The Lost Queen

by the Lady of the Mists

Chapter One: Escaping to the Country

Anna Larson was fast asleep, in her room, dreaming of another world. It was a world quite different from this one, filled with mystical creatures and talking animals . . . and they bowed down before her as though she were royalty. Her friends, the Pevensies, were there with her, all of them wearing clothes in medieval fashion and carrying weapons.

Without warning, she heard alarms sounding, ripping her from her dreams and she blinked up at her ceiling as she crawled out of bed, pulling open the windows to see the city under attack, bombs falling from the sky as they had been for months, ever since the raids began. Anna moved quickly around her room, throwing a coat over her nightdress and grabbing the bag that she kept for emergencies before navigating her way out of her room and through the house, hurrying for her mother's room.

She never made it. Elizabeth Larson appeared in the middle of the hallway, her normally beautiful face twisted in annoyance as they looked towards her daughter. "What are you holding everything up for?" she demanded angrily as she strode towards her, grabbing hold of her arm and hauling her out of the house. "Come on, before you get us all killed."

Anna winced as she was dragged along. For years it had always been this way, her mother treating her like she was some kind of annoyance and a bother. Her father had laughed this all away, treating her as a golden princess whenever he was home. But that was all gone now. Her father was with Mr. Pevensie at war and there hadn't been word from him for months. They had no idea whether or not he was even still alive. Anna feared for his life, terrified that he was going to leave her all alone.

Anna glanced towards her mother as they raced out of the house, heading towards the bomb shelter that they shared with the Pevensies. She was a mixture of both of her parents. Her mother was tall and fair with bright vivid blue eyes, which Anna had inherited, but her hair was long, straight blonde hair. Her father was tall and handsome, with auburn hair that was the same shade as his daughter's, though hers hung in waves around her face, circling her small and fluid form. She possessed the air of a girl who was much cleverer than a girl of twelve.

"Helen!" Mrs. Larson hollered, pounding on the bomb shelter door. It was thrown open and Anna scrambled in after her mother, slamming the door closed behind them and locking it securely. The rest of the Pevensie family was already there: the mother Helen, the eldest Peter, Anna's best friend whom she was secretly in love with, the eldest daughter Susan, Edmund the younger brother, and the youngest Lucy.

"Anna!" Susan said in relief as she hurried to hug the redheaded girl, pulling her over to sit down next to her and Lucy, who was crying from the sound of the bombs echoing overhead. "Thank goodness! We were worried sick. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Anna assured her as she cast a quick glance towards Peter, who was watching her carefully. He gave her a small, relieved smile before he turned around to help his mother pass out blankets and some food.

Anna accepted the blanket he handed her gratefully as Susan draped one around her now sleeping sister. "Thank you, Peter," she told him.

"You're welcome. You should get some sleep," he told her as he stood up. "It's going to be a long night."

"I couldn't sleep right now anyway, even if I tried," Anna admitted as she curled up onto the bed, hugging her knees tightly. Susan was lying down by this time, still awake but starting to fall asleep. Peter glanced at her before helping Anna stand up and walk away from the others, far enough so that they could talk without disturbing the others.

Peter was glancing towards the other end of the shelter, towards the sleeping form of his brother. "I yelled at Ed earlier for going back into the house for Dad's picture," he confessed.

"Why'd you do that?"

"I don't know . . . my temper just got the better of me, I suppose. Why can't he just do as he's told?" he sighed as he ran a hand through his blond hair. "He just risked his life for—"

"But it's all that he's got left of your father, Peter," Anna pointed out. "Edmund's always been reckless, you and I both know that, but he's just ten years old. And I can remember another boy who didn't always do what he was told when he was that age," she added with a small smile. Peter grinned, obviously knowing who she was talking about. "Look on the bright side. Tomorrow, the five of us will be getting on the train and into the country, where we'll be safe. Maybe away from this war, things will be better."

"Maybe," Peter sighed.

"They will," Anna assured him, placing her small hand on top of his slightly larger one. "You have to have a little faith, Peter." She smiled up at him and he grinned back, about to say something when his mother came over and ordered them to bed, making no room for argument as Anna headed back over to the bed where Lucy and Susan were already asleep and crawled onto the crowded bed while Peter joined Edmund on the top bunk.

She glanced up above her, where the two boys were laying before she curled up onto the bed, closing her eyes. But this time when she fell asleep, no pleasant dreams of mystical animals plagued her dreams this time. Instead, her father hovered in and out of sight, never speaking.

--

It was late in the evening when the bombs finally stopped falling, but none of them were awake to hear the all clear alarms that went off at four in the morning. When Anna was shaken awake by Mrs. Pevensie, it was morning and all through the streets of Finchley, they could see the ruinations that the bombs had caused. Worst of all was the tree house that her father had built when she was a child; it now lay in shambles in the backyard.

As she walked up the stairs to her bedroom to finish packing before they had to leave for the train, Anna stopped at the picture of her and her father sitting outside of the house, all smiles and laughing. Before everything had changed . . . before the war had started.

"I miss you, Daddy," she whispered as she picked up the frame and stared down at her father. "Where are you?" She knew that her father wouldn't wait so long without sending word . . . not unless something was wrong. Not unless he was in some kind of trouble.

