༄ 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘦 (𝘗𝘊) ༄

Chapter 12: A Change of Plans

We made it to the dungeons rather quickly, but that wasn't a surprise since the Prince knew the castle well. There was a guard on duty—unlike before when I made my escape—but he was knocked out with a well-placed hit to the head. The keys weren't on a hook and Caspian quickly searched the guard for them. Once he found them, he hurried down the steps and into the dungeon without so much as a word to me. I followed after him but stayed back as he entered the cells. One of us had to keep a lookout for any Telmarines headed this way.

Keys jangled in a lock and I knew that he had been successful in finding Cornelius.

"Five more minutes?" I heard him asked, a brief reminder of when I had first met him.
"What  are you doing here?" Cornelius asked and the shuffling of feet told me they were standing up. "I didn't help you escape just so you could break back in. You have to get out before Miraz learns you're here."
"He's going to learn soon enough. We're giving him your cell," Caspian informed him.

There was a pause. Then: "Do not underestimate Miraz as your father did," the Professor warned.
"What are you talking about?" the Prince asked and I could hear the confusion in his voice.
"I'm sorry."

Their conversation had me intrigued and confused. I looked over just in time to see the Prince rush up the stairs. He brushed past me and I barely managed to stop myself from falling down them. A Telmarine approached,  sword drawn, but he was cut down before he had a chance to swing it.  Then the Prince disappeared out of sight before I had the chance to process what was happening. I turned to Professor Cornelius, hoping he could shed some light on what exactly Caspian was doing.

"You need to follow him," he said before I could ask him. "You need to stop him from doing something rash."
"Where is he going?" I asked, knowing that was the only way I could catch him.
"To avenge his father's death. Up the stairs and to the left. You can catch  him if you hurry." At my hesitance, he added: "Don't worry about me. I  know my way around the castle and can make it out safely."
"Get to the stables," I told him. "I'll try to get Caspian to meet you there."

Then without another word, I left him in the dungeons and made my way to the upper level of the castle. With the trail of Telmarine guards—not all were dead, merely unconscious—and Cornelius's advice, I managed to catch the Prince stalking through the halls. He found the correct door, and opened it but didn't make it through before I grabbed his arm.

"What are you doing?" I hissed. "We have to get to the gatehouse if this plan is still to work."
"He killed my father," he answered, voice dark.
"Caspian, please," I pleaded. "This isn't the way."

He didn't answer and shook off my hand. I quickly followed after him,  hoping to stop him from killing his uncle. Killing someone in battle was one thing, but revenge was another. It can blacken a person's very soul and turned them into a different person. They were often filled with a  mixture of grief and anger. But no amount of violence could bring back what was taken from them and it became a slippery slope into darkness. I  had to stop this. Revenge never solved anything.

"Caspian!" I whispered, trying not to wake the occupants. "We need to go. Now."

I  was again ignored and he drew his sword. Quietly he approached the far side of the bed, where the man slept. He pointed the blade at his uncle's throat and Miraz woke up. The surprise on his face quickly evaporated when he saw who was wielding the sword. He chuckled and I  watched as Caspian's face darkened.

"Thank goodness you're safe,"  Miraz said. His eyes roamed the room and quickly found me. "It seems you  brought a guest..." He added with what I considered a snarl.
"Get up!" Caspian ordered quietly to not wake his aunt.

