The High Queen Book Two

Chapter 1 - Brawling

Third-Person POV

Narnian Year 2303

One starry night in a faraway land, in a cold dark castle ruled by an evil untrue man, Lord Miraz. The right King was his brother, but he mysteriously died one day, leaving his only heir, his son, Prince Caspian, to rule when he came of age. But the boy's cruel uncle wanted to throne for himself, but there was an issue, Miraz had no heir, which meant Caspian was safe until tonight. The cry of Miraz's wife, Prunaprismia, floods the castle halls as the pain of childbirth rips through her body; before the maids know it, the baby is born. The head maid hands the child off to the Queen, who quickly checks if her baby is a boy or a girl. Sighing in relief, the Queen lays back down with her baby resting on her chest. She has a baby boy, meaning Miraz has a son and an heir, leaving Prince Caspian's life in danger. General Glozelle goes to his Lord to tell him the good news.

"Lord Miraz?" The general questions. "You have a son." He mutters, nodding to the man whose prays have been made. Sighing heavily in relief, the Lord had an evil grin taking over his face as he turned to face his general.

"The heavens have blessed us." Glozelle shifts on his feet, knowing what he and his men must do, but he feels reluctant to execute his gruesome directions. "You know your orders," Miraz says happily, finally knowing he will be rid of his nephew, but when the general doesn't move, he raises an eyebrow. "General Glozelle?" The slight sharp tone in the Lord's voice snaps the normally righteous man from his stance, nodding to the Lord.

"Yes, my Lord." The man replies in fear before going to gather his men.

As Glozelle heads to the armoury, he misses the cloaked figure that glides through the halls past him, heading toward the Prince's chambers. The masked man enters the sleeping boy's room, creeping closer to his bed and opening the curtain to take in the view of Caspian before he places his hand over his mouth, suddenly waking the now frightened Prince, who quickly calms seeing his Professor.

"five more minutes." He lazily says, rolling over, but the older man has none.

"You won't be watching the starts tonight, my Prince." Caspian turns to the rushing man. "Come, we must hurry." As the older man turns to walk away, Caspian follows, mostly confused at what is happening.

"Professor, what's going on?" Caspian asks as the man drags him out of bed.

"Your aunt has given birth... to a son." The Professor says sadly, know now the Prince will understand what this means for himself. Caspian stands shocked for a moment before seeing the shadows of the guard heading to his room. The boy hides with the Professor peeping through his wardrobe as his uncle's guard enters the room. They surround his curtain-covered bed, all holding crossbows where the Prince would usually be resting. Caspian watches in suspense as many of the guards whose families work for his father and that we grew up with fire round after round of arrows into his bed and, to their knowledge, into him. It is only after they are all out of arrows that the feathers clear, and it becomes apparent that Caspian isn't asleep in his bed.

The boy in question follows in a rush the wise man down the secret passageway leading from his bedroom to the stables where his horse lies in wait. Gathering a sword and more substantial clothing before mounting his horse, Caspian turns to his Professor. "You must make for the woods."

"The woods?" Caspian questions, knowing of the horrific tales that are told of the woods.

"They won't follow you there." The Professor answer knows the men also have fears of the tales known to the Dark Woods. Rummaging around his satchel, the man finds what he is looking for, wrapped tightly in a woven cloth. "It has taken me many years to find this." He says, handing the mysterious object to the Prince. "Do not use it except at your greatest need." The Professor warns wisely, knowing what the magical object can bring to their world.