Hey there, welcome to my Fanfiction!

This story is going to be about Caspian's life a couple of years after the events of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, ups and downs ahead, and please don't worry, starting from Chapter 2, our favorite Telmarine King will play an active part instead of only being mentioned ;)

Disclaimer, as usual: I don't own any of the characters that are familiar to you, nor the beautiful Narnian universe.

If you're still interested, let's go through the wardrobe and prepare a King's visit in Anvard, shall we?

Chapter 1

Anvard

"Seriously?"

Amused, but with an incredulous smile on her face, Ria looked at her older sister, then back at her mother. The question echoed through the huge dining room until unpleasant silence followed. With a much lower voice she added, "Jhara, she can't be serious, right? That's impossible…"

Her sister's shrug was enough to silence her. Apparently their mother was being serious. They would indeed accommodate the King of Narnia, Caspian X, within the next few days, perhaps weeks, even though their current residency, an old hunting lodge in the north east of Anvard, did not seem very suitable for the occasion.

"You want to welcome him here?"

A little suspiciously, Ria let her gaze wander from one end of the room to the other. But not even she could help but notice that their current home, more or less improvised, was hardly adequate to house a King. Although the staff tried to keep the lodge in good condition, the rather rural character and the old-fashioned construction could not be denied. In no way could their current home be compared to the castle of Telmar, let alone Cair Paravel. Even Ria and her sister felt uncomfortable. The rooms seemed gloomy and cold even in bright sunshine. High ceilings with lots of stuccowork, a shabby patio and the outlying pavilion offered a touch of romance, but that was it.

An indignant snort made Ria realize that the Grand Duchess, her mother, was irritated. Ria was her youngest daughter and had just turned eighteen. She insisted on believing that this had to be the reason for her inappropriate naivety. But that was just who Ria was, vivid and headstrong. Her sister Jhara was quite different, even though she was only two years older - she was responsible. And Ria would also have to be, some day. As soon as she had Jhara's wedding arranged, the younger one would also have to come to her senses.

With a remarkably intimidating look on her face, Aláseya circled the heavy wooden table of the dining room. "I really hate to remind you, my dear Taliah," she said and deliberately used Ria's real name to make sure her daughter knew how serious the situation was, "but we are in the midst of a civil war!"

Their mother's reminder was unnecessary, the sisters knew that all too well. Ria was still haunted by the scenes she had witnessed night after night whenever she looked out of her window in their mansion in the heart of Anvard. Children crying in the streets looking for their mothers, thieves benefiting from the chaos, angry people brutally fighting each other… It was unbearable to see the misery the unrest caused, and therefore none of the sisters objected to leaving the city center at the time. The riots had begun to frighten Aláseya - the mere presence of nobility seemed to infuriate the people even more and so they decided to, at least for a while, stay in their family's hunting lodge on the outskirts of Anvard.

"The old town is burning, and so is the palace," Aláseya went on. "So if I, as Grand Duchess, have the privilege to welcome the King of Narnia, who may be able to make peace again, I will gladly do so - even here! And you should be honored, too! If your father had heard you speak like that…"

Jhara rolled her eyes and sighed. "Then he would have laughed and agreed with her. This place is safe, and we're thankful for it, but it's also quite eerie."

Jhara was used to defending her little sister. For Aláseya, life was all about public reputation, responsibility and duty. Noblesse oblige, as she liked to say. And Jhara was forced to bow to it, but she wanted Ria to be left in peace. It was bad enough for one of them to be treated as a political means, being forced to marry an aristocrat for the benefit of the family…

"Well," Aláseya crossed her arms, glaring at Ria again. "Eerie and lacking of pomp is all we can offer. Even if you don't like it, I highly doubt there is only one person in Anvard that would not wish to live here. So mind your words - you should be ashamed of yourself!"

Since the death of her husband a few years ago, Aláseya had rarely ever been in a good mood. And that Ria was grateful for their home, even though it did not necessarily mean she felt comfortable in it, was out of the question. But King Nain's death, only a couple of weeks ago, had changed their lives abruptly. He had left no children, and so his last will insisted that all aristocratic nobility - no matter their rank - should come together to appoint his succession. It had to be a person of royal blood, without one dissentient vote. Quite a struggle, as it soon turned out. It made the country look much weaker than it actually was. To avoid an immediate attack from Calormen, a peace treaty was made - which was nothing more than danegeld of people's taxes to ensure that the frontier areas had nothing to fear from the South. But the temporarily leading monarchs had to realize soon that additional expenses such as these made their financial resources dwindle faster than they had expected. Government debt, however, was to be avoided at all costs, so the majority of the nobles believed that an union with the kingdom of Narnia might be their best option. Lively discussions in small taverns soon led to bloody street fights and probably the worst civil war Archenland had ever seen. Some people proudly believed that Narnia's help was not at all required and that Archenland had always been on its own, while others pragmatically kept the financial and military benefits of an union in mind.

