Chapter 2 is now edited! Hope you guys like it.
Disclaimer: I only own Elizabeth's storyline. The rest belongs to it's respective owners.
All reviews are extremely appreciated! Cheers for reading!
Chapter 2. "The Escape of the Heir."
"I'm alone/ 'Cause this house doesn't feel like home." - X Ambassadors 'Unsteady'.
"Caspian."
Caspian barely acknowledged the familiar voice of his tutor. He turned to his side without opening his eyes. "Five more minutes."
"I'm afraid you don't have them, prince, you need to get up now," The voice replied pressingly, a distinct tension in it.
Caspian's eyes snapped open at that.
"Another astronomy lesson?" He asked sleepingly as he raised from the bed, half dragged by the elderly man.
"I'm afraid not, my prince," Doctor Cornelius whispered rushedly before grabbing his arm, forcing Caspian to lock eyes with his tutor, "Your aunt's given birth. To a boy."
Caspian stared back at him, his eyes widening as the situation dawned on him. He hurriedly grabbed his shoes and silently followed Doctor Cornelius into his closet, which thankfully also served to conceal a secret passage.
The first quiet, careful steps were heard as Caspian grazed the door of the closet.
The Crown Prince of Narnia hesitated for a second.
To this day, he still hasn't figured out why did he make that decision. Maybe he had to put an image to the danger that was threatening him. Maybe he just had to know that they were actually after him.
Whatever the reason was, Caspian quickly entered the closet, leaving a small gap between the doors as to spy on the intruders.
What happened next would star in his nightmares forever.
Five, six, seven guards entered his bedroom swiftly, surrounding his bed and raising their crossbows without making a sound. Simultaneously, they shot time and again at the bed.
Where he was supposed to be sleeping.
If it hadn't been for his professor, even if he had hesitated by the closet for a moment too long, it'd have been too late. He'd have been dead.
Having seen enough, he snapped out of it and followed Doctor Cornelius deeper into the passage.
As quickly as they could, they ran to the armory, where Caspian strapped his sword around his waist and his tutor wrapped a black cloak around him.
Soon enough, they reached the courtyard where his dear horse, Destrier, was ready to escape with them.
Or so he thought, for as he skillfully climbed onto Destrier, Caspian offered his hand to help Doctor Cornelius, only to have him refuse.
"No, my dear Prince. It is easier to follow two than to follow one. You have to go by yourself." Doctor Cornelius smiled reassuringly. "I will alert your friends of your situation."
"Will I ever see you again?" Caspian asked, his voice a façade of strength when truthfully, fear began to struck his heart for the first time.
His new undetermined future began to dawn on him. Once he managed to escape, what was he supposed to do?
"It is possible but for now, I got you a gift." As his tutor said this, he handed the prince an object, wrapped in a brown cloth. Touching it, Caspian could only assume it was some sort of horn.
"Use it only when you are in the greatest danger. It shall summon help," the tutor explained before hesitating for a second. Then, he grabbed his student's arm. "Everything you know is about to change."
Without waiting for an answer, Cornelius smacked Destrier, sending Caspian off before he had the chance to stop him.
Reluctantly, Caspian focused on his most pressing task. Escaping that castle alive.
Gazing quickly as he rode fast towards the main gate, Caspian took notice on the guards starting to surround him. He felt a small flicker of concern and gazed around, trying to come up with something to use for his advantage.
As two guards ran towards the prince, one of them holding a lance, he quickly ripped the lance from him, pushing them both to the ground using Destrier against them. He broke the lance so it wouldn't be used against him and unsheathed his sword, killing another soldier as four others stood blocking the gate, holding lances in his direction.
Caspian spurred Destrier forward and both of them jumped over the guards and past the gate before it closed with a loud clang.
Caspian didn't stop to look behind. Using the advantage he had managed to obtain, he quickly crossed the bridge and rode towards the edge of the forest.
As he was about to enter it, he heard the distinct sound of fireworks exploding into the sky and gave a quick glance back.
The castle was celebrating the birth of their lord's son and heir.
Glancing down at the gate for a moment, he took notice of several riders crossing it so he continued galloping towards Beruna, deciding on the spur of the moment that if he crossed it's river and hid in the woods, he just might be able to lose them.
Everyone knew ordinary telmarines were afraid of the woods. Thankfully, he was anything but that.
The chase seemed to last for an eternity. As Caspian heard his hunters follow him into the woods, he was even more sure they had been sent by Miraz.
If there was anything telmarines feared more than the forest, that was Miraz.
Caspian tried not to think of how that worsened his situation. It meant they would not stop until they could bring Caspian's corpse back into the castle.
