I know, I know, I started another one. I know I shouldn't have, but I really wanted to write this. Takes place in the movieverse, starting with Prince Caspian.
Character ages (edited):
Peter: 17
Susan: 16
Edmund: 14
Lucy: 12
Caspian: 15
Courtney: 13
I don't own The Chronicles of Narnia, or anything but Courtney
Courtney reeled from the force of the strike as her uncle slapped her across the face. "You filthy gilr! For thriteen years I raised you and your bastard brother, and this is the thanks I get?!"
For Courtney, this was the last straw. After her parents had died, she had been left in the 'care' of her uncle Miraz. After twelve years of being borderline abused, she was done. She made an impulsive decision that changed her life. She pulled the dagger out of the folds of her dress and smashed its hilt into the forehead of her uncle.
He crumpled to the floor. She stared at him for several seconds, wondering if she made the right choice, then rushed out of the room before anyone could find him.
She knew she had to leave immediately. However, her escape could wait a few minutes. She hurried down the corridors to her room. She grabbed a bag, stuffed a pair of leggings and a tunic inside, and then, almost forgetting, snatched any food she could find. It wasn't much, but hopefully she could find more on her way.
On her way out, she slung her bow and quiver of arrows over her shoulder.
She made one more stop, her brother's room.
"Caspian!" She whisper-yelled in his ear, "Wake up!" She shook him gently.
"What is-" She put a finger to her lips.
"I'm leaving."
"Where? What? Why?" He wasn't able to form a proper sentence.
"The woods, escaping, because I have to." She tried to answer all his questions in one sentence.
"You can't leave!" Caspian protested.
"I have to. Goodbye." With those words, Caspian could do nothing but watch his sister, the only remnant of his parents, leave, not knowing if he would ever see her again.
Courtney's final stop was the stables. She quickly saddled her horse, Printemps, and rode off into the night.
"Doctor?" Prince Caspian the tenth asked upon waking up. Could it have all been a dream?
"Yes, my prince?" Doctor Cornelius answered.
"Have you seen Courtney?" He hoped it was a dream. That his sister was sleeping peacefully in her bed.
"You haven't heard?" His tutor asked, "Your sister has vanished into the night."
Three months later
"I wonder who lived here," Lucy said, examining the ruins.
Susan spotted something in the grass, a golden chess piece. "I think we did."
The other three Pevensie children gather around her to get a look. "Hey," Edmund said, "That's mine. From my chess set."
"Which chess set?" Peter asked.
"Well," Edmund responded, "I didn't exactly have a solid gold chess set in Finchley, did I?"
Lucy looked over at one part of the ruins. "It can't be!" She ran over to it, her siblings following behind her. "Don't you see?"
"See what?" Peter asked.
"Picture walls," Lucy said, gesturing to the open space around them, "And columns, there," She pointed to a few different spots, "And a glass roof." She looked up at the sky above them.
"Cair Paravel." Peter concluded.
Something caught Edmund's eye on the side. "Catapults." He determined upon further investigation, "This didn't just happen, Cair Paravel was attacked."
"Ed?" Peter asked, getting his attention, "Look over here."
The stone wall that covered the wooden door to where they had stored their weapons was pushed away. "Someone's here." Edmund said, "Or at least, was here." He pulled out an electric torch from his satchel. "Shall we?"
Voices from above startled me. Then a cracking noise and a crash sounded from nearby. I knew I shouldn't have made my refuge in the treasure room, pushing away the wall and leaving the door open to anyone. I drew my, or rather, King Edmund the Just's sword. I may have looted the room, but I only took the sword, as it was made of much finer material than mine, and fit me quite well.
I had let my horse loose, knowing that feeding both of us on a strange island would not work in our favor. I missed her company.
A bright, white light shined from the stairwell. I quickly crouched behind one of the chests, lying in wait.
A young man, maybe around my age, entered the cavern first. He was dressed in strange clothing and had a stick from which the light came from. If I was being honest, he was quite dashing. Three other young people, two girls and a boy, entered next, each with the same type of strange clothing.
None of them appeared to be armed, so I made my entrance. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" I questioned in my authoritative voice, sword out.
