towards Caspian, and knocked him out of the circle.
“Get away from him!” Peter snarled, holding his sword up towards the Witch, practically reincarnated.
The witch recovered quickly from the initial shock of her previous spellbound victim being pushed away, then turned her attention to Peter. She smiled a loose, lazy smile.
“Peter, dear,” she crooned, holding her hand out towards him. “I’ve missed you.”
Peter stared at her, breathing heavily from the fight, held her gaze, his eyes stern as he stood in front of her.
“Just one drop,” she invited. “I can wake up your princess.”
Peter’s hand dropped a little at her words. Could she really wake up Elsabeth?
“You know you can’t do it alone,” the witch continued, her voice lilting with wanting.
Peter’s jaw flexed as he swallowed, considering her offer. If she could wake up his beloved Elsabeth, why shouldn’t he try to wake her up? He lowered his sword, almost as if he were preparing to set her free.
Suddenly, a sword came out from her middle, effectively breaking Peter out of the trance. He watched in horror as the ice that held her shattered, taking the effect of her being there away. Peter looked up to see Edmund standing in her place, sword held above his head. Edmund had been the one to break the spell.
“I know,” Edmund said, his voice low as he looked towards his brother. “You had it sorted.”
For a long while after the fight, and after everyone’s wounds had been attended to, Peter sat in the throne room, staring up at the great carving of Aslan on the wall, right above where the witch almost came back through her ice portal.
He thought long and hard about what would have happened if he had taken her words and set her free. What if she didn’t wake Elsabeth up? What if, by releasing her, she made everything worse? What if she cursed Narnia again, but worse this time?
He stared up at the carving of Aslan, thinking all of these things, when Lucy joined him.
“You’re lucky, you know,” he said to her as she sat next to him.
“For what?” she asked, gently touching her brother’s arm.
“For seeing him,” Peter replied. He heaved a sigh, then continued. “I wish I could see him.”
Lucy leaned against Peter’s arm. “He’ll wake her up. I just know it.”
Peter looked at his sister, not daring to let the hope he felt building in his chest awaken.
Edmund suddenly appeared, grabbing their attention and telling them they had to come see something outside. Trouble approached in the form of Miraz’ entire army approaching the How. Peter watched as the soldiers approached, feeling the tiny blossom of hope he felt earlier wash away with a wave of dread.
Peter knew what he had to do.
He called the Narnian army to him, into the war room, and explained his plan: he was going to send Lucy, the one that had the most faith, into the woods to find Aslan.
Caspian told them of a way to distract Miraz while Lucy and Susan went off on their ride to find Aslan. Peter agreed and wrote a letter to Miraz, which Edmund delivered to the king. While he was gone, Peter snuck into Elsabeth’s chamber. He slipped inside so quietly, nobody knew he was in there.
Peter very carefully lifted the lid of the coffin and carefully reached for her fingers.
“Elsabeth,” he whispered. “Elsabeth, my darling,” he cleared his throat. “I’m sorry I didn’t come to look for you when you first went missing. I’m sorry it’s taken me this long to come to you. But I’m here now.” He took a deep breath. “I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am for not being there for you.” He squeezed her fingers gently in his calloused fingers. “I’m about to go fight Miraz, my darling.” He took another deep breath, surprised at the sudden tears that appeared in his eyes. “Just in case I don’t make it back alive, I just wanted to come and tell you that I love you.” He pressed a kiss to her fingertips. “I hope to see you again, my darling.”
With that, Peter stood, leaned over, and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
”I hope you wake again, my darling.“
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Things were not going well for Peter. Sure, he had the advantage of being younger, but Miraz had already dislocated his shield arm and would not relent in his attacks. Finally, Peter got the upper hand and managed to get Miraz down on his knees in front of him, his sword poised to take Miraz’ life.
