A/N: So here is my another Narnia AU story. This one will contain a lot of angst before it gets a bit fluffy, the rating will change to M with the next chapter. Please let me know what you think. Thank you! :x
I don't own the characters from the original storybook by C. S. Lewis.
Chapter 1 - Five Years Ago
She was still reading in the grand library, fully immersed into a story of a brave princess who decided to save the neighbouring kingdom and their prince, who she happened to be in love with. The story was so thrilling that she had refused to leave before getting to know how it all ended. She was quiet and discreet so both the professor and the prince had no objections for her to stay there.
"And now, my prince, the constellation of The Bright Crescent." the professor instructed his student who stood by the telescope, moving it in the inquired direction. "Well done, that is correct." he commended with satisfaction after he had looked into the apparatus himself.
The prince grinned widely and swelled his chest with self-esteem worthy his royal status. "I am getting all the way better, am I, professor?" the prince asked in elation, clearly wanting to hear some more praising words.
"You are, my dear prince, you are." the professor agreed and nodded his head while obviously looking for something on his desk. "And which star is the brightest one in this particular constellation, would you know as well?" he asked out of the blue with his nose poking into one of the drawers.
"What? It is not fair, you haven't told me this yet." the prince huffed in exasperation and crossed his arms in front of himself.
"I believe you can also study for yourself, Caspian. Not only rely on what I am going to tell you." the professor grounded him with calm. "I need to go back to my study now. Please, take a better look and I am certain you will know the answer before I am back." and he slowly retreated from the room.
"Hmmm." Caspian grimaced and once again peered into the telescope. "They all look the same. How am I supposed to decide which one is the brightest?" he complained with a clear annoyance in his voice.
"It is the one at the bottom tip of the crescent. It is called Annaglind." the girl spoke up without even glancing away from the book she was reading.
"What?" Caspian asked with raised eyebrows and his head turned towards the girl. "How do you know? You are a .." he didn't finish for she had cut him off.
"Yes, I am a girl. You have got a very sharp eye, indeed." she stated derisively with her face still burried in the book.
Caspian chuckled incredulously for no one had ever talked to him this way. He wasn't quite sure whether to feel insulted or impressed. "Alright. But how does it come that you seem to know so much about it?" he asked her curiously, his voice now lacking the slightly arrogant tone from before.
The girl then decided to slam the book closed and walked over to the prince who currently looked very insecure. "Because unlike you, Your Majesty, I tend to study for myself instead of just relying on what the others are going to tell me."
Caspian let out another small chuckle of astonishment. "Have you been eavesdropping our previous conversation with the professor? I thought you were reading." he shot her a suspicious glance.
The girl only laughed heartedly, "Well, as you guessed correctly, I am a girl and women are known for being able to divide their concentration among several activities at the same time."
He listened to her with interest and studied her features as she spoke. She was close to his age and a sort of adult wisdom radiated from within her though her tiny frame might be giving a wrong impression that she was still just a child.
When she finished, she stepped past him and to the telescope, pushing herself on her tiptoes to take a look, then fell back onto her heels and tilted her head up to gaze at the night sky. "It is better seen from here. When you look at the constellation, your eyes are immediately attracted to the brightest star. The reason why it seems to shine more than the others is that it is the closest one to us." she explained for him with a keen eagerness.
The prince stood by her like frozen, once again devouring each of her words. He couldn't take his eyes off of her, nor he wanted to. The way her voice chimed melodiously, the way her eyes sparkled with childish innocence yet holding a great amount of womanly seductiveness.
"I think you are wrong." Caspian said all of a sudden, staring down at her with an unmistakable admiration.
"Why?" the girl wanted to know as she furrowed her brows at him.
"Because I believe that the brightest star of all has fallen down, right here. And it bears your name." the prince almost whispered, his eyes never leaving her now astounded face.
She stared back at him with a mild disbelief but couldn't prevent the significant blush from creeping up her neck and cheeks. Instantly feeling rather shy and nervous, she averted her eyes and reached up to tuck her hair behind her ear. She wanted to say something in response but before she even got a chance to open her mouth, the professor had muttered from behind them, "So, do you know the answer, my prince?"
And so she only quirked her lips in amusement, glancing at him for the last time, "Good luck with that." Then she moved past him and strode out of the library, bidding the old man good night along the way.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The following night Caspian's aunt gave birth to a son and the prince's life was put into a great danger for his uncle, lord Miraz, had given his men an order to get rid of him, which technically meant to go and murder him. But the professor was well aware of what had been going on behind the scenes and helped the young prince escape, instructing him to seek the refuge in the woods.
The next day lord Miraz announced that prince Caspian had been kidnapped by the Narnians and immediately set to arrange everything for an upcoming war. The girl, being a daughter of one of the council members, refused to believe the news which had been spreading out and when she learnt that lord Miraz had labeled the prince a traitor and actual leader of the uprising, she knew that there must have been something going on. She visited the professor in his study one particular night and he revealed the awful truth for her. Unfortunately, their conversation hadn't gone unnoticed and soon they both were accused of high treason as well and arrested. The professor was put into a dungeon while the girl was locked up in the northern tower of the castle.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
She was sitting on the cold stony floor, leaning against the equally cold and hard stony wall of the tower room. Her stomach growled unpleasantly, reminding her of the fact that she hadn't been given any food in the last three days. Her dress was torn at places and dirty, her hair a tousled mess. Her face was ashen, though there were a few cuts and bruises, the old blood mixing together with the dried tears on her cheeks.
