CHAPTER THREE
After being questioned by the narnians for what seemed like forever , they finally accepted Caspian's offer of peace and we had already begun preparing for a battle. We raided the telmarine camp at Beruna to provide us with some initial supplies. And now I was begging for Glenstorm , the centaur , to enhance my fighting abilities. I first learned in the castle through a retired soldier called Leonardo as he was the only one willing to teach me besides Caspian.
"I will teach you young one" Glenstorm agreed , after hearing hours upon hours of my requests
"Finally!" I cried out in relief
"You are extremely stubborn Lady Annabelle" he smiled retrieving a sword for me and offering the handle to me
"I hold no title Glenstorm. You probably hold more titles than I" I admitted sheepishly taking the sword into my own hands , adjusting to the grip and handle size. "This is a smaller sword than yours?" I asked quizzically
"Yes. Centaurs' swords tend to be larger as the strikes are slower and more precise" he explained
"Amazing" I gawked admiring the talent of the centaur in front of me as he demonstrated
"So a larger sword would slow me down?"
"Yes. Your frame requires a lighter sword as one of your key assets is agility" he observed pointing to the sword in my hand "this specific sword is great for fighters like you"
"Well I cannot wait to use it" I replied honestly raising my sword to meet his as we began to spar. As we did , he corrected my weaknesses and was advising me to use other methods of attack that were more suited to my personal style. Glenstorm had mentioned that I should spar defensively as it works to my advantage. But our own fight was disrupted when another clash of swords was heard , sounding a lot less friendly than ours. Immediately with my sword in my hand I was running towards the noise.
As the noise got louder I made out two distinct figures one of them being Caspian , the other was a blonde that I did not recognise who currently had Caspian pinned to a tree.
"Caspian!" I yelled gaining his attention and making the blonde halt his movements
"Prince Caspian?" he questioned , his eyebrows furrowed.
"Yes. And you are?" my cousin retorted back looking at the blonde curiously
"Peter!" a girly voice approached from the bushes alongside another younger girl , a dwarf and a boy around my age.
"High King Peter?" I said confused looking towards Caspian who was already looking at me equally distressed
"I believe you called" Peter spoke aimed towards Caspian
"Well yes but ... I thought you'd be older" he stated sizing up the High King causing me to laugh at his childish behaviour which attracted the attention of the other kings and queens
"Well , if you'd like , we can come back in a few years" the blonde joked sending a smile towards his siblings
"No , no. You just aren't what we expected" Caspian said his gaze directed at the second oldest Pevensie
"Neither are you!" the younger King returned glancing in my direction and then towards the minotaur behind me
"A common enemy unites even the oldest of foes" Trufflehunter wisely informed
"We have anxiously awaited your arrival my liege" Reepicheep spoke bowing his head in respect to the High King
"He is so cute" the youngest pevensie not so quietly whispered to her sister which i thought was adorable , but the mouse obviously did not think the same as he drew his sword and demanded to know who called him such a harmless adjective.
"... sorry"
"Oh , uh ... your majesty. With the greatest respect ... I do believe chivalrous or courageous might more befit a night of Narnia" he smiled kindly
"Well at least some of you can handle a blade" King Peter commented secretly hinting at Caspian's swordsmanship
"Yes , indeed. And I have put it to good use acquiring weapons for your army sire" the mouse bowed
"Good because we will need every sword we can get"
"You may be wanting yours back then" Caspian smirked pulling the king's sword out from the tree and handing it to him
"Honestly Peter is such a child" I heard the High Queen say from behind me
"I could say the same about Caspian" I turned offering her a smile "It's nice to see you in person your majesty. Caspian and I have read many stories about your adventures in Narnia"
"There are stories about us?" Queen Lucy squealed excitedly
"Loads of them" I paused slightly "Although you seem to have aged backwards since you left. The stories say you were a lot older "
"Technically we have" the High Queen laughed "What is your name? I am Susan , this is Lucy and Edmund is just over there behind her"
"I am Annabelle , it's a pleasure to meet you your majesties" I said taking a slight bow , unsure on how to greet these royals despite growing up in a castle.
"There's no need for formalities , are you not a princess?" Edmund finally spoke , his eyes eagerly awaiting my response
"No not at all. My father unfortunately is part of the reason that you are here" I explained "He has been wanting the throne for ages and was willing to kill Caspian to take it. Although he hasn't been able to try until now because he hasn't had an heir"
"Are you not an heir?" Lucy asked to which I shook my head
"Only men can rule in Telmar. My mother gave birth last week to a baby boy. So Miraz finally decided to strike"
"That must be horrible for you" Susan comforted
"Not really , Caspian is practically my brother I would follow him anywhere" I admitted unintentionally making eye contact with the young king once again
"At least Peter has some else to argue with now" Edmund sarked "I was beginning to get bored of him always targeting me"
"The High King is very ..." I began
"Stubborn" Edmund suggested "Or bigheaded is probably a better word to use" the brunette corrected
"I was going to say straightforward your highness" I chuckled lightly "Caspian will clash heads with him quite often I suspect"
"Where are we headed to Annabelle?" Lucy politely asked looking around at our surroundings that were currently just a bunch of trees
"Aslan's how" I replied "It isn't a fortress and probably isn't anything close to what you're used to but it is defensible enough for us to claim as a base"
"So if you are a telmarine, how do you know so such about Narnia?" Susan inquired
"Caspian and I had a professor who was really interested in it. He was the one that told us stories although some of them I thought were simply unbelievable turned out to be true"
"Like what?" Edmund asked
"Minotaurs mostly and the stories of the white witch. But we came across a minotaur at the meeting called Tavros and he is nothing like the tales" I said , recalling my interaction with the giant creature. "Narnia seems to have changed quite a lot since the golden ages"
"Yeah ... it has" Edmund muttered locking his eyes with mine.