Peter passed that honor onto Caspian, allowing the rightful Prince to take his uncle’s life. He joined Edmund on the sidelines, preparing for the worst, if it happened, making sure the Narnians were alert and ready. Peter and Edmund watched as Caspian refused to kill his uncle, instead promising that he would give Narnia back their kingdom and land, then welcomed him back over to them. They all took a collective deep breath, when all of a sudden, they heard the sound of Miraz groaning in pain. Peter turned towards the sound, noticing that an arrow was sticking out of Miraz’ back.
”Treachery!“ Miraz’ second yelled. “They shot him!”
Peter turned back to the Narnians and called for them to be ready in case things started going south. And then it did.
Telmarines started charging towards them, Peter immediately dispatching one of them and going to fight the rest of the enemy. He took charge of the battle immediately, almost losing hope when he saw the Telmarine soldiers advance, practically wiping every Narnian out of the battle, but as soon as he saw the trees start to move, he knew what had happened.
Lucy must have found Aslan, for only he could move the trees and help them out in their time of desperation. Peter smiled at Edmund.
“Lucy,” he said, not needing to say more than a single word to prove that he knew what had happened.
They were about to fight another group of soldiers when a pale purple streak crossed his vision, a silver glint passing his line of sight.
Could it be…?
“Peter?” Edmund’s voice snagged Peter’s attention as he looked at who could have been there.
Peter’s head snapped around to his brother, looking at him. “What?”
“It’s her,” Edmund said breathlessly. Peter turned around again, looking towards the pale purple streak.
There, dressed in the pale purple dress, and toting a sword in her hand, was-
“Elsabeth,” Peter breathed in. His knees practically gave out as he saw his beloved princess fighting the Telmarines alongside him. She probably had no idea he was there, or even why there was a fight happening. He started walking towards her when Edmund stopped him.
“We’ll get her in a second,” Edmund said, gesturing to the Telmarine soldiers approaching from every angle.
Peter nodded, and then they went to work fighting the enemy soldiers.
A short time later, Peter and the rest of the Narnians ended up near the Fords of Beruna, where they were stopped by Lucy ahead of them. Peter took a second to take a deep breath, then found the one he had been searching for, just a few yards away from him. He looked at her, breathless.
She looks as beautiful as the day I lost her.
When Aslan had taken over and destroyed the bridge the Telmarines had built, and the Telmarines surrendered, Peter walked over to the princess.
“Elsabeth,” he said, drawing her attention towards him.
The princess turned to look at him, her eyes widening when she saw him.
“Peter,” she breathed, taking a step closer to him.
“It’s me,” he said. He was again surprised at the tears that suddenly sprang in his eyes. “It’s me, Elsabeth.”
Elsabeth took another deep breath, her eyes also filling with tears, and ran over to him, wrapping her arms around him.
He smelled like sweat and blood, but oh, he was so warm. He was so real. He was here with her.
“You’re really here,” she whispered. “You’re really here with me.”
“I am,” he answered thickly, tears choking him.
Elsabeth held him tightly against her, almost as if she was afraid she was going to lose him again. Then she pulled away from him, looking up at him.
“Peter,” she whispered, her eyes filling with tears. “How-why-?”
“You’ve been in an enchanted sleep for a really long time, my darling,” Peter said, laying a hand against her cheek, wiping the tears away with his thumb. “Aslan woke you up.”
“And you’re here?” she asked him, staring deep into his blue eyes.
He smiled. “Yeah, I’m here.”
Elsabeth smiled a watery smile, then wrapped her arms around him again. She lay her head against his chest, listening to the pounding of his heart.
Peter took her chin in his hands, lifting her face towards his, and pressed a gentle, sweet kiss to her lips.
“I love you, my darling,” he whispered, laying his forehead against hers. He took a deep breath. “I’m so glad I found you.”
“I’m glad I found you, too,” she replied, reaching her fingers up to touch his face. She stroked his cheek, a slight blush creeping up her cheeks.