The chase ended in the most unconventional way.
In one of the infinite turns Caspian took, trying to deceive the guards, he ran into a branch and fell to the floor with a thud, head spiralling as air left his lungs.
Of course, his shoe got stuck between Destrier's reins so, as the poor horse raced ahead, the even more miserable prince was dragged through the forest, struggling to be released.
Finally, he got his foot out of its trap and was left lying on the ground, Destrier escaping without its rider.
Caspian slowly looked around as he attempted to catch his breath, noticing how there was no animals sounds, no wind, no nothing.
He didn't have a lot of experience with forest but he knew that if it was too silent, that meant only one thing.
Trouble.
Suddenly, a light was turned on from what it turned out to be low house, and two creatures exited it, taking notice of the exhausted prince with shock.
After a long hesitation, the ginger short man made a move to attack him, but stopped as they all heard horses nearby.
The guards had found him.
"Get him, I will take care of the humans!" that creature ordered his companion, a raven haired creature as short as him.
Without looking back, the first one raced bravely towards the horses, while his companion advanced towards Caspian, dagger in his hand.
Caspian looked around in a frantic manner and noticed the horn his tutor gave him laying a few feet away from him.
Use it only in the face of your greatest danger, Cornelius had said.
It shall summon help.
Whether he was facing a great danger, Caspian didn't know. What he knew was that he was greatly outnumbered so, without hesitating, he reached for the horn and blew.
The powerful loud, cheerful sound filled the forest and for some reason, Caspian felt instantly better.
In that moment, the short man reached him.
And everything went black.
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It seemed as if they had been holding their breaths for a year, slowly drifting away, slowly dying.
And now, they had finally come up for air.
She had always had faith in their return. She knew Narnia was their home and that Aslan wouldn't keep them away from it for too long.
But still, as her siblings and herself played in the clear, blue water, school blazers and shoes forgotten across the sand and hair loosen as the sun bathed them in its golden light, Lucy could have danced from the relief.
Lucy tilted her face towards the sun, closing her eyes in delight, game momentarily forgotten. It was good to be back home.
"Ed? What is it?" Peter asked suddenly and the youngest Pevensie snapped back from her daze to look at her brother.
Edmund seemed like he had forgotten about the game as well but instead had chosen to stare at a point slightly above them, towards the cliff directly in front on them.
"Where are we?" Edmund asked in return, slightly distractedly as his eyes never left whatever he'd found.
"Where do you think?" Peter smirked, obviously amused, but Edmund was too focused to notice.
Otherwise, he would have certainly come up with a sarcastic comeback.
"Well, it's just that I've never seen ruins in Narnia," Edmund replied and the other three finally followed his gaze.
At once, they noticed that large of blocks of marble, part of what was certainly a castle in the past were spread all through the cliff, unnoticeable from the cave.
It was poetic that they noticed them only then, in a way. It's like with any good news: we focus on the joy it brings us but only after those feelings are settled do we begin to notice the changes implied into our lives.
Those ruins brought a sense of sadness to Lucy.
Somehow, she knew they were not ordinary ruins, that their past and fate were important to her and, as she glanced at her siblings, she could tell they were important to them as well.
Slowly, sobering up, they got out of the water and, gathering their things, they began to climb the cliff.
Not even birds sang on that field.
More ruins were scattered at the top of the cliff, almost completely covered with green moss. As the siblings stood side to side, they were overcome with the same feeling.
This place had been important but with time, it had become a source of sadness, a proof of everything lost.
Until, at last, it was forgotten.
Slowly, the four of them parted ways, exploring the place, trying to dechiper it's story.
Lucy walked towards what once upon a time had been a balcony.
As she stood there, she frowned in focus as a memory from a lifetime ago began making its way through her brain. She felt as if she had stood there a long time ago.
"Who do you think lived here?" Lucy asked softly, almost to herself.
Susan, who was on her way to join her, stopped dead in her tracks as she kicked something accidentally. Having picked it up, she slowly raised, her eyes always in that object, so familiar, yet so strange at the same time.
"I think we lived here," Susan finally uttered, not looking up even when she felt three pair of legs approaching her.
Lucy's eyes widened in surprise as she recognized the strange object. It was a piece of chess, made of gold and encrusted with rubies where eyes were supposed to be.
"Hey, that's mine." Susan passed the piece onto Edmund, who studied it carefully before nodding to himself. "From my chess set."
"What chess set?" Peter, who had come up behind him asked in confusion.