It might've worked, but Miraz probably felt outnumbered. As he slowly followed Caspian's command, he tapped his wife. She woke groggily at first, but slowly sat up. When her eyes found Caspian, there was confusion and shock in her voice.
"Caspian?" she asked.
"Stay where you are," Caspian commanded.
"What are you doing?" she questioned him, unsure what was happening.
"I  should think it's obvious, dear," Miraz replied with a glance to his wife. He looked at his nephew and spoke. "You know some families might  consider this inappropriate behavior."
"That doesn't seem to have stopped you!" Caspian hissed, pressing his sword closer and forcing Miraz to back up.
Movement caught my attention and my eyes shifted to the bed. "Caspian..." I  warned as his aunt reached for the crossbow on the wall above their heads. I grabbed an arrow and my bow from my quiver but kept them lowered.
"But you are not like me, are you?" Miraz continued. He didn't know when to quit and I realized he intended to goad Caspian into attacking or killing him. "It's sad. The first time you've shown  any backbone and it's such a waste." We both heard the familiar sound of a cross-bolt be secured and Caspian glanced over.
"Put the sword down, Caspian," his aunt ordered aiming the crossbow at him. I finally raised my bow on her, knowing I would be forced to kill her before she could kill her nephew. "I don't want to do this."
"We don't want you to either!" Susan declared, entering the room with Peter right behind her.
"This used to be a private room," Miraz retorted, placing his hands on his hips in annoyance. His wife couldn't figure out who to aim her weapon at—going back and forth—before deciding on the person who was a direct threat to her husband.
"What are you doing? You're supposed to be in the gatehouse!" Peter said to Caspian.
"No! Tonight, for once, I want the truth. Did you kill my father?!" Caspian demanded, not taking his eyes off his uncle.
"Now we get to it," Miraz said.
"You said that your brother died in his sleep," his wife said, lowering the crossbow a little.
"That was more or less true," he told her.
"Did you kill my father?" Caspian persisted, pushing Miraz closer to the window.
"Caspian," I said, trying to draw his attention off his uncle.
"This won't make things any better," Susan said, also trying to get him to stop.
"We Telmarines would have nothing had we not taken it. Your father knew that as well as anyone," Miraz replied.
"How could you?" his wife asked lowering the crossbow a little more.
"For the same reason, you'll pull the trigger! For our son!" Miraz hissed, moving forward and pushing Caspian back a bit.
"Stop!" she ordered, raising the crossbow again.
"Stay right there!" Susan ordered Miraz. I kept my arrow trained on the Prince's aunt while Susan chose to focus on his uncle.

Peter's sword was out, but aside from disarming Caspian, there was nothing he could do here. Susan focused on Miraz while I focused on his wife who kept her crossbow trained on Caspian. I knew I had to kill her to save the Prince, but I wasn't sure I could do it. She was an innocent person doing what she thought was right. Not to mention she was a mother and this whole situation would set a terrible precedent.

So I did the only thing I could do. Killing Caspian's aunt would only result in innocent blood being spilled. She had no idea what her husband was capable of.  Instead of killing her—as injuring her still gave her time to fire at us or her nephew—I decided I would take the arrow, should she fire. I  lowered my bow very slowly, not wanting to draw any attention to myself.  It would only slow my reaction time.

"You need to make a choice,  dear," Miraz pressed, bringing us all back to the situation at hand. "Do you want our child to be King? Or do you want him to be like Caspian  here, FATHERLESS!"
"No!" she cried as she released the arrow.

I  reacted quickly and managed to push the Prince out of the arrow's path.  I felt a momentary sharp pain and knew the arrow had hit my left arm.  Due to the lack of an arrow, I knew it had just grazed me and the pain would be tolerable. I could fight through this injury and it should not affect Phoenix if I needed to make a quick getaway.

Caspian's aunt was laying in her bed crying and Susan rushed over to Caspian and me. I saw Peter rush over to wooden panels and realized Miraz had used the distraction to escape. There was no way that Caspian could've known they had a secret passageway. Susan made sure Caspian was alright and then turned to confirm I was. Since it was only a minor injury and no need for concern, I assured her I was. She nodded, probably thinking we had both gotten lucky and the arrow missed us.

Peter was over at the door that Miraz had used to escape, trying to open it. But he didn't know the correct way and we all knew we couldn't catch him that way.  Susan's arrow was embedded near the top of it, just above where his head would've been. It was the first time that I had ever seen her miss her target. Perhaps me pushing the Prince had distracted her, but I doubted it.

Warning bells rang through the air and I exchanged a look with  Susan. The Telmarines knew we were here which meant we lost the element of surprise. Our best bet was to flee the castle and get out while we still could. But I knew I was the last person Peter would listen to on that matter and hoped Susan could convince him. The look she sent me told me she agreed with my analysis of the situation and the four of us fled the room. Guards would be there any minute and we couldn't be caught there. This was not part of the plan and I knew when all of this was finished, Peter would take it out on both of us.