Peter took a step back from her, pressing a kiss to her forehead. As he did so, he breathed in the smell of lavender and apples, which is what she always smelled like, and smiled. “Come on,” he urged. “We have to meet everyone.”
He led her to where Aslan was, his brother and sisters there as well. He smiled a small smile, squeezing the fingers of his beloved in his. Together, they approached the Great Lion, kneeling before him.
“Rise, Kings and Queens of Narnia,” Aslan spoke. “And rise, Princess Elsabeth of Archenland.”
Elsabeth rose, standing beside her beloved. ”Thank you,“ she said quietly. “Thank you for waking me up.”
“My child,” the Lion spoke. “You have a greater purpose ahead.”
Elsabeth nodded, pressing closer to Peter.
The Narnians celebrated Caspian’s coronation that evening. Elsabeth rode in the back of the procession, behind the Kings and Queens, new and old. She looked at her own beloved High King, her heart swelling with pride. She never thought she would see him again, and yet, there he was- only a few feet in front of her. She was so happy to have him back, she almost forgot what it was like when he was gone.
The night was full of merriment and celebration, and Peter and Elsabeth danced together for hours, holding each other tightly, not wanting to let the other one go. When the night carried on into the wee hours of the morning, Elsabeth sat down next to her High King and laid her head on his shoulder. She felt so safe, so comfortable, so present with her beloved next to her.
Peter looked down on her and wished the moment could freeze. He knew his time in Narnia was drawing to its end, he could feel it deep in his bones, and all he wanted with her was a little more time. But if he couldn’t have any more time with her, he could at least have these last few hours with her.
A little while later, he woke her up, for she had fallen asleep on his shoulder, and led her to her bedchamber.
“Good night, my darling,” he said to her when they had gotten to her room.
“Good night, my love,” she replied. She reached up, pressing a kiss to his cheek. She turned to the door, reaching for the handle, when his hand grabbed hers.
“Wait,” he said, grasping at her fingers. “Let’s just- please. Just a little longer.”
Elsabeth looked up from where their hands were joined, up into his blue eyes. She nodded. “Yes.”
She led him into the room, allowing him to sit on the bed next to her. And all they did from that moment on was talk. They talked for hours, until Elsabeth eventually fell asleep, and Peter followed suit.
The next morning, a maid came and gently woke Peter up. As he stirred, careful not to wake up Elsabeth, he looked at the maid.
”Beg your pardon, Your Highness,“ she said, dipping into a curtesy. ”The Great Lion wants to speak with you.“
Peter nodded, standing from the bed. He pressed another kiss to Elsabeth’s forehead, then walked out of the room to his own chamber. After he had dressed, he met with the Lion, and Susan. He was surprised a little. Where were Edmund and Lucy? But it soon became clear that this was a conversation for the older two children, not the younger ones.
Aslan began to speak, telling Peter and Susan that their chapter in Narnia was coming to an end, that they learned all they could from this world, now they had to go and grow up and learn more in their world, but all Peter could hear was his heart breaking.
I just got Elsabeth back, he thought, feeling the agony of knowing what he had to tell her starting to gnaw at him. And now I have to tell her that I can’t come back to her again.
“What are your thoughts, Son of Adam?” Aslan’s voice suddenly cut through Peter’s panicking thoughts.
”Well, sir,“ he started, then blushed. “Is Elsabeth going to be okay?”
Aslan stared very long at Peter. “She will be fine, my Son. She has a purpose here that will serve well for her.”
“Yes, and that’s very honorable,” Peter said. “But,” he cleared his throat, suddenly unable to form words. He took another deep breath. “But I just got her back,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
Aslan nodded, his great head bobbing up and down. “I understand,” he said. “But you need to understand, she has a great need here. You have a great need where you come from.”
Peter nodded sadly. After Aslan spoke a few more minutes, he dismissed them both, allowing them to prepare for the meeting in which they would return back to their own world.