With a small sigh, Anna headed back up to her bedroom, carrying the picture with her and slipped it into her bag. Her mother would never even notice it missing, anyway. Checking to make sure that she had everything with her, Anna shut the lid on the suitcase, fastening the latches securely before she picked up her coat, heading downstairs where her mother was flipping through the newspaper, a cup of tea in her hand.

Without even looking up, Mrs. Larson passed her the tickets for the train. "Everything's there," she said crisply. "Don't lose anything, because I am not going to be held responsible for what happens then. Helen's going to be taking you with her load of children." Her nose wrinkled in distaste at the thought of the Pevensies.

Anna was crestfallen as she stared at what people said was once a warm, thoughtful, kind woman. "Aren't you going to see me off?" she queried and received a disgusted look in reply.

"Why would I want to do that?" she snarled before looking down at the paper once again.

Fighting the tears that welded up in her eyes, Anna slowly picked up the tickets and papers before walking out the backdoor, heading towards the Pevensie house, where Peter was loading his and Edmund's suitcases into the trunk of the car.

"Got room for another suitcase?" she asked, in a vain attempt to make herself think of something else besides the woman who she was supposed to call 'Mother.'

Of course, Peter, always perceptive, saw right through her attempt and frowned worriedly at her. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Anna said quietly.

Peter stared at her for a moment before looking towards the Larson house, a hint of anger in his blue eyes. "Your mum's not coming?" he asked sharply and she shook her head. He looked for a minute like he was going to say something, but decided against it. "I'll take care of this. Why don't you go see if Susan or Lucy needs any help?"

Anna nodded, grateful for him trying to get her mind off of her mother as she headed into the house, climbing up the stairs that led to his sisters' room. "Are you two nearly ready?" she asked, amused as she saw Susan and Lucy trying fruitlessly to get Lucy's suitcase closed. "Your mum says that it's nearly time to go."

Eventually, the sisters managed to get Lucy's trunk closed—although Lucy had to carry her teddy bear with her, which she was all too happy to do—and the three girls headed downstairs to carry the last two suitcases downstairs and into the car. Mrs. Pevensie was collecting their tickets and making sure that she had all of the papers before they climbed into the car.

It didn't take very long for them to ride to the train station, but the crowd of people waiting to get their children in line to take them to the country was unbelievable. When they were finally able to get through, there was only a few minutes left. Mrs. Pevensie was pinning the passport that told the train masters where to take them onto Lucy as Anna pinned her own to her coat.

"You need to keep this on, darling, all right?" she said to Lucy. "You warm enough? Good girl," she said as she adjusted Lucy's coat. Anna watched the exchange longingly as Peter placed a hand on her shoulder, lending her his strength and affection.

"If Dad were here, he wouldn't make us go!" Edmund burst out.

"If Dad were here, it would mean the war was over and we wouldn't have to go," Peter pointed out. Edmund only glared at his brother, barely even acknowledging his mother as she asked him to please listen to Peter when they were in the country and turned away when she tried to hug him goodbye.

Anna was surprised when Mrs. Pevensie hugged her tightly. "I'll keep a watch for word of your father," she promised, "and send word if I hear anything."

"Thank you," Anna whispered as she pulled away from the embrace. They both knew that her mother wouldn't even bother to tell her anything even if she did hear something. For whatever the reason, Anna was glad to be away from her mother, even if it was only for a little while. "Goodbye, Mrs. Pevensie."

"Goodbye, dearest." Mrs. Pevensie watched them as they navigated their way through the crowds towards their train.

Anna watched as the city life disappeared behind them and they began to see the country. Eventually, Anna took out a book and read to Lucy, who was getting bored by this time. Thankfully, she'd remembered to pack her book of fairy tales, her father's last gift to her.

Late in the afternoon, the train finally made their stop and they climbed off of the train to a small platform on the countryside, with no one around to be seen for miles, save for a car that passed them by without glancing at them.

"The Professor knew that we were coming," Susan reasoned as Edmund looked down at his identification.

"Perhaps we've been incorrectly labelled," he said thoughtfully.

"Or maybe they're just a little bit late," Anna said reasonably. "I'm sure his housekeeper will be here soon. What was her name again?"

Peter was about to answer her when they heard the sound of hooves and a horse carrying a wagon manoeuvred by a sharp looking woman. Anna's first impression was that this was a woman not to cross. She pulled the horse to a stop next to them and Peter looked nervously up at her. "Mrs. McCready?" he guessed and she nodded.

"I'm afraid so," she answered, her sharp gaze looking over all of them. "Is this it, then? Haven't you brought anything else?"

"No, ma'am," Peter answered, glancing towards his eldest sister and Anna. "It's just us."

She gave a small sniff. "Small favours," she mused before letting them on board. Peter helped the girls up into the wagon while Edmund walked into the corner sulkily.

The house that they were taken to was old and large and mysterious. As it came into view, Anna had the distinct impression that this old mansion had held a secret within it. A secret that they were bound to discover while they were here.

If only she could have known what the secret was . . .

If only she could have known that one wardrobe led to another world . . .

If only she could have known the fantastic and wondrous adventure that they would lead just by stepping through the wardrobe . . . and that the adventure of a lifetime would lead them to their destinies.