"We could ask you the same question!" The first boy exclaimed. "That's my sword!"
"Are you sure Ed?" The other boy asked.
"Yes. Did you steal it?" He asked me rudely, which was quite brave, seeing as I was the one holding the sword, not him.
"How can this be your sword?" I asked, deflecting the question of whether or not I stole it. "It was the sword of King Edmund the-" I trailed off and took a closer look at all of them. Ed. The other boy had called him Ed. Edmund. Which meant the others were, "No way." I denied. "You're them? The Kings and Queens of Narnia?"
"King Edmund the Just." The rude boy introduced. This had to be some elaborate joke.
"Queen Susan the Gentle." The older of the two girls said. This was not possible.
"Queen Lucy the Valiant." The other girl said.
"High King Peter, the Magnificent." His voice had the authority one would expect from a king, also the pompous introduction.
"Princess Courtney of Telmar." I introduced, still not convinced that they were who they said they were.
"A Telmarine?" 'King Edmund' asked. "Were you the one who destroy the castle?"
"Where have you been the last thirteen hundred years?" I questioned myself when the words came out. If they were really the kings and queens of old, then they had been gone for that time.
"You doubt us?"
"Yes." I said pretentiously. "How can you be the rulers of Narnia? And if you really are," My tone made sure that I highly doubted that, "Where have you been?"
"Do you have a sword of your own?" The one who claimed to be the High King asked.
"Of course." I put down King Edmund's sword and pulled out my own. "Are you challenging me?"
"No. He is." He pointed to the other boy.
"I accept. But it would be most logical to take this duel outside." The older boy and the older girl cast each other a knowing look, like an inside joke that only they caught.
"Of course." The younger boy said, picking up the sword I had placed down.
Outside, we found a big, open space for our duel. The older of the boys would serve as the referee. They had all claimed 'their' objects from the chest below. The girls stood on the side as spectators.
"You can back out now." The younger boy said. "I'm quite good with a sword." He held his sword confidently in his right hand, as I did.
"I would be disappointed if you weren't." I answered; I hadn't had a proper duel in months.
I made the first move by lunging forward and thrusting my sword, making sure that the sword would end inches from his body, just in case he didn't block or move.
He blocked it easily, like I expected, and returned with a slash to my right side. I didn't anticipate his reflexes and return strike, causing me to block late, and having the sword graze my right arm.
I swore some very unladylike curses as I ducked under his sword. The sword felt heavy in my hand, my arm throbbing. I swung my sword down; he raised his sword, stopping mine in its tracks. The tremors from the metal contact spread up my arm, causing the cut to burn. I quickly moved my sword to be ready for a counter-attack. When none immediately came, I switched hands, holding the sword in my left hand.
I smiled at his fleeting expression of surprise, before lunging. He blocked it easily and we fell into a rhythm, trying to find a weak link in each other's fighting style.
For a few minutes, the only sounds were the clanging of metal on metal. Finally, I saw my opportunity, a strike of a man who had little patience. I switched hands again and struck his fist with the hilt of my sword.
The sword fell from his hand. I put the blade of my own sword against his throat, declaring me the winner. After a few seconds, I lowered my sword. I picked his up off the ground and held it out to him, handle first.
"It is you." They had to be from the other world, judging by their clothes, his fighting style was Narnian, he was very familiar with the sword, and he was impatient, just as the old tales had said. "Thank you. I haven't had a proper duel in months."
"I haven't picked up a sword in over a year." He defended, probably embarrassed that he lost to a girl.
"Okay," I shrugged, "If that's the excuse you want to go for." I went over to where my bag was on the grass nearby. I searched through it, until I found my dagger. I cut a small strip of fabric from my tunic and wrapped it around my injured arm, rather badly, with one hand.
"Sorry about that." Edmund untied my failed attempt.
"My fault," I said as he retied my arm snugly, "The number one rule of a duel is to not underestimate you opponent."
"Are you ambidextrous?" He asked, tying off the bandage.
"Only in swordplay." I turned to see my arm as best I could, "Thanks."
"No problem"
"My handwriting with my left hand is atrocious."