Peter grabbed a maid, telling her to go find Elsabeth, and have her meet him by a tree. He waited for a few minutes, rehearsing everything he wanted to say in his head. When he saw her approaching, he froze, his heart in his throat.
She was dressed in the most beautiful blue dress, her hair tied up in a beautiful style.
How am I going to leave her? He thought to himself as he reached for his beloved princess.
“You wanted to see me?” She asked him, looking up at him with her very watchful eyes. She scanned his face, her eyes landing on his lips. “Is everything okay?“ she asked, laying her hand against his face.
“You look beautiful, my darling,” he said, leading her to a rock to sit on. When she had settled, he sat across from her.
“Peter, my love,” she started, reaching for his hands. “Love, you’ve got a wrinkle right here,” she said, pressing her finger to his eyebrows, as if she was going to smooth them out. “What’s got your brain all worried?”
Peter reached for her hands. “My darling,” he started, his voice catching in his throat. “My darling,” he started again, clearing his throat. “I have to tell you something, but I have to do it now so you don’t hear it from someone else.”
Elsabeth searched his face, noting how sad and scared he looked. She nodded slowly. “Go on,” she urged.
Peter stood then, inviting her to stand with him. When she did, he pulled her into his arms. He held her close to him, her scent wafting up to his nose. As he smelled the lavender and apple scent she loved so much, his heart broke a little more.
Oh, this is cruel, he thought.
He held her for a few moments, resting his chin on the top of her head. He took in a deep breath, then released it, a sob almost coming out in the process.
Elsabeth looked up and saw his eyes were wet. “Peter,” she breathed. She laid her hand on his face. “My darling, why the tears?”
“Aslan spoke with me this morning,” he finally said. “He said that I have to go back to my world now.”
Elsabeth stopped, her hand freezing against his face. “But, my darling,” she said, her breathing coming too quick. “But you’ll come back, won’t you?”
Tears started falling from Peter’s eyes. “That’s just it,” he replied. “He said I’m not coming back.”
Elsabeth froze. “But,” she started. “I just got you back,” she protested, her own eyes filling with tears.
“I know,” he said, wiping his eyes. “That’s the worst of it.”
They stood there, in the clearing, holding one another tightly. At some point, they started swaying gently, their last dance together.
“Peter,” she eventually whispered. “If you must go,” she said, reaching for his fingers. “Then I want you to remember me. I want you to think about me every chance you get. I want you to think and remember me when you’re sad.”
Peter nodded. “And I want you to never forget me, ever.” He pressed his forehead against hers. “We’re going to be okay.”
Elsabeth nodded, then pulled his face down to hers, sealing his lips in a kiss. “We’re going to be okay,” she replied.
A short time later, they joined the crowd outside the castle walls. When Aslan gave the Telmarines the offer to go to Peter’s world, Elsabeth was seriously considering it, but when she opened her mouth to say something, Aslan turned to her and shook his great mane.
“No, dear one,” he said. “You have much need here.”
She felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Peter standing behind her.
“Remember me,” he whispered.
She nodded, feeling tears well up in her eyes. “You remember me, too.”
Peter led her a short distance away, pulled her into his embrace, and pressed one more kiss to her lips. “I wish we had more time together,” he said.
“I wish we did, too,” Elsabeth replied.
With one more kiss, one more forehead touch, one more hand squeeze, and one last embrace, Peter finally walked to where his siblings all stood. Elsabeth looked at them, tears filling her eyes as she watched the love of her life walk through the portal back to his own world.
When Peter opened his eyes, he was back on the train platform in London. He took a deep breath of the dirty, smoky air. The crisp, clean Narnian air was pushed from his lungs. He closed his eyes one more time and saw his beloved in the backside of his eyelids. He could almost smell the lavender and apple scent she always wore as well. The second he caught that scent, he held onto it for the rest of his days.
As for Elsabeth, she lived out the rest of her days peacefully, standing by King Caspian and offering him advice on how to rule Narnia. She never married. But she reunited with High King Peter again, much, much later…