"I gather you have nothing else to complain about? Fine!" Aláseya snapped. "Because I'm busy, as you can imagine, and you'll have to kindly excuse me…"

Their mother left the room in a funny haste - much to Ria's delight. She took a deep breath as she felt Jhara pat her back.

"Don't feel bad," Jhara grinned. "I believe our residency is shabby, too. Do you think the King's eyes will widen when he arrives?"

"Why?" Ria giggled. "Who would mind rats in the cellar, right?"

"Oh, the rats," Jhara sighed. "But there is hope - Caspian is said to be very charming. If he compliments the landscape once or twice, mother will be perfectly satisfied."

That was exactly why Ria loved her bigger sister so much. She understood her no matter what and she always made her laugh. She was a perfect example of discipline and good behavior in many ways, but above all, Jhara had a good heart, and great humor.

"It would be a blessing if he pretended to like it here," Ria bit her lips, "I don't want to imagine Mother's mood if he doesn't…"

Jhara grimaced and nodded, then she started to head to the lodge's entrance. "Oh, erm… Do you think anyone would notice if I snuck out for an hour or two?"

Ria was fairly surprised to hear a question like that from her sister who usually kept her duties in mind religiously. Ria shook her head anyway. "Well, no, I don't think so, but - "

"Very good, see you later!"

With a big smile on her face, Jhara put on a night blue cloak, right about to leave.

"Wait! Where do you want to go?" Ria stepped in her way. She was right to be concerned, it was already getting dark outside, and therefore not the best time to leave the house, considering Anvard nightly riots.

"Oh, come on, you know exactly where I want to go," Jhara winked. "I told you all about Dylan!"

"Yes, sure. But… he lives in the old town."

Jhara nodded impatiently and explained, "He wrote so many letters, he wants to see me."

"Why isn't he coming here?" Ria tried to whisper. "You know it's way too dangerous to be in the city center by night, don't you?"

"Ria, he can't be seen around here - our mother would kill him! She's been talking about my wedding with Diorn for weeks…"

It was true. The Grand Duchess had already rejected several proposals. No one was good enough for her eldest daughter until Margrave Diorn had asked for permission to marry Jhara. He must have impressed her a lot, because not only did she agree to let him marry her without Jhara's consent, she also went on and on about the great opportunities of their union, trying to convince her daughter that love was not important at all. And maybe she would have believed it not long ago. But Dylan had entered her life unexpectedly, and she loved him for sure. The mere thought of losing him after her wedding was painful.

"I don't have much time left with him, don't you understand?" Jhara said, almost in tears. She looked down to hide her face and heard Ria take a deep breath.

"Alright," she said, "I'm coming with you."

"What? No, you're not! You've just said it yourself, it's dangerous! No way, I'm responsible for you."

"So am I for you," Ria smiled. "Don't worry, I won't be sitting right next to you…"

Jhara really wanted to refuse, but then again, what could go wrong? Instead of answering, she handed her sister another cloak and shrugged.

"I still think it's a bad idea, just for the records," Ria said, following Jhara to the door.

There were no housekeepers to be seen and no guards were patrolling. Their trip back would be much more difficult, but it was not time to worry about that yet.

The hunting lodge was located on a huge property, one could almost speak of a park, surrounded by an ornately decorated iron fence. It did not take long to ride to the capital, so Jhara and Ria headed to the stables behind the lodge. The two sisters were able to sneak in easily and quickly, and without attracting anyone's attention, they saddled the horse that was most used to both of them, Lestate. As dusk threatened to set in, they rode straight through the main gate. It was risky but quick, and it worked.

"You've been stealing away for months, haven't you? Mother has no idea. That's brilliant!"

Jhara could not help but smile.

Just in case you're interested in looking at some of the stuff that served me as an inspiration (characters, locations, gowns etc.), you can look up this story's board on Pinterest. Just search for 'lasdalias' as a person and check out 'All that glitters is not gold'.