"You're fantastic though!" King Edmund commented. "How did you learn that?"
"Thank you, King Edmund," I said formally, He waved away my use of the title, "Call me Edmund."
"Courtney." Not that he had ever used my title, but just in case. Plus, I didn't know what else to say.
"You're not bad yourself." I said. He scoffed, "As for how I learned, I was taught by one of the guards, and when became good enough, I constantly requested to duel the other soldiers, getting experience by fighting people with differing styles." He nodded, knowing the benefit of such a thing.
The girls, the queens, and the High King joined us. "That was quite the match," King Peter said. I had decided that for the other, I would use their title unless told otherwise because they were higher ranked than me. "It's not often someone gets the better of Edmund."
"What exactly are you doing here?" Susan asked, "I mean on Narnian soil."
"Susan!" Lucy exclaimed.
"It's fine." I said, "I'm escaping from my insane uncle." I told them the story, glossing over the exact reason I had left. I simply said that my uncle was going crazy, and tried to harm me. That was true enough.
"My brother might be in trouble." After I had finished telling them the story, I remembered something. When I had left, my aunt was at least seven months pregnant. She had most likely given birth. If the child was a boy, then Caspian was a good as dead. The only reason he wasn't dead yet was because Miraz had no successor of his own. But if he had a son, he had no use for Caspian. I quickly explained that to the Pevensie siblings.
"You don't know that the child was a boy." Susan said, trying to comfort me. Tears threatened to spill out of my eyes at the possibility that my brother was dead.
"But I don't know it wasn't." If Caspian got himself killed, I was going to kill him myself.
I looked out on the ocean. There was something there, a boat. "Do you see that?" The other four followed my gaze.
"Let's go." Peter said, running down the cliff side. The rest of us trailed behind him.
In the boat were two men in armor, Telmarine armor, I realized. "Telmarines." I informed the others.
The two men were carrying something, someone, tied up in ropes. They were poised to drop him in the ocean, when an arrow with a red fletching slammed into the side of the boat. I turned to see Susan fitting another arrow to her bow.
"Drop him!" Susan yelled.
The soldiers complied, dropping poor person. One of the men raised a crossbow. Susan let loose her arrow, hitting him. The other man jumped into the water.
I pulled off my sword and dove in the water. The salt water stung my eyes as I searched for the drowning man. The weight of my dagger threatened to pull me down, but I fought it. I found the man, grabbed his bound hands, and swam us both to the surface. Edmund and Peter pulled the boat to the beach.
I pulled out my dagger cut the man's bonds with it. He then pulled off the gag. "Drop him?" He asked. "Was that the best you could do?"
"A simple thank you would suffice." I said. He was quite rude, as we had just saved his life. I took a closer look at him, wiping the water out of my eyes. "You're a dwarf!"
He ignored me and turned to the others. "They were doing a fine job drowning me without your help."
I was getting a little irritated. "Look," I said, "We just saved your life. If you prefer, I could throw you back."
He finally acknowledged me, "You're the Telmarine princess, aren't you?"
"I am. What of it?"
"You look like your brother."
"What?" I asked, "You've seen my brother? He's alive? How is he?"
"Calm down," the dwarf said, "One question at a time. Yes, I've seen him, so yes, he's alive, and last I saw, he hit his head on a tree branch and blasted a horn." He turned to the other four, realization dawning on his face. "Are you the kings and queens of Narnia?"
"My horn?" Susan asked. She didn't find her horn in her chest in the underground cavern, so it was possible. But how could Caspian have gotten hold of it?
"Yes, Your Majesty." This dwarf was far more accepting of them than I was. Although, he had the knowledge that they were coming.
"Just call me Susan." Susan replied.
"So where is Caspian?" I asked.
The dwarf considered my question, probably wondering how much he trusted us, or more accurately, me. "We'll meet up with him halfway." He purposely didn't say where he was, but my guess was with other Narnians.
I sighed. It had taken a week on horseback to ride to the ruins; on foot would take much longer. "Looks like we have our work cut out for us." I said.
First chapter down! Put your thoughts down in the review section. Also looking for a chapter name.