"Well, I don't have a chess set made entirely of gold back in England, now do I?" Edmund rolled his eyes before placing the piece carefully inside his pocket.
Peter glared at him and opened his mouth to retort but Lucy was no longer paying attention.
Her gaze had drifted towards a group of ruins gathered in circle, surrounding four much smaller marble piles and her eyes widened in shock as she remember standing in a similar room, this time with narnian banners, golden glass ceiling and people chanting their names.
"No," Lucy whispered before running towards the place.
The memory she had struggled to remember before came to her mind clear as day. A memory in which a younger version of herself stood at the balcony she'd just left, crying as a lion walked across the shore and away from them.
"Lucy? Lucy, wait!" Her siblings called before following her as quickly as they could.
She paid them no attention as she almost tripped on a step on her way to those four pillars, her mind being attacked by flashes of balls, audiences and war councils, all of those in that room.
Peter almost crashed into his youngest sister as she stopped walking suddenly, her young mind having regained 15 years worth of Narnian' memories in the last seconds.
"What have you seen?" Peter asked, making Lucy snap out of her daze.
She urgently grabbed his arm and dragged him forward, Susan and Edmund trailing behind them.
"Don't you see it? Imagine white marble walls at the sides...," Lucy paused to pull Peter before a pile of stones before dragging Susan to the pile to his left, "...and columns all over there..."
As she placed her sister, she noticed that Edmund had gone to the pile of stones at Peter's right, so she moved to the one at Susan's left and raised her arm, moving it in a circular motion as she pointed at the sky. "And a roof made of glass."
They all stood in silence, the three eldest recovering all those memories they hadn't thought of in so long, memories they hadn't even noticed the enough to miss them.
Slowly, they turned once again into the Kings and Queens of Narnia, the four kids who had been crowned and together, had led Narnia into its golden age.
They stayed in silence as they felt the joy of all those memories but also, the concern and pain of knowing that, whatever had happened, their people had been endangered and they hadn't been there to help.
Just like before, when they noticed the ruins after rejoicing in the fact that they're back in Narnia.
They had first acknowledged their home, only to later notice its change, and not one particularly good.
"Cair Paravel," Peter finally declared in awe, in horror.
They all needed to know what had happened.
"Let's continue exploring," Susan proposed and slowly, they left that room, each of them mourning the glory their country and people had known.
As they reached the eastern extreme of the cliff, Edmund suddenly knelt to study one of the ruins. "Catapults."
"What did you said, Ed?" Peter asked when he arrived next to his brother.
"Catapults," Edmund repeated with a sigh as he dragged his hand across the stone, "Cair Paravel was attacked. Catapults destroyed its structure."
The idea of their beautiful home being destroyed by such nasty weapons, of their people being slaughtered by an unknown enemy almost sent them into a panic frenzy.
Susan carrasped suddenly, trying to change the subject as she pointed at a wall to their left, where the statue of a young dryad stood.
"Wasn't there our treasure room? Should we check it? See if there's anything to save?" She asked.
Both brothers walked simultaneously towards the stone passage behind the statue.
"Let's check, just in case," Peter grunted as both brothers slowly and with great effort pushed the stone door aside.
A wooden door stood in its place, it's iron lock glaring at them.
"It's wood its very old. I'm sure we can break it easily," Edmund suggested as he noticed Peter's hopeless glance.
Together they gave it a try until, at last, the only thing that remained were piles of rotten wood.
Peter picked a stick from the floor before reaching down and tearing off a part of his shirt.
As he wrapped the stick with the cloth, he glanced shortly at Edmund. "Do you have matches, by any chance?"
"No, but," Edmund started in an innocent manner as he opened his bag and took a flashlight out with a flourish. "Will this be useful?"
"You could have mentioned it before!" Peter exclaimed in mock anger, their sisters laughing besides them.
Edmund only smirked, glancing mischievously at his siblings before entering the room. Lucy followed, then Susan with Peter closing the march.
The four of them entered the chamber excitedly, as not much had changed.
Dust filled every inch of the room, a few pillars had fallen when their enemies attacked and cobwebs covered every corner but the chests were still there, with four statues of them as adults guarding them.
Lucy rushed excitedly towards hers, opening it at once and examining everything left from her old life. Her dagger, cordial were on top of her old, elegant adult dresses.
She grabbed one and sighed as its skirt flowed to the floor, clearly too long for her childish form.
"I was so tall then," She explained at Susan, who had looked up from her chest when her sister sighed.
"Well, you were older." Susan smiled kindly. Lucy smiled sadly and continued looking through her things, considering whether it would be worthy to take a dress with her.
