I am not a native English speaker, so forgive me for any mistake you may come across. Thank you.

Chapter One

Ellie sighed as she threw her heavy suitcase on her bed. She looked around her – nothing had changed. Her childhood's bedroom was exactly as she had left it five years ago when she applied to Kingston University in London and got accepted. She smiled weakly as she remembered the times when her friends and she would lock themselves in with biscuits and juices to discuss the latest gossips, or later on when they were supposed to study for their A-Levels but would instead smoke cigarettes and drink cheap wine from Tesco. She was not in a good place then – her relationship with her father had been going downhill for some time. She knew he was always disappointed in her – whether it was legitimate or not was another story. But for some reason, all she could do was make things worse by misbehaving. When she packed her things for London, they would hardly talk to each other. As for her mother, it had never really worked. Ellie had tried for years to be the perfect daughter she thought her mother dreamt of, but it never worked out. Whenever she did something wrong, her mother would point it out. But she would never point out the good. They never chatted or went shopping together – they were like two strangers living under the same roof. So when she turned fifteen, Ellie simply gave up. She was too tired to try, and she promised herself to not waste any more energy on her mother. Her brother James, of three years her junior, was the centre of their mother's world anyway, so it was not like her mother would notice.

Her English degree had lasted four years. Four years during which she grew up, and became a woman. Her first year in London had been mad, with too much partying and drinking and one-night stands. She still had no idea how she had even passed her end-of-term exams! But she had. She also realized that this was not the kind of life she wanted, so she gave up on the partying and focused on her studies. Little by little, the late teen anger vanished and she became responsible. She became her true self. She had now been working in a bookshop for a little under a year, and she loved it to pieces. Sure, it was not the highly paid job her father had expected her to get one day, but she didn't care. It was a small, independent bookshop with a faithful clientele with whom she would drink a cup of hot coffee in the winter while discussing the last thing they had read.

She was never in touch with her parents, except for the odd birthday cards. But every December, her mother would ring her asking her to take a train up to Coventry – her hometown – and spend Christmas with them. She had always declined, not sure she wanted to face her father or be told how much of a disappointment she was. A BA in English would not lead to a great career as a lawyer or a doctor, after all. When December came this time around, she began to feel tense at the thought of the much-dreaded phone call. But it never came. Not until the 22nd. As her mother asked her if she'd come to spend Christmas with her family, she realized that she was hurt she had been not called earlier, as if her mother knew she would say no anyway and only did it out of politeness. So the words escaped her mouth, 'Yes, I think I'd like to join you this year'. And now she was in her bedroom, in Coventry, far from vibrant and exciting London.

Her father had come to pick her up at the train station. She had insisted she would take a bus but her mother would have it no other way – 'Your father will come pick you up'. He had kissed her cheek lightly and insisted on carrying her suitcase. The drive home was short and he hadn't really said a word. She shivered as she walked in her 'home'. Her brother was there already and he hugged her, telling her how much he'd missed her. He was at the University of Warwick now, and even though they spoke on the phone they had not seen each other physically during these five long years. She answered she had missed him too. Her mother had grown older. It felt as if they had said goodbye ages ago. She hugged her daughter too and whispered she was happy she'd come over for Christmas. Ellie refused to get all emotional, but she was grateful for the warm welcome.

Her mother had led her to her old bedroom and told her that they were off to the supermarket for last-minute purchases. Ellie nodded and watched her mother as she left the room.

When silence filled in the house again, Ellie decided to venture around. Everything was different yet the same. The photos of her and her brother when they were babies still hung on corridor's walls. She pushed the door to her brother's bedroom and walked in. Posters of undressed women had replaced the Action Man figures. She laughed a little at the thought of her brother being a man now. She probably couldn't push him out of her room like she used to when he tried to listen to the conversations she had with her friends.

As she walked out and closed the door, she heard a massive "bang!" coming from outside. She froze, her slightly paranoid self fearing that someone was trying to break in. After all, it was winter and it was night by five o'clock now. She quietly made her way to the kitchen, careful not to turn on the light instinctively, and fumbled about to find a knife or anything that she could use to defend herself. She slowly opened the door that led to the back garden, and after taking a deep breath she turned on the light that lit the garden and shouted 'What do you want?!', ready to stab the intruder if needed.

But instead, what she saw was a young man standing by her father's beloved pond, looking around and apparently frightened. When he saw Ellie holding up a knife, he grabbed a large sword out in defense. Ellie stood there with her jaw dropped, unsure whether she should laugh or be scared by the situation.

"Who are you?" she asked quietly, trying not to anger the young man.

"Who are you?" he repeated in a thick Spanish accent.

"I am Ellie, and I live here. Do you?"

The young man lowered his sword and answered, "No."

"Alright…" said Ellie, trying to think of something coherent to say. "I'm going to put down that knife on the windowsill. Swear you're not going to use that… sword?!"

The young man nodded and so Ellie did as she'd said.

"Now, tell me. What the hell are you doing in my back garden, dressed like… this…" she paused as she looked up and down the man's apparel for the first time. Middle Ages is the first thing that came to her mind. "with... a sword… It's not Hallowe'en… as far as I know"

"Hallo-what?!" he repeated with a strange look on his face.

"Hallowe'en! Don't you know Hallowe'en? Anyway, that's not the point. What are you doing here? How did you get here?"

"I have got no idea, miss. I was happily fishing with my friend Reepicheep when I bent down to catch my fish and was sucked up by the lake. Next thing I know I was standing here in your garden."

Ellie frowned. "Reepicheep? What kind of name is that? And sucked up by a lake?! Are you sure you didn't escape from Cov's hospital?!"

The young man stared at her with his dark, piercing eyes and shook his head. "I am sorry, but I do not understand one thing of what you are saying."

"Nevermind," answered Ellie. "Alright… It's freezing here," she said as she felt herself shiver. She only had a pullover on after all. "If I let you in, do you swear you're not going to hurt me? Because if you do, trust me I'll hurt you back and then call the cops."

"The cops?"

"Yes, the cops."

Her interlocutor looked like he had no idea what she was talking about, but he replied solemnly, "In the name of Aslan, I swear I will not hurt you."

"Aaaalriiight…"

Ellie opened the door and stepped aside to let the stranger pass. As he didn't move, she gestured for him to come in. He bowed, and walked humbly in the warm house.

"By the way, what's your name?" Ellie asked as she picked up the knife and closed the door behind her.

"Caspian, madam. Caspian X."