If only had she kept her mouth shut. But she just couldn't have stood the way Miraz had been condemning the prince and so she had blurted out everything she had thought about the lord and his ill intentions. The girl had realized her deep feelings for prince Caspian when she had been told about his capture. When she had been afraid that she might have never seen him again.
Suddenly, a loud thud came from outside which attracted her attention right away. It was weird, there was no way that someone would have been coming to her, the maids and soldiers always used the other door which led to a staircase and back down to the castle.
She sprang up to her feet, instantly feeling how sore her body was. She went directly to the wooden gate, opening it with caution. Peering into the dark, she could see a boy or a young man standing there with his back on her. Then the door creaked, giving her away.
The boy turned around quickly, eyeing her suspiciously before deciding to approach her. "Hey. Who are you?"
She hesitated for a moment but sensing no harm from the visitor she answered honestly, "My name is Elise. I am lord Bellister's daughter and I have been locked up here because I refused to believe that our prince was a traitor."
"Prince? You mean prince Caspian?" he asked expectantly.
"Yes! You know him? Is he alright? Where is he now?" she poured the questions one after another.
"Oh my! Well.. yes, I do know him. And I think he is fine. At least for now." the dark-haired boy told her.
"What do you mean?" she grumbled almost angrily.
The boy's face fell a little bit and he shrugged, "He is here, in the castle. We are going to take it over and put the reign of lord Miraz to an end."
Soon enough they both could hear the rumble from a battle below and the boy turned from her to send a signal to the fellow warriors waiting patiently on the edge of a forrest near the castle. The raid broke out in a full swing, the sound of metal clashing and the cries of both the soldiers and the raiders filling the air. She had no idea how it had happened but she was helping the boy fight the Miraz's men but when the soldiers had outnumbered them, she grabbed his hand and dragged him outside, closing the wooden gate which he promptly secured by an oddly looking metal thing.
"How are we going to survive this?" she stuttered, her voice shaky and hoarse. "I don't even know your name."
"I'm Edmund." he introduced himself and added, "And don't worry, I'll get you out of here. Just take my hand."
She willingly obeyed but her eyes widened in shock as she watched what he was about to do. "Are you insane?!" she cried out.
"Trust me and hold on tight." he instructed firmly and flashed her a confident smile.
What happened next was beyond her comprehension. They were flying! She had never felt more excited. "How?" was all she was able to get out.
Edmund only grinned which she could not see because he was sitting behind her on the strange flying creature.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
They made it safely to their camp in the Aslan's How where she listened to the whole story and was reunited with the professor and also managed to catch a glimpse of her prince. She had got to clean herself up and was given a decent meal which she felt extremely thankful for.
Later that day, when she regained some of her strength, she took a walk around the How together with the professor, listening to his stories about old Narnia with a keen interest. They eventually came outside and found themselves on a makeshift terrace, encountering the young prince who was sitting there with his legs thrown over the edge, his demeanor calm and rather sad. To her, he looked exactly the same as the immature boy from the library and yet he looked so different now. The transformation was barely perceptible but she could sense it with all her being straight away. And she felt being attracted to him even more.
The professor had started a conversation with the young man and they remained talking easily for a good half of an hour, mostly encouraging the prince to feel more confident and reassuring him of his great ability to become a good king for the land. But their little chat was abruptly cut off by a female voice.
"Caspian!" someone called from behind. "Peter needs to speak to you." the girl informed him in haste.
It was Queen Susan and that was the first time Elise had experienced a twinge of jealousy. Susan was a very beautiful girl, the Gentle Queen of Old nonetheless. She was also very brave and wise, fighting right by the prince's side and together with the others. Elise was nothing like her.
When Caspian had heard her voice calling his name, he swiftly stood up while his eyes remained fixed on Susan. He rushed past Elise and towards the queen, completely forgetting to say words of good-bye to his two companions. It was like everything had disappeared when he had set his gaze at the tall brunette, currently clad more like a warrior than a lady.
Elise's face fell and her heart clenched painfully. He had acted as if she was invisible, as if she wasn't even there. And now she knew why. It became obvious that the prince had feelings for the queen and she didn't matter anymore, she would always be just a girl from the library who might have caught his eye once.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The battle had been won, Miraz had been killed and Caspian had been crowned as the rightful king of Narnia. The next morning after the celebration of the King's coronation, everybody had assembled at the castle's courtyard to listen to the first speech of their new king. Elise was present as well together with all her family. It turned out that the assembly had been also gathered in honor of the Kings and Queens of Old who were about to return back to their world.
When this news had been announced, she witnessed how Caspian's body had tensed with a clear shock. His eyes had instantly locked themselves with those of Queen Susan in a long, bewildered and desperate stare. He wasn't ready to let her go. Elise could see the whole exchange of their feelings and emotions, topped off by Susan's impulsive kiss on Caspian's lips.
Her heart broke, how she wished to be in the other girl's place! To be the one who possessed his unconditional love and endless devotion. But that wish was condemned to remain only a foolish dream, a dream that would haunt her each night and every day.
And it had been exactly like that for the next five years. And it would have most probably continued this way, hadn't it been for the council members who had decided that the king was obliged to secure his throne and the prosperity of his kingdom with an heir.