"In difference to now, centuries later....when you're younger," Edmund smirked as he looked up at the girls. His favorite helmet covered a big part of his eyes.
They laughed at how ridiculous he looked. Meanwhile, between Susan and Edmund, Peter had finally reached his chest.
"Oh, no," Susan suddenly moaned, shrugging sadly at Lu's questioning look, "My horn, I think I lost it before when went to England, while we were chasing the White Deer."
Peter then grabbed Rhindon, unsheathing it slowly. "When Aslan bares his teeth, winter meets its death."
"When he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again," Lucy finished the poem, saddened by a sudden thought.
All of their friends, they were long gone.
"Everyone we knew. Mr Tumnus, the Fox and the Beavers. They are all gone now," Lucy spoke her thoughts, her pain echoing onto her siblings. After all, they had been there for them since the very start.
And when the royals were truly needed, they weren't there.
After a long, silent moment, Peter sheathed his sword again with determination.
"I think its time we found out what's going on."
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If there was any place to be pinpointed as the incarnation of everything the telmarines stood for, that was the Great Hall of their castle.
The room was a mixture of light and darkness, as sunlight poured from the tall windows continuously on the dark, broody seats and decorations.
Eagles stood for sharpness and cunningness, and therefore were one of the few telmarine's sigils. They featured on their weapons- especially their crossbows- their seats and their banners.
The men there were specially brooding. As they waited for their council' session to begin, they couldn't help but glance at the room, noticing how many empty seats there were.
They were all proud lords and generals, confident in their rank and arrogant as their power grew.
When King Caspian IX passed away and his brother Lord Miraz assumed the title of Lord Protector, the lords of the Council were secretly enchanted by the change, as Miraz tended to concern himself with favouring the interests of the wealthy lords, rather than the ones of their commoners.
As time passed though, Miraz began to care for no one but himself and that meant that if he thought they're going against him, then the Lord Protector would find away to get them out of the picture.
Hence, the empty seats.
And now, their last hope, Prince Caspian X, had disappeared.
To say the lords were worried would be an understatement.
Finally, Lord Sopespian, distant member of the royal family and fourth in line to the throne after Caspian, the Lord Protector and Miraz's son rose from his seat.
"I warned this council when it put it's trust in Miraz," the High Lord trailed off as he fixed his eyes on each and every single one of his companions, "that there'd be consequences."
One of the elder members of the council and therefore, one of the few with the guts to speak up shook his head vehemently. "No, no! We cannot accuse the Lord Protector without proof!"
Yet another member leaned forward on his seat, his thick accent deepening his voice further. "How long are we going to continue hiding behind this excuse? Until every seat in this chamber is empty?"
The lords glanced again at the seats again. With a missing heir and a Lord Protector more powerful than ever, they felt as threatened as they've ever felt before.
Just then, the doors by the right wall opened with a bang and Lord Miraz himself entered the chamber.
He wasn't specially tall or big but that did nothing to deter his threatening appearance. His eyes were specially cunning, as if those of a gifted, evil man.
He walked with purpose, his step firm, his posture regal as he headed for his seat confidently. "Lords of the Council, my apologies for being late. I was not aware we were in session."
The temperature seemed to drop as the Lord sat on his seat immediately to the right of the empty throne. Most of the other lords secretly cowered at the man and the other few who were brave enough to oppose him, they were furious at how calm Miraz was.
Sopespian smiled serenely from his seat in front of Miraz. "No doubt you were otherwise occupied."
Miraz stilled, his eyes hardening even more. He evened his voice as much as he could. "My Lord?"
One of the lords who spoke before rose from his seat angrily. "Ever since the death of His Majesty Caspian IX you have behaved as if you were king. And now it seems, behind this walls that even Prince Caspian's gone missing."
Lord Sopespian cocked his head with mock sympathy. "My deepest condolences, Lord Miraz. Imagine, to have lost the heir to the throne on the same night your wife's blessed you with a son."
Miraz followed his game, his face undeterred. "Thank you, Lord Sopespian. Your compassion is a blessing in this troubled times."
"I trust you can tell us how such a tragedy could have occurred."
Miraz glanced subtly at the main door just as General Glozelle was entering through the main doors quietly. At the general's nod, Prince Caspian's uncle rose from his seat. "That is the most disturbing news of all. Our beloved Caspian has been captured."
Miraz turned to gaze at the throne. The throne that'd been evading him so far but that soon enough would be his. After a moment of anxious silence, Miraz continued in his poetic, almost enchanting voice, "By Narnians."
As if on cue, several gasps of protest resounded simultaneously from the members of the Council. Another lord rose from his seat in sceptic exhilaration. "You go too far, Miraz! You expect us to stand by while you blame such a blatant crime of fairy tales?"
Miraz ignored them all and signaled Glozelle to open the doors.
And open they did, revealing two soldiers flanking a dwarf.
A Narnian.
Shocked, wordless cries echoed as the soldiers pushed the ginger dwarf forward. The dwarf, who was actually the one captured by the same soldiers that were following Caspian, looked at them all with obvious, passionate hate as the soldiers pushed him into the floor.
Miraz took a step forward as he gazed at every single telmarine around him. There was something charming about his gaze, even compelling. It spoke of his cunningness, yes, but also, it spoke of a greater than normal skill to make people follow his every wish.
In that moment, he used that skill to the best of his ability.
"We forget, my lords, that Narnia was once a savage land. Fearsome creatures roamed free. Much of our forefather's blood was shed to exterminate this vermin...or so we thought. Because while we've been bickering amongst ourselves, they've been breeding under cockroaches under a rock. Growing stronger. Watching us. Waiting to STRIKE!"
Miraz paused his speech and slapped the dwarf hard across the face.
The dwarf fell back, yet stubbornly looked at the Lord right in the eye as he sat up, his gag now off his mouth. "And you wonder why we don't like you."
Miraz returned his look fiercely, his face filled with hate. "Well, I intend to strike back."
The Lord Protector strode towards the steps leading to the telmarine throne and stood on the first one, addressing his Council.
"Even if I have to cut down the entire forest, I assure you, I will find Prince Caspian and finish what our ancestors began."
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June, 20th on the fiftieth year of the Reign of King Ersan of Archenland.
Dear Brother:
Though its been two years, I still can't get used to being treated as the Princess of Archenland. For a girl who, until very recently, used to have mud wars with her friends, being royalty seems slightly preposterous.
If there's something that never changes, however, is how much I miss you. I left when you were barely born and now, I can't help but wonder how old you are and what amazing things you've done with your life. Regardless, know that I'm proud of you.
Here, things are taking a turn for the worse. In Narnia, Lord Miraz's been achieving more power now that he's managed to send the last lords loyal to the last king, Caspian IX, on a quest to find the edge of the world.
His power in our Narnian neighbor has began to cause problems with Archenland as the treaty between both countries is slowly beginning to be broken by the telmarines.
My adoptive father, the King, is slowly beginning to consider declaring war on the Narnia invaded by telmarines but its reluctant to pull such a move. The same as me, he's hopeful things will improve once Caspian is old enough to be crowned King.
I'll continue with my update later, Father has sent for me and Thorin.
I will write again as soon as I'm able.
Hope you are well.
Love,
Beth.
A lonely tear rolled down her cheek as the young princess placed the letter carefully in a tiny chest, with the others that she wrote to her brother, in the slight chance that he might get to read them someday.
She shook her head in frustration as she grabbed her bow and arrows, intending to practice after her meeting with her father. After being a world apart from her brother for two years, she should've learned not to feel that much pain everytime she wrote a letter or thought of him.
Beth was crowned princess of Archenland and heir to the Archenlandian throne an year ago, when her older adoptive brother Tor was killed by a pack of wolves.
She had another older brother as well and twin of Tor, called Torin (in Archenland, twins were named in that fashion) but the king had seen Beth more fit to be queen, so he had claimed her as his heir instead.
Apart from the hate it had earned her from Torin, she felt slightly uncomfortable by the respect and awe the people showed her.
At fourteen years old she hardly felt ready to take care of herself, so every time someone bowed or curtseyed at her, she felt like a fraud.
Don't get her wrong, she's thankful for her fate. To be born in another world and be transported into Archenland by Aslan at the age of fourteen was a show of good luck, but to find such a good family as she did in King Ersan and Prince Tor, she was grateful beyond words for that.
"Hello, dear," Her father greeted her kindly as she closed his study' door behind herself. Torin, who was already sat in one of the two chairs on the other side of the king's desk, didn't bother acknowledging her presence.
"Hello, father. Torin," The girl greeted with a smile as she sat besides Torin, "You said you had a report from Narnia, father?"
"I'm afraid I do," The King paused to raise from his chair to gaze outside his window, "I received a letter two days ago from the tutor of the heir to the telmarine throne, Prince Caspian."
"And?" Both children asked simultaneously.
The king looked at them gravely. "With the birth of Miraz's son and heir, Caspian has fled the castle in fear of his own life. This Professor, Cornelius, has asked for troops. They are about to start a civil war."
Hope you enjoyed! Cheers!